Columns/Blogs

Planning shop layout doesn’t always work. But when it does, it’s awesome.

At one time I had some spectacular genuine Honduras rosewood that a friend had imported. I also had a small amount of highly figured blistered maple.

Even the simplest of tool upgrades can make a difference.

The coronavirus is causing things to go off the rails. We're being told stay home and avoid other people. But we have to make a living. It’s not like we can just stop going to work.

I have a whole shop full of new tools. Or, at least it seems like it.

Sometimes, old neglected tools don’t work so well when you dig them out. Sometimes they work fine… but you should still get rid of them.

You just never know when you might need rarely used tools. Of course, you still have to keep them in working order…

At some point in every project I make, I include something personal that, most likely, no one will ever see.

About ten years ago, I began to do lathe work in earnest. I had several pieces sitting around the house, including one that what was the first of a series of pieces that became something of a signature style, the holy grail of every woodturner.

There’s an old saying about doing as I say, not as I do. Good advice.

Client meetings.

I don’t know anyone who enjoys moving. And moving a shop can be especially difficult. But there are a few upsides.

Of all the things woodworkers buy, use and accumulate in the woodshop, drill bits have to be at the top of the list for sheer volume.

Contractors, woodworkers or anyone else who installs furniture or cabinets try to contain their mess, but there’s something they almost always miss.

“You can never have enough clamps” may be a cliché, but it’s true. You can say the same thing about light.

I came across an interesting question the other day. The poster said he had no woodworking experience but wanted suggestions about what tools were needed to build a project he had in mind.

I spent the entire month of December moving my shop. It’s not the first time I have done this (but I do hope it’s the last!) so I was not completely blindsided by how much work it involved. But, somehow, this move was much more stressful than the last few.

Sadness, remembrance, appreciation, connection – just some of the things you feel when a gift project comes back into your life.