Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with carpentry

How can I attach legs to a table?

AAAAAThatsFiveAs — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 09:10:52 -0800

[CarpentryFilter]: What is the best way to (re)attach legs to a table? I inherited a lovely old table from a friend's father, and would like to refinish it.

I started by removing the rickety pull-out leaves from table, which made the whole situation less wobbly. Following this, I removed this leaf crosspiece thing with the intention of connecting the table top directly to the legs/apron(?).

What is the best way to attach this base to this top (underside here)?

I was considering using screws and small brackets, but found some talk online about the expansion/contraction of wood not lending it to being bolted together. FWIW, the tabletop is 31 1/2" x 44 1/4" x 3/4", and the apron is 2 3/4" long, and 3/4" thick.

Additional Pictures:
Close-up of table corner
Side-view of table

I have minimal carpentry experience, and the following tools at my disposal: Power drill/screwdriver, hammer, visegrip, all manner of wrenches, and a Home Depot two blocks away.

Thanks MeFites!

(Bonus question: What kind of wood is this, anyway, and what sort of stain/finisher would you recommend?)

How to quiet my creaking loft bed?

raygan — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:30:48 -0800

How can I minimize creaking/cracking noises from my new IKEA STORÅ Loft Bed? So, it's my first real New York apartment, and my room is pretty small. Not a closet, but pretty small. I knew I still wanted a full size bed (I'm a tall guy) and that a bed that size would take up most of the room, so I opted for a loft bed, so I'd still have room for a desk.

I picked this bed, the Stora bed from IKEA.

Three days later, I have the loft bed built, and it's my maiden voyage up the ladder. Ceiling height checks out; so far so good, and then...

Every motion I make, going up the ladder, getting under the covers, rolling over, is met by a loud cracking noise. We're talking about more than a simple creak; it's a series of loud, sharp cracks, with every motion of the bed.

So this is why they don't let you go up the ladder of the one in the store! I expected the bed to make some amount of noise, but this is rather more than I can deal with. I'm afraid my housemates are going to be woken up by it.

Is there any way to lessen the noise? I've tightened the bolts to no avail. Should I lubricate the joints somehow? Put carpeting under the legs? Cover it in duct tape and foam baffling? Please help, before I have to take a saw to this thing and turn it into a regular bed!

Re-purposing found butcher block wood.

wfrgms — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 17:58:22 -0800

Carpentry-Filter: Can you help me identify this butcher block style wood, and figure out how to best cut, sand, and finish it for my project? Pics inside. I pulled this wood out of the dumpster at school. Apparently it was used as a large table top. At least some of it goes together, but broke/split during removal. Pics 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. It looks a little rough in the pics, but it's mostly smooth and solid.

I've been looking for some butcher block style wood for a while now as I really want to build floating shelves just like these in my bathroom. With the left over wood I may build a work bench or even use it for an actual cutting board.

As you can see in the pics the wood is lightly colored. It's very heavy and 1 & 3/4" thick.

So my first question is this: what type of wood is this? Would you consider it "real" butcher block, or is there a better name for it?

Second, how best to cut this? I'm thinking circular saw, but do I need any type of special blade or adjustment?

Third, what about sanding? I don't want to do it by hand, but I'm perplexed by what type of sander I should buy. Do I need a belt sander? An orbit? Palm? Detail?

Lastly, how can I finish it in a way that will bring out the natural wood, perhaps darken it some, and protect it in the high humidity environment of my bathroom? I won't be using food on this stuff, so the oil / beeswax treatment isn't necessary here.

Thanks for any and all advice and tips. I'm very excited to start working on this.

Help us design a simple outdoor bike shed

El Curioso — Thu, 28 May 2009 10:05:16 -0800

Help us design a simple outdoor bike shed combo. As a sort-of follow up to this question, we're having a wood fence put around our backyard, and we'd like to have a bike shed built and attached to it.

