Equipment For New Cabinet Business
Equipment and other advice for a beginning businessman. August 26, 2004

Raised-Panel Wainscoting for a Spiral Stairwell
true frame-and-panel wainscoting with concave panels rising up a spiral staircase. Woodweb's top trimwork minds chime in on this one for a top-flight discussion of a very tricky topic. July 9, 2007

Crown Moulding Miter and Bevel Angle Setting Chart
Here's a convenient reference for looking up the miter angle and face bevel for cutting and fitting crown moulding. August 7, 2008

Radius Cabinet Job - Project Review
October 27, 2003

Moisture and Swelling Issues for a Porch Ceiling
Moisture-related expansion could cause beadboard porch ceilings to buckle. Why, and what can be done about it? This long discussion delves deep into the mysteries of moisture. February 8, 2008

Installing crown moulding
Calculations and tools for cutting crown angles. May 17, 2003

Scribing three edges
Templates, tic sticking and more for efficient scribing in difficult situations. September 20, 2003

Pursuing perfect miters
Methods and equipment for achieving the highest quality. September 20, 2003


Four Case Histories for Smart Specifying
December 4, 2001

Milling Wood Flooring on a Shaper
Extensive advice on how to make hardwood strip flooring on a cabinet-shop shaper. April 19, 2006

Radius Moulding Machinery Choices
Millwork pros discuss shopping for a radius moulder and the related knives. January 9, 2008

Are Cabinet Makers Carpenters?
Mulling over the dividing line between skilled tradesmen who all build things out of wood — but in different ways. July 20, 2011

Reinforcing Stair Stringers with Epoxy
Here's a convoluted and somewhat contentious, but also informative, thread that is mostly about using fiberglass and epoxy to stiffen stair stringers. July 7, 2011

Start-Up Manufacturing Millwork
It's harder than a beginner might think to make money producing mouldings on a shoestring. Old hands discuss the hard truths in this thread. April 4, 2011

Solid Wood Entry Door Construction
An extended technical discussion of proven methods for constructing large, heavy, durable custom doors using solid sawn lumber. January 18, 2007

Fine Points of Architectural Door Construction
Here is a thoroughly professional discussion of the pros and cons of "engineered" door construction, along with a conversation about springing or crowning doors for a snug closure. September 7, 2013

Glued-Down Wide Pine Flooring
A long discussion of installation methods for wide board floors. August 21, 2006

Humidity, Temperature, Wood Moisture Content, and Wood Movement
Basic technical information and an extended discussion of the way wood expands and contracts in response to changes in temperature and humidity. November 13, 2009

Choosing Wood and Finish for Church Doors
Woodweb pros weigh in on material choice for a set of chapel doors. November 30, 2009

Correcting Stair Riser Height in Place
An old stair stringer with incorrect riser dimensions needs fixing, on site. Here's a long discussion about how to do it. July 30, 2009

Hinge Placement Rules and Traditions
Here's a long and thorough look at the reasons for the traditional placement of hinges on architectural doors. April 22, 2014

Bending Stair Rail in Three Dimensions
Experienced stair rail professionals weigh in on a deep and complex subject — multi-dimensional wood bending — in this long, detailed thread. February 25, 2009

Cabinet and Millwork Installation Forum -- Coping Choices for Crown Moulding
Trim installers debate the relative merits of coping saws, jigsaws, grinders, and worm-drive circular saws for fine trimwork. October 3, 2006

Door and Window Building: CNC Versus Traditional Machinery
Here's a thoughtful and sophisticated conversation about the proper place of CNC equipment and traditional shapers, mortisers, etc., in custom door and window production. October 3, 2011

Shopping for Mortising Machinery
Woodworkers discuss the practicality, cost, and operation of horizontal and vertical mortising equipment for door construction. June 2, 2009

Poplar for a Storm Door: Movement Issues
An extended discussion of the behavior of Poplar in an exterior exposure. Science says Poplar is suitable for exterior woodwork, but experience may indicate the contrary. June 3, 2007

Machining raised panels
Addressing workpiece movement and tear-out problems. April 9, 2003

Are bone-dry biscuits necessary?
Questions about the dryness and size of biscuits. April 24, 2002

Assembling and Gluing Staved Columns
Here's a boatload of advice and ideas about how to put together and glue octagonal columns made with staves. October 23, 2007

Repairing Warped Interior Doors
The fix for some closet doors that developed a bow along a long stile could include some innovative hardware — or not. March 22, 2013

Achieving Consistent Copes
Why is it so difficult to cut copes the same every time? October 5, 2004

Crafting Stair Tread Returns
Here's a long thread loaded with good information about how to craft returns on the end of stair treads. August 12, 2014

Exterior Door Finish
Finding a finish that will stand up to the elements over time. October 20, 2004

When to use waterbornes
Applications where waterborne coatings will and won't work. May 22, 2002

Crack Prevention and Repair for a Large Wood Turning
Here's a long, thoughtful technical discussion of humidity conditions, wood cracking, prevention, and fixes, focused around the case of a very large wood turning that has developed hairline cracks. January 20, 2011

Scribing loose end panels
Woodworkers describe the processes they use. April 3, 2002

Fabricating Radius and Curved Mouldings
Here's a detailed discussion comparing two approaches to creating curved and arched mouldings: the CNC route, or the dedicated moulder and shaper setup (which may involve templates). July 13, 2010

Labor and Cost for a Complex Wood Window
The fine woodwork for a custom decorative window can be painstaking and slow. Here are some detailed thoughts on methods and the time involved (including an interesting description of doing the work with a CNC).June 12, 2013

Troubleshooting Glue Joint Performance with Steamed and Bent Wood Glue-Ups
Lots of advice on the fine points of achieving solid glue joints when laminating steamed and bent wood. October 30, 2010

Filling Nail Holes in Paint-Grade Work
Pros share a dozen favorite ways to hide the fasteners. June 16, 2005

Crown moulding along cathedral ceilngs
How to deal with crown mouldings on cathedral ceilings and outside corners. September 25, 2001

Joining a Rail to a Newel Cap
The joint where a handrail meets a profiled newel cap is a real head-scratcher. Here, experienced stair rail carpenters explain the fine points. August 12, 2007

Scroll Cutting Rafter Tails
Cutting a scroll detail on the end of big, heavy rafters requires some tooling ingenuity. February 25, 2009

Building a Solid Oak Bar Top
Woodworkers discuss the options for constructing an Oak bar top, including butcher block or strip flooring. January 25, 2013

Custom Fabricating Louvered Shutters
A long and chatty thread about whether, why, and how to build your own louvered wood exterior window shutters. April 24, 2006

Basics of Saw Blade Selection
An introduction to the important characteristics of various saw blade types. November 24, 2008

Router Table Add-ons
With a router lift, precision fence, and some customizing, a router table can "kinda-sorta" stand in as a poor man's shaper. November 26, 2006

Routing a Large Radius with a Low-Power Router
Advice on how to sneak up on a radius corner rout using a great big bit in a smaller router. Tips on speed control, custom router plates, jigs, and roughing out the piece by hand. February 18, 2007

Designing entertainment centers
Important considerations when designing and building multimedia centers. August 25, 2003

Vertical-Board Solid Wood Door Techniques
Top craftsmen chime in with a diverse set of ideas and illustrations for building solid wood doors with vertical boards, in ways that can withstand wood movement and look great. March 25, 2009

Outdoor Stair Glue-Ups with Tropical Woods
Complex glued assemblies have trouble in outdoor exposures. This discussion takes a look at that, and at the difference in performance among various tropical hardwoods. January 14, 2013

Cutting crown flat
Calculating the angles to do it right. October 30, 2003

Working On-Site with Hardwood Millwork
Hardwood details add beauty and value to any installation. November 27, 2001

Multi-Ply Construction Details for Raised Panels on Exterior Doors
Woodworkers develop ideas for back-to-back panel construction on exterior doors. November 14, 2011

Too-tight biscuits
Biscuit joining tricks and techniques. March 23, 2002

Sequencing the Work for a Stain-Grade Door and Trim Install
Woodworkers and installers discuss the timing of steps in a job that involves pre-finishing and installation of door jambs, doors, and trim. April 22, 2014

Building a Sapele Entry Door with Glass Panels
Here's some good advice on door construction, with particular reference to a door built with Sapele and including horizontal glass panels. February 16, 2014

Crown Moulding Tips and Tricks
Trim carpenters discuss jigs, chopsaws, stands, and techniques for cutting and installing crown moulding. April 20, 2007

Crown moulding with angled ceiling
Is it possible to take an out-of-kilter ceiling into account? November 22, 2003

Insulated Wine Cellar Door Details
Advice on materials and techniques for a large custom door for a wine storage closet. February 13, 2013

Filling nail holes in prefinsihed moulding
The installer has shot your custom-milled cherry job full of nail holes. What do you do? September 19, 2001

Machinery and Methods for Creating Complex Stair Rail Shapes
Here's a long and detailed thread with photos about the production choices for crafting complex custom railing shapes. June 8, 2011

Determining left and right hand doors
How do you keep them straight? (From WOODWEB's Architectural Woodworking Forum) March 5, 2003

Learning to Make Full Size Doors
Some detailed information and some commentary about context, for a woodworker who wants to break into wood door construction. May 15, 2014

Restoring Historic Windows
How to keep what's good, and make them work. April 11, 2005

Building Heavy Barn Doors
Can you make those barn doors stable? Here's a discussion of how to anticipate and deal with the inevitable movement of wood components. March 18, 2006

Compound Curves: Circle Applied to a Cylinder
Problem: Create a curved molding shaped like a Frisbee wrapped around a drum. May 23, 2011

Curved cabinet doors
What's the most efficient way to build radius frame-and-panel doors in-house? May 15, 2002

Door Construction: Methods and Lumber Choices
A general discussion on how to build interior doors, and what kind of wood to use. May 5, 2014

Putty for Nail Holes in Windows and Trim
Struggling to find a nail-hole filler that's compatible with waterborne clear finish. December 6, 2011

Boring Machine Accuracy and Dowel Joinery
A discussion on achieving a nice joint fit when using dowels along with cope-and-stick joinery for 1-3/4"-thick door construction. May 6, 2009

Bending 3/16 Solid Wood
Methods for bending wood to fit an arch. October 5, 2004

Using Coping Jigs
If you've got a lot of trim to run, coping jigs and accessories can save you some serious time. June 28, 2007

Finding Compound Angles for Crown Moulding
This discussion of cutting crown molding includes a set of tables for determining angle and bevel cuts when cutting flat on the saw table. April 20, 2007

Plank Doors with Stave Cores
Advice on stave-core construction for a plank door. March 26, 2010

Accurate End Cuts for Entry Door Parts
Advice on machinery and tooling to make highly accurate cross cuts on wide lumber for architectural door construction. April 17, 2013

Ripping and Re-Gluing to Limit Cupping
The Wood Doc weighs in on the old-timer technique of ripping and re-gluing boards in order to lessen moisture-related cupping. February 19, 2008

Hardwood Flooring and Millwork -- Finishing Options
Pre-finished or site-finished? November 16, 2001

Best Joinery for Passageway Door Construction
Cope-and-stick joinery is the classic "man door" method. But what's the strongest joint — dowel, mortise and tenon, or what? December 2, 2006

Working with MDF Trim
Thoughtful advice, handy tips, and whines about installing medium density fiberboard architectural trim material. May 6, 2007

Tricked-Out Job Trailers
An extended thread on how to customize your "shop on wheels" for convenience and efficiency. August 13, 2007

AWI CAD Standard?
If there isn't one already, why not? December 26, 2004

Ellipse jig
Making your own jig for ellipse-based arcs. (From WOODWEB's Cabinetmaking Forum) March 5, 2003

Pantry Doors with Storage
Cabinetmakers brainstorm kitchen storage ideas, and discuss how much shelf space a door can support. May 15, 2012

Multiple cut crown molding
Handling such installations with accuracy. April 3, 2002

Solid Wood Passage Doors
Woodworkers scratch their heads over a challenging door construction problem. October 26, 2013

Hidden Room (Secret Door) Details
Tips on hardware and other details for concealing a door by disguising it as a bookshelf, pool-cue rack, or the like. February 8, 2008

Tablesaw blade guards
Choosing the best blade guard/dust collector. April 9, 2003

Repeatability at the Shaper
Advice on ways to set up shapers to consistently produce mouldings that are identical to a previous run. June 16, 2010

Accurate Cutting and Coping for Crown Moulding
Fine points of cutting crown moulding for installers. June 16, 2010

Laying Out, Routing, or Templating an Ellipse
Here are several approaches to cutting a large ellipse: elegant jigs, slick pencil layout tricks, and sources for paper or MDF templates. May 16, 2008

Making Custom Curved Moulding for Arched Doors
Ideas for curved moulding fabrication, including nice photos of a couple of router-table jigs. February 18, 2011

Routing Circular Mouldings for a Plinth
Advice on router table jigs for creating a round moulding at the base of a column. March 26, 2010

Custom Software for Wood Man Doors
A custom builder's looking for a versatile design and drafting package for original wood door designs. But is it worth it? September 1, 2010

Wood Door Thickness and Quality
To make 1-3/8" solid wood interior doors, you usually have to start with 8/4 stock. Here, experienced pros explain their door fabrication processes in detail. February 17, 2006

Profile Grinding Bent Wood
The developer of an innovative method for extreme-bending hardwood explores options for profiling his bent pieces using abrasive wheels. March 12, 2014

Choices for Sanding Moulding
Hand-sanding mouldings is tedious and time-consuming. Here's a set of suggestions for mechanizing the process. July 23, 2005

Door Joinery: Haunched Tenons Versus Floating Tenons
Thoughts on the cost and performance of various entry door woodworking joints. February 23, 2010

Spiral Versus Fluted Dowels
Is either one better? The question sparks a discussion of how dowel joints work. March 20, 2007

Warping, Bowing and Cupping of Moulding Batches
Expert input on what could make fresh runs of moulding move in unwanted ways. October 2, 2005

Making Square and Octagonal Handrail Caps
Is a CNC router or an old-school rotary lathe the best way to machine a profiled square cap for a newel post? February 27, 2015

Running Tight Radius Trim on a Moulder
Short-radius curved mouldings are tricky to run on a moulder (a CNC or lathe works better). It can be done, though — here are photos and advice. May 17, 2011

Radius countertop edge
Making a radiused wood edge without resorting to segments. January 3, 2003

Allowing for Wood Expansion in Solid Board Paneling
A woodworker puzzles over the measures needed to let V-groove wood board paneling expand and contract with seasonal moisture changes in a seaside home. January 2, 2012

