Woodsmith

One of the dangers of working for a woodworking magazine is that Chris, John, and Dillon keep coming up with super cool projects. Next thing I know, I’m heading out to the shop to build one (or more) of them. This issue is a prime example. No sooner did I see the plans for the Greene & Greene style frames (page 28) that John Doyle designed then I found the perfect use for some cherry boards I had laying around. If you’re a Woodsmith Unlimited member, you can check out the video of the process. Spoiler alert: I made a few changes. Not long after that, Chris showed me the prototype for the coping saw (page 34). Long story short, I have a new custom coping saw just about wrapped up.…

John is originally from central Iowa and studied Mechanical Engineering and Forestry at Iowa State University. He worked as a designer/builder at a small custom cabinetry business in northern Iowa for a few years before starting at Woodsmith in 2005. He has also worked on the Wood-smith Shop TV show since 2008, and finds many other special projects to jump in on. John is an amateur father and husband, and enjoys spending his free time with his wife and 4 kids. John and his family love cheering on the Iowa State Cyclones at basketball and football games. As time allows, he likes to travel and explore the outdoors.…

Threaded Knob Riser I loved the shop-made threaded knobs from Woodsmith video tips so much that I had to make some for myself. I decided to make them as part of a set of hold-down clamps, but I did make a small change. As you can see in the photos at right and above, I created a riser under the knob to give my fingers more room when using it. After making the hold-down, I made a riser from a 1" maple dowel. I drilled a hole to accept the carriage bolt and made a recess in the threaded knob for a T-nut. The carriage bolt feeds up through the riser and into the bolt. To ensure the riser wouldn’t slip around, I glued it securely to the knob. Jim Fox Hartford, Iowa Circular Saw…

Square Nail as Punch. Tim Shaffer of Kiefer, OK couldn’t drive a nail in any farther without possibly marring his piece. His metal punch wouldn’t be useful, as it might glance off. Luckily, he had a square nail handy with a flat, narrow tip. In a few blows, the nail was sunk into the wood. No Drift Band Saw. Antonio Torres of Ottawa Hills,OH was trying to take the drift out of his band saw. He snapped a 6" ruler to a rare-earth magnet, then to the blade. The ruler exaggerated the alignment of the blade, helping him to adjust the tracking and make sure the blade was parallel to the miter slot.…

The lowly baseboard is a piece of trim that cleans up the transition between the walls and floors in your house. Even more than its cousin, crown molding, baseboards intersect all manner of items as they journey through the room, so you’ll have a chance to hone your woodworking skills in a whole new dimension. Learning those skills, combined with the rigor of getting up and down a lot is why “running base” is assigned to the young cats on trim crews. There’s a top view of a room on page 14 that will show you the different tactics you use to install baseboards. But first, let’s look at the tools you’ll need for the job. THE TOOLS & MATERIAL It doesn’t take a lot of equipment to install baseboards. If you’re going…

Hand planes have an ancient history. The oldest hand plane on record was recovered from Pompeii, coated in volcanic ash and a little under two thousand years old. While I’ve never come across one quite that old myself, it’s not uncommon to find planes that were produced almost a century ago, if not even earlier. And many of them show it. I’ve always been impressed by restoration projects, whether it’s cars, houses, tractors, or hand planes. In the last couple years, I’ve come by a few fixer-upper planes for cheap. I’ve found that restoring them to their former glory can be a great shop project. This restoration project is on a Stanley No. 26 plane, with a beat-up wood body, plenty of rusty castings, a broken horn on its tote, and…