I’ve written a number of blog articles that include sections on sharpening, but in this article I’ll focus on one aspect that can make a huge difference in your results. Even though I’ll talk specifically about this technique for water stones, it is equally important on other sharpening media. When I first started woodworking, I didn’t have a mentor to […]
I decided to peg my mortise and tenons that attach the leg top and bottom to the main section. These joints can get a lot of stress if someone leans on the table. In reality, the M+T is plenty strong – they are big with lots of glue surface, but I always like to add […]
Last week on The Highland Woodworker blog, Chuck Brock reminisced about his beginnings as a woodworker and how he came to discover what was then known as Highland Hardware: In 1980 I was a “newbie” woodworker. My first projects were of the outdoor variety, a mailbox and a log rack. These were not exactly fine […]
I’ve recently been working on building a copy of a Les Paul solid-body electric guitar. During the build, there were a number of holes to drill, and some required a fairly high level of precision. Specifically, the two holes for the tailpiece and the two holes for the bridge. Both the tailpiece and the bridge directly handle the […]
Christopher Schwarz is often asked to recommend books for the woodworker interested in working with hand tools. Back in 2007 he created such a list, and at the top was Robert Wearing’s modern classic “The Essential Woodworker,” which was unfortunately out of print at the time. Chris posted a review of the book on his […]
Who wouldn’t like to have a little extra time during this busy holiday season? With all the parties, decorating, family and friends visiting, gift building and buying, it seems like there is always something that needs to be done. Well, just in time, the Down to Earth Woodworker is here to offer you a few […]
Now that the mortises are complete, time to make matching tenons. There are many ways to create tenons and I chose a combination of the bandsaw, table saw and chisels. I use the bandsaw to cut the tenon”s width, leaving quite a bit of room in the mortise (about 1/2″) to allow for expansion. Recall […]