Concealed Hinges 101
The first step in successfully installing concealed cup hinges is to choose the right one! Nick shows three basic types of doors – inset, overlay, and partial overlay – and demonstrates how to fit them to cabinets, explaining how to select exactly the hinge you need based on how the door fits the cabinet. He then walks you step by step through a typical installation, choosing, marking, drilling, attaching, and adjusting traditional lipped doors on a framed cabinet.
For more information on cabinetmaking, see Nick's book on MAKING BUILT-IN CABINETS. It covers planning, building, and installing all types of built-ins. Nick provides standard dimensions for different types of cabinets, explains how to choose plywood and sheet materials, and discusses special considerations in designing a kitchen. He walks you through the construction of the cases, doors, and drawers, then show how to position and attach your finished units The book is available in PDF format from the Workshop Companion General store at https://workshopcompanionstore.com
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Scored Story Stick -- Dead On Accurate
Need to make repetitive measurements? A story stick is the way to go. Need those measurements to match precisely? With a "scored" stick, you can transfer each set of measurements easily and accurately. Nick shows how to break the pencil habit and use a knife to "feel" each measurement as you transfers it from a ruler to a stick, then from the stick to your work.
https://workshopcompanionstore.com/
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Cutting & Handling Plywood in a One-Person Shop
Handling and cutting a full sheet of plywood -- or any sheet material -- can be a challenge in a one-person shop. To make your woodworking life a little easier, Nick has developed four simple fixtures and combined them in a ingenious system for managing sheet materials. Used together, these shop-built tools allow you to move, position, and make amazingly accurate cuts in plywood, particleboard, and other sheet goods.
And because we know you will be asking, Nick's co-star in this video is Bella, our shop-dog-in-training. She's a one-year-old short-haired "red" border collie, and a handful.
Plans for these incredibly useful jigs and fixtures, including measurements in both inches and millimeters, can be found at the Workshop Companion General Store at https://workshopcompanionstore.com/
To see all of Nick's videos and SUBSCRIBE for more, see: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk480B1pofOjThMfkBjhDpQ
Also visit the Workshop Companion General store, where we offer a wide selection of Nick's BOOKS and PROJECT PLANS in digital format: https://workshopcompanionstore.com/
To follow us on social media, try:
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And thank you so much for your time and interest!
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Six Ingenious Cabinetmaking Tips & Jigs
Thinking of making some built-in cabinets? Nick has six quick hacks to help with your cabinetmaking -- ingenious jigs and tips that save time, reduce the workload, and keep you assemblies square, true and precise.
Plans for the jigs that Nick shows, including measurements in both inches and millimeters, can be found at the Workshop Companion General Store at https://workshopcompanionstore.com/
To see all of Nick's videos and SUBSCRIBE for more, see: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk480B1pofOjThMfkBjhDpQ
Also visit the Workshop Companion General store, where we offer a wide selection of Nick's BOOKS and PROJECT PLANS in digital format: https://workshopcompanion.selz.com/
To follow us on social media, try:
FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/workshopcompanion
STAGRAM - https://www.instagram.com/workshop_companion/
Our Music is Licensed through Epidemic Sounds - https://www.epidemicsound.com/referral/bkvc7i
And thank you so much for your time and interest!
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Turning Celtic Eggs
The "Celtic knot” was a favorite design of the ancient Celts who once dominated the British Isles, so-called because it appears to be formed by interwoven loops of rope. In woodworking, craftsmen create Celtic knots by gluing up intersecting layers of wood, and then turning the stock on a lathe so the layers appear to form intertwined loops. This decorative technique can be used to enhance any turned item, and Nick shows you how to use it to create elegant decorative wooden eggs. Better yet, he shows how to expand this process to create an infinite variety of designs.
DETAILED PLANS AND INSTRUCTIONS for creating the eggs, measured drawings for the jig Nick uses to make the turning stock, and FULL-SIZE templates for the eggs and their display stand (all with measurements in BOTH INCHES AND MILLIMETERS) are available at https://workshopcompanionstore.com/
To see all of Nick's videos and SUBSCRIBE for more, see: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk480B1pofOjThMfkBjhDpQ
Also visit the Workshop Companion General store, where we offer a wide selection of Nick's BOOKS and PROJECT PLANS in digital format: https://workshopcompanionstore.com/
To follow us on social media, try:
FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/workshopcompanion
INSTAGRAM - https://www.instagram.com/workshop_companion/
Our Music is Licensed through Epidemic Sounds - https://www.epidemicsound.com/referral/bkvc7i
And thank you so much for your time and interest!
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Fine Tuning a Bench Plane
Possibly the most satisfying – and certainly the most iconic – activities in all of woodworking is planning with a bench plane. Effortlessly cutting a paper-thin shaving from a wood surface makes you feel that you have arrived as a craftsman. But getting a plane in condition to make those effortless cuts requires careful, painstaking flattening, sharpening, and adjusting. This is what is called “tuning” a plane. Nick takes a deep dive into this essential procedure, not just showing you how to do it, but also explaining the why’s and wherefore’s.
