/diy/ - Do It Yourself

I built a replica of the Door Chair by McCoy

>>2726467
Neat.

>>2726457
I have never really worked with wood, and i'm thinking about quitting my job, buying hardware and start making cool looking furniture, like pic related

My goal is to make very robust, built to last, beautiful, affordable furniture.

I'm an electrical engineer with experience in industrial manufacturing. I design mechanical solutions for a living. How hard would it be? I'm willing to do a very deep dive into this.

>>2726501
I wouldn't quit a lucretive career that lets you kit out a workshop until you're sure you want to do furniture for a living. Not shitting on your dream, but just realize that most people need a lot more cabinets and trim than they do expensive furniture.

Maybe do the weekend warrior thing until demand is such that you have to make the hard decision.

>>2726501
You’d have to be either extremely skilled or very very good at marketing to make a living. Calculate what you want/need to make per hour and think about a product you could make. Wouldn’t switch right away, at least make some stuff first

>>2726501

Unless you are one of the few who can game the youtube algorithm into untold riches or live in an area with enough yuppies to support selling numerous $3000 coffee tables and $1800 end tables a month, I suggest you rethink it

Absolute retard beginner here, are there any resources for getting started? I need a bed frame with a headboard, and I also need a sturdy bookshelf to support hundreds of pounds of books with a glass or acrylic door that forms a seal to keep most of the dust out. Since these are both basically "rectangles" would they be a good place to start, or are they too advanced for me? I have zero experience in /diy/.

Not quite woodworking, but I'm going to be putting metal plates on the inside of a wooden camp box in order to magnetize minis for transport. It's a tad thin for screws, so I'd like to fasten the plates another way. Any recommendations? Is there a glue that will last essentially forever? Or do I need to consider cutting down the screws so they won't stick out the sides?

>>2726997
>Or do I need to consider cutting down the screws so they won't stick out the sides?

if the outside doesn't have to be pristine I'd use screws and remove the protruding tips with an angle grinder.

what the hell does "magnetize minis" mean.

>>2726933
Watch some YouTube videos on the stuff you want to make. Not for exact step by step but to get an idea how to cut straight, join things, how to mark precisely, what tools they use etc. There’s no good introduction to ‘everything’ that I know of.

For your first bookshelf I’d go with ply and dowels or maybe ply and screws, just dimension everything big enough so that it doesn’t have to be joined perfectly for strength.

For the head board make a drawing and we could recommend you some general process tips.

>>2726997
Maybe lock the metal plate between some small wood supports that you glue along the corners? Or drill from the outside, put countersunk machine screws through the outside and the metal and nuts on the inside

>>2726999
He has figurines with magnetic bottoms I assume

>>2726999
I have plastic miniatures with magnets on the bottom. By putting metal along the bottom and sides of the box, I can get a lot of minis securely stored without any risk of super fragile twigs getting snapped by transport foam.

Which of these 4 different bases is (the most) useful for rounding over corners and milling straight slots. It’s hard to see which one does what without actually using them

>>2727036
The second one from the left

>>2727039

sorta, but he's better off with the third from the right

>>2726997
Nice, I’ve been getting the stuff together to make one of these as well. Have you decided what kind of wood you’re using? And how you’re gonna rip the grooves? Dado blade maybe?

>>2727108
I want to build your pic someday, but for the time being I'm just plating the inside of wood boxes I find at flea markets. Gives me plenty of space as long as I don't intend to put my entire collection in.

>>2727156
Oh then I would just get some 8$ JB weld epoxy, or liquid nail and glue the plates into the box. It’ll hold too strongly if anything and you won’t need to mess with grinding down hardened metal screws or splintering up your wood.

I'm going to try and restore this cedar hope chest that my grandfather built for my little sister. It has some water damage on the top, the rest of it is dirty and in need of a bit of a polish, but in decent shape. The outside was oiled, but not top-coated.

I figure I'll have to sand the top all the way down to bare wood and then reapply tung or danish oil to match the rest of the piece. I've done some woodworking before, but never anything quite like this, so if anyone has advice I'm interested to hear it.

>>2727221

>>2727223

>>2727225

>>2727221
If you want it to have that same sheen you probably need to apply oil polyurethane (cringe), hard wax oil, or shellac (based) over tung/linseed oil.

I've had the best luck with poly by thinning it 50/50 with mineral spirits and wiping on with blue shop rags. (they sell wipe on poly, which is the same thing as this but more expensive).

For hard wax oil, all the YouTubers use rubio monocoat.I use osmo polyx, which is the same thing but cheaper. I've had good luck with it, especially if you buy buffing pads you can stick on your sander, it *really* needs to be rubbed in. Do one thin coat, wait 12 hours, and then one very thin coat if you want it to shine a bit.

For a chest like this, it isn't expected to get heavy wear like a dining table, so shellac is a good and cheap approach. It's a little funny because the food stuff comes in flakes that you mix with denatured alcohol.

Critically shellac and osmo are hard to fuck up during application, and can be easily repaired by just wiping more on if you damage the finish down the line, while poly needs to be totally stripped off and reapplied if it gets scuffed up.

Flexner's "On Finishing" is a good reference but a bit outdated, not discussing anything used before 1850 or after 2000 (soap flake finishes/hard wax oils). I like Chris Schwarz, and he writes about very traditional finishes a lot, but I can't remember which fucking books/articles it's in.

>>2727237
Food stuff -> good stuff

what hand tools do you use to smooth the inside of a tenon hole

>>2727372
I use a joiners float, a file works too
Or a chisel, bevel down if there is enough space
Finally you can get an old chisel, grind it at a 90 degree angle and push it through flat

What the traditional way is I don’t know but all of these work pretty wel for me

>>2726457
>the place to ask any woodworking related questions
What wood is good?

>>2727237
Long time woodworker. Only finish I will use anymore is 2# cut shellac.

> white wash stain, half full, small can
> haven’t used it for a year
> open can with screwdriver
> the lid blows off so hard it hits the ceiling
> 2 weeks later get around to second layer
> open can, it happens again

What causes this? I can’t find a pot life on the can but it can be more than 2 years old. It’s not cheap chinese stain either (local akzo nobel brand)

>>2727237
>>2727402
Other anon here, never used shellac, this means 2lb/gal right? So 500g/L. Shellac flakes are €80-130/kg, something does not add up, or do you guys really spend that much on finishes?

is there an equivalent of gingery books for wood working

>>2727527
You store it in a cold location and have been opening it in a warm location.

>>2727587
>is there an equivalent of gingery books for wood working

You mean "how to make a planer out of raw materials"? Probably not, and here's why. The gingery self-inflicted torture only makes sense because someone interested in machining thinks it would be cool to do it the extremely old-fashioned way, and make your own machine tools by hand. Woodworkers on the other hand have always used tools made by others, like the local blacksmith or other metal workers. (cue up the actually brigade).

Or maybe I missed your point and you're asking if there are books on how to do woodworking with hand tools, and yes, there are plenty.

>>2727550
1lb shellac flakes costs $20 where I am. Even so, $40ish for a liter of shellac is reasonable compared to other finishes. Poly is about $15-20 a liter, but you use about 3x the volume to get to the same level of finish (very roughly speaking, and varies depending on what you are trying to do). Hard Wax oils are $50/L and you use about the same volume as with shellac.

>>2727608
so i should go by the standards of people who are competing in an era of quantity where shitting as many poorly crafted things in as little time as possible is the norm?

Does anyone have experience working with Douglas Fir? I got a bunch of nice 2x12s from my local lumberyard a few weeks ago and have been air drying them, and I was thinking of milling the pith out of each board so I'm left with two 5ish inch vertical grain/quarter sawn planks, which would be very stable. The problem is as it is getting dry it's turning super hard and crumbly, it cuts ok but it's like trying to chisel stale bread. Is this one of those cases where misting the grain with a water/alcohol mix would help?

>>2727662
I worked with a lot of Doug for but don’t know about that problem. Mine always dries pretty soft, not as soft as pine but still (some of mine spent 2 years drying and then 3 years as a desk before using). It’s just the grain that goes everywhere. Misting should be fine, it’s very good for outdoor use btw

>>2727754
You are right, seems like the piece I was testing on was just fucked up, rest of them are fine. Thanks for the advice

>>2727662
One annoying part of Doug fir is the very large contrast in harness between summer and winter wood. This could cause you to collapse the summer wood as you try and chisel through the winter wood. Other than that not too bad. Sometimes you'll hit a sap pocket which is slightly messy but smells good.

>>2727550
Where the hell are you getting your shellac?

>>2728024
Oh I didn’t check fine tools, I’ll get some the next time I need enough stuff to warrant €15 shipping.

I have only checked paint supply stores so far because haven’t found another type of store that stocks it. Do I need dewaxed or not dewaxed?

>>2728034
Sign up for their newsletter for an instant 10€ off. Look at it as 5€ shipping. Pick whichever one suits the color you want to achieve.

are lathes supposed to be slow at drilling

>>2728034
Dewaxed for multiple layersp or polish
Waxed is fine for single coat

Will this sort of thing work well if I make it out or beech? Any suggested alternatives (other than buying long clamps)

>>2728094
no it will not work well
either a second bar on top or the bar and pegs need to be massive

>>2727225
The start of any refinishing project is to remove the old finish in layers. The top layer in this pic is organic, just plain old dirt. Mix mild soap in warm distilled water and hard wipe with a sponge, dry off and then reassess. It might be fine. Don't overdue it by removing too many layers, you will lose the patina. If you proceed figure out what the next layer is and remove, it might just need a wipe with paint thinner to remove old wax, then reassess again. I expect the base is varnish, that will require paint remover. Once you are down to bare wood, lightly sand and apply a finish designed for cedar, you can get these at specialty stores.

>>2728094
Yes, it does work, I have done this many times. You will still need batten boards and some C clamps to hold the boards flat as you apply pressure.

>>2727397
Wood for what? You will need to be much more specific.

>>2728115
>>2728095
I could double up 2x1” beech for the rail beam and use 18mm beach pegs (that’s 3/4” ish), is that massive enough? I can add an extra fixed layer on top of the adjustable head to help keep it flat

>>2728115
That’s a good idea, while I’m at it I’ll make some flat clamps with m12 screws

>>2728143
Yes, you could do that. An advantage of a softwood rail and wedge is that they compress as you apply pressure. Don't feel you have to use a hardwood. I did build a deck using this method using scrap deck material, worked perfectly.

