October 2008 Blog Posts
Yes, the folks at Popular Woodworking have another issue for us to drool over. 12" sliding compound miter saws, how-to build a wooden jack planes, nesting trays in the Shaker style, drawknives and spokeshaves, and my current favourite topic - how to recreate a Stickley mantle clock from an original design.
Add to that the 2008 "Best New Tools" list, and you have a winner of an issue.
Pick up your copy today, or visit your local library for this and other backissues.
Technorati tags: Popular Woodworking, Magazine, News
Up here in Ontario, the mercury is starting to dip below freezing overnight, and it is time to start thinking of the workshop, and what you should do to protect it for winter. When your workshop will be exposed to these temperatures, you should bring in all your waterborne finishes and glues. Finishes that are alcohol or oil-based should not be a problem outside, however do read the labels. Wood filler, though usually oil-based, should be brought in as well. As far as tools go, there are two problems that you may encounter. The plastic casings for many...
So my 15-month old daughter woke up in a foul mood from her afternoon nap today, and I entered her bedroom to the sight of a slightly less-than-safe crib! She had somehow managed to push hard enough on one spindle to break it at a narrow point, leaving the lower half pointing dangerously upwards, and the top half was half way across the bedroom. Lacking a lathe (note to wife...), I headed for the next best thing: the drill press. I happen to have some 1/4" dowel stock on hand, so I drilled a one inch deep hole...
Well, not much of a post, really, except to say that I went to bed last night seeing double out of my right eye, and hoping things would get back to normal soon, by Friday as the doctor noted. If things didn't feel like they were improving by Friday, I was to go to the Eye Institute at the Hospital...
But I woke up this morning, and my eyesight is 90% back to normal. I still have some doubling right in front of me, but it it only on the scale of a very slight distortion. From what I know...
Ask anyone who knows me, and they will confirm that I am "Mister Safety". Goggles, NOISH filter mask, earmuff-type hearing protection...
But for some weird reason, today I was wearing my mask, and my hearing protection while I was doing some soldering, but I neglected to put on my safety goggles. Big mistake...
I was soldering the pipes for the shower controller together, torch in the left hand, solder in the right with maybe 12 inches sticking out off the reel, and I was kneeling in front of the wall and looking slightly up. I finished soldering the joint, lowered the torch,...
So at this stage of my renovation, I am floating on air... well, suspended on a couple of 40 year old pieces of lumber. It wouldn't have been so bad had it not been for the fact that it was 3/8" plywood, partially rotted through, on 24" joists! The 2x4s you see on the left are for cutting up for some additional horizontal supports between the floor joists, to further reduce the bending of the plywood as we step on it. Any bowing of the flooring will result in cracked tiling, so I want to reduce it as much...
Every woodworker has one. Every woodworker uses it every time they work on a project. And yet not everyone knows how to use it to its full advantage. Yes, we are talking of the lowly measuring tape.
Though measuring tapes come in all shapes and sizes, for the purpose of this article I am referring to retractable metal or fiberglass tape measures that have a hook (also called a tang) at the end.
A simple example can demonstrate almost every feature of the measuring tape. This example is the simple "L", where the vertical "I" is joined with the horizontal "_".
If you...
Feature creep is not just something that happens to computer projects. It can happen to home renovation projects as well. I remember those old woodworking shows, This Old House I believe, that had the famous "Ya might as well" line sprinkled throughout. So the idea was to simply redo the bathroom: new tub, new sink, new cabinets and countertop. Add to that new tile, and you have a nice, shiny, new bathroom. The image to the right shows the view in the bathroom doorway. The old vinyl floor, yellow melamine countertop, and a relatively impractical counter with limited...
You may have noticed the slow pace of updates recently... And there is a good reason!
First, I have added a new feature to the website: And events calendar! On this events calendar I plan to add links to all the woodworking events I can. I have many in my database, and I just need time to do some data entry and verification of the stats. I hope to have a more convenient way for event organizers to enter the data themselves, but that may have to wait a while...
Another task that I am working on is my vacation! Well, not...