How to Make a Full Radius Arch Top Cab Door
From laying up blanks to cutting, here are some tips on making arched top door stiles. November 2, 2010

Best Equipment for Tenoning Door Parts
Basic advice on machinery and cutters for making cope-and-stick architectural door parts. August 5, 2006

Shaping with a Table Saw
Lacking the machinery to run a large moulding, a woodworker spends a few hours using his table saw to cut the curve. May 28, 2010

Consistent curves
How to create a long, accurate curve. May 15, 2002

Fluted Round Wood Columns
Round, fluted wood columns are easy to buy. But if you want to make your own, here's some advice. May 21, 2007

Rosette Cutting Speed
Drill press RPMs tend to be too slow for great success with machining rosettes, especially in difficult wood. May 21, 2009

Acclimating Trim Stock Before Installing
and use it. April 20, 2008

Wood Floor Over Concrete Cupping Problem
Wood floors over concrete can be prone to problems. Here's an example. April 4, 2011

Exterior Door Construction for Harsh Weather Conditions
If you were building solid wood exterior doors for conditions in Bahrain, how would you go about it? Here's a discussion of the problems and possible solutions. December 27, 2008

Static charge on wood
Troubleshooting and resolving static problems on freshly planed boards. October 9, 2002

Miterfolds for clean corner joints
A sweet technique for classy corners. November 21, 2003

Exterior Priming and Back-Priming
Woodworkers debate whether shellac should be used for exterior priming. Manufacturers don't recommend it, but anecdotal experience varies. June 17, 2012

Solid Wood Door Basics
A few tips for a cabinetmaker considering whether to try building man doors. April 10, 2009

Routing Flutes Across a Board: CNC Versus Jig Rig
This thread has some practical suggestions for routing flutes across the width of a board, and some good arguments for farming the job out to a shop with a CNC. August 5, 2010

Creating Custom Curved Moulding Profiles with a CNC Router
Any good CNC router can create mouldings, using either a ball-end cutter or a custom-ground bit. In this thread, pros provide a few pointers on the process. November 25, 2005

Solid Poplar Versus Laminations for Door Stiles
Solid poplar has a good track record for door construction, but LVL stave cores may have their own advantages. June 8, 2008

Crown Molding Cutting Techniques
Fine points of cutting crown molding on a sliding compound miter saw as compared to using a straight chopsaw. August 7, 2006

Entry Door Wood Choices
What's the best wood species for a custom exterior door?

Clamping columns
Methods of holding the angles together tightly, without using too many clamps. July 24, 2001

Passage door construction
Techniques and joinery used in the construction of passage doors. January 3, 2001

Trim Gun Compressor Choices
A good small compressor can pack plenty of power for trim work, light framing, and cabinet installs. April 10, 2009

Sawing Hickory for Flooring
Quartersawn may be most stable, but flatsawn is prettiest. February 15, 2009

Test for Moisture when Installing Hardwood Flooring
"Acclimating" flooring in the house before nailing down is not a sure-fire precaution. You should also provide a vapor barrier, and test the flooring, subflooring and slab for proper moisture content. December 26, 2006

Dark Putty
Ideas for blending a dark wood putty to match dark woods like cherry. July 3, 2006

Flush-Trimming a Curved Corbel
Following the curves on this piece is a challenge. Here, architectural trim pros discuss router and belt-sander techniques for working on curved edges. December 14, 2005

Getting Started with Finger-Jointing
Advice on tooling up to finger-joint moulding stock on an occasional basis. April 2, 2013

Tinting body filler -- it can be done!
Searching out an epoxy filler that can be color-mixed, for filling large knot holes. March 20, 2001

Fire Ratings for Historic Wood Doors
Information on how to find code-compliant fire-rated doors, and what you need to be qualified to build them yourself. March 12, 2009

Is Poplar Good for Exterior Door Cores?
Controversy over whether Poplar can perform in exterior exposures. May 11, 2008

Dadoing techniques
Using a router to make dados. June 24, 2002

Raised panel wainscot
Making wainscot onsite. November 24, 2002

Wood Choices for Exterior Shutters
Spanish Cedar, Redwood, Cedar, and Cypress lead the list. May 24, 2010

Taking Impressions of Moulding
Advice on making a reverse impression of a moulding you want to replicate. November 8, 2008

Fastening Crown Molding to Walls
Trim installers give tips on nailing (and gluing) crown molding in place. January 7, 2007

Crown Coping Tips
Some advice on dealing with large, hard-to-cope crown moulding. January 26, 2008

Tools for "Perfect" Miter Cutting
A solid table saw's your best bet. August 29, 2005

Finishing Custom Staircase
Tips, tricks, and rituals. February 26, 2005

Cheating Crown Moulding
When a sagging ceiling threatens to squeeze your mouldings down too low, there are ways to tweak the "spring angle" to make everything fit kinda sorta just right. October 25, 2007

Steam Bending Alder
Pondering whether to steam-bend alder for a curved shutter frame, a woodworker hears that other woods, or other methods, may meet his needs better. April 21, 2011

Figuring Complex Leg Angles for Furniture
You can do the math, you can draw the part full size, or you can make a rough cut and then fine-tune it. November 14, 2014

A multi-faceted challenge
An architectural woodworker gets ideas for making a too-wide handrail intersect gracefully with an octagon-shaped newel cap. December 17, 2003

A Jig for Drawing or Cutting Ellipses
This clever but simple jig can be used with a pencil to draw an ellipse, or with a router to cut one. April 18, 2006

"Light" and "dark" veneer bands
Avoiding the "striped" look in veneered ply. November 18, 2002

Moulder and Shaper Setup for Curved Work
Wrestling with the issues of machining complex curved stair-rail parts. May 11, 2011

Machining Small Radius Molding
The problem: holding a small, curved piece of brittle wood fixed while machining a small moulding profile into it. Here, pros offer various solutions. December 20, 2005

How to Deal with Stair-Tread Glue Joint Failure
Shrinking Jatoba wood stair treads are failing at the glue line. Here's a discussion of the causes, with ideas for prevention or repair. December 6, 2007

Wood Movement Issues in a Solid Wood Bench Seat
Advice on how to allow for wood movement in bench seating in a commercial space. December 26, 2006

Is MDF Stable?
Cabinetmakers and woodworkers report mixed results with medium density fiberboard in terms of movement in service. December 24, 2012

Flooring Joint Profiles
Is it okay to saw strip flooring with a flat shoulder joint instead of a V groove? June 4, 2012

Staining Resin Corbels to Match Walnut
Advice on a finishing schedule to make synthetic trim elements blend in with natural wood. December 2, 2009

Replicating a Custom Moulding Profile
For a matching finish job, a craftsman needs fifteen feet of a non-standard moulding. Pros suggest several methods, from ordering custom moulder knives to engaging in router-and-tablesaw sculpting. November 10, 2005

Sound Control and Airflow for Louvered Doors
Considerations relating to sound transmission and air flow through louvers on the doors of an equipment room. April 4, 2011

Eliminating Burn Marks when Routing Flutes
Tips on router techniques to prevent burning at the end of flutes, and on tools and methods for removing burn marks when they do happen. December 28, 2005

Black Walnut for Windows
A discussion considering whether Black Walnut is an appropriate wood for constructing custom reproduction window sash. April 4, 2011

Rugged Wainscoting
An installer gets advice on wainscot paneling for a high-traffic commercial space.

Coping Highly-Detailed Crown Moulding
So hard, it's probably not worth the effort. December 27, 2007

Railing to Newel Transition
Advice on turning and terminating a handrail at the upper newel post. April 4, 2011

Rounded-Over Ends at Window Butt Joints
Practical and style considerations in window joinery: whether to round over ends. June 18, 2010

Trimming Plugs
Cutting and sanding wood plugs can be tedious and laborious. Here, pros discuss efficient ways to make a clean job of it. September 3, 2005

Avoiding Tear-Out with Very Small Mouldings
Thin stock chatters going through the moulder or shaper, which can cause major tear-out. Here's advice on ways to overcome the problem. March 4, 2009

How to Make an Arched Casing
Tips on laying up a segmented or laminated blank for routing into an arched casing. June 24, 2007

Profile Knife Grinders for Replicating Mouldings
A discussion of knife grinding equipment and techniques for a woodworker who wants to reproduce historic mouldings for custom work. January 28, 2013

Brushable Waterborne Poly for Woodwork
Advice on choosing and applying a brushable waterborne polyurethane for interior architectural trim. July 23, 2014

Template Material for Router Work
Pros suggest aluminum, MDF, phenolic board, or particleboard. Also here, a discussion of techniques for making templates and some tips about using them. November 22, 2005

Routing Mortises to Receive Treads in Curved Stair Stringers
Advanced and tricks for routing housed stair-tread mortises into curved stringers. June 3, 2007

Mixing Rock Maple & Soft Maple
Their colors will blend and match, if you're careful. October 1, 2005

Butt Joint Details for Shaker-Style Wainscot
Installers describe several methods for assembling and fastening Shaker-style wainscot panels in the field. April 4, 2011

Compound Angles for Wood Range Hood
Joinery for a wood range hood gets into some tricky geometry. February 12, 2009

Setting Up for Finger Jointing and End Gluing
Practical advice on tooling up to make long boards out of shorter lengths using a finger-jointed glued end joint.May 15, 2012

Troubleshooting Swelling of Doors in a Humid Climate
Once the doors are fit to the opening they may perform fine for many years. September 18, 2014

Commercial Countertop Shrinkage
A very long laminate countertop in an industrial loft buildout experiences movement problems because of humidity changes. January 12, 2012

Building interior room doors
Pros share their methods for constructing custom interior doors. June 6, 2001

Fabricating a Laminate-Over-Foam-Core Door
Cabinetmakers consider how to lay up a large door with laminate on the outside and foam on the inside. September 27, 2008

Construction Methods for Wide Wooden Gates
A discussion about building cedar outdoor gates, covering dimensions and adhesive choices. February 5, 2007

Angle for arched window casing
Methods for making the calculation. October 30, 2003

Specifying features for leased space
Advice on features to include in a leased production facility. June 6, 2001

Limitations of a Router Table for Making Mouldings
Buying a second-hand shaper is a wiser choice than trying to stretch your router's capabilities too far. April 26, 2006

Cutter Profiles for Tongue-and-Groove Flooring
Tips on the fine points of profiling tongue-and-groove floorboards. September 10, 2007

Cutting a Bead on a Curved Backband Moulding
Tips on fine-tuning an elliptical shaper jig so that it will profile a bead correctly on the inside edge of a curved piece. June 24, 2007

Cutting Angles Sharper than Forty-Five Degrees
Wall intersections tighter than 45° call for tricky chop-saw technique. Here's advice on jigs from a few trim carpenters. June 16, 2010

Troubleshooting Miter Saw Inaccuracy
When a sliding compound miter saw starts cutting miters a half a degree out of whack, a trim installer starts tearing his hair out. Here's some advice on what could be wrong with the tool. May 22, 2007

Rabbeting Exterior Doors for Compression-Bulb Weatherstripping
Advice on how to cut clean slots for weatherstripping in door jambs. May 5, 2007

Staining MDF
Products and techniques for best results. July 28, 2004

Large Raised-Panel Assemblies
Woodworkers discuss materials, joints and methods for constructing large cope-and-stick panel assemblies (not for doors). November 10, 2005

Chip-free cutting of composite panels
Consider these factors when striving for chip-free cuts in composite panels. February 13, 2001

Woven Cherry Door Panels
Thin slats woven together into a door panel is a cool idea, but kiln-dried wood is too brittle. Green wood may work. November 10, 2006

Drilling for Closet Shelf Holes
Matching hardware to drilling equipment for efficient closet shelf fabrication. April 27, 2011

Portable Air Tanks for Powering Nailguns
A 50-cubic-foot scuba tank can take the place of your compressor for light-duty nailing. May 6, 2006

Wood Trim Touch-Up
Advice on touching up trim when filler in the nail holes doesn't quite match the main finish on the pieces. November 9, 2008

Attaching Screen to Doors
Advice on screen door fabrication techniques. June 11, 2010

Troubleshooting Stain Wicking at End Grain
Here's an interesting case example: a problem of stain wicking into end grain in a site-finished coffer ceiling trim job. April 18, 2010

Joinery for Decorative Posts and Beams
Advice on tools and methods for mortising big timbers in non-structural situations. February 11, 2010

Suitable Wood for Exterior Trimwork
Woodworkers list their top choices for wood species (and composite or synthetic materials) for architectural exterior trim details. June 29, 2008

Gluing Wet Cedar for Exterior
Advice on glue choice for outdoor architectural designs built with Cedar. August 6, 2008

Routing Flutes on Large Cabinet Doors
Advice on tool choice, measuring, marking, and jigs for cutting multiple flutes into a big door panel. January 18, 2007

Routing Aluminum
You can rout aluminum with the right bits if you're careful, but the wise course may be to bring this work to a specialty shop. December 28, 2014

Making a Standard Refrigerator Look Built In
Wood-look panels applied to a standard refrigerator fall short of providing the appearance or useability of a true built-in model. January 1, 2012

Hand Profiling a Helical Handrail
Tips and tricks for putting a profile on a spiral-stair handrail using a hand-held router. March 24, 2008

Bit Balance and Tool Speed — Routers Versus Shapers
A custom shaping knife for a router has to be carefully balanced, because routers spin faster than shapers. November 19, 2005

Alternatives to Ball Catches
Ball catches don't work well when doors and jambs move from seasonal humidity changes. Here are some suggestions for other hardware. January 14, 2013

Cutting Crown Moulding
Laying down, or standing up? It all depends — but here are a couple of quick tips for success with the laying-down way. October 3, 2011

A Lap Joint for Curved Members
Ideas for tools and jigs to dado out for half-lap joinery where two curved pieces meet. December 7, 2007

Bandsaw and Router Templates and Jigs for Cutting Shapes
Advice on setting up to efficiently and cleanly cut and route multiple copies of the same complex curved shape. December 12, 2008

Single Versus Double Glazing
For a wood shop that makes custom windows and doors, insulated glazing is a debatable topic. September 7, 2013

Sanding Pads for Profile Work
Tips for hand-sanding profiled mouldings. October 26, 2011

Applied Mouldings for Frame-and-Panel Doors
Tips on how to make and apply "bolection" moldings for the joint between door frame and panel. November 10, 2005

Adhesives for Applying Laminate to Walls
Advice on installing laminate on walls. November 23, 2012

Angle for Coping Crown Molding
Looking for the magic number. December 26, 2004

Sandwich-Style Interior Door Assembly Tricks
it works. June 28, 2007

Jatoba and Ipe for Indoor Floors
Are these Brazilian hardwoods good flooring material? June 23, 2006

