Van racking is basically just trim carpentry with loads of scribes, using elements of North American face frame construction and European box systems of cabinet making. But it’s also an exercise in extreme organization. Getting it right can save you time and energy on the jobsite—both of which lead to increased productivity and profits. Read the full article…
(With Keith Mathewson and Tom Brewer)
Last summer, while Tom Brewer and I were doing Roadshows in Washington state, we stopped by and visited with Keith Mathewson at his shop in Seattle. Keith specializes in custom woodworking, and he shares his shop with a few like-minded woodworkers. Everything that goes out the door of Seattle Fine Woodworking is a one-of-a-kind custom creation. Read the full article…
Tape measures. There are so many types, yet don’t they all do the same thing?
Justus Roe & Sons began manufacturing steel tape measures in 1865. A patent filed on July 14, 1868 by Alvin J. Fellows of New Haven, Connecticut brought an “Improvement in Tape Measures”—a spring-powered retracting mechanism. The spring-powered tape measure, which we’re all so familiar with, gained popularity in the 1900s, when it started knocking folding rules off the work site. Read the full article…
I’ve just learned of two new accessories that I couldn’t wait to tell TiC readers about. The first is not just a tool bag but the Mother of all tool bags: From Occidental Leather, meet “The Doctor.” And from Festool, check out a systainer First Aid Kit! Read the full article…
Started in a garage by Herbert Tautz in 1919, and known for producing the first combination table saw/joiner, as well as The Unisaw, Delta Tools was recently sold by Stanley Black & Decker to Chang Type Industrial Co. of Taiwan, manufacturer of power tools for DeWalt, Black & Decker, Craftsman, and Ryobi. The tools will continue to be produced in the U.S. To learn more, read on! Read the full article…
I was excited to work with the new Bosch Axial Glide “folding” miter saw (AGS), especially since I’m still enjoying a prosperous relationship with its older brother—the 5412. With an innovative articulating arm straight out of a transformers movie, the neato factor of this unit alone has stirred more interest in carpentry circles than Obama-Care has in rest homes. Read the full article…
Most of my work is at the high-end of the New England custom home market. For the jobs I do, in Boston brownstones that even today sell for several million dollars, there are no off-the-shelf parts—everything is completely custom, or an exact reproduction of work done in the 18th or 19th centuries. Read the full article…
I had a Roadshow meeting at Festool a few months ago, and couldn’t help but take a peek around their workshop. They usually have something new and exciting going on, a new tool or accessory they’re playing with. I was pretty surprised to find a bunch of new things. Read the full article…
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been whining about Bosch’s Angle Finder for years. I mean, I even whined during my presentations at JLC Live shows: “How come the ‘Hold’ button doesn’t hold anything when you press it!?”
But the folks at Bosch must have been listening because they’ve improved their Angle Finder—finally! And while they haven’t done everything I would have liked (it would be nice if they’d put a key pad right on the tool, so you could just key in the crown molding spring angle), they have taken the tool to the next level. Read the full article…
As a finish carpenter, I have gone through god-knows how many shims in my career, and I have a feeling I’m going to need a few more in the years ahead. Read the full article…
As a finish carpenter, I have gone through god-knows how many shims in my career, and I have a feeling I’m going to need a few more in the years ahead. Read the full article…
Ever wish you had a work table that could handle all your jobs?
When I first started out over fifteen years ago, I would use anything I could find as a table. I’d lay plywood on the ground, I’d set plywood on wood blocks, and, finally, I grew up enough to use sawhorses. But most of the time my “table” was never big enough for the project I was working on. And it was never efficient. Read the full article…
There was a time—not too long ago, really—when carpenters approached problems differently than they do today, and the solutions they conceived were different, too. Some readers might suspect I’m talking about raked crown on an open pediment, but that’s a rare problem encountered in only a few homes. Read the full article…
On the only cold, rainy day of the month so far, I made the trip “across the line” to Bellingham, Washington to attend a Katz Roadshow event at a local builder supply store, Builder’s Alliance. I spent the better part of the day in an outdoor makeshift meeting room, surrounded by lifts of plywood and lumber stacked twenty feet high. It was cold, but we were covered and somewhat protected from the wind—you see, I had my Kilt on, and that meant bare legs, brrrr. Fortunately, the show more than made up for the chilly weather. Read the full article…