Using Hand Tools

by Michael Cullen

Make a stout woodworking mallet with an oversize head. You'll use it for any number of tasks, from cleaning out a mortise or chopping dovetails to delicate detail ...

by Michael Pekovich

by Michael Pekovich

by Philip C. Lowe

Despite its name, Phil Lowe generally doesn't use his shoulder plane to trim tenon shoulders (they are too short and narrow), but it is his go-to tool for trimming ...

by Bob Van Dyke

Whether shopmade or manufactured, a featherboard is a valuable third hand that keeps workpieces tight to the fence or tabletop as they pass a blade or bit. Not ...

by Chris Gochnour

If your smoothing plane leaves ridges on the surface of your workpiece, even after meticulous sharpening, try adding a slight arc to the cutting edge of the blade, ...

by Philip C. Lowe

You can do so many things with a simple, flat bench chisel: chamfer a tenon and pare its cheeks and shoulders so it fits into the mortise more easily, mortise a ...

by Garrett Hack

How you break the edges can make or break your projects

by Philip C. Lowe

by Richard Babbitt

We woodworkers are crazy about accuracy, but we tend to rely on test cuts when fitting joinery, eyeballing blade heights and using trial-and-error to get cuts just ...

by Chris Gochnour

Sometimes, even the most meticulously tuned handplane can't handle wood with challenging grain, and your are left with torn-out surfaces. That's when you should ...

by Deneb Puchalski

by Michael Pekovich

The premiere of our new hand tool department focuses on the 12 tools every furniture maker should have in their arsenal: Coping saw, smoothing plane, combination ...

by Steve Latta

The bench vise is one of woodworking’s most necessary and fundamental tools, vital for holding work while you saw, chop, pare, plane, scrape, and perform any number ...

by Alfred Sharp

Even if you have an impressive stable of power tools at your disposal, sometimes it is easier and quicker to shape wood the old-fashioned way. Used for generations ...