Cupping and Bowing in Resawn Stock Furnituremakers discuss drying issues such as casehardening that can cause lumber to move when ripped or re-sawn. April 18, 2015
Cabinets and Furniture: What's the Difference? A cabinetmaker who seeks greater satisfaction by building furniture sets off a long and thoughtful discussion on why furniture is different. December 12, 2008
Air-Dried Oak for Furniture In theory, kiln-drying is better; but people have successfully made furniture from air-dried hardwood. April 20, 2011
Troubleshooting a Moving Table Top Another good discussion on a typical learning experience: a table top is restrained on one face from moving in service, and instead the wood cups. December 8, 2012
Wood Movement Destroys Table Top Another designer learns the hard way, as a table top cracks because of ambient moisture changes and restrained wood movement. May 3, 2011
Why Heat the Shop? A start-up furniture maker hears about ten reasons not to work in an unheated garage during the winter. August 21, 2006
Steam Box Construction Ideas Here's a handful of ideas for building a simple steam box for steaming and bending wood. December 9, 2010
Cutting Clean Through-Mortises in Oak Techniques and equipment for volume production of accurate through mortises, without tear-out on the punch-through side. January 9, 2007
Tinting and Staining Wood Filler Furniture makers discuss how to make wood filler match wood, and debate wood filler's proper role in the shop. December 1, 2005
Mitered Frame and Panel Table Tops Wood movement is likely to wreck a mitered solid wood table top with a wood panel center. Other methods stand better odds of success. August 30, 2007
Flattening and Truing Big Matched Burls A CNC is handy for dimensioning big, heavy awkward pieces accurately. But a shop-built router jig can also get it done. July 18, 2008
Table Top Mistake/Wood Movement A craftsman gets into trouble with incorrect wood orientation in a table top. It's a learning experience. April 20, 2011
Loose Tenon Joinery for Chairs Loose tenons are easier than traditional mortise and tenon joinery, and they are a more robust and authentic solution than dowels or biscuits. October 26, 2011
Furniture Shipping and Tropical Moisture Issues Shipping from the tropics to the temperate zone, how do people deal with humidity changes? Here are some thoughts and possible solutions. November 8, 2007
Wood Apron on an MDF Table Furnituremakers discuss moisture-related movement issues for an MDF table-top with a Maple apron. March 28, 2010
Engineering a Wide Pull-Out Table Furnituremakers puzzle over ways to construct to a wide-span, narrow table able to roll away from the wall as needed. November 3, 2010
Spanish Cedar for Furniture? Characteristics of Spanish Cedar make it problematic, even for porch furniture. January 27, 2007
Drawers, from scratch to systems Materials and methods forum participants are employing in their quest for the perfect drawer. February 14, 2001
Cross-Grain Dovetails Orienting dovetail keys in the wrong direction is asking for breakage at the grain. December 14, 2009
Matching a Curved Apron to a Curved Top Explanations of how to template a curved tabletop or countertop and fabricate a matched nosing or edging piece. November 14, 2009
Solid Wood Tables — Span Length Limits How long is too long for a maple table? The discussion moves to apron depth and thickness, steel reinforcement, a center rib, and box panel construction. April 20, 2011
Furniture for High Humidity Conditions Advice on controlling moisture content during construction for furniture destined for a relatively uncontrolled environment. November 15, 2010
Solid Wood Table-Top Movement Issues A plank table top with a mitered frame around the edge is a disaster waiting to happen. However, there may be ways to make it work by allowing for wood movement. (Or better yet, use veneer.) May 16, 2008
Wood Movement Considerations for a Large Table Top Swelling and shrinkage place stress on wood table tops, especially if both sawn lumber and plywood are involved. Here's advice on construction details. March 13, 2007
Veneering Methods for a Torsion-Box Table Top When you build a torsion box with veneered sheets of MDF over a central core, do you have to balance the veneer on each sheet of MDF? May 4, 2011
Solid Wood Octagon Table Top Failure Wood movement dooms a solid wood "sunburst" table top, and we learn why that will always happen. February 12, 2007
Truing-up rough wood Planers will not remove the bow from rough stock; jointing is required before boards can be properly thicknessed. February 13, 2001
Square Table Legs — One Piece, or Glued Up? Should a furnituremaker go to the trouble of laminating smaller pieces together into a built-up table leg? Here's advice on whether to do it and, if so, on how to go about it. March 13, 2007
Hot Cooking Surface Built Into a Wood Tray Puzzling over an odd problem: How to put a heated stone or iron cooking surface into a wooden tray for use at a restaurant table. Interesting suggestions here for insulating materials, air spaces, et cetera. January 19, 2012
Repairing a Veneering Defect A void in the plywood veneer press caul caused a bubble in a trophy tabletop. But it all worked out in the end. March 28, 2012
