Logs to Lumber
With sweat equity and a few simple tools, you can split strong, stable stock. Though sawn lumber was available to 17th- and 18th-century European woodworkers in Colonial America, many American [...]
Band Saw Lumber from Logs
Small logs from a local downed tree are a great windfall of free lumber for small projects. They’re easy to saw into boards on the band saw once you have established a couple flat reference [...]
Anatomy of A Log
Tree Anatomy In woodworking, we’re generally concerned about the sapwood, heartwood, and annular rings (which is what we see as “grain pattern”). The slower a tree grew, the tighter the annular [...]
Rustic Chair
Harvest green wood saplings, bend ’em, nail ’em and sit yourself down. You can make a pretty good case for bending and attaching green wood sticks as the second oldest wood-furniture [...]
Milling Lumber with a Chainsaw Mill
When it comes to milling lumber, chainsaw mills offer a low cost of entry, with some big capacities. The more and more I get wrapped up in the milling, logging, and lumber industry, the more and [...]
Square a Board with Jointer and Planer [Video]
Good stock is the foundation of a good project. But if your foundation isn’t square you’re going to have issues. Learn how to use a jointer and planer to square your stock and create [...]
Guide to Finishing 11 Common Woods
Improve your results by understanding wood characteristics. Each species of wood has unique finishing characteristics, both positive and negative. To help you determine how to choose the right [...]
On Wood Selection
Both fast- and slow-growing wood present good opportunities. Wood selection is an important part of any woodworking project. I sometimes feel like I take it to an extreme, like I’m some kind of [...]
Preparing Rough Stock [Video]
Chris Schwarz demonstrates how to prep rough stock in this classic Popular Woodworking video. …
Lumber-Drying Clamps
I’ve dried my own lumber for years, but I always had a problem getting enough weight on top of the stack, to keep the upper boards from warping. Here’s a solution: Use clamps made from threaded [...]
PVC Lumber Storage
In need of some quick lumber storage, I rummaged around my shop for a solution. I discovered a length of PVC pipe left over from a plumbing job and cut it into three 12″ pieces. I also [...]
To Build or Buy?
Cost, time, and a spouse’s patience help determine the course of action. Editor’s note: This article was originally published in the November 2009 issue of Popular Woodworking. It’s a [...]
