Weekly Editorial

  • Got You Perfectly Covered

    As you may expect, I get a ton of woodworking questions sent my way. And I am happy to answer them when I can, and get the answer from other woodworking experts when I can’t. But can you guess the topic that generates more questions than any other? It’s finishing … I easily get twice as many questions about finishing than any other topic.

  • Creativity on Both Sides of the Brain

    As I write this editorial, it is August 13. (Some of you may have noticed that you are also receiving this eZine on that same date … did I say I was great at planning ahead?) According to some of those “wacky holidays” websites, it is also Left Hander’s Day.

  • It’s Good to be Home!

    While taking in the sights and sounds of the 2013 Association of Woodworking & Furnishings Suppliers show (AWFS), I also got to enjoy the “dry heat” of Las Vegas, Nevada. The show was a very good one ― although not the huge event it was in years gone by. Now, I am guessing that many of you would have liked to have walked the halls and looked at the latest and greatest woodworking gear and gizmos, but for many sound reasons ― like avoiding the 107-degree heat ― you could not be there. Well, you are in luck!

  • It’s Show Time!

    Every summer all the cool kids in the woodworking world get together for a big woodworking trade show somewhere or another. This year, it is the AWFS [Association of Woodworking and Furnishings Suppliers®] in Las Vegas, and your intrepid woodworking editor will be there with bells on. (The bells are how my staff keeps track of me — I am easily distracted and tend to get lost.)

  • Pushing Your Limits

    Last time out, I asked all of you which woodworking style rang your bell, and it did not take long before my email bell was chiming away. As usual, you were free with your opinions: you can peruse a sampling on the Feedback page. While the variety of answers is no surprise, it is inspiring.

  • Which Style is Yours?

    Somehow I got on a clothing email list called “Your Style.” Now, I don’t want to be hypercritical, but none of the clothes that I’ve seen there actually are my style (such as it is), and most of them don’t look like they’d fit in any case. It makes you wonder why they send me the email at all. But in the convoluted workings of my mind, it did spark another question that I have for you all. What style of woodworking do you find the most pleasing?

  • Outdoor Woodworking

    It’s warming up outside, and I’ve got a couple of hot projects on my list of things to build. The first is a stand for my little gas grill. I live alone and often grill my dinner out on my deck during the short summer season. My kids bought me a really small gas grill that is perfect for those gastronomic episodes — but it needs a stand to get it up to counter height. That’s number one. The second is a picnic table.

  • Woodworkers Who Lend a Helping Hand

    In this issue’s Industry Interview, Chris Marshall profiles a program from Craftsman Tools wherein woodworkers use their skills and tools to help out people in need. Woodworker’s Journal often donates tools used in our magazine’s tool tests to Habitat for Humanity. Woodworkers, it goes without saying (but I’ll say it anyway), are good people.

  • Relief at Last

    This has been — and I say this without the least bit of reservation — the most miserable, drawn-out, bone-chilling, mind-numbing and just plain icky winter I have experienced in my 57 years on this planet. Every time it looked like we were done with the snow and ice, we were sucker punched to the tune of 8 inches of wet, heavy snow. Spring could just not beat the winter back.

  • Staying Power

    Last time out, I asked you, the eZine faithful, what was the oldest tool you had lying around in your shop. I thought to myself, “Self, I bet they have a few oldsters lying around.”