We're going to have to give the carpenters some directions, so we're trying to figure out the simplest ($), most efficient design to store two full-sized mountain bikes and a kid's bike. Some shelves would be nice too.

It will be up against the fence (back of shed against the fence), at the read end of the yard, facing the house, probably in a corner.

I envision the big bikes hanging vertically by their front tires, to minimize the footprint vs, say, a horizontal hanging rack. Shelves on the side for helmets, etc. Where should the kid's bike/pull-behind go? Can we fit a jogging stroller in there too?

Are there any good examples out there? How deep/wide/high? Any potential pitfalls or design quirks we should keep in mind?

Woodworking for beginners

Mave_80 — Mon, 25 May 2009 23:28:08 -0800

Looking for resources on carpentry. Online resources preferable but books OK. I'm looking for references on carpentry. I have some experience with woodworking projects - but pretty limited. Ideally the reference would start with the basics of woodworking and go up to advanced technicques and be useful as a reference guide. My interest would primarily be in furniture, cabinetry etc as well as DIY projects around the house.

I've seen this on Amazon and thought it looked a good fit - does anyone have any other suggestions? Something online would be even better.

I realise that doing a class would be best, but I'm actually based in the Netherlands at the moment, so finding an English class could be tough - although I know some are taught here. I'll try and look into this further.

Also if anyone really wants to chip in - advice on how to cut out a "U Shape" from inside a piece of wood? This would hopefully preserve both the cut out piece and the u shape itself.

Appreciate all your help in advance!

help me build a market booth

diode — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:25:37 -0800

I want to help my wife build a small market booth for selling her art. It needs to be about 4x4 feet in size. It also needs to be portable so that she can set it up on her own and fit it into the back of a station wagon. The booth is for keeping the rain and sun off so it needs rainproof tarp overhead, plus it's got to be stable enough not to tip over from occasional gusts. An umbrella is okay but most of them seem to go over when the wind kicks up. She's got a station wagon so any structure has to be broken down into pieces no longer than about 65" long. Bonus points if it is light and looks cool. Stable and keep the rain off are the main priorities plus fitting into the back of the car.

Learning Carpentry Skills

cascando — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 08:49:34 -0800

Please help me learn some carpentry skills. I live in Toronto. Does anyone know someplace I could volunteer to gain some work experience and some basic woodworking/carpentry skills? Or any programs or anything that they could recommend? I am currently kind of poor and can't take any large programs, but I can take some small courses I could pay for in cash, or can volunteer my time to learn skills on the job. I am looking for the kind of skills to do basic home reno, frame walls, etc. Thank you for any insights.

Clamping without long clamps

condour75 — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 07:30:30 -0800

How do I clamp a 3' long bookcase for gluing, without expensive long clamps? So I'm about to start my first carpentry project. I'm going to build a 3' wide x 4' tall bookcase with 12" x 1" pine, using dowel joinery. So I have my circular saw, my lumber, my drill and dowel jig, copious instructions from the internet and books. The one thing I don't really have, because I balked at the price, is the long cabinetry clamps that would be required for the glue-up, to clamp across the width of the whole case. They're 40 bucks each.

So... what's a poor man's gigantic clamp? Are there other ways to do this? I have weights and a couple cinder blocks, I could try rope, but I'm curious what the ask mefi woodworking team will say. Feel free to yell at me, too, if any of my plan sounds misguided.

(I realize this is a pretty big project to tackle as my first, but it's actually the test project for building much bigger bookshelves, and I've done some set-building in high school so I know basically how to use the tools)

Pimp my yurt?

ajarbaday — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:18:50 -0800

How can I make my yurt time special? What should I do with my new yurt?

I just moved into a tiny yurt, about 10 feet by 10 feet big and 6 feet tall. It's made of wood and sits in the West Virginia mountains. The ceiling is slanted, so there is crouching to get in and out of it. It's the smallest place I've ever lived, and I'll be living it for another six months. Does anyone have ideas for making it both more functional and / or special? There are a few small quirks:

1) It's drafty. There are many gaps in the boards, since the boards are set together and it's only one layer thick. I've thought about covering the walls in old blankets, cloth, or just tarping it, but I might just try to tough it out until spring.

