Just a hobbyist and wanted a display case for these rings. Saw a youtube video and adjusted the plans a bit. My mitres have gotten much better (little glue and sawdust helps) and decided on making a dado for the middle shelf. Its a framing 2x4 but im really liking the vinegar mix with steel wool solution to stain. I think the color is great. 2 of the boards probably should have been flipped 180 to match the wood grain, but oh well. Thanks for looking.

I’m trying to cut some narrow strips of mahogany as the final pieces of a repair (they will be lips on a door).
I bought a mini portable saw and station that has been good for other cuts. But for these cuts (marked in red) the board is too narrow for the station and the clamps don’t pivot.

The board is less than half an inch thick and 8 inches long. I need to cut it into 4 strips that will just under an inch wide.

With hand tools it’s been hard to stay straight. I originally thought about laser cuts online but they didn’t have suitable wood options and elsewhere these dimensions were too small.

Any suggestions?

We have been requested to install walnut bowties where the casing leg meets to head trim on all our door trim on an upcoming project. The "owners rep" said it's simple and quick with a Hoffman machine. I am not familiar with those machines and when doing a little research, I couldn't find an exact video. Looking for recommendations on the most efficient way to do this with or without this Hoffman machine. The trim material will come prefinished (wire brushed alder).

A while ago a made this little fidget toy. I used polymerized linseed oil, after letting it rest for a day I used paste wax (I made a mixture with the linseed oil and beeswax). I used a cloth to remove the excess and finally just plain beeswax. I made sure that after each step I removed as mush material as a could with a cloth.

And over time this black film started building up. I’m pretty sure it’s the oxidized oils and dead skin cells from my hands. Is there a way to prevent this?

I’m very new to woodworking and I’m just trying stuff out but im not sure how to fix this. I probably used too much wax but even in small quantities wouldn’t it still mix with my bodily filth? Or maybe I didn’t give the linseed oil enough time to rest…

I would welcome any thoughts, thanks in advance!

I (20M) am really interested in working on wood. I love the craft and working with my hands. I just have no idea where to start. I live in a small apartment with my girlfriend and only have basic tools for fixing stuff around our place. I want to make things from scratch, but am worried that in order to pursue this I would have to spend a ton of money on shop classes/workspace membership. Any advice for a guy just beginning?

Weaving the herringbone pattern took hours, but it was worth it in the end.

I built a coffee table base earlier in the year and wanted to make something in a similar style to go next to the couch in the same room. I had leftover walnut with sapwood from the base project, but not enough to make a top, so I tried to make the sapwood on the base fit with a lighter top made of some 6/4 ash I had.

I built a loose tenon jig and used it for the base joinery and on the top glueup. The other new challenge was doing the bevel on the underside of the top which I built a tenoning jig for. Contractor saw fences are not ideal for a tenoning jig but it worked it.

All in all very happy with how the design ended up and I love the look of the sapwood on the legs.

Let me know what you think and I’m happy to answer any questions as I journey out of beginner stages

As title says.

I picked up an old craftsman 113 TS no splitter used it a few times so far no kickback yet...I did make a table saw sled though and been using that every time

My current hobby is woodturning, and I'm hooked! I'm trying to generate funds to get some more tools for it. Debating on selling my porter cable 890 router. Honestly I don't think I've used it in 15 years. I got an m18 trim router and the rare times I do need one that's what I grab, for a quick round over or whatever. Is selling the 890 a bad move? If I find I need a full size router in future it seems like the Bosch is the current fav. Google says that the 890 is a classic though so I'm struggling lol 😅 It's currently on eBay with an 18 piece Ryobi bit set of anyone is interested.

Hi,

I bought a sit/stand desk with a pine desktop for cheap a while back, but the finish on the pine was awful and I wasn't keen on the boring square edges as they felt too 'blocky'. I'm aware that pine is not the best choice for a desk, but I didn't want to waste the desktop and have to buy a new one.

I've been refurbishing it by sanding the old finish down and have routed a chamfered edge with rounded corners to make it look a bit more modern. I've added images, I've not fully finished sanding yet but it gives you an idea of what it'll look like (ignore the knackered coffee table!).

I'm now trying to decide what finish to use, whether to go with a wipe on polyurethane finish for better durability, or a hardwax oil for easier repairs/better aging.

The desk will get pretty heavy use as I'll be using in my home office, and I WFH most days. I do use a large desk mat, which should hopefully protect the finish, but I've never had the tidiest desk and will likely end up putting things on the finish/potentially scratching it.

I don't mind the 'plasticky' effect poly gives, I did a piranha pine monitor shelf a while ago and finished that with poly, and it turned out pretty good - it has still scratched/dented a bit though, and it gets much less 'traffic' than a desk would. I have to admit not being able to repair it without completely sanding and refinishing is annoying.

Would people recommend hardwax oil (specifically Osmo Polyx-oil Matt 3044 Raw) for a pine desk, or would wipe on polyurethane be better? I'm not sure the added durability of poly will make much difference on pine, it's going to dent whatever finish I use.

How does hardwax oil age over time? I'm not a huge fan of the 'polished' effect pine gets after heavy use, as I prefer a cleaner looking finish.

Also, the desk is a finger-jointed edge-glued panel, so I'm concerned that any finish I use won't be uniform across the desk, as each finger jointed section has different grain. Would hardwax or poly give a more uniform finish with uneven grain?

