Getting Started With Woodworking
Watching the activities of birds in your garden or backyard is a satisfying experience. Once you’ve selected the best wood for your birdhouse, you may want to paint it to attract nesting birds. But is it safe to paint birdhouses? How will a bird react to a painted birdhouse? Is it safe for them? These … Read more
The classification of trees falls into two broad categories – hardwood and softwood, according to their seed structure. Although most hardwoods are hard, softwoods aren’t always soft. In fact, some hardwoods are softer than softwoods. Many softwoods are so named because they are more prone to dents and scratches. Because hardwoods have better abrasion resistance, … Read more
When the surface of wood has cracks and blemishes or gaps between joints, we use putty or wood filler to fill these gaps. Although we use these two materials for similar purposes, they are distinctly different from each other. We also use each one for a specific set of tasks. In this post, we take … Read more
Whatever wooden items you have in your home, you would like them to look smooth and shiny. There are many different types of finish that you can apply to wood surfaces to make them look sleek. Waxing hardwood floors is a good and economical way of restoring life into the wood. In the mid-1900s, wax … Read more
If you have hardwood floors, you have a variety of finishes to choose from. It is critical to know which type of finish will be the most suitable for the kind of hardwood floor you have. The effect of wear and tear on your floors will determine the frequency with which you need to refinish … Read more
Making wooden musical instruments involves a craftsman who is usually also a musician. If the instrument has strings, a neck, and a soundbox, we call the craftsman a luthier. The luthier will pay great emphasis to the type of wood needed for a particular musical instrument. Whether you are a luthier or just a woodworker … Read more
Traditional woodworking used sheer manual muscle power. But modern woodworking has come a long way. These days there are a variety of electric tools that make the craft of cutting wood easy. Woodworkers now cut wood in ways that were not possible with traditional instruments. Laser cutting is a popular way of cutting material. If … Read more
As a woodworker, you may come across several different projects. A popular project that is simple but satisfying to execute is making a chicken coop. Although the project is not a complex one, you still have to make specific considerations, keeping in mind that livestock will live in the structure that you create. One crucial … Read more
Chainsaw carvings are a great form of art that everyone appreciates. As a woodworker, if you have some experience and talent in wood carving, you could give chainsaw carving a shot. The chainsaw carver uses modified chainsaws for carving and whittling down a tree trunk or stump into shapes of animals and other objects. The … Read more
If you use raised beds for a vegetable or flower garden, your plants will thrive. A raised garden bed will take care of poor soil, sloping terrain, and lots of other issues. These beds consist of rectangular wooden frames that you can raise to the desired height and then fill with fresh soil. That way, … Read more
When you start to learn woodworking, one of the first tools that you will handle is a woodworking mallet. These tools form an essential part of any woodworking toolbox. We get different types of woodworking mallets to perform various carpentry tasks. Although you can find mallets that we use in several fields, the mallets we … Read more
Choosing a color for timber is something critical and once you have applied the color, you cannot change it easily. Two commonly used finishes to wood are timber oil and stain. Both of these finishes are semi-transparent which means that the character of the timber within can come through. The final look depends on the … Read more
Buying wood oils and knowing which one to use is a difficult decision. The varieties that you get can be confusing – oak furniture oil, linseed oil, tung oil, Danish oil, and Teak Oil, just to name a few. Some oils are meant for specific types of wood while others claim to have special properties. … Read more
If you have a boat or canoe, your watercraft and paddle or oars will be exposed to the elements and can deteriorate. To protect them and maintain them in good condition, you need to apply a coating of some sort. But what layer to apply? You need a coating that protects wood. Such a coating … Read more
Luan plywood, also called Lauan plywood, comes from a variety of shorea, which is the Lauan tree. Other names for this plywood are Meranti and Philippine mahogany. These trees grow on the South pacific rim. Today Lauan plywood plays a prominent role in the plywood industry in the United States. We consider it as one … Read more
Teak is a tropical hardwood. You will find it growing in countries of the Indian subcontinent, Myanmar, Thailand, and Indonesia. Woodworkers prefer this wood because of its unique characteristics. It is extremely strong and durable. Teak owes its durability to the presence of natural oils that it produces, which protect the wood from the elements, … Read more
Flimsily made closet shelves can be annoying, particularly when they sag under the weight of the contents. They may even break, causing a whole load of inconvenience. It is always worthwhile spending a little extra money to buy the shelving material that will take the load that you apply to it. You will soon forget … Read more
When you are into woodworking, you will find many different types of wood finishes that we apply to wood. Different situations call for other finishes. As a woodworker, you should know what kind of finish you need to apply to a specific type of wood and in what scenario. The choice of wood finish depends … Read more
When we think of children’s toys, mostly plastic toys come to mind. Over the years, toymakers made extensive use of plastic because it is such a versatile and cost-effective material. In the last couple of decades, plastic has come under the scanner for all the wrong reasons. It sometimes contains toxic chemicals, and some grades … Read more
When it comes to coatings for flooring, and countertop surfaces, epoxy vs. polyurethane is a commonly discussed topic. These coatings are commonly used on factory floors as well as for countertops. The flooring is mostly concrete, but we do find the occasional wooden floor as well. A factory owner or manager may have a bare … Read more
