Thursday, August 31, 2017

Microjig Matchfit Dovetail Clamps

A lot of the work in any machine-oriented woodshop revolves around creating and improving jigs. While I’ve used hold-down and F-style clamps in most of my shop fixtures, the Microjig Matchfit Dovetail Clamps offer a new means of integrating adjustable clamping into a jig, securely and out of the way of blades and bits. The clamps have a dovetail cross section on the top arm that fits into a 14ยบ […]

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Dugout Chair Part 5, Ready for Sculpting

After sculpting the backrest of this dugout chair with a chainsaw, I noticed two things. One, the chair is about half the weight when I started. I can move this thing around by myself with some grunting. Two: It’s now a rocking stump. Yup, after removing a lot of waste from the front of the chair, the stump began to tip backward on its own, rocking nicely on the meat […]

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Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Dugout Chair Part 4, Cut the Arms

I laid out the shape of my my dugout chair in chalk. Then it rained. The next day I laid out the shape of my dugout chair in lumber crayon. Referring to my CAD drawing (below), I drew in the seat at 17” from the ground. Then decided to put the arms 8” above the seat and have them slope back about 1/2” or so. The depth of the seat […]

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Tricks of the Trade: Scraper Holder from Scraps

Instead of storing your freshly sharpened scrapers loose in a drawer (or tight in a wallet), this easy-to-make storage unit, shared with me by my friend Bob Lee, holds them at the ready over the bench. A thin piece of stock front and back captures a C-shaped piece with a wedge in its bottom arm. The wedge holds a dowel in place. Slip the scraper in from the bottom to lift […]

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Wedged Sliding Mortise Gauge

Make your own copy of this precision vintage tool. by Peter Follansbee from the December 2016 issue of Popular Woodworking Even after two years of working alone, I can still hear the visitors to my museum shop where I worked for 20 years: “My grandpa was a carpenter….” It’s a line I heard a lot. I used to wish for a secret button I could step on to cue, at […]

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Tuesday, August 29, 2017

CAD to CAM to CNC: Part Five — Putting Patterns to Work

In my last post, I used Rhino3D CAD software to create a 3D ripple for one of the BARN Workbench vise chops. 3D drawing tools were used to take a simple squiggly line and revolve it around a point to make a surface. For the design in this post, I’ll demonstrate the power of simple shapes and patterns. My design goal for this vise chop was to give it a classic […]

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Polyurethane is Almost Always the Best Finish for Wood Floors

We are offering a spectacular collection of products by Bob Flexner at shopwoodworking.com right now. Check it out here, Finishing with Bob Flexner Collection. The two key considerations for choosing a wood floor finish are resistance to scratches and the large surface to be covered. To stand up to abuse, you need a very durable, scratch-resistant, finish, and to avoid filling the room with overspray that will settle and stick to […]

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Monday, August 28, 2017

An Affair With Wood or a Lifetime of Commitment?

I wrote ‘woodworking‘ in the square, right after maths, Eng, Geog and P.E. I wasn’t sure what it meant to me, meant for me, I couldn’t see at all, but the first day in that bench-filled, wood-filled, tool-filled classroom was about to change the course of my school life. I felt it, smelt it, touched …

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How to Calculate Kitchen Drawer Size with Blum Tandem Slides

Nancy Hiller is a weekly contributor to the Shop Blog. Look for her articles every Monday morning and be sure to check out her book, Making Things Work.  So you’ve decided to mount the drawers for your project on Blum Tandem slides. What do you need to know before you start cutting out drawer parts? 1. Choose your slide model and length Note: The following instructions are for Blum Tandem 563 […]

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Sunday, August 27, 2017

Perfect Jigs (Which are Handcuffs)

After I learned to make stick chairs in a class, I returned home and set about to build jigs that would let me reproduce every aspect of the chair we built in class. I spent an entire week planning and building the jig shown in the photo above. Though it looks like a platform for holding Roman candles, it actually allowed me to drill four legs in a seat blank […]

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Saturday, August 26, 2017

Spoon Carving: This Kitchen Workhorse Presents a Surprising & Rewarding Challenge

