Rex Krueger
Published 5 Jan 2026Patrons saw this video early: / rexkrueger
Join the Mailing List: http://eepurl.com/g3rkmv
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Compass Rose Toolworks: https://www.compassrosetools.com/
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January 6, 2026
Woodworking was WORK. What happened?
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December 27, 2025
Campaign Furniture by Christopher Schwarz
I try not to clutter the blog with woodworking-related posts, as I know it’s a niche interest among my readership, but every now and again I find something I just have to share. Today, it’s a post from Lost Art Press on the book Campaign Furniture written by Christopher Schwarz:
My 2014 book Campaign Furniture is now a free pdf download for everyone. You can download it via this link (a compressed version for slower connections is available here). And customers will always be able to download it from the book’s page in our store.
I’m a fan of the book … I ended up buying two copies through Lee Valley Tools (I loaned my first copy out and it got lost in the shipwreck of a friend’s messy divorce). I like Chris’s writing style and I’ve long been a fan of Campaign furniture.
Why Do I Do This?
I get asked by fellow publishers why I offer my books for free download. “Surely you use it to gather emails to market to readers.” Nope. “Are these out-of-print books that you are using to get eyeballs on your website?” Nope. “So what’s the strategy?”
I think – as much as possible – that information should be free. I think the best hope for inspiring other woodworkers is to give them whatever they need to begin in the craft.
And, I fu&%ing hate this world we’ve created where people can’t own anything. Companies come into your house and your phone and change things or take away stuff you’ve bought. Many times they take back stuff you owned then rent it back to you.
That’s why we make books. Buy a book from us, and it’s yours. Its contents can’t be changed by some ideologue a thousand miles away. All of our digital products are free of DRM (digital rights management). That means they can’t be locked or disabled. And you can copy them onto whatever device you like.
OK, the holiday rant is over.
I hope you find something of interest in Campaign Furniture. We still use three of the pieces from the book every day in our home. Other pieces are with my kids. So my family’s love of this neglected furniture style continues.
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December 18, 2025
How to Carve a Star | Paul Sellers
Paul Sellers
Published 25 Jul 2025I have been asked to create this video for some time but couldn’t get to it. Here it is.
All you need is a good sharp chisel. This chisel is an Aldi, £2.50 version, so nothing special. The steps I show guarantee a positive outcome, but please be prepared to put in some practice on a scrap of wood. Avoid softwoods because they have hard and soft aspects surrounding the growth rings which are sometimes difficult to work with. I’m using cherry, but there are many choices that have consistent grain, such as poplar, oak, and walnut.
Carving this star took me a little over half an hour to do. With practice, you will get to understand the grain of the wood, direction and the chiselling techniques I used. I hope you enjoy creating your star!
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December 12, 2025
If You Want to Start Woodworking — Build This First
Rex Krueger
Published 10 Dec 2025Join the Mailing List: http://eepurl.com/g3rkmv
Take a course: https://www.rexkrueger.com/courses
Compass Rose Toolworks: https://www.compassrosetools.com/
Get my woodturning book: http://www.rexkrueger.com/book
Follow me on Instagram: @rexkrueger
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November 30, 2025
Drawers for dummies
Rex Krueger
Published 24 Jul 2025Compass Rose Toolworks: https://www.compassrosetools.com/
Check out my Courses: https://rexkrueger.retrieve.com/
Patrons saw this video early: patreon.com/rexkrueger
Follow me on Instagram: @rexkrueger
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November 29, 2025
Exploring Hand Tool Woodworking | Paul Sellers
Paul Sellers
Published 28 Nov 2025Most of the woodworkers I come to meet have lost any working knowledge of just how efficient and effective hand tools are in daily woodworking, and yet I have used them to make my living for 60 years. Not only have they lost the skills and knowledge, but they have lost belief in themselves and the ability to use them.
With our team, I have spent three decades training hundreds of thousands of woodworkers worldwide to use the methods I was raised with as an apprentice, and they are discovering that hand tools are not outdated or outmoded.
Watch this video and ask yourselves, if you couldn’t use tools just like these in your day-to-day woodworking.
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November 26, 2025
A Tray in a Day | Paul Sellers
Paul Sellers
Published 11 Jul 2025Not every project needs to be complicated, and many can be a machineless exercise that develops hand skills and simplifies the project all the more.
People often shun plywood as a legitimate option over solid wood, but where solid wood might otherwise expand, contrary to the grain in solid wood oriented at 90º, plywood will be a perfect choice because of its stability, strength, and longevity.
I say a tray-in-a-day, but six in a day is highly possible, especially when you use only hand tools and no power equipment. Enjoy!
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November 16, 2025
Hand tool woodworkers: Are you using the wrong plane?
