John Sindelar stands in front of a door at the back of his thriving cabinet and millwork shop in Edwardsburg, Mich. The door opens into blackness and Sindelar turns around for a moment before entering.

“This room,” he says with a sly grin, “is like church to me.”

He flips on the light and walks into the small paneled room. The room is filled with antique tools. No, strike that last sentence. The room is filled with tools that you never thought existed or that you would see in person. Tools that you have only heard about, seen in auction catalogs or drooled over in Sandor Nagyszalanczy’s books “The Art of Fine Tools” or “Tools Rare and Ingenious” (Taunton).

And not just a few tools. Hundreds and hundreds of vintage tools lined up on tables, shelves and a display case made from a harness for an elephant. Few of the tools are under glass. In addition to the tools, there are two comfortable chairs against one wall and under a panel of stained glass. And that is a good thing because I have to sit down.

This is just one of the five rooms filled with tools. Sindelar has so many tools (“Probably, tens of thousands,” he guesses) that he keeps a significant number in storage. In one adjoining room there is a wheelbarrow filled with a stack of plow planes. In another room there’s a wall of rare infill miter planes. In the front room – the biggest room – the walls are lined with vintage workbenches. Tools cover the benches, axes cover the walls, the floor is covered in boxes (that are filled with tools).

That this collection exists is remarkable. Getting to see it is something else. And what Sindelar has planned for it just might change your vacation plans someday. Sindelar is actively making plans to build a 30,000-square-foot public museum and woodworking school that will show off his collection and teach woodworking skills.

He has three locations in mind – near Williamsburg, Va., Harrisburg, Pa., or perhaps in North Carolina. He sketched up plans for the building, which would look like a French castle, and turned them over to an architect to develop. He wants the museum open for business by 2010. Opening a tool museum on this scale sounds like an unlikely feat for anyone. But once you meet Sindelar and hear his story, you are unlikely to doubt that it could happen.

Download a short slideshow tour of the collection:

SindelarSlideshow5.pdf (1.71 MB)

— Christopher Schwarz

As a child, nothing put me to sleep faster than one of my father's slideshows. Sure, they were of his fascinating time in Vietnam, but there's something about a couch, a darkened room and a root beer that would put me under fast.

So with that caveat, I've prepared a 3-1/2-minute slideshow of the construction process for the Holtzapffel Workbench, which will be the cover project for the fall issue of Woodworking Magazine. There's no audio to the slideshow or plans available yet, but it is a fair overview of how this bench goes together.

The slideshow is in pdf format, so just about anyone should be able to view it. Out of a possible five Ambien, I'll give this slideshow a "four."

— Christopher Schwarz

Good news: The next issue of Woodworking Magazine goes on sale on July 24. The new issue will be bigger than the last seven issues – 48 pages instead of 36 – and will be available in both printed and digital versions through our web site.

However, this new Autumn 2007 issue will not be available at newsstands. The only place you'll be able to purchase the issue is through our secure server on our web site. We've decided to forego newsstand distribution for the new issue for a variety of reasons, including the recent poor newsstand sales of all magazines and the general wastefulness of the process (all the unsold copies are thrown in the dumpster).  

Here are the details on pricing and availability: Starting on July 24, you will have two options for buying the new issue. For $6, you will be able to instantly download an enhanced pdf version of the magazine. This enhanced pdf will be much like the pdfs on our CDs, which have links embedded in the stories that take you to expanded content on our blog, web site or on other outside sites. The digital version will feature a full-color cover and the same rich sepia-toned photos inside.

For $8, you will be able to purchase a printed copy of the issue and it will be mailed to your house directly from our warehouse in Wisconsin. The printed version will be on heavy #70-pound paper stock and will be true black and white throughout.

I know that many of you are wondering if we will be offering subscriptions to Woodworking Magazine in the near future. The honest answer is that we don't know yet. Our circulation and accounting analysts are still preparing a report. Theirs is a difficult task because our company has never published a magazine like this one, and the playing field is a crowded one. I can say that our executives will be paying close attention to how this new issue sells. So your continued support of the magazine is appreciated and might even sway their decision.

Below is the important stuff: The stories we're working on right now for the issue.

The Holtzapffel Cabinetmaker's Workbench
Author: Christopher Schwarz
In 1875, when the world was balanced on a precipice with its rural past behind it and the modern age spread before it, this bench was published in an English book: “Holtzapffel’s Construction, Action and Application of Cutting Tools Volume II” by Charles Holtzapffel. It’s a tremendous book even today and is crammed with details on working wood and metal with both hand and power tools.