This kitchen workhorse presents a surprising and rewarding challenge. By Peter Follansbee Pages 38-41 June 2014 Buy the issue here A wooden spoon – you can get one for a dollar in many places. It’s just a stick with a hollow shaped at one end. Why go to any bother over such a thing? Use them to stir sauces, dole out rice and beans, then forget about them. But like much […]

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Friday, August 25, 2017

Tool Hangers & Guild Free Tier

Today we’re discussing my custom tool hangers on my tool wall as well as the upcoming Guile FREE tier. Of course we have plenty of other topics in the Q&A. Here’s the rundown:

COMING SOON

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Dutch Tool Chests from Our Readers

dutch tool chest Grasberger

In the October 2013 issue, you’ll find plans for Christopher Schwarz’s “Dutch Tool Chest” – a handy-sized container for taking your tools on the road (one person can lift it) or for storing them in the shop. In case you’re not already familiar with the form, check out Chris’ “Details on Dutch Tool Chests” post for a video tour and some Q&A. But here, I’m featuring not Chris’ chest, but yours […]

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Book Giveaway: Classic Furniture Styles

Classic American Furniture

Some styles just endure, pure and simple. Classic furniture styles such as Shaker and Arts & Crafts continue to stand the test of time. It’s a testament to the beauty and functionality of the designs. This week’s book giveaway for a copy of “Classic American Furniture” offers 20 projects from Christopher Schwarz and the editors at Popular Woodworking. Projects include cupboards, cabinets, tables, sideboards, mirrors and shelving. It also offers valuable helpful […]

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Thursday, August 24, 2017

CAD to CAM to CNC: Part Four — Creating a 3D Surface

In earlier posts, I used CAD software to create the 2D design for the BARN Workbench vise chop and the I built a pin registration board for two-sided machining on my CNC. Rather than a square and blocky shape for the vise, I used 3D drawing tools in Rhino3D to give it a gently curved shape. Now, for the fun part: creating 3D textures and patterns that are applied to […]

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Simple Joinery Can Class Up Any Box

Let’s face it, a lot of woodworking is really box building. The good news is that a little bit of simple joinery and a little extra effort can make any box look incredible! The perfect example is a jewelry box, or other small-box build. By adding feet to the box it quickly becomes more than a box. The type of feet can define a fairly plain box design by style. Make […]

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Gaining Experience

Question: Hi Paul, I’ve invested financially and time wise in gaining training for joinery and bench work but need the ongoing experiencer to carry me through to become an experienced craftsman. I have tried to find a place I can work with a qualified craftsman but no one seems willing to take me on, even …

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Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Dugout Chair Step 3: Draw a Chair

After removing the big chunk of wood that was to become the front of the chair, the next steps on the dugout chair are the tricky parts that require more thinking than straining. I needed to chainsaw the bottom of the stump level to get the thing so it had the stance of a chair. This is tricky because the stump is an irregular cone with no right angles. So […]

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Tricks of the Trade – Sander Circle Jig: Make Perfectly Round Wheels Quickly

I find myself needing a lot of small circles for use on wooden toys. When I cut those disks out with a circle-cutting jig on the band saw, the edge is a little too rough, so I’ve made a fixture for the disk sander that makes quick work of sanding the wheels perfectly round and smooth. A ledger strip on the bottom plate of the fixture fits into the sander’s […]

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Reclaimed Wood Sign for a Groundhog’s Castle

We are very fortunate to have cats, chickens and a toddler in our lives. In our garden and in the woodland behind it, we occasionally see deer, squirrels, chipmunks, turkeys and many types of birds that either live in the woods or pass by. But it seems that the only animal that we did not intentionally acquire, but made a lovely home in our garden, is a chubby groundhog we […]

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Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Cousin Jim’s Entry Bench

Built from a Woodsmith plan (Issue #198, December 2011), this Classic Entry Bench was constructed with quarter-sawn white oak. Once sanded to 320, it was finished with four coats of Watco Danish oil (natural).