>>2728148
Thanks m8. Good point on the elasticity. Maybe a beech rail and softwood wedges then

>>2726457

>>2726457
Hey guys, total noob here. I bought a new set of pots for my electric guitar but can't install them because their shafts are thicker than the old ones' and don't fit in the holes. The difference is quite small (picrel) so I'm thinking about enlarging the holes just a little bit. From what I understand after some quick googling, a reamer would be the best tool for the job. Is it possible to avoid cracking the finish? Is there a better way to do it?

>>2728745
my tip for enlarging holes in wood is dont bother.
A clean hole requires the correct size drill with nickers or a forstner bit. These drills have a center point that keeps them from wandering so enlarging holes doesn't work with them.
Now the trick is quite simple, the too small hole gets closed by hammering in a dowel (no glue needed)
then the center point can do its work.

>>2728745
Could you tap it, such that you thread it in? Otherwise, do you mean a tapered reamer? You could use that, final sized twist bit, file, fine die grinder or small sanding drum and sneak up on it.

>>2728745
I have done this. Don't hammer anything, you will damage the finish, possibly crack the top. Get a reamer and gradually slowly increase the size. You could get a smaller dowel, glue on some 120 sand paper and sand it larger, but the reamer is the best and safest bet.

>>2728749
>>2728757
>>2728759
Thanks anons, I'll try to do it with a reamer

>>2728094
There was an attempt. But my cheap drill press has almost 0.5mm runout these days so I went with carriage bolts. Also two flat clamps

>>2728749
no, you cant add a dowel in a guitar pot hole, as the wood there is only 5 to 8mm thick (to accommodate the threaded shafts of pots, designed to be panel mounted in the first place)

>>2728763
use a file and diligence. thats how i enlarged a hole in my Explorer

>>2726501
Everyone is going to say don't do it, I think if you throw yourself completely into it you will succeed, but with great pain and few profits along the way.

I thought on it many times myself. Life's too short not to try.

>>2726457
Would I be able to make a 100k a year if I started my own business as a woodworker in the US?

>>2729332
Can you build and market one thousand objects that make you $100 each? It’s possible but pretty difficult. You need to either create a lot of art value or be willing to invest $300k in an industrial shop.

>>2728749
> These drills have a center point that keeps them from wandering so enlarging holes doesn't work with them.
Forstener bit aligned w drill press pretty much always works for me. You get a drill of the original hole size, use that to center the hole to the drill press and then switch to the larger bit.

Does anyone use veneers of very expensive wood on their furniture anymore or did that practice die out hundreds of years ago?

>>2729588
There was this anon who did an oak veneered table last time. We almost never see in it on our side of the ocean but, afaik it was a mostly American trend anyway

>>2729588
Yes. Veneers are a weird thing where it is used in both bottom bin furniture to cover boring or artificial wood with something better looking, and high end furniture to make effects like book matching.

>>2729730
Nta but is the cheap stuff really veneer? When I see bottom bin stuff in shops it looks more printed pvc, ‘reconstituted veneer’ (pine veneer made to look more expensive) or wood grain laminate which is basically printed paper glued onto plastic

Is MDF ok

Making a 48" table out of MDF. Putting legs about 36" apart to support it. Do I need to add some kind of wood/more solid strip underneath to support weight? Not really sure what MDF can support without collapsing in on itself.

>>2730164
MDF is very sturdy but for a table you generally always want an apron for support. It prevents not only the tabletop from bowing (both under load and just from gravity over time) but also the legs from splaying out.

I want to learn carpentry. Any books or videos recommended for absolute beginners. Or do I just find a class in my area and learn that way?

Best way to square the end of a 4 by 4 without any saws?

I’m going to router out a track for a tambour door. Straight part can be done with a guide nailed down. How hard will it be to freehand the curve? Or should I just chisel that out

>>2730619
Hard to get right. Do you have a circle fence? Of cut some mdf circle of the right radius and use a bushing guide

Any ideas on how many dowels to use? I’m butting an 1x4 against the side of a 2x4 with 1/3” dowels, load is 20lbs shear per joint.

>>2730726

why mess with dowels when pic related can hold far more load.

>>2730728
Yes I have considered this. But I need 40 joints per shelving unit. And my 1x4s will be turned 90 degree compared to your picture so I’d need mortises instead of dados. I think 120 dowels is a lot faster than routing 40 mortises but I could be wrong I don’t use then router that often

>>2730724
I may just use my dremel with a wood bit and go slowly

>>2730734
Done this. The router is faster if you make multiple cuts at once, set up pieces on level sawhorses, clamp pieces together, clamp on a straight edge for router to follow.

>>2730788
That wouldn’t work in my case because my 1x4s are upright, centerer on the supports, and meet at the corner. I’d need a shallow recess for each joint plus the cheap lumber would need to be very straight in order to fit into the hole. I like the idea of recesses instead of dowels but it can’t take forever as I need a lot of them

>>2730164
I would not use MDF if you can avoid. The wood absorbs moisture and will swell, the edges chip and break down. You would be much better with plywood with maple veneer, add a wood 1/2 edge (mitre corners). Yes, it is best to have a skirt, you can get leg hardware to screw on the legs.

>>2730803
I see, interesting. It's not carcass construction, but an open frame, my stereo stand is similar. If I was using this design I would use biscuits, glued in and clamped, it would be plenty strong enough. You will have to use the shelves for rigidity or the open frame will twist. This is an opportunity to buy a cheap biscuit jointer. I would hate to cut all those tenons. If you had to cut tenons, a cheap hand-held router and template and pattern bit (or just by eye) would work too.

>>2730885
...you could also use GSK fasteners but they would be exposed, and are expensive but very strong and fast to do.

>>2726457
I tend to wear through the fingertips of Mechanix gloves over the course of a year just cutting, moving, and stacking firewood for a single household. I've had the Durahide gloves since March of last year and they're already full of holes and one of the fingers is coming apart at the seams. Can anyone recommend gloves similar in terms of dexterity but with a more robust design and thicker fingertip to last more than a single year?

>>2730885
Thanks for the advice

> This is an opportunity to buy a cheap biscuit jointer.
That’s how I got to dowels, I did a test today and put 4x 8mm (1/3”) dowels, seems sturdy, and I’ll clamp and glue it. Never used biscuits, not sure what I’d gain from using them to be honest. Going to avoid twisting by slapping a sheet on the top and a fixed sheet on the lowest level.

I’m also considering putting the boards on the outside of the beams and using slots like posted in >>2730728 (it’s probably stronger because it’s glued face to face, but I’d have exposed end grain everywhere) and routing mortises. But I think for both of those the 1x4s to need to be pretty flat, and flat 1x4s are hard to find

>>2730905
Snickers precision protect? They’re probably not as warm as durahide but they are cheap and have Kevlar fingers.

But anyway I’d see and treat them as disposable, I don’t think there’s a thin flexible material that will never wear out. Even thick leather gloves will wear out at some point, just slower.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPFlpxUByOE
Watched this last night and I thought it was excellent
Does anyone know of any books or television series like this?

This is a jewelers bench. I hate working with wood but thought I'd contribute

>>2730883
When are they going to develop something better than MDF that’s cheaper than wood.

I plan on making a 72 inch desk out of an undecided hardwood top. There will be 2 cabinets on either end. Will I need some c channel to prevent sagging?

woodworkers i seek your help as a metalworker making wood for the first time

finishes:
how do i get this finish (shown on one side of this wood that's otherwise raw)? is this a danish oil, a simple stain/varnish + tung oil, or what? this piece of walnut is from a desk i can only date to somewhere in the 1930's-1950's. i have never finished wood before and i'd like to replicate this using what's available at a modern hardware store. the finish seems to only be absolutely skin deep, and retains the texture of the pores/etc. the pores also seem filled with a black substance.
if i can't get this finish, what kind of sealant do i want to use to maintain the raw color and keep the texture but seal it?

>>2731113
another pic

>>2731113
last pic

What's the best way to purchase hobby wood? I am looking for maple, teak, cherry, etc. Is any website decently priced? Is there a network of suppliers? All of the hobby wood places "near" me are a 1 - 1.5hr+ drive, and in sketchy-shit parts of the city.

>>2731023
Holy shit can you fucking je- jeweler? Sorry, nice bench.

>>2731114
the target to be stained (or possibly just oiled if the o.g. finish is not possible) is this knife handle.
need advice anons, many thanks

>>2731062
No. Ensure the boards are flat, not twisted, might need to 'rip and flip', edge glue and use bar clamps and battens. Done this many times without channels, look at all those antiques that were made before C channel.

>>2731325
I would use mineral oil and wax, this finish can be replenished easily, protects from water, does not form a film or oxidize. You can stain first with aniline dye.

>>2731062
You could use an edging strip on the back and or middle if you’re unsure. Undecided hardwood and no thickness is very unspecific: 1” of oak will sag but 2” of Ipe won’t

Can I just glue this together without support of any kind? Will I run into any expansion problems with ash and maple blocks

>>2731113
The black substance is most likely 100 years of schmoo and oxidation.
Damn near all finishes will preserve the texture of the wood if applied correctly.
You generally don't need to seal wood. Impregnating the wood with an oil that prevents quick water ingress is usually enough.

I've got to take a corner out of a piece of 3/4" wood 11" long & 7" high. What tool would be best for this?

>>2731062
>>2731346
https://woodbin.com/calcs/sagulator/
Idk how accurate this calculator is. But better than nothing?

How to I get a round circle with a flat bottom. Paddle bit won’t work because of the pointy end

>>2731515
closest you get off the shelf is a forstner bit

>>2731517
>>2731515
actually, end mill i guess

>>2731515
The extremely old school shell auger could do it. You need another board clamped over it with a starter hole to aim it (or use a gouge to make a starter hole).

>>2731405
A saw

>>2731371
thanks brother, gonna do a light walnut danish oil as that seems to be what people settle on, and i went to a woodworking co-op and asked and they said that would do well.
>>2731343
thanks, oil seems to be the go-to. i guess the o.g. finish is just a walnut stain + possibly oil over top. the guy at the co-op informed me this was actually mahogany, which is news to me but cool

>>2731515
Just a router bit set to depth. Start with a drill bit

>>2731545

>>2731407
I use that one often for pine, MDF and plywood and it so far it has been very accurate for me, just the acceptable sag limit is a bit low imo

Is there a good book which is less of a 'how to' guide and more of an encyclopedia thing which exposes you to all the different styles, designs and techniques?

