Today's "Try it Tuesday" is the Veritas Jointer Fence. A great accessory for the hand plane user to help get nice square edges on your stock. Usable with almost all of the bench planes, it attaches to the body via two, strong rare earth magnets. Once attached to a plane, making square edges is a breeze and easily repeatable. Saving you time and of course aggravation when squaring up a stock's edge. I've used mine for years now and have never had a problem with it. The model featured in...

We wrap up our discussion of the bench planes today with a discussion about Smoothing Planes. Next to the Jack Planes, the smoothers are probably one of the more common planes in the shop. In the Stanley Numbering System, the smoothers are the lowest numbers, 1-4. But you can easily recognize them by their smaller size, as they're usually no longer than 9-1/2 inches in length and 2 inches wide for a model like the No.4. This is also true for the bevel-up versions of smoothers. While I prefer...

Today's "Try it Tuesday" is a look at Bob Lang's "Woodworker's Guide To Sketchup". A really amazing tutorial covering just about every aspect of Google's Sketchup 3D modeling system that a woodworker would need to create stunning and detailed drawings for their next project. Bob is a great teacher, author and of course woodworker. Bob has taken it upon himself to learn as much about Sketchup as humanly possible, and for the past couple of years has been teaching woodworkers how to get the...

Long before the summer hiatus this year you might remember our last project build was a Maple Child's Dresser for a client and family friend. It was one of four pieces I was asked to build for their daughter's room. Today we're getting started with the first of a four part series that covers the construction of the next two pieces, a pair of matching Maple Bookcases with adjustable shelves. The construction is straight forward and the design is loosely based on a Shaker "style" bookcase....

With the side panels glued up and grooved to recess our adjustable shelf hardware it's time to move on to the next part of the Maple Kid's Bookcase. In today's episode we cut and prep the fixed shelves then attach them, along with the top rails, to the side panels from Part 1. My method for this construction process is to use Pocket Hole Joinery. They're strong enough to hold up to the wear and tear the bookcase will endure and make the construction process very simple. At the end of the...

In part 3 of the Kid's Bookcase construction we start the final assembly. At this point all the components are cut to their final dimensions and we've done our dry fits to make sure everything is going to come together without a hitch. While I chose to use pockethole joinery to bring everything together, we'll talk about our OPTIONS for possible joinery in your project.

Another Woodworking in America has come and gone and it's left a lasting impression. Not just on me but everybody I've talked with who attended. This is like no other woodworking show out there right now. It's not about the vendors, it's not about the lecturers, it's all about the people attending. And I'm willing to admit I was wrong about my fears of the show becoming too big too fast. Even with the introduction of power tool classes and the combining of design seminars with the handtool...

Let's take one more trip back to Woodworking in America 2010 and I'll share with you a few more classes I attended as part of this ongoing amazing experience. I eluded to the "mourning phase" after leaving the show and coming down off my woodworking high as we drove away. That mourning isn't quite what it was a week ago, but I still have moments where I forget I'm not more than a classroom away from one of my many new friends. Hopefully you can make it next year, same location...so you can...

In today's episode we get a look at the finished Kid's Maple Bookcase. When I originally recorded the footage I was literally minutes away from the clients picking it up, so I may have skipped over some details you'd like to know more about. But I did cover as many of the final details as I could. The finish I chose for the bookcase was a combination of Amber Shellac to help match the color of existing pieces the client had already, and then a final top coat of Water based Arm-R-Seal by...

If you have any questions from today's episode or any from the first 3 episodes of this series. Don't hesitate to drop me a line "EMAIL ME". Some of you already have, and I'll be addressing those questions in next week's episode where we'll devote the entire episode to answering those questions. The Kid's Maple Bookcase project is all wrapped up now and we're about to move onto something new. But before we do, I wanted to answer some questions a few of you had that came up along the way. As...

I can't remember the last time I did any kind of shop tour in my current basement workshop, so after much prodding by a few of you (especially you John!!!) I decided it was time to invite all of you down for a look around. Really there's not a lot to look at that you haven't already seen, but I figured while you're all here I might as well explain a little bit about where and what I have in the shop. Coincidentally timed with this tour (completely unplanned I swear!) is the introduction of a...

It's been a long time in the making and that has nothing to do with the kit itself! My Brese J-Style Small Smoother has finally been completed and is making the most amazing shavings a plane has ever taken in the basement workshop. For those of you who've heard me talk about this project on Wood Talk Online Radio you know it's been an ongoing laugh each and everytime it's been discussed. Well the laughing is over and the tears of joy are streaking my face. With the completion of the small...

