How has that linseed oil paint you used a few years ago held up? I ran across your article from 2008 and was wondering if you’ve done any follow-up on the paint condition. I’m a contractor doing research on wooden…
Where can I buy oxalic acid crystals? I want to bleach dark water stains from wood I’m restoring, and I can’t find oxalic acid on store shelves. I’ve purchased oxalic acid crystals from my local drug store. Sometimes it must…
It sounds like you’re envisioning a kind of moulding called plate rail. This is a narrow, wood shelf-like arrangement, often with grooves milled along the top surface to prevent plates and other items from sliding outwards. Although plate rail is…
Where can I find a reasonably priced replacement battery for my Skil 2487 cordless drill? A long time ago I read an article of yours about a battery supplier, but I can’t remember the name. A: All cordless tool batteries…
How can I remove a reddish brown stain from an old coat rack so I can stain the wood black? Is there a particular stripping product that works with stain? The thing about stains is that they soak into the…
What kind of router should I buy? I’m a middle-aged woman, out on my own again, and I’d like to build the kind of basic furniture I need to set myself up in a mostly empty house. A router is…
Where can I buy creosote wood preservative? I used to find it on hardware store shelves, but not anymore. Creosote has been used to protect wood against rot since the 1800s, but it’s been phased out for use by consumers,…
What’s the best type of blade for cutting 3/4″-thick OSB with a circular saw? The blades I’ve been using bind and cut poorly. I’m ready to snap! Any kind of general-purpose carbide-tooth blade will easily cut through the kind of…
What’s the life expectancy of skylights? Mine are 25 years old, they’re leaking, and a roofer hasn’t been able to fix the problem. Where can I turn for reliable skylight replacement? I’m a single woman and don’t want to be…
What’s the best product to use for finishing the interior of pine windows? I want to leave the wood its natural colour, and I’m thinking of either waterbased urethane or tung oil. Which do you recommend? The interior surface of…
I’m sorry to hear about your trouble, and I’m also sorry to tell you that permanently removing warps in solid wood furniture parts is virtually impossible after the fact. If the warp is large enough to be an issue, then…
I’m looking to build a garden shed, but don’t know which way to proceed. I can be handy if I put my mind to it, but it doesn’t exactly flow for me. I’d like the shed to be 6-feet by…