Highland Staff

Book Review: Chairmaker’s Workshop

Aug 082019
 

For the August issue of Wood News Online, Norm Reid reviewed Drew Langsner’s new highly detailed discussion of green chairmaking, The Chairmaker’s Workshop:

A longtime green woodworker and instructor at his North Carolina Country Workshop, Langsner was a teacher by choice, electing not to build chairs for profit on a continuing basis. His long experience in instructing students in chairmaking makes him well-qualified to provide expert instruction on a wide range of Post and Rung and Windsor chairs.

This thorough guide takes the woodworker from harvesting and processing green timber through the steps needed to craft their choice of chairs.

Read the rest of the review

Purchase your own copy of The Chairmaker’s Workshop

Click this link for more great woodworking books to read

Tool Review: Barron Guide

Jul 262019
 

In another back issue of Wood News Online, Jeff Fleisher tries out the Barron Magnetic Dovetail Saw Guides. Walking us step-by-step through a quick dovetailing project, Jeff details each aspect of cutting dovetails using this guide and demonstrates how the guide will assist anyone nervous about attempting hand cut dovetails.

Click here to read Jeff’s review of the Barron Magnetic Dovetail Saw Guides

Check out our Tool Review Archive to find the perfect tools for your shop!

Tool Review: Wood Slicer

Jul 242019
 

In an older issue of Wood News Online, Jeff Fleisher installed a Wood Slicer Resaw Bandsaw Blade in his shop and tested it out. In particular Jeff was looking for a resaw blade that would minimize waste as he often works with highly figured woods and wants to get as many pieces as possible out of a single board.

Click here to read what Jeff thought after he tried out the Wood Slicer

Check out our Tool Review Archive to find the perfect tools for your shop!

Video: Festool Domino XL DF 700 Joiner

Jul 182019
 

Fast, simple and accurate mortising is now possible with the Festool Domino Joiners, and the XL DF 700 Joiner will help you create joinery strong enough for large projects such as entryway doors, gates, rock solid tables & beds, and post & beam garden arbors.

Mike Morton takes a closer look at the Festool Domino XL in the video below:

A Tale of Three Boxes

Jun 272019
 

For the June issue of Wood News Online, Bob Rummer writes about what you need to know about making boxes that they don’t teach you in shop class:

I have made a LOT of boxes in nearly 50 years of woodworking — toolboxes, jewelry boxes, tissue boxes, cabinet-sized boxes, bandsawn boxes, carved boxes, recipe boxes, inlaid boxes, ring boxes, veneered boxes, and nesting boxes. You probably made a box yourself as one of the first projects in woodshop or an introduction to woodworking. After all, the saying is, “If you know how to make a box you can make anything.” The starting point in every box project is, “What are you going to put inside it?” After all, most of the design decisions hinge on fitting something inside the box.

Read the rest of Bob’s article

Read the rest of the June issue of Wood News Online

Show Us Your Shop: Some of 2018’s Featured Shops

Jun 252019
 

This past year, we’ve featured a wide array of shops in our monthly newsletter, Wood News Online, including Carter Choate’s shop and woodshed, Mike Ribelin’s basement workshop, and Rich Breed’s warm woodshop for snowy day woodworking.

Take a look at some of these workshops for ideas and inspiration, or just for fun.

And to read about even more shops, click to check out our Workshop Gallery.

If you would like to submit your own shop, just SEND US PHOTOS of your woodworking shop along with captions and a brief history and description of your woodworking. (Email photos at 800 x 600 resolution.) Receive a $50 store credit redeemable towards merchandise at Highland Woodworking if we show your shop in a future issue.

Video: Wooden Model Kits – Catapult

Jun 202019
 

Curtis Turner and his son show off this great project to do in the workshop with your kids this summer. The da Vinci Wooden Model Catapult Kit is just one of the wooden model kits available at Highland that will get your kids working in the shop and perhaps launch them into the world of woodworking. Check it out below!