2) There is storage space underneath the yurt, but it's not waterproof.

What would you do to make a small space with low ceilings feel like home? I have almost no carpentry skills, but I'd be willing to try simple projects. Are there any other ways that people have made their small, non-traditional spaces fun to be in?
I can give more specs on my new pad if people would like. Also, I do not have electricity. There is a larger yurt that has a kitchen, library, etc., so my smaller yurt is mostly like my bedroom.

Any and all suggestions welcomed, from the weird to the practical.

Thanks.

Post & Beam in Asheville, NC

Glendale — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 13:01:16 -0800

Looking for a Post & Beam construction job in Asheville, NC. Any suggestions? I have an excellent resume, great references, and pretty darn good cover letter. Unfortunately, I'll only be in Asheville from January-September 2009. I'm looking to work an entry-level position to gain experience. I've been working carpentry and remodeling for a few years now, and before that was doing high-end residential house painting.

Lying/stretching the truth about the amount of time I'll be with the company isn't an option for me. I'm looking to work with/for happy, down to earth folks that appreciate good hard work and an appreciation for detail and quality labor. Do you know any businesses (big or small) that fit this mold?

Handy(wo)man recommendations in Brooklyn?

Dr. Wu — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:38:31 -0800

Can anyone recommend a reliable, affordable handy(wo)man in Brooklyn / NYC? We have a chiffarobe/wardrobe thingy that we'd like to convert into an "entertainment center," which means the following things need to be done:

- side walls reinforced (they're thin);
- 3-4 shelves added;
- new panel cut into the front of the wardrobe;
- holes cut in shelves and back wall for the cords.

Nothing gigantic for someone with a little woodworking know-how and a reciprocating saw, but outside of my do-it-yerself abilities. (And outside the limits of my modest toolkit.)

I've found plenty of listings for handy(wo)men (at craigslist, e.g.), but it's very difficult to tell how reliable any of them are. I would love to know about a handy(wo)man whom you trust, who has good woodworking skills, and whose prices are reasonable.

We've gotten estimates from a few people, but the figures vary widely, and (the key point) we have no way of knowing whether any of these folks is reliable. Anyone you'd recommend?

Fixing a cabinet hinge

billtron — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:10:15 -0800

HandymanFilter: Due to leaking water, a part of the particle board wall of a cabinet in my kitchen has crumbled and the hinge on the cabinet door has been separated from the cabinet wall, as seen in this photograph. How would one go about fixing such a problem, short of removing the entire wall of the cabinet and replacing it with another piece of particle board? This cabinet is under a kitchen counter and in the corner of the room, which makes repair difficult.

Wood Futon Frame Plans

gzimmer — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 14:59:14 -0800

Looking for plans to build a futon frame out of wood. I bought a crappy used futon and paid to much. Unsurprisingly, after heavy use as a bed, there were too many points of failure for me to continue to "repair" it. I'm rather attached to the mattress though, since it's fairly comfortable (and the only thing keeping me from sleeping on the floor ATM).

I'm living with several people who have built their own lofts for their beds, so I'm not completely new to "carpentry", but the only plans I've found online have been rather unnecessarily complex and made for experienced woodworkers with far more tools than at my disposal.

Can anyone direct me to some straightfoward, barebones, stupid easy futon plans?

What would it take to make a cabin?

history is a weapon — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 18:13:28 -0800

How cheap is it to build a small house in the middle of the woods? Can someone with no carpentry skills do it? So my girlfriend and I are debating building a small cabin outside of the city. We're thinking less than a thousand square feet, basic electricity and plumbing, able to handle winter and rain, and mostly for weekends and short stays year round.