The Holtzapffel workbench is the third archaic workbench that I’ve built and put to use in a modern shop. Each of the three benches had a deep connection to the culture that developed it. The bench from A.J. Roubo’s 18th-century books is as French as béarnaise, strong coffee and berets. The bench from Peter Nicholson’s 19th-century “Mechanical Exercises” is entirely British. The only other place this English bench shows up with any regularity is in the Colonies.

The Holtzapffel is a cultural mongrel. The Holtzapffels were Germans who settled in England. And the bench has features of both cultures that, in my opinion, create a bench that is outstanding for cabinetmaking.

Wall-mounted Tool Rack
Author: Robert Lang
One of the most efficient ways to work at a bench is to have all your common tools in a rack right in front of and above your bench. We've built a number of designs, all of them simple and taking no more than a couple hours to build and mount. The trick is in knowing how to space the elements of the rack to accommodate the widest variety of measuring, marking and cutting tools.

Tool Review: Flush-cutting Saws
Author: Glen Huey
Flush-cutting saws allow you to trim pegs, wedges and through-tenons without marring the surrounding work. Well, that's the theory, at least. Some of these saws stink. Some are nutty expensive (more than $100), and some seem a good balance of price and performance. We bring in half a dozen of the best examples we can find and give them a workout.

Tool Techniques: Cutting Flush
Author: Glen Huey
There are a wide variety of ways to trim pegs, wedges and tenons flush to your work, from a trim router with a planing bit, a special saw, a chisel and a gouge. We examine all the methods and find the ones that require the least set-up and the best chance of success.

Become a Better Borer
Author: Christopher Schwarz
Cutting accurate, clean and square holes is a skill that will serve you well in making furniture. We examine the mechanics and ergonomics of boring by hand and by power and show you how to develop your freehand boring skills to a fine art.

Finishing Technique: Pumpkin Pine
Author: Glen Huey
One of the most desirable finish colors is what is sometimes called "pumpkin pine." It's essentially an aged, mellow and warm clear finish. Is shellac the best way to reproduce this finish on new work? If so, what is easiest and best? Is there some other technique that doesn't involve mixing flakes?

The Back Cover Poster: Sandpaper
We take a close look at this common but confusing abrasive. What is open coat? Closed coat? Stearated? P-grade? Garnet? We cut through the confusion so you'll finally understand the labels and make the right choice.

— Christopher Schwarz

Even with access to a nice table saw, cutting full sheets of plywood can be dificult. Here is an alternate method I like to use to break down sheets to pieces of a more manageable size. It also works well as a way to accurately cut plywood if you don't have a table saw.



I set my shop boxes to a lower height, and turned the I-beams 90 degrees. This puts the plywood at a convenient height, and the saw blade will nick the edges of the beams rather than cut a slot across the flat surfaces. You can also do this with regular sawhorses, with two or three sacrificial 2 x 4s spanning them. You want the plywood to be fully supported as you make the cut – you don't want the cut off piece to drop as the cut nears completion.

In addition to the circular saw, all I need is my tape measure and framing square, a shop-built jig, and a couple small clamps. For a minimal investment, I can cut plywood as accurately as I can with a table saw, though it does take a bit longer.



The key to success is careful measuring and layout, and the jig that guides the saw. The jig is made from two pieces of 1/2"-thick Baltic birch plywood. The bottom piece is about 8" wide, and the top piece is about 1-1/2" wide. Both pieces are about 60" long. The top piece is glued to the bottom one, leaving about 1" of space for the clamps. The only critical dimension is to leave a space from the edge of the skinny piece to the edge of the wide piece that is bigger than the distance from the edge of the saw's baseplate to the edge of the blade.



After the glue has dried, run the saw against the fence, trimming off the bottom piece of plywood. The jig is now set so that the blade of the saw will cut precisely to the edge of the jig. To use it, simply clamp the edge of the jig to your layout line, keeping the edge of the jig on the edge of the piece you want to keep. Set the depth of the saw blade so that it will be about 1/4" below the bottom of the plywood when you cut. Set the edge of the saw's base against the edge of the fence and make the cut.

Here are the completed stands with the plywood tops and shelves in place. I glue the plywood down with yellow glue, using narrow crown staples to fasten them to the edge of the board below. You can also use nails or screws.

If you make any of these for your own shop, or come up with a variation or improvement, send me a photo of the results. I'll post the interesting ones here on the blog.

— Bob Lang