Woodworking

Hi woodworkers

I've recently picked up a few tools to get into artisanal woodwork, and I want to do 1 or 2 projects that entails hollowing out natural branches.

The "perfect" outcome would be something similar to bamboo shoot, which have a narrow edge and hollow center. I'm not really expecting to be able to do this by hand with millimetric accuracy, but it gives you an idea of what I'm aiming for.

I own a high-speed rotary tool that is "technically" able to carve wood, but the bits I own atm are more of a finish toolkit. I successfully used a sanding head to carve out some wood, but I don't think it's remotely optimal for projects any bigger than what I was working on.

So all this context leads to this question: What would be the optimal tool to efficiently hollow out a branch? I can't reliably use a drill, because there's no certainty that the branches I'll work with will be remotely straight, I'm guessing that a mill file could get me some mileage but it sounds like a last resort kind of tool.

I’m thinking of making something similar to these stackable shelves. But I want to do it using hand tools only so it seems plywood is out of the question (searching online said it would damage my Japanese hand saw). So I’m looking at solid wood instead and getting pine hobby boards that I won’t have to plane seems to be the easiest and cheapest alternative. The shelves will mostly hold records and books and the largest will probably be 30x30x75cm but stacked on other shelves. Am I in for a bad time?

I’ve been using necessary tree pruning at my house as an opportunity to select ideal branches for walking sticks. My self-taught finishing process mostly consists of a bench top belt sander, hand scraper, and tung oil. It’s going pretty well, but I don’t yet know about the long term bark durability and adhesion.

For a small musical instrument I need a thin sheet of spruce (1.5mm). Normally I'd just buy a guitar or lute top, but for this one I need the highest quality I can get, with very narrow rings. So my idea is to saw down a blank for a violin top (25mm at its thickest point). I need to do this with as little waste as possible, because a good spruce top can cost 100-300€.

Is there a way I can do this with hand tools?

I'm a renovation contractor that builds a lot of decks and I've been having the worst results trying to find a product to seal/stain cedar. It turns grey quite fast so most clients want it sealed and or stained. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

I recently received an oak coffee table top that has been finished with 4 coats of Minwax Polycrylic (not MAX). My 3- and 5-year-olds still managed to ding and scratch it with toys/play within about 3 hours.

I'm considering trying a coat or two of Ultimate Floor Finish to toughen up the surface a bit more, but I realize it might be a lost cause when going up against preschool-aged boys. I'm also not 100% sure that using a different poly top coat on top of what's there is the right move.

Anyone care to speak to:

• Is using a different water-based poly finish on top of an existing one OK?

• Will using a "floor finish" product on furniture offer any noticeable improvement in durability/protection?

Y'all are great; thank you for your advice!

I had to remove a large limb from my pecan tree. Which meant I had some fodder for new kitchen spoons.

I've built up a pretty good pile of small scraps of wood I just can't bear to toss over the years: verawood, ebony, rosewood, mahogany, purpleheart, but even just some nice maple, sitka spruce, red cedar, walnut, etc. I started carving some into pendants this winter, and some look pretty good, but I'm looking for ideas for really small or weirdly shaped scrap -- everything from 1/2" lathe ends with a hole in them, to long 1/2" x 3/8" x 4', a small clip of the pile under the picture.

I've heard a few people just throw them into baggies and sell/give to crafty folks, which I might do in the end. But I figure if I can make stuff to give away as gifts or sell at a craft fair, all the better... but outside of jewellery, not sure what else to do. The are NOT big enough for endgrain cutting boards, and most have a couple rounded or uneven edges.

Just felt sharing.

"I recently learned my finishing mentor – likely he was yours, too – and friend Bob Flexner died at home on December 29, 2024 (read his obituary here). Bob was perhaps best-known for the book “Understanding Wood Finishing,” recognized by many as the bible of all things finishing, and as the long-time finishing columnist for Popular Woodworking Magazine."

I chose the picture that shows the fewest mistakes 😆

It's made from maple with a red oak cutting board from these plans

I didn't find out red oak isn't good for cutting boards until after it was made, so I'll have to remake it some day. The good news is that it will only be used for cutting bread, so I think any bacterial growth will be pretty minimal

Just cross posting this for those who may be interested. Enjoy!

