Encyclopedia of Woodworking

Holding Corners in Place – Corner Clamps

Whether you’re making frames, boxes or cabinets you will most likely always need to hold two pieces together at a 90-degree angle. Creating these corners usually relies on ensuring that your boards…

Turning Wood at Home – Wood Lathes

As one of the most ancient and coveted woodwork specialties, woodturning continues to bring awe to the eyes of onlookers and brings more and more woodworkers flocking to watch wood shaving flying away…

Nobex – Mitre Saws from Sweden

Mitre boxes have been used in woodworking for years, especially useful in times when angled cuts are necessary and power is unavailable. The very fine teeth found on a tradition backsaw or gents…

Howard Finishing Products: Boards You Can Lick

In our series “Wood finishing Basics”, we covered the various natural waxes and oils available to the modern-day woodworker. Although most of these solutions are natural and cause little to no harm to the…

Honing Guides – Sharpening By Hand

As woodworkers, much of our work is dependant on a sharp and reliable cutting edge. For our surfaces to be truly flat, for our cabinets to precisely fit and for our logs to be…

Introducing: Japanese Hand Tools

You will find that Japanese hand tools have different characteristics to Western Hand tools. The tools that are primarily used in Japanese woodwork and joinery are: Planers, Chisels, Saws and Honing Stones. Japanese Planers…

Art of Joinery: Beginners Guide to Fasteners in Woodwork

Metal fasteners make joining wood pieces a much less time consuming and skill-demanding task. These fasteners can be applied to your pieces in a few various ways. Some of these methods have evolved from…

Art of Joinery: Beginners Guide to Traditional Joinery

Through the progression of time, woodworkers have since moved on from traditional practices which were heavily dependant on individual skill and craftsmanship. Technology has driven the focus more on productivity and less towards craftsmanship…

Surface Planing Basics: Jointing, Thicknessing, Planing

The process of planing a wood piece involves flattening the surface of the wood in order to create a level surface for joinery or finishing. This task can essentially be achieved in a few…

Speed Squares: The Only Measuring Tool You’ll Ever Need

Over the years there have been many “jack of all trades” kinds of tools in woodworking. For measuring, this has been the: combination square, which was not only great for measuring but most of these…

Sharpening Stones Quick Start Guide

NATURAL STONES: 1. NATURAL WATERSTONES: • Mined From Sedimentary Rock, Porous, Soft And Dish Easily • Require Water For Lubrication And May Require Soaking In Water Prior To Use • Vary In Density And Grit…

WoodSense: Spotlight on American Sycamore

American sycamore is something of a sleeper as far as native hardwoods go. For years it was used as a secondary wood—for drawer sides, web frames, etc.—if it was processed into furniture-grade lumber at all.