Archives

In a search for wide boards, it pays to buy whole logs. Visitors to my shop often ask where I buy the wide, matched cherry and walnut boards I use for reproducing classic American furniture. [...]

Arm yourself with a good plan (or two) and your buying trip will be a success. I have a 10″-wide piece of 8/4 purpleheart sitting on my lumber rack. I bought it eight years ago when I [...]

I’ve always aspired to be one of those handymen who has every tool for every job, enough knowledge to handle any repair, and just the right piece of scrap lumber on hand for every single [...]

Sponsored by Wagner Meters Do you know the reasons why a woodworker should use a moisture meter? If you’re not convinced moisture measurement is important, you will be by the end. If you’re a [...]

If you work in a shop with limited floor space, this overhead lumber rack can be a lifesaver. Inexpensive and quick to assemble, this easy project helps you make the most of your space.

Keep these tips in mind when buying rough lumber to get the best deals on the best wood.

More than a year ago, before I joined the staff, Megan Fitzpatrick and I talked about an article I wanted to write about lumberyards and the perennial discussion about domestic versus exotic [...]

Rollers Ease Plywood Storage Before I installed these rollers, sliding plywood in and out of my storage rack used to wear me out. It also damaged the edges of the sheets. Now plywood sheets glide [...]

The Way Wood Works: Reading Grain Direction By Tom Caspar “Going against the grain” is a familiar phrase. It means doing something the wrong way.When you’re talking about wood, [...]

Figured Cherry Spectacular wood and where to get it. By Dave Munkittrick Nature truly is the greatest artist and figured cherry is living proof. If you’ve ever admired the fluid motion of a [...]

The Way Wood Works: Curly Wood How to buy, machine and finish this amazing wood. By Tom Caspar Hidden within a few trees in every forest lies a mysteriously distorted wood that has always [...]

Butternut Tips for working with black walnut's blond cousin.  By Tim Johnson Butternut is one of our prettiest domestic hardwoods, but most people have never seen it. Butternut trees are [...]