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How to Choose a Good Jig Saw
If you usually buy timber already cut and planed to size, then a jig saw will probably be more useful than a circular saw. As with circular saws, most jig…
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How to Choose the Right Softwoods for Your DIY Woodworking Project
European redwood (often called Scots pine or deal) is one of the cheapest and easiest woods to buy. It is suitable for nearly all d-i-y jobs both inside and. with…
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How to Make Holes in Wood by Drilling
If you want to make large holes in wood, you will probably need some kind of saw. For making small holes, you need a drill (or a brace) and a…
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How to Mark and Test Circles and Curves
There are two basic tools for marking out circles and curves - compasses and dividers. Both can be used for most woodworking jobs rounding the ends of boards and cutting…
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How to Mark Out in Woodworking
The positions for cuts, holes and so on in wood are usually marked with a pencil, with a knife or with a pin attached to a gauge. Lines for cutting…
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How to Measure and Mark Wood
Nearly all woodworking jobs involve measuring and marking of one kind or another. The sort of tool you need depends on the distance to be measured, the accuracy wanted and…
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How to Mark, Cut, and Mortise Gauges
Three main types of gauge are used for marking timber - marking gauges, cutting gauges and mortise gauges. Each is used to make one or more parallel lines before cutting.…
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How to Saw Wood with Back Saws
Saws which have a rigid brass, steel or sometimes even plastic back along the top edge of the blade are covered by another generic term - back saw. The back…
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How to Saw Wood with Curve-Cutting Saws
There are three main narrow-bladed hand saws used for cutting curves in wood the bow saw, the coping saw and the fret saw. A keyhole saw may also be used…
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How to Saw Wood with HandSaw
The word handsaw is a generic term covering the three main types of saw which are similar in appearance - crosscut saw, panel saw and rip saw. All three have…
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How to Stack Shelves Woodworking Plan
One of the most popular uses for both solid limber and faced chipboard around the home is for making shelves. Typically, these are fitted in natural alcoves formed between a…
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How to Use a Bench Plane
The main difference between the three bench planes is the length of the sole plate and this determines how accurately wood can be planed flat and straight in theory the…
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How to Use Replaceable-Blade and Block Planes
Replaceable-Blade Planes These are designed mainly for people who do not have the facilities for sharpening blades or who simply prefer the convenience of replaceable blades. A replaceable-blade plane can…
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How to Use Sharpening Planes
Flat plane blades called plane irons and chisels are fairly easy to sharpen; tools with curved blades are more tricky. All blades have two angles a grinding angle of 25…
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How to Work With Blockboard and Laminboard
Blockboard and laminboard are similar both have a core of wood strips, sandwiched between veneers. The strips all run one way, so that the boards are as stiff as natural…
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How to Work with Chipboard
Chipboard is made by gluing together small resin-coated particles of timber under heat and pressure. The particles usually lie parallel to the surface of the board. It is one of…
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How to Work with Hardboard
Hardboard is a fibre building board made by taking timber (less the bark and knots), pulping it and then hot-pressing it into thin sheets. Hardboard is not very stiff and…
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How to Work with Medium-Density Fiberboard (MDF)
Medium-density fibreboard (MDF) is the latest in the family of fiberboard which range from soft board (used mainly for thermal and acoustic insulation) to hard-board. Like all fibreboards, MDF is…
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How to Work with Plywood
Plywood is made of thin sheets of wood joined together with various grades of glue. The thin sheets (veneers) are usually peeled from around a log, so they can be…
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How to Fix Cladding
Walls and ceilings can be given the look of natural wood by either putting up planks of tongued-and-grooved softwood cladding or fixing sheets of man-made wallboard. Tongued-and-grooved softwood is machined…