Woodcraft Magazine December 2016 - January 2017

No matter what kind of wood furniture you’re looking for, chances are that Jim Probst has made it—in several versions and styles. You’ll even find beautiful lamps and sculptures on the website of this West Virginia woodworker (www.probstfurniture.com). Not surprisingly, Jim took on the challenge of building a distinctive Go game board (p. 50) with plenty of enthusiasm. “You can’t be a woodworker and not an environmentalist,” Jim believes. “I joined the Citizens Climate Lobby to help raise awareness about climate change,” he says. Jim’s advocacy work frequently brings him to Washington, DC, where he has met with West Virginia’s congressional delegation over 30 times. His new workshop will be built from ash trees on his property that were killed by emerald ash borers. (Some soon-to-be-milled ash logs are shown above.)…

Book review. Stop by our staff blog to find out what we think of Nick Offerman’s new book about woodworking. More on turning? We’ve got it. Check out the onlineEXTRA for this issue’s “Get a Smart Start in Woodturning” article to learn about sharpening turning tools. We’ve also got a cutting diagram for the plywood parts necessary to make the turning cart featured on p. 32. Go Dynamo! Once you see the short video of The Dynamo Men Lamp (p. 21) in action, you’ll REALLY want to build this special project. Click on the onlineEXTRA for this article.…

Don’t worry—you haven’t mistakenly received the French edition. The theme I’m aiming to write about is “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” Since a French philosopher originally coined this saying back in 1849, I’m just giving credit where it’s due. 2016 has been a great year for your magazine— because of some changes we’ve made, and also because certain things have remained the same. One of the big changes you’ve seen is the more visual presentation we’ve been using—inspired by another old saying: “A picture is worth a thousand words.” You’ll notice other changes, too— like the woodworker’s crossword puzzle on p. 72. See if you can complete it without going to our website for the solution. And I hope you enjoy our profile of Nick Offerman, a…

Make it your way…with care I am really excited about building the Southern Huntboard (Oct/Nov. 2016, #73), but my problem is that the piece won’t fit where I want it to go. As a newbie woodworker, I’m wondering if it’s OK to make changes, and if it will be necessary to draw up a new set of plans. —Frank Rotondo, via email Senior Editor Joe Hurst responds:Woodworking is all about making a piece that works for you. You should be able to make minor dimensional changes (like adjusting the top’s length by an inch or two), without making a noticeable impact on the overall look of the piece. Make notes on your own cut list, so that you don’t miscut your parts. Some changes have a “ripple effect” on other parts, and this is where…

As a character on the popular sitcom Parks and Recreation, Nick Offerman played a park director (Ron Swanson) with libertarian views, relationship issues, and a love for woodworking. If you’re a fan of this actor and comedian like I am, you know that in real life, Offerman’s woodworking connection is authentic. He’s been featured in woodworking magazines, and his woodworking business (The Offerman Woodshop) is staffed by fellow woodworkers who turn out everything from carved spoons and pinball tables to canoes and fine furniture. His new book is titled: GOOD CLEAN FUN: Misadventures in Sawdust at Offerman Woodshop. —Chad McClung WM: Why write a woodworking book? NO: I had written a couple other books and I don’t think it would be immodest to say there was a clamoring from my readership for a woodworking…

Dead-simple mortising setup Loose-tenon joinery is a great way to join pieces. For ase, efficiency, and dead-on accuracy, making the joint requires using a jig that secures the workpiece on end while guiding the router. However, in a pinch, you can get away with using just your workbench, its end vise, and a simple plywood or MDF straightedge. First, clamp your workpiece into your vise with the end of the work flush to the benchtop. Lay out the ends of the mortise, and outfit your router with an upcut spiral bit. Then secure a straightedge at the proper distance away from the cut and parallel to the end of your bench. To restrict router travel to the length of the mortise, you can set up stops, or simply begin the cut by…