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1500 questions
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3 answers

What techniques are there to find the optimal wood cutting list for a project?

When I've designed a piece of furniture, I need to source the wood for it. The wood is often sold in plank form that I need to cut to length when it's too long and glue together when it's too narrow. Is there a technique other than trial and error…
Bernhard Hofmann
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Wood splinters when using a rabbeting bit

I'm using a rabbeting bit on a 1" x 4" red oak board. When I cut at 1/4" depth and 1/2" width, it works fine. When I increase the depth of cut to 3/8", the wood splinters. Is this common? Is it typical to do two runs and if so are there any rules of…
RWL01
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Do I need to clean my miter and table saw after each use?

A contractor told me that I need to clean wood dust from my table saw and miter saw after each use. He explained that leaving wood dust can impact the tools’ longevity and I should use a compressed air blower to clean the dust from the saw…
Allan Xu
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3 answers

Best way to drill a concentric hole with a lathe

I'm new to turning and recently decided to make some pepper mills. Starting with squareish stock I roughed the pieces to round and then started drilling several concentric holes of different sizes using forstner bits on the lathe. Somebody gave me…
Doov
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8
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2 answers

Should I pre-drill before nailing?

I know that pre-drilling before screwing has many advantages but am wondering if pre-drilling is also useful for nailing. Pre-drilling for nailing seems to make sense because nailing also causes wood splitting. But, it may be disadvantageous because…
DSKim
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8
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2 answers

How to determine if a router bit is safe to use?

I recently started using my router table and read both here and on the net about router safety. That covered using the tool itself. Now reading the question about exceeding bit RPM I realize I never considered precautions about router bits. Then…
Matt
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2 answers

How do you prevent a turned workpiece from exploding while you're working on it on the lathe?

I've seen some scary videos and "after" photos where someone was turning something on a lathe and the workpiece just exploded. How do I avoid this? For example, in one exploding bowl video the turner comments that he made the bottom too thin which…
rob
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8
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4 answers

Joining partially-overlapping boards into panel

A few times, I have seen partially-overlapping horizontal boards, creating a larger panel. For example, I've seen this done on the walls of some wooden houses. I would like to know if there is a joint between these boards, or they are just nailed /…
Rogier van het Schip
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8
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2 answers

Attaching Legs to a Table

I decided to build a table out of 2x4s and such for Thanksgiving. I figured it would be a cool first woodworking project. The top went pretty well I think, but now it's time to attach the legs and I feel like there has to be a better solution than…
jbeck
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8
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3 answers

What size pilot hole should I drill for for a specific size of screw?

I am trying to install a safe using 8mm coach screws (legislation dictates this is the minimum required size) into Jarrah. What size pilot holes should I drill? Is there a standard reference chart? I cannot find one.
Vinciture
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8
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3 answers

How do I prevent static on vacuum hoses?

Whether sucking up large amounts of sawdust at once or when attached to a tool, static electricity always builds up on my shop vac hoses when the dust passes through. This leads to messes on the hose and other annoyances. It can make emptying the…
Jason C
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1 answer

Can I steam-bend a piece of wood with a free-floating end?

I've been working on creating a wooden hockey stick. The blade of the hockey stick needs a slight curve and bend to it. I have a small steam box set up and have created a vice with different-length teeth in it. After steaming the wood, I place it in…
drs
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Which woods work well with ammonia?

I love the traditional look of quarter sawn oak and the patina finish achieved by gassing the wood with ammonia. Are there other woods that react well by gassing with ammonia? If there are could you say what the effect is?
Jon
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8
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Best wood for table saw cross cut jig

In particular the fence. The other day I got my sled nicely calibrated and on final screw up it lost its accuracy. I was only using a 18 mm MDF strip for the fence. I was worried it's flex was the problem. So can anyone tell me. The best wood…
GavGee
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8
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2 answers

Corner butt joint, longer top or longer sides?

When making butt joints for corners, say, for small little cabinets to hang on a wall (think medicine cabinet), structurally is there any difference between longer tops and longer sides (I'm using biscuits and glue, and I find I like using cleats…
Jason C
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