Questions tagged [technique]
How to accomplish a task, good and safe ways, and faster simpler ways to do the same thing.
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Are there specific types of screws I should use for woodworking?
I'm wondering what types of screws I should use for woodworking and what types I shouldn't be using as well.
For example, Are deck screws OK? What about a square head vs. Phillips? Does the type of ...
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Leveling a finish/finishing the finish
I'm using Emmet's Good Stuff (poly gel varnish that you wipe on) as a finish on a walnut slab. I've read a lot about finishing online, but am a little confused about "leveling the finish." As I ...
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How do I temporarily attach two pieces of wood together for machining?
How do I temporarily attach two pieces of wood together, face to face, in a way that's strong enough that I can, say, run it through a saw, but that doesn't leave marks on the wood or get in the way ...
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Stabilizer for softwood tabletop that bows
I am building a cheap dining table out of cedar 2x4's. This is obviously not my first choice for wood but money was my limiting factor. I have planed them down to size and biscuit joined them together ...
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Will these table legs support this table?
Will these table legs be able to support this table design or will they need additional supporting features? I'm specifically talking about the structural integrity of the legs, seeing as how they are ...
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Is there a 'best' way to sharpen an edged tool like a chisel?
There are a bewildering variety of sharpening methods out there and many opinions as to which might be the best.
Is there a best way? What are some good references on the subject?
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How do I make a mortise and tenon joints by hand
I am starting a new project and intend to use more joinery techniques. I am going to make a chair, and I was hoping to create some mortise and tenon joints for the chair that I am making. I do not ...
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Strong joints to use when making custom frames
I found this large 4' x 3' mirror in the garbage. It is a heavy beast. I plan on making frame for it but I'm worried about the joint.
I only have experience with miter joins and splines which seems ...
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What are the techniques to seal or remove sap?
For starters this is not green-wood.
I have been cutting up some 2x4 into small blocks for painting and decoration. The block were cut and then sanded. About 3 days later I had the time to paint them....
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When using a hand saw, how do I cut a straight line?
When I'm using my hand saw to make various cuts, I find it extremely difficult to make a straight cut. Where am I going wrong, what I am missing that the pros seem to have down?
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Issue sanding between coats of polyurethane
So I am playing with finishes for the first time and experimenting with polyurethane. My problem involves quoting the instructions on the can and giving some background into my process. Bear with me.
...
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How can I create artificially spalted wood?
According to Wikipedia:
Spalting is any form of wood coloration caused by fungi.
I am most interested in spalted maple, as shown in this image:
Source: Bell Forest Products
How can I create ...
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What are some efficient and effective ways to remove rust on old hand saws?
I have quite a few hand saws that I have bought from antique stores, garage sales, and ebay. They all have some amount of rust, ranging from occasional spot rust to full-on rust on the entire saw ...
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Dealing with knots "bleeding" through paint
I'm sure that people have seen this where you would be painting something white or lightish colour only to have the resin from the knots bleed through paint sometime later. Similar to what you see in ...
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Making a small indent/crevice/depression for a ball
I am making my own wooden board game. The game pieces have ball-shaped bases. I want them to move around the board and rest in small indentations. Something like this:
What kind of tools and ...
Kathallia
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How to make a recess in a board
I want to make a wood board where I can place my phone in the middle, and the screen of the phone will be flush with the surface of the board. Basically the phone would be recessed inside the board.
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Cutting tight miter joints for a frame around an existing object
I recently finished most of a practice project (a large lap desk). It looks like this so far:
I made a ton of mistakes but the only one I can't figure out how to fix next time is the frame around it, ...
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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 ...
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What is the recommended height of the blade on a table saw while operating?
I have been watching a lot of videos lately about table saws. In those videos I usually see cuts are being made with the blade just barely clearing the piece. For example:
Image from HammerZone
...
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How do I sharpen a chisel/plane blade?
I'm getting started with woodworking and am looking to refine my technique for sharpening chisel/plane blades. Currently, I just have a cheap double-sided water stone, but am now looking to get a "...
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Perfect miters every time
I'm using a table saw to make picture frames with mitered corners. It turns out that even tiny inaccuracies in the miter angle or the lengths of the frame pieces cause gaps that make a frame look ...
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How can I accurately cross-cut a board that is too wide for my table saw?
I have some 0.75" x 14" wide boards that I'm trying cut to lengths in the 50-60" range. It's important that the cuts be precise, and true.
However, 14" is too wide for any of my sleds or miter slides ...
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When are pocket holes an appropriate joinery technique?
I have come across a lot of designs and plans for things like outdoor furniture, kids' furniture, etc., that call for the use of pocket holes. I can appreciate why this is enticing to a lot of people ...
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How do I drill a hole exactly in the center of a circle?
I have a 2" diameter, 11" length dowel. I want to drill a 5/16" hole exactly in the center of each end, 2" min depth. It needs to be precise because it is for axles that the dowel needs to spin freely ...
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How do you make mortise and tenon joints using power tools?
There is already a question about making mortise and tenon joints using hand tools. It would be nice to also catalog the various ways of making mortise and tenon joints using power tools. Wherever a ...
rob♦
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How can I cut a 90 degree angle with a table saw?
