About Little Workshop Co.

What this is

Little Workshop Co. is a reference on woodworking techniques, Canadian hardwoods, and hand-tool methods. Content covers joinery, tool selection and setup, wood species identification, and finishing — with attention to the materials and climate conditions that apply specifically to Canadian shops.

The articles here are written for woodworkers at different levels — from those who have recently set up a first bench to those who have been at it for decades and want a second reference on a specific point. Practical specifics are favoured over general principles: what grit to sand to, which plane pattern suits which task, how much a given species moves in Canadian indoor humidity.

There is no subscription, no store, and no commercial content. The site exists to make useful woodworking information easy to find without navigating around advertisements for products.

What is covered

• Hand-tool selection, setup, and maintenance — planes, saws, chisels, layout tools
• Joinery methods suited to hand-tool work — mortise and tenon, dovetails, box joints
• Canadian hardwood species — grain, workability, dimensional movement, sourcing
• Surface finishing — penetrating oils, varnish, shellac, wax, and application method
• Workshop setup — bench design, storage, environmental considerations

The editorial approach

Content is written from direct experience with the materials and methods described. Where a technique or product recommendation comes from another source, that source is cited. Measurements are given in both metric and imperial where relevant, because Canadian woodworkers use both depending on context — wood thickness and board dimensions in imperial, joinery tolerances in metric.

No content on this site is written to sell a product or promote a brand. Where a brand name appears, it is because the product is genuinely representative of a category or widely available in Canada. Veritas tools and Lee Valley retail locations are mentioned frequently because they are the most accessible Canadian-market sources for the tools discussed — not because of any commercial relationship.