Popular Woodworking January/February 2022

With this issue of Popular Woodworking, we mark 40 years in publication. What was originally named “Pacific Woodworker”, our beloved magazine has had an interesting life. As you flip through this issue, you’ll stumble upon a look back at 40 years of woodworking. The timeline gives a little insight on the history of the magazine. Like woodworking as a whole, there has been a number of changes over the last 40 years. The ownership of Popular Woodworking has changed several times. Over the years, the various parent companies acquired several other well-known woodworking magazines, such as “American Woodworker”, “Woodworking”, and “Woodwork”. But, as I often say, woodworking is woodworking. Processes may change. Fads come and go. But, the foundation of our craft stays the same—crafting with wood. The same can be…

Char Miller-King Tech Room: Glow Forge – pg. 18 Char Miller-King is a self-taught woodworker and maker from Georgia. Her building stemmed from necessity — when she couldn’t afford something, she made it. Shortly after the completion of her first project, a platform bed, she had a realization: she loved power tools. Now, almost two decades later, Char spends much of her free time teaching woodshop classes to young makers, particularly to young girls and women interested in making. You can see more of Char’s work on her website, thewoodenmaven.com or on Instagram @ woodenmaven. Collin Knoff Mid Century Nightstands – pg. 58 Collin has been fascinated with building things as long as he can remember — from LEGO sets to taking apart things around the house just so he could see how they went…

Edge-sanding face-frame parts prior to assembly saves a lot of time. Clamping the parts together helps keep them vertical during sanding and guarantees they’ll all end up the same width. As a rule of thumb, you should always clamp parts together if they are ¾" or less thick and 2" or more wide. This technique may seem to raise a red flag for you regarding safety, but as long as the clamps are cranked on tightly and set below the top of the boards, this setup works just fine. (Of course, this is not something you should ever attempt on a wood planer because an accidental contact with the planer knives could cause disastrous results for you and your planer.)…

When I switched from oilstones to waterstones back in the Paleozoic era, I thought that I could say goodbye to making a big mess while sharpening. Well, not exactly. Waterstones are messy, too, when you keep their surfaces flooded with water — as you should. I’ve been looking for the best method of containing the mess for years, and modern technology has finally delivered: a rubber garden paver. It’s about 16" square, ¾" thick, and made from recycled tires. Water beads up on it, and best of all, the surface is a bit rough and sticky, so stones stay put. You don’t need a holder or clamps or anything—just your stones and the mat. Similar material is used for floor underlayment for gyms, so you may be able to scrounge a mat…

To steam small parts of wood, I made a plywood cover for my electric kettle with a 2½" hole drilled in the center. A piece of perforated rubber shelf liner over the hole creates a gasket around the PVC pipe, keeps the parts from falling through, and allows steam to flow into the pipe. Tie a length of string to the end of the parts you’re steaming so you don’t burn your fingers trying to get it out of the pipe. Also, be careful not to let the water level get too low or you’ll ruin the kettle’s heating element.…

I’ve been using an old metal-working vise in my shop for years. Occasionally I really do need a metal-working vise, but most often I use it to hold drawer sides up high when cutting dovetails. Unfortunately, the metal jaws can be a hazard to edge tools and they can mar the surface of the wood. I solved these problems by adding a pair of soft jaws to the vise. The jaws are just two pieces of pine with a couple of holes for recessed rare earth magnets. The soft jaws literally snap in place to provide a non-marring clamp surface for my stock plus a non-threating surface for my edge tools.…