I have been initiated; I broke my first chisel handle.

I was chopping deep mortises with a 1" Lee Valley plastic handled chisel. I was beating the poor thing. While I wasn't using a heavy mallet, I am a 200 pound guy and it was getting enough of a beating that the chisel got quite warm at times which may have softened the plastic. Anyway, about halfway through the fifth mortise, it gave way.

I really wasn't trying to break the handle, honest. I thought it would hold up to the abuse, but between the chopping and levering out the chips, it just didn't make it.  read more »

Here’s something you’ll want to put on your calendar. PBS will be airing a show entitled, “Craft in America: A Journey to the Artists, Origins, and Techniques of American Craft.” It will air in three episodes beginning on May 30. The most notable artist to be featured—as far as woodworkers are concerned—is Sam Maloof. You can see a list of other artists to be featured here. The web site has a cool virtual exhibit that will show you some of the work of the artisans.

To find out when Craft in America airs in your local area, click here.

It's the beginning of a new month and that means it's time for Router Bit of the Month!!  For the entire month of April, 2008 Woodcraft is featuring Whiteside's 1/4" radius Cove and Bead Edge Profiling bit. 

This little decorative edge profiling bit is like getting two bits in one.  The combination of a 1/4" radius cove profile and a 1/4" radius bead give plain old square and chunky edges a beautiful decorative look that's very pleasing to the eye.

The great thing about Whiteside's cove and bead bit is that when you use it in your router table it's like getting four profiles for the price of one.  By running your stock flat against the router table you get an edge with the bead leading the profile, but by standing the stock on edge and running it up against the router table fence you get an decorative edge with the cove leading the profile.

Or, if you're just looking to use the cove or the bead profiles by themselves it's once again a matter of adjusting the height of the bit and moving the fence back and forth.  In a matter of minutes you're making separate profiles from this one combo bit.

If you're interested in ordering this month's Router Bit of the Month from Woodcraft.com just click on the picture:

Congrats to Frank Bylo, this month's winner of a Whiteside router bit!!  If you haven't entered your name for free schwag or just have a comment, question or feedback, drop me a line at mattsbasementworkshop@gmail.com.

For anyone interested, coming up on April 11 & 12, 2008 there's a great little tool demo and woodworking school openhouse going on at J. Miller Handcrafted Furniture in Chicago. The details can be found at Lie-Nielsen.  There will be some great demos by a number of well known woodworkers and I'm planning on checking it out myself.

Don't forget to get your questions in for Hendrik's next visit in April, we're talking lumber defects and how to work around them. 

Dear Woodworker,

In these tough economic times, we at Highland Woodworking would like to do our part to make shopping with us more economical and convenient for our customers. Currently we are providing FREE GROUND SHIPPING on most orders over $100* delivered within the 48 contiguous United States.

As always, with our product offering and staff expertise, our goal is to guide you in making sure that your tool and supply purchases from us meet your expectations and support the success of all your woodworking endeavors.

As Highland Woodworking enters its fourth decade of serving woodworkers across the country, our aim is to provide you with the same personalized service and support as we have been doing since we first entered the woodworking tool business back in 1978.

*FREE GROUND SHIPPING TERMS: Merchandise total must be greater than $100 prior to the addition of any shipping charges for free shipping offer to apply. Free shipping offer excludes items listed in our catalog or on our website with flat rate shipping adders, freight collect shipments, expedited shipments, and special order items. Actual shipping and handling costs are charged for shipments outside the 48 contiguous United States. For orders under $100, please refer to our standard shipping rate table.

Jig plans for cutting circles, adjustable dadoes, and a flush trim jig are included in this week’s Woodsmith Woodworking Seminar Podcast. Bryan Nelson will also give the low down on how to build a hinge mortising jig and a unique router table sled that holds narrow workpieces firmly while routing across end grain.

Check out the Woodsmith Podcast Store for more deals on router bits and the seminar guide.

I see bit of discussion on the web lately of the finer points of hand saw design. I certainly welcome that there is enough interest in the subject to spur such debate, so thought I might throw my hat in the ring, FWIW. 

On canted (tapered blade heights) backsaws:

One thing noticed by many is that on older backsaws, the blade varies in height along it's length - from narrower at the front (toe) to wider at the back (heel). Then, sometime in the mid-1800's, the trend was to a more parallel back - where the cutting edge of the blade is parallel to the back of the saw. In this illustration, the upper saw's cutting edge is parallel to the edge, and the lower is "canted":

If you look closely you can see the blade at the left end of the saw is not as deep as he blade at the back.

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How many times have you overheard somebody make this comment? “Finishing is my least favorite part of woodworking. It’s so hard to figure out the difference between BLO and Danish oil and Teak oil, and all the other brands of varnishes and oils available.” I’ve been woodworking for years and I totally agreed with the comment. But it doesn’t have to be such a mystery.

Doug Hicks has a clear and concise way of explaining it all during this weeks Woodsmith Woodworking Seminar Podcast. Instead of “…apply two coats and let dry,” his directions for finishing with varnishes and oils will make everything crystal clear.

You’ll want to pick up the Seminar Guide at the Woodsmith Podcast Store. It’s full of great information on oils and varnishes.

(Photo courtesy of DesMoinesArtsFestival.org)

The Des Moines Arts Festival, rated among the Top 5 in the U.S., celebrates it 10th year in 2007. Featured will be over 150 premier juried artists and 24 “emerging” artists from the state of Iowa. Artists will exhibit in 14 categories, including wood, metalworks, and sculpture.

I think this is the second year that the festival will be located in Des Moines’ new Gateway Park, just down the street from the August Home Publishing offices. I’m excited about attending this year and so I’ve spent a few hours looking through the galleries of all the artists that will attend. I always get a lot of inspiration for my woodworking hobby from shows like this, and I’ll even go through a phase occasionally where I’ll work only on boxes or chairs for a period of time after I see something I like at a show.

For the last several years the Des Moines Arts Festival has attracted over 200,000 people and it’s also become a great place for young artists, like Matthew Obbink (whose tables are featured in the photo at the top of the page), an Iowa State University student competing in the Emerging Iowa Artists Program category.

It seems like part of being a woodworker is repairing old furniture, whether it’s your own or someone else’s. You’re probably already aware that working on old pieces like that can present some health concerns (lead paint exposure, for example).  As it turns out, there are some other things you should be concerned about when repairing or even moving some antiques.

Discovery News is citing some info from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) about the hazards of heavy metals in antiques.  Old mirrors may have been backed with mercury and tin. And clock pendulums or lamp bases may contain mercury. You know…it’s the stuff you used to play with when you were a kid. It’s since been found to be a health hazard.

I remember a few years ago, my wife and I found an old bottle of mercury that had belonged to my mother-in-law, a nurse.  Being the responsible citizen, I took it to our local township volunteer fire department/police station.  I was essentially told to “get it out of here…we’re not responsible if something happens…you’re on your own.”  Wow!  I explained that I had several children in the home and I didn’t want it in my house.  It didn’t matter.  They insisted I remove it from their premises immediately.  So, I took it home.  I ended up having to call the county hazardous materials department.  They sent a guy out.  Turns out he was an old classmate of mine in high school.  He laughed when I told him what my local fire department told me, but he donned heavy rubber gloves, removed the bottle from the house, wrapped it very carefully, and stored it in a well-insulated, shock-protected styrofoam cooler.

Then there was the local elementary school that had to shut down for a day when a child dropped a mercury thermometer on the front steps while returning from an outdoor science class.  You would have thought there had been a bomb blast with all the emergency vehicles and personnel.

So, the next time you need to move Aunt Sue’s antique clock, exercise caution.