Rex Krueger
Published 10 Jul 2025Get your rough work plane today: https://tooltrader.net/
Compass Rose Toolworks: https://www.compassrosetools.com/
Check out my Courses: https://rexkrueger.retrieve.com/
Patrons saw this video early: patreon.com/rexkrueger
Follow me on Instagram: @rexkrueger
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November 14, 2025
This is in your house … and you’ve never noticed
Rex Krueger
Published 12 Nov 2025The Secret History of Wood – Rubber wood
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November 4, 2025
Making history the simple way
Rex Krueger
3 Nov 2025yLinks from this video:
History of Raised Panels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6iIqZY4gvc
Learn About Hardwoods: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NmKfzc3g-I&t=229s
Find and fix up a Rabbet Plane: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcJeu0qMvwc&t=184sGet behind the scenes and FREE plans: https://www.patreon.com/rexkrueger
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October 21, 2025
The amazing invisible detail
Rex Krueger
Published 20 Oct 2025Patrons saw this video early: / rexkrueger
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October 15, 2025
Your tools belong in a chest
Rex Krueger
Published 29 May 2025Compass Rose Toolworks: https://www.compassrosetools.com/
Check out my Courses: https://rexkrueger.retrieve.com/
Patrons saw this video early: patreon.com/rexkrueger
Follow me on Instagram: @rexkrueger
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October 5, 2025
Chris Schwarz and the cheapskate workbench builder
Every week, Chris Schwarz republishes something from his back-catalogue of books and articles, generally on woodworking topics. This week, he posted the first half of an older blog post about the six personalities of workbench builders. I especially enjoyed the third segment:
Workbench Personality No. 3: The Cheapskate
My encounters with The Cheapskate could fill a book on workbenches. This is but one short story.
I receive a fax. On the paper is the message: Could you call me at XXX-XXX-XXXX please? I have an important question about workbenches.
Intrigued, I call. My first question: Hey, uh, why the fax?
The Cheapskate: We’re not allowed to make long-distance calls here at my place of employment. But they didn’t say anything about making long-distance faxes.
A cold stone grows in my stomach.
The Cheapskate gets down to business: I want to build a Roubo workbench, but I’m tight on fundage. We’ve got these pallets where I work, and I’m wondering if those will work? I don’t know what the species is – something weird – and the stock is thin and filled with nails and spiral screw things.
I am certified in counseling The Pallet People. So I know what to do.
Question: What sort of sizes can you get from the pallets?
The Cheapskate: About 1/2″ thick, 4″ wide and 48″ long.
Me: So, for an 8′-long bench, you will need almost 100 of those pieces just for the benchtop. You will need to de-nail them, flatten them and glue them together in stages that are staggered – probably about 18 to 20 stages – if I remember right from my Pallet People Intervention Manual.
The Cheapskate: Brilliant! Thanks so much! I’ll do it!
A few weeks pass; another fax arrives.
The Cheapskate: I’m working on the benchtop, and I have a technical question for you. How little glue do I need to use to stick these pieces together? I mean, I’m trying to recover all the squeeze-out, but I’ve laminated seven layers so far and used up a 16 oz. bottle of glue. That’s crazy. Can I get away with just gluing a little bit at the top and bottom of each board – leaving the middle dry?
Me: I explain that glue is the cheapest part of any project. (“Not this one!” he interjects. “So far I’ve spent money only on glue!”) Deep breath. OK, I say, if you use this strategy, once you flatten the benchtop a few times, the top will delaminate.
There is silence on the phone line. (I’ve won!)
Then he answers: What if I put a paste of rice and water in the middle instead of glue? I’ve heard that rice glue was used in Japanese cultures. We have a lot of rice.
I unplug the office fax machine.
The Cheapskate sends me an email: I need to make a face vise and a tail vise, but all I have on hand is all-thread rod from a neighbor’s fencing job – 32 tpi. Can you help?
I am seriously considering counseling for myself when a follow-up email arrives. It continues the discussion of the 32 tpi vises.
The Cheapskate: I’m thinking a quick-release mechanism is the way to go – 32 tpi is really slow. But it’s super precise! So here’s the thing. I have a friend with a SawStop. He set the thing off when ripping my benchtop for me (some of the glue wasn’t dry). The SawStop cartridge has these strong blue springs in it. He was going to THROW THEM AWAY! That got me thinking: I could use those as a quick-release trigger for my vise – holding a bit of metal against the all-thread. Have you ever seen plans for something like this?
Weeks pass, and I hope The Cheapskate has taken up Animal Husbandry, cheaping out on animal condoms or something. But then I get a phone call.
The Cheapskate: I see you’re teaching a workbench class at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking.
Me: Yup.
The Cheapskate: I was wondering: Could you get a student to take videos of your lectures and send them to me? Not the building part. Just the part where you explain how to make the thing. I don’t really have the fundage to take a class.
Me: I’m afraid that’s not really fair to the students or the owner of the school. Sorry.
The Cheapskate: Hey, I totally understand. How about I just come to the class and watch through the window? Is that OK? I won’t build anything. I’ll just be there, like a fly on the wall to listen? That OK?
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How to Make a Stool with a Woven Seat | Paul Sellers
Paul Sellers
Published 9 May 2025I designed a basic introductory-level project to steer and guide any new woodworker into making a great first-time project. I also wanted a basic introduction to weaving Danish cord (but you can use nylon or natural rope) into a seat.
The two came together in a single stool that, though simple and fun to make, will last a lifetime. There are features to working the wood that you will be unlikely to see or learn about elsewhere because I designed the project with you, the beginner or novice woodworker and seat weaver, in mind.
Trade secrets and tips of the trade throughout, you might just amaze yourself, your family, and friends with a professional-looking outcome.
Bookmarks:
Rails Layout: 02:08
Shaping the Legs: 16:48
Glue Up: 35:34
Finishing: 51:53
Seat Weaving: 54:14
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