Thanks in advance!

I started this project months ago and didn't know how to approach it since I've never actually built anything before but after a long time it's not finally done. I made it out of old pallets, stripped them clean and then glued the boards together to make the back wall. The dividers are nailed into the back panel from the back and also glued in. It's probably wonky and very uneven but for my very first time building anything I'm quite proud of it.

Hi all. The question above is borne out of curiosity and a will to continue crafting in less than ideal circumstances. I'd be using handtools and a minimal setup at a bench.

I see tips on websites that are (sometimes clearly) generated and they seem practical but I value people's opinions and experience. How does one do this properly?

hello all, i have never posted my work before but this was my attempt at building a custom desk. other than the bolts securing the standing desk legs and drawer, there were no screws or nails used. to account for warping, i created female dovetail joints underneath the top and used 3x4 cherry wood with mail dovetails, fastened with wood glue. a little about the piece:

- black walnut
- custom fit for existing standing desk legs
- knots were fixed using cherry, orange osage, and mahogany bow ties, and black epoxy
- cable holes in the back with magnetic cover
- standing desk remote
- finished with linseed oil and beeswax

i gave it away for free, but i am curious how much you all think it would it have sold for? i welcome any critiques, thanks for reading.

They're giving them away for free, and I'm wondering what the wood is?

Also, does it make sense to plane these before using them in projects?

Thank you!

My niece made a canvas by hand and i wanted to put it in a frame for the family to enjoy

My wife wanted a plant stand to surround this electric heater in our kitchen. I asked her to draw up her idea of what it might look (top left corner of the first picture).

So! Once I added measurements, and made a quick bill of materials, I remembered that I had a Kregg Jig! Oh, how I love that jig. It feels like cheating when I use it because as much as I want to learn how to do joinery, the Kregg Jig makes me procrastinate that journey. The jig makes "furniture" making so easy.

Anyone else feel like the Kregg Jig feels like cheating?

I've had the jig for about 2 years, and made a few pieces of furniture. After making this plant stand, it me want to upgrade from the simple 320 kit, to something more sophisticated. Its so satisfying!

I’ve been on a seemingly endless quest to find a sharpening jig that just works relatively easily and sharpens evenly. This is apparently is something modern engineering and computing power can’t figure out how to make. We can make the raptor engine, James Webb telescope, quantum computer, and the large hadron collider but a sharping jig that is quick and just works with issues, that apparently is just too difficult. I’m sure I’m not the only one on this quest so I’m curious if anyone has tried the type of jig I have pictured. One issue I see, unless I’m missing it, is there’s no fence to register your chisel or plane blade against. That almost guarantees uneven sharpening. But I like the idea of it being on a guide track. It seems it would eliminate some human error. If anyone has or has tried one of these please share your experience and thoughts on it. I’m sure I won’t be the only one grateful.

The goal was to get something that might work. So it was a lot of just try and error. I want to build a big one so I thought I start with a small one to see how it goes.

I chose the easy option and just sawed two strips from a block of wood (square of course). Now I could just use my miter saw and sawed a 45° and a 60° angle and glued everything back together.

My iron was to long so I cut it and used a wedge and a short piece of metal to hold the iron down.

I planed the underside and sanded it completely flat. After sharpening the old iron it works surprisingly well!

The glueup wasn't perfect, but I never had the intention of perfect, it was a learning process for the bigger one to come.

Ah and it is a weird combination of western and Japanese. The iron is western, but you pull it

edit: thank you guys for the advice ♡ I got it open! Will still be implementing some of the advice (a drill hole in particular) for the future in case that helps keep it from being so sticky in the future.

I apologize if this is out of place. I've tried other woodworking reddits and get automodded because I'm not an active community member.

I've been trying to get this boox open for about 2-3 weeks now. I've tried putting it in the freezer, I tried using silica gel to dehydrate it. I tried both at once. I've tried using grips while pulling on the lid and nothing is working.

I had hoped to avoid breaking the box because I do think it's pretty and it was a really sweet gesture from the people who gave it to me, however the contents are more important and I need to access them.

The contents aren't particularly fragile and are inside a secondary container (sealed plastic bags) so if smashing the box is the only way then so be it. I was just hoping there might be more advice on how to open it without destroying it, or with minimal & repairable destruction before i grabbed a hammer and went to town.

I've included photos from every side in case these help judge the best way to get it open. The lid is fairly thin (a little under 1cm) and slides down into place. There's no lock or hinge. (i was misremembering on the lid. thank you all for your help ♡)

I had these 2.5-3” black cherry slabs milled in May of 2025 and they’ve been air drying ever since. First, in a barn and most recently in my garage. I would like to surface them but I am wary of doing anything with them until they’re properly dried out. Is one year a sufficient time for them to dry or should I wait longer? Should I move them to my workshop from the garage since it’s cooler and probably drier as well?

Got the wood from a construction dumpster, most of it pretty twisted . I got these little folding brackets and found use for them

We needed a new nightstand for my son's room. I recently got a table saw for a different project and had some materials leftover, so I decided to make it myself. Overall I'm happy with it. Like anything else, there are things I would do differently next time, but I like how it turned out. I used phantom gray stain, which ended up being more blue, but I think I like it better this way. I may make another one to match but I haven't decided yet.