Woodworking Articles


Shellac flakes + alcohol = shellac finish
Shellac is a multi-talented finishing material: Not only does it provide a beautiful top finish but it’s also an effective sanding sealer and functions well as a barrier coat between dissimilar finishes. It also dries quickly, is easily repairable, and is non-toxic when dry. Why don’t we use this stuff more often?? The thing with […]

Mixing Shellac


Swiss lake marquetry scene
Looking for a little diversion from a typical woodworking project? Well, why not give marquetry a shot? If you’re not familiar with this ancient art, marquetry is all about creating a design or picture using wood veneers of varying colors and grain patterns. For example, a nature scene might use sycamore for the sky, holly […]

Getting Started in Marquetry



Assortment of squares
Before one can cut, one must layout. That should be every woodworker’s mantra. And to that end, here is a list of recommended layout tools that should be sufficient to tackle most any woodworking layout task. Tape measure In my humble opinion, the tape measure ranks right up there with the wheel and fire as […]

Woodworking Layout Tools




Jet JBM-5 benchtop mortiser in action
After watching Norm Abram effortlessly cut mortises with a hollow chisel mortiser, and reading glowing accounts about them in woodworking mags, I decided it was high time to equip my shop with one of these bad boys. It also happened that I was planning to build several tables with mortise and tenon joinery so this […]

Jet JBM-5 Hollow Chisel Mortiser


It’s a pain reaching for a paintbrush only to discover that the bristles are a hardened mass because you didn’t properly clean the brush after the last use. Then it’s off to the store to buy yet another new brush. Fortunately, cleaning a paintbrush isn’t rocket science. It just takes a little diligence. Think of […]

How to Clean a Paintbrush



Bearing down on the cut works best with a rock-solid work platform
A hollow chisel mortiser offers several advantages over other mortising technologies: it cuts a square hole so there’s no need to round tenons, it’s faster than cutting mortises by hand, it’s much quieter than a router, and it’s a dedicated machine whose sole job is to crank out mortises. This last point is a big one […]

Hollow Chisel Mortiser


Folding rule
Although not so commonly seen nowadays, the carpenter’s folding rule was once a mainstay tool of carpenters and woodworkers. This venerable measuring device essentially consists of multiple small 6″ rulers that are joined together on their ends with pivoting hinges that allow the rule to open and close. When fully extended, a typical folding rule […]

Folding Rule



Octagon tenon jig front view 1
What to do when you need to make a custom cut? You make a custom jig. While making some bird houses, I was faced with the challenge of rabbeting a 1-1/2″ wide ledge along the entire perimeter of the octagonal base. At first glance, this seemed like a simple job for the tenoning jig but […]

Custom tenon jig


Completed cherry table and mock-up
It sure is a downer to build a piece of furniture and realize when it’s finished that is doesn’t quite look right. Maybe the piece is too bulky for the space, or doesn’t quite match the rest of the furniture. Perhaps the proportions are off. Or maybe it’s just plain ugly. To minimize the chances […]

Building a Furniture Mock-up



When it comes to deriving drawer heights for a chest of drawers, there are several tried and true proportioning techniques that can be relied upon to create a piece of furniture that is pleasing to the eye. The simplest approach is a uniform progression in which each drawer has the same height. This approach doesn’t require […]

Calculating Drawer Heights for a Chest of Drawers


Here is a collection of miscellaneous tips to help you be a more eco-conscious woodworker: Dust control Controlling the dust in your shop not only improves the quality of the air you breath but also makes it easier to collect sawdust for mulch and other eco-pursuits. Poor dust collection can lead to health problems that […]

Eco-Woodworking Tips



Shellac flakes
The next time you’re preparing to finish a woodworking project, take an eco-moment to consider the environmental friendliness of the finishing materials you use. Conventional solvent-based finishes such as nitrocellulose lacquer and varnishes provide a durable, high quality finish at a reasonable cost. However, they can also be significant sources of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) […]

Eco-Friendly Wood Finishes


Homasote panels
No, we’re not talking about unseasoned lumber. In this case, “green” refers to reconstituted wood products that have recycled content, low toxicity or other eco-friendly qualities. These products include formaldehyde-free composite wood panels, bio-panels made from agricultural fibers such as sunflower hulls, wheat straw, and sugar cane fiber, arsenic-free pressure-treated lumber, engineered structural wood, and […]

Green Wood Products



FSC certified wood
As a woodworker, you can do your part to support environmentally responsible sustainable forestry practices by purchasing certified woods. Certified woods come from “well-managed” forests in which the long-term health of the total forest ecosystem is emphasized – the trees, under-story plants, water resources, wildlife habitats, recreational pursuits, and employment opportunities for local communities. A […]

Certified Wood


Reclaimed barn lumber
Reclaimed, rediscovered, recovered, recycled, and reused are terms that refer to wood that has been given a new lease on life. The category includes: 1) timber recovered from river beds, lake bottoms, swamps, and the forest floor; 2) wood previously used in industrial mills, warehouses, barns, homes, boats, wine tanks, railroad ties, fences, furniture, and […]

Reclaimed Wood




4-way equal pressure clamp
Like most woodworkers, I have accumulated quite an assortment of woodworking clamps over the years. As someone once said, you can never have too many clamps. Of course, I love, er… I mean like some of my clamps more than others… The clamps I use most often are trigger-action mini bar clamps. They’re lightweight, adjust […]

Clamps I Have Known (and Loved ??)