Soft-Closing Hardware for an Operating Bar Top
Advice on hardware that can lift and support a bar-top gate that has to open and close. November 5, 2013

"Pickwick" Beadboard Cutterhead Info
How to find router or shaper knives to make the decorative "Pickwick" pattern on the tongue side of wood paneling. June 23, 2006

Panel Spacers for Passage Door
Small spaceballs work for letting cabinet door panels move. But what do you use for thick raised panels in a 1-3/4" full size passage door? August 19, 2008

Reclaimed Wood Flooring Over Concrete
Advice on vapor barrier installation and attachment method for an unusual floor assembly. May 19, 2011

Adhering MDF to Drywall
Mastic or polyurethane glue should work. Here are some installation tips. May 5, 2007

Pricing Custom Cabinets and Trim
Even within one local market, prices can be all over the map. Balancing careful itemized estimating against local market conditions can help you turn a decent profit. August 23, 2006

Purpose of Back Relief Cuts on Mouldings
Mouldings are machined on the back as well as the face, for several important reasons. August 23, 2006

Home-built moulder
Advice on the construction of a moulder, and encouragement to follow an easier path. November 18, 2002

Window Part Terminology
Woodworkers try to bring order to the vocabulary universe and define "muntin," "mullion," "bar," "rail," and related window and door terminology. March 26, 2010

Baseboard for Bullnose Wall Corners
A soft-corner baseboard treatment is easy to want, not so easy to do. Here's a spirited discussion of the trim installer's options for this pesky detail. July 9, 2007

Polyester and Epoxy Wood Repair Fillers in Conservation Work
Tips on whether epoxy or polyester wood repair formulas are sufficiently authentic for conservation work, and some tips on how to use them. October 26, 2007

MDF as Interior Trim
Does MDF make good trim, especially in a humid climate? Pros share their observations. December 20, 2005

Pricing Trim Work
Stay away from square foot pricing for finish carpentry. Here are details on how to price by the piece and the joint (and factor in aggravation). June 23, 2006

Window Hinge Mortising Retrofit Techniques
Detailed advice for cutting new Soss hinge mortises on custom replacement windows to match already-mortised existing window jambs. June 3, 2007

Short Run Patch and Match Pieces for Custom Crown Moulding
Suggestions for ways to match the look of old existing crown in a few small areas. August 15, 2011

Pin Nailers Versus 18-Gauge or 23-Gauge Nailers
Installers discuss the relative usefulness of various fastener sizes and types for attaching prefinished crown moulding to cabinets. February 21, 2006

Veener over Drywall
Installers puzzle over how to veneer a gypsum-board wall. September 24, 2009

Working with Bendable Substrates
Commercial architectural woodworkers discuss working with bendable substrates and plywood, including the issue of how to fill sections of the material to create a solid shape. August 15, 2012

Custom-Built Curved Range Hood Ideas
Brainstorming about ways to design and build a custom range hood with concave curves. February 16, 2014

Making Molds and Taking Impressions
A discussion of materials used to make molds of existing mouldings in order to duplicate a unique original. December 26, 2006

Constructing a Curved Pedestal Base
Advice on how to construct a complex curved pedestal. February 17, 2011

Casting Fine Trim Profiles
You can use Bondo, epoxy, or putty to cast a moulding profile you're trying to replicate. June 26, 2009

Caulk Versus Putty on Old Casings
Tips on filling joints with caulk in remodeling work. February 18, 2007

Crown Molding for Radiused-Corner Cabinet Tops
An explanation of how to mill curved crown molding for application to radiused corners. June 23, 2006

A Very Short Piece of Matching Moulding
What are you going to do when some old door casing mouldings have been cut off just an inch short of the floor? Here are some great ideas for making the match. April 12, 2013

Sanding Moulding Profiles
Tips and tricks for sanding the profiles surface of trim moldings without overly softening the sharp edges. August 21, 2006

Taking Millwork Impressions for Reproduction
Woodworkers discuss non-destructive ways to take profiles of existing mouldings in order to make exact reproductions. December 27, 2008

Filler for Mouldings
Moulding installers discuss patching and hole-filling products. July 3, 2006

Fastening Baseboard to Concrete Walls
Ideas for a quick grab and lasting grip for sticking baseboard to concrete walls. July 2, 2008

Sources for Mold-Making Materials and Info
Here's a list of vendors who supply materials you can use to create a mold of an existing moulding, in order to reproduce the piece using cast plaster. September 15, 2011

Attaching Plywood Panels to Drywall
Fastening decorative plywood panels to existing drywall is tricky, but doable. In this thread, experienced hands explain several techniques. July 24, 2005

Preventing Sagging in a Large Driveway Gate
Advice on bracing and post details to prevent a large, heavy gate from sagging in service. February 6, 2010

Closet Pole Heights
Pros supply "standard" closet pole dimensions for when there's no stated customer preference. December 2, 2006

Span Capability of an 8x8 Timber
Here's some realistic and practical feedback on a proposed long-span use of an 8x8 sawn beam. September 27, 2012

Value added defined
Many definitions and interpretations are offered up. July 29, 2003

Figuring Helical Trim Twist
Here's a long and detailed thread with pictures and photos about a real head-scratcher of a problem: calculating, modeling, or mocking up and then fabricating a piece of molding that follows the underside of a helical staircase. January 20, 2011

Finish and Feed Rates
Setup and operation tips for moulder operators. June 22, 2007

Crown Moulding Expansion/Contraction Problem
Who or what is responsible for gaps appearing at joints after installation? June 4, 2004

Circular Stairway-Side Children's Slide Conundrum
This stair-builders' thread about how to fabricate a slide that wraps around the outside of a spiral staircase morphs into a more general expert discussion about spiral staircases and handrails, with lots of nice photos. November 2, 2010

Installation Tips for Stair Treads, Risers, and Banisters
A skilled, experienced finish, cabinet and furniture man is looking at his first-ever staircase — and it's already framed. His questions set off a long discussion on stair construction techniques. November 19, 2005

Arched Crown Moulding
You may never have to do it, but just in case you do, this thread with expert analysis, practical tips, and great pictures will help you wrap your head around the problem of fitting crown moulding to a barrel-vault wall-to-ceiling joint. November 2, 2010

Photographing Kitchens Professionally
Recommendations on creating high-quality shots of your work. April 2, 2004

Is a Woodworking Sub Responsible for ADA Compliance?
If you catch potential Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) violations in a set of plans, advise the architect, and help out with corrected working drawings, are you now on the hook for some kind of liability? Here's a long and thoughtful discussion. March 12, 2009

Scribing Skirt Boards (Step By Step Photo Essay)
Carl Hagstrom's detailed step-by-step photo essay (starring Carl's younger and better-looking stunt double) showing how to scribe a skirt board for a staircase stimulates a well-informed expert discussion of site and factory stair-building methods. February 15, 2015

Compound Curved Veneered Panels
Theoretically, it's impossible (or "impractical") — but hey, we can dream. January 20, 2010

Crowns on Band Wheels
Why do crowns exist, and do they improve band tracking? January 29, 2004

Woodshop Waste Percentage
How much wood do you waste in the construction of your product? June 21, 2004

Stupid Woodworker Tricks
With a nod toward David Letterman, pros discuss their least-best moments. January 24, 2005

Moulder Purchasing Advice
A woodworker going into the moulding business gets advice on moulder choices and related issues. December 26, 2007

Elliptical Moulding Jigs and Tricks
Simple curves are hard: elliptical shapes require a high degree of skill and experience. Here's a long discussion with photos from some seasoned old hands. April 12, 2013

AWI certification
Is membership or certfication with AWI worth your while?July 29, 2003

Interior Door Construction Questions
Here's a long and detailed discussion of lumber choices and construction methods for thick custom interior doors. March 20, 2012

Increasing production flow
Presenting to a boss the numbers that prove production flow could be improved. (Business Forum) May 17, 2003

Troubleshooting Cupped Flooring over a Heated Slab
Here's a long discussion about cupped wood flooring over a slab. aJune 12, 2014

Helical Handrail Math for Spiral Stairs
Woodworkers puzzle over the twisted math involved in making a profiled handrail follow the curve of a spiral stair. January 26, 2008

Stair Rail Bending Methods
This discussion of bending wood and curved laminations benefits by the addition of some excellent old book recommendations. February 23, 2010

Taking Measurements on Site — Tape Measure or Laser Device?
The new generation of laser measuring tools can improve accuracy and save time. Here, cabinetmakers describe why they made the switch and how they use the new tools. November 22, 2005

Assembling Operable Louver Shutters
Here's a detailed, expert thread, with pictures, explaining how to build shutters with louvers that operate. April 2, 2013

Troubleshooting Moulder Tear-Out
Tweaks to the knives, the feed rate, the drive belt set-up, or the bed board may help eliminate moulder chatter and tear-out. August 29, 2005

Acetylated Treated Lumber — What's Up with That?
Here's an interesting discussion about the durability, fastener compatibility, and other properties of acetyl treated lumber, such as "Accoya," with some useful links to more. January 2, 2014

Accurate Cuts on Crown Molding
Trim carpentry pros discuss saw stops, cutting methods, and measuring techniques for getting perfect miter cuts and joint bevels. March 18, 2006

Custom Architectural Woodwork on the CNC
A request for ideas for making some custom quarter-round mouldings turns into an extended discussion of custom techniques and the value of hand labor versus computerized production. February 19, 2008

Preventing Cupping in a Wide Board
Woodworkers discuss the "rip and flip" method, relief cuts, and similar methods of reducing wood movement. November 19, 2005

CNC configuration
Building a CNC router. May 1, 2003

Safety and Burn-Free Flutes
A long discussion about how to make flutes without burn marks at the end, and without injury. February 16, 2006

Selecting CNC Machinery
Choosing a machine to best suit your operation. January 28, 2004

Facing a Flush-Panel Steel Garage Door
A ton of advice on attaching paintable wood faces to an insulated steel garage door, including advice on fasteners, adhesive, and door track hardware. November 2, 2010

Shrinkage in a Tongue-and-Groove Pine Ceiling
A discussion of all the bad things that can happen if you don't check the moisture content of wood before nailing it up.April 22, 2014

Moulding prices
Pricing product in a small, start-up moulding manufacturing operation. October 9, 2002

Fabricating Stair Treads from Reclaimed Lumber
Woodworkers discuss ways to turn reclaimed sawn boards into stair treads for a house. February 6, 2010

Drilling Long Holes in MDF
An MDF shelf made of two panels glued together poses a special edge-drilling challenge. October 2, 2007

Better moulder finish quality
Eliminating snipe on mouldings. August 13, 2002

Getting Into Flooring Production
The owner of a rough lumber business has been getting a lot of requests for hardwood flooring. Here's a discussion of what equipment he would need to start producing it, and what markets he should cultivate in order to make money. November 13, 2005

Optimal Joint Method for Making Curved Beams
Woodworkers discuss the best way to fabricate a curved beam, and learn about an interesting historic example of curved laminated timber barn construction. October 19, 2013

Troubleshooting problems when moulding MDF
A detailed discussion of challenges in getting a smooth finish when putting profiles on MDF material. February 13, 2001

Distressing Wood
Learning how to give new furniture that well-worn look. January 6, 2005

Framing Lumber for Planting Boxes
A discussion of treated wood, naturally rot-resistant lumber, outdoor exposures, and pests. April 14, 2010

Crown Moulding Jigs and Techniques
Another take on crown moulding, as pros and newbies compare jig systems with old-fashioned methods. November 19, 2008

Hammering and Rolling Large Saw Blades
Saw blades can be pre-tensioned so that they take on a true, flat shape when spinning. The technique is an art that requires knowledge and experience. June 24, 2007

Solid Wood Door Construction Methods
A long discussion of various ways to construct heavy wood architectural doors. April 4, 2011

Straight-line vs. gang rip
Which is better suited to this moderate operation? June 24, 2002

Kitchen Cabinets and Floors — Which Should Be Installed First?
The decision affects both trades, and there's more than one well-reasoned opinion posted here. May 6, 2007

Entry Level Equipment for Making Mouldings
A woodworker ponders what to buy for a first foray into producing small runs of custom mouldings. February 10, 2009

Efficient Trim Installation
Extensive advice on organizing and planning for efficient production on site when installing baseboard, crown moulding, and window and door casing. October 25, 2006

Louvered Door Assembly Techniques
Here's an extended discussion about systematizing and speeding up the fussy, complicated process of assembling big louvered doors. October 11, 2012

Door Construction and Wood Movement
Experienced pros try to educate a newcomer about the power of wood movement and the necessity of allowing for it in constructing complicated assemblies such as architectural doors. May 12, 2013

Low-tech panel squaring
Methods and machines for squaring that don't involve CNC equipment. April 9, 2003

Setting Commercial Doors
Advice for experienced residential carpenters on working with steel door frames and hardware on commercial jobs. March 26, 2010

Wine Cabinet Construction and Technology
More wine-storage concepts, information, and wine-cellar construction tips and techniques. November 11, 2005

Custom Handrailing for an Awkward Winder
How do you make a good-looking and practical handrail for a stair winder that looks awkward and doesn't meet code? Here, top craftsmen take their best shot at solving the problem. February 15, 2015

Mahogany Versus Sapele for an Outdoor Structure
A long discussion about different flavors of Mahogany, their sources and qualities, and how they compare with Sapele for durability and quality. March 26, 2010

Sanding Problem with Hemisphere Mouldings
A woodworker asks for advice about sanding a complex moulding that's coming off the CNC with a rough surface. But the answer turns out to lie with improving the CNC side of things. September 17, 2014

Moulding Quality Issues
A batch of mouldings with quality problems sets off a discussion of proper dimensions, back-relief, and surface smoothness for base, casing, and jamb stock. December 15, 2005

Moulding on a Curved Wall
Installing trim work along a curved staricase. February 28, 2004

Fabricating Solid Wood Doors
A discussion of the risks involved with solid wood door construction, and some detailed advice on "plank construction" methods. January 12, 2009

Setting Up a Six-Head Moulder for Machining Tall Baseboard
Here's a detailed discussion of how to arrange the top knives for cutting of the flat and the profiled part of tall, highly detailed baseboard mouldings. March 31, 2008

Construction Details for a Large Glazed Entry Door
Door builders discuss joinery, hinging, and materials choices for a big, heavy door with five horizontal lights.November 14, 2011

Custom On-Site Stair Fabrication Puzzle
Woodwork installers consider a special case where a craftsman has to complete designer stairs on site, when the rough framing is already in place. August 11, 2009

Edge Jointing of Ripped Boards on Site
Here's a long list of suggestions and tips for getting a good clean edge on site-ripped wood. June 12, 2014

