Latest Articles

If you’re anything like me and most of the woodworkers I know, you can glance around your shop and find more than a few abandoned projects. In one form or another, you have probably paused your progress on a project, small or large, and started something else.

Woodworking can be a solitary affair when you’re deep in the midst of a project. And it may feel downright lonely at the end of a year when, despite your best efforts, you’re juggling multiple gift projects with a close eye on the big day. But we don’t get where we’re going on our woodworking journey entirely by ourselves. 

As you have no doubt noticed, your favorite woodworking magazine looks a bit different. But rest assured, wrapped in this new skin beats the same vigorous heart.

Theodore Roosevelt is said to have coined the phrase, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” 

Waterstones are fast-cutting, provide good feedback, and are popular with pros and amateurs alike for honing chisels and plane irons.

Every woodworker knows how important it is to work with sharp tools. We also know there are plenty of opinions about how to get chisels and plane blades sharp and keep them that way. When I worked as a carpenter, I used oilstones. Later on, when I studied woodworking at the North Bennet Street School, I learned how to get razor-sharp edges using waterstones. But I also discovered how quickly waterstones become dished and require flattening. The first time I used a diamond stone, it wasn’t for sharpening, but for flattening my waterstones. Eventually, I got tired of flattening my waterstones and went straight to diamond stones made by DMT–a company right in my own neighborhood.

Despite its humble appearance, a card scraper is remarkably versatile at refining surfaces. It will remove hardened glue, smooth and level difficult woods and exposed joints, and smooth a finish.

Fast and easy strategies for safer, smoother cuts

Sharpening straight-edged tools, such as chisels and plane irons, is a necessary and regular part of ownership. A dull tool is a dangerous tool. A sharp tool cuts better and is safer because you have more control, and the results speak for themselves: You get clean, flat surfaces that are free of scratches, crisp lines that hit the mark without chipping or blowing out, and the joy of pushing or pulling a tool without undue force or stress. In short, a sharp tool is a good tool. Anything less, and it’s time to sharpen.

For years, I’ve regarded my rasps and files as my not-so-secret secret weapons. Hidden in plain sight beside my workbench, my collection has never generated a single comment from any visitor. Admittedly, these simple steel-toothed tools lack the romance of my planes, handsaws, and chisels, but what they lack in allure, they make up for in function.