Woodworker's Journal December 2020

If you share my seasonal shop schedule, holiday gift-building is in full swing right now. It is something that brings me joy, and there is no argument that handmade gifts are more pleasing to receive than plastic ones molded overseas. But where do you find plans to build your gifts from? Let me suggest http://store.woodworkersjournal.com. If you want chessboards, jewelry boxes, treenware or turned projects, we have multiple plans for those items. If you are looking for tables, chairs, bookcases or wall shelves … again, on our website they are legion. And as they are priced from about a buck to only around eight dollars, they won’t shrink your bank account badly. Chances are, if you have a project idea in mind, we’ve got you covered in some fashion from…

NORTH COUNTRY WINTER SONGS Gorden Lightfoot shamed the gales of November as a punishing event in the lives of seamen. Here in Minnesota, November’s blasts of harsh weather are an invitation to spend time in our shops (those of us who have heated venues), filling the long dark evening hours with our favorite craft. Something about the arrival of winter makes the solitude of my workshop richer and more satisfying, although I can’t explain why. But perhaps another north country song writer, Bob Dylan, has the gist of it. “‘Twas in another lifetime, one of toil and bloodWhen blackness was a virtue the road was full of mud.I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of formCome in, she said I’ll give ya shelter from the storm.” Our day-to-day lives, as wonderful…

Hand Planes Resonate Your recent Tool Tutorial about hand planes [August 2020, page 54] encouraged me to send in this photo of three planes I picked up cheaply at a local yard sale recently. I’ve got a lot more tools than I have skill, so I hope one day to actually be able to use them. It’s a shame there’s no markings at all on the little guy, but if a 51⁄2" #1 is “very collectible,” I can only imagine my retirement lifestyle when I sell a 31⁄2"! Woody Volland via the Internet My selection of a plane to use depends on the job at hand. It appears to me that a lot of their terminology has as much to do with marketing as for actual use. I started out with a Sears…

Waterfall Quilt Display I designed and built this project to display my wife’s quilts that she’s been sewing. It’s made from one 6/4 x 10" x 10' walnut board. I made everything that went into it, including the doweled rods. Ray Juracek South Lyon, Michigan Enhanced Cherry Blanket Chest My brother and I recently built a cherry chest for my daughter’s high school graduation. This was inspired by the “Classic Cherry Chest” plans provided in the October 2018 issue. We modified the design to include two drawers with a false back and a hidden compartment in the back of each one. There is a concealed release mechanism for each compartment that’s accessible by reaching under the front of the chest. Alan Stottlemyer Chambersburg, Pennsylvania…

Buying lumber is a part of woodworking. Some woodworkers love buying stock, others not so much — but here is how you do it. What is the largest percentage of your wood purchases? Roughsawn hardwood 36.88% Surfaced hardwood 38.35% Dimension softwood 19.5 Roughsawn softwood 1.62% Don’t purchase wood 1.75% Do you purchase plywood or sheet stock regularly? Yes 53.31% No 44.69% When you purchase plywood, what size do you most often purchase? 4 x 8 sheets 62.19% 4 x 4 sheets 6.73% 4 x 8 cut smaller at the place of purchase 12.59% Some other size 5.24% Don’t purchase plywood 3.24% If a service was available to deliver small lots of lumber or a couple of sheets of plywood at a minimal cost, would you take advantage of it? Yes 66.37% No 33.67% There’s more online at woodworkersjournal.com Check online for more content covering the articles below: Woodturning (page 22):Watch the…

It's All In the Chain, Gang! Thanks to the unanimous responses of nearly 50 readers to the August issue mystery tool, owner Leonard Smith will be “out of the woods,” so to speak, and that much, ahem, sharper about the tool’s intended purpose. Many kept your answers as short and sweet as Gary Edenfield of Earlysville, Virginia, who says, “It’s a guide for a file for sharpening a chainsaw chain.” Perhaps Philip DiBebenedetto (Freehold, New Jersey), Tom Deckard (Fair Grove, Missouri), Peter Colquhoun, Michael J. Dixon (Ravenel, South Carolina), Barry West, Marco Sabata (Arcadia, Florida), Paul Dino, Gary Ross (New York), Larry Lipscomb, Mike London (Austin, Texas), Jim Stapleton (Cherry Hill, New Jersey), Rodham Stem, Robb Stephens (Hopkins, Minnesota), Bill Ragosta, 2012misc and Robert Flynn were short on description because they just have…