Latest Articles

Murphy Bed
I suspect that a lot of empty nesters would like to convert a kid’s former room into a usable space for other pursuits while still having it available for visiting friends and family.

Epoxy Hat Trick
When used correctly, epoxy can be an adhesive, a filler or a coating. The key is to match your formula to its intended use, then measure very carefully.


Getting Sharp: In defense of abandoned projects
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.

Tips & Tricks: Finding the balance point
I make a lot of wall-mounted pieces designed to be hung via keyhole slots or sawtooth hangers. Many of these pieces aren’t symmetrical, however. So the hardware or slot must be located off-center to hang straight. Figuring out just how much off-center can be tricky.

Tips & Tricks: Shop-made grinder guards
Over the years, my bench grinder has proved to be a valuable addition to my shop. It still runs like a champ, but the original, clear plastic guards yellowed and cracked some time ago. Rather than spend the time and effort to find OEM replacements, I made my own from a pair of inexpensive safety glasses meant for short-term visitors.

Tips & Tricks: Vise-saving jaws
If you don’t have a metalworking vise in your shop, securing metal parts such as screws and rods can be troublesome. They may slip in the jaws of your workbench vise, or the hard material may damage the vise’s wooden faces.

Tips & Tricks: Segmented turning sled
I turn a lot of segmented bowls. To make cutting the segments for the blanks easier, I devised this runner-guided bandsaw sled which can be configured to cut nearly any number (N) of segments (as long as [N] divides evenly into 360).

News & Views: Monkeying around
I enjoyed WoodSense (Oct/Nov 2022) on monkeypod. It brought back memories of my time in the Navy in 1970 at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. As a newly married couple, my wife and I, living on base, needed furniture, and the hobby shop on base sold monkeypod.