Do you sometimes start a woodworking project and become anxious of how long it will take to complete? Do you feel the project needs to be completed in minimal time? Do you already envision the completed furniture piece and embrace any means to complete it? Instead, we should emphasize process over product when working on a woodworking project. In other words, enjoy the process of designing and making of a unique furniture piece or limited-series of a design. Process in woodworking involves the selection of wood for a project, the choice of tools, experimenting with new materials, working throu ..read more

I have been busy writing my latest book in the past weeks. It is dedicated to hand tools and techniques on how to use them. Over the years, I have shifted to using hand tools in my furniture making studio. Although I continue to use machines to process wood from rough to dressed form, the work shifts to hand tools soon afterwards. I now enjoy the new quiet, dust-free environment I work in and focus on my work without noisy distractions. The new HAND TOOL WOODWORKING  book describes the hand tools I regularly use in my furniture making. The workbench appliances or aids used in my woodworki ..read more

Over time and with increased use of hand tools, I enjoy creating jigs and tools to make the experience a better one. As a left-handed woodworker, I struggle with tools that are primarily designed for right-handed use. Regular bench planes are not an issue as they are symmetric in nature. When it comes to joinery and specialized hand planes however, the handedness is a little more critical. I have adapted for the most part but in some cases prefer a left-handed version of a tool as it feels more natural to me. In summary, I need to work on both sides of a workbench to accommodate either a left ..read more

I recently had the opportunity of presenting a series of Kumiko workshops through Lee Valley Tools. As part of this series, I had certain criteria to work with. Namely a low cost, less complex and simpler way to create Kumiko components. The other criteria involved removal of the power tool component. Not everyone has convenient access to a table saw and other woodworking machines. With this in mind, I have developed a sequence of steps to create the outside Kumiko grid as well as a couple of easily made guides to create the beveled inner components. These are the components which form the K ..read more

Over the past weeks I had the opportunity of presenting a series of Kumiko workshops through Lee Valley Tools. As part of this livestream series, I had certain criteria to work with. Namely a low cost, less complex and simpler way to create Kumiko components. This post is a follow on to Kumiko Bench Hook Pt. 1. This part introduces a set of mini guide blocks that are simple in complexity compared to the larger, more common Kumiko guide blocks used virtually everywhere. The mini guide blocks work on the premise of friction. Adhesive-backed sandpaper keeps the guide blocks from slipping when pla ..read more

WoodSkills offers a furniture design course (class) that breaks the design process down into bite-sized pieces. Furniture design can appear intimidating but separating the process into individual steps makes it feasible. Furniture can range from a standalone cabinet to a chair. It begins with a sketch of a furniture design or furniture concept you have in mind. The sketch evolves into a series of drawings and ultimately into a piece of furniture. By letting your creative juices flow and simply putting pencil to paper, designs begin to take shape. Furniture design is an iterative process with ..read more

I recently completed this wall-mounted saw till and small saw holder. The larger saw till stores my handsaw collection including panel saws and dovetail saws. It is installed along a shop wall after shortening a tool wall pegboard adjacent to the saw till. ? Cherry trim is applied around front edges. While designing the saw till I thought to create a wall-mounted holder for my collection of small fine-toothed backsaws and Japanese Dozuki. My smaller saws are typically placed across my workbench. Instead, I now have the new holder mounted directly above the workbench. This makes access t ..read more

My latest furniture piece revolves around a Zebrano board and the interesting graphics it exhibits. I had been saving this particular board for a while and was keen on using it in a piece of furniture. The thought came to me to incorporate it as door panels in a small cabinet. As with any figured board, there is usually a limitation in how much yield we can extract from it. The dimensions of the board also contribute to the size of veneers that can be gained from dimensioning and resawing. So, after these steps I was left with two book-matched shop-sawn veneers to use as door panels built up o ..read more

A dilemma that often surfaces is how to hold thin boards vertically to work the edges with a handplane. This is especially a problem if there is no face vise in your workbench or if it is being used for other clamping. This solution incorporates a traditional Birds Mouth stop into a planing board. The Birds Mouth stop is a plug-in accessory and works in conjunction with two wedges. The board to be planed is held tightly vertical using custom wedges. The stop is designed to but against the planing board horizontal stop therefore increasing its strength. The premise of the planing board is to cr ..read more

A recent cabinet on stand inspired by the work of James Krenov and his philosophy. The story behind this particular piece follows. I originally created a similar furniture piece to this a few years ago and looked forward to making another a few months later. Original cabinet on stand designed and created. Door and side panels are veneered with figured Big Leaf maple, interior is soft maple, stand is cherry. The design adheres to the principles of Krenov, construction follows his methods and philosophy, and the aesthetic is clean, minimalist and devoid of ornamentation. This has also become my ..read more