>>2731695
There are many design books for the different styles and are well documented. The apprenticeship system in early North America (and Europe) required deep knowledge of all previous traditional styles, you can still find these books. What period and area are you interested?

>>2731405
Table saw and fence, or hand plane, vertical router bit or shaper. Table saw is best but you will need someone on the outfeed side to hold the board.

>>2731696
I don't know anything about the different periods and geographical regions

>>2731349
Do you already have the pieces cut? The way to make chess/checker boards is to glue together alternating strips, and add an extra one so 9 pieces in total, then cross cut. Align the pieces together on a substrate like 1/4 ply, glue together in the correct pattern and then trim on a table saw. The method is much easier than cutting 64 individual blocks. If the wood is dry and you follow this method it will not move.

>>2731699
You will have to narrow it down. If you are interested in early North American try "Upper Canadian Furniture" by Pain, this book reviews all the European and American styles that influenced early Canadian furniture. Lots of Shaker furniture style books, individual books on Regency or Sheraton style, German, French, really everything. There is probably a single book on design styles and features, check with a college that teaches woodworking.

>>2731547
Yeah, open porous grain wood, light, looks like Mahogany.

>>2731703
Thanks, I know the normal way but I was wondering if it can be done like this without developing a gap over time

>>2731722
I've done it both ways. Gaps did develop using individual pieces unless you use epoxy and assuming the wood is perfectly dry and sealed. For my individual piece board I wet sanded the finished top with a varnish oil mix, that creates a slurry that fills gaps, then polished with wax. It's a cheat but overall looked good.

Nothing a little elbow grease can’t fix

>>2731547
If you want to do mahogany justice then scrape it to make it smooth like a planed surface and just give it linseed oil. Mahogany has an absolutely beautiful sheen.

>>2731738
Thanks for the tips, i will try the easy method first then

This is the right place to ask. I need a rack or a stand or some way to store pliers and hammers on my work bench. What would be best?

Today I will finish my chair

Would this be Dalbergia or Pau Ferro? I bought it as Pau Ferro but a wood guy told me it was Dalbergia, and I can imagine the seller listed it as Pau Ferro because you can’t sell Dalbergia here. Any easy way to find out?

>>2731757
Beautiful

>>2731771
Two boards upright, two boards across, join like >>2730728, leave top open. That’s what I would do. Tool boards become frustrating quickly unless you make specific mounts for each tool

Valspar cabinet paint is garbage. Marks up so easily. Now I have to coat my project with a varnish

>>2731705
Well I'm interested in Europe since I'm not North American, English and French mainly but also German
I'll try to see if I can find the Pain book though

>>2731844
Ok. This shit just left white bubbles all over my paint. What did I do wrong? I spread it with a flocked foam roller

>>2731883
Fats, water, sawdust, solvents, too thick layer, too thick substance, bad surface, too much air introduced, too aggressive foam rollering (probably). Could be anything, hard to tell. But you should be able to see it happen while applying and adjust accordingly, a brush is probably better for that stuff

>>2731883
Foam roller injected air into the paint, use a brush. Foam is the worst.

Thoughts about forniture(IKEA) and objects made out of Particle board?

>>2732062
I envy the efficiency over craft emphasis. My life would be easier if I fastened the edges of particle boards together and moved on. So I guess you can learn from them.

>>2727221
Raw cedar looks great, but the way it turns orange under every clear lacquer is maddening. I'd sand back to raw material, give it a few coats of a white wash or pickling product, then finish with a crystal clear acrylic poly nothing higher than semigloss.
Definitely find a spot underneath to practice finishing.

>>2731757
Ryobi circs are trash and I'm known to rep a lot of green tools. I can't even reasonably get through a 1x4 on with the ryo battery 4 1/2. My multitools outcut it.

>>2732062
It's annoying to explain to customers that their stuff it's actual wood. Calling these melamine and LDF products real wood is like calling a hotdog a steak.
People generally run into problems when they try to modify, move products around after they're assembled, or repair the finish. It makes sense for the brands selling these because they get repeat business every time it falls apart. They increase the profit margin selling weak veneer or print finishes on chipboard as genuine furniture.

>>2732095
Being able to wrap and band is important. They only need to design these things once, then the cnc will spit out as many sheets as they ask it to. Time and materials permitting, our work is of a higher caliber.

>>2731759
i had it belt sanded flat with 120 and added chamfers with 120 as well, then smoothed the transitions to the chamfers with 320.

and i actually went simple, 2 coats mineral oil and 2 coats beeswax as the one anon suggested. i tested the danish and butcher block oils on some test mahogany and they made it way too dark. if my dad is so inclined i'll let him know that BLO will do it good, but the mineral oil and wax has brought out a hell of a red in the handle.

>>2732645
i don't understand ryobi tools

everyome someone defends them they always say

"i never do enough work to justify a nicer tool" or " i won't use it enough to justify a nicer tool"

so then why do you need a cordless tool then?

because your ryobi batteries probably aren't going to be charged when it coms to do the project anyways

"but i need to do the work out in the yard"

extension cord

and if you're working with power tools that little, you probably only have the one battery and the one tool....so just buy corded

>>2732827
We know its you bepis.

>>2731757
I bet your dentist loves you

>>2732827
I hate cords on anything. Wireless electricity can’t get here soon enough. Don’t care if it causes cancer, I don’t want to run cables behind my wall

>>2732790
You can't sand it to the kind of finish I'm talking about. You have to plane (or scrape) it. Mahogany will look almost holographic if you get it smooth enough. It's hard to explain or even show in pictures. Doesn't matter though. Mahogany is beautiful no matter how you finish it. I just wanted to let you know.

>>2731125
Unfortunately those seem to be the best places only has you paying for well over $20 a board foot for fucking red oak... same of home cheapo... I have had a lot of luck with Craigslist but ymmv depending on where you live. As far as lumber yards look for specifically a hardwood dealer distinctly from building supply places. Same goes for plywood, there are specifically plywood dealers if you want to get good stuff like baltic birch.

> got the shop
> got tools ranging from lasers to cnc to bandsaws the carving knives
> got no inspiration

I've made and sold about 50 Christmas themed decorations since thanksgiving that essentially amount to a plank of wood with a Bible verse lasered on it and people pay me approximately an 900% markup for them but this is getting really disillusioning as I actually dislike the things I'm making because they're so kitschy

I make boxes from scraps for gifts. I try to save a natural flaw when I do an offcut and turn it into a box top. This box is Walnut and cherry at about 4" and is the smallest I've made. I gave it to one of my kid's friends after their parents gave us Xmas cookies

>>2733449
Here's a slightly larger one at almost 6"

The boards were all left over pieces from a cabinet project in the kitchen

>>2733390
Cutting boards tend to sell, but do classy ones.

Chessboards are a possibility.

>>2733451
Here's a crazy idea. Do not make a separate top. Build a box and then using a table saw cut the 'top' off, it will fit perfectly, just add hinges. I like piano hinges for these.

>>2726501
No matter how good you are at making good quality and beautiful furniture, most people will never even know you exist and you are competing with IKEA/Walmart/Etc. People who want affordable furniture cannot afford the time required to get a hold of some upstart artisan.

You have a noble dream and a lot of potential; if you really want to do this you should learn how to market your work.

>>2726501
I've been doing this for over 50 years, you are facing a long and difficult learning curve and some hard facts. Don't expect to get rich, you will live in your shop and might end up hating your work. But, if you are young enough, have some money to sustain the dry periods and don't mind working all the time and truly love woodworking, go for it. I think your model is flawed, you cannot make the furniture you want that is still affordable, you are up against established shops with economies of scale you don't have. Think of the puzzle: Good, Fast, Cheap, you can only have two. I build custom reproduction pieces that are very expensive but will last for generations, these pieces are slow and expensive but I have an established shop and reputation. I started part-time and build the business slowly on my own terms. I would do similar, start small, learn, slowly acquire high quality machinery, learn the trade and market, build a few pieces, keep great records and pictures, and find sources for quality furniture grade wood.

I'm thinking of buying some unfinished pine wood bookshelves from a store near me. I don't have the space required to sand and stain them properly, and I don't have a car big enough to move them once I get them delivered. I was considering just leaving them unfinished but are there any alternatives I should check out? I was thinking maybe applying a clear coat of paint is a good idea to preserve the wood look but still get protection. I need something that can seal it while preserving it's aesthetics and is easy to do. I just can't afford a fully finished bookshelf since they seem to be triple the price in my area

Bought an old record plane and it looks like this, should I grind it back and then sharpen or just sharpen in the jig until it’s straight again? My other ones werent this bad

>>2733818
I'd check it first assembled. Sometimes the angle is there for a reason, due to a machining flaw. I have a craftsman block plane like that. Otherwise I'd grind it back to satisfy my autism.

>>2733815
Probably wouldn't be a big deal to leave it unfinished for a book shelf. Otherwise you can consider a super lazy finish like one of the faster oil finishes. Just wipe on and call it a day before you put your books on.

>>2733815
You don't need to 'preserve' the wood, there is tons of old pine furniture with nothing but milk paint. You could put on a coat or two of blonde shellac and then wax. An even easier solution is to buy some milk paint and apply, followed by wax (or not). Both are quick and easy solutions, the best one is to do nothing. If you don't want to buy milk paint, make your own. Get some milk, lime, water based stain of your choice, mix, apply. Proportions are not even that critical, slop it one, light sanding, wax, done.

>>2733818
You have to grind this square and ensure the throat on the plane is also square.

>>2733834
Assembled it is bad. I can put the blade in at an angle to the body to make it straight at the throat. This works for a few passes but it then aligns itself in the slot (so goes out of alignment with the throat)

>>2733852
Thanks, the throat seems okay, I’ll go and grind it square then. Any tips for that?

>>2733855
>>>2733852 (You)
>Thanks, the throat seems okay, I’ll go and grind it square then. Any tips for that?

I would use a metal file at first to get close, then water or oil stone, just don't overheat the metal. I have a cool grinding wheel on my grinder that keeps the metal cool, and a hard felt wheel, that is a great combo.

