How to make an acoustic guitar
The only thing more satisfying than playing a guitar is playing a guitar you’ve made.
Ted Brown
Ted is the owner of Blackwood Guitar Co. in Mallorytown, Ontario. where he makes custom guitars and teaches guitar making.
Articles by Ted Brown
5″ Random Orbital Sanders
Ted Brown tests out 15 random orbital sander models models and gives you the low-down.
Flattening a Bench Top
A surface that’s out of flat will do nothing but hinder your skills while working with hand tools. Once in a while, every woodworker should take the steps to flatten their work surface.
Sharpening Carving Gouges
Tuning and sharpening your gouges is vital to your success and overall enjoyment in carving.
Straight Carving Gouges
Carving is a great way to add individual expression to your custom furniture. We reviewed products from five manufacturers to help introduce you to the nuances between the brands.
Chisels for Furniture Making
There are many different types of chisels on the market, but you don’t need all of them to make beautiful furniture. You will need to know a bit about the different types of chisels and the materials they are made with though.
A serious small shop for $10,000
Setting up a shop in your home is the only option for many amateur – and even some professional – woodworkers. There are lots of decisions to be made: electrical requirements, equipment selection, hand tool purchases, and shop layout are all crucial aspects of being successful.
Sandpaper Storage Shelf
Organize all your sandpaper and get some practice with basic box construction at the same time.
Panel Mitre Sled
This handy sled will help make mitres and bevels with ease.
Surface Preparation – Hand Planing
Surface preparation is about perfecting your hand skills. Three wonderful hand tools; learn how to maximize their performance and enjoy the tactile experience of fine surface preparation.
Two options for finishing your next masterpiece
If you’re searching for a finish that’s easy to apply, looks great and is repairable, look no further. These two finishes give you the option of either a very fine, delicate finish or a more durable, everyday finish.
Making a wooden smoothing plane
Making your own plane is a great shop project that results in a fine tool that you will use on a regular basis.
Harmonious grain
Sometimes paying a little extra attention to the grain patterns in wood can bring your furniture to the next level.
Specialty Planes
Some hand planes get used faithfully in the shop to do common tasks, but what about those specialty planes designed to do one thing and do it well? Here are three planes that do singular tasks with incredible efficiency.
The Shoulder Plane
No other plane performs as well as a shoulder plane when hand-fitting joints.
Low-Angle Block Plane
While the smoothing plane excels at preparing face grain, the block plane with its special set of features, is a necessity for working on the toughest cuts of them all…end grain.
Hand-cut lapped dovetails
There’s something about a well-made hand-cut dovetail joint. It speaks to the quality of the piece, and the craftsmanship of the maker.