Troubleshooting Warped Doors on a Utility Closet
Trapped heat on one side of a wood door leads to obvious problems. June 12, 2014

Bleaching, Pickling and Antiquing -- Hardwood Flooring and Millwork
Customized hardwood finishes offer new decorative dimension. December 3, 2001

Helical Stair-Rail Science
Pros puzzle through the complexities of following a spiral stairway's curve using round stair rail. March 5, 2008

Hinge Fastening for Big, Heavy Entry Doors
It takes some big, long screws to hold up a heavy door. January 20, 2010

Indoor Humidity and Wood Moisture Content
A discussion with data, about typical indoor humidity levels and the corresponding effect on wood moisture content. October 13, 2010

Crown Moulding Corner Fastening Techniques
Advice on using adhesive to fasten outside corner joints in large crown moulding, along with other practical tips for installing crown. October 12, 2007

Building Insulated-Core Carriage Doors
Detailed instruction on how to construct a custom architectural wood door with an insulating foam core. April 4, 2011

Accurate Miters
Tips on achieving good miter joints when working to fine tolerances. October 25, 2006

Making Fluted Pilasters
Detailed tips on efficient fluting, including images of a shop-made jig. October 5, 2004

Floating Shelf Installation Methods
Ideas and an example for successfully installing heavy "floating" shelves using rods driven into the wall studs. October 27, 2009

Crown Transitions for Corner Cabinets
Several ways to deal with a tricky crown molding detail at the top of corner cabinets flanked by manufactured upper cabs. October 25, 2006

Job-Site Miter Saw Stands
Pros supply ideas with photos of versatile chopsaw stands for the job site. November 19, 2006

Bending and Laminating Ipe for Outdoor Use
Woodworkers share experience and advice about bending and gluing Ipe. February 25, 2009

Flattening a Long Plank: Planer Versus CNC
CNC wins the argument, but we have fun getting there. December 6, 2012

Ways to Machine Radiused Casings
Woodworkers discuss various methods of making curved mouldings, including CNC and moulder techniques as well as ways to join segments. December 2, 2006

Accurate Miter Cuts on Very Large Beams
A wide-ranging set of suggestions for making fine miter cuts in 6-inch deep members. July 12, 2012

Multimedia Installations -- Hardwoods and Tile, Stone, Marble, Metals and Glass
Complementary materials enhance hardwood installations. December 4, 2001

Square Hole Production
Woodworkers brainstorm about how to machine decorative square holes in a wood faceplate. May 8, 2012

Wood Wainscot Wall Paneling Ideas
Suggestions on wainscot fabrication, installation, and finishing. May 20, 2009

Honeycombing and Fresh Checking in a Newly Turned Newel Post
A woodworker's report of a honeycombing and checking problem leads to a good discussion of wood drying defects and how they manifest themselves. March 3, 2009

Materials Options for Exterior Gingerbread Trim
Here's an extended discussion of various natural wood, synthetic, and composite materials and how they hold up in outdoor exposures. November 24, 2007

Entry Door Materials
Pros discuss wood choice, finishing, and construction methods for a durable exterior door. October 4, 2005

Hidden-Pivot Bookcase Door
Here are detailed drawings for a nifty swinging-bookcase hidden door. October 12, 2006

Practical Lumber Tally Methods
A moulding manufacturer needs advice on a method for tallying lumber that his people can conveniently implement. January 27, 2007

Bending Pressure-Treated Wood
Detailed, authoritative information on the ins and outs of bending pressure-treated wood for curved outdoor decks or garden structures. May 23, 2007

Replacing Paneling in an Elevator
Rules and standards related to elevators are so complicated and strict that the jobs tend to be quite expensive and difficult. March 4, 2007

Holly and Teak for Boat Decking
This thread answers the question of why Holly and Teak are paired in boat decking (below decks only), and continues with a folkloric and historic discussion of Teak for boatbuilding — including on nuclear submarines.October 19, 2013

Tapered Craftsman Porch Columns
A long discussion of the materials and joinery needed to reproduce this traditional architectural element. February 5, 2007

Architectural Millwork Installer Compensation
Owners and employees discuss the wages installers make, and the factors that affect the value of labor. November 11, 2005

Making Arched Window Casing Trim
Steam bending is impractical — laminating small strips into an arch shape for moulding stock is the way to go. April 24, 2009

Closet "Fit and Finish"
What kind of precision is expected in closet shelving? Should shelves be scribed to fit? May 6, 2009

Artificially Aging and Weathering Wood
Advice on creating erosion and graying on the surface of boards, without waiting a hundred years. This discussion touches on everything from cow manure to chemistry. February 15, 2009

Veneering MDO for Stair Treads
A question about whether MDO could be stable if veneered on only one side, continues on into a deeper debate about the suitability of veneered material for stair treads. July 29, 2012

Radius of Convex Wall
Formulas for calculating this measurement. May 19, 2004

Weather-Stripping for Exterior Doors
Expert advice on keeping the weather from finding its way around an exterior door. March 22, 2013

Weather Detailing for Replacement Exterior Door Panels
Exterior doors exposed to weather take a beating. Here's an interesting discussion of how to detail wood door panels in a replacement and repair situation. October 19, 2013

Reproduction Exterior Doors with Insulated Glass
Advice about insulated, tempered, and laminated glazing for exterior doors, with some nice photo examples.October 17, 2011

From residential to commercial work
What risks are involved when moving into much larger scale jobs? June 4, 2003

Math Question: Dimensioning Angles
Cabinetmakers chime in on methods for determining the size of an angled plane. February 8, 2005

Outsourcing drawings
Positive and negative experiences from those who have hired the job out. October 30, 2002

Is Making Custom Moulding a Viable Business?
Can you make money doing short runs of custom mouldings? Experienced shop owners share business tips. March 26, 2009

Exterior Doors and Sun Exposure
Another discussion about the beating doors can take from the sun, and how to protect against it. July 13, 2011

Free-Standing Spiral Stairs
A long and winding thread about winding stairs. April 29, 2010

Mitering Curved to Straight Mouldings
When an arc joins a straight line, some thinking and fussing are required to get a close match. Here, finish pros discuss the fine points. August 24, 2005

Locust for Window Sashes?
Locust is durable and rot-resistant, but it's not stable or easy to machine — so probably not the best choice for window parts. January 23, 2014

Wood Choice for Reproduction Windows
Spanish Cedar, White Oak, and Cypress are options that come to mind for a durable exterior application. and January 23, 2014

Radius Shoe Molding
Determining radius of cabinets in order to match molding. July 20, 2004

Wrapping a Cone with Crown Moulding
Practical math and hands-on approaches to a tricky crown moulding problem. February 28, 2012

Truck, Van, or Trailer?
Installation pros discuss the convenience, gas mileage, and security of various vehicle choices. October 8, 2005

What's Involved in Starting Up a Moulding Supply Business?
Here are some business issues to think about if you're considering starting to both manufacture and install large volumes of custom trim. April 20, 2007

Scribing Wood Mantels to Stone or Brick
The pros demonstrate how to make that mantel look like it was "made to fit." February 8, 2008

Curved Handrail Glue-Up Tips
A discussion of glue selection for a bent railing lamination glue-up, and other advice on the work. December 14, 2009

Excessive Wood Movement in Outdoor Trim
Woodworkers troubleshoot wood movement and joint problems with base trim applied to an outdoor column. January 9, 2008

Tablesaw blade safety device
Does a new sawblade-stop product really protect your fingers? July 29, 2003

Custom Wood Entry Door with Inlayed Stainless Steel
A customer's unusual entry door request gives rise to a discussion of wood movement and wood door construction techniques. September 23, 2008

Creating a Spiral Staircase Handrail
Here's a step-by-step how-to on laying out and assembling handrails for spiral stairs. August 2, 2008

Historic Roller Track Door Hardware
Here's some great architectural woodworking history: a look at old track-and-roller pocket door hardware with some original ads and patent documentation. November 14, 2014

Exterior Door Construction Details
A discussion of the relative merits of mortise and tenon versus dowel construction. July 3, 2006

Hidden Bookcase Door Hardware
What kind of hardware and construction will support a bookcase full of books as it swings like a door? October 2, 2006

Baseboard-to-Stairs Trim Transition
Here's a nice way to handle those trim transitions where baseboard moulding runs into the bottom of a staircase. October 25, 2006

Medieval Woodworking, Architecture, Social Power, Space Shuttles, and Hand-Carved Wood Waffle Irons
Excellent adventure or bogus journey? You had to be there. March 20, 2012

Arched Door Casing Against a Curved Wall
Pros discuss a complex trim problem: The intersecting circular arcs resolve to an ellipse, but that doesn't make it easy. October 4, 2005

Bookshelf Weight and Stud Wall Bearing Strength
Will an extensive set of standard-and-bracket bookshelves overload the stud wall they are attached into?October 11, 2012

Large-Dimension Ipe Exterior Woodwork
A woodworker puzzles over some troubling issues with a 12-inch by 3-inch Ipe rail cap detail. July 30, 2009

Methods and Materials for an Outdoor Curved Stair
A woodworker gets advice about replacing a beautiful and well-made outdoor curved stair. April 22, 2014

Wood Gate Lumber and Joinery Choices
Pros discuss lumber choices and joinery details for fancy custom garden gates. September 7, 2011

Complicated Trim Scribing Problem
When complicated pieces butt together, sometimes there is no alternative but tedious hand scribing and fitting. Best to avoid those situations by prior planning, if possible. October 12, 2007

Setting Door Jambs Without the Doors
Thoughts on getting door jambs accurately set before the doors themselves are even built. August 27, 2009

Fastening Retrofit Stair Treads
Installers discuss how to fasten replacement oak stair treads to an existing old stringer so as to minimize squeaking. September 5, 2006

Laminating Stile and Rail Stock for Doors
Here's a long discussion on how to lay up stock for architectural door stiles and rails from multiple laminations of wood. February 10, 2009

Acceptable Runout Tolerances for a Shaper Spindle
High-quality machinery has minimal runout. Excessive runout is a safety risk and a source of trouble. December 20, 2005

Trimming Out a Boat
Finish carpentry and cabinetry are a whole different game when you're working on a boat. December 8, 2010

Crown Moulding for Crazy Angles
How to figure and fit inside miter cuts for oddball intersections and radius curves. June 17, 2005

Helical Stair Math
Whether to calculate a twisty stair, draw it full scale and measure, or have the parts made with a CNC. December 24, 2009

Tread Return Details for a Free-Standing Curved Staircase
Here's a complex and detailed discussion of stair tread fabrication for a high-end custom curved staircase, open on both sides. November 26, 2007

Moulder Tearout Problems with Hickory
Hickory is notoriously difficult to machine. Here's a discussion on how to deal with tearout while making hickory crown moulding. February 19, 2006

Indoor Wood Shrinkage and Expansion
A learned discussion of the way building interior humidity causes dimensional change in wood. December 1, 2005

Competing with Site-Built Builtins
Can a shop get simple built-ins done for the cost field crews can build them at on site? April 24, 2006

Ripping hardwood straight
Why do ripped pieces come out banana-shaped? July 9, 2002

Floating Bookshelves Without Brackets
Creative ideas for supporting shelves. February 28, 2004

Planing on edge
Processing stock through planer to define parts' widths. January 3, 2003

Exterior door finishes
Products to use for protection from rain. May 22, 2002

Troubleshooting Shaper Tearout
Solutions for a tearout problem include slower feed speeds, climb cutting, and larger-diameter tooling. April 5, 2007

Vacuum Clamping -- Save Time, Save Money!
March 19, 2002

Troubleshooting Warped Exterior Doors
Woodworkers discuss the fine points of a small warping problem in a fine custom exterior door. September 8, 2008

To nest or not to nest?
Is nesting appropriate for all shops? June 4, 2003

Labor Charge to Hang Doors
Millwork installers discuss the steps, labor time and cost for installing interior pass-through doors. October 4, 2005

Machining Knotty Alder
Rustic alder mouldings are in demand because of energetic marketing. But the material is extremely rough on knives, machines badly, and has a high waste factor. July 3, 2006

Attaching Veneered Plywood to Steel Stud Walls
Here are descriptions of several approaches for fastening large sheets of plywood paneling to a steel stud and drywall wall assembly. March 25, 2009

Wood Choice for Exterior Column Bases
A woodworker looks for a rot-resistant material for exterior porch column plinths. July 18, 2008

Gluing White Oak for Exterior Service
This discussion supplies good insight into the various ways glued joints can fail, and the reasons. February 1, 2015

Troubleshooting and Repair of Glue Failure in an Exterior Door
A raised-panel Hickory exterior door behind a glass storm door is coming apart from the effects of solar heat and moisture condensation. What can be learned (or done) in this situation? June 3, 2007

Contact Cement and Bubbles Under Veneer
A report of veneer delaminating from architectural columns leads to a long string of cautions about using contact cement to apply veneer, along with advice about superior methods. March 4, 2007

Layout Software for Wainscoting
There may not be a software application out there dedicated to wainscoting layout, but several cabinet design programs can readily accomplish it. November 8, 2008

Steambending
How much time to allow based on thickness and proposed radius of wood. September 23, 2003

Installing Cabinets Before the Space is Conditioned
Cabinetmakers discuss "cover-your-rear" contract and notification practices for an install in an unconditioned building. September 19, 2009

Building a Curved Bench for a Steam Sauna
Advice on glue and wood choices and assembly methods for a curved bench in a hot, moist environment. July 30, 2009

What's a Finish Carpenter Make?
(...besides sawdust?) Pros share info on wage rates around the nation. June 16, 2005

Archway Casing Size Esthetics
A discussion with photo examples of trim proportioning for arched windows and doors. March 26, 2010

Bonding veneer to melamine
Bubbling veneer and contact cement. (Cabinetmaking Forum) May 1, 2003

Machining Custom Crown from Synthetic Trim Material
Advice and feedback about making custom crown molding out of plastic trim materials, to match old trim for a curved porch restoration job. March 20, 2007

Tooling Up to Run Mouldings
Pros give advice on how to choose and use equipment for producing mouldings.

