Techniques

Exposed ends of carpenter bee tunnels — In addition to repairing nail holes in a collection of reclaimed redwood lumber, I was also faced with the task of repairing a number of voids in the wood made by carpenter bees. This task involved two basic types of repairs: 1) plugging holes, and 2) filling tunnels. The holes consisted of either entrance holes where the bees burrowed into […]

Repairing Carpenter Bee Holes in Reclaimed Wood

This entry was posted in Restoration Techniques on May 17, 2016 by Bill Kovalick

Before and after: redwood blank and finished DIY dowel — If you’re ever in need of a dowel but don’t have one handy, there’s an easy fix: roll your own! The DIY approach not only provides immediate gratification but also allows you to create dowels of custom size or species that may be difficult to find in stores or online. And you’ll likely save money. There […]

Roll Your Own Dowels

This entry was posted in Jigs Techniques on March 30, 2016 by Bill Kovalick

Traced curves cut with bandsaw and sanded smooth — In an earlier post, I described a simple method for laying out a curved piece for an Adirondack chair back support. I tried this same approach on another chair but this time the piece did not fit quite so well. After mulling it over a bit, I realized that the poor fit was probably because […]

Chair Curve Layout Redux

This entry was posted in Techniques on January 24, 2016 by Bill Kovalick

With the new year upon us, it has me thinking about what I want to accomplish woodworking-wise for the next 12 months. New tools to try, new projects to tackle, new techniques to learn, etc. Here’s what I have so far: Learn to scroll saw. I’ve always been intrigued watching someone cut out intricate shapes with […]

Woodworking Goals For The Year

This entry was posted in Techniques Tools on January 19, 2016 by Bill Kovalick

While building an Adirondack chair, I needed to create a curved support piece that would attach to the rear side of the back slats. I made the chair from a set of plans that provided templates for all of the other pieces but this particular curved piece was a refinement that I decided to add […]

Chair Curve Layout Tip

This entry was posted in Jigs Techniques on September 27, 2015 by Bill Kovalick

Damaged groove caused by impatient routering — In this installment of Woodworking Damage Control, the challenge was to repair a groove that got away from me. While making some wine totes, I was using a router bit to cut grooves along the inner face of each side to accommodate a plywood base. The problem was that I got a bit impatient and tried removing too […]

Groove Damage Control

This entry was posted in Restoration Techniques on June 26, 2015 by Bill Kovalick

This rather unassuming chunk of wood represents the initial stages of an abstract wood sculpture that is being crafted by my friend Rich. The wood came from a white oak tree that had been cut down 3-5 years previously and had been slowly air drying in a garage since then. My involvement with the project […]

Wood Sculpture

This entry was posted in Projects Techniques Wood on December 23, 2014 by Bill Kovalick

Cedar Bird Houses

This entry was posted in Joinery Projects Techniques on December 23, 2014 by Bill Kovalick

My dad added a porch to our house back in the 1970’s and I must say he did a pretty good job overall. Especially for someone who wasn’t a professional builder or carpenter. However, there was one critical flaw in the construction: the main sill plate running across the front of the porch was made […]

When Wood Goes Bad

This entry was posted in Restoration Techniques Wood on December 23, 2014 by Bill Kovalick

Potential Hazards Exposure to wood dust has long been associated with a variety of adverse health effects, including dermatitis, allergic respiratory effects, mucosal and nonallergic respiratory effects, and cancer. Contact with the irritant compounds in wood sap can cause dermatitis and other allergic reactions. The respiratory effects of wood dust exposure include asthma, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, […]

Wood Dust Control for Individual Machines

This entry was posted in Safety Techniques on December 23, 2014 by Bill Kovalick

Every woodworker is faced with this dilemma eventually: what to do with all those off cuts and other wood scraps that are left over from your projects? As an eco-woodworker, you don’t want to just dump the scraps out. But you have to do something because those wood scraps multiply like rabbits and will overrun […]

Ways to Reduce and Recycle Wood Scraps

This entry was posted in Techniques on December 23, 2014 by Bill Kovalick

Instead of throwing out sawdust, wood chips, and shavings that are produced in your woodshop, there are a number of uses for these materials in and around your home and garden. Here are a few ideas. Sawdust Mulch Sawdust can be used as an organic mulch that is very effective at controlling weeds, insulating soil, […]

Recycling Sawdust, Wood Chips, and Shavings

This entry was posted in Techniques on December 23, 2014 by Bill Kovalick

Sheet Sander Versus Random Orbital Sander

This entry was posted in Techniques Tools on December 23, 2014 by Bill Kovalick

Scalloped Corners

This entry was posted in Techniques Wood on December 23, 2014 by Bill Kovalick

If you cut enough wood, you’ll eventually encounter situations where the saw blade is burning the wood. This usually happens with ripping operations but can also happen with crosscuts. If the burning is really pronounced, it may be accompanied by smoking and a noticeable increase in feed pressure. Although there are a number of causes […]

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