A quick over view, the problem with PVC and other thermoplastic pipes is that they are not designed for compressed gas delivery. They are designed for the delivery of water and liquids. Water and most liquids do not compress, thus the world of hydraulic jacks and the like.

Ok, so PVC isn’t intended for liquid delivery so what happens if I use it for my air delivery system? Well, for a time the pipe will work, but if it fails it will get ugly very quickly. When a PVC pipe is filled with a compressed gas and the pipe breaks, a tremendous amount of kindetic energy is released (i.e. the compressed gas expands back to 1 atm). The PVC pipe is brittle and will break into shards and they will be sent flying through out the room. This can be very lethal to you or your kids.

The recommended material is thick walled copper tubing which can be very expensive depending on your hard line run length.

The best alternative is galvanized pipe. The biggest concern is water build up in the line which will led to rusting and metal fragments going into your pneumatic tools. The solution is to set up the hard line with a slope in it. Have the line slope from the air compressor to the furthest end. At the end of the run install a Tee and a drip leg with a ball valve at the end. Use a six inch nipple for the drip leg. During the day the water that is compressed out of the air will slowly drain towards the lowest point in the line, your drip leg. At the end of the day open the ball valve and drain the water out.

If you really want to have some fun and noise, turn off the air compressor and drain the line when it is fully charged. That will blow the water out of the line!

Tags: air compressor, hard air supply line

The general technique is to paint the wood with a light color, preferably a slightly off white or light cream. Don’t use a high gloss paint. Use a low luster enamel paint.

A high gloss pure white paint will not look right. Why? Remember that as paint ages it darkens and yellows a bit and the paint loses some of its luster and shine. The intended purpose of this finishing technique is to make the piece look old.

The darker the base paint color is the harder it will be to make it look aged, so stick with a lighter color.

Supplies that you will need:

• Low luster enamel paint in an off white (egg shell) or light cream color.
• Stain - This can be either a water or oil based stain. Avoid the gel stains as they are too thick and tend not to work so well with this technique. Select a soft brown colored stain.
• 100% cotton rags. Old worn out socks, underwear, T-shirts work really well. The rags need to be 100% cotton as synthetic materials do not absorb the stain properly and could chemically react with the stain.

The steps:

1. Distress the piece. Using a variety of tools hammer, chain, nails, knife, etc. The purpose here is to age the piece of furniture and make it look like it has been around for decades and has taken the wear and tear of daily use and abuse. Use the nails to make holes that look like worm holes in the wood. Use the knife to make small cuts and groves into the wood. A chain is handy to hit the surface to give it nice rounded dents and dimples. Have fun with this step, but don’t get too carried away, as the age related “damage” should look natural.
2. Paint the piece with the light colored base paint with a paint brush. Keep the brush strokes in the same direction as the wood grain. Seeing brush strokes in the dried paint is very desirable, since back in the old days, everything that was painted was painted with a brush.
3. Once the paint has dried take a rag, dip it into the stain and rub it lightly into the painted surface. The stain will soak into and collect in the distressed holes and dimples. The stain will also collect in the crevasses of the brush strokes. Rub extra stain into the areas where dirt and dust would naturally collect, around the edges, in the corners. If the piece has a raised panel design rub extra stain into the corners of the raised panel.
4. Let the stain dry. Apply additional coats of stain to get the desired look.

This technique is very simple and really you can’t mess it up.

Tags: How To Distress Wood With Paint, distressed paint finish, Creating a distressed painted finish

What is so great about carbide tipped saw blade or router bit?

Tungsten carbide is an extremely hard metal that holds its profile and edge much better than any of the high speed steel alloys. It is also very brittle.

How can I tell if a saw blade is carbide tipped?

Look at the tips of the saw blade if the tips have a darker square metal on the ends that is slightly thicker a than the saw blade body, it is carbide tipped.

How to identify carbide tipped router bits.

Carbide router bits have a steel body with the carbide metal being attached to the cutting face of the router bit. The carbide will run the length of the cutting face of the router bit. It will also extend about a 1/16 of an inch beyond the steel body. The carbide plate is typically about 1/8 of an inch thick.