Curved Stair Railings 101
A first-timer seeks advice from the old hands on fabricating and installing a curved banister. October 4, 2005

Working with Iron Balusters
Installers share tips on laying out, cutting, and fitting metal balusters to a wood staircase and banister. August 2, 2005

Troubleshooting Nicks in Moulder Knives
Newly ground knives can be damaged right away by hard mineral deposits within some hardwoods. Here's advice on knife material choices that could help avoid the problem. June 11, 2010

Tools and Techniques for Coping Wide Baseboard
Most carpenters apply a whole range of specialized tools and methods, but everyone has a favorite approach. November 19, 2005

"Hinge-Fold" Door Details
How to double up two doors in an entry so that one hinges off the other — like a bi-fold, but different. May 26, 2008

Carriage Door Hinge Suggestions
You get what you pay for when you need a heavy-duty hinge for an exterior barn door. October 26, 2013

Applied wainscot
Creating fake raised panels for the lower portion of walls. April 3, 2002

16'x12' Solid Wood Pocket Door
This project was mostly a pipe dream — but the discussion produced some interesting thoughts and information about honeycomb-core veneered panels as a lightweight door or moveable wall solution. April 24, 2012

Veneered solid-core doors
Ideas for building exterior, teak-faced, slab doors. September 20, 2003

Shoes Off in the House?
Woodworkers discuss the practicality of working in socks, and the alternatives for protecting floors in high-end residential work. October 14, 2009

Searching for a sales rep
Increasing sales by adding the right marketing professional to your team. September 20, 2003

Eliminating springback problems
Determining the radius to aim for when creating a curve with vac-laminated plywood. September 23, 2003

Ways to Cut Crown Molding
Pros discuss various methods. May 4, 2005

Learning Complex Handrail Concepts
Here's a great conversation where an advanced woodworker sits down with a beginner to walk him through some complicated, old-school curved carpentry and joinery. October 3, 2011

To cleat or not to cleat
Does cleating cabinets save installation time and money? April 3, 2002

Driving Nails into Hard Timbers
A woodworker who's repairing old barn timbers gets advice on choosing a heavy-duty pneumatic nailgun. February 16, 2014

Designing Large Built-Up Crown Molding Treatments
Big trim build-ups at a high wall-ceiling joint call for large, well-defined profiles. Here's an example of the problem and some feedback from trimwork installers. May 21, 2007

Attaching Jamb Extensions
Fine points, tips, and tricks for window and door jamb extension installation. August 31, 2009

Curved Staircase and Rail Discussion
The Furniture-Making Forum takes on an architectural question: bending and laminating wood for curved stair projects. July 25, 2005

Climb Cutting on a Moulder
Molding manufacturers discuss the potentially dangerous but sometimes necessary practice of climb cutting. January 22, 2006

Entry Door Ideas for a Jacuzzi Building
Thoughts on building a durable exterior door able to withstand the steamy environment of a room housing a hot tub. December 14, 2009

Machining Humongous Crown
Thoughts on the problematic practicalities of milling and installing 16-inch-wide crown moulding. September 19, 2009

Chatter Marks in Production Moulding
It's hopeless to think of sanding milling defects out of cheap moulding. The lucky thing is, most customers won't necessarily consider this visual characteristic to be a defect. December 9, 2010

Integrated fillers in cabinets
Using fillers, integrated or loose. April 3, 2002

Pulling Surface Joints Tight
Links to gadgets that can make this sometmes-frustrating issue a breeze. February 8, 2005

Jigs and Rigs for Cutting Tenons
Thoughts on how to set up for cutting tenons on a table saw or other equipment. January 20, 2010

Re-Drying Kiln Dried Lumber
An architectural woodwork mill gets advice on acclimating stock before machining it. December 9, 2010

Wainscot with toe kick
Notching and other ideas for integrating a toe kick with wainscot. January 3, 2003

Buckling Tongue-and-Groove Siding
An example of Ipe siding falling victim to expansion caused by moisture. April 3, 2012

Wainscot Design Decision: Continuous or Interrupted Bottom Rail?
Finish carpenters vote on which of two wainscot methods is more correcter. December 1, 2010

Safe Control of Small Miter-Saw Off-Cuts
When you have to cut a tiny mitered return piece on the chop saw, bits tend to fly out at dangerous speed. Here, carpenters suggest a half-dozen solutions. August 6, 2008

Lathe and Shaper Setups for Fluting and Reeding Columns
Jigs and rigs for fluting and reeding columns or posts using a lathe, shaper, or router. April 24, 2006

Installing Flush-Mount Paneling
Here's a great collection of methods for mounting veneered MDF panels flush against a wall. Advice on Z-clips, shimming, frames, and more. August 15, 2012

Old Trimwork: Strip and Refinish, or Replace?
Trim pros discuss whether it's worth the labor to preserve existing woodwork in an old house. August 22, 2007

Building a Glue Press
Creating a glue press system in-shop. April 2, 2004

Wine Cellar Details
Tips on wine cellar construction. July 3, 2006

Polyethylene Honeycomb Cores and Veneer for Pocket Doors
A discussion of various methods for building pocket doors, with the goal of light weight and limited warping. August 5, 2010

Allowing for Springback in Laminated Railings
Pre-bent railings "uncoil" after unclamping. What's the solution? May 4, 2005

Bending Douglas Fir Dry
After asking for advice, a woodworker successfully laminates a curved 5-inch by 7-inch beam on a tight radius by laying up and bending 3/4-inch-thick plies. October 17, 2012

Jigs for Elliptical Moulder Work
Aftermarket jigs let you do complex curved work on the moulder, especially if given additional shop modifications. May 21, 2007

Price and Quality for Interior Doors
Custom woodworkers have to charge for quality that typical mass-market interior doors can't match. October 17, 2011

Potential Pitfalls of Commercial Trim Jobs
If you're new to commercial work, be careful. Payment schedules can slip, and you can get roped into extra work you hadn't counted on. July 27, 2008

Machining Dadoes into Door Jambs
Ideas for high-volume production methods for cutting dadoes in door side jambs to receive the header jamb. April 30, 2006

Panels for Railroad Roundhouse Doors
A discussion of technical assembly details for some huge architectural doors to be made of sawn wood. June 28, 2013

Picket Fence Lumber Selection
A discussion comparing the pros and cons of treated wood, second growth Cedar, and other wood species for use in a fence. December 1, 2010

Rain Resistance of Wood Panel Entry Doors
Woodworkers discuss the practicality of making a wood entry door leak-proof in a rainstorm. June 2, 2009

How to Make Historically Accurate Curved Window Frames
Advice on whether (and how) to steam-bend, laminate, or "brick-lay" the parts for a reproduction curved window. April 22, 2014

Securing Crown Moulding
Installers discuss methods for attaching crown moulding to a substrate of steel studs and painted drywall. October 8, 2005

Cutterhead Options for a Five-Head Moulder
Shop owners who machine S4S mouldings discuss the relative merits of carbide versus high-speed steel knives, and 2-sided versus insert cutter heads. September 15, 2006

Avoiding Shaper Blow-Out
Various suggestions for achieving clean, sharp profiles without tear-out and blow-out when running moulding on a shaper. July 28, 2007

Machining and Tooling for Large Tenon Production
Woodworkers suggest workable setups for high-volume production of large tenons for heavy doors. April 24, 2006

Comparing Oscillating Tools
How do the original high-end oscillating cutter tools rate in comparison to the less expensive off brands? October 27, 2011

Tallying Moldings
Suppliers round off piece lengths in different ways. Are you getting the quantities you ordered? May 29, 2005

High-speed jointing head moulders
Are these machines practical for a custom moulding business? June 13, 2001

Reviving an Old Sharpening Stone
Here's the story of an old, legacy grinding wheel and the difficulties a woodworker encountered while trying to make it work again. January 2, 2012

Alternatives to Honduran Mahogany
A discussion of the qualities of some of the woods used as substitutes for Mahogany, plus an attempt to clear up some of the confusion around the much-misused "Mahogany" label. February 5, 2007

Beyond the Spiral: Serpentine Stair Example
Here's a quick tour (concept to finished product) of an ambitious free-standing staircase project that includes opposite curves. January 12, 2012

Shopping for a Profile Grinder
Advice on getting into knife grinding, for mid-job touch-up sharpening or for needed custom profiles, without an excessive investment in time or money. April 21, 2011

Machinery for End-Matching Flooring
Short of investing in a specialized end-matching machine, are there other ways to efficiently get quality results on more typical shop equipment? July 26, 2010

Polyurethane (PUR) adhesives
Basic overview of different PUR glues. September 24, 2002

Reproducing Historic Wood Columns
Advice on adhesives, assembling and joining the staves, and woodturning methods for replicating historic old architectural columns. May 12, 2013

Glue Choice for Oak Exterior Doors
Epoxy with fiber filler should work well. April 4, 2011

New turn on rosettes
Could cutting rosettes on a lathe reduce tearout problems? July 22, 2003

Bowed, Round Top Double Hung Top Sash
Arched top windows that will fit into a curved wall. How are you going to build that? Well ... here's a book recommendation and some general ideas. November 29, 2014

Improving Moulder Efficiency
Two guys have their hands full trying to satisfy a busy shop's moulding needs. Here, they get some advice on how to streamline their operation. March 29, 2006

Troubleshooting Warping in a Mirrored Door
Attaching a mirror to one face of a large melamine door leads to warping in the course of a year. December 1, 2013

Bowing in a Panel Glue-Up
Woodworkers consider why a one-inch thick shelf made up of a 3/4-inch wood layer glued to a 1/4-inch MDF layer came out of the vacuum bag bowed. October 13, 2012

No-Nail Wall Paneling Install
French cleats or Z-clips? Pros share tips and tricks. June 16, 2005

Lock-Miter and Miter-Fold Joinery with MDF
Detailed discussion of creating good corner joints when building up a column out of flat MDF. June 28, 2007

Single Knife and Counterweight Setup on a Moulder
Using just one knife rarely gives the best results. November 19, 2006

Big Monitors for On-Screen Estimating
A discussion of the hardware and software upgrades involved in switching to all-digital (paperless) estimating and takeoffs. April 27, 2011

Hanging Laminate Chair Rail
Advice on ways to efficiently install chair rail in volume on commercial jobs, plus a side discussion about contracts and quality specifications. October 20, 2013

Drum versus belt sander
Pros and cons of two approaches to surface sanding. October 9, 2002

Staircase Standards
Standard heights and dimensions for stair parts. January 24, 2005

Can Large Solid-Wood Panels be Stable?
A high-end customer asks for enormous solid wood glued-up panels. But is there any practical way to avoid major warping? November 28, 2011

Strip Laminating Teak
Advice on adhesives and techniques for gluing up Teak strips to make rough stock for a curved moulding profile. June 26, 2009

More Fun with Stud Finders
No stud finder works perfectly. In this thread, pros discuss stud finding methods high tech and low. September 4, 2005

Joinery Details for Wood Doors
Crafting wood doors is an advanced capability that has to be learned from practice. But here are a few tips. June 15, 2014

Crown Moulding and Cathedral Ceilings
The joint between horizontal to rake treatments when applying crown in a cathedral-ceilinged room involves some complex geometry, and usually creates awkward visuals. Here's more discussion on this pesky problem. April 6, 2007

Troubleshooting Curved Miter Cuts
Big chopsaw cutting a little concave? Blade quality and technique might both play a role. August 8, 2008

Troubleshooting Checking in African Mahogany
Woodworkers puzzle over unusual cracking in some African Mahogany rough-sawn stock. February 6, 2010

Flexboard for architectural panels
Stability and strength of flexboard and similar materials. November 24, 2002

Pricing Crown Moulding Installs
Estimating and pricing crown moulding work: by the foot, by the number of corners, by gut feeling? February 17, 2011

Tooling Considerations with a Moulder Upgrade
Shop owners and experts discuss the tooling costs and choices relating to a new moulder purchase. June 23, 2006

Coping Baseboard
Trim carpenters agree coped joints are best. Here's advice on doing them well. June 16, 2010

Exterior Curved Handrails
Some general thoughts on materials and methods for constructing a custom curved handrail for a set of front entry steps on a historic home. February 1, 2015

Whether to Rip and Re-Glue Window Stool Stock
For a 6.5-inch-wide window stool, how should stock be handled to minimize cupping of the piece in service? May 6, 2009

Cost for Staining Custom Moulding
A small shop does some basic cost figuring for unfamiliar work: an incidental stain job. October 19, 2013

Durable Joints For Crown Molding
The fine points of gluing and pinning crown molding copes and miters. February 25, 2005

Is this "Fixed" Shelving?
Does a peg-bracket shelf with screws added to secure it fit the definition of a "fixed" shelf? May 5, 2007

Upgrading a Shaper Motor
Should a woodworker beef up the motor on his shaper when the original one breaks down? It's a questionable call. May 5, 2007

Surfacing curly woods
The best machinery and tooling to handle the job. October 9, 2002

Installing an Interlocking Door Threshold
Using tail wags, ear movements, growls, and barks, an old dog describes in detail the installation process for a Pemko interlocking residential door threshold. October 19, 2014

Finger-Jointing Moulding Stock
A discussion with pictures of using finger-jointing equipment to make long stock for running mouldings. November 19, 2008

Choosing an Installation Vehicle
Cabinet and millwork installers talk about their trucks, vans, hopes, and wishes. January 9, 2006

Crown Moulding for Uneven Height Cabinets
Alternating high and low upper cabinets create a puzzle when it's time to apply crown molding at the top. Here, installers share ideas and show finished examples. July 24, 2005

Festool Domino XL for Entry Door?
Craftsmen discuss using Festool's loose tenon tool for building doors. January 23, 2014

Wood Selection for Laminated Curved Stair Stringers
Here's a discussion about the structural considerations involved in making a glued-up stringer for a curved staircase. September 15, 2011

Attaching a Face Frame to a Plywood Built-In On Site
Tips and tricks for fastening face frames to built-ins without leaving nail holes. September 8, 2008

Machining MDF with High Speed Steel Knives
The adhesive in MDF is rough on tooling, but for short runs of custom MDF moulding it may be worth using HSS knives. June 26, 2009

Entry-Level Tooling for Moulding Manufacture
A finish carpenter and cabinetmaker/installer gets advice on the gear he needs to make his own mouldings (and stock for sale). February 15, 2015

Threaded-Rod Reinforcement for an Exterior Door
Woodworkers kick around a complex technical topic: whether and how to use steel to reinforce a wood door. (Also in this thread, a discussion of a "Copernicus" design pattern.)July 11, 2013

Bar Top Wood Movement Issues Explained
Yet another discussion of the reasons that large table or bar-top glue-ups tend to self-destruct. August 22, 2014

Oversized Pocket Door with Glass Panels
A woodworker worries about weight concerns, hardware choices, and other practical issues with an 8' by 10' pocket door. June 22, 2010

Managing Quality Control and Defect Cutting
How can a millwork shop achieve good defect grading on various jobs with different specifications and standards? April 4, 2011

Board and Batten Wainscot
"Board and batten" conjures up images of barn siding, but the term could also refer to a well-made and distinctive wainscot. Here's a well-informed conversation about wainscoting. January 2, 2012

Using Bending Rail on a Spiral Staircase
Advice on using the steel rail on a steel staircase as a form for clamping flexible rail strips for laminated glue-up. December 24, 2009

