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A long-time carpenter shares a repair trick to hide the mistakes made by ham-handed apprentices. For more than 30 years I was a traveling carpenter foreman in charge of installation of [...]

There are a number of things to think about when choosing wood for your woodworking project.  You can have a great design, but if the material you use in your woodworking project has flaws in it, [...]

In my furniture repair shop, I repair a lot of chairs.  I’ve seen many DIY mistakes over the years that didn’t need to happen.  Repairing a chair with loose joints is a relatively [...]

Disc Break Back when I bought my radial arm saw, onboard braking systems didn’t exist. But I’m a gadget freak, so I bought an electronic brake and mounted it on top of the saw. The [...]

Hammered Cat The handle on my favorite hammer needed to be refinished, so I sanded it, sprayed on a coat of polyurethane and hung it over the edge of the picnic table to dry. A moment later I [...]

The Ol’ 1–2 I volunteered to drill the holes for the halogen light fixtures in the 6′ tall display cabinet that my cohorts and I were building at the architectural millwork company where we [...]

I was about to make a desk for my son John’s bedroom and in my mind it was a beautiful thing: simple, sleek and with elegant proportions. Drawings and a cut list were completed. Walnut boards [...]

Bee Gone  So, I’m using a wire brush chucked in a drill to clean the rust off of some old metal brackets that I’m planning to use in my new lumber rack. I’ve got a bracket in one hand and …

Rear Ended After cutting a piece of wood with my ancient radial arm saw, I turned to retrieve the pencil that I’d used to mark the cut—the saw’s vibration had caused it to roll off the table and [...]

FRAMED The old family photograph that needed a new frame was an odd size, 10-5/8 in. by 11-3/8 in., so I knew I couldn’t buy a frame to fit. Starting with a length of straight-grained oak, I used [...]

Blowin’ in the Wind My wife and I ran out of plywood as we were adding shelves to the garage, so we headed to the home center for another sheet. We hadn’t noticed how windy it was until we came [...]

Kick the Can When I was a boy, my dad taught me a great way to re-seal a can of stain. He would place the open can on the floor with the loose lid in position on the can, …