• SawStop folding outfeed table being used to cut a sheet of plywood on a table saw

    SawStop’s Cool New Folding Outfeed Table + Assembly Tutorial

    By Joshua Farnsworth In the above video I introduce a cool new table saw accessory that SawStop sent to me: the SawStop Folding Outfeed Table. I used to use a large wooden outfeed table in my former workshop, back when I didn't need my woodworking machines to be mobile. But since remodeling & moving into my new dream workshop (and starting my woodworking school), I've meant to build a wooden folding outfeed

  • Joshua Farnsworth's hand on a Stanley No. 4 1/2 smoothing plane handplaning an exotic lumber board

    Handplaning Mystery Exotic Wood – What is it???

    By Joshua Farnsworth Earlier this year my friend gave me a truck load of incredible 8/4 exotic lumber. Great friend, right? He told me that the boards were given to him by a fellow member of the military at his previous station. His military friend had apparently brought it with him when he moved back from living in Africa. So these boards have been sitting in my workshop for months, just tempting

  • Portable Moravian Workbenches Now For Sale!

    By Joshua Farnsworth I’m excited to announce that I’ll now be making and selling Portable Moravian Workbenches, like those used here at my school, and that you’ve probably seen in so many of my videos. In the above video you can learn more, or read below. You can purchase the workbench here. This 18th century reproduction workbench was made popular in the video I produced called “Building the Portable Moravian Workbench with Will Myers” (see the

  • cutting tongue & groove joint with a handplane and with a router bit

    Tongue & Groove Two Ways: Handplane vs Router

    By Joshua Farnsworth In this video & article I'll be showing how to cut the infamous Tongue & Groove joint with both hand tools and power tools, and also cover the pros and cons of each method. What is a Tongue & Groove Joint? A tongue and groove joint is comprised of a tongue that sticks into a groove, and is used to lock together two boards, but it allows for seasonal expansion and contraction with

  • Turning the hook on a card scraper with a burnisher

    5 Easy Steps to Sharpen a Card Scraper for Woodworking

    By Joshua Farnsworth Have you struggled to sharpen a card scraper? If so, don't feel embarrassed! Years ago when I first started using a card scraper, I certainly struggled too. In this video and article I share my simplified method for sharpening a woodworking card scraper, in five easy steps. And I share a little trick that I discovered that helped me to get my card scrapers cutting every single time. But first, let's answer a

  • Cinder block with a diamond lapping plate on top and a water stone being held with hands

    $1 Cinder Block vs $200 Diamond Lapping Plate for flattening Sharpening Stones

    By Joshua Farnsworth Does it work to flatten a waterstone on a cheap cinder block? Or do you need a more expensive lapping plate? In the above video I conduct a non-scientific experiment to see if the cinder block method actually works. Here are links to the tools that I used in the video (minus the cinder block...because I found it in the forest): My waterstones My diamond lapping plate at Highland Woodworking My diamond lapping

  • Dovetail tail board with dividers, combination square, marking gauge, and pencil in the foreground

    Laying Out Perfect Dovetails with a Few Affordable Tools

    By Joshua Farnsworth In this video I share a historical method for laying out uniform tails on a dovetail joint. Rather than buying a dovetail marker jig, just use a few common woodworking layout hand tools. In the video I mentioned that you don't need a bunch of expensive tools to layout dovetails. Here are links to the tools that I used in the video: Dividers: find it here on Amazon for $7.99 Combination square: find

Workbenches in a traditional woodworking workshop

Woodworking with Hand Tools and Power Tools

TOOL BUYING GUIDE

Joshua’s buyer’s guides for which hand tools to buy for traditional woodworking.

blue dovetail desk beginner projects for woodworkers

WOODWORKING PROJECTS

Woodworking projects for beginners and more advanced woodworkers. Build your hand tool skills!

WORKSHOPS & TOURS

Watch video tours of traditional workshops and other fascinating places for woodworkers.

20 BEGINNER’S HAND TOOLS

See the most basic list of tools to buy first when  starting traditional woodworking.

10 STEPS: GET STARTED

Learn Joshua’s simplified 10 steps of how to get started in traditional woodworking.

WOOD JOINERY

Learn how to cut different joints like dovetails and mortise & tenon by hand.

DIMENSIONING WOOD

Learn how to dimension wood so it is square, true, flat, and smooth.

CHOOSING LUMBER

Learn how to choose & buy lumber that is stable, beautiful, and useful for furniture.

TOOL SHARPENING

Learn how to sharpen & tune different traditional woodworking hand tools.

TOOL REFURBISHING

Learn how to refurbish antique woodworking hand tools to usable condition.

JOSHUA’S BLOG

See a full chronological list of Joshua’s woodworking video blog posts & articles.

HAND TOOL TUTORIALS

Learn how to use hand planes, hand saws, chisels, & many other hand tools.