Columns/Blogs

That table lamination project is now history. While I had my doubts, it came out pretty nice. Of course, there were some ups and downs.

It wasn’t too long ago when it seemed like someone was coming into the shop looking for work about every day. These days, it’s a rare occurrence.

Confession time: Wood imperfections don’t always bother me. In fact, I sometimes embrace them.

I have a lot of shop work coming up, but none of it will take place in my shop. So, I have to take my shop with me.

I have a lot of pieces of wood that are too good to throw away but too small to really be useful. We sometimes call pieces like this scrap, but I have always maintained that there is no such thing as scrap.

You can call this a rant, plain and simple, but sometimes the way they size tools makes no sense to me.

There are the plans you make, and then there’s reality. I hate reality.

In my junior high shop class, the instructor insisted that we begin by planing the edge of a board. The edge had to be straight and square. I spent most of the semester trying to accomplish this.

The furniture artist got a call from the gallery owner.

While teaching at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Franklin, Ind., this spring, I asked my fellow instructors and colleagues to share their experiences in a problem/solution format.

Creating plans for a completed project is easy. Doing it the other way around – for me – is harder.

I’ve been getting more and more frustrated in my attempts to find people who know how to work.

There are lots of expenses in woodworking (or any other business), but the most onerous are those that accomplish only to get you back where you already were.

Woodworkers tend to buy things they don’t need. I do it all the time and – admit it – so do you.

I have always tried to pay a living wage. The actual dollar amount is irrelevant because a living wage can vary dramatically depending on where your business is located.

We’ve talked before about the most important (or favorite) tool in the woodshop. But which one is the most essential?

When you have bad news about a project issue, it’s sometimes better for the customer to hear it from someone besides you.

One doesn’t usually associate motorcycles with woodworking, but a news item in the last week of June made a number of industries sit up and take notice.

I don’t know about you, but I have the tendency to overthink things.

As with most machines in a woodshop, performance can decrease with time and failure is always an option.

It is often said that the customer is always right. Obviously, this is suggesting that the customer should always be accommodated in whatever he or she wants. And, to some extent this is a good policy. It can often lead to a very happy and satisfied customer. But not always.

Measure twice; cut once. Good advice, but it leaves out an important part: Do the math.

Ever take a walk around your shop just to look at it? Not work, just look? You should.

I hate scams and the scammers who scam you. This particular scam isn’t new, but it deserves an update.