A lot of the prefab designs look like a basic living room area, a bathroom, and a sleeping loft. I think we're imagining something close to something like that. Basically a cabin for us to work or unwind.

How difficult would this be to build ourselves? How cheaply could we do it if we both participated in the construction? Could we build it ourselves with a carpenter? How long would it take if we dedicated real time to it?
We have some free time, a small budget, and want a space to go chill. If you were in our shoes, how would you do it?

Varnishing a burled redwood coffee table?

sub-culture — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 11:28:52 -0800

I'm at the point where I'm about to apply varnish to a burled redwood table top. What's best to bring out the details of the burl? Something of a followup to a question I posted last year and also related to a question posted by Felix.

I started with a somewhat damaged / wavy piece of burled redwood (image here) that I got on the cheap from a flea market. Rather than attempt to fix the warping, I'm calling it "character" and am focusing on finishing the top of the piece. I used a gel stripper to remove varnish on the top of item then sanded both sides up to 150grit.

The bark was too difficult to remove the varnish effectively so I basically used (at the recommendation of the hardware store clerk, who said using only stain wouldn't "stick" over the old varnish) a dark stain with some polyurethane in it to re-cover the bark and thus stain/varnish the entire edge with a dark shade that covers up any of the damaged areas where bits of bark were chipped off. The edge is somewhat glossy, but otherwise looks alright. My hope is that the end-state of the table will make the gloss bark stand out less.

My question is: what kind of varnish or stain procedure should I use to a) bring out any of the burl in the wood, b) seal the entire piece and c) even out the glossiness of the edge.

My thought was to re-sand the top and bottom to clean up the stain-job I did on the bark then go over both sides (do I need to do both sides?) and the bark with clear polyurethane coats. Will that be enough or should I use a varnish with some color in it to bring out the wood? I'd like to do it this weekend -- is the Minwax I find at Home Depot good enough for the job? And do I need to go over the bark again since I already stain/varnished it?

Will this even work?

boosh — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:18:06 -0800

DIY Woodworking - The step for my kitchen door was totally rotted through, so I chiselled out all the bad wood. Now what? The entire step had rotted, so it had to come out. Now I need to work out how to replace it without removing the surrounding brickwork. The main problems are:

- It's an old Victorian house, and there's not a straight line in the entire place.
- The step needs to join in to the existing woodwork (the rest of the wooden frame is sound).

These pics illustrate the current situation:

Overhead view | Straight on | Left side | Right side

Here's my rough plan:

- Use filler to get a reasonably flat finish on the concrete lintel.
- Paint well with bitumen paint to act as a damp proof course.
- Cut one piece of timber into three: two with projections that will slot into the brickwork on the left and right sides, and one rectangular piece to sit snugly in the middle.
- Treat all the wood, caulk the gaps between the pieces, sand down, paint.

The main thing I'm stuck on is how to securely attach the new wooden step to the concrete lintel. Long screws, or set pins into the lintel that slot into holes in the wood, or some kind of fancy glue? Or maybe the whole thing is a poor idea: I'd welcome any suggestions on the best way to proceed! It doesn't have to look flawless by any means, and I really don't want to start knocking bricks out.

Other info: south-east UK so no temperature extremes to worry about. Zero flood risk but it does have to withstand regular heavy rain.

Resources to learn to identify furniture-quality woods.

mumstheword — Sun, 25 May 2008 00:23:44 -0800

My daughter is beginning to learn to build furniture and has a particular interest in learning how to identify exotic and really any furniture-quality woods. She is a visual learner so pictures rather than wordy descriptions work best for her. She also wants to learn to mix woods in furniture pieces and loves to match wood grains, colors and textures. She already has a facility for this so needs something to help her build on her natural ability. Videos, books, websites would all be welcome.