Helpful video on caring for your router bits

When shopping for router bits, purchase quality tungsten carbide tipped router bits and saw blades. Why? Because of the hardness of the carbide bits, they will hold their edge and stay sharper much longer than their steel counter parts. Carbide tipped router bits are more expensive than high speed steel; however, the carbide tipped router bits will last a lot longer.

My father-in-law used to only use high speed steel router bits and complained about how quickly they became dull and started to burn the wood he was routing. Most all of his wood working projects were made from red oak.  He questioned why I would spend so much more for a carbide tipped router bit. I told him that I could get multiple times the linear feet cutting feet before the bit became dull and needed to be sharpened.

He didn’t believe me until…

A few years ago we decided to make cutting boards for all of the extended family as a Christmas present. We choose to make them out of soft maple, yeah soft is an understatement, it is a much harder wood than white oak. That way the cutting boards would be able to stand up to years of use.

Once we cut out the boards we decided to round over the edges with a 1/4 inch round over bit to take the edge off of the corners and sides. I installed my carbide tipped 1/4 inch round over bit into router table. After rounding over the edges of the twenty cutting boards, he was sold on the fact that carbide tipped router bits do hold their edge for a lot longer than HSS.

So, when shopping for router bits, spend a little bit extra and get a quality carbide tipped router bit.

In my stair case articles, I neglected to write about when it is necessary to add a third stringer to support the stair case. I would go to a third stringer when the stair case width exceeds twenty four inches. I like a solid feeling staircase. Walking up and down the staircase I shouldn’t feel the staircase bounce or flex. I have seen track home builders locally who have built 36″ wide stair cases using only two stringers and these are stairs that run straight from the first floor to the second floor. With just one set of jacks supporting the stringers roughly in the middle of the run, if that. Boy, did those stairs have some flex in them!

Staircases that have a landing you can go with a wider width using only two stringers, if you want to. If the landing is half way between the first and second floors you should still add a third stringer if the the stair case width exceeds twenty four inches. Now, if the landing is close to the first floor, then the small section of staircase you could push it to thirty or thirty six inches before adding the third stringer. These small sections of the stair case are short enough to allow for a wider span and still being fairly stiff.

A stiff and firm staircase is important for a couple of reasons:

1. It feels good and makes the person walking on the stair case to feel secure and confident that they are not going to fall down.
2. A flexing staircase tends to damage its finish especially if the treads are hardwood and finished with stain and varnish. The finish will crack and will look ugly.

A good practice is to test your stair case when it is roughed in. Walk up and down it. Have some friends and or family members walk up and down it all at the same time. Plenty of load on the stair case will quickly let you know if you need to reinforce the stringers to make it stiffer.

Tags: Woodworking stairs, building stairs, building wooden staircase, woodworking cutting out stairs

I have not built on yet, my yard is a little too small especially with three young, growing kids running around in it. This will be a nice weekend project to build. I found a couple of sites offering free wheelbarrow planter plans that look really nice and are easy to build.

Runner Duck Wheelbarrow

Build easy Wheelbarrow

Viki’s Wheelbarrow

When you have completed it, send me a couple of pictures of your completed project and a commentary on how your building experience went making this project. Will gladly show them off here on the site.

I am still using the 30 micron bags that came with the dust collector. I have been thinking about upgrading to the 5 micron bags. The 5 micron bags will reduce the performance of the dust collector slightly, by how much I am not sure.

I have not heard about the 50-740 dust canister. From what I could find, according to Amazon it is an add on to the AP400; however, at the Delta / Porter Cable website their literature indicates that it is an upgrade for the 50-850 dust collector. The 50-850 dust collector moves 1200 CFM were as the AP400 moves 650 CFM. I suspect that the filter will have a noticeable reduction in air flow on the AP-400 because of its lower overall CFM.

Another thing that will affect the performance of the dust collector is the distance between the dust collector and the power tool. Something that most people don’t realize is that flex duct, which is what is used for connecting the dust collector to the power tool, has a 30% air flow resistance compared to straight pipe of the same diameter. So, in short using the minimum amount of flex duct between your dust collector and the shop tool will greatly increase the amount of suction and thus dust / particle collection.

