Recently I’ve been finishing a bench for a client. And I mean that literally: applying finish. The finishing process can be quite confusing but I find it enjoyable – watching the piece become what I had always had in my minds eye. During this process, I use quite a few shop supplies. So for this […]
My partner and I live in a large, sloppy rental whose chief merits are an excess of space and the low-stakes-no-stakes upkeep. One room has been entirely devoted to a collection of decommissioned fake Christmas trees (the Forest Room). A taxidermied bobcat lurks on the periphery. I am slowly assembling a hand tool workshop there […]
Well, it’s that time of year again, when thoughts turn to what I’d like to receive this holiday season. Holding my work has gotten to the top of my list. I’ve finally decided to install a leg vise on my workbench. I’m going to be hand cutting stopped tapered sliding dovetails and I need a […]
One of the earliest challenges I had in woodworking was deciding how to store sandpaper. Disks for random orbit sanders come in boxes. The disks curl, like all sandpaper, but it’s OK because the platen flattens them back out again. Sandpaper pre-attached to sanding blocks stays flat, but it seems to be such a wasteful […]
I recently started a log called, “What I learned during this project.” What was the inspiration for such a file? Mistakes. I suspect there are three kinds of woodworkers when it comes to mistakes: those who make a few, those who make a lot (yours truly) and liars. I was assembling the stool pictured below […]
No Southern-fried Southern boy wants to be called a Yankee, but we share the characteristics of shrewdness and thrift. Thus, each month I share a money-saving tip. It’s OK if you call me “cheap.” When a friend advised me to thin my Epifanes varnish 50% to 75%, my first thought was, “I don’t want to pour […]
Welcome to “Tips From Sticks-In-The-Mud Woodshop.” I am a hobbyist who loves woodworking and writing for those who also love the craft. I have found some ways to accomplish tasks in the workshop that might be helpful to you, and I enjoy hearing your own problem-solving ideas. Please share them in the COMMENTS section of each […]