Not a lot got done today. It would appear that in preparation for my upcoming retirement that sunday will be reserved for goofing off. The new desk unit didn't get done. In defense of that I haven't decided what I want to do with the base. The letter holder is almost done and just needs some shellac. The Union #4 had some progress made on it but it is still a few yards shy of the finish line yet. I... Read more

 Ciao, Several years ago, at beginning of my "career" of woodworking lover, I purchased a good book which title was: "The Toolbox book" written by Jim Tolpin. Is this a book that disamines all types of hand tool cases and between these the tool chests. I have always wanted to build one but I had never done it because after all I already had many storage systems in my small shop.The opportunity for me was unexpectedly provided by the Covid-19 lockdown: not... Read more

The conversation I fear.... Read more

I believe many people would find the task of stippling tedious, but the result is worth the time and tapping on a nail over and over again.  My headstock design is based very heavily on the one used by the team of Spanish master luthiers, Manuel Hernandez and Victoriano Aguado. From what I have read about these two makers, they hired a local woodcarver to carve their headstocks, I have no idea what technique was used to texture head stock, the... Read more

 My dad at a young age (under 10) was climbing out of a tree and somehow got his clothing snagged on a branch was being strangled.  He considers himself fortunate that he has his pocked knife and cut himself free.  As such, I was given a traditional Boy Scout Pocket knife at age 7 and was strongly encouraged to carry it every single day.  This was the 1970s and a pocket knife wasn't considered a weapon of mass destruction.  I... Read more

It is well with me only when I have a chisel in my hand Michelangelo 1475-1564 This is the first in a five-part series about the Mortise Chisel, especially the Japanese version. Also called the “Joiner’s Chisel” in Japan, this is a specialized chisel used by specialist craftsmen to cut precise, smallish joints when making … Continue reading The Care and Feeding of the Wild Mortise Chisel – Part 1 →... Read more

Spent the day fitting the brettstuhl together. I had put the ash legs in a kiln powered by one light bulb. Over time I weighed them, and they stopped losing weight a couple of days ago. Hence, dry. I didn’t get photos of the first half of today’s work, boring the mortises in the battens … Continue reading Brettstuhl assembled... Read more

It started with a few lines of graphite on the first page of a plain drawing pad. I never use graph paper to draw on. Too many little squares and lines. I don’t need scale at this point, just my own lines and shapes. The shapeless moved from straight lines to curves and square angles… Read the full post How it Begins on Paul Sellers' Blog.... Read more

Earlier I joked that it would take a space squid invasion to again delay shipment of “The Woodworker’s Pocket Book.”  Looks like I better start brushing up on my cephalopod language skills. The bad news: Shortages of cotton cloth for the cover made us change course in the manufacturing process three times. We were finally...... Read more

The humidity drops to desert-level lows in New England during the wintertime. Our pine floors become gappy, and the old frame-and-panel doors throughout the house close a little bit differently than they do in the summertime. Wood is hygroscopic, constantly absorbing or releasing moisture in response to changes in humidity and temperature. And when moisture leaves, wood shrinks. This can cause all kinds of interesting problems if you’re a boatbuilder, a cooper, or if you happen to swing a hammer... Read more

By Joseph A. McGeough The axe and adz are similar enough to be considered together. This is especially the case with ancient tools that were small and ineffective because they were made of brittle stone… More... Read more

As if my life wasn’t busy enough, I’ve added more free content to the site by adding free plans. I have drawn and redrawn these plans myself so I know they are accurate. Many of… More... Read more

Continuing this week with joinery, the shelf support rails fit between legs in the short direction.  But the inside faces of the legs are tapered, so it's a little bit tricky to get the shoulder lines for the rails' tenons.Getting the shoulder lines for the shelf railIn the picture, I've dry-fitted the legs with a short apron and clamped it up.  I measured the outside-to-outside dimension of the leg assembly at the apron and used a little spacer to separate... Read more

The Crucible Bench Square is a handy, lightweight and accurate tool that’s useful for many woodworking operations. Based on an 18th-century square in A.J. Roubo’s book, “l’Art du menuisier,” our version uses modern technology to ensure it is accurate and stays that way. The square is $28 and is available in our store.  The Bench...... Read more

I’ve just been through the various links on the side bar of this blog and found a number of them no longer working. I guess if you change your web address you don’t send out “change of address” cards! So, if you’re a past or present Nava owner and want a link to your YouTube channel, your band’s website etc. Let me know via my website and I’ll try to include you. Cheers Gary... Read more