Category Archives: Lumber
The Wardrobe
I am, among many things, an opportunist. Two of my daughters, who share a big bedroom with no closet, have been after me to build them a proper wardrobe. I had been putting the project off because it was going … Continue reading
How to Mill Your Own Lumber on a Bandsaw
So you’ve got a log. Maybe its a tree that came down nearby, or maybe somebody heard you’re a woodworker and offered you a log. And you have a bandsaw. You start wondering if you can mill this log into … Continue reading
Can You Carve Spoons from Dry Wood?
Spoons and other “treen” are traditionally carved from green wood, cut fresh from the tree. The obvious advantages are that (1) fresh-cut wood is softer and generally easier to cut than dried wood, and (2) you don’t have to spend … Continue reading
Requiem for a Shade Tree
One of my favorite things about our little suburban yard has been the 100-year-old post oak tree–a species of white oak that you don’t see much down here on the coast. It was a beautiful shade tree, sheltering the west … Continue reading
A Little Dogwood
A friend of mine contacted me a couple days ago asking if I could help him take down some dead and dying trees that were leaning up against his house (and providing bugs with a convenient entry point). So I … Continue reading
Spalt!
It all began back in 2009 when a neighbor was having a pecan tree taken down. I came over to watch the arborist at work, and I asked if I could have part of the trunk. He kindly dropped a … Continue reading
Timber Framed Bunk Beds, part 2: A Pile of Lumber
The problem with timber framing is that you can work for days and days and look like you’ve done no work at all. Nearly a week ago, I began with a pile of lumber. After two solid days of hard … Continue reading
Timber Framed Bunk Beds, Part 1: The Plans
Last year, my wife warned me that the kids were growing out of their cribs and toddler beds, and that we would need to build them some bunk beds this summer. I started drawing up plans. The criteria: A three-tier … Continue reading
Identifying Some Mysterious Wood: Can You Guess?
Last fall while camping with some friends in the Florida panhandle, I came across some firewood that had been left at an adjacent campsite. There were five logs, all about 6″ in diameter and about 18″ long. Perfect firewood, I … Continue reading
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