If you’d like to make the sharpening jig that Nick uses at 11:09, the plans are in his book, “Sharpening.” pages 28 and 29. You can purchase this book from the Workshop Companion store at: https://workshopcompanionstore.com/
And if you have an old Stanley bench plane, similar to what is shown in this video, and you’d like to know when it was made and something about Stanley’s history, we recommend the Hyperkitten web site: https://hyperkitten.com/tools/stanley_bench_plane/
To see all of Nick's videos and SUBSCRIBE for more, see: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk480B1pofOjThMfkBjhDpQ
Also visit the Workshop Companion General store, where we offer a wide selection of Nick's BOOKS and PROJECT PLANS in digital format: https://workshopcompanionstore.com/
To follow us on social media, try:
FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/workshopcompanion
INSTAGRAM - https://www.instagram.com/workshop_companion/
Our Music is Licensed through Epidemic Sounds - https://www.epidemicsound.com/campaign/invite-a-creator/?_us=Referral&_usx=bkvc7i&utm_source=ref_program&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=bkvc7i
And thank you so much for your time and interest!
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Finding the Perfect Finish for You
Experienced craftsmen and women all have a "go-to" finish -- a versatile wood finish that takes minimal time and effort to apply. They use this for most projects, simplifying their finishing needs. These needs vary, so Nick shows how to find your personal go-to finish from the hundreds of choices that are available to you. He starts with some basic "coating chemistry" to reduce confusion and help you make an informed choice. Then he walks you though a simple experiment designed to compare the characteristics of popular commercial finishes.
Nick has gathered high-resolution photos of the test boards and plastic plates he used to compare seven finishes in article titled, "Comparing Wipe-On Finishes." This is available for FREE from the Workshop Companion General Store at https://workshopcompanionstore.com/
He has also updated a section from his finishing book on reading wood finish labels and Safety Data Sheets titled "Labels and Data Sheets: Incomplete Information." This too is available for FREE at https://workshopcompanionstore.com/
To follow us on social media, try:
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And thank you so much for your time and interest!
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Precision Saw Sled
A saw sled carries your work past the table saw blade, boosting accuracy by eliminating the friction that plagues an ordinary miter gauge. Nick shows how to get even more precision; how you can easily adjust a cut to with a few thousands of an inch or hundredths of a millimeter. And in addition to being more accurate, sleds are also more versatile. Nick discusses the types of sleds you might build and shows the features you might pack into it -- fixed and adjustable fences, stops, guards, auxiliary surfaces, even a convenient storage cart.
Detailed plans for the saw sleds and sled features features that Nick shows, including measurement in both inches and millimeters, are available at https://workshopcompanionstore.com/
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Steam Bending Mustache Handlebars
After spending a ton of time researching how old wooden handle bars were made we found nothing. It seems to be a lost art and we put weeks into experimenting with techniques to achieve a method for steam bending in 2 different directions, giving us a beautiful set of mustache handlebars. We’ve been steam bending 1-inch wooden dowels to make wooden bicycle handlebars for a replica of a Wright “Van Cleve” bicycle. In the 1890s, just as bicycles became popular, cyclists had to put up with constant shocks when riding over unimproved roads. Some bicycle manufacturers, like the Wright brothers, used wooden handle bars to help smooth out the bumps – the wood gave slightly with each impact, just like the wooden handle on a hammer gives each time you strike a nail. The National Park Service has asked us to duplicate a bicycle the Wrights made at their shop on Williams Street in Dayton, Ohio, which is now an historical museum. These handlebars will grace a replica 1897 “Van Cleve,” a racing bicycle the Wrights made just before they began to experiment with gliders and airplanes.
https://workshopcompanionstore.com/
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Making A Router Plane
A small router plane is one of the handiest hand planes you can have in your tool box. With this tool, you can reach down into dado, groove, or mortise and shave the bottom to fine tune the joinery. It’s also useful for making inlays, setting hinges, and installing other hardware. Nick shows how to make a handsome, capable router plane from a scrap of wood, a piece of plastic, and an Allen wrench!
If you would like the plans for this router plane -- including full-size patterns for the base and handle -- find them at https://workshopcompanionstore.com/
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Nesting Christmas Trees -- A Holiday Project
Folks -- Here's a video Christmas card from Travis and me. Here's hoping the New Year is just as good for you. And I know it's way too late for this season, but the plans and patterns for these trees are available from our store at https://workshopcompanionstore.com/
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Bandsaw Magic - Little Known Compound Cut Technique
I have always loved this trick. Cut a curve – any curve – in a block of wood. Put the two pieces back together, turn them 90 degrees, and cut another curve – any curve. Turn each of the four pieces 180 degrees and – presto! – this is what you get! Works every time. https://workshopcompanionstore.com/
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Scrapwood Reindeer Band Saw Compound Cutting Project
If you’ve seen our time-lapse video on scrapwood reindeer and what to know more about creating this compound cutting band saw sculpture, here’s Nick at regular speed. He explains the compound cutting technique in detail and imparts quite a few tips about gluing-up the scrapwood block, cutting and sanding it. He even explains how many reindeer pull Santa’s sled, just in case you’re thinking of reproducing the whole crew. It isn’t what you think! You can get the plans and full-size patterns for these reindeer from the Workshop Companion General Store at https://workshopcompanionstore.com/products/band-saw-reindeer Pick up one of Nick’s books FREE just for visiting!
