10" Bench Top Bandsaw - 1/3 HP

My specialty is turned wood bowls and vases made from highly figured, visually interesting wood. I’ve come to enjoy the challenges presented by blanks with unusual characteristics–bark inclusions, burl, spalting, quilting, voids, birds-eye and other figured grain conditions. The tips explained here are especially important for turning the “tricky” wood described above. But you’ll also find some of them helpful for many other types of turning projects.

Every two years at Woodcraft Magazine, we create a unique home workshop issue for readers wanting to start a shop or improve the one they already have. We first decide on a theme and then follow through by selecting a bare-bones space that serves as our blank slate. We then prep the walls, ceiling, and floor for shop duty and outfit the space with original shop projects and interesting products that match nicely with the theme, which, in this issue, is the “up-and-comer’s” home shop. As you can imagine, it’s an all-hands effort by our talented staff and woodworking contributors from across the country.

The American Woodshop with Scott Phillips begins it’s 18th season on PBS starting on Monday, August 29th, 2011. This year’s 13 episodes entitled “Weekenders,” focus on woodworking projects to augment the home. While discovering and using new tools to become a more proficient woodworker, you should be able to finish each of these projects in one weekend.

In this month’s Woodcraft Magazine, January Issue #44, our Editor-in-Chief, Jim Harrold writes an article responding to the Feb/Mar 2011 magazine issue where he asked for solutions in setting up a shop for the wheelchair woodworker. His article and this blog are the result of the many letters and emails sent. It is one thing to have ideas to create woodworking, or be inspired from others works, but without a user friendly shop in these circumstances, none of the ideas or inspirations can become a reality. Five areas of importance in a shop design are, wheel chair design with reach considerations, floor plan or shop layout, cabinets with power tools, managing materials with storage, and product choices that consider safety with convenience. When designing a floor plan you will first need to consider the wheelchair type. Variations include motorized units, sports models and other manual designs.

If you are like some of us who wait until the last possible minute to complete your gift shopping (ahem…), here’s a quick and easy DIY project that will surely please your recipients – personalized wood slice ornaments!

After our Woodcraft Magazine blog on the Wheelchair Woodworking Shop, we were contacted by Carl Smith, a disabled woodworker who uploaded his handmade workbench photo to our Woodcraft Facebook page. The bench has a built-in grate area to catch the shavings from his Jet lathe with bed extension. After some commentary back and forth, and a phone call or two, we were fortunate to learn about Carl and his story.

Woodcraft has sponsored two contests on Instructables.com – described as The World’s Biggest Show and Tell – in an effort to introduce the woodworkers and potential woodworkers who use the website to Woodcraft and information about the company’s educational resources.

The Steel City is the birthplace of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Mr. Rogers, the Whiskey Rebellion, robots, and the polio vaccine. And nearby Homestead, Pa. is home to John Malecki, a former NFL player who had two stints with the Steelers before opening his own custom woodworking studio. 

As part of our Mother’s Day series, we will introduce you to several superstar moms (and grandmothers!) who combine their love of family with their love of woodworking. Meet Lucette Jones -  she found an old kitchen knife at 10 yrs old and hasn't stopped carving since. 

Eric Gorges of A Craftsman's Legacy has decided to build a new woodworking shop. Check out his plans for the shop and 2019. He also makes the decision to replace his family heirloom Table Saw and Band Saw.