Popular Woodworking Editors' Blog

Make plans to be in Cincinnati on May 16-17, 2009, for a free woodworking show at our offices here at Popular Woodworking and Woodworking Magazine.

Lie-Nielsen Toolworks' traveling Hand Tool Event is coming to Cincinnati. There will be free demos, tours of our shop and plenty of time to ask questions about setting up and using hand tools.

In addition to Lie-Nielsen, there are several other toolmakers planning on exhibiting at the show, including:

John Economaki of Bridge City Tools. See the Jointmaker Pro (which we awarded a Best New Tool of 2008 award) in action.

Ron Hock of Hock Tools. Ron is a long-time bladesmith who is extremely knowledgeable about steels and sharpening. Ask him about his forthcoming book on sharpening tools.

Kevin Drake of Glen-Drake Tool Works. Kevin builds my favorite marking gauge of all time (the Tite-Mark), plus other thoughtful tools, including chisel hammers, plane hammers and the thought-provoking double-handled dovetail saw.

Ron Brese of Brese Planes. Ron makes incredible infill handplanes at down-to-earth prices. If you're in the market for an infill, he's should definitely be on your short list.

Bob Zajicek of Czeck Edge Hand Tool will be showing off his wares. He makes fantastic marking knives, awls and other tools.

Jameel Abraham of Benchcrafted will be showing his awesome wagon vise, plus I hear he has a new product in the works that is very interesting.

And the entire magazine staff will be there. Senior Editor Glen D. Huey will be demonstrating how to hand cut dovetails (pins-first). Senior Editor Robert W. Lang will be demonstrating how to cut through-mortises. And Managing Editor Megan Fitzpatrick will be reciting bawdy early modern poems on the hour.

I'll be there, too, showing off drawboring, advanced nailing (yes, it exists), sharpening, sawing, stock preparation and running at the mouth (my best skill).

As a bonus, we'll have some great workbenches there for you to examine and use. Lie-Nielsen Toolworks is bringing some of its benches. Plus there will be Glen's Shaker workbench, Bob's modern workbench and my Roubo. And if Megan gets her act together, you'll be able to see her new bench that we're helping design that uses a very unusual material.

Be sure to bring the family. We're one block from the area's biggest upscale mall. And Cincinnati has lots of excellent attractions (Megan has written about them here), good watering holes and great restaurants (I'll follow up with my favorite list in a couple weeks).

You don't have to register. Just show up. The hours are noon-6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday; admission is free. So set your GPS for 4700 E. Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, OH, 45236. Or use this handy Google map to plan your trip. We hope you can make it.

— Christopher Schwarz

One of the best things about this job is that every week, mysterious boxes arrive and we get to open them. Inside we usually discover some of the newest and coolest tools about to hit the market; then we get to run into the shop and play with them, and write about them for you. But a box that arrived last week from John Economaki at Bridge City held something even better (at least to my childlike mind) – “Squiggle Wood.”  

This 6" piece of 3/8"-thick beech (I think it’s beech) has a series of 88 evenly spaced alternating kerfs (44 on each side), that allows it to bend in both directions, and side to side (to a point). I don’t know that it has an intended use, but it’s ideal for rapping people on the head when they’re late with stories. And really, like my old Slinky, it’s just entertaining (both the Squiggle Wood and thwacking my fellow editors).

John cut this little piece of fun on the new Jointmaker Pro, a precision machine that uses an upside-down Japanese handsaw blade to make unparalleled glass-smooth cuts for joinery dovetails and more. Plus, it’s virtually dust-free and whisper quiet. We wrote about it in earlier blog posts, which you can read here. Even more fun, however, is to visit YouTube and watch the videos John posted of Squiggle Wood in action (no really, it’s in action).

I've been trying to come up with uses for Squiggle Wood, in addition to the aforementioned sap. A bit longer piece could make a nice bracelet. Or it could be the veneer substrate for a round dollhouse tabletop. Or...what do you think? The person who posts the best idea below (by Oct. 15) will win this piece of Squiggle Wood. My fellow editors will be happy to see it go.

– Megan Fitzpatrick

John Economaki from Bridge City Tools is in our shop today before he demonstrates his new Jointmaker Pro saw to about 60 of our readers. As we were setting up the saw we took a few test cuts.

The walnut above is so smooth it's hard to describe. It reflects light. The scratches indicate one stroke with the saw. There is no roughness to the end grain at all. All I could say was, "Wow."

Here are two more photos. First the joint together:

Then the joint apart:

Here's the best part: These are coffee stirring sticks from the Starbucks we stopped at on the way back to the office after a Japanese lunch (yum). And, by the by, these joints were cut by eye – no measuring.

We'll have more photos tomorrow, I'm sure.

— Christopher Schwarz