Bruce MacNab

Bruce MacNab is the author of the award-winning biography The Metamorphosis: the apprenticeship of Harry Houdini. Raised in Dartmouth, he attended NSCAD and the Nova Scotia Institute of Technology. He now lives alongside Nova Scotia’s Cobequid Mountains

Recent Work by Bruce

Gravesend Bay, Brooklyn NY: Where the Halifax Explosion was loaded and primed (video)

Just before midnight on December 2, 1917, the overloaded Mont Blanc limped out of Gravesend Bay on course to join a convoy in Halifax

Dec 6, 2019 10:19 AM Read more >

BEYOND LOCAL: Here's how our ancestors used to carve hockey sticks out of a single piece of wood (video)

Woodworker Bruce McNab takes us along on his quest to complete possibly the most Canadian woodworking project ever in this four-part series

Jun 6, 2019 9:19 AM Read more >

This Should Work: Save cash with a zany patch

Construction and demolition go hand in hand. They can make for an expensive wedding, so don’t get too carried away with your sledgehammer.

Jan 14, 2017 2:00 PM Read more >

This Should Work: A vintage pantry comes home

Have you ever bought a house with its contents?

Jan 7, 2017 2:00 PM Read more >

This Should Work: Buy a used tub and don’t get soaked

I’ve got something that makes women want to undress. I’m taking about my old-fashioned cast iron bathtub

Dec 31, 2016 2:00 PM Read more >

This Should Work: New life for old boots

You will see some strange sights on construction sites. For instance, I’ve seen carpenters cutting their work boots on table saws

Dec 24, 2016 2:00 PM Read more >

This Should Work: A wooden star illusion

Sometimes one looks like a perfect star or a perfect diamond. Sometimes another looks like two diamonds, one on top of the other. Other times one looks like a square with a triangle at the top and bottom.

Dec 20, 2016 1:45 PM Read more >

This Should Work: Taking it all off

I spent the weekend in my room with a hot stripper. It cost too much. And by Sunday night I was exhausted. Read on for the sticky details.

Dec 17, 2016 2:00 PM Read more >

This Should Work: Feeling groovy

Who’s the greatest woodworker of all time? Hint: violin maker

Dec 10, 2016 2:00 PM Read more >

This Should Work: The Beatles, Ed Sullivan, and plywood cupboards

In this week's column, Bruce takes on the return of baby boomer kitchens

Nov 26, 2016 2:00 PM Read more >