Marking gauges are used to create layout lines for hand cut dovetails, mortise & tenon joinery, and other types of high-quality furniture and cabinet joints. There are many types of marking gauges, but the principles of their use are similar. The goal: create precise and repeatable cuts or scoring marks on wood surfaces that can then be used as reference lines for chisel, hand saw, and/or hand plane cuts. In this concise video overview, cabinetmaker Craig Vandall Stevens will show you how to get optimal layout lines on your next project. (2.5 Minute Woodworking Video)

A shop-made Japanese style marking gauge is used in this video, but the methods and principles shown can be applied to western style tools as well.

This video reviews some of the most common, and popular, hand planes used by crafts people today. At first glance, the whole subject looks complicated, because there are dozens of major plane types and many different variations within each of those categories. But most accomplished woodworkers agree that there is a core list of planes that any woodworker should consider for their toolbox.

In this segment, I introduce and demonstrate five of the more useful handplanes used by contemporary artisans who work with wood. You’ll learn the characteristics and uses of the jack, smooth, shoulder plane, block, and jointer (try) planes. And you’ll see them put through their paces. Then you decide which planes you should buy or own. (7 Minute Video)

(Similar Terms: Rabbit, Rabbet)

Japanese chisels differ from their western equivalents in several interesting ways. Most notably, Japanese chisels are forged from a laminated fusion of hardened tool steel and a softer, more shock absorbing wrought iron. This melding of metals offers the woodworker some very important practical advantages over western style chisels — and there are other differences too.

In this video introduction to the Japanese chisel, cabinetmaker Craig Vandall Stevens describes the important characteristics of Japanese chisels and why he is a proponent of their use. Craig is an expert in the use of Japanese tools and he instructs on the topic throughtout the United States and Japan. I wouldn’t be surprised if after watching this video, you aren’t enticed to shop around for your own set. (4 Minute Woodworking Video)