The Woodworking Life
Projects, techniques, and woodworking secrets from Fine Woodworking’s community of woodworkers.
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We’ve Moved. Visit our New Homepage
November 10, 2008
VISIT THE NEW HOME OF THE WOODWORKING LIFE We've moved! Starting today, you can now find your favorite community-contributed woodworking blog on our new community platform, which will grow over the next few weeks to include a network of FineWoodworking.com blogs and those created by our loyal community of woodworkers. If you have subscribed to The Woodworking Life RSS feed, you will need to change your subscription to be alerted to new posts. If you follow the link above, you'll find the...
A Deco Box with Kerf-Bent Corners
October 29, 2008
Posted by:Gene Jameson For as long as I can remember, I’ve been enamored with furniture that has curves. Pieces that have nonlinear forms and organic shapes have always gotten my attention. Whenever I see an article describing wood bending techniques, whether it is lamination, steaming or kerf-bending, I take notice. A few years ago I rediscovered a Fine Woodworking article about A Kerf-Bent Mirror Frame by Ken Picou. He used kerf-bending to a high-degree of accuracy to make a beautiful frame....
Live from the Lie-Nielsen Event
October 7, 2008
Posted by:Fine Woodworking Editors More than 200 woodworkers attended the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event, held Oct. 4 and 5 at Fine Woodworking's shop in Newtown, Ct. Among other things, they had a chance to talk with contributing editor Chris Becksvoort about Shaker furniture, dovetailing, and more. Assistant editor Matt Kenney showed his technique for fine-tuning miter joints, and experts from Lie-Nielsen Toolworks were there to demonstrate sharpening techniques and answer questions about hand...
Got Questions? Get Expert Answers
October 1, 2008
If you can’t make it to the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event being held at the Fine Woodworking shop in Connecticut this weekend, you can still be part of the show. If you have a question about hand tools, post it as a comment at the end of this blog entry. We’ll get one of the experts at the Lie-Nielsen show to tape the answer, and we’ll begin putting the videos online next week. Ask us about nearly anything:Sharpening planes, chisels, saws, and scrapersStoring toolsKeeping tools tuned upUsing...
Detainee Work Program Building Pride
September 26, 2008
Submitted by: A.F. Capt. Anthony L. Bucci, Task Force 134/PAO Staff Sgt. Charles Monroe of the Colorado Army National Guard helps teach Iraqi detainees at Camp Cropper, near the Baghdad airport, practical skills that they can use once they are released. Gazebo in Baghdad. Iraqi detainees built this 18 ft. gazebo as part of a work program. Rafters. A view inside the gazebo. A National Guard sergeant who is a contractor in civilian life ensures that the structure is sound and meets building...
Tools, Hands, and Expansion of Intellect
September 17, 2008
Posted by:Doug Stowe, Eureka Springs, Ark. I leave for Finland on Sept. 21 to make a presentation at the "Crafticulation" conference at the University of Helsinki. (Crafticulation is a made-up word, combining âcraftâ and âarticulation.â) The title of my presentation is based on a quote from Abraham Maslow: "If the only tool you have is a hammer, then every problem looks like a nail.â Iâll illustrate my presentation by discussing how we make and use tools in a program...
New Life for an Old Friend
September 8, 2008
Posted by: Robert Nash About 30 years ago, I purchased the Craftsman 12-in. bandsaw shown in the photo below. Back then it served my needs quite well, but over the years it became a seldom-used part of my usually active wood working shop. Recently, I decided that this old friend needed to be significantly upgraded to meet my current needs. The Old Friend. Nash decided to upgrade this 30-year-old bandsaw rather than replace it. My first step was to retrofit the saw with a set of cool block guides...
Weekend Project Contest! Enter Now!
September 3, 2008
Posted by:Fine Woodworking Editors Now's your chance to show off your woodworking talents. Enter our First Annual Woodworking Life Weekend Project Contest. Show us something you've built (or would like to build) that a woodworker with fair-to-middling skill could make in a weekend and still have time to watch a ball game on Sunday afternoon. Entries can be a piece of furniture, a box, or a storage/worktable for the shop. The winner will receive the cool Fine Woodworking gear shown here--a...
Meet the Build-Off Winners!
August 22, 2008
Posted by: David Heim Watch today's announcement of the top prizes in the FWW One-Board Furniture Build-Off Contest. FWW editor Asa Christiana interviewed each winner after the announcement. Hear what these top woodworkers had to say about their prizewinning entries. Read More →
A New Woodworking School in New Zealand
July 25, 2008
Posted by: D Wood In 2007 William Cottrell, a New Zealand furniture restorer, received a national book award for Furniture of the New Zealand Colonial Era, a volume that documents, for the first time, the extent of the countryâs devotion to wood. Surprisingly, the heritage of NZ woodworking received long-neglected and enthusiastic attention. Coincidentally, in January 2007 David Haig and John Shaw opened the doors of the Centre for Fine Woodworking for its first full-time classes. Like Cottrellâs,...