Measuring and Estimating Trim Quantities
Tips for figuring quantities and ordering lengths. March 14, 2005

"Brushed and Burnt" Oak Flooring
Thoughts on how to replicate a "brushed and burned" look on wide plank oak flooring, using a flame gun and a brushing power tool. July 27, 2008

Removing Studs Without Damaging Back-Side Drywall
Here are tips for surgically removing a short section of wall stud from a bathroom wall to create space for installing a medicine cabinet, without damaging the artistically painted drywall in the adjoining room behind the wall. August 15, 2011

Ripping a Glue Line on Site
Have to glue boards edge to edge on the job site? Here are a couple of tips on preparing the edges for a satisfactory match.January 23, 2014

Matching Old Moulding Profiles
Advice on how to get custom moulder knives for reproducing historic old trim profiles. July 30, 2009

Laminating a Fire Door
You can't modify a fire-rated door without voiding the rating. Here are some details about the rules. April 4, 2011

Pencil Preferences
Craftsmen discuss the pencils they like and where they carry them. November 11, 2005

Terminating Crown Moulding at a Vent
A high-wall air-conditioning register interrupts a run of crown molding. What are the installer's choices? Pros supply ideas. July 5, 2005

Cantilevered Shelf Supports
Practical idea for wall attachment and support for shelves that project straight out from the wall with no visible means of support. July 29, 2007

Reproducing a Period Door from a Photo
Historical reviewers tend to care a lot about appearance of building details, but less about construction. Here, a woodworker gets a leg up on the research to recreate a passage door that can pass for period. April 22, 2014

Sliding Table Saw Tips
Sliders are a little different for those used to working on a standard table saw. January 24, 2005

Coped Crown Installation
Coping in an octagonal room. April 18, 2004

Widebelt Sanding Schedule -- for Doors
Grits and removal sequences for a smooth surface. February 28, 2004

Radius Bead
A craftsman asks for advice on cutting a bead profile into an arched bookcase front, and hears the details of several alternative methods. October 4, 2005

Glass Panels in Mahogany Exterior Doors
Wood movement and weathering are the chief concerns. December 14, 2009

Deck Construction with Ipe
Woodworkers talk about working and fastening Ipe decking, and discuss its machinability and toxicity. February 6, 2007

Shop Drawing Submittals in Metric
When converting to 32mm construction, should all drawings be done in metric as well? April 18, 2004

Quality Issues with Rift Sawn White Oak
Sawing methods affect the presence of visible rays or fleck — but how much fleck is acceptable? March 4, 2006

Who Does the Wood Trim Takeoffs?
Should the wood moulding supplier do quantity takeoffs, or should the customer do it? January 19, 2011

Troubleshooting Moulder Jams
Strategies for dealing with the problem when boards get stuck in the moulder. April 24, 2009

Door Core Alternatives
Several woodworkers explain why they use engineered lumber products for stave-core door construction. February 5, 2007

Stain-Grade Soffit for the Underside of a Curved Staircase
Suggestions for a very challenging stair project. July 29, 2011

Making Curved Baseboard Cap Moulding
Popular vote winner: rip it into thin strips and re-laminate it on the curve you want. June 26, 2009

Hanging Pocket Doors in a Half-Round-Top Opening
Thoughts on an unusual door situation: a pocket door in an arched opening. April 24, 2009

Machining Curved Crown Moulding
Pros describe how they manufacture small runs of crown moulding to curve around outside corners. November 8, 2008

Ripping an Acute Angle
For a tricky millwork installation, the woodworker needs to rip a 65-degree angle on a plywood edge. Colleagues offer solutions. November 10, 2006

Fabricating Large-Scale Raised Panel Wainscoting
A woodworker struggles with the practical difficulties involved in an outsize design concept. February 1, 2015

Raised Panel Finish Trim Around Replacement Windows
Undersized replacement windows in the fat wall of an older house create an opportunity for a creative, custom raised-panel window surround. May 21, 2007

Walnut Plywood for Wall Panels
A discussion of featuring clear-coated Walnut plywood as a finish wall material. July 18, 2013

Cabinet Scribes
Cabinet installers swap opinions on store-bought and field-rigged scribing devices. November 19, 2006

Decorative Trim with Stucco
Alternatives for wall detail trimwork on a stucco house, including coating options, wood choices, and plastic alternatives like cellular PVC. June 23, 2006

Loose Tenon Size for Door Construction
Thoughts on a practical size for loose tenons and mortises in man door construction. October 13, 2009

Is Western Hemlock Suitable for Doors and Window Sash?
A discussion of the properties and best use of Hemlock. September 7, 2013

Who Fills the Nail Holes?
Tradesmen debate whose job it should be to fill nail holes — the trim installer or the painter. May 27, 2008

Bending Large Pieces
Experienced hands offer tips on bending a thick piece of cherry for a curved rail. June 12, 2005

Teak Door Core Material
Well-informed opinions about whether to use engineered core, a solid Teak core with Teak veneer, or simple laminations of solid Teak when building a Teak door. February 1, 2011

Raised Panels — Rip and Re-Glue or Not?
Is it worth ripping, flipping, and re-gluing boards for exterior door raised panels, if the rough stock is wide enough to make a full panel? Opinion and discussion. June 4, 2012

Building Bee Hive Boxes
Bee hives are mass-produced at prices the small craftsman can't easily compete with. July 12, 2012

Making Custom Storm Doors Fit
Lessons learned as a craftsman recovers from a dimensional mis-step on a custom wood storm door project. June 8, 2008

Wood Choice for Paint Grade Historic Millwork
Woodworkers discuss the pros and cons of Spanish Cedar, Mahogany, Sapele, Black Locust, and recovered Heart Pine for a restoration and historic reproduction project. April 27, 2011

Board and Batten Nailing Techniques
Board and batten siding details for good performance. May 16, 2008

Casing a Double-Curved Door Arch
How do you make and install moldings for an arched doorway set into a curved wall? Very, very carefully. April 24, 2006

Is It Worth It to Buy a Moulder?
A small shop owner gets advice on whether investing in a moulder would pencil out for his operation. October 28, 2014

Moulder Options for the Small Shop
Pros discuss the cost-effectiveness and convenience of various moulders, singly or in combination. November 9, 2005

Flush-Cutting Fiber-Cement Siding
Installers look for an easy way to cut fiber-cement siding in place for a window flashing retrofit. October 27, 2009

Hinge Hardware for a Pivoting Round Window
A discussion on finding replacement mounting hardware for a restored round window that has to pivot in at the top, out at the bottom. November 2, 2010

Cope-Cutting Jigs and Machines
Carpenters swap experiences using various machines and tools to cut copes in a volume production situation. October 25, 2007

Best Tenon Length for a Large Door
Here's a good discussion of joinery for frame-and-panel entry doors. April 4, 2011

Curved Stairway Trim Job
Where chair rail meets moulding. February 28, 2004

How to Draw an Oval
Pros share methods for laying out elliptical shapes. May 4, 2005

Exterior Door Construction Alternatives
Craftsmen discuss various ways of building wood exterior doors, including a foam-core panel method with interior and exterior wood elements isolated from each other. June 29, 2008

Trimming real wood edgeband
Tricks for avoiding tears. April 17, 2002

Inserting Glass into a Wood Entry Door
Woodworkers describe techniques they've used to put glazing into entry doors. April 3, 2012

Wood Movement Worries with Large Wainscot Panels
Oversized floating panels are likely to grow and shrink too much to be practical. Here are some explanations, and advice on substitute materials. August 12, 2014

Mahogany Bar Top Advice
Thoughts on how to build and finish a bar top made of three-inch-thick Mahogany. November 30, 2009

Veneering a Half Cone
A woodworker gets help with the problem of constructing and applying veneer to a architectural cone shape. February 12, 2010

Fabricating a Curved Jamb
Laminating, piecing together, or sawing out of large stock: there's more than one way to build an arched door jamb. April 18, 2015

Splicing Pre-Finished Crown Molding
Tips for getting a tight joint on pre-finished crown molding splices.

Heavy Duty Hinge Selection
A discussion of hinge choices for a large, flush-mounted mirrored door. February 13, 2013

Radius Limitations when Machining Curved Mouldings
Very tight curves introduce shape distortions in moulding profiles. March 4, 2006

Wood Choice for Horse Stalls
Is there any kind of wood that horses won't chew on? July 18, 2008

Drilling Into Radiant Floor Heating Tubes
Oops! A woodworker installing a door learns his lesson when he drills into a hydronic heating tube in the concrete slab floor. May 15, 2014

Glass Stops for Window Sashes — Inside or Outside?
Here's a discussion of how to hold the glass in on custom windows built using modern insulated glass. March 4, 2007

Variable Angle Chamfers in a Production Job
Shaper? Router? Table saw? A woodworker wants to know the best equipment choice for machining large quantities of beveled flat stock at various angles with high accuracy and ease of adjustment. June 4, 2012

Home Theater Acoustic Panels
You can make your own sound-absorbing acoustic panels, but the tricky part is proper acoustic design for the whole room, including sound reflectors as well as absorbers. February 6, 2007

Brush Backed Flap Sanding Wheels
A simple question about where to buy a replacement sanding wheel prompts an information-filled thread about brush and flap sanding technology. August 29, 2014

Fabricating Solid Wood Panel Entry Doors
Should the center panel be glued up, or built of tongue and groove pieces that allow movement? Pros share ideas and techniques. November 19, 2005

Job Site Toolbox Ideas
Installers tell how they transport and organize their tools on the job. December 9, 2007

Fabricating Large Wooden Columns
Brainstorming session about how to make 9-foot-high non-loadbearing decorative columns. February 5, 2007

Storm Door over Wood Entry Door
Will a glass storm door installed over a wood entry door increase the risk of damage from the sun? November 14, 2014

Oversize Wood Gate Structure
Ideas for how to build an 8-foot-wide, 3-foot-high wooden gate so that it won't sag. March 5, 2008

Cutting Giant-Size Crown Moulding
Cutting really huge crown moulding — like 24 inches wide — poses a unique set of problems. Here are stories, examples, and suggestions. April 24, 2009

Determining pricing
Finding a balance between fair and greedy pricing. June 5, 2002

Installing Three-Piece Crown Moulding Solo
Slick tips and tricks for hanging three-piece crown moulding without a helper. February 11, 2010

Veneering a Bay Window in Place
Advice on applying veneer to architectural window trim on site. August 22, 2014

Crown Moulding on a Radius
For crown to follow a curve is a tricky dimensional problem. Here, woodworkers discuss various approaches to creating a piece that will work. October 2, 2007

Choosing Wood for Exterior Turned Details
Woodworkers debate the pros and cons of various wood species as compared to plastic or modified wood. December 28, 2014

Lighted Crown Moulding Installation Tips
Advice on how to install dropped crown mouldings with rope lighting. August 23, 2006

Stair Tread Returns
Tips on applying returns to the end of stair treads. December 26, 2006

Live Edge Fireplace Mantel Advice
Practical details for making a large-dimension rustic mantelpiece with a natural log edge. January 18, 2011

Working with MDF Mouldings
Tips on using MDF mouldings, with comments on coping, gluing, and fastening. April 8, 2008

Trim Wraps for Old Beams
Millwork installers discuss ways to trim out posts and beams. October 8, 2005

Pricing Feedback on a Built-In Entertainment Center
Cabinetmakers offer their guesstimates on a reasonable price for a typical built-in. April 21, 2008

Cypress or Spanish Cedar for Exterior Trim?
Woodworkers discuss the attributes that make a natural wood suitable for painted outdoor trim applications. April 20, 2008

Construction of Exterior Doors
Woodworkers discuss stave-core and ladder-core methods for building a veneered exterior door. June 24, 2007

All-Purpose Router Table
Tips on constructing a router table for shop and site duty. December 31, 2005

Kerfing and Bending Curved Stair Risers
Woodworkers describe in detail their techniques for fabricating curved stair risers. July 27, 2008

Crafting a Curved Exterior Porch Railing
Advice on bending, lamination, wood choice, and details for a curved porch rail. October 13, 2009

Retrofitting Corbels to a Brick Chimney
Woodwork installers contemplate how to attach new corbels and a mantel to an existing brick chimney, when the existing corbels are a little dubious. March 26, 2010

Steam Bending Leopardwood and Lacewood
An informative thread on steam bending versus lamination of curved pieces, and on the different properties of Leopardwood and Lacewood. April 4, 2011

Scribe-Cutting a Ceiling Edge
Here's a challenge: cut 1/4 inch off the edge of a ceiling panel that's mounted flush to the wall. The pros can think of several ways. December 14, 2005

Troubleshooting Bowing in Engineered Flooring Layups
Veneer balancing issues, as well as glue characteristics, could explain why laminated engineered wood flooring panels are curling badly. December 29, 2008

Is It Necessary to Sand Mouldings?
Sanding equipment for your moulding operation shouldn't be needed if knives are sharp and well balanced and the machine is well set up. September 5, 2006

Tung-Oil Based Finishes for Walnut Trim
Questions and answers about using Tung oil to finish trimwork on site. June 30, 2009

Repairing Defects in Solid Walnut Slabs
If you can't make your patches disappear, do 'em up in style and make 'em look good. January 26, 2008

Making Templates from Existing Mouldings
Moulding shop pros discuss how to scan and import profiles of existing mouldings in order to make exact drawings or manufacture new knives. November 10, 2006

Running Baseboard and Casing in One Pass
Can you run baseboard moulding or casing on a four-head moulder, using the first knife to create the necessary back-relief? October 14, 2006

Mixed Wood Species in an Exterior Door
A woodworker describes a failure in an exterior door built out of Walnut and Oak on two different faces. But was it the wood, or the construction method, that caused the problem? August 15, 2012

Troubleshooting a Mold Problem on Redwood Siding
An unusual insulated wall assembly with redwood siding over asphalt paper and studs has a mold problem — but just between the studs. April 24, 2009

Marketing Historic Preservation Work
Architectural woodwork pros discuss how a specialist in historic preservation and restoration can find and develop good job leads. September 8, 2007

Veneer Over LVL for Door-Building
Issues of moisture content, wood movement, and splitting when veneering over LVL for custom door construction. April 5, 2007

Coping MDF Mouldings
Tips on MDF joinery. Some people don't cope it, and some do. September 5, 2006

Crafting a Curved Range Hood
Buying is easier than building if you want a curved range hood. But here are some tips on building it anyway.August 16, 2012

White Pine Versus Yellow Poplar for Interior Paneling
A bandsaw mill owner gets advice on which wood species to use for interior wall and ceiling paneling. October 19, 2014

