Woodwork

You’re rarely going to see anything new or creative come from me in this category. I enjoy woodwork, but it’s certainly not something I’d ever claim to be proficient (or even remotely proficient) at. Most of the posts in here will be pointing to people who are much, much better than me at creating amazing things out of wood.

How to assemble a mobile tool base

Posted by elliottzone at 9:44 pm Woodwork

May 272009

When I unpacked my two brand new mobile tool bases, I thought I’d be up and running within about 20 minutes or so. If they’d come with assembly instructions, or even a good clear picture, I’m sure that would have been the case. Nope… Trying to track down instructions online didn’t result in anything other than lots of “how do I assemble my mobile tool base” questions.

So, after plenty of head scratching, cussing, unbolting and rebolting, more cussing and then unbolting and rebolting again, I’ve come up with a set of instructions that made the second assembly go much faster. Your particular mobile tool base assembly may vary slightly, but hopefully this info will help make it somewhat easier.

Old-school woodworking video

Posted by elliottzone at 2:49 pm Woodwork

Mar 182009

One of the blogs over at FineWoodworking.com has a great video showing old-school woodworking techniques. Although the old video is in black and white and there’s no sound, the rustic handtools being used are clearly much sharper than any of the tools in my workshop…

Tablesaw stupidity

Posted by elliottzone at 12:10 pm Woodwork

Mar 072009

One of the wildest memories I have of grade 10, is when my shop teacher dropped a piece of wood onto a tablesaw blade to illustrate how dangerous tablesaw kickback could be.

That memory stuck very well, and I’ve been lucky (so far) to have never experienced kickback.

If you’re going to use a tablesaw (or other big power tool) understand how to safely use the tool — especially these days, when there’s so much online info.

This idiot guy, however, demonstrates (numerous ways) how NOT to use a tablesaw…

How to make glowing weathered columns for your yard haunt

Posted by elliottzone at 8:56 pm Halloween, Woodwork

Sep 152008

Making custom props for your Halloween yard display can be as simple as throwing together some scraps of wood to make some creepy looking entrance columns.

For last year’s haunted cemetery display, I built two columns out of scrap plywood. To increase the spooky factor this year, I also added a flickering lantern box, also made out of scrap plywood and some cheap portfolio covers.

Here’s last year’s column. It’s a simple hollow 1/2″ plywood box mounted to a plywood base. To give it some depth, I also added 1/8″ plywood strips to the edges and used the same strips to create a cross on three sides. Dry brushing with a lighter grey helps age the column.

Amazing furniture joinery from Japanese master craftsman

Posted by elliottzone at 2:32 pm Design, Woodwork

Jun 062007

If you ever get to the point where you think you’ve mastered dovetail joints, think again…

Kintaro Yazawa is a woodworker in Japan. The furniture he builds is both functional and beautiful, but it’s the detail he puts into his joinery that makes his furniture a work of art.

Visit Kintaro’s website to see some of his work.

Prevent wood from splitting when nailing

Posted by elliottzone at 6:08 am Woodwork

Jun 052007

Here’s a little trick to help make sure wood doesn’t split or crack when you’re nailing it. This trick doesn’t need special nails or equipment, and seems to work well with big nails or small nails.

Ready? Here we go.