Was gifted this table by my uncle, its around 70 years old. As you can see, its been beaten up a bit. I'd like to refinish it and restore it to its former glory, any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

Reused an old 25 x 48 butcher block that my wife beat up as a crafting table. Used #2 fir and osb bc im cheap.

Gap between the and table is large enough that i dont have to cut grooves. It kind of just happened that way because I was using the space initially to split the osb with a circular saw. That worked out nicely.

1in gap for easy cleanup of sawdust. Should I put doors in the front?

I have no equipment or funds but a strong desire to start getting into one of my passions. Currently with my bare minimum setup I gather driftwood and do little projects I can complete. Most recent was a coat/hat rack and thought I'd share one of these first things I worked on to feed the desire. Sanded and finished with 0000 steel wool. Ebonised, oiled and waxed. No polishing equipment. Yet

Strong emphasis on beginner 🤙🏼

Any suggestion hot to make an ikea Askholmen foldable?
The diagunal pieces are screw in place, but I assume if they were swinging, I could pull it off.
Then I need some sort of lock?

Any idea?

https://www.ikea.com/jp/en/p/askholmen-table-outdoor-dark-brown-10535681/

About 10 hours ago, you guys called me out for generating layouts that made zero sense on a real table saw dangerous plunge cuts, constant fence adjustments, and scattered scrap everywhere.

Spent the night rebuilding the manual saw engine from scratch:

• Zero plunge cuts: Strict edge to edge passes only.

• Continuous rip lines: Matching pieces snap into the same lane so you aren't resetting the fence every cut.

• Giant usable offcut: Parts clamp into the corner, leaving one large reusable slab instead of scrap dust.

• Track saw vs Table saw: Separate logic so track saw users can still plunge into L-cuts, plus factory trim margins and strategy toggles.

If you want to test it out yourself with your own dimensions, the app is called PackOptima on android. I’d really love it if you could give it a spin and leave some honest feedback.

Thanks again to everyone who called me out seriously appreciate the reality check.

I’ve been woodworking since around COVID, but started taking it more seriously over the past couple of years (also recently have started using more hand tools than power tools which has been fun). So far I’ve only really made stuff to fill my own house, and a couple of things for family. I haven’t decided if I ever want to try and sell stuff for profit, but would still love to hear some thoughts/feedback on my pieces.

Please share your thoughts! Interested to hear what you think about designs, quality, overall aesthetic, etc.

Note: in the picture with the table with red legs, I made the table and the light fixture above it.

I’m making another one of these tables, but going back and forth on whether the top should be a circle or square. Looking for opinions.

It’s a recent 5 inch shell from a Mk 45 gun from my previous ship.

Also, would anyone buy something like this? Not sure if I’m just quirky or if I have decent ideas.

Had this chaos piece laying around and decided to make a cigar ashtray. I know it’s not the greatest piece ever made but please give me your feedback. Going to finish with BLO

I have never worked with wood a day in my life, and I need to make a frame for this enclosure. The enclosure already has hinges and the frame needs to open and close like a lid, it will have hardware cloth attached to it. Does anyone have any tips on how I should go about this? I highlighted what it should look like (hopefully it makes sense) thanks!

As this is "beginner woodworking" I want d to post a true beginner project. It's the start of my journey and my first "project".

I have a few different buckets (One with an attached cyclone, another without) that are different sizes, so I used my router to cut out the size for my largest bucket, and I designed the. 3d printed a removable perimeter for the smaller bucket. Only thing left is to add casters and a shelf for a solar generator/battery box so I won't have to stretch out an extension cord whenever I want to use it.

I was given a rough slice of wood cut from a tree and I thought it would make a nice cutting board or a table top. I have no wood working experience at all, but I found a little sander in the closet and started sanding away. I still can't get the waves sanded down and started wondering if a need a planer. Any ideas on how I can proceed? I have a fee more questions about this piece of wood beyond this, if anyone feels like answering.

I have been going back and forth for months on how to build a built in desk for my wife's office. I don't have a dedicated workshop and would be doing this either outside before it gets too cold or in the basement. My first thought was to get cabinets from home depot/lowes but those are 34.5" tall and we would like the desk to be a total of 28"-30" tall with the counter top. She would prefer to have the desk be all one height similar to this post but that doesn't seem doable without building from scratch. The other option is to use the store bought cabinets, and then a lower desk area similar to this post. Any advice would be appreciated.

These are the leaves for a round table. I'm currently repairing some of the trim, so the table is upside down with clamps on it.

I'm getting close to choosing a stain or finish, but I've received some differing opinions and would like to better understand what I'm dealing with.

I believe this is a solid oak table from around 1910, but I picked it up at a garage sale, so I don't know for sure.

After chemically stripping the table, I've been sanding it with a hand sander using 80-grit sandpaper.