The style is robust and simple. The curves and arcs add pleasing lines. The most challenging element of construction was locating and creating the four through mortises in the seat plank, while the most laborious part of the project was scalloping and refining the shape of the seat. I give credit, however, to Woodsmith for providing an excellent plan with good solutions to otherwise difficult woodworking. I did stray from the Woodsmith method of attaching the seat mortise router templates. I opted instead for a method demonstrated in a Crimson Guitars (UK) YouTube video, where masking tape and CA glue take the place of double-sided tape. The sheer strength is better than that of d/s tape and removal is quicker and cleaner. It’s unlikely that I will ever use double sided tape again as a means of securing templates.

Built in central North Carolina as a thank-you to my cousin Jim, the bench now happily resides in Southeast Denver, Colorado.

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Rocketbook for Shop Notes

If you have trouble keeping track of your shop notes, sketches and lists, Rocketbook notebooks are something you should definitely consider. Thanks to a recommendation by a viewer on Facebook, I am now able to easily organize and scan my shop notes and access them on any cloud service of my choice. I think you’re going to like this.

As stated in the video, Rocketbook is not a sponsor. But if you use the links below to buy any of these products at Amazon, I’ll receive the standard Amazon affiliate fee which is always appreciated.

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Modern Gateleg Table – Free on the Website

The cover story for the October 2017 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine – a Swedish gateleg table – can be read and downloaded for free here. No catch. No gimmicks. No registration. Just click it and read it. I built this gateleg table earlier this year and based my version on dozens of examples I dug up from the historical record. From looking at the table, you might think that the […]

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You’ve Not Seen This Anywehere Before…

…outside of attended lectures that only happened at two venues this year. Periodically we update our subscribed woodworkers on issues we don’t post elsewhere. Woodworkingmasterclasses.com is our interactive group of woodworkers who love hand tool woodworking and want to master their skills. The audience continually grows ever larger and this has proven the most reliable …

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Modern Gateleg Table: A Contemporary-Looking Design That’s Really From the 18th Century

A contemporary-looking design that’s really from the 18th century. by Christopher Schwarz Pages 28 – 34 October 2017 Buy the issue here. If you’ve ever been dragged to Ikea by your spouse (few woodworkers go willingly – except to eat meatballs), you’ve probably seen a table similar to this gateleg one. It’s been a staple of the contemporary furniture company’s line-up for many years. One Saturday five years ago, my […]

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Dining Chair

You might recall the Gaming Dining Table I built in 2015. Ever since then, Nicole has been asking repeatedly, “When do I get my chairs?” So earlier this year I started designing a new chair that I’d eventually batch out for a total of six. I did this as a Guild project where I discuss the details of my design and prototyping process. With the help of my fellow Guild members, the prototype was improved upon and the final six chairs were completed. If you want to get the plans for this project and get immediate access to all 17 videos, you can do so here.

The video I’ve assembled here is a quick look at the process of designing and building the chair. I hope you enjoy!

Get access to the full 17-video build and plans here!

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Spontaneous Combustion & Oil Finishes: Drape Rags Over the Edge of a Trash Can to Avoid a Fire

Drying oils, especially linseed oil (raw or boiled), are the only finishing materials that spontaneously combust. Solvents don’t spontaneously combust, paint strippers (including paint or finish residue) don’t spontaneously combust, and no type of varnish spontaneously combusts. It’s not totally clear whether 100% tung oil can spontaneously combust, so treat it like it does. As linseed oil dries, it generates heat as a byproduct. If you wad up linseed-oil-soaked rags […]

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Monday, August 21, 2017

Frames & Miter Saws

Today I show you some frames I worked on with Matt Cremona and I discuss my recent miter saw experience. Here’s the topic rundown:

