Questions tagged [furniture]
Making, repairing, finishing or refinishing
41
questions
20
votes
8
answers
12k
views
How do I ensure my drill is perfectly vertical before cutting a hole in my desk?
I want to cut a hole in my desk (3/4" furniture grade plywood with an oak veneer) to run cables through. I'll be using a hole saw and my cordless drill. Since this is going to be very visible, I want ...
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19
votes
4
answers
22k
views
At what stage of basic furniture making should I "finish" the wood?
I have purchased wood in order to make some basic furniture:
One of these will be placed outside (simple table),
One inside the bathroom, (basic chest of drawers)
And another in the hall way (shoe ...
- 335
5
votes
1
answer
1k
views
What joining methods would be best for the legs and other areas of a height adjustable desk?
I am working on building my first piece of furniture. I decided to go a bit big and went with a height adjustable desk. I have the linear actuators and the electronics figured out. Today I purchased ...
- 259
19
votes
2
answers
19k
views
What type of joint should I use for building a piece of furniture that will be assembled and disassembled?
I am working on a large piece of furniture that cannot fit into my home fully assembled. I must carry the smaller pieces through the door and assemble the item in its final resting place.
What ...
- 363
12
votes
2
answers
652
views
Choosing wood and finish for outdoor furniture
What qualities should I look for in woods to be used in outdoor furniture and what are some examples of woods which have those qualities?
What finishing options do I have for weatherproofing wooden ...
- 121
8
votes
3
answers
1k
views
What techniques are there to find the optimal wood cutting list for a project?
When I've designed a piece of furniture, I need to source the wood for it. The wood is often sold in plank form that I need to cut to length when it's too long and glue together when it's too narrow.
...
- 286
8
votes
3
answers
20k
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Do pocket hole screws allow for proper expansion and contraction in planked table tops?
I am learning furniture building. I started by building tables using pocket hole screws to attach the planks together and also to attach the table top to the apron/base.
I am now converting to using ...
- 315
7
votes
3
answers
8k
views
What options do I have to repair this chair?
I have a 100 +/- year old oak dining set with chair seats that have become quite brittle.
Over the years planks on the chairs have split and I have glued them back together. At one point I added ...
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2
votes
1
answer
1k
views
how can I make a cedar tree round into an outdoor table? [closed]
How can I turn a large western cedar tree round into a low table?
I now have a large western cedar tree round. It's from a 100-ish year old cedar tree that a neighbor cut down. My wife would like ...
- 553
2
votes
1
answer
583
views
What should be done to treat decorative wood for outdoor use?
I'm building a live edge bench in memory of a loved one, and would like it to last as long as possible while weathering the elements year round. I live in Pittsburgh, PA, which means we get ...
- 525
11
votes
4
answers
5k
views
How can I deal with wood from DIY stores that is crooked and may or may not be dry?
I've been meaning to build a desk for a while now. I made a design with millimeter accuracy, but when I went to the home improvement store, I found that all the beams they had were crooked! Some more ...
user35995
9
votes
2
answers
867
views
How to can I repair/mitigate rot in the center of a Western Cedar tree round?
I want to turn a large western cedar tree round into a low table for a covered outdoor area.
The round is from a 100-ish year old cedar tree. It was freshly cut (one month ago), is roughly 4 feet ...
- 553
8
votes
3
answers
5k
views
How to find out what kind of finish is on a piece of furniture
I have several old pieces of furniture that have issues with the existing finish. I would like to do a gentle restoration of these pieces while maintaining the original look. I am not sure if the ...
- 285
7
votes
1
answer
283
views
How do I remove a watermark?
I have a lot of wood furniture in my home. Unfortunately, they have watermarks (rings) on them from sweating cups/glasses. It is very unattractive to me and my guests.
Is there a way to remove it?
- 173
16
votes
5
answers
4k
views
What is the name of the corner joint with grooves on this chair?
I removed the seats from dining chairs I just bought but have never seen this type of construction. What is it called?
- 161
13
votes
3
answers
8k
views
Mortise and tenon joint proportions for 3 wooden beams corner
I'm designing a cabinet with drawers and I would like to use 60mm (roughly 2 and 3/8") wide beams for the frame. The frame with one side panel visible looks like that:
I would like to use mortise and ...
- 233
11
votes
1
answer
543
views
What are some guidelines to consider when determining the thickness of boards to use?
Assuming one has the necessary tools to mill their own boards, what are some guidelines to consider when determining the thickness of boards to use in the various parts of a project?
For some context,...
- 4,788
10
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Creating my first wooden gaming table
My friend and I are endeavoring to create our own gaming table. With little to no experience working with wood other than youtube videos and the occasional side project, we come to you in need of help!...
9
votes
2
answers
12k
views
How thick do slabs need to be in a slab bench?
My cousin's fiancee is looking to build a bench for their kitchen. From his description, it sounds like what I would call a "slab bench." Just three thick slabs of wood, two for legs and one long one (...
- 5,404
8
votes
3
answers
12k
views
What kind of finish should I use inside dresser drawers?
I'm building a chest of drawers out of reclaimed barn wood. For the drawers I've used 1/2" sanded ply for the sides and 1/4" for the bottoms. They're pretty darn smooth but I'd like to put a clear ...
- 183
8
votes
3
answers
2k
views
How would I go about achieving a curve in wood?
