Glad for advice on getting mitered corners more precise, I ended up with little gaps using both a table saw crosscut sled and miter saw. I think part of the issue is holding the small pieces of wood totally still.
Pecan wood and Danish Oil. Made this entirely on a Shopsmith while between contractor saws. It was gonna be my first traditional mortise and tenon, but I fucked something up (don't remember exactly what, possibly some measurement) and turned it into a floating tenon situation instead. Still using it (and the headphones) five years later.
It’s going so much better this time! I made a stencil out of hardboard using a jigsaw and scroll saw. Then I routered it into oak. Now I’m using a chisel to carve out the pieces my router couldn’t reach, and to make rounded parts pointy. I have completed this bottom corner. Carving is my favorite thing about woodworking. I like to listen to podcasts and just be in my own little zone.
Is a router the right tool to make long 1/8”-3/16” wide grooves or slots in wood? It seems like I could do it with a circular saw, but only if the desired width matches my blade kerf. I don’t have a table saw. If it is the right tool, does anyone have bits or bit sets they recommend for such small cuts?
I am starting off the new year by using my discount second hand tools to try and cobble together a nice birthday present for my wife. Materials include water damaged maple, warped walnut, and spider-infested purple heart. Wish me luck.
This mirror frame was inspired by an archway in Rings of Power. I’ve always loved the Elven art and design in LOTR. I made a stencil with my scroll saw out of hardboard. But I have the wrong scroll saw blades and I’m impatient so it came out a bit rough and uneven with my hand- drawn design. I had some old oak and some new stock that I glued up together and the difference shows. I glued the stencil to the oak but as I began to router it out, the glue gave out and my router slipped, tearing into the piece. I also routered too deeply I think. Then I broke a piece off. Just one mistake after another really.
I've been doing basic woodworking for a while, and I want to start moving into furniture (mostly for my own enjoyment). I strongly prefer the aesthetics of craftsman/mission/prairie style (Gustav Stickley, *et al*.) I'm trying to make a list of the basic power tools that would be necessary/useful for that style of furniture, along with hand tools, and I'd appreciate feedback from people with more experience than I.
Found it on the curb, and I liked the design. Looks like solid wood, but the joints are all coming apart and look tricky to reinforce. Would you bother?
Walnut and maple., it's an inch and a quarter thick, 12 1/2 inches wide and about 17 inches long. While it is an end grain cutting board I actually built it with kneading dough in mind, I don't intend to cut on this one, not for awhile anyway. Built it this weekend and baked some bread with it today. Which is why my mixer is covered in flour. I'm really happy with this one.
Walnut and maple., it's an inch and a quarter thick, 12 1/2 inches wide and about 17 inches long. While it is an end grain cutting board I actually built it with kneading dough in mind, I don't intend to cut on this one, not for awhile anyway. Built it this weekend and baked some bread with it today. Which is why my mixer is covered in flour. I'm really happy with this one.
It took lots of repetition honing, stropping, going through setup, realizing the chip breaker was right on the edge of the blade, repeat, new error. The first picture is progress: small and crunchy, long and crinkley, long and papery.
I've designed a 3D printable sharpening angle jig for your chisel and planer knife. Works with those cheap triangle shaped blade holders you can find almost anywhere for cheap. Check it out if you're got a 3D printer.
There is a lot more checking than I realized, and I’m afraid filling these gaps by just pouring in epoxy will be difficult. I want to keep the live edge and avoid making a complete deep pour epoxy mold. Some of these gaps go all the way through The 2-in slab. Any tips for me?
Most parts are cnc-carved. The body is usually carved from a single block of wood, but for my cnc, I split it into three parts, including a decorative strip of amaranth.
Continued from previous posts. As usual, it took longer than expected, but here are the rims all bent and blocked up. Next steps will be getting the tops and backs all braced up and voiced. After that I’ll install the kerfed lining and side braces, do some final bowl sanding, notch the lining and finally put the boxes together. Simple as that.
Not that big, but it would still be interesting. I pulled some honey locust from our firewood pile a few years back and incorporated it into a desk. It has a fairly boring grain pattern, but I like the color a lot.
Not sure how many hand tool users there are here but I’m going to buy a new plane and am debating between a plow plane or a combination plane (both Veritas). Plow plane gets me what I need today which is cutting grooves, dadoes, etc but the combination obviously gets a bit more in functionality and available blade shapes plus it has nickers on both sides so reversible direction. I already have a router plane with a fence which is almost as good as a plow but not quite. Trying to figure out if combination plane has any down sides to it at all that I’m not thinking about before I pull the trigger on it.
My first time building any sort of furniture. I’m a journeyman redseal carpenter in Canada and spent my career building houses for 15 years and recently started a new job where I have access to a shop and some better tools.
I made a low Roman bench out of a piece of bowling alley that was being trashed and some old fence posts. I fitted the legs with slanted mortise and tenon joints and realized that was a lot of work, so I did the other side with bored out round mortise and tenons, which was somewhat easier. There is a notch in place of a full vice, and I mad e a “crochet hook” attachment for wedging up large boards for edge planing, but it split so I’ll need to figure out a different grain direction.
Bought this black walnut cookie off of Facebook marketplace for a good price. The only catch is it is warped, cracked, cupped, and twisted. It's about 4 in thick and that's plenty of material to make a coffee table, but I need some advice and guidance on making a router planing jig please.
I have a workpiece that I want to give an oil finish, but a certain area needs to stay oil-free, because I need to attach a part later on using hide glue. What masking method is safe for oil?
The potting bench has a hole so that soil can be brushed into the bucket below. I was able to salvage some of the older boards from the old pile of junk that stood there before, which are in the roof. Speaking of the roof, see how some of it is clear? I’m going to build a cold frame into that part of the roof for hardening off plants! I’m having a hard time deciding how to do that but though.
