Over The Workbench

Of all the shop habits I wish I could change, there’s one that leads the rest.

Diagnosing a wobbly table is a cinch. Unless, of course, that table happens to be 175 miles away.

I’m a pretty gregarious guy when it comes to shop sharing. But I do have a few rules.

Hyperbole is great for blockbuster movies, but the best way to boast about a woodworking product is to back it up with results.

Tool manuals are getting out of hand. And I mean that literally, since it now takes three hands to read one.

As hard as it is to believe, there’s been an upside to COVID-19 social distancing – and it’s woodworking related.

For the first time ever, I plan to build something up to about 95 percent complete – and then just stop.

I love Torx exterior screws, especially for interior projects.

Been a long, long time since I’ve had to think about childproofing things. But as soon as I finish this, I’ll be doing exactly that to my woodshop.

It’s rare, but sometimes work projects lead to fun projects. I love when that happens.

It doesn’t happen often, but every once in a while I try a tool I’ve never used before. This time, it was a pneumatic sander.

My wife got her first major glass-working tool, and the parallels to woodworking are both notable and enjoyable.

I have a very healthy respect for experts in fields I’m not so good at. Electricians top that list.

It’s unwelcome news, but not totally unexpected: IWF 2020 has been canceled.

My wife wanted me to build yet another decorative project for her. I told her to do it herself.

When it comes to woodshop accidents, you don’t want close calls. However, a close call is always better than the real thing.

I don’t like buying ready-to-assemble furniture, but I have to admit I was recently impressed by some.

The furniture polish people have a fine product as long as they tout it as polish. It’s when they hype benefits to the wood that they stray into PR-speak nonsense.

I hated to do it, but I just ordered some ready-to-assemble furniture. Do I feel guilty? Nope, because it’s saving me valuable time.

I’ve long maintained that stain is a pain. I now realize that kind of thinking was, well, inane.

Not everything made in the woodshop has to be related to work. In fact, sometimes the whole point of making something is to have fun.

Imagining a perfect woodworking world only takes a bit of imagination.

Our governor has allowed certain construction jobs to resume. From the few examples I can see, it’s going well.

I’ve worked with some machines for decades, and while I’ve grown confident in their use, I’ve never grown comfortable with some of them.