In our shops, space is at a premium. We need to set tools, workbenches, lumber storage… the works, and fit that into the limited amount of space in our shops.

One of the things that often gets overlooked is a place to assemble those projects. Whether you choose to go minimalist by assembling on the floor, build a snazzy workbench with all the bells and whistles or go for a more elegant solution, we all have the same issues that need to be addressed.

This week, tell us about your assembly table situation. Do you have it all figured out, or do you make do with what you have?

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While you may not think it’s true, just about everyone is an avid reader.  Sure, maybe you aren’t leafing through Faulkner, Shakespeare or Poe… but woodworkers have collections of woodworking magazines and books, wannabe chefs have their cookbooks, gear heads have their auto repair manuals…

So, needless to day, one of the most important pieces of furniture in any house is a bookcase – somewhere to stash all those books!  Book cases can run the gamut from fancy to plain, difficult to build or easy afternoon projects… take your pick.

At least one of these shelves – the bottom one – is typically fixed in place. After all, a bookcase is typically a large box that needs all four sides and a back.  The other shelves are usually adjustable to allow different sizes of books – tall photo albums vs. paperback novels.

This week’s question – when you build a bookcase, what kind of system do you use for making the adjustable support system for these movable shelves?

There are so many different kinds of woodworking out there. Cabinetry. Scroll sawing. Furniture making. And turning…

Turning… the spinning vortex that sucks woodworkers into it. I have heard many woodworkers say that they may just go out to the shop to futz around for a little while, and seven hours later, their family considers sending out a search-and-rescue team to look for them.

This week, tell us if you have ever turned a project, and what your level of interest is.

They are a relatively new joinery method, invented by the Lamello company in the 1950′s and used extensively in post-war European cabinet shops. It crossed The Pond in the 1970′s and was adopted in North American production shops shortly after.

And, once Norm Abram started using one in the New Yankee Workshop, well, everyone wanted to get their hands on one.

The biscuit – or plate – jointer did speed the process of joining two boards together. Whether connecting two pieces of plywood, solid wood, MDF… or whatever other material you may be working with… the biscuit joint has proven to be a versatile way of connecting boards.

However, joint test data suggests that for nearly all joints, the biscuit is probably one of the weakest joinery methods available. So, this week, how do you feel about the biscuit joint? Super strong and versatile shop hero, or gimmicky joint with little more strength than a butt joint?

While frameless (European) cabinet construction is growing in popularity, the face frame cabinet is still a popular building method.

While it does take some extra time and involves extra material, the face frame offers extra strength to the assembly, can be used to square a cabinet, allows an easy way to scribe a cabinet to fit a wall and can be decorative to boot.

There are many methods woodworkers can use to join the elements of the face frame together.  Some are traditional, others are ultra modern.  Some take very little time, others can be quite time consuming.

So, this week, I want to know if you build cabinets with face frames, and just how you join the elements together…

I am coming into the home stretch on the piece for my friend’s daughter. The piece has been signed, the finish is going on and now there’s just a few details to handle before I ship to out to Yuma.

While this has been going on, I have been purposely avoiding starting a new project. Do I not have one on my list of things to do? Of course I do, but because this is a project that a client is asking for, I have to push through to ensure it is totally complete.

However, this isn’t normally how I do things. There has been many times that I just begin another one – or two – while in the midst of things.

This week, tell us how you usually work on projects. It is one at a time all the time, or do you find yourself with several irons in the fire?


 

For nearly 20 years, I would race to the TV on Saturday afternoons, turn on the local PBS station, and watch Norm Abram do his stuff on the New Yankee Workshop. Now that was a heck of a woodworking show. There were all sorts of projects being built in a very-well appointed shop, and Norm’s voice was just so smooth.

The one thing that puzzled me about Norm was that he wore a big old honkin’ tool belt while he worked in the shop. The belt held all kinds of useful stuff – his tape measure, a combination square, a pencil and some other handy tools. But, the tool belt is more of the mark of the carpenter, working away from a bench and tool storage and needing those tools at hand, instead of – say – coming down from the roof to grab them.

Today, let us know what you think about tool belts for woodworkers in their shops.  Do you use one, or are they just overkill for a woodworker?