Welcome to the 2024 edition of the Popular Woodworking gift guide! This year the gift guide is bigger and better than ever, packed with great gift ideas for tools, accessories, and clothing for the woodworker in your life. Know your price point? Jump right in below, or keep scrolling if you’re just browsing for ideas….

I love mysteries that involve really old wood. There’s an old farm in Mannheim, Pa., that – like so many farms today – saw its last farming days years ago. The homesteads have been converted to B&Bs, while the old 1893 barn was cleared out, renovated, and is now used as a rental hall for…

Being a first-time lathe buyer is a daunting task. How big of lathe do you really need? How powerful should it be? What features should you be looking at? Thankfully Logan is here to take some of the mystery out of the process and help you choose which lathe is perfect for your needs.

Build a tool chest that’s worthy of your tools. Customize it to fit exactly the tools you want. Project #2115 • Skill Level: Intermediate • Time: 4 days • Cost: $250 I have a confession. I like nice tools. There’s something about boutique tool makers that I love. I’m guessing it’s the combination of high-quality…

I make a lot of drawers in my shop and got tired of fiddling with squares and pinch rods to square up the boxes during assembly. I decided to build a squaring frame to make the job go much quicker. It’s really nothing more than an accurate 90° corner against which I can press the…

After a woodworking course, this student has tools, a chest – and friends. In spring 2016 I took my first woodworking course, an “Introduction to Hand Tool Woodworking.” The class promised to teach students to fix up some tools and build a tool chest – but I learned more than that. Mike Siemsen, of “The…

Basic steps for beautiful joints. Dovetails. They get put on a pedestal as a sign of quality. And while not every project or furniture style warrants them, I enjoy sitting down, listening to an audiobook, and cutting them by hand. Once you break down dovetails into a series of basic steps, I think you’ll find…

After detailing the design approach and layout in my last entry, I moved on to building the actual components for my garage post-shelf system. This phase involved crafting and installing brackets that would not only securely clamp onto the steel columns but also support a functional, sturdy shelving solution. To begin making the 2×4 brackets,…

By hand or power? With a spring joint or not? One of the most important joints in woodworking is the edge joint. Without it, our projects would look like they had been built from narrow popsicle sticks. The joint bewilders many amateur woodworkers – perhaps because there are so many ways to go about it….

Like any table saw rip fence, mine needs occasional realignment to the blade. Because my miter gauge slots are aligned parallel to the blade, I just set my fence parallel to the right-hand slot. However, instead of mounting a dial indicator on a miter gauge to check the fence alignment, I made a gauge board…

From the Archives: Dale Nish, one of the principal architects of the turning revival, shares some turning techniques. Birdhouse Christmas ornaments have become very popular the last few years, and they are excellent gifts for family and friends. Back in 1993, I saw a birdhouse ornament made by Ray Huskey from Gatlinburg, Tenn. I was…

We’re interviewing makers from across the country. Today we’re featuring Barry Dima, a woodworker from North Dakota. How did you get started woodworking? Who were your mentors? My dad was Norm Abrams devotee and my mom’s dad was a jack of all trades, so tools and wood were always in the air for me growing…

Tool:Mini-LIGNO DX/C Shop Now  Manufacturer: Lignomat MSRP: $199 (standard meter without add-ons) One of the hardest things for me to explain as a woodworking instructor is the importance of knowing the moisture content of the wood you’re working with. As soon as you start working with rough-sawn material, or drying your own lumber, a quality…

On this week’s episode of the ShopNotes Podcast, Phil, Logan, and John are discussing meat organization, Swedish stoves, and maybe a little woodworking too. Thank you to our show sponsor Epilog Laser, quickly and easily customize your projects for added beauty and value. Learn more at: EpilogLaser.com Find all of the ShopNotes podcast episodes here.

It feels so odd, to be sitting here working on the December issue of PW, because it’s the middle of August and in the mid-90’s. But, alas, that’s how far ahead the magazine world runs. As you’re reading this, I’m guessing it’s October or November, with the holiday season looming. The years that I’ve put…

Micro fiber cloth picks up tiny dust particles as well as, if not better than, a tack cloth. Unlike a tack cloth, micro fiber cloths are washable and reusable. Rockler sells Norton’s micro fiber finishing cloth for $15, but any micro fiber cloth will work, as long as it has hemmed edges. -Kevin Southwick

Like many home woodshops in North America, mine is set up in a two-car garage. Similar to other suburban homes, our garage has two steel columns in the middle, supporting the bedrooms above. These load-bearing round steel posts, common in ranch-style and many other one-family houses, are often found in garages, basements, and unfinished spaces….