Yes, you do need a larger vortex chip and large particle separator. The five gallon bucket just isn’t going to cut it. As I talked about in the Delta ShopMaster AP400 Dust Collector, I am using a 30 gallon metal trash can with a Trash Can Cyclone Lid from Woodcrafters.

Tags: Delta AP400 Dust Collector, Delta 50-740 Dust Canister

“I was browsing through your wood working site and I’m in a bit of a dilemma.

I do nunchuck seminars for kids and I’m trying to produce a few sets of nunchucks myself to keep their costs down, but my issue is the octagonal shaping. I was wondering whats the best way to cut the octagonal shape on a 1 inch piece diameter wood. Say I had a square 1×1 inch x 12 inches long (so thin but long piece) . Im not looking for any tapered or bent pieces. Just straight across same diameter throughout the whole length.

I thought I could run it through the table saw at 45 degree tilted blade 4 times to cut each corner off, but is there a better method with other tools since my piece of wood is thin? Router? Shaper? What tools would you say are the best to get this job done quickly, effectively, and precisely.

Also is the drill press the best way to put like a 5/8’s hole through the top?

Any help would be appreciated…”

Nunchuck seminars… cool. As an a side my wife and girls are in Tae Kown Do, they have not yet progressed to weapons, but I wouldn’t be surprised if one of them shows an interest.

Ok, back to your question on how to make an octangle out of a square.

The simplest method that I have found using the table saw as you described. Now what you can also do is install a sacrificial board against the rip fence to protect it from the saw blade. I like to use 3/4 inch hardwood or hardwood plywood. Install it against the face of the ripe fence facing the saw blade. This will move the fence a little further away from the saw blade.

The other thing you can do is use a couple of feather boards to keep the tight against the rip fence and pressed firmly down on the table. That way you don’t have to be concerned that the piece is going to get away from you and accidentally get hurt by it.

As for drilling the holes on the ends of the sticks, a drill press will work if you have a long enough of a reach. A bench top drill press does not have enough clearance, even with the table moved out of the way to accommodate the stock to bore a hole in the end. Even if it did then next problem you face is keeping the stock still and keeping it parallel with the drill bit.

A horizontal boring machine makes drilling thse holes a snap. My father-in-law has a Shop Smith that can easily be turned into a horizontal boring machine. The nice thing about this setup is being able to use the rip fence and table top. By clamping a couple of cleats parallel and on either side of the drill bit and positioning the fence a little more than twelve inches away from the end of the drill bit I have a nice jig to repeatedly drill the same size, location and depth hole into each of the stickes.

I would drill the hole into the end of the stick first before clipping the sides off with the table saw.

Have you considered using dowel rod for the nunchuckes? That would eliminate the need to clip the ends and now all you would need to do is drill the hole in the top of each stick.

The easiest way to make replacement tongue and groove strips is to use a router mounted in a router table. You could route the tongue and grooves free hand. However, there is good chance of tipping or tilling the router as run the edge and accidentally messing up the edge.

Using a table mounted router install feather boards above to apply downward pressure to keep the board from lifting up while it is being run through the bit. Also install a feather board on the table to keep the board firmly against the router fence.

There are several tongue and grove router bits on the market to choose from. Most all of them are 1/2 inch shank. You might find a 1/4″ shank, but I would not use it. There is just too much load on the bit while you are routing the boards.

Installing a hardwood strip floor over a wooden subfloor

First off, you need to rent a pneumatic flooring nail gun. It is a big odd looking nail gun. Position the next strip and place the nail gun on the tongue side of the strip. Strike the nail gun with a heavy mallet, your 22 ounce framing hammer is not heavy enough.

The nail gun will do two things, first the hard blow with the heavy hammer will drive the strip of flooring against the previously installed one and then the nail gun will fire a nail in the newly positioned strip. After nailing you will notice that the nail is not completely counter sunk into the board. That is by design. The nail should be below the surface of the board.  When the next board is put into place the board will be driven against the previous board’s nail and it will lock the two boards together, keeping both of the strips tight to the sub floor.

