A.J. Hamler

I just had a scary, but not injurious, table saw kickback.

We all know about the myriad safety warnings associated with woodworking tools. But what about warnings for other things that impact using woodworking tools?

Although I know better, I would have been a lot happier with a recent lumber purchase if I had looked a little closer at both sides of the issue.

In my decades as a woodworking writer, I’ve never knowingly said anything false or misleading. But a bit of photographic trickery is sometimes OK.

I pulled out a tool I haven’t used in a while, only to find that while stored it caught some kind disfiguring disease.

“There’s always a first time” is one of those old sayings that applies to everything, especially woodworking.

If there’s any constant about this time of year, it’s that I’m in my woodshop making gifts. Until this year, that is.

Despite what it may actually know, the brain has a tendency to draw its own conclusions.

Hey, I can’t think of everything. That’s why I steal great woodworking ideas wherever I can.

My daughter got rid of the desk I made her nearly 30 years ago, and was almost afraid to tell me.

Unexpected commissions are the best kind, especially when they come out of nowhere when you have extra time on your hands.

What’s the opposite of ambidextrous? Spoiler alert: It’s me.

I love new tools, but two that I’ve gotten in recent months have proven to be real keepers.

Lumber prices are falling, and that’s good. But availability is still spotty for the “good stuff.”

It’s that time of the year again when the seasons change. Before, though, they never changed in my shop.

I had quite a surprise when I started putting together a “sample set” of wood species.

I used to really like dark stain and used it on almost everything. Now, I rarely touch the stuff.

Remember your very first real shop? Sally was digging around through photographs and came across a picture of my very first real, permanent woodshop. Oh, I’d been woodworking for more than a decade, but it was always in a not-a-real-shop location, like the patio, driveway, porch or any other area where I could swing a hammer and make some sawdust.

When you alter an in-progress project, the changes wind up as waste material unless you consider the possibilities.

I’m not really a forgetful person, but in the woodshop I do tend to misremember what I own.

One of the things I like about cherry is how its color changes over the years. That’s also one of the things that bugs me about it.

The old proverb goes, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” I wonder how many steps I’ve taken to reach this point?

I clean my woodshop frequently, but lately I’ve been feeling pangs of guilt at how much money was ending up in my dust collector.

Woodworking is an art, so it’s only fitting to surround myself in my woodshop with more art – in a manner of speaking.

Working on two major projects simultaneously, I didn’t have time to play around. So, I made time.