Shopbenchguide

Best Chisels For Everyday Use

I've spent forty years in a dust-choked shop, shoulders sore from paring dovetails and levering out stubborn mortises — I've used every chisel that calls itself

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Routers Buying Guide What To Look For In 2026

I've run a router through every sort of stock you can imagine — soft pine with the grain direction c

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Best Routers For Everyday Use

I've spent a lifetime at the bench and seen what separates a router that lasts from the junk that gi

March 12, 2026

Band Saws Buying Guide What To Look For In 2026

I’ve been cutting dovetails and roughing out tenons long enough to know which tools earn their keep and which end up in the giveaway pile. This 2026 band saw roundup separates the parts that actually

March 10, 2026

How To Choose The Right Band Saws

I've spent a lifetime ripping, resawing and laying out dovetails by lamplight — I've used every band saw that showed up in a shop and thrown away the ones that couldn't hold a kerf or a square fence.

March 08, 2026

Best Band Saws For Everyday Use

I've spent a lifetime at the bench — resawing blanks for tenons, ripping delicate curves for dovetails, and abusing tools until the junk failed. If a band saw can't hold fence alignment, track a blade

March 06, 2026

Table Saws Buying Guide What To Look For In 2026

I've spent a lifetime in the shop cutting dovetails, setting mortise-and-tenon shoulders, and ripping thousands of feet of stock — I know what a jig needs to do and what junk won't survive a weekend.

March 04, 2026

How To Choose The Right Table Saws

I've spent a lifetime listening to the hum of table saws — from battered shop classics to the shiny jobsite toys folks buy on impulse. If you want honest advice, not marketing fluff, you need someone

March 02, 2026

Best Table Saws For Everyday Use

I've spent a lifetime laying out mortise and tenon joints, ripping stock to grain direction, and testing every table saw a young apprentice could drag into my shop. If you want a saw that will live in

February 28, 2026

Woodworking Tools Buying Guide What To Look For In

I’ve spent fifty years in a shop where a bad tool ruins more than a weekend — it ruins the work. If you’re a serious hobbyist or semi-pro, this 2026 buying guide cuts the fluff: I’ll tell you which co

February 26, 2026

How To Choose The Right Woodworking Tools

I've been in the shop longer than most of the tools on your shelf, and I don't sugarcoat what works. If you want clean dovetails, dead-flat fence alignment, and mortise-and-tenon joints that don't wig

February 24, 2026

Best Woodworking Tools For Everyday Use

Listen: I've been in the shop long enough to know which tools make the cut and which end up in the junk box after one weekend. This roundup covers the handful of everyday tools that actually do the wo