There is something satisfying about making a small object that requires precision at every step. During my machine woodworking course, we were tasked with building a wine box designed to hold two bottles. The main goal was not just the box itself, but to practice several different joinery techniques in one project. Each joint we…

Lately, I’ve been working on a small dovetail box, made entirely by hand. No shortcuts, no machines—just wood, tools, and time. I wanted to fully understand the process from the inside out: not just how dovetails look when they’re finished, but how they feel while you’re making them. What struck me most is how intricate…

In today’s course after making a mortise and tenon joint, the assignment was to make a dovetail joint. I’ve made dovetails before, and while they’re always good practice, I felt the urge to push myself a little further. Lately, I’ve been researching different approaches to building my own workbench. During that process, I came across…

Right now, I’m juggling three woodworking courses at the same time:a beginner course, a course focused on making a closed box with dovetail joints, and a machine woodworking course. It’s intense, but exactly what I hoped for, full immersion. Along the way, I’ve already learned some lessons the hard way. One of the first involved…

My first real woodworking project was a garden bench. I found a design online, adjusted it slightly to fit my needs, and then headed to a lumber mill near Wageningen to acquire 6 meter long “2 by 4” planks. With little more than a handsaw, I cut the planks down to size and slowly turned…