Parings - A woodworker's journal

De-Mystifying Secret Drawers: part 2

Chuck Bender — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:21:40 +0000

For the second secret, I’m heading to a furniture form ripe with possibilities for hidden compartments: the fall front desk. This one’s a simple, down and dirty secret drawer. This one comes from a William & Mary desk. The photos are courtesy of H.L. Chalfant Antiques of West Chester, PA. When looking at the interior, it’s [...]

It’s a Secret, part II

Chuck Bender — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:24:22 +0000

With the recent publication of my article entitled “It’s a Secret” in Popular Woodworking Magazine (click here to read the article online), I’ve gotten lots of comments and questions about secret drawers. Let me begin by saying that the article was meant to be more of a primer, or introduction rather than a treatise on the subject. There’s only [...]

The Norm of woodworking

Chuck Bender — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 10:44:54 +0000

There’s been a lot of talk lately about Norm Abram shutting down The New Yankee Workshop. All this hoopla really got me to thinking about woodworking in general. I watched Norm on This Old House from fairly early on. I missed the early years of The New Yankee Workshop but jumped in and caught more than [...]

WIA – A behind the scenes account

Chuck Bender — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:34:54 +0000

Last weekend’s Woodworking in America Conference was a great time. The bloggers are all over the various moments they encountered. I wanted to give you a bit of the view from the other side of the coin as well as give you the step by step instructions on how to make the stringing tools I [...]