Steve Maxwell

Steve Maxwell

Steve Maxwell lives on Manitoulin Island, Ontario and has worked remotely as technical editor of Canadian Home Workshop since 1990. He uses his experience as a cabinetmaker, carpenter and stonemason to prepare projects for the magazine, to write stories of his own, and to test and review products and tools in his workshop. Steve has a readership of about 2 million people across Canada and the US, and takes photos and creates videos to accompany his work.

When Steve’s not working with words, wood and stone, he likes to spend time gardening, cutting firewood, and showing his five kids how to make things.


Recent Articles and Blog Posts

3 wood splitter options

If you’ve split wood, you’ve been there: small logs that are full of knots and fibres that feel as if they are glued together, even after an assault with the sharpest axe. Or maybe you have several cords of round logs piled...

Read »

Five tips for milling rough lumber

Milling rough lumber for workshop projects saves money, and it also opens up more creative possibilities than standard, pre-dressed wood. That’s why Art Mulder designed his block set around rough lumber. Success, however,...

Read »


The best of Toolbox

I've spent almost half my life writing Toolbox columns for every issue of Canadian Home Workshop since 1992, and although I’ve enjoyed creating every one of them, a handful of topics are special. They cover the most important...

Read »

How to hide screw heads

Wood screws offer strong, fast ways to join project parts, and they can be made virtually invisible too. Tapered wooden plugs make it happen. Typically 1/2" in diameter on their large ends, tapered wooden plugs can be bought from...

Read »

Make your projects strong

Cut some wood, then put it back together again in new ways. This is woodworking described most simply, and the “put back together” part sometimes needs mechanical help. Dowels, biscuits and floating tenons all create...

Read »

How to make the perfect dowel joint

If I had to choose just one method to connect project parts for the rest of my woodworking career, the dowel joint would be it. Strong, precise, hidden and versatile—the only danger is that dowel joints seem so simple at first...

Read »

Troubleshooting dowel-joint problems

Problem #1: Joint doesn't come together tightly, even under clamping pressure. Cause: Holes are too shallow. Remedy: Shorten the dowel pins or deepen the holes and reassemble the joint.   Problem #2: Wood splits under...

Read »

To the bat cave

One of our top 10 projects of all time! There has definitely been a strong interest in this bat house project throughout the past five years. It seems folks are trying to help out the poor flying mammals, which are under siege by...

Read »

Ductless air conditioning—A better way to keep cool

If you’ve considered upgrading your existing system or adding air conditioning to your home, you’ve probably realized there’s a large gap in the available options for home cooling. At one end of the spectrum are the small,...

Read »

Poll

How do you heat your home?

Loading ... Loading ...

Recommendations