Choosing Wood for an Exterior Door
What species will provide good looks and durability? Craftsman trade opinions. July 2, 2005

Joinery for a Complex Victorian Barge Truss
Advice on pegging the mortise and tenon joints on a heavy decorative gable assembly. March 3, 2010

A Wood Mantle for an Existing Stone Fireplace
A discussion of design values and installation issues for a new wood mantle to be installed onto an existing cobblestone fireplace chimney. October 3, 2011

Building Up New Stair Treads
Woodworkers discuss techniques for applying new stair treads over the top of existing stairs. November 26, 2007

Fireplace Surrounds in Perspective
General advice on building and/or installing fireplace surrounds for a first-timer. It's nice work if you can get it. February 18, 2007

Fitting Crown Moulding to a Bulging Wall
Woodwork installers discuss ways to trim a misshapen wall in an old house. October 2, 2006

Installing Pre-Finished Millwork Versus Finishing on Site
and in most cases, a higher-quality job. April 6, 2007

Custom Wood Garage Doors
Tips on how to create overhead garage door using real wood. December 26, 2006

Extra-Large Exterior Plank Entry Doors
Some suggested methods for making large plank doors. October 11, 2007

Coffered Ceiling Beam Materials
MDF is straight, stable, and uniform, but Poplar is lighter. September 23, 2008

Simulated Divided-Light Door Details
How to apply false windowpane dividers to large panes of insulated glass. June 26, 2009

Milling Rosettes
Information on rosette cutters, and other advice on techniques for machining rosettes. June 23, 2006

Profiling Door Trim for Accurate Installs
Is it worth detailing pre-finished jamb and casing stock with routs to accept splines for registering the pieces during installation? June 12, 2013

Moulder Motor Upgrade Options
Advice on swapping up to a higher-horsepower motor, and other modifications to add muscle to your moulder. May 24, 2010

Calculating Radians/Chords
Formulas to help do the figuring. February 28, 2004

Removing Stains from Wood Floors
Suggested ways to remove stains from floors without deep sanding. November 28, 2014

Protecting Stairs on Site During Construction
Techniques for protecting newly built stairs from dings and damage while work goes on in the house. February 13, 2013

Finishing an Exposed Exterior Door
The harsh conditions of a south-facing exterior environment can trash any finish, and the door under it. But here's a closer look at the best bets. October 3, 2011

CAD software for architectural millwork
Choosing the right CAD package for angle calculations and complex displays. January 3, 2001

Moisture Issues with a White Oak Lay-Up
Woodworkers consider the potential problems with moisture movement of panels made with oak resawn to 1/8-inch thickness and laminated onto 1/2-inch solid oak cores. September 23, 2008

A Small Power Feeder for a Router?
It can improve control and precision, especially for climb-cutting. February 25, 2005

Hinges for a Hidden Door
Woodworkers discuss hinge choices for a secret door installation. March 4, 2006

Crossbuck X Braces for a Door
Alternative methods for constructing a door with x-shaped cross braces. June 4, 2012

Face Glue-Up Techniques for Making Turning Blanks
Woodworkers discuss the face preparation and gluing issues involved in making large blanks for turning. January 9, 2008

What the Heck is "Honduran Black Walnut"?
Woodweb pros discuss the opportunities, risks, and unknowns inherent in buying lumber from foreign sources at arm's length. September 7, 2013

Nail Lifting Problem on Finished Plywood Bar
A discussion of why plywood moisture changes may cause pin nails to lift out in service. April 24, 2009

Corner Joints for Rope Molding
Cuts won't match up, unless you have left-hand and right-hand versions. May 4, 2005

Door Gap and Outdoor Humidity
A woodworker gets expert advice on predicting the moisture-related dimensional changes in a wood door, for purposes of calibrating the door gap to allow for the movement. October 11, 2007

Coffered Ceiling Tips and Examples
A brief discussion of coffered ceiling installation techniques, with a couple of beautiful examples. July 12, 2012

Torsion Box Shelf Ideas
Concepts and examples for strong lightweight torsion-box book shelves. February 25, 2009

Keeping Your Cell Phone Handy on Site
Installers share ideas for keeping your cell phone handy on site, but safe from being dropped or lost. May 28, 2010

How I cut a 5-sided beam
Fully illustrated details. October 30, 2002

Fabricating a Radius Stair Tread
Woodworkers suggest various approaches to creating a large curved stair tread. February 16, 2014

"Fire Rated" Door Mysteries
Woodworkers discuss the issues around passage door fire ratings, and whether field modification of labeled doors is allowed. March 3, 2009

Replicating Historic Wood Window Sash
Reproducing true double hung windows from an old house is tricky, but it's a worthwhile challenge for a devoted woodworker. Here are tips on the methods and the pitfalls. August 15, 2012

Solid Wood Exterior Doors
Tips on building an exterior door with solid wood. September 7, 2011

Interior and Exterior Wood Door Construction Specs
Door makers discuss what is adequate thickness for large interior or exterior doors, and whether to laminate or use solid wood for stiles, rails, and panels. October 2, 2007

Troubleshooting a Bowed Slab Door
Cedar slats on one face, Oak slats on the other face, bowing about a quarter inch ... what went wrong? November 5, 2013

Gluing on Fine Moldings
Advice on adhesives and techniques for those time when nails are just too big for the job. May 20, 2006

Stave Core Veneer Door Layup
A discussion of vacuum-bag veneering and other construction tips for veneered stave-core doors. July 13, 2010

Gluing Painted Glass to Wood or MDF
Woodworkers discuss colored coatings for glass, and adhesives that will reliably fasten the coated glass to a wood fiber substrate.July 12, 2012

Glue Choices for Curved Railing Glue-Ups
A discussion of suitable adhesives for curved stair railing laminations. Long open time and minimal spring-back are the issues. December 6, 2008

Climb Cutting with a Moulder
A shop owner considers the pros and cons of climb-cutting cedar and redwood on a moulder. May 28, 2006

Arched Moulding Glue-Ups
Advice on sawing thin strips and gluing them up for arched moulding blanks. July 22, 2013

Aluminum Delaminating from Wood Substrate
A decorative aluminum element separates from its wood backing — probably because they move differently. November 29, 2014

Planing Warp out of Wood Flooring Stock
It requires hand labor, but you can use a moulder to straighten warped stock — up to a point.June 28, 2013

Steam Bending Larger Boards
Advice on steam-bending 2x4 stock for a curved roof structure. October 19, 2013

Methods for radius layout
Alternatives to using a trammel for laying out an arc. September 19, 2001

Selecting Wood for Rot and Insect Resistance
Woodworkers notice that old-growth lumber seems to be more durable than juvenile wood, across different species. December 24, 2012

Stock Moulding Start-Up Tips
A millwork installer moving into moulding manufacturing gets advice on running his new business. June 23, 2006

Causes of Grain Ridging in Moulder Finish
This thread includes a nice concise summary of issues that cause finish defects in mouldings. August 21, 2012

Sourcing Dry-Erase Materials
A look at product choices for making dry-erase fixtures, furniture, and accessories. April 29, 2010

Ideas for an Extra-Large Wood Entry Door
An order for double 5'-wide entry doors poses challenges for hardware and construction details. February 19, 2008

Building a steamer
Homemade steamers for bending wood in your shop. January 21, 2002

Driving and Counterboring Big Lag Screws
Thoughts on tools and methods for fast setting of long half-inch lag screws in a production setting. October 27, 2009

Sanding with a Flap Wheel Head
Jacob Malherbe of flap-wheels.com supplies a brief explanation of how flap-wheel sander heads work, with tips on getting the best from your machine. May 4, 2010

Instant Glue for Moulding Miters
Details on ordering and using instant-set adhesive for moulding miters and other handy purposes. March 26, 2009

Templating Systems for Production Door Installation
Advice on choosing jigs for hanging residential doors on site, in quantity. July 30, 2009

Trimming Defects in Moulding
Stock manufacturers describe how they control quality in runs of moulding and how they keep track of productivity. April 15, 2013

Stair-Tread-to-Landing Transition
Tips on installing stair landings. October 25, 2006

Seeking Lightweight Materials for an Oversize Moulding
Pros suggest alternatives to wood for a 15-inch-wide cove moulding installation. October 28, 2014

Machining Curved Base and Crown for Applying Over Bullnose Cornerbead
Shaper operation tips for making a challenging custom moulding. December 2, 2006

Finishing Doors
Finishers discuss ways to efficiently spray large quantities of interior doors. September 11, 2006

Mounting Architectural Panels
Here's a detailed description of an accurate and reliable way to attach architectural panels to walls with no visible fasteners and very little possibility of installation error. November 14, 2011

CNC-Carved Trim Details
Woodworkers discuss how to find or make detailed decorative carvings for pilaster capitals and other trim elements. June 15, 2009

Charging for Short Runs of Custom Moulding
Thoughts on how to price custom short moulder runs when the customer supplies the rough stock. June 24, 2007

Structural Support for "Floating" Wall Shelves
Good ideas for building strong shelves on site with no visible means of support. March 4, 2007

When Air-Duct Registers Get in the Way of Crown Moulding
A vent grille near the ceiling interferes with planned crown moulding. Now what do you do? May 26, 2008

Shaper Heads on CNC Machines
A "shaper aggregate" offers a whole new way to do curved mouldings. Here's some introductory info on the technology. August 14, 2007

Fire-Rated Garage Door Issues
Putting a pretty face on a fire-rated door is not as simple as it sounds. September 23, 2008

Alternating growth rings in panels
The debate between alternating growth rings and matching grain. September 25, 2002

Milling Radius Crown Moulding
Advice on how to run pieces of radius crown moulding using a tilting head shaper. January 22, 2006

MDF Crown Moulding in a Bath or Shower
Installers report mixed experiences with MDF mouldings in damp areas. Climate might be a factor. March 26, 2012

A Strong Miter Joint in an Exterior Teak Railing
Pre-soaking in epoxy, and half-lapping if possible, are recommended to strenthen an exterior miter joint. November 23, 2012

Joining Flex Molding to Straight Runs
Fitting curved flexible molding to straight molding can be tricky. September 24, 2009

MDF for Door Panels
Woodworkers discuss the suitability of MDF for the raised panels in interior house doors. April 24, 2006

Tolerance for Moulding Dimensions
Moulding manufacturers discuss the limits of perfection in wood machining. January 13, 2006

Chain Mortiser Versus Hollow Chisel
Woodworkers discuss the evolution of power mortising machinery: chain mortisers, slot mortisers, and oscillating chisel mortisers. September 17, 2014

Cutting Cardboard Tubing
Laminate-faced cardboard tubes can be tricky to cut. Here are some tips. March 10, 2008

Crown Moulding and Ceiling Movement
Here are some tips on installing crown so that it will keep looking good despite seasonal moisture-related movement of the house structure. December 26, 2007

Matching Stair Stringer Trim to Baseboard
Advice on making stair stringer trim match up nicely with baseboard on the floor or landing. October 23, 2007

Crown Moulding for Frameless Cabinets
Installers explain various ways to apply crown moulding to the tops of frameless cabs. November 10, 2006

Flush-trimming a Hardwood Floor
Pros weigh in on a remodeling problem: how to flush-cut around the perimeter of a hardwood floor (the baseboard can't come off). August 29, 2005

Hanging Architectural Panels with Z-Clips
Advice on hanging large wood wall panels with no fasteners showing. February 23, 2010

Plank Entry Door Construction
A discussion of joinery and wood movement for solid wood full-size man doors. August 11, 2009

Truss Lifting and Crown Moulding
Trim installers discuss the finish problems associated with seasonal truss movement — cracking at the corners where walls meet ceilings. June 4, 2009

Small Compressor Versus an Air or CO2 Cartridge
A cheap one-gallon compressor wins the voice vote for job-site convenience and reliability. August 30, 2011

Laying Up and Attaching Wood Wall Panels
Woodworkers discuss how to fabricate and hang wall panels of grooved-out hardwood veneer on a plywood substrate. May 26, 2008

Murphy Bed Hardware
A few general observations on the challenge of assembling and installing a Murphy bed. August 22, 2007

Troubleshooting Tearout With Maple Flooring
Check sharpening, settings, feed rates, and more. April 10, 2005

Walnut Substitute for Handrail Work
Should a stair builder use Walnut for a custom handrail, or look for a suitable alternative? September 23, 2008

Gluing Wood Flooring to Concrete
Adhesive choices for glue-down wood strip flooring. July 12, 2008

Pricing Trim Installation
GC's may ask for a square-foot price, but pricing by the piece or by the cut makes more sense. September 3, 2005

No-Seam Faux Ceiling Beams
Advice on how to build and install fake ceiling beams with invisible seams. October 14, 2009

Repairing an Old Wood Door
Tips on replacing the bottom portion of a Cypress exterior door, with structurally strong joinery and a passable visual blend. November 2, 2010

French Door Hardware
A quick but thorough round-up of French door hardware options, past and present. May 26, 2008

Hanging Curved Veneer Panels to a Curved Wall
Advice on how to adapt Z-clip hardware to a curved wall panel situation. July 8, 2014

Cutting Long Through Mortises
Advice on tools and techniques for mortise and tenon joinery for a historical shutter reproduction. June 22, 2010

Tablesaw Techniques for Short, Thin Rips
Pros discuss power-feeder setups and push-stick refinements for tricky rips of small pieces. June 23, 2006

Passage and entry door construction
Step-by-step descriptions and photos of the process. August 9, 2001

Is Eastern Red Cedar Suitable for a Sauna?
Potential toxicity and non-durability of the sapwood are issues that could affect the decision. March 12, 2014

Mitering Radius Moulding to Straight Moulding
Here's help visualizing and laying out the miter cuts where a curved piece of moulding meets a straight piece with the same profile. April 24, 2014

Wood Choice for Interior Doors
Pros discuss materials options for custom built pass-through doors. September 3, 2005

Installing Crown with Fast-Drying Glue
Installers discuss fast-setting glues and other fine points of crown moulding installation. November 10, 2006

Fabricating Round Half-Columns
Woodworkers describe ways to stave-build, lay up with veneer, or turn columns using solid wood. November 10, 2006

Casement Window Repair Problem
Woodworkers discuss the difficulty of replacing or repairing damaged windows. February 6, 2007

Laser Measuring for Trim
Are laser measuring devices accurate enough for trim work? Most installers say yes. November 19, 2006

Cabinet Installation and Trim Carpentry
Installers discuss how trim carpenters and cabinet installers should work out the kinks where their workflows intersect. July 3, 2006

Laminating Curved Stock for Stain-Grade Mouldings
Tips on sawing and sanding thin laminations, and advice on clamping forms and cauls. November 26, 2007

