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Me and the "one square at a time" chess board again (my one and only woodworking project)... I'm edging the individual squares with a double layer of smoked oak veneer using Semforite UF resin glue. The first layer is stuck and sanded to size (veneers contribute to the final dimensions), then...

I have eight strips of wood that need "channels" cutting into the faces. These are functional (to give fingertips a place to grip when lifting what the strips surround) but they are in full view so there's a design and decoration aspect too. They need to be neat and tidy and nicely finished like...

From reading comments and talking with people over the years, it appears the majority (edit: of woodworkers) prefer a rubbed-out satin finish on wood rather than mirror/gloss. Why? Even if it's not a majority, the question remains. Why do (at least some) people prefer a satin finish over a...

I've finally chosen the veneer combinations for my first chess board build. They're pictured here on random test blocks at various stages of experimental finishing and re-finishing. That is, they don't look their best here, but show the selection made. The walnut and maple veneers are for the...

My two worst, recurring habits (woodworking related) are... 1. Hurrying up (nowhere) near the end of sawing. After a long stretch of careful and/or strenuous sawing, I often find myself starting to put subtle downward pressure on the saw and speeding up. I know it causes issues nearly every...

OK, we all do. But for this particular task of making square sapele blocks to insane accuracy, my "manual edge fettler" works better for me. It's way more efficient and much more accurate! I struggled with the sheer hardness of this wood and the masses of grain reversals when trying to shoot it...

I was determined to NOT buy any new tools after my recent return to woodworking but already succumbed to a Japanese saw. I'm really glad I did though! It made the repetitive task of accurately hand-cutting blocks from hardwood stock a lot easier and I get *much* more accurate results (and...

I thought I'd try a japanese saw for cutting square hardwood blocks. I made a simple magnetic jig and cut a few pieces off the end of a length of 66mm x 26mm sapele. I had planned to build a shooting board and a plane skid for further sizing and refinement of the blocks after sawing as they...

I've returned to woodworking after not doing much since I left boat building, around 40 years ago. I did continue using my small collection of hand tools for all carpentry around the house but never tackled "for fun" projects and didn't buy (many) new tools in the interim. I was well out of...

Hi, I'm looking for an alternative to smoked oak veneer which I've been using for edging recently. It works quite well, but until the finish(es) are on, it's very easy to split out long stringy bits of grain which are tough to repair (invisibly). The most vulnerable period is during trimming of...

Hi everyone, I joined the forum yesterday, so just a note to introduce myself. Although woodworking played a part in my distant past it's only received sporadic attention since then because of a career change and my main, long-term hobbies crowding it out. These being microscopy and...