To give context, she is in her twenties, creative, is ADD, and can totally immerse herself in something that really interests her. She hopes to make an avocation, or if possible a vocation of designing and creating furniture. She has a pretty good woodworking shop in our garage and other than working with a skilled mentor when they can get together (he's out of state), she is teaching herself. She's been at it for about 9 months.

DIY Ping Pong 101

roofus — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 09:10:31 -0800

What should the dimensions and surface of a DIY ping pong table be? I am intent on making a table tennis table top. I need help choosing the right material, and deciding if it's OK to vary from the official dimensions.

The official rules don't specify the exact surface of the table. Various recommendations suggest either Masonite, or MDF faced with melamine, or chipboard faced with melamine for the surface. Is any one of these preferable? If I buy a sheet in an odd colour, will I mess it up by repainting it green or blue?

The official dimensions of a table are 2.74 m (9 ft) long by 1.525 m (5 ft) wide. If I cut the table from a single 2.6m sheet of MDF (for economy), effectively shortening each side by 7cm, will that detract much from the playing experience? How easy is it to cut melamine faced MDF without making a jagged mess of the melamine edges?

Carrying Case Construction

adipocere — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 15:31:06 -0800

CarpentryFilter: What kinds of books/resources are available to someone who wants to make a wooden carrying case? I'm looking to make a sturdy, attractive wooden carrying case. You know how you might see an antique case for makeup, or perhaps a vampire-killer's kit full of bottles, straps for stakes, little drawers, and so forth? I'd like to build one of those, both with wooden joins but also with metal-finished corners and edges, perhaps bound with leather straps as well. I'd want to finish the wood with some kind of polish, perhaps a little engraving and painting, then polyurethane to seal it all. Functional, but also classy.

I did fairly well in woodshop but my skills have atrophied. Obviously, there will be an outlay in equipment. My local big box home improvement store doesn't have any relevant books on this kind of construction. While this branch of carpentry appears to be "cabinetmaking" according to Wikipedia, flipping through cabinetry books hasn't given me any clues.

I suspect that there is some particular name for this kind of carpentry that is the magic key to finding information from Google. Any texts on the subject would be appreciated.

Seattle-area bookcase company?

The corpse in the library — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 08:51:00 -0800

I want to have some bookshelves made for my living room. Any recommendations for a Seattle-area carpenter or company to do the work? Also, can you identify a furniture style for me (links inside) so I can describe the shelves I want? Here are some shelves I like:

shelf 1
shelf 2

Mine would be floor-to-ceiling and go around a corner, but I like the general look of these -- especially shelf 2. Simple, sturdy, like you'd find in a school library in the 1960s. Does this style have a name?

Best saw blade to cut LDF?

howling fantods — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 11:43:49 -0800

What type of saw blade should I use to cut LDF (light density fiberboard?) We're installing new baseboard in our house and the type we've been looking at is made of light density fiberboard (LDF.) We saw some pieces at Home Depot where customers had (presumably) cut with the complementary hand saw and the ends were very ragged. At our Rona store the associate cut us a sample with a power mitre saw and the cut was much cleaner.

So my question is, what type of blade should I use for my power mitre saw to get nice clean cuts? Will the 40-tooth carbide blade (10") that came with my saw suffice, or is there something better-suited to cutting LDF?

If anyone has experience working with this material I'd appreciate your input.

What kind of plywood should I buy fo a desktop?

robotdog — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 16:15:58 -0800

What plywood is guaranteed to be straight and rigid? i.e., suitable for use in furniture construction? I have never built anything before, but getting into the idea of carpentry and wanting to build this very-easy-to-make desk:
cheap desk

My problem is I don't understand all the wood choices at my local Lowe's... there seems to be so many different types of plywood and particleboard and mdf... some of the plywood is clearly warped and bowed... some of it appears to be relatively straight and rigid.

Since I want this to be a desktop I, obviously, want something that will not bow or sag.

How do I choose a plywood that will give me a flat, straight surface and will continue to do so after years of bearing weight?

