the Woodworking Blog

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Hey folks! What a difference a few days can make. On Tuesday afternoon, my wife and I were walking down Gerrard st East , a local strip we often visit for the great restaurant options. En route we walked past a renovated building with a large paper covering the front window reading: Retail space for Rent. […]

A new series of Green Woodworking classes is beginning on Wednesday, January 9th 6-9pm. Join me every Wednesday in January (Jan. 9th,16th, 23rd & 30th 2019) to learn the art of green woodworking. *All tools and materials are supplied. Sign up today and get a FREE Mora knife! REGISTER NOW

READERS PROJECT I received a letter from Bruce ( on Instagram: the52sqftwoodshop ) last week and wanted to share it with you. Bruce recently finished his Funeral Chair build, following plans from my book The Unplugged Woodshop. The chair turned out great Bruce! Thanks for sharing these photos with us~ I got it finished! It […]

READERS PROJECT I received a letter from Marshal in Minnesota this week and wanted to share it with you. Marshal recently completed work on a Kerfing Plane and Frame Saw following plans from my book, The Unplugged Woodshop. Great job on the tools Marshal! I hope you get many years of use from them- Hi Tom, […]

Over the past few weeks we’ve been working on a set of custom dining chairs based on a Harvey Ellis design from 1903. Using quarter sawn white oak, this video gives you a glimpse into a bit of the process. Enjoy~

This week at the Unplugged Woodshop Toronto, we’re working on a set of Arts & Crafts dining room chairs for a private commission. The chairs are inspired by a Harvey Ellis design for Gustav Stickley. These chairs are typical of the form and are mortise and tenon construction. For a set of 6 chairs, that […]

Follow this link to download a pdf: http://www.theunpluggedwoodshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Workshop-Appliances-Shop-Bents.pdf “Working in a small woodshop can be a challenge when we’re forced to address storage issues, work space, an assembly area, sharpening station … the list goes on and on. I decided when I moved from my larger shop out East to my small space here in […]

http://www.theunpluggedwoodshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Workshop-Appliances-Winding-Sticks.pdf “The shooting board of ‘chute’ board is another one of these bench top appliances that you really shouldn’t be without. When I walk into a woodshop without one I’m astonished – why on earth wouldn’t you take an hour or two at best and with a small amount of wood and off-cuts make yourself […]

Whenever you make a sawcut in any woodworking project, follow it up with a quick joinery check. Use a reliable square and make sure everything looks good. it sounds strange but I see it all the time: People saw a joint and never bother to check to see if it’s square. Do this for all of […]

http://www.theunpluggedwoodshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Workshop-Appliances-Shooting-Board.pdf “The shooting board of ‘chute’ board is another one of these bench top appliances that you really shouldn’t be without. When I walk into a woodshop without one I’m astonished – why on earth wouldn’t you take an hour or two at best and with a small amount of wood and off-cuts make yourself […]