John English

Save time and money by understanding the different types and backers available.

Shops searching for multi-function machines have plenty of choices in today’s marketplace.

Shops of all sizes can benefit from an improved floor plan and the addition of material handling equipment.

Sign making is a breeze with the right tooling, design software and digital fabrication equipment.

Nine ways to keep a shop cleaner, safer and a happier place to work.

Enhancements to the work shop environment, making it safer, easier and more productive, will pay off.

CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC: As the wood industry deals with challenges and economic uncertainty, continued growth is predicted.

DON’T WASTE THE WASTE: Instead of looking at scrap and sawdust as a nuisance, consider it as a resource that can generate greater profits.

As outsourced parts keep getting better and often less expensive, a woodshop really needs to know whether it’s more profitable to buy components, or still make them in-house.

One of the most interesting trends in the coatings industry is the way in which robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) are transforming traditional application technologies.

While customers don’t always understand the quality of a shop’s joinery, they invariably rub a hand across the finish.

Measuring accurately is a cornerstone of our trade, and the means to do so has evolved quite a bit over the past few years.

The new year might be a bumpy one, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad one. 2019 is just around the corner, and woodshops gearing up for it have more to think about this year than most.

This is a big category, and a woodworker often has to wade through a lot of peripheral information before zoning in on an appropriate piece of equipment.

Having one machine complete several tasks is more of a European than an American notion.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says that there are 163,500 professional woodworkers in America, and as of May 2017 their average pay is $30,850 a year.

Over the years, the word ‘left’ has become somewhat synonymous with liberal politics.

It can be hard for a woodshop to keep current with bits and blades.

Rising out of the ashes of war, Ikea spent the second half of the 20th century developing ways to flat-pack furniture.

It’s one of the most visible and tactile signs of a good job.

Nanyang Technological University in Singapore is a research-intensive public campus with 33,000 students in its pre- and post-graduate classes.

A few years ago, I was asked to make felloes for a wagon wheel.

By now, most woodworkers are quite familiar with the phrase “Industry 4.0”, which describes the current and fourth industrial revolution.

If you didn’t catch it at AWFS last summer, Benz Inc., (benztooling.com) introduced a couple of adjustable angle head systems at the show.

Whether it’s drawer slides, pulls, corbels, aluminum doors, moldings or lighting, there’s a world of possibility out there for casework designers.

Remember back in shop class when joinery used to mean lap, butt, mortise or dovetail? Well, times have changed.

While many woodshops use prefinished hardwood veneered panels to cut down on construction time, there has been resistance among others to jump aboard because of a belief that the coating will scratch in transit or use, and also because of an impression that the choices are limited to a clear UV on natural veneer.

Woodshops that produce flooring are usually among the first to notice new consumer appetites.

Battery advances and a new generation of brushless motors are combining to make life on the jobsite a whole lot easier, and more productive.

Finishes are mostly fluid, and so is the nature of the cabinet and furniture coatings industry.

Blade technology is moving right along, and it’s not just tungsten compounds or plate geometry that’s evolving. Profiles are also benefiting from Industry 4.0 technologies.

There’s a lot happening with the tools that we use for finish sanding. These include rotary, orbital, belt and inline sanders, and all of them are seeing significant technological changes. Not least of these is the power source.

In December, three companies with CNC connections got together and presented a productivity workshop in California.

It sounds so simple – turn on a vacuum and suck up the dust. But there is so much more to effective dust control in a woodshop. And it begins with the question: Why bother?

The market keeps expanding as manufacturers focus on safety, cordless options, software and new designs.

Sign making is definitely one route that a woodshop can take to turn an idle CNC router into a profitable investment. Pretty much any model can carve signs in wood, foam or plastic, and the major physical limit is usually just the size of the machine’s work area.

The only way to spot a trend is to search for its trail. By looking back, we can often guess the way forward. We can never know definitively where it will lead, but perhaps it’s enough to just enjoy the ride, and perhaps even influence the direction a little.

Finish carpenters and cabinet installers have had a routine for decades that is slowly being erased. They have backed a truck up to the shop door in the morning, rolled a ‘portable’ compressor outside, and then lifted it onto the tailgate.

Everybody in construction knows that framing lumber prices are up more than 20 percent over a year ago, and the rebuilding effort after California’s fires and some major hurricanes will only strengthen that market over the next year.