How can I straighten/flatten a large slice of burled redwood?

sub-culture — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 08:53:02 -0800

At a flea market a while back I bought a pretty big (about 2'x4'x1.5") slice of burled redwood with the bark still attached. I'd like to turn this into a coffee table top, but it's warped. How do I straighten it? Problem is, when I bought the piece it had been varnished on one side and left unfinished on the other. As a result, the entire piece is warped. So far I've used varnish remover to remove most of the varnish on the finished side. The bark is a bit torn up so I plan to saw the bark off and round the edges. Should I cut the bark off before flattening it? And what's the best method for flattening it?

I asked someone at a lumber yard and he recommended putting it outside in the sun for a day or so with a heavy object on top to do the major work and then sand it. Since it's winter, this option isn't gonna work. Is there any other method I can use on my own? At my disposal are a hand sander, jig saw and hand tools. Thanks!

building a loft bed

entropone — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 13:25:11 -0800

I'm finally doing something to make my bedroom liveable (and, hopefully, bring some sanity to my scattered life!): lofting my bed! Keeping guitars and bikes underneath! Cheap, affordable, and I can build it myself! One problem: I've got no carpentry experience... That right, I'm building a loft frame for my bed. I plan to modify the design here - extending the vertical pieces on what will be the non-wall side, and adding a railing (cause I don't want to fall off!), as well as adding additional horizontal pieces to support my bed, removing the supports for the bottom bed (I've got no use for a bottom bed), and building shelves (or maybe just pegs...) for some clothes on one side. I'll also add some L-brackets, assuming they'll add some strength to some of those right angles (particularly on the vertical pieces)

The only problem is, I have no carpentry experience. I can find a lumber yard or a Home Depot without a problem, but I don't know what kind of wood to buy or how much I can expect to spend.

I'm also hoping that it won't be too difficult to make this stable.

So: any basic pointers for a novice carpenter? Any suggestions for affordable but pleasant wood? Any rough estimates on how much money I can expect to spend? Any enthusiastic encouragement? Thanks!

Treehouse construction advice? (photos, video)

stupidsexyFlanders — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 20:54:34 -0800

Another treehouse question. I'm almost done building mine, and I can't figure out why it's so wobbly. Take a look at photos & video, please, and let me know what I might do to make it more solid. No treehouse experience necessary, this is mostly carpentry 101. Degree of difficulty: I do not want any posts in the ground supporting the treehouse. I want all the support to be in the tree. I'm done everything but the railing and the floor decking. The plan was basically that I bolted two 2x8x12 beams to the two trunks of the tree, with eight inch lag screws, as primary support for the whole thing. Resting on top of that I put a platform made up of a 12x8 "box" of 2x6s, with 2x6 joists every 15 inches or so end-nailed to the 2x6x12s. T (I intend to add joist hangers) The two joists closest to the two trunks are bolted to them, also with 8" lag screws. (see photos). So basically there is support bolted to the tree longwise (the two 2x8x12s) and then, on top of those and perpendicular to them, the two 2x6 joists.

Then I put six diagonal struts meant to support the outer edges of the platform. They attach to to the tree at a 45 deg angle with the 8" lag screws, and the edge of the platform sits in notches I cut into the diagonal struts. There are two struts each (total of four) supporting the long edges of the platform, centered, about 20" apart at the edge, and then one strut each supporting the short edges of the platform, again centered there. Nothing supporting the corners.

The diagonal struts were meant to solve the wobbling problem, but they don't, (see video, where I'm pulling down on one corner with a rope) mostly I think because the structure no longer sits tightly in the notches, as it did when I put the struts up -- they're still in the notches, but floating there instead of resting in them (?) I guess I could bolt them in there instead of just letting it rest in the notch, but I'm not sure that will totally solve it.

Is the platform just too large to NOT have any support in the corners? Would it help to tie rope or cable from the corners of the platform up into higher branches to support it?

Any thoughts about my specific problem, or any thoughts in general?