| This blog is written by GnarlyErik | 36 entries so far |
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Shop Tips & Tricks #28: Pencil Nub Therapy
Woodworkers use lots of pencils. We wear them down to nubs, which then get lost in our pocket...
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Shop Tips & Tricks #27: Small paint jobs and touch-up painting.
Sometimes I use only small amounts of paints and varnishes out of a fresh can. I use only oil-bas...
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Shop Tips & Tricks #26: Naturally Grown Wooden Crooks and Knees
The subject of wooden ‘crooks’ (naturally grown ‘knees’) seems esoteric today, but so...
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Shop Tips & Tricks #25: SHOP AIDS and PICK-ME-UPS
The older I get the more I become compromised in physical flexibility. These days it can be a str...
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Shop Tips & Tricks #24: MAKE HAND SANDING ALMOST FUN!
Maybe the least fun part of any woodworking project requiring a nice finish is the smoothing and ...
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Shop Tips & Tricks #23: Drywall Screw Helper Kit
Here’s a little hack that I find very useful around my shop. Over the years I’ve realized how ...
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Musing of an Old Geezer #4: Play it Forward!
When I was a kid around seven or eight, entertainment choices were a lot slimmer then than now. L...
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Shop Tips & Tricks #22: How to Stabilize Anything With Legs
How to stabilize anything with legs – except maybe some politicians! It does not matter how...
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Shop Tips & Tricks #21: Jacking sideways, or "Walking the Jack."
Here’s an idea you may find useful some day. This trick uses a jack to safely move something hori...
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Shop Tips & Tricks #20: Curves, Fair Curves and the Lack of Them
”My curves are not crazy.” ~ Henri Matisse “There are no straight lines in n...
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Jigs and Tools #2: A Bee's Knees Wood Bender Thingy
(See update below, at bottom!) In a long career, I’ve used all sorts of rigs to bend woo...
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Shop Tips & Tricks #19: The Art of Middles of Symmetries
I don’t know why I did not think to include this as a part of my blog about centerlines si...
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Shop Tips & Tricks #18: The Zen of Sandpaper and Sanding
Many wood workers will already know these things, but for those who do not, here are a few pointe...
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Shop Tips & Tricks #17: Making Painting & Varnishing Easier, Cleaner and Cheaper
Today it occurred to me while working in my shop, I have used a little trick for decades which is...
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Musing of an Old Geezer #3: How the Germ of a Little Idea Becomes an Entire Fleet of Little Boats!
My daughter asked recently if I recalled the little ‘Note-In-A-Bottle’ ship I made fo...
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What I learned Making Tongue Drums
Thanks for your interest in the tongue drums - I apologize but I did not keep precise dimensio...
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Jigs and Tools #1: A One-Handed Clamp with a Deep Reach
Another Lumberjocker asked for plans for my One-Handed Clamp (Picture #1). So far as I know this ...
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Musing of an Old Geezer #2: Snark, and then some . . .
Years ago I was doing some work on a boat at a marina. The marina’s owner was a gnarly old ...
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Shop Tips & Tricks #16: How to Plane Stock very Thin
Planing very thin stock: Recently another Lumberjocker (John Hutchinson) asked for tips for pl...
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Laminating Wood #1: Laminating Wood, Part 1 - laminating curved parts in wood
Laminating Wood The word ‘laminate’ comes from the Latin ‘lamina’ meaning ‘thin slice, plate, ...
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Musing of an Old Geezer #1: Cumshaw Artists, The Thrill of the Hunt and Treachery
During my time in the Marines we called them ‘Cumshaw Artists’. The term refers to a person adept...
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Shop Tips & Tricks #15: Down and Dirty Proportional Dividers
Have you ever wished to scale something up or down, either from plans or from actual objects? The...
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Shop Tips & Tricks #14: “Repeat After Me”: Making identical parts in wood
Mold makers often use of this technique when making castings patterns. Layers of wood are tempora...
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Shop Tips & Tricks #13: Duplicating Parts in Wood and Smoothing Curves
Let’s say you need to made two, three or even four parts in wood, all precisely the same size and...
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Shop Tips & Tricks #12: Making Long, Round Things in Wood - with the Norwegian Dowel Cutter
Sometimes you need long round parts made from wood. Prior to the 19th century, specially made woo...
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Shop Tips & Tricks #11: MORE than you ever wanted to know about HOLES!
Don’t get too excited – this isn’t an article on porn or sex, but only about making holes i...
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Shop Tips & Tricks #10: Clamping Big Stuff
Here are some little tricks you can use when you are trying to clamp something bigger or longer t...
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Shop Tips & Tricks #9: Preventing End Grain splitting
You are faced with end grain splitting or tearing out when working some woods. Most woodworkers k...
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Shop Tips & Tricks #8: Laying out irregular areas and surfaces
The “Tickle Stick”Here’s a layout tip for boat work, and it comes in handy for ...
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Shop Tips & Tricks #7: Measuring Things - The Two-Foot Folding Rule
“More Than You Ever Needed to Know about Two-Foot folding rules” Let me say up front that I am...
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Shop Tips & Tricks #6: Measuring Things - Rulers Versus Tapes
“MORE THAN YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT SIX-FOOT FOLDING RULES!” Most people today use a flex...
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Shop Tips & Tricks #5: Centerlines - Finding, Marking and Using Them! (Part Two)
Here’s a little esoteric ‘how-to’ for those times you can not buy the ‘round’ you need in the siz...
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Shop Tips & Tricks #4: Centerlines - Finding, Marking and Using Them! (Part One)
When working with non-squared and oddly shaped things – like boats, you generally need star...
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Shop Tips & Tricks #3: “Declivity” - a trick for dealing with things out of level or plumb
With shipbuilding in the past – and for some larger vessels even now – boats were bui...
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Shop Tips & Tricks #2: Dividing a line or space into equal parts
I’ve heard people say ‘What good are learning things in school if you don’t use...
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Shop Tips & Tricks #1: Shop Tips
In the past, most old guys like me jealously protected their shortcuts and tricks to guard their ...
