You would think that after 30 months of researching and building campaign furniture, I’d be ready to build something else. Such as something that didn’t collapse, fold or have copious amounts of brass hardware. But no. I am nuts for the Douro chair. It’s a reclining chair with leather cushions, yet it pre-dates the Morris chair by many decades. Not only is it a very comfortable chair (I sat in […]
Woodworkers know Mike Dunbar as the founder of The Windsor Institute, an expert in traditional woodworking techniques and the man behind the renaissance of the Windsor chair in the 20th century. But did you know he also was the man who drafted Donald Trump into a run for the presidency? Heck, I’ve known Dunbar for years, edited his articles and even attended a Windsor chairmaking class by him in May […]
Justin asks: My question is about Roy’s nail cabinet (PWM, February 2014). I have built the cabinet, turned it into a crate and have the door ready to assemble. I still need to build 21 drawers. I am so glad that you did this article it is the thing I have been wanting to add to my shop. My question is about the bottom of the cabinet as it hang […]
Blue Spruce Toolworks has just introduced a new 16 oz. square-head joiner’s mallet with a resin-impregnated head, which makes the mallet nigh-indestructible. This little guy ($95) is similar to the 24 oz. version ($115) introduced at Woodworking in America, which I own, use and adore. Thanks to the heft and one leather-covered face of the big mallet, I gave away my old rubber dead-blow, which loved to leave black marks […]
Last summer I built a workbench that was as close to the bench shown in A.-J. Roubo’s plate 11 as I could manage. While I still have three details to add to my bench (a drawer, a tool rack and a grease pot), the rest of the bench has been up and running since August 2013. The leg vise is perhaps the most unusual feature of this circa 1768 workbench. […]
I have visited a lot of woodworking clubs in North America since 1996, and I thought I had seen it all until I stepped into the Kansas City Woodworkers Guild’s enormous facility today. Perched on top of a cave (Kansas City is full of caves), the club has more than 10,000 square feet of space for demonstrations, plus a bench room and a machine room (not to mention storage galore). […]
When it comes to pushing our handplanes, I think we are candy-bottomed wussies compared to the joiners of the 17th century. We are obsessed with how thin a shaving we can make. Early joiners, however, wanted to take the thickest, gnarliest shaving possible for the tool, the bench and his or her arms. For proof, take a look at the first English-language woodworking book, “The Art of Joinery” (1678) by […]
When it comes to pushing our handplanes, I think we are candy-bottomed wussies compared to the joiners of the 17th century. We are obsessed with how thin a shaving we can make. Early joiners, however, wanted to take the thickest, gnarliest shaving possible for the tool, the bench and his or her arms. For proof, take a look at the first English-language woodworking book, “The Art of Joinery” (1678) by […]
Here’s how to make the crown
molding for the pantry. It’s all
done on the tablesaw. The biggest
challenge is figuring out
which cut to make when.
1. Make a cove (Cut 1, see lead photo) by running
24-in. or longer boards at 30 degrees to the
blade. Guide the board in a jig and apply holddown
pressure with a pair of skateboard wheels.
Start with a very shallow cut, then raise the
blade in 1/16-in. increments until you’ve formed
the full cove.
Click any image to view a larger version.
2. Tilt the blade 30 degrees for Cut 2. A handscrew
prevents the molding from tipping.
Use a zero-clearance insert plate if your plate
doesn’t provide adequate support.
3. Keeping the blade at 30 degrees, make Cut
3. The space between the blade and fence
is very small. Cut a kerf through a piece of plywood
to support the molding stock.
4. For Cut 4, leave the blade at 30 degrees.
There should be enough room on your
insert plate to support the molding this time.
5. With the blade still tilted at 30 degrees,
make Cut 5.
6. Sand the molding with a large block. A can
of beets (how fitting for a pantry!) is exactly
the right size: just a little bit smaller in diameter
than the cove.
I try to keep Adam Bowett’s book “Woods in British Furniture-Making 1400-1900” closed tight as much as possible. That’s because every time I open it, I lose at least an hour of my day reading a section of the book that I hadn’t yet discovered. “Woods in British Furniture-Making 1400-1900” (Oblong Creative, 2012) is a massive text in every sense. Measuring 9-3/4” x 13” with 360 pages of extensively footnoted […]