Fan-Shaped Table Top Glue-Up A discussion of how wood movement may affect a table top assembled from thin pie-slices, assembled in a radial pattern. January 19, 2012
Joinery for Mitered Corners Suggestions run the gamut: lock miters, splines, dowels, floating tenons, pocket screws, and butterfly splines. Take your choice. October 19, 2013
Rays and Flecks in Oak Advice on how to select Oak with or without ray and fleck figure. September 30, 2009
Comparing Low Angle and High Angle Planes Woodworkers discuss the differences between low angle and high angle planes, and the appropriate uses for each. February 14, 2010
Flat Material for a "Jupe" Table Thoughts on flat, stable material for constructing a table with multiple segments and leaves. September 30, 2009
Table Border and Wood Movement Here's an idea (untested perhaps) for constructing a wood tabletop border that allows for movement of the various parts without self-destruction. November 16, 2011
Single or Two-Head Sander for Table Tops? A discussion of whether a table-top maker should invest in a single-head belt sander, a two-head belt sander, or a stroke sander. February 15, 2015
Expanding Table Leaf Details A nice discussion of how to build a table with leaves whose grain runs in the long dimension of the table, with some examples. October 26, 2011
Calibrating a Hollow Chisel Mortiser Careful adjustments to the spacing between the chisels and the bit can prevent overheating, smoking, and chisel breakage. January 3, 2012
How to Eliminate Beetles in a Finished Slab Heating in a kiln to 130 degrees Fahrenheit will destroy the finish, but it's the only sure, safe way to kill the bugs. June 18, 2010
Stapling Into Hard Wood Hard Maple is tough to penetrate with staples. Fortunately, shorter staples will hold well in harder wood. August 6, 2010
Mortisers Basic info on mortising machinery. November 12, 2008
Laminating Plywood Panels Together When gluing multiple pieces of plywood together for a built-up thickness, make sure to balance thicknesses to balance opposing stresses. December 27, 2006
A Spalted Slab in a Wine Cellar Kiln-drying kills the fungus in spalted wood, and 60% RH in a wine cellar will not support fungal re-growth. December 6, 2011
Air-Dried Wood for Furniture As this example demonstrates, when a people tell you your air-dried lumber won't make a sweet (and sweet-smelling) piece of furniture, sometimes it's because they want to take your wood away for free. January 11, 2007
Lathes Basic descriptions of lathes and related equipment. November 11, 2008
Wood Worms White worms in reclaimed lumber intended for furniture. What to do? April 20, 2011
Matching Maple Veneer to Sawn Maple A furnituremaker's problem: dealing with a color difference between solid sawn Maple table legs and the birdseye Maple veneer top. January 19, 2012
Ostrich Skin Technique Whack wood with a ball peen hammer, then wet it, and the dimples turn into pimples. Who knew? Only the ancient Chinese — until now. December 31, 2012
Controlling Bugs in Finished Furniture Fumigation or spraying are ineffective and have drawbacks. Instead, here's a tip for heat-treating furniture. April 24, 2013
Shoji Screen Material Sources Here are a few leads if you're shopping around for material for those translucent Japanese paper screen assemblies. June 18, 2009
Cleaning Up an Old Board Tips on getting the bird droppings and grime off a rustic old walnut board. August 30, 2007
Moisture Movement of Mixed Wood Species Mixing species in a single furniture piece is no problem in most situations, but could create an issue if there are drastic changes in ambient humidity. March 30, 2008
Board Widths for an Oak Table Top Wood movement is the big concern with table tops. Here's how that concern affects the choice of lumber size. May 7, 2007
How to make a tenon Accurately sized tenons without a tenoner. September 25, 2002
Bending Wood: Steam or Heat? In steam bending, is it the moisture or the heat that makes the wood bendable? The doctor explains, it's both. October 17, 2012
Portable Mortising Tools Furnituremakers look at handy mortise-cutting power tools that work on the same principle as a biscuit-slot cutter. November 27, 2007
Poplar for a Dining Table? Even for a paint-grade piece, Poplar is not a great choice because of its softness. Maple makes more sense. December 6, 2011
Hand-held Router Accuracy Routers are not perfectly centered from the factory, and require tuning. You'll notice it on fine-tolerance work such as dovetail joinery.October 4, 2011
A Laminated Bent Chair Leg Furniture makers take a close look at the concept of building a bent chair leg by laminating cross-grain thin sawn layers into a thicker member. May 18, 2010
End Joint Splitting in Table Glue-Ups Here's a long troubleshooting discussion about splits that form at the end joints between boards in a round table top. August 29, 2014
Sliding Dovetails in Bookcases A furnituremaker tries dovetail joinery for bookcase shelves, and likes the result. February 3, 2011