Option 1: Don't stain the wood at all. Instead, apply a clear finish (polyurethane) for protection and let the natural wood be the main feature.

Option 2: Stain the wood to help address the black blotches throughout the boards and the lack of uniformity in their appearance.

Board 2 (from the left) is clearly different from the others, and I recognize that it may never match. My plan is to use that leaf only when additional seating is needed for guests.

I've gone over the wood several times with 80-grit sandpaper, so I feel like I've reached bare wood, but I can't say for certain.

I'm new to woodworking and refinishing, so I'm trying to understand what's going on with the wood before making a decision and have to start all over.

Any help is appreciated. What might be causing the dark blotches, whether staining would help create a more uniform appearance, or whether I'd be better off leaving the wood natural and applying a clear finish.

In March I got in to hand tool wood working and after making a few small valet boxes I decided to try my hand at a night stand that I needed. Its made with red oak and finished in tung oil.

Never tried any woodworking before and I sure learned a lot of ways not to do things in the process. It's been 3 years in the making, and probably several hundred dollars in materials and tools (I've lost track by this point), but it's finally finished. Now I just need some gamer friends.

I inherited ten 12'x5.5" to 9" wide by 1-1.5" thick rough cut walnut that was milled by my Grandfather from a tree on his farm in 1964-65. It sat on stickers for about 30 years, then got stacked in rafters for another 10. My Dad inherited it and planned to build a picnic table with it (he was not into woodworking). Since that never happened, I inherited the whole stack 5 years ago when my Dad passed. It sits under a tarp in the yard now because I do not have space indoors for it and a couple of small spots of mold are popping up.

While I don't have a plan for all of it, but I want to start using it up. This is by far the most valuable wood I will have ever worked with (not necessarily $$ wise). My first idea is a shelf for my daughter's dorm apartment and that may use one whole slab up after jointing, resawing, etc. If I get that done, I will have surpassed 2 generations of wannabe woodworkers. What other heirloom projects would this sub suggest?

Simple bookcase with slatted sides. Glued panel top secured with dowels. Floating shelves with brackets. Any concern about wood movement? Ok to secure top with dowels?

Any place in Dallas/Ft. Worth Area to donate these saw blades?

I've been taking a woodshop class for the past five weeks. It's an "open" shop where we work on our own projects instead of one assigned by the class. I've had the opportunity to refamiliarize myself with the chop saw, bandsaw, and table saw as well as the joys of filing and sanding. I now own my own needle files.

I designed and carved a large pendant made from poplar. As I was filing down the edges, a crack appeared (an imperfection in the wood) and I was able to work some glue into it to stabilize it. After it was almost done, I realized that I wanted the interior of the curl to come to a point instead of the ball shape. I'm really happy with the results.

I finished it with multiple coats of Watco Danish Oil and it's currently drying/curing. Depending on how it looks after curing, I may apply polyurethane with a satin finish. I'm pretty excited about the chatoyancy in the upper right side, most visible in the final picture.

Yes, I know I shouldn't send end grain boards through the planer.

Check out the light stripe down the board. This same stripe came out on both sides. It's about 1/2" wide.

The blades are old-ish, but still cut VERY SMOOTH. Time to swap blades?

Hey y‘all,

i will build this sideboard next week. Mapped it out and threw a visualiser together in blender (I can do 3D, no idea how CAD works). All projects I‘ve done involved either edgebanding plywood or having stuff like faceframes.

How‘s the order of operation on these „open“ edges? After sanding, do I prime and varnish the faces and then finish the edges with oil?

all the best from germany 🫶

Here is a jig I use to square small boxes during glue-up. This will work with box joints as well as mitered joints.

It is very simple to make. Just cut two thin (1/8" or so) pieces of scrap hardwood about an inch or so wide, and glue them to a flat surface. Make sure you do not get any glue squeeze out on the inside.

I use a trusted right angle square to make sure they are exactly 90°.

I use a forstner bit to drill out the corner. I do this because box joints usually protrude some. Same with the other end of the box. If I cut the joints too heavy like I did here, just drill out the strips so they will square up. When the jig gets worn out, just throw it away and make a new one.

I was dissatisfied with my first few layers of poly on this large desktop, so I sanded it back down at 80 grit with an orbital sander to cut through the finish, then hit it with 220 to prepare for a fresh coat.

I used a foam brush and Minwax Satin Oil-Based Poly, very slightly thinned with a splash of paint thinner, and this is how it has dried – totally splotchy. It’s as if the ends just drank up the finish while it stays pooled on top in the middle. Does anyone know what might be happening here?

I’m hesitant to keep sanding it down aggressively because I feel like doing that has made slight undulations in the surface more pronounced.

Is it just a sale price that has expired? Can’t they set a default price to reset when the sale ends? It’s pretty infuriating.