My first trip to the lumber yard was a bit overwhelming. So many wood choices and so much confusion over how it works. In my case when I arrived one of the yard staff asked if I was picking up. I told him I was not and that I wanted some plywood and hardwood. He […]

1. Sand to 220 grit Make sure to sand the surfaces, start with 100 grit and work up to 220 grit to give a clean surface. Use a tack cloth to remove all dust. 2. Clean plywood with mineral spirits Using a rag, clean everything with mineral spirits. This will highlight any dried glue that […]

After watching a lot of youtube woodworking videos I see that everyone uses a tack cloth to wipe the dust off their projects. I feel silly now as I assumed it was just a rag and didn’t realize the “tack” part of it meant “tacky” or “sticky”. Tack cloths come individually wrapped in plastic to […]

I’m not a fan of the Glubot glue bottle. When I first got it, I couldn’t get any glue to come out of the nozzle. (This is using Titebond II woodworking glue.) After trimming the nozzle back several times I finally got an adequate amount of glue. However the bottle is stiff and hard to […]

Four common ways to mark up wood stock and draw cut lines: lumber crayons, pencil, carpenter’s pencil and marking knife. While woodworking crayons don’t seem to be popular, they are great to quickly markup stock and do rough layouts. A bright red mark is much easier to see than a thin pencil line. Also you […]