Are the nails sticking out above the surface of the board? Then you are not hitting the nail gun hard enough. Get a heavier hammer and hit the nail gun harder.  Are you worried about breaking the nail gun? Don’t be, unless you are a huge body builder and are hitting it with a 50 pound sledge hammer. The tool is designed to work this way.

Installing a hardwood strip floor over concrete

The only way to secure the strips to the concrete subfloor is to glue them down. It is going to be a sticky, smelly task. Strip flooring is not designed to be free floating like some of the laminate flooring systems are.

Have fun enjoying installing your hardwood floor and enjoy its beauty for years to come.

Tags: tongue and groove, tongue and groove flooring, strip flooring

About twenty years ago I saw an advertisement for a multi function folding work bench where a hand held circular saw could be mounted into it to turn it into a mini table saw. I search around, but was unable to find the name of the bench or the manufacture.

It really depends on what you want to do with it, such a table saw will not help you produce accurate cuts for building furniture. It might be ok for rough framing work.

The other thing to keep in mind stability of your table saw. The last thing you need is a wobbly table saw that will tip over while your in the middle of ripping a long board.

Personally, I would focus on getting a quality table saw that will meet your space, budget and building desires. I have a Ryobi BT-3000 table saw that I picked up used for $300 and it came with the side extension table and a Ryobi 1 3/4 horse power router. The biggest down side to the table saw is that it uses a universal 15 amp motor, the same as what is found in most hand held circular saws. It just isn’t quite powerful enough to cut through thick hardwoods. To compensate for the lack of power I use a Freud thin kerf 10 inch saw blade.

If you have the space and budget go up a step to a contractor’s table saw. There are several good models available on the market that will give you accurate cuts. Consider the offering of Ridgid, Delta and Jet.

What if my budget does not allow me to buy a brand new table saw?

Don’t give up on the classified ads in your local newspaper. Here locally we have what is the ‘Greensheet’. Which as named is a local weekly ‘newspaper’ really it is a paper filled with classifieds and a few little articles. People list stuff that they want to sell. Another source is www.craigslist.org. Craig’s list is an giant by city classifieds ads. You can find some really good deals if you take the time to look.

Tags: circular saw, table saw

Wood Paneling

In homes built in the ’70s and 80’s it was common for the builder to install 1/4 thick wood paneling in the living room. The paneling typically came in 4 x 8 foot sheets. To save cost the builder would have the paneling nailed directly over the studs, so there is no sheet rock behind it.

The paneling does not have the strength to hold much weight. If you can, I would anchor the mantel directly into the supporting 2 x 4s using wood screws.

Concrete

Not too many folks have concrete walls in their home, but if you do here are some fasteners that can be used to hang just about anything on your wall. Each of these solutions will require that you drill a pilot hole first, using a high quality carbide drill bit.

· Single expansion anchor. It is made from lead and uses a machine screw to expand the anchor in the pilot hole.

· Lag shield anchors. It has a ribbed body that splits and opens on the back end. Insert the anchor into the pilot hole; seat it by tapping it in with a hammer. This type of anchor accepts lag screws. As the screw is turns into the anchor the back end opens up and grips the concrete.

· Wedge anchor. It has a machine threaded end and the other end has the flare on it. Drill the pilot hole. Put the nut on the threaded end to protect the threads during installation of the wedge anchor. Tap the wedge anchor into the pilot hole. Tighten the nut. As the nut is tightened it will cause the flare to expand out and lock the anchor in place.

· Sleeved anchor. The sleeved anchor has either a hex head or Phillips screw head. Drill the pilot hole. Slip the sleeved anchor through the mounting bracket and into the pilot hole. Tighten the Phillips or hex head to expand the wedge and lock it in place.

These are some of the simplest and effective methods for mounting a mantel to a variety of wall types.

I have a couple of different solutions and tips depending on the type of material the wall is constructed from. Let’s talk about the different materials walls are constructed from and what fasteners work best.

Sheet Rock / Wall Board / Plastered wall

It comes in 1/2 inch and 5/8 inch thick material that is gypsum coated with paper on both sides. Fairly heavy and breaks easily. However, it has a high shearing strength. Most homes that have been built in the last thirty years the interior walls are covered with sheet rock.

