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1500 questions
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votes
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Are there any special concerns when finishing ambrosia maple?
"Ambrosia maple" is, as I understand it, a form of spalting caused when insects burrow into the tree and introduce a fungus. It produces darker stains through the light-colored wood, roughly following the grain direction, ranging from a few isolated…
keshlam
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Routing tight edges/corners
I'm making a name sign and had a "duh" moment after I started routing the edges.
Is there any way - or perhaps another technique that someone could recommend - to get the routed edge in these tighter areas? Would a chisel be appropriate here?…
Adam Plocher
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2 answers
Traditional Japanese method of sealing wood?
When green wood is air dried, the first step is to seal the ends. What is the traditional Japanese method of sealing the ends?
Treow Wyrhta
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6
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6 answers
Drill a perfectly centred hole in a cylinder
I have to drill a perfectly centred hole in the flat part of a cylinder.I don't know how to do but I thought something like this:
I want to take a piece of wood and fix it at the base of the drill press and then drill a hole of the same diameter as…
6
votes
1 answer
Poplar- how do I get the whites whiter, enhanced grain?
so I bought a poplar guitar body.
In the photo it looked white with a lovely subtle grain and interesting knots.
i receive it and its green. BUT in a camera phone it looks white (auto light balance perhaps)
I want to have the lightest parts bright…
Robert
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1 answer
Protecting against water damage
I am using an Ash slab for bathroom vanity top, what is best for sealing and protecting wood from water. Thank you
Bill Ewing
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6
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2 answers
The wooden frame is wet and it's raining. Should I mount the roof now?
It has been raining all night and the wood is thoroughly wet. I want to screw on the ceiling plates (and apply the epdm on it). It doesn't seem like a good idea to my, because wood expands when it is wet and when the wood is dry again and shrunken a…
Christiaan Westerbeek
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4 answers
How do I drill greater than 7 inches in from the edge of my sheet of wood?
From the drill press's supporting pipe to the drill bit tip measures 5". I believe this limits me to drilling no farther than 5" in from any given side of my MDF sheet. Unfortunately, I need to drill 7" in from the edge of my MDF sheet.
Is there…
Daniel Brown
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Does MDF board dull tools quickly?
There are many who say that MDF dulls cutting tools very quickly. But I do not think it does compared to many woods. I would think even pine is a harder material than MDF. How fast can it dull tools? Or does it do other wonders to a cutting tool…
Ljk2000
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Does MDF warp less than pineboards?
Background
I am a very much a beginner, and I have been trying to make a long (3.6m) pelmet. (It is not a pelmet box - it goes from wall to wall, and hangs from the ceiling.)
Attempt #1 was with a single piece of pineboard that was delivered with a…
Oddthinking
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3 answers
Options for sanding this type of bandsawn woodwork
I recently discovered Seth Rolland's furniture website and unique technique /style.
The fan shaped top is cut from one piece of wood using a bandsaw alternating cuts from opposite sides that stop short of cutting the full length thus creating a…
Ashlar
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6
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2 answers
Knots on the branch that I want to convert to a hiking stick
While I was walking along a trail in NJ, I came across a fallen branch -- it looked really good and I decided to make a hiking stick out of it.
There are 4-5 knots on this as you can see in the photo. How do they affect the integrity of the wood?…
ponderingfish
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6
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2 answers
Fettling a hand plane
I have a #5 faithfull handplane (don't judge me, I didn't know any better!) that I tried to get working last year and failed miserably, so it sat in the cupboard for 6 months whilst I sulked.
Since then I have bought a couple of books, and read a…
Matt
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6
votes
1 answer
Can I switch from my oil base finish, that still has not dried, to a water based poly?
Spar (oil base) won't dry on bar top and it has been 4 days so far.
Can I switch to water based Poly?
TJ Jones
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6
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1 answer
What is the proper humidity for a shop and how should I achieve it?
I'm off to build my own workshop for mostly woodworking projects in the (huge) basement garage of a very old house. The garage is about 5 by 30 meters(16 by 100 ft) and has a varying height of 3 to 6 meters (10 to 20 ft). It has just a huge garage…
Stoppal
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