  • 2:38 – It’s Matt’s Birthday
  • 3:20 – WoodWhisperer now on Amazon Prime TV
  • 4:45 – Makita miter saw update
  • 9:34 – Nicole’s spatula video 
  • 10:30 – Picture frame project
  • 12:42 – Weekly tirade about focus and bitrate reduction
  • 15:31 – Matt’s barstool
  • 17:00 – What do you do with all your guild projects when you’re done?
  • 19:41 – Have you ever build a large round table?
  • 22:44 – Any advantage to storing lumber vertically or horizontally?
  • 24:45 – Is the mitered deck on the G&G blanket chest necessary if I scale it down?
  • 25:33 – Which woodworking show would you recommend for a hobbyist?
  • 28:48 – Is there such a thing as water based wipe on poly? Poly-Whey
  • 30:44 – Any suggestions in cutting down the dust from my miter saw?
  • 33:19 – What would you use for you go to video right now?
  • 35:07 – What is the better way to build up a finish on a table that has been previously oiled?
  • 36:50 – Minwax Polyshades says it should not be applied over lacquer or shellac. I thought shellac was safe under everything. What
  • might be the reason it can’t be applied over these?
  • 39:00 – What would you recommend to keep the purple color of purpleheart?
  • 40:38 – Any idea when the roubo tool storage project is going to happen?
  • 42:00 – Do you plan on having an apprentice again for a guild project?
  • 43:27 – Why won’t my bandsaw cut straight?
  • 44:04 – Should I go to the thickness planer after jointing a face and an edge?
  • 44:42 – When you started did you buy new or used tools?
  • 46:46 – Any pointers on removing bark on burls?
  • 47:16 – What are your tips on transitioning from a jobsite/contractor saw to a cabinet saw?
  • 48:25 – Which glue is better to use to secure screws in endgrain, CA or epoxy?
  • 49:12 – Any suggestions on why I’m getting burning on my tablesaw?
  • 51:24 – It seems like my PM1000 riving knife rides proud of the blade, is this normal?
  • 52:50 – New Patreon supporters
  • 53:20 – Guild project winner

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Mis-placing Your Plane

Here is a video we put together on misplacing your bench plane. It’s been a struggle but we’re gaining ground. I have learned from the maxim that, whereas practice makes perfect, it also makes permanent, paralleling the maxim that old habits die hard. There is a reality to the fact that we often develop patterns …

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3 Kinds of Furniture Drawer Slides: Pros and Cons

1. Wooden slides Traditionally, drawers have slid on wooden runners: strips of wood tenoned into horizontal rails at the face of a cabinet. In casework where a drawer will not be guided by the cabinet’s sides — for example, when the cabinet has a face frame that protrudes into the drawer opening — the runners are fitted with guides to keep the drawers from sliding left or right and binding […]

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Sunday, August 20, 2017

Week in Review – August 13-20

This week, Nancy Hiller demonstrated her simple strategy for installing Blum Tandem slides – one for setting the depth and one for setting the height of the slide in the cabinet box. Her process was developed over years of using jigs that went out of date with slide design revisions. It’s simple and effective! We set inventory-clearing prices on a few great titles – I have personally enjoyed using Hand Tool Fundamentals […]

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Saturday, August 19, 2017

Update on Hannah’s Progress

Hannah has been working with me since December for a day or two a week and then working in the classes we have too. She has just finished the construction of her home workbench, which she started two weeks ago. This one flows my latest pattern and dismantles for her to transport it as she …

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VIDEO: How to Build a Hall Table with Simple Tools – I Can Do That!

Chad Stanton built an awesome Hall Table with simple tools and wood purchased from the home center in his latest episode of I Can Do That! This video will walk you through, step-by-step, the entire build. Chad uses a very modest tool set – this project is within everyone’s grasp! If you’re not familiar with our I Can Do That series, check out Christopher Schwarz’s post on how we got started with […]

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Friday, August 18, 2017

Book Giveaway: The Homemade Workshop

Homemade Workshop

What do you do when you need something for your shop? Do you spring for the new tool or machine you need without worrying about the cost? Probably not – few can afford outfit their shop with such wild abandon. But you’re a woodworker! Surely you can build some of the stuff you need, right? That’s the attitude James Hamilton, creator of the popular Stumpy Nubs website, has about outfitting the […]

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Dugout Chair Step 2: Lose 200 Ugly Pounds

I can roll this rotted log around my driveway for the dugout chair. But danged if I can lift it by myself. So the next step is to start chainsawing away the majority of the bulk that is not part of the finished chair. With my tiny 16” electric chainsaw I spent a good hour wasting away the first two kerfs on this chair. This activity attracted the attention of […]

