One of my favorite parts of attending the Association of Woodworking and Furnishings Suppliers (AWFS) Fair every two years is walking through the Fresh Wood Student Competition to check out the amazing pieces that students are making. Entries come from high school and post-secondary students. The students enter by submitting photos of their work, and…
One of the items on my woodworking “bucket list” is to build an electric guitar from scratch. I’m not a guitar player myself, but the intricacies, resonant qualities, and incorporation of cool electronics give this project a lot of appeal. As I started to prepare myself for this project, I decided that building one from…
I recently had the pleasure of working with a South African resin artist named Ahron Gropper on a long-distance collaboration. After seeing a beautiful bowl he had created that incorporated a synthetic honeycomb element embedded into the bottom of the bowl, I contacted him to see if he would be willing to create a similar…
When you need an extra hand, the Bioservo Ironhand Exo-Glove may be exactly what you’re looking for. The glove gives you “squeeze assist” with cables built into the glove that mimic the tendons in your hand. If the user is performing a repetitive task, such as holding a sander, spray gun or welder, the glove…
Now, this is cool. A router that runs cordless or corded, giving you the best of both worlds. The new Multivolt Plunge Router from Metabo runs on a 36-volt battery or standard AC power. The Metabo Router is a 2 peak horsepower brushless router with variable speeds of 11,000 to 25,000 rpm. It includes 1/4″…
It’s a pretty common scenario: your phone rings and someone on the other end says, “Hey, could you give me a hand with _____?” Usually that means loading up tools and taking them with you away from your shop. I’ve been using Milwaukee’s Packout System in situations like these for quite a while. The Deep…
The random orbit sander (ROS) was first introduced to the power tool market in the early 1980s, and has grown to become the mainstay sander for hobbyist and professional woodworkers alike. The reasons for the popularity of this tool category are simple. The ROS provides a dual action sanding motion that has the power of…
We always love to know what our members enjoy most from Woodworkers Guild of America, so we took a look at our most popular woodworking projects, how-to videos, and tips over the past year. Here are your top five favorites from Woodworkers Guild of America in 2021! 1. Jointer vs. Planer Those who are just…