I have spent more time squinting at Ash and Oak at my local lumberyard than I am proud to admit. The wood seems similar in strength and even appearance, at least initially. But having tried both for different projects, I have found Oak to fall short in many ways. Ash wood is better than Oak…
Screw holes are often taken for granted. And I realized that yesterday when one of my shelves started sagging due to the screw holes getting loose. I have often resorted to the classic toothpick method to fix wide screw holes, but this time I saw an opportunity. I decided to test as many different solutions…
Got a piece of warped wood that’s giving you problems? I feel your frustration; I’ve had my fair share of bowed or twisted lumber to deal with. After trying multiple methods and pouring extensive research into this, I’ve identified the best strategies to fix warped wood. Stick around, and let’s straighten things out together! Key…
I have been carving wood for close to 20 years. It is one of the parallel practices I picked up alongside wood-turning when I began woodworking. I was going through my carving collection and realized that I hadn’t written enough about the subject. I want to communicate what took me decades to learn, starting with…
A friend was asking me for some advice for an outdoor seat he was making. I gave him a shock when I said he had to use treated wood. Untreated wood can easily fall prey to harsh weather conditions, insect attacks, and decay if left unprotected. In general, you can treat wood for outdoor use…
I was cleaning out my shop and noticed that most of my common-use tools were ones that I had bought in the last 6 months. Upon looking further, I realized that my oldest tool was a table saw I had purchased over a decade ago specifically to make dado cuts. I can see that I…