I'm looking for a way to build this table. I'm having trouble figuring out how I would achieve this type of curve as seen in this picture with wood. Any suggestions, guides, methods would be greatly ...
- 111
8
votes
2
answers
56k
views
Attaching Legs to a Table
I decided to build a table out of 2x4s and such for Thanksgiving. I figured it would be a cool first woodworking project. The top went pretty well I think, but now it's time to attach the legs and I ...
- 181
8
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Is there a procedure or equation to calculate optimal height of a seat based on a given person?
I have a really bad back, and I find that sitting on hard surfaces is preferable to soft surfaces. I'd like to figure out what the optimal height is for a seat for me so that I am not cutting off ...
- 4,037
6
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Table top attachment with aprons on only two sides
I'm building a small computer/writing desk. It will have a solid top, so I'm figuring out how to attach it to the frame to allow for wood movement.
I planned on using tabletop fasteners (Z clips), ...
- 163
6
votes
1
answer
498
views
Make a bunk bed v2
I decided to make a bunk bed for my room as it is small and I need a desk. I made a first design in this thread Make a bunk bed
But I realised that all the strength would be on the angle brackets ...
- 273
6
votes
2
answers
3k
views
What is the functional purpose of fluted dowel?
I repaired a small end table recently and one of the aprons used dowel joinery to attach to a leg. I drilled out the dowel since a couple were broken and I wanted then to all be the same. I replaced ...
- 20.2k
6
votes
2
answers
676
views
How can I match a finish on furniture when re-finishing?
I have two pieces of maple furniture, a desk with a large water stain, and a kitchen table with minor scratches an exposed wood. My problem is my wife loves the finishes on these pieces of furniture, ...
- 163
5
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Attach fastener into glue joint of two face-glued boards
I'm going to be building a bed for my daughter and my design calls for a larger piece of wood for the legs. I could use a 2x3 or 2x4, but am wondering if I could create the larger piece by gluing two ...
- 2,622
5
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Best way to attach metal legs to corner desk? Do I need extra support?
I'm making my own office desk, I'm 2m04cm so the height and depth are appropriate.
I've made the desk top from reclaimed floorboards. It's 1 inch thick, the supports underneath are from the same ...
- 65
5
votes
1
answer
4k
views
Are barrel nuts strong?
I'm designing/building a bunk bed for my toddler boys. Given that I am working under small constraints in their bedroom, I was thinking about using barrel nuts to piece together the two long sides ...
4
votes
2
answers
10k
views
How to prevent epoxy from running out of wood voids
I'm building a pair of 3-drawer nightstands and using a slab of cypress for the drawer faces.
The final pour of epoxy started out fine, just "proud" of the surface in the major voids, but ...
- 380
4
votes
1
answer
247
views
What are these wooden posts?
I am starting a tinker group for kids.
I have seen these wooden posts pictured in a number of tinkering setups, since they have pre-drilled holes and can be connected relatively easily by young ...
- 195
4
votes
4
answers
3k
views
How can I turn a couple of logs into stubby legs for a outdoor tree round table?
I want to create legs for an outdoor cedar tree round table. I'd like the table top to be 18" to maybe 20" high.
How might I securely attach these legs to the tree round?
The tree round is 4' ...
- 553
3
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Design: Adjustable/Collapsible Wooden Table Leg
I'm looking to make a wooden table that has collapsible legs. My current idea is just to have the leg basically fold into itself but I'm unsure how sturdy this would be. This also means that the legs ...
- 173
3
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Leg basics for stools, chairs, table
I hope this question is not too general. I would like to make this table:
http://www.popularwoodworking.com/article/moravian-stool-2
It mentions the dimensions : 1-5⁄8″ square at the top and 1″ at ...
- 970
3
votes
3
answers
701
views
What are some tricks to draw long arcs along a table apron
I'd like to cut an arc along a table's apron, like in the image below.
To scribe an arc circle for a gentle curve, e.g. 1" in height at the apogee and spanning a 48"-long apron, one would need to ...
- 1,637
3
votes
2
answers
954
views
What is a camber exactly?
I was reading about extendable tables I saw the word camber. What does it mean? What steps do I need to take to avoid it. I tried looking it up but the information was about aligning tires of a ...
- 245
2
votes
1
answer
6k
views
How to I stop Ikea SÄLJAN ADILS desk from wobbling?
Hey I've built the ikea desk attached in the video.
Basically it's SÄLJAN ADILS which is super affordable and it has 5 legs, 2 to the sides and 1 in the middle.
I've made sure it's leveled to the ...
- 29
1
vote
2
answers
2k
views
Filling an old hole to offset it a few mm and put in a fastener, what is the best approach?
Hi everyone I have a large dining chair where the factory drilled a hole that attaches the back 2-3mm off. The idea is to fully close up the hole and re-drill in proper place. The 2 holes will overlap....
1
vote
2
answers
1k
views
What knock down hardware can I use on this platform bed frame?
Basically, I want to be able to make the platform of this bed easy to take apart, because I'd like to be able to easily move it by myself. I'd like knock-down fasteners to be used in a way that the ...
- 205
0
votes
1
answer
408
views
Can I touch up old oak chairs and tables using Howard's Restor-A-Finish?
I have found a great old oak table and chair set which the neighbours wanted to get rid off. It is well used but in good condition. The photo below shows the wear and tear the set has had over years (...
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