Jack plane
Sheraton Bedside Table
Federal Classic Design with a Contemporary Feel This Sheraton bedside table is my original design, but I borrow elements heavily from the 18th century Sheraton style. The legs especially speak to that period. However in…
Miter Shooting, Planing 101, Saw Binding, Wooden Plane Clean Up
This office hours covered quite a few topics from sawing to shooting, planing, and plane restoration. Lots of good questions, I love it when you guys keep me busy in these sessions. Miter Shooting The…
Lingerie Chest Part 10: The Top
A Beveled Top Creates Lightness in the Design This part of the project is pretty simple. Cutting a bevel is a straightforward process but it does so much for the design. It lightens the top…
Technique Changes Since Semester 1
Fewer Planes, More Saws & Chisels In this session I walk through each lesson of the semester and comment on how I do things differently. The simplest way to sum up how my personal approach…
Closing Gaps in Wide Miter Joints
Use a Screwdriver to Close that Joint ...just leave the screw out of it. Every now and then I will cut a long miter, more commonly called a bevel, and it will close up…
Hand Plane 101
Many Sizes, but One Will Work For Now Hand planes attract a lot of people to this style of woodworking. But usually I find that many acquire too many planes too fast and this…
Japanese Tool Box
Casework is About Consistency This Japanese tool box comes from the Japanese side of woodworking and is often seen filled with Japanese saws and planes and chisels. The design is so minimal and beautiful…
Marking Gauge
Angled Mortises Are Square Mortises With a Lean This marking gauge is one of those brilliant tools from yesteryear. There are several instances of them to be found in historical Joiner inventories and little…
Workbench
No Vises, No Problem This workbench is hardly a unique design. It takes the wide aprons of an English joiners bench, adds in a modern split top design, and stout legs and joinery to…
Bevel a Panel
Long Grain or Cross Grain First? Adding a bevel to the bottom edge of a table top makes a great design statement. It creates a delicate profile while still allowing for greater thickness and…
Milling Open Q&A
http://handtoolschool.wistia.com/medias/xusfazda9c?embedType=iframe&seo=false&videoFoam=true&videoWidth=800 I sincerely apologize for the poor audio in this presentation. I cleaned it up as much as I could to remove the static but it is far below my usual quality. I debated even…
Jointing Long Edges
http://handtoolschool.wistia.com/medias/766bv66trl?embedType=async&seo=false&videoFoam=true&videoWidth=800 Sometimes You Can't Saw the Board Any Shorter Jointing longs edges are done with Jointer planes right? Yes...with a but. The Jointer plane is an unruly beast and can actually more easily give you…
Clipping the Corners of Your Jack and Jointer Blades
http://handtoolschool.wistia.com/medias/94tenws2wx?embedType=async&seo=false&videoFoam=true&videoWidth=800 It is a Compromise Between a Flat and Curved Blade The medium use planes like Jacks and Jointers are used to flatten out surfaces and do the majority of the in between work of…
Chippendale Mirror
A Simple Mirror that Looks Anything But Simple This mirror truthfully is more Queen Anne than Chippendale, but I think adding the fancy burl veneer dresses it up quite a bit and makes it…
Mass Production in the Hand Tool Shop
I had a last minute, mass production style project land on my bench this week. It was a fun diversion but it would have been a nightmare if I had built it the way…
Shooting Board Tip
This week I have a tip for using a shooting board that was inspired by Mark's post in the Semester 1 forum about his miter shooting board. How many shooting boards do you have…
How Far Do You Go When Restoring Tools
So how far do you take your vintage tool? Gleaming and new or just this side of rust. Additionally while there wasn't time to get into details, are there questions about restoring a plane…
Drop Leaf Table Part 3: Tapers & Swing Arm
This is one of those parts of a project where you feel the hard work is done and the rest will fly by. The reality is that these fine details right after joinery is…
Tool Box Part 6: Job Site Visit
All the planning and fiddling around with joinery and creature comforts mean nothing if this toolbox doesn't do it's job on the job site. So when I originally decided to build a tool box…
Jack Plane
The Jack Plane is a highly versatile plane. A case could be made for using it as a woodworker's one and only bench plane. Compromises need to be made for this to hold true but…
Jack Plane as Your Only Plane
In this demonstration I talk about how to adapt your Jack Plane (#5) to handle every task in milling boards for a project. Any Jack plane will suffice, but I think the bevel up models…
Project: Donkey’s Ear Shooting Board
Build a Better "Donkey's Ear" Shooting Board I have built several copies of the Donkey's Ear shooter and have never been quite happy with it. I started thinking about how I would improve this…
End Table
Design and Build Starting with a Photo Yes this is a table and it is a basic form in furniture making. Yes it will hone your mortise and tenon skills. Greatly. But more than…