What’s a decent blade for ripping accurately? I’m using an old Craftsman 113 belt-driven saw, which I understand isn’t very powerful. I’d like to get nice rips on some 3/4” thick oak. If I can rip thicker stock in the future, that would be great, but as long as I can at least rip thicker softwoods too I think I’ll be satisfied.

I don’t expect to do enough woodworking to worry about a blade made to last through many re-sharpenings; I just want nice rips. Is a $20-30 Diablo from a big box store going to do what I want, or do I really need to step up to the $70-80 range for cut quality? Thanks!

Started with a stair tread from Home Depot. Cut off the corners with the scroll saw. Routered the edges with the Roman Ogee bit. Then I printed out the letters and traced them on with transfer paper. Used a Dremel with a very small round bit to cut the letters. Filled with black acrylic paint. Sanded off the excess from the face. Finished with Amber colored Shellac from Bullseye.

Hello everyone,

I am currently working on a project which involves the pictured piece of driftwood. So far I have been cleaning the wood manually with sand paper, but this is quite slow and exhausting. What type of (preferably consumer grade) tools can I use to speed up the process?

I'm about to start putting together some simple furniture and one thing I want is to have the option to collapse it, if I need to move it out of a room.

I've looked into confirmat screws and those are incredibly strong but have the downside of requiring specialized drill bits to use. These screws I can get easily in my market, in 500 units boxes.

Are there other options I can look into?

Added information

Material to be used will either be OSB3 or plywood.

So I've got a goofy issue tuning my ~~block~~ bench plane. It's one of the Pony Jorgensen #4 smoothing planes they're selling at Lowe's in the States. Works pretty well with one exception: Moving the frog forward to bring the iron closer to the mouth also advances the iron.

I can't get it anywhere near as closed as you're supposed to with a smoothing plane before I can't retract the iron sufficiently. The mating surface in the sole that the frog rests on is slightly angled downward, so the frog is lowered as it is moved forward. I can't realistically bring the iron any farther on the chip breaker than I've got it.

As I had it apart, I noticed the finish on the bottom of the frog, the surface that mates with the sole, was as cast, it isn't machined or lapped. Should it be?

I decided to make a wood puzzle out of scraps. My bandsaw blade broke during the process and I had to make do with other tools. Some of which don't work nearly as well or are really too big for the task at hand. I need to build a proper set of fine wood working hand tools. I was able to pull it off with this soft pine but it would have failed with hardwood.

Left is Wenge with some yellow species of wood from Asia(I think?) idk I found it in the splinebrary (Which is just a bucket in my shop right now, but one day it will be something beautiful too).

Right is walnut and purple heart with a strip of either Padauk or bloodwood for shits and gigs.

Left is my favorite. I got more and more excited to turn it as I glued up the blank like 3 or 4 times.

A few minutes later I found it had fallen out. Guess I’ll be gluing it back in. But thought you all might appreciate it.

I posted these end tables here awhile ago.

The carcasses turned out pretty well but I was never happy with the drawers. I implemented them as the world's worst piston fit drawers, they had like a quarter inch of slop so they were less drawers and more boxes that fit in a hole.

I had some time on my docket so I remade the drawers, converted them to side hung, fitted them better to the space provided, and lengthened them. I had just enough poplar to make an additional drawer back, so I implemented @Tolookah@discuss.tchncs.de 's suggestion and added a secret compartment. I haven't made the stops yet so it will just pull right on out but I've made a piece of furniture with a secret compartment in it. Now I need something cool to put in it. Maybe a smallish bottle of scotch and a pair of glencairns?

I’m planning to make some floating shelves 150 cm wide and 30 cm deep.

I want to mount them on a wall that has a plasterboard of thickness 13mm behind which is a plywood backing of 15mm according to the details provided by the contractor (see the attached image). This construction was apparently intended for hanging TVs and they recommend using wood screws that are not longer than 30mm.

One of the shelves will have my record collection which could weigh between 25-50kg. What are some options for hardware I can use to mount the floating shelves?

On the quiet shores of Pender Island, Colin Hamilton found his calling as a master of the ancient art form of woodworking. Short documentary produced for CBC Creator Network.