>>2733855
To correct it square, don't worry about the bevel at all. Go full perpendicular and square it up. Use a rough tool for this like a bench grinder or file. Then carefully relieve the bevel away from the edge with the grinder or file (careful when filling the bevel you can fuck your hands up easily) at an angle lower then your final edge angle. Don't worry if it's ugly. It just has to be out of your way when grinding the edge angle. You don't have to get too close to the edge either. What you do here is to save time later. But if you don't feel comfortable with it, you could just sharpen the whole thing in. Should be pretty fast still. Maybe an hour.

>>2733856
>>2733902
Thanks wwg bros this is exactly the info I was looking for.

I did not know wood stain poisoning was a thing until a couple of days ago.

This cedar backsplash for the vanity completes the repaint we did thanksgiving day. I did vgrooves on 4 inch planks resawn to 1/2 inch. They're sitting on poplar strips with pin nails and I coated it with shellac. It still needs a GFCI outlet cover. The old one had been cut to fit in some shitty tile.

I hated painting the vanity, but the former owners slopped white paint all over custom oak cabinets, and I couldn't get it all off without damaging the oak panels, which I did, so we just painted it and filled in the blemishes.

>>2734004
I used a classical bead for the trim..

>>2734000
Only if you drink it.

Made a snowflake. Convinced myself it was a good idea to make 60 more.

Merry Christmas.

>>2734115
Save me

I am become batcher, destroyer of motivation.

>>2734115
>>2734117
Pretty cool really, if only you made them a few weeks earlier your could have made $20 each

>>2733815
Does unfinished pine look good with what you have in your room? You're paying more for a product that is one step away from being ground up to become the transportable flat pack Ikea bookcase it should be.

>>2733390
Find a way to nearly automate the kitschy items you're selling. Just keep the throughput happening. Hire someone for one day a week if you need.Your foot is in the door there, so don't let it close.

Markets are going to behave nonsensically. They might fall right into your hands or completely ghost you. It's harder to sustain as people on a more binge and purge business model.

Okay guys, so I'm brand new to wookdworking and I have this goofy project idea. I have a friend who's a bookworm and in university, so I figure it might be a nice birthday gift to make her a small bookcase that could fit on a desk. Since she might move rooms a lot I figure it might also be a good idea to make it portable, using foldable brackets/hinges and out of pine so it's not too heavy. It's essentially an foldable open box, pic related, 10,000 years in paint.
What do you guys think? I was thinking some sort of clear coat or oil and wondered if you guys had any recommendations for pine. It doesn't really have to match anything, just look nice. Also for the panel idea that I'm undecided on I was wondering if there was a place to find simple decorative panels since I don't really have experience and access to more detailed cutting tools. Thanks ahead of time.

>>2734167
Also forgot to add, here is an amazon link to the hinges/brackets that I was intending to use for said project
https://www.amazon.com/Skelang-0%C2%B0-90%C2%B0-180%C2%B0-Foldable-Extension-Workbench/dp/B094QTW758

>>2734168
Those hinges will take up a lot of inside space so it can’t be filled with books, and when moving isn’t it easier to leave the books in and carry the entire box?

Indoors pine that doesn’t get wat can be just waxed against finger stains, if it gets ugly over time it’s easy to remove and redo

>>2734167
It's a creative but flawed idea. The box will not be rigid enough to support the weight of books, too expensive and complicated. If you want to give her something nice and useful, handmade, very portable, then why not a simple lidded box to hold small items? These are always useful and relatively easy. The pic attached is a small item box of about 9x5" in black cherry, this box is extremely useful. Build the box first then cut off the lid.

>>2734161
It will look better than the pressboard garbage and since I have stacks of books just on the floor it will look way better than it does now. What is your alternative? It doesn't have to stay unfinished forever but I simply don't have the space to sand and apply stain / multiple costs of finish at the moment. I could apply one coat of something to seal it and I might do that but I don't know what the best thing is for it. Honestly I don't really care to spend 3x the price on something that looks a bit nicer, I just need function at the moment

>>2734215
>hinges will take up a lot of inside space
I should have noticed sooner. Maybe I did and I'd probably have to go back and check, but I think my original plans I made had a longer length for the shelves (for some reason 24 is popping in my head, but I could just be throwing a random number out.
>easier to leave books in and carry the entire box?
I might have forgotten to mention but my idea was an open box, so just four pieces of wood and no backing. Just something to place against a wall and put stuff was my original plan. Thanks for the suggestion and advice

>>2734216
Damn, the weight of books was one of my bigger worries. On the bottom shelf, it'd be fine, but stacking stuff on top might end up causing too much trouble. I guess my autism was just telling me she likes books, so thing that holds books, but a box wouldn't be a bad idea either. I do like the look of the one you posted. Thanks for the advice!

>>2734226
I made someone a small box for a set of books, open one side so books would slide in vertically, but this was for a specific set. A handmade box, like a jewelry box, is a classic and appreciated for a lifetime.

>>2734061
what do you think it tastes like?

I want to restain & surface a butcher block shelf. When sanding down the top, do I have to sand it all the way down until it's yellow/white wood showing again or can some stain color remain

>>2734367
It depends what you want, there is no rule. I personally like some of the old patina, just refresh the top, recoat.

any tips or drawings on making your own /ww/ bench?
they're really expensive to buy...

>>2727397
The kind you get from trees is superior.

>>2734657
Look for "The Workbench Book" by Scott Landis, well worth the money, can still find them.

>>2726501
Same advice as anything. Do it as a side hustle and don't quit your actual job until the income you're making from it maths out to being worth your full focus.

>>2734710
True. Can you manage long periods of no income, income is lumpy. I finished a dinning table for a couple for $10k but it took two months, I was not in a hurry, another side server for 3K that was a month. That income stream can be hard to manage until you are established.

>>2734657
Make your bench patterned off of historical examples, but keep in mind modern vise technology (by modern I mean post industrial revolution) which some of the examples are old enough not to have. Don't fall for the fully viseless meme. But don't ignore plane stops and holdfasts either. Different benches have different advantages and disadvantages. If you are beginning, not only do you not know what methods of work holding you prefer yet, you don't even know what types of work you will be mainly engaging in. I would just choose one of the historical types (I personally went with the English joiner's bench since it's cheap and easy to build) and work with it for awhile. Paul Sellers has a video on making a bench without a bench. I wouldn't fully copy his design though, since he is a bit eccentric with his work holding IMO. He did literally everything with his vise, and personally I like having the fixed jaw flush with the apron. He's a pro and it works for him but every one will have different habits and preferences.

>>2734693
>>2734776
thanks a bunch

>>2734657
"The Anarchist's Workbench" is available as a free PDF and is probably the most comprehensive book on workbench design and history I've read.

>>2726501
Be smart. Be prepared. Stay committed.

So I see people on YouTube freehand the router to follow lines but whenever I try it it just goes everywhere. Is there any trick to it or is it just a great amount of strength/stiffness and superior hand eye coordination? I already tried going very shallow and then gradually deeper but it will still go through the edge of the shallower pass

>>2734931
They are probably close to the line and finish with a very sharp chisel, that's what I do. In the case of cutting a mortice for a shouldered tenon, the joint is covered so it doesn't matter. If you first cut around the edge with a sharp chisel and then route, you can get very close. I use a router guide at all other times though. I also have a small handheld router and use that for hinges, that works freehand and it helps to have variable speed. I suggest you experiment but for very critical work that will be noticed you will have to go old school and cut by hand.

what would a good setup be to be able to do some projects in an apartment?
I'm living in an apartment, so don't really have the room for a whole workshop, & can't really be too loud.
if I want to be able to make some smaller projects (for example something like a small tabletop apothecary drawer system or other stuff)
also being that I move frequent enough, I don't want to be using glue, I want to do joinery where I can flatten pieces when I want.

I'm currently thinking:
japanese hand saw, chisels, coping saw, hand plane, mallet, square, marking gauge, file/rasp, sandpaper, desktop mountable vise, some clamps
& I do have oils to finish.

>>2735017
That's a good starter list. You can make boxes with lids, candle boxes, simple items using dovetail joinery, or pegged mortice and tenon.

>>2734865
neat, took a quick hours read and it looks very informative
might order a physical copy
thank you

>>2735017
If you don't have room for a real workbench, consider going full weeb. Japanese woodworking uses a lot of workholding that involves you sitting your ass on it or putting your foot on it, and is thus dependent on you instead of the weight of your workbench. For this weird work holding to work right, you'd have to use mostly Japanese style tools, especially for your planes. Hope you're flexible though. Full disclosure, I made myself an atedai but it's definitely not my preference. I indulge in the weebness occasionally for fun but I don't do the majority of my work this way.

>>2735017
I’ve done it for years like this so yea you can. Mind that sanding gives a lot of dust which will get everywhere especially when sanding softwoods, and it may take a while before your joints will be tight enough to do completely glueless. I’d add a joiners float to the list, I use it 10 times more than the rasp. And a big sheet of MDF with some stops and workholes is nice

>>2735107
I'll consider it, but 1st will prob try a desktop mountable vice.
>>2735133
yea I know sanding will leave dust. but it will be hand sanding so if I just keep up w/ cleaning I'll be fine. will add joiners float to the list.
also, how would I go about using that mdf? also, I'm new so idk, would I put the stops & workholes in myself?

also, might seem a little silly, but being that due to work & stuff, I'm on my computer so I do need a desk & I got a new sit/stand desk stand & want a new top (using old top rn). how possible would it be to do something like a butchers block & have something like like stops & work holes on the edge (I do want a wide desk next, like ~36"x72")
or even in the front too if I can cover it up when not in use

what is a good hand saw to use for cutting along the grain?
i have a very nice cross cutter already

>>2735017
I'm doing apartment dwelling woodworking right now.
Sanding is a fucking issue, especially if you have carpets. Do it outside or use card scrapers/smoothing planes. Wood dust is more irritating/carcinogenic than you think it is, you don't want it in your sleeping space.
Anything with hammering is a nonstarter, the place I live has six inches of concrete between units and I still got complaints from neighbors. This is a big issue for lots of chiseling operations.
Thicknessing stock is going to be obnoxious, I have a buddy with a bandsaw and power planer I use for resawing and cleanup, but you might have to go 17th century and do manual resawing + a scrub plane for thicknessing.
Try and center as much of your work as you can around hand planes, they are the quietest and easiest to clean up after. You will probably need to get in to the more oddball stuff like grooving planes, rabbet planes, router planes, dado planes, etc. This is doubly true if you want to do knockdown joinery, which is especially unforgiving. Patrick's blood and gore is the authoritative reference for each model of old Stanley plane.