Before I start I would like to offer the obvious solution is to use some sort of sled, like a crosscut, that would give the perpendicular fence that would allow the cut. The problem with that is I was ...
- 20.3k
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Quick corner joints in practice
I'm practicing building drawers, quickly and on the cheap. The drawers I'm making now have sides that are 3" high x 7/16" actual thickness, decent quality birch veneer plywood.
I know this is really ...
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Does MDF have a grain direction?
Plywood is assembled, at least from I can see in this video, so the sheets are arranged perpendicular to each other so that the directional durability of the grain is complimented to give an overall ...
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Should I use one large spline or multiple smaller ones for a miter joint?
This obviously depends on the thickness of the wood. When you see multiple splines on a join they use contrasting wood colors to create a nice effect. But is that the only reason? Consider the ...
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How effective are different types of saw blades for various cuts and woods?
There are different types of saw blades (e.g., rip, cross-cut, combo - based on number of teeth, edge, hook angle, etc) of saw blades for different types of cuts (rip, cross-cut, etc). How effective ...
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Routing boards without burn
It seems when I utilize routers, they always seem to burn the edge of the board at some point in the cut. I believe I am cutting at a relatively even speed (though this is obviously subjective). My ...
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Should I do many shallow quick cuts or a single deep slow one with my router?
Most cutting tools have a certain removal rate of material at which they should operate.
You don't want to go too slow because it takes forever.
And if you go to fast the tool heats up too much.
...
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How can I ensure my threaded inserts go in straight?
I'm putting threaded inserts into a MDF base. When I start to screw the insert in, the thread digs in at an angle and pulls the entire insert in at that angle. I thought it would straighten out when ...
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Finishing schedule for live edge walnut slab
I'm working on a live edge walnut slab coffee table. This is a photo of the bottom side of the table before any finish is applied sanded to 220 (for reference the holes are for threaded inserts that ...
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How to cut the centre out of a large round of wood
I have a large round of wood (horizontal slice of a tree) which is about 20 inches across (circle diameter) and 8-9 inches deep.
I want to take the centre out of the wood, either by cutting a circle ...
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Creating additional boards from thick lumber
I have boards that are ~ 2" thick, ~15" wide, and x feet long. I would like to divide these boards in half. I do not have the funds to buy a large bandsaw or other power tools. I'm looking to trim ...
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How do I know when my lathe speed is wrong or could be better?
I'm about a year into learning to turn on an inexpensive mini-lathe. I mostly turn small lidded boxes or bowls. With both boxes and bowls, I like them big, so I'm often within an inch or two of the ...
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How can I make an inset cutting board handle?
How is this cutting board handle possible? The only way I can think of is that it was done by hand with a gouge, but it looks too clean for that. Can an inset handle, such as the one pictured below, ...
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What is a good method for laminating pallet wood/reclaimed lumber?
So far I have dismantled six pallets, cut the wood into pieces which range from 10" to 19" in length about 1 1/2" wide and are approximately 1/2" thick. My goal is to laminate these pieces together.
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Setting precise depth on a table saw with no depth gauge
My table saw doesn't have a depth gauge. What is the quickest way to set it to a precise depth for e.g. cutting slots or dados or clean looking rabbets?
I tried using calipers to measure the blade ...
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How to clamp where clamps cannot reach?
The jaws and throats of most clamps don't allow much space for securing deeper on larger panels, boards or pieces. Sure, toggle clamps can be placed anywhere but you need to damage a surface in order ...
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Make a table top using pocket holes?
I want to make a table top from some oak planks that I have. The oak is about 1" x 6" x 8' each. Is using pocket holes and glue an appropriate method for edge-joining the planks together to make the ...
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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 ...
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How do I cut a hole into a cutting board for a handle
I'm looking for a way to cut a handle hole into a cutting board using only hand tools. I don't have a router and would like to complete this project using what I have. Looking to do something like the ...
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My jigsaw is terrible at cutting vertically through a simple 2x4
I made some Canexican saw horses for a friend. I liked the design feature that made it so the 2x4 sat in a perfect recess and could be changed out easily.
I was cutting the angles with the jigsaw, ...
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Ideal outdoor preservative for a wooden ornament
My mother in law gave us a wooden ornament that she suggests would look great hanging outdoors in our garden. It would be hung under the eave/soffit of the garage but would still be subject to ...
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Are there any tips when working a large surface with an handheld electric planer?
A friend got me an electric hand held planer that he thought I could use to help clean pallet boards faster then what I was doing. For the most part it has sat in the box. Until recently though when I ...
- 20.3k
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What technique is used to give new wood the distressed white color only in cracks and holes?
Have a brand new piece of pine wood and would like to distress in this fashion, as best as possible:
Already made indentations, cracks, cuts and holes and it came out similar to the markings in the ...
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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), ...
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Are there techniques to sand small parts on a benchtop belt sander?
I often find myself attempting to sand small pieces of wood (1"x1"x1" or less) on a benchtop belt sander. In the past I've used pliers to hold the piece being sanded, but not always with success.
...
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