With their 'Tale of the Cedar Planter Box.' This beautiful planter is now the new icon for our community and they are credited on our sidebar! Question for the winner: what would you choose for our next theme if we do another contest in the fall or winter?
I need to drill holes at exact positions to affix large workpieces to my cnc for two-sided machining. My drill press is not large enough to reach all drilling positions, and drilling by hand often results in a non-90° angle. I know for metalworking there are magnet drill presses to drill holes in steel beams. But is there something similar for wood?
Thin pieces of white limba and purple heart laminated to a piece of walnut and then hand routed with a v groove bit. Put a chamfer on all the edges to give it a purple heart border and then I think I finished this one with Polycrylic. Pounded a v tooth wall hanger into the back and called it good.
I had to show off my newest acquisition. Picked up an old Rockwell 22-650 planer from a guy on Craigslist.
I replaced the knives, greased it, and dialed it in.
It works great! If I ever have to move it again, I'll get someone with a tractor to help. Still not sure how I managed to muscle all 400+ lbs of it into the basement by myself. I was dumb enough to try that once but not enough to do it twice.
Situation: using a screw gun to drive in the self-driving screws (the star shaped ones) horizontally, and sometimes at a difficult angle above my head.
Hard to get good leverage like that. The driver starts spinning the screw but it doesn’t catch right away and then the screw jumps out and falls on the ground.
A pain hook (self-use massage device for the neck and back) made from a pine branch. Snoopy-like dog appeared from the branch while whittling, hence the name.
I've built the section of the table that flips. On the saw side, I have 1-1/2" to build up so the bed of the saw is flush with the rest of the table. How would you attach the saw so it's secure to flip upside down?
Sorry for the glare making it hard for you to play along. I’ll have to take better pics. I came up with the idea last year, but I live on a dead end street. Then my cousin said I could put it at his house. He was helping me glue in the pieces when the concept of it finally clicked for him and he got so excited about what clues you could give to search for and things to put inside. It’s so fun. I went to the Goodwill “bins” and just filled up a box with every little object I could find. The pieces are hot glued in place just in case the box rattles. Maybe in a few months we can change the sign so you have to find new things. I can also remove entire shelves or maybe just pop off the toys. Hot glue comes off easy enough.
I have very very old power tools. I cannot afford new ones. The problem is, if I’m being totally honest, I’m largely afraid of the tools I have. I’d like to get over this. How does one do that without direct supervision?
I've got my work cut out for me, there's a decent amount of flattening needed on a few strips, and the planer I have access to is abut rough around the edges, so not all the joints are perfect, but it's alright overall.
This entry of mine will not match the customary craftsmanship found in this community, but seeing as this was formerly a pile of miscellaneous, warped scrap 2x4 segments recovered from old pallets, I think I've made a reasonable show of things.
So I just picked up this 12"×6"×10' maple beam at an auction today and had to chop off two feet of it to fit it in my car. I'm thinking of making a couple end-grain carving boards for friends with what was cut off.
This is my first piece of furniture with hand-cut mortise-and-tenon joinery. It's far from perfect, but I managed to hide most of the imperfections inside the frame.
Thank you technomad and dubyakay for inspiring our third woodworking contest here. This contest will be to build a planter box or I guess a plant pot would work too.
Just a test for my new CNC machine. I got the file from here: Scantheworld and turned it into a relief using ZBrush and Photoshop. The wood I used is cherry and the sice of the carving is roughly 60x50mm.
I got a good deal on some pecan and i was planning to use it to build patio furniture. I don't know much about pecan and I'm having trouble finding much info about it. Is this a good wood for outdoor use or should i find an indoor project for it?
I decided to sand down the top, drawer front, and low shelf edges, but leave the spindles alone. I tried to match the stain but the one I bought (and tried on a hidden area) came out too red, so I skipped staining. Luckily several coats of poly ended up close enough.
It has seen some water damage and the varnish is flaking off (especially on the top). But I don't necessarily have the time/energy for a full strip/sand/refinish, especially as this may get dinged up; I'm just looking for a reasonably pleasing look.
I'm guessing this is the result of layers of slathering a fresh layer of finish on these tables. To be honest, I kind of like the look. Any idea what type of finish this might be?
Hi, I'm currently carving a bear out of a maple burl. I'm getting to fine details such as teeth and claws. Does anyone have any recommendations as to how I can stabilize these pieces so they are less likely to break?
My family had one from decades ago that's falling apart, so I made a replacement. I went with toothpicks as little dowels to help join the crossbars to their supports, since the flat glue joint didn't hold for all of them.
It's actually just friction fit together in this picture; as I type it's in the clamps as the glue dries. Tomorrow some final touch up sanding and the first of four coats of spar varnish, then a few decades on my front porch under a couple potted plants.
I was checking to see how a 3/4" dog hole would look in a vise jaw made from two 3/4" pieces of plywood. Just clamped for the test, but would be glue for the real thing. Interesting to see the hole opened up. And luckily no splitting, but do you think it would work as an actual vise jaw? This is for a Veritas quick release front vise, so the jaw is only supported in the middle.
I'm trying to make my own window sills in our new house. We have windows rather deep so depth is around 9in and wide - 42/60in. I'm looking at read oak vs douglas fir. Red oak is mainly available in sub 8in cuts. The only one I found in 9in is 3/4 thick. Would that be sufficient to support plant pots or potentially human sitting on them? However Fir I can get in various sizes so I was looking at 1in thick.
I had an old can of poly in the basement, and decided to give it a try. Thin crust on top, poured kind of like egg whites. But after mixing with mineral spirits it seemed smooth, and the result on my new plywood workbench top is smooth and fully cured as far as I can tell.