Raised Glue Lines after Sanding and Finish Moisture in glue can cause swelling of wood near the joint, which may result in noticeable lines at the joint (depending on the timing of sanding and finishing). October 19, 2014
Edging Round Tabletops Advice on efficient and effective methods for gluing a 1/8-inch wood edge onto a round tabletop. January 14, 2009
Antique Lumber: Steam Bend or Laminate? Upon consideration, a furnituremaker decides to laminate a curved table apron rather than try to steam and bend historic old wood. October 17, 2012
Avoiding Messy Excess Glue on Through Tenons When you use through tenon joinery with exposed tenon ends, it's hard to keep glue off the tenon ends. Here's some advice on dealing with the mess. April 20, 2011
Mahogany Table-Top Glue-Up A discussion of how to avoid problems in a large round table-top slab. March 13, 2007
From Slab to Tabletop How one craftsman took a big chunk of tree and turned it into furniture. January 27, 2007
Powderpost Beetles in Furniture Pinholes and powder are a dead giveaway of a beetle infestation. Here are some facts about the bugs and how to handle them. February 19, 2006
Exterminating Insects in Furniture A table built from old wood previously stored in a barn now has "old house borers." The solutions are fumigation or heat. March 13, 2007
Working Safely with Ipe Dust and oils from Ipe wood are allergenic and toxic. You need serious personal protective gear if you work with Ipe. Here's more info. May 16, 2008
Lamination and Springback A chair back curvature problem leads to a discussion about predicting and minimizing springback in bent wood laminations. December 6, 2009
Stabilizing Details for a Mahogany Island Top Concerned about wood movement, pros consider options including threaded rod reinforcement, sliding dovetails, or thin-sawing the wood. December 10, 2008
New Shop Layout Efficient shop flow for increased profit. February 28, 2004
Indoor Humidity and Wood Moisture Content A discussion with data, about typical indoor humidity levels and the corresponding effect on wood moisture content. October 13, 2010
The Ultimate Primer on Single Head Wide Belt Sanding With understanding of how successive grits function, you can improve the efficiency of your belt sanding and orbital sanding process while optimizing the quality of the results. November 12, 2014
The Business of Chair-Making A cold look at the hard numbers for furniture building. Between rock-bottom overseas competition at the low end, and popular established competitors at the high end, it's hard for a small shop to find a profitable niche. April 21, 2011
FOB defined Origins and meanings of the term "freight on board." (Sawing and Drying Forum) March 23, 2003
Artificially Aging and Weathering Wood Advice on creating erosion and graying on the surface of boards, without waiting a hundred years. This discussion touches on everything from cow manure to chemistry. February 15, 2009
Drawer Construction Choosing an efficient method over farming out the work. June 4, 2004
Outsourcing drawings Positive and negative experiences from those who have hired the job out. October 30, 2002
Selling Furniture Through A Retail Store Woodworkers discuss reasonable terms of the deal when showing furniture at a retailer's showroom. Markups on already made pieces, prices for custom orders, and simple referrals each involve their own reasonable market value. June 23, 2006
Marketing for Furniture Makers For furniture makers, word of mouth and cultivation of personal relationships are the best way to build an exclusive high-end clientele. But advertising and web marketing can also attract custom furniture buyers. October 19, 2014
Clamping Veneer Core to Plywood Advice on clamping methods for gluing two panel faces together without a vacuum bag. July 20, 2011
Describing Loose Tenon Joinery to Customers Domino joints have two mortises and a single floating tenon to connect them. But if you call that it a "loose" tenon, will customers misunderstand and think it's not strong? June 4, 2012
Fortune Teller: Making More Money in the Wood Industry Wood Doctor Gene Wengert makes some educated guesses about the near future in the wood products industry, and offers some advice about how wood-based businesses can profit from change. April 15, 2013
Moving to Metric Tips on making the transition as smooth as possible. September 9, 2004
Tenoners Basic descriptions of various types of tenoning machinery and their capabilities. November 13, 2008
Radius countertop edge Making a radiused wood edge without resorting to segments. January 3, 2003
Refinishing Teak Outdoor Furniture The table in question might not even be Teak. But here are some thoughts about the choices for a natural-looking refinishing job. January 28, 2013
Clamping for a Curved Edge Ideas for clamping curved solid banding onto a curved tabletop edge. October 28, 2008
Income Goals for a Furniture Maker How to approach the calculations involving cost, overhead, and labor time for a one-man craftsman business. November 16, 2011
Wood Movement: How Big a Risk? In principle, solid wood joinery that does not allow for wood movement is a recipe for disaster. In practice, sometimes you get away with it. June 18, 2009