• Molly bolts work very well. Drill a pilot hole and slide the molly bolt into it, until the flange reaches the sheet rock face. Turning the machine threaded screw will expand the back side and cause it to flare out and grab onto the back side of the sheet rock.

• Nylon drywall driller. They look like an oversized wood screw. Drill a pilot hole and thread them into the wall. Depending on the size most accept a #10 wood screw. I have been using them for a few years for hanging heavy objects on the wall and they work great. The nice thing about them is that you can remove them from the wall later on and cover up the hole!

Brick veneer

If you’re having the brick veneer installed, talk with the masonry contractor before they start the job. Ask them about inserting wooden anchor points into the veneer wall as they are bricking it up. It may sound a little odd to the masonry contractor but here is what my father has done on a couple of jobs years ago and it worked like a charm.

My father was hired to install the brick veneer around a fire place. The home owner wanted to hang a custom built wooden mantel on the brick veneer. The home owner showed my father how high off of the ground he wanted the mantel to be positioned.

As he was bricking the wall, when he got to the course where the middle of the mantel would be at, he mortared in a couple of 2 x 4s. What he did was take two 2 x 4s scraps that where about 10 to 12 inches long and hammered 12d galvanized nails half way into them on both of the wide sides. That is the 3 1/2 inch sides. Then instead of setting a brick he set the 2 x 4 with the 1 1/2 inch wide side facing out. This allowed for two 1 1/2 by ~12 inch wide wooden fastening points for the mantel.

Ok, so if you’re dealing with an already existing brick wall, the best results will be to use a toggle bolt. Using a carbide drill bit drill a pilot hole all the way through the mortar joint. Use the toggle bolt to hold the mantel’s mounting bracket to the brick veneer wall.

Plastic anchors drilled into the brick face will not hold a mantel very well. They are only good for light duty.

In the next post I will cover fasteners for wood paneling and concrete walls.

It is one of those products where lumber companies had a waste product (wood fibers, saw dust and wood chips) and wanted to make something out of it that they could sell.

Like the old saying goes waste not, want not.

How is it made?

What would have been waste wood is shredded down into course wood fibers, in a similar process that is used in the paper industry for wood pulp. The wood fibers and glue are mixed together into a course slurry.

Some MDF has a waxy feel to it. Well, some manufactures add wax to the mix as well.

The slurry is assembled into a thick mat. It is heated and pressed to the desired thickness. The heating and pressing drives the moisture out and allows the glue to bond well with the wood fibers.

Why is so heavy, but not very strong?

That is because MDF is made from wood fibers and glue, so it is fairly dense, but its strength comes from the glue. Where as solid lumber’s strength is in the wood cells interlocking and the species of the tree.

Home builders and furniture makers love this stuff.

1) It is dimensionally stable it does not expand or shrink with changes in the relative humidity. But don’t get this stuff soaking wet it will cause the wood fibers to swell up and break down the glue.

2) It is less expensive than solid wood, so they save money

3) It takes paint very well. I have seen new home’s where the closet shelves are made MDF.

How does MDF compare to solid wood?

Do you use MDF in your projects?

Personally I don’t like using it. The extra weight, difficulty to nail and lack of strength makes it a pain for me to work with. I prefer to work with solid wood and plywood for large areas.

Tags: medium density fibreboard, MDF, medium density fiber board

The majority of the mass produced furniture today are made of man made wood or what they call sheet materials. These types of materials are made from real wood although they aren’t as solid as the original wood from which it was made.

Man-made boards are of different kinds and the most common sheet is the medium density fiber board or the MDF. This type of sheet is made of sawdust combined with glue and then formed and pressed into sheets. This sheet is preferred by woodworkers because it is inexpensive, versatile and very decorative depending on the maker. It takes paint easily. Weights a lot, but has little internal strength.

Particle board or chipboard is a man-made wood that is processed just like the MDF although its texture is much rougher. Don’t get it wet because it will absorb water like a sponge, warp and break apart.

