Kate Espinoza

Staff Writer

Kate covers hand tools, woodworking equipment, and workshop organization for Craftsman Toolkit. A certified joiner with formal training in traditional Japanese carpentry, she is the team's go-to voice on anything that does not plug in — chisels, hand planes, marking gauges, layout tools. She still prefers a sharp paring chisel to most power solutions for fine work, and her reviews tend to dwell on edge retention, handle ergonomics, and the small details that separate a tool you reach for daily from one that lives in a drawer. Outside the shop she teaches a weekend furniture-making class in San Diego.