Any purchase of woodworking hand tools should be done in consultation with "The Anarchists Tool chest", which works as a short instruction manual for almost every traditional woodworking tool, and does a good job of telling you what you should DIY or don't need.

The smaller something is, the harder it is to build out of wood, and the difficulty doubles if you aren't using power tools (you get about 2% tolerances on all your lengths, and it's a lot easier to be within 2% of six feet than 2% of six inches). There is an entire furniture design branch called campaign furniture that is meant to be knocked down and traveled with that you might be interested in (it evolved into modern IKEA flat pack stuff). I will once again shill Chris Schwarz, who wrote a book about it called "Campaign Furniture".

You also need a way to make holes. Brace and bit ideally.

>>2735309
Are you ripping stock (3-5TPI rip-filed hand/panel saw), cutting tenons (8-10TPI rip-filed back saw with a 6ish inch plate), or cutting dovetails (10-15TPI rip-filed back saw with a 3ish inch plate)?

>>2735309
Any rip saw? It's hard to go wrong other than getting a non-rip saw (the stuff marketed at being able to do both is generally better for crosscutting than rip, and since you have a dedicated cross cut already might as well get a dedicated rip saw)

The brand name of vintage resharpenable saws is Disston, but having used a lot of random no name saws marked with nothing more than "warranted superior" they all work fine assuming they're sharpened well, which is very easy to do for rip. There are new sharpenable saws for sale but they can be somewhat expensive, and you can often find one of these old vintage saws for less than $20 (possibly way less, I've gotten them for free before even).

Weirder possibly, but the various Japanese saws work well too. For some reason, in the states, the ryobas, which are double sided with both rip and crosscut, seem to be the most common. Katabas, which are just the one sided normal saw, somehow mainly just come in crosscut in the states. But if you can find a rip one it's slightly more ideal for ripping (I rip just fine with my ryoba personally, but the drag of the crosscut teeth theoretically lowers the finish quality).

>>2735381
Don't forget the old eggbeater. Electric drills are pretty quiet though. I definitely wouldn't sleep on the brace and bit. It's what I mostly use still. It's so satisfying for some reason.

>>2735225
Where I wrote MDF I meant some kind of work surface, ideally a workbench, and you could go for just a desk that you put something on top of (like an MDF sheet). Thing is you’ll want things to hold your work: plane stop, bench hook, some square rails, something to clamp stuff. Clamping can be done with wedges but it’s a lot more convenient to have at least some kind of vice, even a small $30 metal bench vice gives you lots of options. And you need a sacrificial surface anyway,so a sheet of mdf with some dog holes and a vice mounted to it can be great if you have little space. A butchers block top is more durable of course but it doesn’t add a lot of value and it’s a lot more expensive

>>2735381
Agree with all of this, except that a small drill press is way more useful (and only marginally louder) than a brace and bit in my opinion

>>2735384
>>2735385
interesting
i would eventually want to attempt ripping some logs from some pine logs by hand
is there maybe some other poorfag way to make your own boards that doesnt involve buying a sawmill?

>>2735699
I promise you, you will despise the concept of life itself if you try to saw boards out of logs by hand with a regular panel saw and nothing else.
Sawing boards out of a log by hand is a 2+ man job with one guy above and one guy below pulling a frame saw between them. It's why traditional furniture was made by crosscutting smaller logs and splitting them with a froe and construction was done by hewing entire logs with special axes. Sawing fucking sucks. You can make your own band saw saw mill though and it's neither expensive nor difficult. Matthias Wandel did it more or less accidentally.

>>2735701
guess your right
ill just use my chainsaw for the time being

>>2735701
There are single man saws for rough milling. This is a Japanese saw called a maebiki. Definitely more work than riving but you don't need good straight grain wood clear of knots. I'm with you that it's brutal to rip a decently large thing by hand. Since it's pine though, there's a chance it's clear enough for since hard core riving. Lots more waste this way though. And you'd want to do some hewing with an axe to refine the split boards before planing (season before planing too).

Sawing would be a good workout that's for sure.

>>2732827
Some of my ryobi stuff pays the bills and some of if could find itself in my burn pile and I wouldn't think any different. Battery is great for drills, impacts, brad nailers, multitool, basically any low duty cycle tool. It's shit for circ saw, sawzall, angle grinder, demo hammer, mixer, bigger saws unless there's no power at the site. My only issues with the li-on batteries themselves are draining them flat (the tools stop a few times to warn you) or cold weather.

>>2734218
Uh, paint the bookcase or use a proper hardwood. Make one out of poplar then paint it.
Staining pine is the simpson's makeup shotgun. But, you could probably cover it in 6 coats of minwax color wash and a medium to low gloss poly.

The cheap stuff assembles and transports quick. If you knew how to slap in your own cam locks and dados you'd probably already have built it.

>>2735017
Find a shared workspace to rent or use.

I'm building a small router sled with those linear rail gantries. Since I have a small workspace, I'm starting small and building it to only ride along a single axis. I'll simply move the workpiece instead of the router to allow for the other axis.

Would it be silly and overdesigned to use a sheet of 1/4" acrylic for the bed of the sled? I'm talking 24x36", so not very large at all. My shop isn't outside, per se, but it is exposed to changes in humidity and temperature, so I'm concerned a sheet of MDF would be prone to warping, especially if I'm going to be picking it up and storing it away as needed.

Is this a good deal for $300?
I just wanna make small projects, not furniture or things like that. Im a beginner of course.

>>2736984
Find the actual model numbers then see reviews on each then compare elsewhere on line. They're good tools but you really need to get used to checking vids like Torque Test Channel etc. It looks like a good deal but prices and sales and coupons change so much I only research when looking to buy. You won't regret owning it though and it's a versatile mix of tools.

>>2736984
It's not that good for the exact reason you might think: when companies sell bundles aimed at beginners, it's often because they sell a bunch of shit they can't move individually. It's like when banks created CDOs to sell shit mortgages packaged as "good investments."

You'll literally never use the work light. It's a $40 dust collector.

The circular saw is sometimes useful if you aren't making things that require a table saw or a miter saw, which I'm guessing you aren't. They run about $100. As soon as you buy a table or miter, you'll never use the circular saw again unless you're building a shed or something.

That impact driver costs about $50. The drill costs about $70. The random orbital is about $100.

In general, you should only buy tools as you need them for a given project, and even then perform a quick cost–benefit analysis to determine if it's worth the investment. For instance, I make a lot of picture frames by request from friends and family. For me, buying a pricier $70 Logan aluminum point driver was a good investment because I know it won't jam up and shit the bed after a few uses. It's heavy, solid, feels good in the hand, and has a fluid lever action. If I were only making one or two picture frames, I'd either borrow a point driver or use a brad nail.

TL;DR: don't buy shit you don't need because you think some version of yourself needs to have those things. If you're doing a job that requires an impact driver, buy an impact driver, etc.

>>2736998
>s soon as you buy a table or miter, you'll never use the circular saw again

Not that anon, thank you for the information. But would you suggest getting one of those two if Im going to be making things like bird houses, raised garden beds and small boxes type stuff?

>>2736984
All these minus the light seem pretty good to have (I'm assuming bottom left is a palm sander?) I don't know about the battery technology of all these tools though, I'm sure Bepis will sense that people are taking about power tools and appear.

>>2736984
Battery = primarily for construction sites, particularly with saws/sanders.

You want corded versions of every tool for shop work, with the possible exception of a drill. You don't *need* an impact driver either, especially for woodworking.
Sander absolutely should be corded, you will need a dozen battery swaps to do a single table top.
Saw should be corded because you want a lot of juice, especially for hardwoods. Those battery saws are meant to slice up softwoods for framing and will choke bad on a piece of maple. They also have oddball blade sizes that are annoying to deal with.

>>2736984
The only battery circ I like is Dewalt's flex volt. It has a bigger battery stepping up to 40v. The feel and torque are closer to a Skilsaw corded. The cheap battery sidewinders are just pissing in the wind when you're used to a wormdrive.
Battery lights are frustrating. The floods bury batteries, but you might be ok. Same goes for the orbital. It'll probably be great most of the time, but sometimes you've gotta sand for a long time. All and all not bad to pretty good. Trade up what you don't like as you progress.

>>2736998
> The circular saw is sometimes useful if you aren't making things that require a table saw or a miter saw, which I'm guessing you aren't. They run about $100. As soon as you buy a table or miter, you'll never use the circular saw again unless you're building a shed or something.
To cut sheets accurately you do want a $100 circ saw until you come to the point where a $500+ table saw is a justified purchase. One or two moderate sized plywood projects, and you love the circ saw. An unused table saw is a much more expensive and space consuming toy than an unused circ saw

>>2737007
Absolutely, table saw is ideal for bird houses and boxes. Miter is okay, it'll get you there, but it's ironically not the best tool for cutting tight miters.

Circular or miter is great for cutting posts for raises gardens, if a posted bed is what you have in mind. Like >>2737110 suggested, I was a little strong in my denouncement of circular saws — there are cases where they're useful, but they travel too much for jobs that require any level of precision.

>>2733810
Would love to talk more to you about your business. Any way to contact you outside of 4Chan? By any chance do you post some of your work on the woodworking subreddit? There aren't many 50+ years exp furniture makers that do high end work and are also tech savvy enough to post about it.

Anyone here know if the cheapo generic air filtration units (PowerTec AF4000, WEN 3410, Grizzly G0738) can be setup to be always on / switch them using a light switch? Ordered up the PowerTec and trying to figure out if I will need to do any tinkering with the internals when it arrives that I should be investigating while waiting for it.

Well, what are you all working on currently/recently? I'm making a double sewing table for my wife (almost done, need to look for some vintage hardware for the fake drawers and finish shellacing) and working on a short sit down workbench for doing our miscellaneous other crafts. I will say it has been a learning experience finishing the sewing table with shellac. I may just be a tard, but it was hard getting it to look decently. I may have mixed the shellac wrong though, since I guess you can't just proportionally scale it up or down since the flakes are by weight and the alcohol is by volume. Pic is from the staining phase I think. Go ahead and make fun of me for how blotchy it is. It's pine and all the areas I filled in took the stain badly as well (can't have any rough patches or it will snag fabric so I had to fill in the tearout near the knots).

