LumberJocks Woodworking Awards Winners Announced

February 8, 2007 | Filed Under Blog | 5 Comments 

Well, the projects have been submitted, the votes counted, and the winners announced. You can view the result on LumberJocks.com. Click the links below:

Best Creativity
Best Craftsmanship

Congratulations to all the winners and participants!!!

Episode 10- Tenons Anyone? (Pt. 2)

February 7, 2007 | Filed Under Blog, Video | 13 Comments 

Click Here For The MP4 File
Click Here For The Quicktime Movie


Click To Play

In this episode, I review some basic methods for creating tenons, including using a dado blade and a tenoning jig. I also demonstrate the use of the new Festool Domino as a fast and easy way to create loose/floating tenons. For more information on the domino, visit Festool or download this handy brochure.



The Wood Whisperer- On Newsstands Now!!

February 6, 2007 | Filed Under Blog | 9 Comments 

I recently wrote a how-to article about making custom poker chip trays and submitted it to Woodcraft Magazine. I received word that it would be published in the March 2007 issue, which was very exciting news. Imagine my excitement when I found out that my trays actually made the cover of the magazine!! I was doing the happy dance that day.
For those of you who are not familiar, Woodcraft Magazine is quite a unique publication. Their content usually comes from, or is inspired by, woodworkers like you and I. They produce six issues per year that are packed with helpful projects and tips, as well as woodworker profiles. In fact, I really enjoyed reading this month’s article on Marc Adams. I love reading stories about how successful woodworkers got to where they are today.

Well, I spoke with Woodcraft Magazine this morning and we decided that in the name of Wood Whisperer fan appreciation, we would make the poker chip article available right here as a downloadable PDF document:

Woodcraft Magazine Poker Chip Tray Article

Now for anyone interested in subscribing to Woodcraft Magazine, you can click on the link below. You can even get a FREE ISSUE so its worth checking out. And the show does receive a small commission for each subscription. As always, we appreciate your support!

Subscribe To Woodcraft Magazine

Windex creates white spots in finish. What now?- Question of the week

February 6, 2007 | Filed Under Blog, Question of the Week | 5 Comments 

This week’s question comes from Larry. He writes, “I have a question about a damaged finish on antique furniture. My wife’s cousin was cleaning her house and her 3 year old daughter was “helping.” Isabel, the helpful little youngster, sprayed Windex on a number of her mother’s antiques. The Windex, as I’m told, left white spots on the finish where it was sprayed. Being the only woodworker in the family I was solicited for advice. I know that ammonia based products can be used to clean shellac off of brushes and such, so my initial thought was that the furniture was finished with shellac. But, I’m not sure how ammonia affects other finishes such as lacquer and oils. I wouldn’t think that it would damage poly, but I’m 100% sure about that either. Are you familiar with this type of damage? If so, is there an easy/quick fix or does the finish need to be stripped? I’d appreciate any information you could give. Thanks a bunch. Love the web site and videos. They are quit helpful and informative.”

Here is my response:

“Hey Larry. Windex really isn’t good for any finish. Poly would certainly resist damage for much longer than shellac and lacquer, but I still wouldn’t recommend it for cleaning anything made of wood. If the finish is lacquer, the white spots could simply be from the water in the Windex solution. Water will create a hazy white spot of moisture that gets trapped below the surface. So, there are a few things you can do. Worst case scenario is refinish. The simplest thing to try would be to spray the surface with lacquer thinner. A good heavy coat will reactivate the lacquer and might allow the moisture to escape. Do you have the means to spray lacquer thinner? Another thing to try would be to spray a new coat of lacquer on the surface. You can use a can of Deft for this if you like. This also will redissolve the top layer of lacquer and might get rid of the white spots. Now there are also a few products on the market that claim to get rid of white spots but I dont have much experience with them. In fact, I was just at Lowes yesterday and they sell a pre-moistened rag (probably some sort of oil), that you can wipe over the spots to get rid of them. For $5, its probably worth a shot. I have also heard of a weird trick using mayonnaise. Since mayo is pretty much oil, you can put it on the surface so that the oil soaks through the finish and displaces the moisture. But who knows if it actually works. And to be honest, I would envision you replacing your water stain with a more unsightly oil stain.

Now all of that was based on the finish being lacquer. If the finish is shellac, you could try all the same things using denatured alcohol and shellac in a spray can.

If the finish is an oil, you can try a light sanding and reapply another coat of an oil-based finish.

I would definitely recommend testing the finish in an inconspicuous area to determine what the finish is. Just remember that lacquer thinner dissolves lacquer and alcohol dissolves shellac. And nothing dissolves poly. Just use a rag and those chemicals to determine what finish you are working with.

I would also like to mention a very important note. When dealing with antiques, you can severely diminish their value by refinishing improperly. If this is a valuable antique, I absolutely recommend having it looked at by a professional who has experience with old, valuable furniture. When it comes to these antique pieces, you are looking for antique restoration, not just a simple “refinishing”. Hope that helps Larry.”

Anyone else have some good suggestions for Larry??

Episode 10- Tenons Anyone? (Pt. 1)

February 2, 2007 | Filed Under Blog, Video | 15 Comments 

Click Here For The MP4 File
Click Here For The Quicktime Movie


Click To Play

With so many joints in woodworking, its sometimes difficult to know where to begin. But there is one joint that stands out in my mind as the first joint every woodworker should learn: the mortise and tenon. This is the joint that separates our work from Walmart’s. Are there faster ways to get the job done? Sure. But as woodworkers, with a focus on FINE woodworking, its our obligation to seek out the highest level of quality possible and to go beyond the “get ‘er done” mind set. So with that in mind, check out Part 1 of the mortise and tenon episode where I discuss and demonstrate two common ways to cut a mortise.

« Previous Page

  • What's New???

  • Check this out!!

    Loading the LumberJocks Widget

  • Extra Reading

  • Google


  • SuTree Videos

    Find free how-to videos
Close
E-mail It