Another common type of man-made wood is plywood which is made up of different layers of wood that has been coated together into a sheet. The individual sheet’s grain pattern is oriented at right angles to each other. This gives plywood for its thickness a significant amount of strength. Plywood is very popular because of its many uses including furniture, homes and even boats.

The oriented standard board is made out of larger chips of wood up to three and four inches long and about a 1/16 of an inch thick. The strands are layer in a criss cross pattern, glued and pressed together. The glue that is used withstands the elements and is suitable for external use. Many home builders like it and use it as decking material for the second story of a home and the roof decking.

If you were made to choose between a cabinet made of solid wood and a cabinet made of man-made wood what would be your choice? Let me a comment.

Tags: Man-made-woods

There are two main categories for lumber hard wood and soft wood.

1. Hardwoods

Hardwood lumber comes from deciduous trees, which have characteristics like broad sets of leaves, capability to bear fruits or nuts, and dormancy during winter. These trees can be seen growing in regions with a temperate climate.

-Walnut

Walnut refers to a small family of flowering plants that is well known for the nuts and the lumber it produces. They belong to the order Juglandacaea family of the Juglandales order. The wood has a dark gray color to it.

The walnut tree produces a fine-textured and strong lumber. It is capable of resisting warping and shrinking. It is used in wall paneling, cabinets and gunstocks.

-Cherry

This tree species is closely related to fruit bearing trees like plums, peaches, apricots and almonds. They belong to the Rocacea family.

Aside from the edible fruit that cherry trees produce, it is also known for the fine-textured, shrink and warp-resistant lumber that reddens when exposed to sunlight.

Because of the lumber’s capacity to age well, it is commonly used in making cabinets, furniture handles, novelties and boat trims.

-Maple

This tree species grows well in cooler climates in the northeast US and Europe. It is typically used as an ornamental tree because of its autumn color and leaf shape. It belongs to the family Aceraceae. The tree is native to Northern America and Europe.

It also produces quality timber which is finely textured but is hard and strong. The lumber shrinks moderately, and the fact that it is durable is ideal for flooring, especially in bowling alleys.

2. Softwoods

Softwood lumber, on the other hand, is produced from coniferous trees with needle-like leaves. These trees are evergreen, and bear cones. They are used more as structures than decorations.

Some known softwood lumbers include:

-Pines

Pines are evergreen trees that have 210 species, all of which produces cones, timber and pulpwood. They belong to the Pinaceae family.

The lumber it produces doesn’t shrink, warp or swell. It also has a good finishing. It can be worked on easily because of its uniform texture.

Because of those characteristics, pines are used widely in building houses, panels, boxes, molds and furniture.

-Redwood

Redwoods, also called sequoia trees, are huge evergreen trees that are known for their reddish brown trunks that can grow up too 100 ft. It has a buttressed base to support the conical tree. All of the sequoia species belong to the Taxodiaceae family.

Redwood lumbers are known to be durable, and naturally decay-resistant. That is why it is preferred to be used in building outdoor furniture as well as fencing and house sidings.

I recall seeing an episode of This Old House when they were out in California and they showed an old train station water tank that was completely built from redwood. They were taking the water tank apart and recycling all of the lumber. This water tank was around 100 years old! No rot or decay in the wood. Unfortunately find old growth redwood is extremely hard to come by.

-Spruce

Spruce grows in the farther north, where it converges with the Arctic forest. It belongs to the Pinaceae family, together with cider, pine and fir. It has woody leaf bases and pendulous cones, its distinct characteristics.

The spruce lumber is resistant to decaying. It shrinks moderately too and has a nice finish. More so, it is lightweight.

That is why it is ideal in spars and masts in boats and wooden parts in aircrafts, boxes/crates, and ladders.

-Cedar

Cedar is closely related to the tree mentioned previously. However, there are unique features that draw the line between cedar and spruce.

The wood produced from this tree species is naturally sweet in odor and reddish in color. It can easily be worked on.

It is the ideal wood in chest-making, Venetian blinds, dock planks, shingles, linings in closet, and novelties.

That is my short list of hard and soft woods. Feel free to add a comment for your favorite wood to use in your woodworking projects.

Tags: Know-Your-Woods