>>2738408
i thought i would start making a saalburg workbench

>>2738412
>googles
Neat, you should do it. I don't technically have a roman style bench, but my saw bench is so obese it basically ended up similar to one. I use it quite a lot, especially when using the bit and brace and chopping mortises.

>>2738408
Just finished the last of the Xmas gifts. Bit late, I know.

Anyway, next on the lost is a commission for a full size mimic chest that is key activated. Key should make it look like a normal chest, and anyone else opens to the mimic. Gonna be interesting.

>>2733810
Old blood knows. Your business must have a strong profit model. It's easier to iron out the other issues when money is moving the right direction. Everything is a problem when you're hemorrhaging finances.

Does anyone know anything about making your own plane blades? I have a bunch of projects in the queue where I need grooves from 1/4" to 1", and I didn't want to drop $120 on an eBay combination plane, so I was thinking of just making the planes myself. The problem is that grooving plane blades from Lee Valley are about $20 a pop, so I'd still spend $80. I have a Dremel, a hacksaw, and a blowtorch, so I was thinking about just buying O1 bar stock off McMaster, cutting it to shape, and hardening it, but I haven't done any serious metalworking before.

>>2738426
Shit, that sounds fun.

>>2738464
I did it once for a similar reason (got a combo plane missing all the irons). It's definitely doable with your setup. O1 is relatively diyable HT wise though you won't get the full benefit without a more controlled setup. Also consider 1070 through 1095. Don't be fooled by the additional carbon going up this scale as they will basically act the same after HT for you. Though 1095 may ironically be the cheapest since it's a very popular knife making steel. Generally the simpler the alloy the easier the HT is to do yourself. It won't be the best iron ever but it will be probably similar to the 1800's irons, which were very well good enough.

>>2726457
I have all this scrap from a big bedroom MDF cabinet I want to make smaller cabinets for toolboards and cleaning supplies, and I can grant you I'll fuck up cutting or measuring or do it a size too large to fit in the doors. To make things worse, my cutting tool is a jigsaw (that I'm already raising the boards for the ruler contraption that stabilizes jigsaw cuts I don't know the name in english), so I wish to have some education before starting to plan the pieces and start cutting instead of learning by mistakes and figure things out as I go, mainly because I don't want to get more scrap. Would you guys kindly help me to find good sources about how to properly develop a cupboard? Thanks

>>2738586
I wouldn't start off with a cupboard for what seems to be your first furniture project, anon. You also won't be able to cut lumber for furniture with a jigsaw. Woodworking is an expensive hobby, unfortunately, and you'll need to come to terms with that and be comfortable shelling out some good money for tools before you can properly start.

>>2738841
I meant cabinet, sorry. And I want to do shit with scrap MDF boards from scrapped cabinets. I doubt it's hard, but I need to figure out how wide it should be so I can fit the door boards it came with

>>2738857
It would help if you provided an example image of what you want to build.

>>2738252
Yeah, pushing 70 and on 4chan.
I will look for the subreddit and post some work soon. Here's a side server I made for own use. Ideally the top should be a better colour match. Black cherry top, figured maple skirts and tapered legs, black walnut back board, I still have to add a birdseye maple drawer.

>>2738439
>>2738439
I've had the benefit of other income for periods, and very low overhead by working out of a heated double car garage. I have good equipment, not the best, but accurate. I was in a higher end furniture store recently and they were selling a piece of garbage table for 10k, shit materials, bad design, poor workmanship, a factory piece. Good design is cheap, lots of examples around, could not even get that right. That is your competition. If you can design classic looking furniture, use high quality materials and solid workmanship you will succeed, they will find you. The Blacktail Studio guy does amazing work, he is building custom high end pieces, that is not the bulk of the market. My stuff is 3-5k, I sold a cherry table for $7k recently, it will last forever, mortice and tenon construction, great wood. My point is if you want to make a living building custom furniture, there is a large segment of the market that wants classic well made furniture, a family heirloom piece they can hand down. I can keep busy with that work and it is fun to build still.
The attached is a good example. My own design, but classic proportions I researched heavily. Figured maple top and drawer front, dovetailed drawer, cherry skirts, tapered maple lets. I made a set. The key thing is the proportions, if you don't have that right the rest doesn't count, it will look wrong. That all said, there is money to be made in birdhouses and cutting boards and I do that as well and give them away.

>>2738464
Anon just want to say that what you're thinking is very doable and you should go ahead and do it. 1075 is another easy steel to work with and relatively cheap. There are also salvage options, a good but worn out file can be had for a dollar at a junk store and makes a fine blade. There are people doing that on youtube that you can find. Bastard files are common and you can get a plane blade close to an inch wide fairly easily.

I would also add that depending on what you're doing, a scratch stock might be a helpful tool too, and it could save you making another specialty plane. The metal type is less important for a scratch stock too, I've used old saw blades.

>>2736984
If you're brand new and want to start in the power tool direction I would say get a used circular saw off marketplace for $20-30, buy a good blade for it (diablo is always a safe choice), and put your money into a good drill. Should be less than half of what you posted all said and done. Any of the big brands that people like are fine. If you like red like you posted look into the 12v and the 18v drills and get whichever one floats your boat. Unless you're doing big guy construction the 18v isn't necessary, but it can be nice. If you might do masonry you'd want it to be a hammer drill anyway so 12v for now would be fine. If you might mix things in a bucket with it the 18v would be a safe choice.
As others have said, for a random orbital sander get something corded.

>>2738986
>As others have said, for a random orbital sander get something corded.
I tend to disagree with this. Sanders and trim routers are two things for which everyone seems to be in the corded-only camp. If you have enough batteries, which you often will if you buy Milwaukee (not sure about other brands) because they practically give those things away with their promos, you'll never run out of juice. Cordless is far preferable to getting a cord tangled all around you and your workpiece, especially if you happen to be working in tight or inconveniently shaped areas.

>>2738942
You paint a great picture of the market, anon. This is my retirement dream. I'm a solo private practice therapist who's pushing 40, and the money and stability in my field are too good to pass up. I've made my share of furniture, but so far my professional ventures in woodworking have been limited to selling specialty items for tabletop games at conventions and cutting boards, etc., at farmers' markets. I'd love to retire from therapy in the next 10-15 years and pursue furniture-making full-time.

>>2739006
Now is your chance then to enhance your skill base and to create a portfolio of work. I have a range of things I document with measurements and pics with notes. Years ago I made a dovetail example and it's a great reference. This pic is of a cherry wooden tray with compound mitre corners, tricky to do but elevates the design and look. If you add a center handle you now have a cutlery tray, looks great in figured maple. You can build a portfolio of a dozen or more items and the jigs needed to replicate them, lots of pictures and construction notes. I am always on the hunt for old wood for my reproductions and go to farm auctions and buy broken old furniture to harvest the old wood, or to restore if possible. Lots to do in the interim to prep for that day when you can become a full-time woodworker.

>>2734167
What you could make is a portable bookcase based on designs used by lighthouse keepers.
https://doorcountypulse.com/culture-club-the-legacy-of-lighthouse-libraries-a-beacon-of-solace-and-knowledge/

>>2735017
>>2735133
this, sawing and sanding are your biggest workplace hazards and can lead to carpenter's lung.

>>2738899
Thanks for the attention, man.

>>2739062
>>2738857
> I doubt it's hard
You would be wrong, anon. Cabinet-making is a relatively advanced skill that you won't be able to accomplish to a satisfactory degree until you've had some proper woodworking experience. If, as you say, your only cutting tool is a jigsaw, you won't be able to accomplish any of the cuts you'll need apart from loosely dimensioning your MDF.

I'd suggest doing two things. First, watch a couple of YouTube videos (below) on cabinet-making for relative beginners. Once you've done that, answer the questions that follow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89WeF52XwcI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE_RBHIU-iE

Now walk me through how you'll do this project. How will you dimension your MDF? How will you cut the dados for your shelves? How do you plan to mount the shelves? How will you mount and level the doors? What type of joinery will you use?

I'm not being critical for no reason. You're underestimating the task at hand, and you're approaching it with insufficient tools for the job. If you want to build a cabinet, go for it, but don't half-ass it by forcing a bad solution. IKEA shit exists for a reason.

>>2739110
Here's another: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNQi2UOFmSo

>>2739062
Just wrap what you have.

>>2739062
Cabinetmaker and furniture builder (read: fine woodworker) were just called cabinetmaker until the mid 1800s-ish. Cabinetmaking is the hardest woodworking task that requires the most precision and tooling.

On top of this, MDF basically requires good power tooling (table saw + router) to cut and shape in a convincing way, as well as a good respirator so you don't get formaldehyde sick from the UF binder while working it. Veneering is also aids. The whole point of the material is that it is dimensionally stable and easy to machine with high speed carbide tooling, but literally everything else about it is evil.

In short, you are taking on the hardest type of woodworking project using the most obnoxious material with next to zero tooling. You might be able to pull something off, but it is going to be a death march.

>>2727036
Fixed base for round overs plunge base for dados.

>>2727052
That's a tilting base.

>>2739015
hey old man, you make very nice furniture looks like
but what do you have to say about glue?
do you use hide or bone or fish glue and what does your experience say about them and their characteristics?
dont tell me you use PVA, that'd be an ick as the ladies say nowadays

>>2739206
>PVA
Why?

>>2739110
>Now walk me through how you'll do this project
They're not supposed to be pretty, just a thing to put other things in to be more neat overal. What I'll probably do:
>measure the boards I have
>figure out a depth for the cupboard, probably based on what was the side walls of the cabinet I scrapped
>figure out a width that would accomodate the doors of the cabinet, probably based on some of the stands there are from the scrapped cupboard
>cut what I have to cut with the jigsaw and using the ruler contraption I don't know the name (welcome ESL) to make cuts that are actually good
>screw it all together using the scrap steel components I salvadeg from the cupboard and use more of thinner screws to affix the stands
>no shelves, no fancy shit
>probably do the same for something the size I can fit under the sink to store cleaning products
I'm not willing to be fancy, I just want to build it myself and put away the eyesore bullshit I have on a cabinet that is less of an eyesore.

>>2739127
Sorry, meaning? ESL here.

