Category Archives: Techniques

A Little Dab Will Do You

Posted on December 12, 2009 by

I like non-drying vegetable-based oils. Not just for frying up chicken, but for keeping rust at bay in my basement workshop at home. What’s not to like? For nearly 14 years these oils have kept rust at bay on my … Continue reading →

Posted in Techniques | 6 Comments

Was the Author a Genuine Joiner?

Posted on December 1, 2009 by

Nothing drives a trained journalist crazier than an unanswered question. As you probably know, the book “The Joiner and Cabinet Maker” doesn’t name the original author. He (and it almost certainly was a “he”) didn’t put his name on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Techniques | 12 Comments

Footwork and Casework

Posted on November 14, 2009 by

One of the interesting things about the “Joiner and Cabinet Maker” are the construction details you can find in almost every sentence. I’ve read the book at least six times now, and every time I dip into the text I … Continue reading →

Posted in Projects, Techniques | 3 Comments

I’m Thinking I’m Over-thinking

Posted on July 12, 2009 by

Today I taught my 8-year-old to sharpen. It took five minutes. Instead of teaching her about abrasives and honing angles and all the other theory my head is filled with, I took a hands-off approach to this important hand skill. … Continue reading →

Posted in Techniques | 4 Comments

The ‘Texas tea’ Solution for Knots

Posted on May 30, 2009 by

Sometimes you read old accounts of workshop practice where there’s a pot of raw linseed oil by the bench. Andre Roubo’s bench had a little swing-out pot of oil underneath the bench. Likely it was used to oil the soles … Continue reading →

Posted in Techniques | 6 Comments

The Perfect Hand-tool Wood

Posted on May 23, 2009 by

A couple years ago there was a kid in Iowa who was trying to learn to use hand tools. He had no teachers, just a few books and limited access to the Internet. But he had a phone. So he’d … Continue reading →

Posted in Projects, Techniques | 11 Comments

'Wear a Dress to Work Day'

Posted on April 28, 2009 by

While cleaning out the shop a couple weeks ago we stumbled on a plastic-wrapped parcel of tools that were owned by the maintenance men from our old building. When they were “released on their own recognizance” by management, they gave … Continue reading →

Posted in Techniques | 15 Comments

Guest Post: Make Ogee Feet By Hand

Posted on March 31, 2009 by

Editor’s note: Here’s another great installment from hand-tool woodworker Dean Jansa. This one guides you through the process of moulding and assembling and ogree bracket foot. The same chest that has the molding shown in “Sticking a Moulding” will have … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal Favorites, Techniques | 8 Comments

Clinching Nails (Sometimes Teeth)

Posted on March 22, 2009 by

I’ve been clinching a lot of nails these last few weeks while building some utilitarian boxes. So I’ve been digging into the literature to investigate the best way to do it. Clinching (sometimes spelled “clenching”) is when you drive a … Continue reading →

Posted in Techniques | 17 Comments

Guest Post: Sticking a Moulding

Posted on February 21, 2009 by

Editor’s note: Dean Jansa is a dyed-in-the-wool traditional hand-tool woodworker who helped ignite many of the ideas behind my book on workbenches. At our request, Jansa gracious agreed to let us post some of his hand-tool tutorials he prepared for … Continue reading →

Posted in Handplanes, Techniques | 11 Comments