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Thursday, August 17, 2017

Dugout Chair Step 1: Get it Out of the Truck

After picking up the rotted stump for my dugout chair, I parked my truck in front of my shop and then went inside to ponder: How do I get it out of the truck? Sure, there are lots of redneck methods involving wax paper, Wesson oil and chains. But I wanted to avoid damaging myself and trashing my truck. I could rent a forklift or other machine to make it […]

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Disposabilty, the Culture of Uncare and Uncraftsmanship

Of course you can’t uncare because  ‘uncare’ is not a verb, and generally we use ‘uncaring’ as the typical adjective. But I used uncare to encourage you to think about something that has increasingly troubled me and it ties in I think with the loss of crafts posts I posted on recently. Uncraftsmanship is not …

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Success Isn’t at the Bookstore or the Museum

When my first book, “Workbenches: From Design & Theory to Construction & Use,” was released, I played a game that many first-time authors play. I looked for my book on the shelves of any bookstore I visited. After a few years I gave up. I’ve never seen the book for sale anywhere except online. But I do have something else that I’ve decided is better: Hundreds (maybe thousands) of photos […]

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Glutton for Punishment: My First Furniture Build

When I joined the Popular Woodworking team I had 14 years of editing and publishing experience. My woodworking experience was a bit more lacking – let’s say… level zero. But, I was eager to learn and Megan knew it. She asked me what I wanted to build first. I think the first thing I told her was a grandfather clock. Only not just any grandfather clock – my clock was […]

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Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Titanium Dioxide a Carcinogen? Europe Thinks It Is

It’s not just solvents such as methylene chloride that are coming under scrutiny as suspected human carcinogens. (I wrote about methylene chloride in the June, 2017 issue of Popular Woodworking.) The European Chemicals Agency’s Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC) just classified titanium dioxide as a suspected cause of cancer. What is titanium dioxide (TiO2)? It’s a white inorganic pigment that occurs naturally in certain rocks and mineral sands. It has […]

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Deep Discounts on 3 Print Titles – Building Arts and Crafts Furniture, Make a Windsor Chair and Hand Tool Fundamentals

We’re clearing off a shelf in the warehouse for new titles, and as a result, have three good books (the print versions only) available right now at a deep discount. The first is “Building Classic Arts & Crafts Furniture: Shop Drawings for 33 Traditional Charles Limbert Projects,” by Michael Crow. Right now (and only at shopwoodworking.com), it’s $7 (75 percent off the cover price). I think we mis-titled this one; it […]

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Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Nicole’s Wooden Spatula

Nicole’s favorite wooden spatula recently decided it had enough. The spoon was a layup from multiple pieces and featured two glue joints. With repeated exposure to moisture and heat, the joints eventually opened up. While the spatula is repairable, we decided we’d try to make something spatula as a fun collaborative project. Nicole turned the handle and I carved the spatula. We pretty much winged the entire project and used the old spatula as a model for the new one, so there are no official plans available for this. We hope you enjoy!

Here are a few links to products shown in the episode:

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How to Repaint Numbers & Graduations on a Steel Ruler: Restoring John Walters’ Rusted Starrett Ruler

After finding a rusted old Starrett ruler in a ‘Free stuff’ pile left by a neighbor, I decided to restore it and repaint the numbers and graduations. First, I placed it in a tray and covered it with a 20% vinegar solution for an hour or so. Then I scraped the ruler with a bread clip and #1000 grit wet-dry sandpaper to polish the surface. After washing and neutralizing the […]

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Yes, a Moisture Meter is Essential Equipment

A moisture meter is a device that lets you see the future. It allows you to avoid mistakes where your furniture will – literally – fall to pieces. But convincing woodworkers to buy one is like trying to push water uphill. This weekend, Brendan Gaffney and I were each working on some chair projects and got on the topic of moisture meters. Brendan has an idea for how to make […]

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Monday, August 14, 2017

No Surprises

Your responses to the last blog came as no surprise. As people accept the ever more mundane of mass making, skills automatically become dumbed down. Manufacturers that once had loyalty on a more local level have gradually sold out and what we thought was still being made domestically by local skills was hidden behind bland …

