Indholdsfortegnelse for February/March 2025 i Woodsmith

Some elements of building a good project are obvious: beautiful wood, solid joinery, clear plans, and sharp tools come readily to mind. The other day, Erich came in to chat and shared another: light and shadow. He wrote the Atomic bar and Shoji wall cabinet projects. Each of those makes expert use of light and shadow to enhance its appearance. On the bar, thin strips lift the front lattice away from the panel behind it. The resulting shadow lines make the gridwork more dramatic. The shoji cabinet takes a different approach. There are two different widths of lattice strips in front of the translucent shoji paper. After assembly, the offset surfaces catch and reflect light, enhancing the geometric effect. Subtle details like that are a testament to the skill of…

As a relatively niche hobby, it’s always nice to find a new voice on woodworking. The internet has thankfully provided a broad platform to a number of people, but there’s still something viscerally satisfying about a good book. And, the newly released book you see at left has been one that captured my recent attention. JAPANESE JOINERY. The book Japanese Joinery by author and woodworker Dorian Bracht is a fascinating exploration on the art of woodworking, centering around its namesake. Traditional Japanese joinery has a reputation for being intricate and precise. This book will not dissuade you from that opinion, but it will break down and present the joints in a way that’s easier for a Western woodworker to get a grasp on. You won’t find full projects in this…

As old as shoji paper is — the material has an uncanny knack of always appearing young, new, and contemporary. To be clear — shoji paper isn’t. In Japan’s distant past shoji was the name for a tool that was used to obstruct. And as words do, it evolved into the opaquely translucent paper that obstructs details, but not light. What’s not to love about the gauzy, lacy, backdrop that shoji paper panels create for the finger-like lattice that combs through the surrounding light? As wonderful as those elements of the door are, there’s even more charm to consider with this cabinet. CHERRY. Our cabinet is made of cherry. If I had to choose one species of wood to work with for the rest of my time it would be…

Joinery is the most important part of any project — it literally ties things together. And, just like there’s more than one way to skin a cat, there’s even more ways to make a table. This issue’s Great Gear begins with a new tool from Kreg, which presents a quick and easy method of making loose tenon joints. Following that is a series of T-track accessories from Milescraft. While joinery is far from their only function, users of T-track workbenches and tables will find much to appreciate in the selection Milescraft provides, whether it’s joining, planing, sanding, or any other task. KREG MORTISEMATE The first tool to look at is the MortiseMate from Kreg. This nifty tool is a jig that allows you to cut mortises for loose tenon joints…

Whether it’s the initial layout work or the final assembly, there are plenty of times when a project calls for you to haul an armful of tools and hardware over to the workbench. At these points, a quality form of portable storage like the tool tote you see here is a great time-saver. Not only does it make for more efficient trips across the shop, but it also corrals bottles of glue, common sizes of screws, rolls of tape, pencils, and a bevy of other items that often end up strewn haphazardly around as you work. PINE & WALNUT. While hardwood is the go-to choice for many of our projects, a softwood like yellow pine is better for a tote such as this. Pine offers beautifully figured grain, and, despite…

The mention of hand tools inspires visions of finely crafted planes or dovetail saws. Hand tools encompass a broad range of shop necessities. Not all of them are pricey works of art. In my shop, a small set of files and rasps are trusty sidekicks to create complex shapes. RASPS & FILES. The overall shape of rasps and files are similar. The shape of the cutting surfaces sets them apart. Rasps have individual teeth punched into the surface. The cutting edges of files are linear and run diagonally across the blade. I would argue that having both types of tools are important for shaping a workpiece well. I don’t woodwork to save time, but my shop time is precious and I would rather avoid fruitless effort. When I need to…

As libation-oriented basement furniture from the 1950s goes, the homage you see to the right has a lot going for it. First, by comparison to the bars of the past that were built into the room with dimensional lumber and dressed with grass mats; it’s light and unattached to the room it resides in. Mobility is a good thing. Second — no grass mats. That’s not to say there isn’t a place for the Tiki genre of party rooms, just not here. That’s enough from the history side of things — let’s take a closer look at this bar. GOOD WOOD. Starting at the top we’ve got nicely contrasting thick African mahogany that’s the gentle yet firm focal point of the bar. The case parts are plywood, veneered with African…

Seating usually falls into the relaxing sort (easy chair) or the purposeful sort (dining or office). I believe there’s an overlooked third category: transitional. It’s the place where you put your shoes on before heading out the door or where you get dressed in the morning. This bench aims to fill in those gaps. In-between places usually have several activities going on at one time. So if the seating can help meet those needs as well, all the better. Below the cushion, three drawers corral necessities and provide some organization, as you can see in the photo below. This hybrid design opens up several places for this bench in a home: at the door, tucked below a window in a bedroom, or even as bonus seating for company. With its…

The standard Woodsmith method for creating frame and panel assemblies has been stub tenon and groove joinery. In this approach, the thickness of the plywood panel drives the size of the groove and the matching stub tenons. I’ve been taking that process one step further. Why not use plywood splines instead of a separate step to make stub tenons? The concept is similar to loose tenons or biscuits. Related to this, I’ve noticed that MDF core plywood measures very close to ¼". This means you can form the groove in a single pass with a dado blade, or in my preference, a slot cutter in the router table. There’s another advantage lurking here. Since you don’t need to create an integral stub tenon, sizing parts is simpler. They’re based on…