The Unplugged Woodshop: Hand-Crafted Projects for the Home & Workshop

578 Pages·2013·19.66 MB·English

by  Tom Fidgen

Text © 2013 by Tom Fidgen
Photographs © 2013 by The Taunton Press, Inc.
Illustrations © 2013 by The Taunton Press, Inc.
All rights reserved.
To Darrell, artist, inventor, prospector,
and friend. I wish you’d stayed around
to see this one through brother.
Rest in peace.
Darrell Darnell, 1967–2011
The Taunton Press, Inc., 63 South Main Street, PO Box 5506, Newtown, CT 06470-5506
e-mail: [email protected]
Editor: Peter Chapman
Copy editor: Candace B. Levy
Indexer: Jay Kreider
Jacket/Cover design: Stacy Wakefield Forte
Interior design: Stacy Wakefield Forte
Layout: Stacy Wakefield Forte
Illustrator: Melanie Powell
Photographer: Tom Fidgen
The following names/manufacturers appearing in The Unplugged Woodshop are trademarks:
Bad Axe Tool Works™, Brusso®, Dumpster®, Forstner®, Irwin®, Lee Valley Tools®, Lie-Nielson®,
SketchUp®, Stanley®, Tried & True™, Veritas®, Woodcraft®
ISBN 978-1-62710-353-4
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
About Your Safety: Working wood is inherently dangerous. Using hand or power tools improperly or
ignoring safety practices can lead to permanent injury or even death. Don’t try to perform operations you
learn about here (or elsewhere) unless you’re certain they are safe for you. If something about an operation
doesn’t feel right, don’t do it. Look for another way. We want you to enjoy the craft, so please keep safety
foremost in your mind whenever you’re in the shop.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
FOR CAROLYN, my beautiful partner through life, and our two amazing
children, Piper and Nelson. Without the three of you by my side, this would not
have been possible.
For Peter, my editor, the other side of these pages and one of the unsung
heroes of the book.
For Robin, who at the eleventh hour on my path to self-publishing suggested I
contact The Taunton Press. Good call!
For Anatole, for the warm welcome and introductions.
For Mark, a master saw maker. Thanks for the sawblades and the friendship.
For Josh, the best designer a guy could be related to! Many thanks for the
logo.
For Sandy, my Web developer, my friend, and oftentimes my psychiatrist.
For everyone else through the rest of this book-making process: the artwork,
production, printing, packaging, marketing, publicizing … basically, all of the
work that happens after I write this! Without all of you, books never happen.
Many thanks!
For you the reader, either here or online, it’s for you these pages are made.
The Unplugged Woodshop started as a simple blog to share my thoughts and
ideas about hand tools and furniture making. It has evolved organically into a
friendly, global community that I feel privileged to be part of. A quiet revolution,
when working together, a million hands crafting, this is when positive changes
occur. Enjoy the time you spend working wood no matter what tools you use to
work it with, every detail and every step of the way. Work makes life
sweet. www.theunpluggedwoodshop.com
The Unplugged Woodshop is proud to be in partnership with 1% for the Planet.
Members of 1% for the Planet contribute 1% of annual sales directly to
nonprofit environmental organizations. The 1% for the Planet network brings
together like-minded leaders who share a belief that business can be a vital
catalyst for positive environmental change.

“What we have to learn to do, we learn by doing.”
—Aristotle