What a fantastic project.

“I made a 'banned-book' bookshelf with a hidden compartment,” says IMGURian @honestworkdesigns. Read the rest

Uri Tuchman explains how to make a very tiny but realistic-looking mattress from a block of maple. "Don't ask any questions," says Uri. "We are going to carve a mattress, out of this." It's the perfect introduction to his channel, where he makes small, beautiful items with hand tools, many of which he made himself. Read the rest

I recently needed to glue wood together in a real hurry and tried a product called RapidFuse that didn't do too well. Annoyed, I decided to look for tests of the zillion wood glues now available so I could find something with a 15-minute set that works. It turns out I'm asking too much, really, but I did find Wood by Wright's incredibly exhaustive series of tests on dozens of different products. The overview video is embedded above; with more details for the thirsty and the 64-brand follow-up.

The data collected is presented in a single enormous spreadsheet at Google Docs.

The absolute best product depends on grain and exposure to the elements, but Elmer's Wood Glue Max [Amazon] is a clear winner for standard indoor woodworking projects with DAP Plastic Resin Glue [Amazon] winning if you're outdoors. Read the rest

I don't know why this exists, but I'm glad it does. I just want to know how it sounds, and how it plays! I guess I'll have to visit Cranmer Guitars the next time I'm in Glasgow. Read the rest

Pallet wood pencils. Genius! Read the rest

Usually I like to find something to start Monday that reflects our growing sense of anxiety and unease at the accelerating failure of the American Republic, but his week I've got a nice relaxing video of Andy Phillip turning a big ol' chunk o' stump into an attractive vase on the lathe. Enjoy! Read the rest

“I made a wooden flag out of 2x4s for my oldest friend from high school who works as a peace officer. I grinded and sanded it to look like it it blowing in the wind and used a torch to burn in the dark areas.” Read the rest

You know what's more badass and relaxing at the same time than going on a week-long canoe trip? Going on a week-long canoe trip in a vessel you built your own damn self. What I dig the most about this video is that shows the build process, mistakes and all, from start to finish. I don't know about you, but I always feel a whole lot better knowing that mistakes can be made by an expert and the project can still come out looking like a champ. Read the rest

Crappy little table saws are marketed as cheap gifts and impulse buys by hardware stores, right there alongside drills and shop vacs. But they are uniquely dangerous and I got rid of mine after an alarming experience made me sit and think about the forces in play—and how close our heads and hands are to them.

This video illustrates the problem well and debunks, in passing, some of the myths about the dangers. A SawStop won't stop kickbacks. For almost any task short of ripping lumber, other tools will do the job just as well. [via] Read the rest

The finished piece he makes is such a delight, but so is watching it come together from spare scraps of wood. Read the rest

Is a wooden lock as tough as one made out of metal? Nope. Is buying a lock easier than building one? Absolutely. Is a lock you made with your own two hands significantly more badass than anything you can purchase, ready-to-use? Without a shadow of a doubt.

If you're looking for an unusual woodworking project to undertake, Matthias Wandel has you covered. You can buy the plans for his wooden mechanical lock, here. Once you do, you'll also get access to the plans for a laser cut iteration of the project. While it might not provide the level of security that you'd want for keeping your valuables safe, the level of whimsy that this project could bring to a woodworker's life looks like it would be hard to beat. Read the rest

Legacy Woodworking Machinery has a great series of videos on how they program CNC machines to cut a hollow spiral candlestick. Read the rest

Japanese wood joinery (previously) is a highly-refined craft. In this video, YouTuber Third Coast Craftsman creates a free-standing bookshelf inspired by those joinery techniques. Read the rest

An art collector who died earlier this year donated a remarkable collection of escaliers to Cooper-Hewiit Museum. The tiny staircases were fashioned by French compagnons, a secretive trade group of master craftworkers. Read the rest

Woodworker John Malecki created this amazing river table with a massive piece of gnarly claro walnut and a lot of elbow grease. The end result is worth all the effort. Read the rest

Richard J. Ridel's all-wooden, mechanical Turing machine uses the smallest set of data elements capable of computing any calculation: 0, 1 and blank; it was inspired by Ridel's viewing of The Imitation Game. Read the rest

It's pretty cool to watch a 3-millimeter thick sheet of birch transform into a bowl that's laser cut as one long wooden spiral. Read the rest