- Read Time: 5 mins
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The first time I ever purchased "door skin plywood" was at a lumber store, probably 30 years ago. I was recommended to me for what I was building at the time, and in that period, the material came in door-size sheets. Now when I purchase it, it comes in 4 x 8 foot sheets, which gives much more material, and each sheet of plywood is still very reasonably priced.
Watch it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/Df748qOXMvc
One of my main reasons for wanting the plywood right now is to try to make my small workshop more efficient by making some wooden trays that are the correct size for the drawers and for what I want to put in them to help economize my space ....
- Read Time: 6 mins
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Many woodworkers already know how to sharpen knives, but in many cases, those around us, family members, friends, co-workers are often challenged by knife sharpening, but now, finally ... there is a way we can all have sharp knives. And wouldn't it be nice to have the knife sharpener right beside the knives at all times? An easy build for home or for a gift idea, everyone can use a small footprint knife block.
Watch it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/zEyAXAD1dr4
I recall as a woodworker being disappointed with the quality of my chisel and plane blade sharpening. Even after I would sharpen them they still didn't work properly. One day I confided in an older, experienced woodworker who told me I was doing everything correctly, except I was not removing the "Burr" ...
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There are few things in woodworking that I enjoy more than milling wood ... every new cut is like opening a Birthday Present because you just never know what is going to be inside. I even remember the first time I was part of our Woodworking Guild - Milling Crew, and what it was like to watch the saw come through the log and slice off a plank, which we then had to take over to the stacking and drying pile, and what a joy it was to turn over that log to see what the grain looked like inside.
Watch it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/ayrrT8h9gj4
For me, this process never gets old, and when I talk to many people who have their own mills, they experience the same thoughts when they are milling wood, especially when they get logs that appear on the outside to be something special ... sometimes they are figured or spalted wood, other times they are just regular, good quality wood.
- Read Time: 11 mins
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For me, one of the pleasures of woodworking is being able to dry your own wood. Not only does it save you money, but I also enjoy being involved in the process. The whole purpose of drying wood is to get the moisture content of the wood down to a point where the wood is more stable, and often somewhere between 8 and 14 percent.
There are a few different ways of drying wood. Stacking your wood up and letting the air flow around the wood is, of course, the oldest, and still very popular today, but if you want to accelerate the drying process you could use solar, dehumidification and high heat drying such as with a kiln. All of these are methods that work when drying wood.
Watch it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/LF8vCwsHp1g
Outdoor air drying is a very common, and of course the cheapest way of drying wood, but for most of us, air wood is still too wet for furniture making and the longer it dries out o doors, it does not get any drier. If you are building fences, sheds, houses and other similar forms of construction, outdoor air-dried wood is just fine.