February 2023

Woodworker's Journal

“America’s leading woodworking authority”™

Woodworker's Journal1 min read
Effective and Adaptive: Teaching Old Fingers New Tricks
Tools that simplify woodworking tasks and solve common shop problems are surefire winners in my book. And as I get older, those that make a task that once was easier and now is a bit harder are even more appreciated. I don’t know about you, but my ma
Woodworker's Journal1 min read
Woodworkers Journal
ROB JOHNSTONE Publisher ALYSSA TAUER Associate Publisher CHRIS MARSHALL Senior Content Editor JEFF JACOBSON Senior Art Director DAN CARY Senior Content Strategist COLLEEN CAREY Videographer NICK BRADY Project Builder MATTHEW HOCKING Internet Producti
Woodworker's Journal6 min read
From Our Readers
Every year, as all of us here at Woodworker’s Journal consider what woodworking topics to cover next, there’s a good bit of discussion. As you likely know, we survey our readers regularly and ask (among other things) what you would like to learn more
Woodworker's Journal2 min read
Taping, Tallying and Trimming Tips
Many shop machines and accessories have one or more Allen-style set-screw for securing handwheels, adjusting blade guides and other functions. Problem is, most are different sizes, and some are metric, others Imperial. I have spent a lot of time find
Woodworker's Journal2 min read
Locked-in Consensus
Only six sleuths ventured guesses as to the purpose of Rae St. Amand’s square October mystery device, but all of them zeroed in on a single object it was once used for. “It’s a butt gauge for laying out door hinges,” says Tom Altman. Well, Tom, other
Woodworker's Journal3 min read
Five Stages Of A Woodturner
My name is Rick and I am a woodturner. I frequently go into my shop in the morning and don’t emerge until dinnertime, covered in wood shavings. Whenever I hear a chainsaw in the neighborhood, I get in my truck and drive towards the sound in the hopes
Woodworker's Journal2 min read
Restoring Forests For The Future
Math has never been one of my strong suits, but with that said, even I know that a billion is a really big number. To help wrap my head around just how huge that number is, I found this comparison. If I told you that I was going to visit you in one m
Woodworker's Journal3 min read
Backsaws And Their Varied Uses
Hand tools, in my opinion, have an important place in every woodworking shop. This is not to say that it makes sense to step back in time and ignore the truly remarkable power tools that are available to home shop woodworkers today (my shop is replet
Woodworker's Journal7 min read
Ultimate Sanding Station
Our magazine’s workshop has needed a multipurpose sanding station for quite awhile, so I set out recently to design one using Rockler’s Rock-Steady legs and 28" and 44" stretchers for its framework. My goal for this project was pretty ambitious: I wa
Woodworker's Journal10 min read
Shaker-inspired Cabinet
I ’ve always had a soft spot for the clean lines and simplicity of Shaker-style furniture. So when my recent college grad daughter asked me to build a storage cabinet for her small apartment, my design sensibilities naturally turned to Shaker inspira
Woodworker's Journal4 min read
Skee Bag Game
Bag toss games are crazy-popular these days. There are likely a lot of reasons for that. For one, they don’t require advanced athletic skill to participate, and almost any kind of beverage can be consumed as the game is being played. Unlike the lawn
Woodworker's Journal8 min read
Chevron Table
A few years ago, I had a rule about using multiple species of wood on a single project: Don’t. But recently I have had a change of heart when it comes to mixing species, especially when those various pieces create an interesting geometric design. I t
Woodworker's Journal2 min readArchitecture
Rail-and-stile Router Bit Sets
Take a close look at the corner joints of nearly any cabinet door made these days, and you’ll likely find some variation of rail-and-stile joinery, such as the example shown above. These sturdy, attractive joints can be made easily in a home workshop
Woodworker's Journal8 min read
Cutting Coves, Non-through Cuts and Tapers
You use your table saw routinely for ripping and crosscutting wood in perfectly straight lines, guided by the fence or miter gauge. Tilt the blade or adjust the gauge, and you get straight bevels or mitered cuts. No argument, that’s the table saw’s b
Woodworker's Journal3 min read
Must-have Festool Merch, Glue Bottle Dock
This Glue Bottle Dock (item 61892; $6.99) from Rockler eliminates the hassle of inverting a glue bottle and waiting for the glue to reach the nozzle during a glue-up, because the glass-reinforced nylon holder stores the bottle upside down so the tip
Woodworker's Journal2 min read
JET JPJ-12BHH 12" Planer/Jointer
If you have a modestly sized shop where every square foot of floor space counts, a combination jointer/planer machine like this JET JPJ-12BHH could make loads of sense for your lumbersurfacing needs. That’s because it piggybacks a 12"-wide jointer on
Woodworker's Journal4 min read
T-Nuts and Threaded Inserts
Threaded inserts and T-nuts provide a way to use bolts or other threaded hardware to attach things like legs, headboards or backsplashes to furniture quickly and easily, with the added benefit that the pieces can be taken apart — or knocked down — wi
Woodworker's Journal1 min readChemistry
General Finishes Dead Flat
General Finishes recently launched Dead Flat, a durable matte sheen now included in its High Performance Topcoat lineup. It’s a single-component water-based cabinet and furniture-grade finish that can be brushed, sprayed or rolled. Christine Adams, m

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