>>2739138
I'm convinced MDF are a evil corporate plot to make you buy new furiture every 5 years. It can't survive anywhere with any kind of humidity, which is pretty much impossible anywhere that have cities, effectively rendering it a pile of crumbles after the slightly humid season. So when you cut it, it releases fumes?
>You might be able to pull something off, but it is going to be a death march.
Bet. I don't care, I just want to do shit with wood. I have absolutely no pretention for it to be any good, just less of an eyesore than leaving around the things I'll put into it.

>>2739267
>>2739267
Also, when I say "cupboard" I meant "cabinet". I play too much Rust and use "cupboard" in sentences a lot.

>>2738942
Beautiful work, sir, thank you for sharing.

>>2739267
>just less of an eyesore than leaving around the things I'll put into it
It will not, by any means, be less of an eyesore. I promise.

Why is it important for you to not spend any amount of money on this project?

>>2739267
You don't need to demo, build, and install new cabs. Just vinyl wrap what you have.

https://youtu.be/iX7UD4yUaIg?si=CMjkrewmapR7-Ota
https://youtu.be/Cp-LN7OT9jQ?si=_OD-ivItVj19D1yd

>>2739491
I think he's demoing anyway and wants to make them smaller.

I have essentially zero experience woodworking. I don't relish the idea of spending several hundred or more on a gaming table (D&D, 40K, whatever) so I whiped this up in sketchup to build with dimensional lumber. I think maybe the diagonal truss braces are unnecessary or overly thick (4x4 like the legs), I find the horizontal bracing low to ground though annoying. Removing them could make assembly easier/shorter, and reduce materials cost Otherwise does this seem structurally sound and sturdy? Granted, I'm not planning for anyone to sit or lay on it.

I realize I have to think about assembly order/plan. I found wood glue annoying with my limited experience so the plan will be to use fasteners (wood screws or nails), potentially some metal brackets and filling compound to smooth over rough spots. There would always be a play mat on top anyway.

Also very annoying as a noob that dimensional lumber is rough/nominal measurements rather than accurate figures.

>>2739620
> Otherwise does this seem structurally sound and sturdy?
Depending on your joinery and the thickness of the tabletop, you'll be fine. You could have the roughest, most heart-stopping, debaucherous, daddy-issues sex on that table and it wouldn't so much as squeak. You'd need a full-on Meteor Swarm or Power Fist even to dent it.

That said, it's godawful ugly and makes me think back to one of my first shop workbench builds. It certainly wouldn't inspire any Space Marines that I know of. It's certainly not worthy of the Emperor.

I'm not saying to shell out the $1,200+ for a Wyrmwood table, but you'll probably end up spending more on dimensional lumber building that hunk of junk as you would for an IKEA piece. At least the Wyrmwood comes with pop-out dice trays and coasters and shit.

>>2739620
best to go ahead and get over the dimensional lumber sizing thing, lol.

As for the table, you're over complicating it. get rid of the small lateral supports and just do 2 long supports about 6-12 inches apart. get a pocket hole jig and use that to attach all the skirt pieces to the top.

You can also get rid of the diagonals and just make sure the skirt boards are securely fastened to the side of the legs, should be plenty sturdy.

If you're just trying to get by for cheap, there's no reason to make it complicated or ornate. doing so can make a cheap project just as expensive as the "quality materials" project. Wood is pretty damn sturdy, so it really comes down to how you want it to look.

my last table straddled the middle line well.

>>2739645
What was that table used for?

>>2739322
Why is it important for you to not spend any amount of money on this project?
Because I want to build it and don't need it enough to buy it

>>2739491
I see now, I'll consider this. There's a problem though, I need to re-assemble the big one properly from mistery boards and I might have to cut it to work, and cut the small one to size

>>2739648
Was built for a D&D group.

>>2739620
My main issue is veneer sheets run $100 now.
Two supporting members under the top is probably enough let alone the spine with 6 1x2s doing very little.
The chipboard top isn't good for much save a project table.You'll want to cap it with whatever you have, can find, or are willing to turn into a sufficient surface.
I'd like the design with rough sawn material. Then hit it with oil finish.

>>2726457
Framing up a wall with a hand-me-down miter saw and a few hand tools. First time doing this on my own. Building up a home lab space. Any advice on handling the side closest to the wall? Do I put the stud in after getting the rest of the wall up?

>>2739733
What's the wall going to do? Are you going to throw a sheet of ply on it? Green AC treated lumber only touches concrete. Bottom plates get adhesive and a ramset. It's too late now, but in the future. Put partition blocks between the exterior studs so you can nail in your last wall stud.

For a finished space insulate, vapor barrier, land your electrical and plumbing, drywall, doors, epoxy your floor, minisplitter, paint, wire surround sound, buy more tools.

>>2739751
>What's the wall going to do?
Be a wall. I'm making a room (6ft wide, 10ft long)That side of the room (~6ft x 6ft) will ideally end up a clean room. I'll toss some ply up on the outside side, but I need something inert/easily sterilized on the interior.
>Green AC treated lumber only touches concrete. Bottom plates get adhesive and a ramset. It's too late now, but in the future. Put partition blocks between the exterior studs so you can nail in your last wall stud.
Wall isn't fit in place yet, just wedged into its final location, to see if I got dimensions correct. Shed is already half rotted, and I only need the space for a maximum of 2 years and change. I would have dropped extra for the green ac if I planned on it lasting for a longer time.
Any req's for door frame size? Idk whats standard.

>>2739046
>What you could make is a portable bookcase based on designs used by lighthouse keepers.
This does look pretty interesting, It would be a bit heavier than what I had in mind (assuming she'd have the books in there too, my idea was to essentially fold it up and just toss it into a car) but it's a really interesting piece. Thanks for the suggestion

>>2739620
From a structural perspective, do don’t need most of the small slats. You probably don’t need the braces either and they will be annoying because you can’t fit a chair under them especially at the ends. There’s no reason to brace a 2x4 that short. But the main flaw is that for best support, the horizontal beams should rest on top of the legs at least partly, and the top sheet should rest on top of the horizontal supports. This will help a lot against sagging. You could easily put 500lbs on it that way with just the 2x4s and 4x4s, without the supports or slats.

> I found wood glue annoying with my limited experience
Even if you screw it, put some titebond 2 on the joints, it’s easy to use, cheap and you can remove it with water if you screw up. It gets a lot easier to make a sturdy table if you can put at least some kind of lap or rabbet joint on the legs

How hard would this be to make

>>2739648
An ongoing 250 year game of Go

>>2740248
Depends on your skill level.

>>2740248
Do you own a big lathe and router table or cnc? If so then fairly doable. If you’re going to do it with a spokeshave and jigsaw well good luck

I'm pleased with my work even if it is amateur hour, but what are the odds I burn the house down? Doesn't seem smart having wooden furniture so close to a fire

>>2740374
Nice work, that will not burn down. If you think it's getting too hot, just splash on some water.

>>2740374
>Doesn't seem smart having wooden furniture so close to a fire
Damn you might be on to something.

I am going to buy a CNC router for wood projects. How cheap of a machine should I start with?
>$300 China machine that will last long enough to pay itself off then break
>$1,600 BobsCNC 24" x 50.5" kit
>$12,000 4'x4' ShopBot?

My instinct is to buy the cheap shit router and learn how to use it before stepping up in size. I know laser cutters, vinyl cutters, and 3D printers intimately but haven't dealt with CNC routers before.

>>2740695
Are the more expensive machines in your budget? Given your experience with similar machines, it doesn't seem like it would go to waste. What's your use case?

>>2740712
The BobsCNC Quantum Max is, even considering it's going to be $2,000+ with software and accessories. Anything much more will require serious convincing and/or a loan.

First project would be small, circular picture frames, bigger projects will likely be more reliefs and other artworks

>>2740733
You mentioned that the smaller one could pay for itself. Will the BobsCNC pay for itself within a reasonable timeframe?

If so, it sounds like a business decision. Go for it if it's within budget. I'm impressed you have shop space for it given that its footprint will end up being at least 1.5-2x the 2x4ft bed space.

>>2740733
If you can make a profit use the small machine to pay for itself and its successor. No need for an immediate large capital investment.

>>2740695
Any idea what you want to make? I have used two $300 China machines and they’re very limited in what you can make because of the low power and rigidity. I hear good things about the full metal 3020 but they start at $600 or so, and the twotrees machine that’s about $500. But wouldn’t recommend a 3018 or 2418 unless you only want to make small engravings on soft wood-like materials. Most things in those just take too much time to be worth it for selling stuff.

This one does beechwood 300mm/s at max 0.5mm-0.7mm DOC, or pine at maybe 1mm DOC, and you still have to finish the edges because it vibrates a lot at high load

Also unironically consider shapeoko

>>2740836
Can any of those cheap machines do lighter relief cravings in walnut?

>>2740861
You can, never did in walnut but I acquired a piece recently so could try this weekend. Just from experience with beach and oak I would say yes, should be fine but would expect about an hour for a 2”x2” piece at 1/8” average depth, maybe slightly faster, and there will be ridges. It’s definitely good enough for wax seal stamps or a maker’s mark. I use it mostly to mark indications or lengths on wood and cutting irregular shapes.

It’s very good for engraving names in fancy script with a V bit which I think it was designed for

I pulled some pics out of a recent furniture industry magazine and thought I would share them. I thought they might be of interest. Good or bad, it is a snapshot of current stuff.

A bar that turns into a bed! You don't have to take her to a motel after you get her sauced!

>>2730905
bro bitching about one pair of glove? they are like 35$ max. no glove will last 1 year if you use it daily. either the no-slip surface will ware out or it will pierce from the inside. oops reread your post those should last : https://www.stanleytools.com/product/s78111/split-cowhide-driver-gloves-keystone-thumb?tid=576026

>>2740883
I can't be the only one who has a solid distaste for faux rustic.

Figured this would be the best place for this.

Couch leg broke recently. Am I dumb in thinking I could just drill out the dowel, pull the staples, then glue in a new dowel and hammer through a few nails?

>>2740914
Not dumb, it’d be what I’d do. But now that I think of it drilling out a dowel is a shitty job so I would just cut it flush and put 2 new dowels instead. Also clean the surfaces to glue them back together, with PU glue

Would skip the nails they don’t do much anyway here

>>2740883
>>2740884
>>2740886
All of this is just veneered mdf right? Or even melamine composite laminated whatever

Online I see everyone recommending #4 and #5 Stanley handplanes for beginners, are these the peak of general purpose handplanes or just a meme everyone parrots?