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The ‘Dugout Chair’ Begins With a Rotted Stump

For as long as I have been writing about woodworking, I have wanted to build a dugout chair. I first encountered the form in one of the many furniture books we had a Popular Woodworking Magazine. Soon after I started working at the magazine in 1996 I began poring through the books whenever I had a spare moment – attempting to get up to speed with all the different furniture […]

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How to Install Blum Tandem Slides with 2 Jigs

Blum Tandem slides being installed with jig

Blum Tandem slides are a fabulous innovation for built-in cabinetry with drawers and pantry pull-outs. They’re smooth, silent, invisible and they come with a little person inside who pulls the drawer shut for you. (OK, not really, but there might as well be someone in there considering how well they shut themselves.) As with most innovative hardware, there’s a range of accessories you can buy to ease installation. When I […]

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Dying Crafts. What to Do?

I listened to a BBC Radio 4 programme with a presenter named Jenny Murray talking about 17 crafts on the ‘Red Endangered List’, where certain crafts are in danger of disappearing. Of course we have seen crafts disappear because there was no use for them anymore. John Seymour wrote a book about the Forgotten Crafts …

Read the full post Dying Crafts. What to Do? on Paul Sellers' Blog.



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Sunday, August 13, 2017

The One With Cremona -Friday Live

We have a special guest for today’s Friday Live PM Edition: Matt Cremona. Be sure to check out Matt’s website for more details and who he is and why his hair is so cool! Here’s the topic and Q&A rundown:

0:34 – Special Guests
2:21 – Beers of choice for tonight
3:56 – Denver area maker meetup
6:01 – Presents from Jen
8:37 – Dust collection alert adapter
10:35 – What did you use to remove the coating on your new chisels?
12:18 – Can you tell me about a brand of panel saw or what TPI to get?
13:29 – What brand of sandpaper do you use/does brand matter?
16:18 – Do you have any tips for replacing jointer knives?
18:06 – On your Blacker house chair, did you use a pattern for the inlay or do it free form?
20:48 – Where do you see your business 5 years from now?
25:39 – Can Matt describe what hair products he uses to grow 4″ of hair in one night?
26:49 – What advantages do floor standing planers have over benchtop models?
28:44 – What species is referred to as ironwood?
29:09 – Are dominos strong enough for a trestle table?
29:30 – With dado zero clearance inserts, do you just make it as wide as possible, or buy multiple inserts?
34:21 – Do you trust your taps in knotty pine and plywood? What size of tap do you recommend for 4/4 stock?
36:41 – What skill or technique are you working toward improving the most?
40:38 – What’s the deal with square drive screws?
42:00 – What’s your favorite woodworking feature?
48:05 – Where can I get some good online instruction for a handplane?
49:10 – Is there something you continue to do but know there is a better method?
51:29 – Advice for a hand tool cabinet?
52:52 – Should I sell my kapex since I generally use my carvex?
55:00 – How do you know the correct grit to sand up to?
57:15 – When will we see Nicole using the lathe?
59:05 – What’s the best way to reduce a fuzzy surface coming off a benchtop planer?
1:00:41 – Does endgrain always take stain darker than the edgegrain?
1:03:30 – Can I use 1/4″ wood as a back panel to a cabinet?
1:05:27 – Why aren’t you doing a roubo tool cabinet with Matt?
1:09:02 – Would sycamore or red oak be good for a roubo?
1:10:00 – Is a hot dog a sandwich or not?
1:10:33 – Is the market for artisan chisels and hand tools already saturated?
1:14:38 – Can you offer advice to use a tablesaw to edge joint material?
1:15:47 – Do you know any youtubers who sell mallets?
1:17:55 – When are some instances you’d choose water based finishes over oil based?
1:20:44 – New Patreon supporters
1:21:13 – Guild project winner

coming soon

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Week in Review – August 7-12

This week we released a brand new episode of I Can Do That! In this episode, Chad Stanton walks us through a hall table build using lumber purchased at the local home center. The project is stunning and we hope that it encourages our viewers to leave their excuses behind and to build something incredible! You can watch the video and download the plans on the I Can Do That […]

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