Woodworking techniques
When you don’t have a fully equipped wood shop, but you’ve got grandpas old table saw buried under some boxes, you just might have everything you need to take on a few woodworking projects. But you may need to learn how to square up a board first. Sometimes the boards we get don’t quite have usable edges. And that’s where this squaring process comes into … Read More
Wood veneer edge banding is used to make plywood appear to be solid wood. It can get kind of tricky, but with the right strategy it becomes very simple, and almost impossible to mess up. It’s not very attractive to leave the sides of plywood exposed. But even the sides of other manufactured woods like MDF could be greatly improved by adding some kind of … Read More
So you want to learn how to inlay wood with a router, and like me, you don’t necessarily want to cut out intricate solid wood inserts to fill the inlay. Perfect, because that’s what this tutorial is for! I’m going to share all my steps, pictures, and even some video. I’ve come up with a very simple process for how to inlay wood with a … Read More
So you’re thinking about building a table? You’ve heard about these “Breadboard Ends”. You’ve probably seen them. Maybe you’ve even tried them out. I know a woodworker who didn’t know the correct way to create breadboard ends, and he ended up causing the table top to split. It wasn’t really his fault, he was simply never taught the proper technique. Well that’s what inspired me … Read More
Gluing up a panel for a woodworking project is an important skill to develop as a new woodworker. I’ve made panels for many projects, including a dining table, coffee tables, end tables, a computer desk, and others. I’ve messed a few up, but I’ve also learned some tricks along the way. Now when I glue up a panel, I can test my results like this: … Read More
Depending on the type of cabinet you’re building, this process will vary some. But the basics are the same, you need a frame, that fits around a panel, which can be plain, raised, or decorated somehow. For this tutorial on how to build cabinet doors, I’ll be making a tongue and groove, framed x-style sliding door. And don’t worry about the hardware. Whether you’re using … Read More
In this article I’m going to show you (with pictures) how to build, finish, and attach your kitchen island trim. For the sake of this post, that includes the face frame, trim work on the sides, and the base. For the trim and face frame I used white oak, stained with Minwax’s English Chestnut. The base is made from pine 2x4s, painted black, and set … Read More
We’re talking about flattening, milling, straightening, ripping, truing, paralleling, etc… All of this is used interchangebly when desribing the process that can be summed up as “Squaring Up Rough Cut Lumber”. It’s everything you do before the glue ups, before the sanding, before the finishing. It’s the Prep Work that you just gotta do. And if you get this right, your completed project will thank … Read More
In this part of the Kitchen Island Tutorial, I’m going to show you (with lots of pictures) how to build dovetail drawers the easy way. I say the “easy way” because the process I use is beginner friendly. You don’t need years of experience, however you will need a table saw jig for cutting your dovetails. If you haven’t made a dovetailing jig yet, check … Read More
You’re about to learn how to build cabinet shelves using plywood and a very simple process. These shelves work for any kind of cabinetry, including kitchen islands, base cabinets, hanging cabinets, etc… Plywood makes great shelves, because it’s very sturdy and stable. Plywood won’t shrink and expand like regular solid wood, making it ideal for not only the cabinet carcass itself, but the shelving within. … Read More
This tutorial is part of a larger project – my Kitchen Island. Below I’ll show you how to build base cabinets for an island using basic plywood you can get from any lumber store. This kitchen island is going to be counter height, which is usually 35″ to 36″. Depending on the top I go with (which as of right now has not been decided), … Read More
The dovetail joint is a classic woodworking joint that is known best for its use with drawers. But that’s not the only reason to use this joint. Dovetail joinery can be used for many different types of projects, and the joint itself has several different variations. There’s the standard through dovetail joint, there’s the half-blind dovetail joint, the sliding dovetail, the lap dovetail, and even … Read More
Accuracy is a big hurdle for many aspiring woodworkers. All too often, your cuts and your joints end up out of square, unlevel, not flat, gapped, and so on… So what do you do about it? Well, for starters, don’t let it get you down! It’s not your fault. We all lack the ability to a certain extent to produce all of our cuts with … Read More
So I was making my coffee table and once the top was glued together, I sanded it down flat. It was at that point I could really see it. I could tell I didn’t choose the best lumber at lowes for this project. There were voids and knot holes everywhere! Ok, to be honest, I knew this was going to happen, and I chose the … Read More
If you’ve spent any time in the wood shop making sleds for your table saw, you know that table saw runners are an important step to get just right. However, for many beginners, the process can be a bit of a mystery. How do you make the runner fit perfectly without any slop? How do you properly attach it to the sled? How do you … Read More
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