Category: Woodworking and Making

Every September, Minnesota woodworkers face the same problem: benches rock, drawers stick, doors won’t close. It’s not poor craftsmanship—it’s humidity dropping 23% in three weeks, causing every piece of wood in your shop to respond naturally.

Most woodworkers view fall as prime building season. But David Ohnstad warns that Minnesota’s seasonal humidity swings make autumn the worst time to construct furniture that must survive winter. Understanding wood movement prevents costly failures.

Pocket-hole jigs are everywhere in beginner content, but forum debates split predictably: half say use it for everything, half reject it entirely. Neither is right. The real answer depends on understanding when pocket holes actually work and when they’ll fail your project.

After six months in the shop, Tom’s router bit didn’t cut—it burned. That scorch mark on poplar revealed everything about tool maintenance, rust prevention, and why your first cut after a long break is a diagnostic moment, not just work.

A gym bag under the desk revealed more than camping gear—it held the working woodworker’s essential toolkit. David Ohnstad unpacks the hand planes, Japanese saws, chisels, and leather rolls that serious makers actually carry to every project.

Nick Offerman’s five-step woodworking plan inspires but oversimplifies. David Ohnstad exposes the critical gap between good-sounding advice and actionable guidance that actually gets beginners started in the workshop.

The best woodworking plans tell you what to cut—but not how to think like a woodworker. David Ohnstad explores the critical gap between printed instructions and real-world execution, and why staring at 47 pages isn’t the same as understanding your project.

The woodworking internet preaches that bombproof joinery like mortise-and-tenon and through-dovetails are always superior. But this hierarchy ignores a crucial truth: the right joint depends on your application, not just raw strength.

Woodworking internet culture pushes dovetails and mortise-and-tenons as universal solutions. But experienced builders know a dado joint cut in seconds often outperforms techniques taking forty minutes. Learn when to break the rules.

The advice to buy expensive tools first stops more people from woodworking than it helps. David Ohnstad breaks down why starting with affordable gear—and upgrading as you grow—builds better makers and keeps you actually making.