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Bandsaw Magic - Making a little known trick a little more known
Nick explores an obscure compound cutting technique from our short, "Bandsaw Magic." And it is indeed a magical way to create elegantly curved surfaces and three-dimensional shapes with just two cuts on a band saw. Nick experiments with some practical uses for these shapes and in the process, discovers a simple way to add joinery to these magical shapes so you can incorporate them in larger assemblies.
The plans for the "Melting Display Shelves" that Nick creates in this video are available from the Workshop Companion Store at https://workshopcompanionstore.com/ . They include FULL-SIZE patterns for the legs, plus two bonus patterns for the Cabriole and Cyma legs that Nick makes for the table. While you're there, check out Nick's book, "Using the Bandsaw." It explains the bandsaw magic technique and a good many more: https://workshopcompanionstore.com/
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Scrapwood Rolling Pin
Nick turns an elegant rolling pin at super-speed from small bits of hardwood, softwood, and plywood. This is an awesome turning project that will use up some of those scraps that you just can't bear to throw away, and may cost you nothing to make. If you'd like the shop drawings for these rolling pins (including both English and metric measurements), step by step instructions, and plans for the shop aids that Nick uses in this video, visit https://workshopcompanionstore.com/ .
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Band Saw Lumber - Sawing Firewood into Usable Boards
If your band saw is big enough to do resawing, it's big enough to do sawyering -- you can turn tree limbs and small logs into usable lumber. Nick shows how you can cut a log that's larger than the your band saw's capacity into wide, flat boards. And just as important, he explains how to assemble a small stack of lumber and wire it together so the lumber will air-dry evenly and all the boards will turn out straight and true. Amazingly, this doesn't require complex jigs to turn your band saw into a saw mill -- just a scrap of plywood!
If you'd like to know more about sawyering and drying your own lumber, you might like to read Nick's book, "Wood and Woodworking Materials." It's available from the Workshop Companion store at: https://workshopcompanionstore.com/
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Bandsaw Magic Part 2
There was an abundance of questions and suggestions concerning our first "Bandsaw Magic" video, so in Part 2 we have answered those questions, reviewed the suggestions, and pushed this magic to a new level. Nick shows new mixed-wood pattern that yield spectacular results, reveals what happens when you cut two markedly different curves in adjoining sides, and explains how to modify the bandsaw magic technique to create tapered shapes. He then uses this modified magic to create a true cabriole leg with tapers to two directions! He also answers your most pressing question, "Which band saw blade works best?"
Nick's "Chart of Common Band Saw Blades" and their uses is available for FREE at the Workshop Companion Store: https://workshopcompanionstore.com/ . It covers blades of both metric and English-sizes. If you'd like to buy his book, "Using the Band Saw," find it here: https://workshopcompanionstore.com/ .
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The Way Wood Works -- What Every Woodworker Needs to Know About Wood.
If you are a novice woodworker, this is stuff you absolutely need to know before you cut another board. If you’re a master craftsman, you know it well enough to understand that a quick review never hurts. And if you’re somewhere in between, this may fill in some important gaps. What I present here is the very foundation of wood technology; the way wood works as a construction material and the basic concepts you must keep in mind to get it to work for you.
Novice or master, please understand that these are the just the basics. Wood is an incredibly complex material, more than I could explain in a zillion videos. Additionally, there are hundreds of wood species each with different botanical, physical, and mechanical properties. If you would like to explore wood’s characteristics in depth, or just look up the properties of a single species, there is an amazing book that you should have. “The Wood Handbook: Wood as an Engineering Material” is published by the United States Forest Products Laboratory as a FREE service for those of us who rely upon wood and wood products for our livelihood and well-being. You can download a PDF copy free from our store at https://workshopcompanionstore.com/ or you can get it straight from the USFPS web site at https://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fp.... If you prefer a condensed version aimed at craftsmen and woodworkers – and if you’d like to support this channel – consider my book “Wood and Woodworking Materials” available here: https://workshopcompanionstore.com/
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Bowls From Boards -- Simple technique, spectacular turnings
A simple technique opens up a world of possibilities for creating figured and patterned bowls. Nick demonstrates a simple jig that slices a board into rings, then glues those rings together to make turning stock for a bowl. This not only saves time and wood, it allows you to create remarkable, eye-catching lathe turnings from scraps.
The plans for the jigs and fixtures used in this video are available from
the Workshop Companion Store at https://workshopcompanionstore.com/ This project plan also includes and in-depth explanation of the band saw and turning techniques, as well as the figuring necessary to determine the correct dimensions and angles for the rings, PLUS a virtual calculator that will do all the figuring for you!
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