In this episode we'll wrap up the final assembly of this amazing little smoother plane and I'll explain the right way to do it, while also explaining WHAT I ended up doing instead. Of course luckily in the end it all came together and works just as well and amazingly as I had hoped and dreamed it would! If you're not familiar with Ron Brese and his amazingly beautiful hand planes you really need to take a look for yourself. They're not just gorgeous to look at, but the feeling you have when...

It's official! Five years of Matt's Basement Workshop Podcast and it's still going strong. I've talked before about the beginnings of the show so there's no need to re-hash it again...but you're welcome to ask me about it any time! In today's episode we have a bit of catching up to do from the long holiday hiatus. One of the big things I wanted to share is news that I FINALLY completed the migration of ALL the archived episodes. We now have everything from EPISODE ONE up to this post on one...

It's time to get back to some serious content...or at least as close as I'll come to it. Today we start the construction of the Walnut Buffet. This is part 1 of a multi-part series and it begins with the rough construction of the buffet's body. The majority of components for this project were constructed from a premium walnut plywood with its edges wrapped by solid walnut stock. The beauty of working with a premium plywood of any species is how well it cuts, how well it can be machined...

In the second part of the construction of our friend's Walnut Buffet we've completed the construction of the carcass that makes up the majority of the project. From this point forward it's now a matter of adding pieces of the structural details. The dividers between the doors and drawers, the boxes for the drawers, the drawer fronts and the doors themselves. But before we get into all of those components, I want to add the solid walnut pieces that cover the exposed plys of our premium walnut...

In today's episode we start construction of the doors. But before we can really get into it, I need to cut and install the horizontal dividers between the drawers and doors. For this part of the project I chose pocket hole joinery. For me, it was a perfect joinery technique for a piece that was less structural and more design. Speaking of pocket hole joinery, in the second half of today's show I wanted to share with you some information about getting the best results from pocket hole joinery...

Today we're installing the doors on the Walnut Buffet. The design requires inset doors, which can be very tricky to get placed correctly for an uniform reveal on all four edges. Thankfully I chose European style hinges for the hardware. The benefit of these style hinges vs a traditional pin version is the built in adjusters which make achieving an uniform revel as easy as turning a screw or two. But before we get to the hinge installation we need to trim and adjust the solid wood wraps on the...

We're nearing the end of the Walnut Buffet build. Just a couple more episodes and we're done. If you have any questions so far about some aspect of the construction, drop me a line EMAIL YOUR QUESTION or leave a comment in today's shownotes. Today I'm showing you how I constructed the drawer boxes for the two large drawers. Drawer box construction is really simple. At the heart of it, it's nothing more than assembling an open topped box that slides into an opening. The big question on my mind...

We're almost done with the construction of the Walnut Buffet, only a couple more episodes and this series will be wrapped up. If you have any questions about what I've covered so far make sure to send me an EMAIL or leave a comment in the shownotes. I'm planning on doing a followup show to answer any you have. In today's episode we're building the base for the buffet. It was a simple construction, 3 pieces in all. One long span down 2/3rds the length of the bottom and butted at either end by...

On today's show we're wrapping up the walnut buffet build. Really there's not much more to discuss other than the finishing process, and how and why I chose to roll my nicely laid out mitered edges on the top (here's a hint, sharp edges won't just bite you when you bump into them. They also like to break off too). And then there was that whole moment where the buffet fell 3 feet off the sawhorses and came smashing down onto the workshop's concrete floor. What, you didn't hear about that? With...

Maybe I'm getting a little kit crazy, but I've built my second hand plane from a kit and I'm loving it. In today's episode I'm showing off my new Hock Shoulder Plane that I built a few weeks ago. It's a great way to spend some time in the shop and have something you'll use over and over on a variety of projects. And on top of it, it wasn't very difficult. The instructions are easy to follow and everything you need to complete it (except the glue) is included. It's a great project for...

Today we're starting a new build series on the show. Over the next couple of weeks we'll be covering the construction of an entire wall or two of book shelves. This is a repeat client for me and I'm more than happy to fill their house with more of my projects. In fact, the shelves I'm building are a continuation of existing shelves I built for them several years ago. So I'm very familiar with the design already, which if you had to put a label on it, would probably be considered modern with...

In today's episode we continue the construction of the "Walls of shelves" for my client by routing the dadoes for the fixed shelves and then ripping the sides to size. Also we'll cut the fixed shelves and create the blind rabbet joint that not only attaches the top fixed shelf to the sides, but will help to add some rigidity and strength to it. Once this is all done, we're about halfway through the construction phase and we can begin to move into the assembly of the shelves next week. In the...