Thick Butcher Blocks A discussion of construction methods and wood movement issues for a six-inch-thick butcher block top. April 11, 2008
Clamping Octagon Joints Taping the joints and folding them together works the best. November 26, 2006
Troubleshooting Tearout on End Grain A furnituremaker gets advice on avoiding tearout when machining Maple end grain with a roundover bit. October 19, 2014
Oil-Sanded and Buffed Finish for a Table Top Tips on a custom furniture finish include advice on wet-sanding with natural oil to fill grain, then waxing and buffing to a high gloss. May 24, 2006
Cubby Construction Methods Advice on joinery methods and veneer application for storage cube shelving. July 15, 2014
Murphy Bed Hardware A few general observations on the challenge of assembling and installing a Murphy bed. August 22, 2007
Warping of a Tabletop with an Unbalanced Finish A teachable moment: Finishers explain why tabletops finished on one side only (and in humid conditions to boot) experienced bad warping. December 31, 2005
Reclaimed Heart Pine Bleeding Trouble starts when heat brings out the sap in resawn antique pine used for a table top. Here's advice on sealing the surface.December 9, 2010
Casters for an Island Cabinet Here's a look at how to equip an island with casters, while providing for it to be held fixed when necessary. August 12, 2014
Material for Doors with False Drawer Fronts Furnituremakers discuss whether to use solid wood or MDF and veneer for a set of vanity doors with fake drawer fronts. April 27, 2011
Gluing Leather to Wood Advice on the right adhesive for gluing up a leather desktop. March 30, 2008
Appearance Considerations with Sapele Sapele wood darkens over time (as do Cherry and Mahogany), and its compatibility with the look of other woods is a matter of personal preference. April 11, 2008
Sanding Drawers After Construction Ideas for sanding distinctive hardwood drawer boxes after building them, without distorting the corners. November 26, 2008
ITEMIZER - From R & R Drummond, Inc. Use your computer to generate efficient layouts for cutting sheet material into desired sizes (a link to a demo download is provided)1998
Wood Movement and Strap Hinges Quick tips on mounting large hinges to solid wood in a way that won't restrict the freedom of the wood to expand or contract in response to ambient conditions. July 11, 2013
Bowing in a Panel Glue-Up Woodworkers consider why a one-inch thick shelf made up of a 3/4-inch wood layer glued to a 1/4-inch MDF layer came out of the vacuum bag bowed. October 13, 2012
Buying and Using a Stroke Sander Advice on buying a used stroke sander, and tips on making and using sanding blocks for it. July 24, 2006
Blind woodworker's story A blind cabinetmaker tells the story of his education and career in woodworking. (From WOODWEB's Cabinetmaking Forum) January 21, 2003
Presenting A Quote There are reasons to sell the job face to face, in person. April 10, 2005
Does Your Sanding Make Sense? "Trouble starts when taking off more than a belt can handle, or taking off more than the scratch pattern of the previous head. These are the most common mistakes in sanding... It can be incredibly frustrating to see a company trapped in a prison of their own design because they really never und ......
CNC feed rates for melamine Concerns on purchasing a CNC router and software for cutting melamine. August 12, 2001
Structural Testing for Chairs There's the Fat Man test, the Little Boy test, the Throw it Off the Roof test, and the "Entire state is sliding into the ocean" test ... you get the idea. January 3, 2012
Troubleshooting Glue Line Swelling in Furniture In this long and complicated thread, woodworkers and experts try to figure out what's causing a slight ridge to form at the glue line in a wood chair lamination. July 29, 2014
Glue Reacting with Cherry A Cherry table shows witness lines at the glue joints. The culprit: a reaction between the wood and the glue. November 13, 2005
Edgebanding a Round Table Here's a list of steps for applying edgebanding to a round laminate tabletop. April 8, 2013
Gluing Cocobolo You can successfully glue this tropical species if you're careful. April 24, 2014
When to use waterbornes Applications where waterborne coatings will and won't work. May 22, 2002
Carton Marks on Finished Furniture A furnituremaker considers how to prevent his cardboard packaging from abrading the finish on his pieces. February 15, 2015
Cleaning Up Latex Paint Tips for getting a latex paint drip off a polyurethane finished surface. August 30, 2005
Plastic Glue Odors in a Cedar Chest A furniture maker tries to understand why it's so hard to get the smell of polyurethane glue out of a cedar chest. May 5, 2007
- Wood species Information on tree species and their uses. March 20, 2001
Darkening of Oil-Finished End Grain Unusual tables milled from whole logs present an interesting stain and finish problem, besides the obvious moisture-related movement concerns. May 23, 2007
Spray Shop Layout Setting up an efficient spray-finishing area in an expanded shop. December 26, 2004
"High End" Ready-to-Assemble Fasteners Furnituremakers take a look at Lamello's new line of knockdown assembly connectors for cabinetry and furnishings. March 28, 2012