Innholdsfortegnelse for January/February 2026 i Popular Woodworking

The Rear View Mirror

It’s hard to believe that Woodworking in America 2025 is already a month in the rearview mirror. What a weekend it was—packed with seminars, demonstrations, vendors, and plenty of good old-fashioned camaraderie. I had the chance to visit with many of our subscribers, and the feedback we received was overwhelmingly positive. It’s always rewarding to see so many woodworkers come together to share knowledge, stories, and a genuine passion for the craft. Even though we just wrapped up, we’re already deep into planning for WIA 2026. And I’ll be honest—it’s a mix of emotions. I love the event for all the reasons above, but I also know how much work goes into making it happen. Still, the energy and enthusiasm from this year remind me why it’s worth it. We’re…

2 min

NEW TOOLS

Ultra-Shear® Ultimate Stack Dado 2.0 Over the past few years, Woodpeckers’ Ultra-Shear line has become my go-to for router bits and saw blades. The company made a serious investment—both in high-end machinery and development time—to produce what I’d argue are some of the best-performing cutting tools on the market today. As the manufacturer and retailer, they have the ability to offer this level of quality at a notably lower price point than many competitors. Recently, the team unveiled an update to their already-excellent Ultimate Dado Stack with the release of the Ultimate Dado Stack 2.0. The new design features lighter chippers, which Woodpeckers describes as resembling a “bicycle sprocket.” This design trims weight from the entire stack, allowing table saws equipped with electronic blade brakes to stop the blades faster…

10 min

Soup Up Your Drill Press

The drill press may be an unsung hero, quietly doing its job off in some dusty and neglected corner of the shop. Well, that changes today with a series of modifications and upgrades to transform a mundane drill press into a capable drilling machine loaded with storage and extra features. The fact is most drill presses are not built for woodworking, as evidenced by the small round table they’re often outfitted with. Worse yet, many factory tables lack any T-tracks or dog holes for adequate clamping, which creates a possible safety concern. Other common frustrations with this tool are poor bit-holding power and chucks that are difficult to adjust. These issues will all be addressed with this simple plan including a 4-drawer storage cabinet with bonus tool case storage and…

12 min

Textured Walnut Wall Cabinet

When you get right down to it, a wall cabinet is basically a box with a door on it. That doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of opportunity for creativity though. The design for this one here evolved over time in my sketchbook, but as soon as I started actually building it, I changed almost every single thing… Why? Bits of it were practical, but mostly it was due to the fact that as soon as I started cutting things out, the wood inspired me in a different way than I expected. Some of the core ideas remained intact—I was always going to make it out of Walnut, and a cabinet by Lara Mays inspired the idea of texturing the door, though the choice of texture changed. Some details came into play…

12 min

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

SHEA ALEXANDER: Hearth Stool–pg. 40 Shea Alexander is a custom furniture builder out of the Shenandoah valley in Virginia. Shea’s love of woodworking was seeded at a young age, thanks to his father’s introduction to carving. Shea is the co-founder of Alexander Brothers, where him and his brothers offer custom leather working, furniture, blacksmithing, as well as a full-service lumberyard. LARA REISIGL DOMENEGHETTI: Scandinavian Chisel–pg. 20 Lara Reisigl Domeneghetti has over 12 years of training in the fine arts and traditional hand crafts. Beginning her journey as a decorative painter and sculptural woodcarver in Italy, she went on to earn a Post Graduate Diploma in Historical Carving in London. Now based in Norway, Lara combines hands-on making with cultural and philosophical inquiry, exploring not only how objects are made but…

2 min

Scandinavian Grind Skew Chisel

There is an unfortunate reality that many woodworking techniques and tools have been lost to time as traditions die out and technology advances. Wood, as a medium, is also often impermanent and susceptible to the elements. Research historians such as myself have to rely on the limited historic artifacts and artwork to understand medieval wood working practices. One such artifact is the Tylldal chair, a 12th-century Norwegian artifact that was rediscovered in the late nineteenth century in a church in the village of Tylldal. The chair is an intricately-carved masterpiece that gives us a glimpse into the past, and has been a key part of my research. How I Research While my academic background includes formal studies, my primary identity is that of a practitioner. My first major experience in this…

5 min

Take It Up a Notch

Table and Fence with Over/Under DC I’ve long dreamed of a drill press with dust collection both above and below the table. The Infinity DPT-200 with PRO fence is a nice place to start, because the hollow aluminum fence extrusion has a cutout for excellent topside collection. Plus, the ample-sized laminated table surface has four T-Tracks and will improve many basic drill presses with small tables. To add the lower dust collection port, I cut a 3 x 3" hole below the sacrificial insert. I secured a scrap of 1/2" MDF towards the back of the opening, to limit the cutout size to what I needed. Then a plunge router and guide bushing were used to complete the opening. Finally, I shortened the length of the Infinity sacrificial insert, which…

3 min

Stickley #210

In the previous issue, I shared some background on Gustav Stickley and the philosophy that guided his work during his years with the Stickley Brothers Furniture Company. Among the many pieces he designed, one that continues to stand out to me is the Stickley No. 210 settee—a piece that perfectly embodies the Arts & Crafts ideal. With its clean lines, balanced proportions, and quiet sense of strength, the settle reflects Stickley’s belief that beauty arises from honesty and utility. I recently had the rare opportunity to study an original example up close, taking detailed measurements and producing a full set of drawings. A special thanks to the staff at the John Toomey Gallery in Oak Park, Illinois, who graciously allowed access to their collection for careful examination. What follows are…

3 min

WORKSHOP TIPS

Make Shavings, Not Dust I hate sanding. Even with dust collection, machine sanding is noisy and makes my arm feel like jelly. I like to turn to the scraper, a quiet hand tool that doesn’t make any dust at all. Think of a scraper as a substitute for sandpaper. In fact, scraping is faster than sanding. It’s easy to remove mill marks with a Stanley #80 and get a perfectly flat surface to boot. Then turn to a plain cabinet scraper for the final licks. Your arms will get a healthy workout, but you won’t have to worry about spewing dust into the air. The harder the wood, the better the scraper will work. Lightweight woods, like pine and basswood, can’t stand up to scraping, but with the majority of…

5 min

Using a Skew Chisel

The Scandinavian grind skew chisel is a single tool that can undertake a wide variety of tasks. Instead of swapping between different implements, the user simply needs to reposition their hands to make entirely different types of cuts. The curved cutting profile not only allows for this range of cuts, but it provides opportunity of grips as well, which helps maintain ergonomically sound body and hand positioning. It’s clear that the 12th century carvers who used this tool had a very diligent approach to their work, as it was their entire livelihood. For additional info on making your own chisel, visit PopularWoodworking.com/OnlineExtras…

1 min

Hearth Stool

When it comes to furniture, one of the most basic things is a place to sit down. However, building chairs is intimidating for many woodworkers. With all the angles and curves to get right, it can seem a bit complicated. So let’s scale that back to a chair with no back, shall we? Well, that would be a stool. And if you take away a leg, it becomes a three-legged stool. Let’s start there. When choosing a species, anything reasonably strong will do. Some common choices would be Oak of any type. Ash, elm, cherry, walnut, and maple work too. The piece for your seat its only requirement is that it’s tough, as the legs in a stool act as wedges, so you just don’t want it to split. As long…

12 min