Hot Furniture & Woodworking Posts

How To: Build loose tenon joinery in woodworking

Eagle Lake Woodworking, hosted by John Nixon, offers great do-it-yourself guides for building your own furniture, especially in the American Arts and Crafts style, and turning your garage into an amateur woodshop. Search Eagle Lake on WonderHowTo for more carpentry tutorial videos. From Eagle Lake Woodworking on this specific lesson:

How To: Use a horizontal router table in woodworking

Eagle Lake Woodworking, hosted by John Nixon, offers great do-it-yourself guides for building your own furniture, especially in the American Arts and Crafts style, and turning your garage into an amateur woodshop. Search Eagle Lake on WonderHowTo for more carpentry tutorial videos. From Eagle Lake Woodworking on this specific lesson:

How To: Build a tool stand using loose tenon joinery

Eagle Lake Woodworking, hosted by John Nixon, offers great do-it-yourself guides for building your own furniture, especially in the American Arts and Crafts style, and turning your garage into an amateur woodshop. Search Eagle Lake on WonderHowTo for more carpentry tutorial videos. From Eagle Lake Woodworking on this specific lesson:

How To: Build an Arts and Crafts style panel bed

Eagle Lake Woodworking, hosted by John Nixon, offers great do-it-yourself guides for building your own furniture, especially in the American Arts and Crafts style, and turning your garage into an amateur woodshop. Search Eagle Lake on WonderHowTo for more carpentry tutorial videos. From Eagle Lake Woodworking on this specific lesson:

How To: Use a Katana flush router bit for woodworking

Eagle Lake Woodworking, hosted by John Nixon, offers great do-it-yourself guides for building your own furniture, especially in the American Arts and Crafts style, and turning your garage into an amateur woodshop. Search Eagle Lake on WonderHowTo for more carpentry tutorial videos. From Eagle Lake Woodworking on this specific lesson:

How To: Build a pool table

Eagle Lake Woodworking, hosted by John Nixon, offers great do-it-yourself guides for building your own furniture, especially in the American Arts and Crafts style, and turning your garage into an amateur woodshop. Search Eagle Lake on WonderHowTo for more carpentry tutorial videos. From Eagle Lake Woodworking on this specific lesson:

News: Foldschool

Foldschool offers free download plans to create 3 different cardboard chairs. Each chair is designed by Swiss-based architect Nicola Enrico Stäubli. Design conscious & cheap, folding-it-yourself is a fun, cheap alternative to a trip to Ikea.

How To: Make a lock miter joint

Watch this instructional carpentry video to woodwork a lock miter joint with a lock miter bit and set up block. Join materials at 90° by cutting a 45° miter and a matching tongue and groove glue joint. This joint not only increases mechanical strength, but also increases glue surface area and automatically aligns parts.

How To: Build garden benches

A place to sit and relax can add greatly to the enjoyment of your backyard, garden or flower beds. A garden bench is one answer and also a fun workshop project. Garden benches, as seen by the examples here, can range from classic designs requiring a fair amount of materials and woodworking expertise to simple slab benches that require little effort, can be built from scrounged materials and add a “rustic” appeal to yards. In this DIY video tutorial, you'll find step-by-step instructions for b...

How To: Build bookcases for a home library

Books, books and more books — we've had that problem for years. Books stored in boxes in the closet, books in the attic and some in the basement that eventually became ruined. In this DIY video tutorial, you'll find step-by-step instructions for building pine bookcases to house your many books. For more, or to get started on your own home library project, watch this how-to.

How To: Build a swing arbor

Building a swing arbor is a fun weekend project that can really spruce up the landscape without requiring a lot of out-of-pocket expense. Plus, the project is fairly easy to build, requiring only basic carpentry skills, and can provide years of outdoor enjoyment. The materials for the swing cost about $100, and you can complete the project over the course of two afternoons. For more information, or to get started building your own swing arbor, watch this DIY video tutorial.

How To: Make old cabinets look like new

Cabinets are usually the most prominent feature of a kitchen and greatly determine the room's overall décor. Peeling paint, nicks and scratches, or a dull, dirty finish can plague older cabinets and really sap the pizzazz out of the living space. On the other hand, a fresh coat of paint can do wonders for cabinets and breathe new life into the kitchen. A repainting project can also save tons of money when compared to full cabinet replacement, which can easily total several thousands of dollar...

How To: Carve a spoon with a hook knife

Understanding how a knife most likes to cut wood is key to doing any woodcarving. In this video tutorial, a pair of disembodied hands will demonstrate, step by step, a method for efficiently carving out the bowl of a spoon with a hook knife. (Said hands use a blank of basswood for expediency; birch is normally used for eating spoons.) To learn more about carving with a hook knife, watch this folksy how-to.

How To: Apply a sand, or first-coat, sealer to woodwork

Sanding sealers, also called first-coat sealers by some manufacturers, are recommended when refinishing furniture. Although using a sanding sealer is a good step to take regardless of the type of stain you are using, it is especially necessary when using water-based stains. Apply the sanding sealer after you have bleached your furniture, but before you have applied the stain. Sanding sealers provide an important barrier to keep the wood pitch and stain from bleeding into the water-based topco...

How To: Chemically strip furniture or woodwork

Stripping furniture or woodwork can be like a treasure hunt, revealing a beautiful wood surface beneath old paint and varnish. An old finish can be removed mechanically using a sander, but you run the risk of sanding off fine detail and contours in the woodwork. Chemical stripping enables you to soften the finish and then remove it with a scraper. Chemical stripper will remove most painted, shellacked or varnished finishes. For complete, step-by-step instructions for this DIY project, watch t...

How To: Apply an oil- or water-based stain to wood

Staining wood is an exciting and fun step in your refinishing process. Staining brings out and enhances the patterns in the wood grain and it unifies an overall color. At this stage your project piece begins to look more finished. Allow enough time to complete this task from start to finish to ensure continuity of color. You have the choice of using either water or oil-based stain, and each offers advantages and disadvantages.

How To: Bleach to lighten wood & remove stains from furniture

Restoring wood furniture takes time and patience, but the results of your labor can be enjoyed for years, even generations. The restoration process usually involves stripping off old finishes, bleaching, staining and then varnishing. Two-Part Hydrogen Peroxide is a strong bleach that will lighten wood and remove previously applied finish stain, providing you with a fresh new surface to refinish.

How To: Bleach water stains from furniture

When restoring older wood furniture you will probably encounter dark rings and black spots, which are caused by water stains. Oxalic acid is a moderate bleach that will remove these stains even if they have penetrated the wood surface. Oxalic acid will also remove finish stain applied previously and lighten the wood for a fresh new look. Restoring wood furniture takes time and patience, but the results of your labor can be enjoyed for years, even generations. The restoration process usually i...

How To: Carve a Celtic Irish toy chest

Celebrate your Irish heritage, or just bring some beauty to your home with this Celtic chest, that's great for storing anything from linens to toys. You will need to have the cedar chest already made, a carving tool, and a pattern. Watch this video woodworking tutorial and learn how to carve an Irish Celtic toy chest.