Steve Maxwell, Canada’s Handiest Man, explains how to select wood grain depending on how lumber was sawn from the tree.
Continue ReadingDIGITAL DISCIPLINE: One Key to the Hands-On Life
Pete is a drywall contractor friend of mine who’s always quick with a joke and a smile, and he mentioned something once that I won’t forget. “If I hire a drywaller who smokes, I should pay them $2 an hour […]
Continue ReadingEDGE-GLUING SOLID WOOD: Three steps for success in the home workshop
Gluing boards edge-to-edge to make wider pieces is an essential woodworking skill. Learn these three tips for getting this job done right.
Continue ReadingQUALITY & MORALITY: Build Unto Others As You Would Have Them Build for You
If you do anything at all creative with your hands, you need to understand an idea I call “the challenge of a thousand decisions”. From moment to creative moment we’re all faced with decisions – many of them small – […]
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DETAIL SANDERS: Tips for Using This Key Tool for Outdoor Wood Refinishing
Summer is the season you’re most likely to refinish outdoor trim, door frames, window sashes and finickity woodwork of all kinds, and detail sanders are tools I’ve come to rely on for this kind of work. Also called multitools these days because they can also cut and grind, detail sanders are not for stripping back large expanses of bare wood.
Continue ReadingQ&A: How Can I Dispose of Shavings From My Planer?
Q: I recently bought a benchtop wood planer and have been happily generating bags and bags of sawdust in my workshop. Trouble is, I just found out that my municipality doesn’t accept sawdust as garbage. How can I dispose of […]
Continue ReadingQ&A: Can you help me make sense of options for potlights? I’m confused.
Q: Can you help me make sense of all the options for potlights? I’m confused by all the choices, sizes and types. A: Potlights are also called recessed lighting in the industry, and they’re a terrific feature when used properly. But […]
Continue ReadingWORKBENCH PLANS: Download First-Class Design for Free
If you don’t have a workbench somewhere around your home, you should get one. You’ll never find a simpler, more economical source of mental health and household well-being. Fewer and fewer people have home workbenches these days, and maybe that’s […]
Continue ReadingINTERESTING PEOPLE: Cathedral Painters Work Miracles of Craftsmanship
If you haven’t been to an old church for a while, you might consider going at least for the view. There’s a lot more painting skill behind traditional churches than you might realize, and it’s definitely worth looking at. Alex […]
Continue ReadingAIR-SOURCE HEAT PUMPS: These Systems Deliver Economical Winter Warmth
How happy would you be if your utility company put electricity on sale, offering three kilowatt-hours of power for every one kilowatt-hour you paid for? Too good to be true? Not if you have a heat pump. Modern heat pumps […]
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