This chest was designed to have a dual purpose: firstly (and most obviously) as a storage unit and secondly as a coffee table in a small living room. The shape is very basic, but is the most functional for storing toys and games in.

In order to improve the aesthetic appeal of the chest dovetail joints would be used to join the sides. Details of how to create easy dovetail joints has been included in the Joints section. However, it is not necessary to use dovetail joints: any form of jointing, such as dowel joints or butt joints could be used.

Construction: The base unit
…continue reading Storage Chest Plan

Building a magazine rack is a relatively easy project that you can complete in a weekend. It doesn’t require much wood so you may even be able to make it out of the odds and ends lying around in your workshop.

…continue reading Magazine Rack Plan

Jack asks, “I am building some cabinets for my kitchen and I am looking for a place to purchase some pre-finished plywood. Thank you.”

I have seen Norm Abrams use prefinished plywood on some of the projects that he built. I think specifically in the dream kitchen series that aired in the spring of 2008. Checking with the New Yankee Workshop on where they got their prefinished plywood from, they purchased it from Atlantic Plywood Corporation in Woburn, MA.

If you don’t live in Massachusetts area, …continue reading Prefinished Plywood - Where To Buy Cabinet Grade Prefinished Plywood

Eddie asks, “I want to put pictures i.e. stickers, photos, and other graphics on tables and would like to have a really gloss finish on them without damaging them. What finishing products can be used without damaging the pictures. Also any ideas on where to get graphics. Thank you.”

I have seen some really cool table top decorating finishing ideas. Scrapbooking is a very popular way to archive and collect family memories. But, in order to see them you have to open the scrapbook. What if made your table top into a scrapbook? Then you can view your family’s memories all the time.

There are two different ways you can do this, the first is a permanent table top where the pictures and graphics are embedded in the table top and cannot be changed. The second method will allow you to change out pictures and graphics as new family memories are created.
…continue reading How To Preserve Family Pictures In A Table Top

Jim writes, “How can you make a pre-stain wood conditioner? How do you make sanding sealer? I know that both are different.”

A pre-stain wood conditioner is used on soft woods like pine, fir, poplar to even out the absorption of the stain. Since softwoods are so porous they will stain unevenly and produce an undesirable finish. The wood conditioner fills in some of the open fibers.

I have never made my own pre-stain wood conditioner. I have always purchased readymade. I prefer to …continue reading What is the difference between pre-stain wood conditioner and a sanding sealer?

Regina asks, “I have an oak entertainment center. Its original finish was white wash. I would like to refinish it to match the golden oak color of my kitchen cabinets (as closely as possible). I’m using MinWax golden oak stain, but even after 2 applications, it still looks almost whitewash. Is there a pretreatment I should do?”

Hi Regina - Did you first strip the whitewash stain from the entertainment center? Applying the golden oak stain over the white wash stain will not give you the result you are looking for.

Satin, by its nature penetrates into the wood fibers which makes it a bit more difficult to strip off but not impossible. …continue reading How To Remove A Whitewash Finish

Rose asks, “Where can I purchase a pencil that writes white for marking wood projects?”

Making pencil marks that you can see on dark wood is difficult at best. The problem is that graphite, a.k.a pencil lead, does not show up very well when written on a dark wood. What to do?

Well, I have a few different options for you.
…continue reading How To Mark / Draw Lines On Dark Wood?

Angele writes, “I just had some wooden shutters installed and the finish is too shiny is there something that can be done to take away some of the shine?”

Polyurethane varnish comes in three different standard luster’s high gloss, semi gloss and satin same as paint does. Unlike paint, the more coats of the varnish that are applied to the finished piece the stronger the luster of the finish will be. I am not aware of any quick and easy way to reduce the luster of already applied varnish. …continue reading How To Lower The Gloss Of Polyurethane Varnish?