>>2740862
>I use it mostly to mark indications or lengths on wood
That's a novel use I wouldn't have thought of.

Point taken about the relief carvings. I make high end gaming accessories and would like to add a more refined touch to the branding, which until now has been a simple laser brand on the front face of the piece. I think a relief carving in walnut with rubio would make it stand out, but I don't want ridges or other imperfections. Would the quality be greatly improved with a $1,500 Shapeoko or similar?

>>2740948
>I make high end gaming accessories

Do you have any pics you would share?

>>2740925
The first one claims solid Hickory on the pic. I don't know, the cake could be a lie.

I'm posting them to show the style trends.

I am glad to report that there was not one live edge table with a river of epoxy down the middle.

>>2740695
Consider that there are two main types of CNC users for wood projects: those who cut plywood 99% of the time and those who need advanced features / Z axis stuff.
If you're the first type the cheapest option is to build a 1-sheet sized CNC. There are 3d printed options out there that take a regular router as the spindle. Years ago the option I did was the bigger MPCNC meant for plywood. There are probably better options these days.

I know next to nothing about carpentry. I own three saws, and I bought a whittling kit once. Anyway, I need help with two different things:

-How hard is it to make a wooden box to store vinyl records in? My guess is it's really easy, but I know I will fuck it up a few times first. I will also want to add some niceness, like maybe line the box with some soft padding or something. Do I need to buy a specific type of wood? Are there any tools I will need besides a saw and a drill? I also own some other basic /diy/ shit like a tape measure and sandpaper, but if I need any kind of powered saw, I do not own that.

-Secondly, how much more difficult than that will it be to replace a doorframe? The hinge just crumbled the entire area around itself into splinters a few days ago and I have no idea why. I could probably just replace that part of the frame according to YouTube, but should I be buying the special timber used for the actual frame of the house? Or is that a bad idea?

>>2740979
>I am glad to report that there was not one live edge table with a river of epoxy down the middle.
I'm not convinced the alternative is better, though.

>>2740979
>Do you have any pics you would share?
I don't really want to dox myself, you know? Think DND dice accessories and related products. Not quite Wyrmwood prices but at least the same level of craftsmanship.

>>2741010
For the box, it depends on the types of saws you have. Table saw will be easiest, circular saw will be the toughest. If you're like the anon above who has a jigsaw and wants to make MDF cabinetry, you're in the wrong place. A basic box is pretty straightforward so long as you can cut a decent miter (or lap joint, or make do with a butt joint). You'll also need S4S stock if you don't have access to a planer (which I wager you don't).

As for the doorframe, are you certain you're talking about the doorframe and not the trim? The trim is piss easy, the frame less so.

>>2740948
>which until now has been a simple laser brand on the front face of the piece
Please don't put you logo visible on the front. That's really tacky

>>2741051
Not if they're discreet.

How do I connect the 3/8 bit with an auger bit?

>>2740924
Yeah, that's the best one can do.

>>2740929
#4 is standard, designed for all that White Pine we have in North America. I have six.

>>2741010
1. I would get one of those laminated glue up boards from Home Depot that are already the right width and cut to length. Just connect the corners with GSK screws, same with the bottom.
2.Cut back the door to good wood enough so you can glue and screw in good wood, you might need to replace the entire side. Use a local softwood, cut down a 2x6 to fit for example.

>>2741055
You can't. Just use it as intended with an existing drill chuck.

>>2741079
IT'S OVER

>>2741037
I am almost certainly talking about the trim rather than the doorframe. This is a picture of it.

>>2741095
That's the trim and dry rot. If the door works then consider yourself lucky. If you want to take on a major project and you own the house, rip it all out and reframe, otherwise, just patch.

>>2741113
I do own the house, but I am both lazy and retarded. If I just patch it, will the dry rot spread and ruin everything around it?

>>2741121
Yes, dry rot can spread. A medium-difficulty project would be to tear out all the visible dry rot, apply a wood repair epoxy/putty, and patch over it to match the facade.

>>2741121
Yes, it will spread, but it takes a long time. I would patch it. Check and see how much dry rot you have in the house, check the floor joints form the basement. Maybe this is just one spot, or you have a bigger problem. For really large gaps, I use auto bondo.

>>2741128
Most wood in my house is painted over. What's the best way to check for dry rot? Does it make a noise if I tap it? If I hit it with a mallet and it doesn't crumble, is it okay?

>>2741139
>>2741139
Take a short pointy object and test the wood, see how far and easy it is to insert. Solid wood will feel solid, hard to penetrate, rotten wood with crumble, easy to penetrate, look for crumbled dry wood, holes. It will sound solid if you tap with a hammer. There are fungicide treatments you can spray on. If it's throughout the house, you have a decision to make.

>>2740998
Definitely the second type - I am itching to take stuff I've sculpted in Blender and sell wood versions. My niche is going to be mushroom-themed functional art like polypore shelving or honey mushroom rhizomorph boxes.

My initial project is going to be small, circular hardwood frames for spore prints

>>2741142
Fantastic; thank you very much. My house is a total piece of shit and an absolute money pit, but I would love to learn some DIY skills. This sounds perfect (unless my whole house is disintegrating, of course).

>>2741148
That's what I did exactly. I fixed up some disasters and doubled my money, then got out. I would do the same, make some cost effective changes, learn some skills, sell and pick a house without dry rot, just keep leveraging yourself up to a better house. My first house was $30k, this house now is worth $1M, no debt, all DIY upgrades and lots of time and careful market timing.

Factory distressed.

The 'toilet seat' vase is noteworthy.

Amish plastic furniture...

There's no tradies general so I figured maybe the carpenters would be checking this thread.

After considering it for some years and working on learning shit myself, I decided that this is the year I begin in carpentry. Switching careers at 30. I'm in a nice government pre-apprenticeship program that will give me some basic training and safety training, as well as setting me up with an apprenticeship and optional union contacts. It seems like a good deal.

I wanted to ask people who are already established if they have any protips for someone just starting out? I already know that I know jack shit and that I should shut up and listen the first few years. One question I have is about specializing. I'd really like to become well-rounded in the 4 years my apprenticeship will last. By that I mean learning at least the basics of rough carpentry, finish, concrete, scaffolding. Is that unrealistic? Do people usually stick to just 1 specialization for the most part? Goal is to eventually build rural homes with a small group.

>>2741412
30 is usually around the time people want to get out of the trades, anon.

>>2741412
Don't specialize especially since you will end up building homes in a rural area, you need to be a generalist, a General Carpenter, I've worked with many. You will always have work.

>>2741346
>>2741347
I don't understand large furniture build to size. As soon as you redecorate or move you have to consider that it'll be obsolete.

>>2741820
built**

>>2741820
Yup, that is a consideration with moveable furniture. The concept of moveable furniture is newish, back to 18th century, before major pieces were built into the house. Moveable furniture means you now 'interact' with the furniture, it becomes part of your house and style. Everything can be moved if you value it enough. I have classic furniture and it all gets moved, but the few modern pieces get sold or junked.

What screws for screwing into plywood end grain? I know it’s not an approved method but it’s a simple box and I need to be able to take it apart. Do I need these special screws or just long normal ones?

>>2741899
Normal but #6 to prevent splitting, It would help a lot to pre-drill.

>>2741820
Those units are at least 3 pieces, pretty easy to handle.

>obsolete

Have decent furniture that isn't this month's coolest new trend.

I find the trend of furnishing residences with cheap furniture that is purchased new with the intent of tossing on the sidewalk when you move to be abhorrent.

>>2742178
> Those units are at least 3 pieces, pretty easy to handle.
It's not about ease of handling, it's that your space has to conform to the aesthetic and dimensional constraints of the furniture.

> Have decent furniture that isn't this month's coolest new trend.
That's literally what the magazine is advertising, though.

> I find the trend of furnishing residences with cheap furniture that is purchased new with the intent of tossing on the sidewalk when you move to be abhorrent.
That's not what I'm suggesting. Say I move my television to a space that isn't accommodating to the space required by >>2741346. Hell, let's say I eliminate my television altogether and migrate to a projector-based home theater setup. Now I need to find a new space for my built-to-size furniture. The footprint required by that entertainment center is virtually no different from picrel. It's planned obsolescence in the worst way.

My point is that 3-in-1 furniture is a garbage, consumer-driven design. Separation of concerns is a philosophy that should be applied to furniture.

>>2741999
I got myself some #6 but decided I don’t want to risk it so I’ll put some 1”x1” pine on the inside of the corners where possible and will screw into that. On the bottom I can’t put those so I’ll still screw into the end grain with #6x2” and predrill with 1/16”. Does it help to put glue in the hole before putting the screw or is that a myth

>>2742213
I agree, I misunderstood you.

>>2742281
Great plan, stronger. I keep an old bar of soap and rub the screw across grain before I insert, this works as a lubricant, no myth. I'm sure glue would work also.

Newbie here; I'm about to start buying into a cordless tool ecosystem for the first time.

How do you pick one? It seems they all have roughly the same product stacks and only differ in that you can only use Dewalt batteries with Dewalt tools and Makita batteries with Makita tools.

FWIW, I'm looking to start with a compact cordless drill to put holes in thin plastic and metal.

>>2742575
> How do you pick one?
This question should be reframed as, "how do you pick the first one?" Because, as you pointed out, the batteries are not cross-compatible, the cordless brand you start with should be the one you stick with. I like Milwaukee, personally, but it's really not worth putting too much thought into. Most people will say that Milwaukee and DeWalt are the "professional" grade, but that's a bit misleading since actual professional carpenters will buy the cheapest model that will last a couple of years before they inevitably have to buy a replacement after dropping it from two stories up. It's the woodworkers and furniture makers that subscribe to the BIFL philosophy.

>>2742575
Simple, stop caring and pick the best deal now. Unless one brand has a tool that you want in the future that the other dont. But afaik there are almost none except maybe makita has a toaster while dewalt has a brad nailer but doesn’t have tire inflator (or something). All three brands have like 3 circular saws, 2 jigsaws and a bunch of drill/drivers on their battery system.

>>2742701
til Makita has a toaster. That's actually not completely useless.

Milwaukee has one of the best-reviewed brad nailers on the market, fyi.