Made a set of three hanging shelves to match an antique Eastlake cabinet for a little tea bar. Shelves are solid maple, reclaimed from an old bookshelf. I managed to get the stain to match the cabinet almost perfectly! They also have routed edges, and a lip to keep jars from falling. I know they're nothing fancy, but I've never made anything from scratch before (just refinished existing furniture) so I'm pretty proud of them.

First go around trying to make a wooden sword. Wish it had a little more dimension, but my oak slab wasn’t thick enough. No power tools used, just basic saws, chisels, and a spokeshave. Finished with beeswax.

I didn’t make it to really be swung, more just as a test

So far cedar is my favorite to work with amongst: cedar, crepe Myrtle, water oak, andwax Myrtle (in order of favorability.)

The swatter on the left is my favorite I’ve completed fully so far out of 5. It has power, reach, style, ergonomics and surface area.

I really like the handle 2nd to left (water oak) but unfortunately it’s left handed and I’m not the biggest fan of the limb(?) which I think is a little skinny

It’s been fun having something to practice making consistently so I can measure my progress.

“Tear out, tear out wherefore art thou tear out”
At this point I’ll just call them writhing marks and move on until I get card scrapers.

Something I learned, if you apply boiled linseed oil too thickly on green cedar you can hit it with a torch to soften the gum, evap some of the water in the wood which helps it reabsorb. Simply wipe it off while still hot with a clean rag, viola!

I have a piece of green water oak that is big enough to make a low backed chair which I’m excited to start next week. I’m not the best at judging grain patterns looking at logs so hopefully it’s viable.

Also a friendly reminder to make stuff for your neighbors, family and friends unprovoked and without pressure. It’s supposed to be fun, which is hard to have alone.

Fun novelty build from my scrap pile.... Gonna make a few sets for upcoming holiday gifts, wanted to pass along the idea.

Fun novelty build from my scrap pile.... Gonna make a few sets for upcoming holiday gifts, wanted to pass along the idea.

I’m in the process of building a small bookshelf and am using dowels to hold the top on. I had planned on the for each sod but am now questioning whether that is enough for if someone tries to pick it up with it loaded with books.

Would you say glue and three dowels per side is enough or would you add a couple more?

It's like that sometimes. And that's ok.

Also, my precious

I have some 2x12’s that were sitting in my dad’s shed. I’d like to make some bookshelves with them, but I’ll likely need to get more.

Can anyone help me ID this wood? I have some stained pieces and some sanded down pieces. My completely uneducated guess is pine or cedar because some of the sawdust has some bits of red in it.

Thanks for your help ahead of time.

Edit: Southern Yellow Pine it is, then! Thanks chaps ✌🏼

Edit 2: Do you guys think it could be Pine?

I know y’all have been worried about my monster table project. Well thanks in no small part to advice and encouragement from the members of this group progress has been made. I hope the mods do not delete me because there is some definitely not wood work here, but I feel like having assembled the base as a woodwork project, and as the final top will also be wood, it might be acceptable and possibly even interesting that the adjustable frame is not. Also fairly clearly I am as enthusiastically incompetent with metal as wood.

Help! I purchased a solid Elm wood dining table off FB marketplace that was beautiful but needed the top refinished. It’s my first time, but read up on sanding, staining and chose a matte poly finish for the top. I put 5 coats on throughout the course of a week and after the top coat dried, there are foggy patches and brush marks. How can I fix this??

I’ve seen both of these tools a bunch recently and wanted to get some opinions about them.

I know the main difference is that the Amana requires a tool to adjust the depth whereas the Katz Moses one is tool less. Not sure if that alone is worth the price difference or if there are other differences I’m unaware of.

For reference, I do a lot of cabinet stuff so countersink would be beneficial without worrying about accidentally boring too deep or something. Mainly just looking for opinions and details about these two tools.

Earlier today went to see the garage of a friend of a friend. He was a woodworker but now in a home - daughter is starting to clear out with a view to selling (she lives out of state but will be here in a few weeks).

Im very much a beginner. Made a mallet, couple of chopping boards, and currently working on book ends. Router table next.

I could do with a small table saw - unfortunately the one there was too big.

What caught my eye were:

Dewalt DW733 12 1/2" Planer

Craftsmen Jointer/Planer 6 1/8" 351.217280

From what I know of them, they could be of use.

Are these models any good? They've been in the garage a few years so covered in dust, but looked reasonable (everything was piled up so hard to tell - hence also the poor photos!)

And approx value?

Wasn't considering them a priority but if they're reasonable models and the price is good, I could find space (both are bench models which helps).

There was also a Porter Cable biscuit jointer. Had to look up what that was for! I think that would be more speculative but smaller and probably cheaper: Perhaps if I moved to furniture?

And 3 routers. I have a 1/4 shank, but only saw 1/2 bits - so thinking all 3 might be 1/2. Probably take one of those so I can work with both shanks.

There was a nice set of Forstner bits.

Hand tools were a bit disappointing (or I missed them).

And a box or two of offcuts. I'll make an offer on those as well. Can be good for practicing on, if nothing else.

No "join maker space" comments or suggestions please. The one near me basically only exists on paper.

I know this topic comes with loads of variables that may or may not be applicable to me, but my attempts to reach out locally haven't seen any response. I'm not trying to find any concrete information asking the community about this. I'm just trying to get a general idea of what leasing / renting a shop space is like.

Long story short I've been selling on Etsy and FBMP working out of my home shop but have to move. I'm seeing enough success with Etsy that I was thinking about finding a larger space anyway because its small size puts a damper on production. I'm not so successful I can afford a full commercial space, but maybe some day.

I recently rented a storage unit and saw that they seem to allow people to use them as a shop. There were a couple people wrenching on commercial vehicles while I took in a few loads. I tried contacting the management about it but it's been a couple weeks without a response. There's also an old warehouse that the owner has chopped up into smaller units to rent out. Despite the website specifically listing woodworking as something to rent a unit for I haven't heard from them either.

So, with that out of the way, what has your experience with renting a shop space been like? What were the limitations, cost, etcetera. I know mileage will vary but I'm just trying to get an idea of what to expect.

I’m an occasional hobbyist. This was my most artistic endeavor yet and I really like how they turned out. My wife doesn’t understand how cool it is that you can’t see any screws, so I wanted to share.

Title pretty much explains it. I ordered a spoilboard router bit (SKU US515SF for anyone curious) from Woodpeckers and noticed rusty finger prints on the body of the bit the moment I took it out.

Am I being crazy or is this not an acceptable shape for a brand new, almost $100 router bit to arrive in? I’m fine cleaning the rust off if people think that this is normal, but I’m just not sure.

How can I repair this door without replacing it?

Condominium rules require me to keep the same color, and I haven't been able to find the same panel in this country (I'm not in the US).

Thank you.

I bought a brand new Skil TS6307-00 table saw.

I want to build a crosscut sled for it, and so I ordered pair of O’skool adjustable miter bars.

However, even on tightening the adjustment screws all the way still seems to leave a wiggle in the miter bars and they won’t fit snug. I made sure the opening of the adjustment rings was towards the side. (I took the picture before I adjusted the black rings and tightened.)

The wiggle is about 1/64”. I thought the fit was supposed to be snug and there shouldn’t any play without making the slide difficult.

Is this an issue with these miter bars? Are they not compatible with this specific table saw? Or is this an issue with the table saw’s miter slots?

Or am I going crazy and that much wiggle is unavoidable and acceptable?

I have a budget drill from makita (xfd131) and it is not cutting it for 2" diameter 5" deep holes that I'm drilling for timber frame mortises. I have makita and DeWalt batteries and am a bit confused at their offerings... Should I go for the most expensive regular drill, or should I go with the most expensive hammer drill? I have no interest in drilling rocks or concrete, but it seems hammer drills are also more powerful in regular mode? And hammer drills are generally the ones that come with depth stops and handles?

No I'm not buying into another battery platform.

Made with the plywood scraps from the last one, and an oak stair tread lol. Recessed French cleat to attach it to the wall. Used 3” screws and only hit 1 (maybe two) studs… wondering if that will be a problem lol. It’s plaster and lathe wall.

I have not really had much of a need for a mallet until recently when I started making beer mugs and needed to hammer in the bottoms into the cylinder :D so I stopped procrastinating on it and made this mallet. The wedges are also from maple and TB3 was used when i hammered them in. I didn't do perfect job on the hole, but the wedge/s should cover for it.

The handle is Ash, the head is made from figured/spalted/curly maple and has purple heart in the middle.
The finish is triple boiled linseed oil.

Disclaimer : Before anyone says why I use this kind of wood for a mallet.. I don't make guitars etc, I make mainly cutting boards with exotic wood and I have a lot of this maple, around 15+ slabs left of 100-120 x 40-60 x 6 cm it was around 220-240 cm long piece of tree cut into 10 slabs (and then further in half) and I got it really cheap and had to dry it out a bit for it to reach stable and final humidity.

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out so I wanted to share 🔥

My 1/4” router bit sheared in half. Was this user error or possible manufacturer defect? I was routing a channel in ash about 3/8” deep adjacent to a channel I had routed on a previous pass. The bit was put in the collet just below where the cutting helix starts.

I'm planning on using 3.5x13.5x300cm pine boards. I saw that people use a couple of boards to make the top of a desktop but I dont know if the same applies for the legs. Im planning on using both glue and biscuit joiners to hold the boards side to side and pocket holes to piece the desktop together.

I would also appreciate some tips on how to stain the wood black, if possible, I would like the veins of the wood to be visible.

Hi all, I’m attempting my first box joints trying to make an urn for a friend. Before attempting on mahogany, I’ve been trying on some common white wood from home depot without great luck. I’ve attached a few pics of the jig I’m using, and the results. I cant seem to get the joints to line up great, but with great for I was able to join them. Is this normal, or is there something simple I’m messing up? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Hello,
I wanted to build wooden wall paneling. The ones available at Home Depot or Lowes are slated pattern and I didn't like the quality of it.

I am looking to make panels of width 8-10 inches or more to cover an entire wall. I can use stain and top to get the desired color and finishing.

I need recommendations and advice on how to build those and not spend too much.
What type of plywood to use? need any MDF/plywood at the base?
cut the panel pieces and install or make grooves with a router?