White Oak Versus Red Oak for Outdoor Exposures
The key difference is that White Oak has a closed-cell pore structure and is therefore more weather-resistant. November 23, 2012

Four-Dimensional Crown Moulding Conundrum
Crown moulding site details involving three dimensions in space usually also end up consuming a lot of time. July 30, 2009

Curved Stairs Riser and Tread Dimensions
Stair geometry is tricky even on a straight run. Here, woodworkers wrap their heads around a curved staircase layout question. December 7, 2007

Keeping Tally of Moulding Runs
Moulding manufacturers discuss efficient systems to keep track of moulding production (including tracking defective and rejected pieces). September 3, 2005

Fireplace Trim Design Example
Here's a problem and possible solution for trimming out around a fireplace flanked by built-in cabinets. December 7, 2008

Making a Template for Winding Stair Stringers
Woodworkers discuss ways to make a template for a complex stairmaking operation. September 23, 2008

Mortising for Monsters
How would you make a 2-foot mortise in a giant stick of Ipe wood? We don't learn that here, but we do learn something about why Ipe is so tough on tools. July 3, 2008

Yellow Cedar Characteristics
Not a true Cedar, Yellow Cedar grows mainly on the northern Pacific coast of North America. Here is some info about its useful properties. April 2, 2013

Re-Facing a Stair Stringer
A woodworker needs to apply a veneered face to an existing stair stringer. Here's the advice he receives on scribing and fitting. October 27, 2008

Router Dust Collection for Field Work
Tweaking dust-catchers to work in odd situations outside the shop. April 6, 2007

Stripping Old Windows
How to get old paint off historic window sashes without damaging the wood. March 18, 2006

Machining Lock Miters on Large Pieces
A millwork fabricator gets advice on how to cut lock-miter profiles into the long edge of very long and wide MDF panels. November 10, 2006

Thin Louvered Closet Doors
Ideas for an unusual door project. February 16, 2006

Cutting Metal Closet Rod
Suggestions for saws, blades, and cutters for cutting metal closet rod material. October 27, 2011

Drilling Deep Holes in End Grain
Advice on how to drill three-foot wiring chases into the ends of wooden deck posts, in the field. November 26, 2008

Fastening Pilaster Moulding Over a Face-Frame Seam
Cabinetmakers trade attachment tips and tricks for an afterthought moulding placement. March 20, 2006

Sealing Door Bottoms
Painters on site typically don't take care of door bottoms, so door makers recommend priming with shellac or epoxy. October 19, 2013

Tweaking the Feed Rollers on a Moulder
Woodworkers suggest reasons wood might get stuck going through the moulder, and suggest ways to fix the problem. December 6, 2006

Curved Raised Panels
Woodworkers discuss ways to fabricate curved raised panels for the interior of an archway, with photo examples. December 2, 2006

Building Large Exterior Doors
Advice on joinery and lumber choice for oversize exterior doors (5 out of 5 doctors agree: no Poplar!)October 17, 2011

Exterior MDF
A closer look at exterior-grade MDF products. October 27, 2008

Recreating Historic Period Wood Filler
How to mix up a batch of the wood filler our forefathers used to use. June 23, 2006

Centered Drilling in Pole End Grain
Thoughts on how to drill centered, matching holes in the end of poles so the poles can be connected end to end. March 26, 2009

Gang Ripping on a Moulder
Tips for making short work of multiple rips. February 27, 2005

Plank Style Entry Door
Advice on managing wood movement in a solid wood plank entry door. May 20, 2006

Caulking Interactions with Insulated Glass Units
Questions exist about whether silicone caulking can degrade the sealing material in some insulated glass products. January 20, 2011

Compressors for Trim Carpenters
Favorite compressors for a one-man or two-man trim crew. March 26, 2012

Alder for Exterior Doors
Soft and unstable, Alder wood is not well suited for building entry doors. August 23, 2006

Durability of Cedar Signs in Outdoor Exposures
Cedar should last 15 years in the weather — if the assembly details and finish are suitable. July 29, 2012

Tooling Up for Efficient Custom Wood Window Production
Advice on tooling and construction methods for speeding up the process of setting up to build custom windows in small quantities. July 15, 2012

Troubleshooting Finger Joint Telegraphing
Examining why finger joints telegraph through a gypsum undercoat and polyurethane finish. May 11, 2011

Reinforcing Door Stiles with Steel
Is steel reinforcement a practical idea to prevent a wood door from warping? Here's a discussion. August 22, 2014

Fence Construction: Spindles Penetrating a Rail
Thoughts and drawings on constructing a tricky picket and rail wood fence detail involving some complex joinery and assembly. July 13, 2010

Glue for MDF Mouldings
Millwork installers share tips on how to glue MDF moulding joints. September 5, 2006

Ingenious Hidden Pantry Idea
This technique for disguising the doors to a walk-in pantry as a large cabinet is as slick as a whistle. March 6, 2006

Sanding Defects on Doors with a Wide-Belt Sander
"Dips" from the sander where door stiles meet rails are probably an adjustment problem. May 11, 2008

Distressing Box Beams
Advice on making new sawn lumber beams look old, beat-up, and hand-hewn. November 8, 2008

Crown moulding on a radius
Upside down, backwards, and bent; lots of ideas for making crown flow sexily around an inside curve.

Attaching Aluminum Strips to Laminate
Suggestions for attaching aluminum accent strips to architectural laminate surfaces. July 12, 2008

Rebuilding Cordless-Tool Batteries
The cells in a cordless tool battery pack can be replaced with aftermarket versions. But is it worth doing? May 22, 2007

Teak Fence-Post Durability
How long will the buried end of a Teak fence post last? June 26, 2009

Should I Sharpen My Own Moulder Knives?
The advantages may be worth the set-up cost and the learning curve. December 2, 2006

Baseboard Transition at the Top of a Stair
Wise advice from a pro helps a trim carpenter detail the juncture where hallway baseboard moulding turns and goes down a staircase. November 14, 2014

Window Sash Joinery Details
Information on meeting rail and parting bead configurations for custom window sash. April 24, 2009

Sap Bleeding Through Primer on Ceiling Boards
Advice on stain-blocking primer, on cleaning up sap, and on proper wood drying. January 14, 2009

S4S Moulder: Is It Worth It?
A shop owner is considering buying a 4-head moulder to dedicate to producing S4S stock. Opinions vary on the value of that investment — the difference may lie in the quantity he needs to produce. October 22, 2005

Staircase Wainscoting Layout
Basic advice on laying out wainscoting for a stairway. December 27, 2008

Fastening Newel Posts to Floors
Without tearing things apart, how do you attach a newel post to a floor framed with floor trusses and subflooring, with laminate flooring installed over that? July 3, 2006

Can You Make Money With Wire Shelving?
A quick look at the business side of wire shelving. February 13, 2013

Arched Door Jamb Joinery
Tips on building and installing round-top door jambs. July 25, 2010

Bending MDF
Woodworkers discuss steam, kerfing, strip laminating, and other methods for bending MDF mouldings and panels. July 30, 2009

Filling Nail Holes on Pre-Finished Stair Treads
Tips on mixing wood filler out of glue and wood flour, to blend invisibly with the wood. March 4, 2009

Miterfold Tape
Advice on choosing tape for miter-fold joints. March 26, 2010

Dowel making
Machines and techniques used in dowel making. June 13, 2001

Woodworker Tests iPhone Angle Finder
... it seems to work surprisingly well. June 18, 2010

Split Log Fireplace Mantels
Tips and techniques for log peeling, seasoning, and installing for a split-log mantelpiece. February 17, 2006

Keeping Joints Tight with MDF Crown Moulding
Gaps can appear at MDF moulding joints for various reasons. Here, installers give several suggestions for holding those joints tight. September 4, 2005

Leaving the Bark on Porch Posts
There are several reasons why leaving the bark on an architectural feature is a bad idea, especially outdoors. September 25, 2014

Jobsite Tool Carts
Installers share ideas for keeping tools and materials organized on site. March 18, 2006

Joinery and Hardware for Narrow-Stile Architectural Doors
Construction and hardware suggestions for doors with narrow vertical pieces, such as traditional French doors. September 15, 2011

Exterior Bi-Fold Door Details
Advice on how to retrofit 3-foot-wide doors into an existing garage door opening, bi-fold style. July 13, 2010

Ash for Exterior Doors
Woodworkers share observations on the workability and durability of Ash wood used to make entry doors. July 27, 2008

Softening/flattening burl veneers
Step-by-step instructions. July 22, 2003

Portable Bandsaw
Pros discuss options for detail cuts on heavy timbers. May 4, 2005

Is Sweetgum Too Unstable for Flooring?
Sweetgum is highly prone to movement. However, sawn thin enough and heavily nailed (and glued), it just might work as strip flooring. February 19, 2008

Raised Panel Column Proportions
Laying out wall paneling that is practical, but pleasing. June 26, 2009

Dedicated vs. power-fed tablesaw ripping
Increasing productivity by upgrading to a straight-line, dedicated saw. August 29, 2001

End Gap Specs for a Solid-Surface Windowsill
An unusual application for solid surfacing leads to a discussion about movement joints and tolerances. May 23, 2007

Visualizing Crown Moulding Miters Around a Chimney
Help with the three-dimensional geometry for crown moulding installed around a chimney penetration in a cathedral ceiling. November 30, 2009

Fast Glue for Miter Joints
New fast-setting adhesives are a great tool for trim carpentry, and these photos demonstrate how strong they are. May 20, 2006

Fabricating an Elliptical Arch
What's involved in creating an elliptical archway trim package? June 23, 2006

Pricing Lineal Moulding
Tips and advice on setting a per-foot price for custom moulding runs. July 23, 2007

Sunlight and a Cherry Entry Door
Cherry is a problematic wood for any exterior use, because it is known to first darken, then bleach, from exposure to sunlight. April 24, 2006

Uneven Ceilings and Cabinet Crown
How to fit crown moulding to a badly out-of-level ceiling. July 31, 2009

Connecting Sections of Low Profile Rail
A discussion of hardware choices and techniques for joining pieces of thin wood railings. December 26, 2006

Hinge Boring Dust Collection
Custom design of a dust collection system for a hinge boring machine. January 25, 2005

Terminating Waiscoting at an Uncased Opening
Wainscoting needs a door casing to end against, or it won't look right, a trim installer decides. May 6, 2006

Mortising Large Timbers
Ideas about tools and techniques to efficiently cut lots of big mortises in 5x5 posts. April 9, 2008

Thicknessing Stock for Arched Moulding Production
Advice on achieving thickness tolerances in thin rips for gluing up arched moulding blanks. October 19, 2013

Interesting Wood Choices for Custom Siding
Woodworkers discuss tropical woods and decay-resistant softwood choices for architectural siding applications. June 29, 2008

Working with Flexible Crown Moulding
Tips for handling and fastening. August 29, 2005

Insulated Core Entry Door Construction
Discussion and debate about how to build an insulated-core exterior door using wood. December 27, 2008

Screen Door Corner Joinery
Advice on wood choice and joinery for a custom wood screen door replacement. August 15, 2011

Wood Floor Smoothness Changes
Moisture-related movement can cause wood floors to move and become rough at the joints. February 23, 2010

Splitting Moulding Profiles
Technical advice on running two profiles on a single piece of stock, and splitting the pieces as they come off the machine. November 12, 2008

Gaps in the Ceiling Joint with Crown Moulding
Troubleshooting a gap that appeared between architectural crown and the bathroom ceiling. February 16, 2014

Mimicking the Appearance of Circle-Sawn Lumber
How to add "faux" saw marks to wood. May 5, 2007

MDO as a Painted Floor
Yes, you can make a "distressed" floor with medium density overlay (MDO) panels. June 11, 2014

Stave-Core Door Methods
A discussion of construction details and materials choices for fabricating stave-core solid wood doors. February 5, 2007

Charging for Trim Work
Pricing advice for a cabinetmaker looking into residential trim installation work. August 31, 2009

Modifying Fire-Rated Doors
Doors with official fire resistance ratings need to be manufactured by qualified companies, and modifying the doors voids the ratings. November 3, 2010

Magnetic Chalkboard Solutions
Suggestions for providing a magnetic bulletin board that the customer can also write on with chalk. February 27, 2015

Beadboard on Back Wall Between Cabinets
Here are some tips on installing a wood beadboard backsplash when there's a scarcity of framing to nail to. December 27, 2007

3d Cnc
Programming 3D work on a CNC. August 26, 2004

Moisture-Related Wall Panel Movement
Troubleshooting shrinkage in a recently applied wall-panel installation.

Curved Closet Poles
Ideas for fabricating curved closet poles from wood or metal. May 28, 2010

Custom Closet Basics
Entry-level info on custom closets for a cabinetmaker who is unfamiliar with that kind of work. July 28, 2012

Concealing Fasteners for a Mantel Installation
Here are several ways to install a mantelpiece without exposed fasteners, and some advice on hiding fasteners if need be. June 12, 2014

Oddball Crown Moulding Miters
Advice on joinery for spots where curved mouldings on an arch meet a horizontal return, and other odd intersections. December 6, 2008

Fabricating and Installing Curved Baseboard
Suggestions for this curved baseboard situation include using flexible stock, or clamping and laying up thin layers of MDF before profiling with a router. July 12, 2012

Flexible Crown Molding
Pros discuss product choices and finishing methods. May 4, 2005

Building Coffered Ceilings
Quick tips on coffered ceilings, and leads to more info. September 5, 2006

Tenoning Shutter Slats
Advice on joinery for old-style storm shutters. December 19, 2009

Glue Choice for Laminating Cedar
Polyurethane adhesives are reported to work well for exterior laminated cedar glue-ups. March 4, 2006

Shrinkage in MDF Crown Moulding
Ideas for installing MDF crown so as to minimize shrinkage, and its harmful effects. August 7, 2006

Options for Exterior Trim
Naturally durable woods and paintable treated wood choices. April 10, 2009

Machining Mouldings from Flexible Stock
Running flexible moulding stock through your machinery is doable, but problematic. October 15, 2010

Moisture Protection for a Wood Door in a Stone Threshold
A church door replacement job raises questions of protecting wood from moisture in contact with stone.September 25, 2014

Coping Wide Inside Angles on Crown Moulding
Advice on how to cope joints for open angles. August 31, 2009

Elliptical Jamb Extensions
Pros puzzle out how to make extension jambs for elliptical windows. January 9, 2008

Sharpening Vibrating-Head Saw Blades
Did you know you can sharpen the blades for those vibrating-head detail-sander saws? You can also make your own replacement blades. December 6, 2006

Shoji Screen Ideas
Basic tips for a first-timer on fabricating shoji screens. September 10, 2007

Focusing a Moulding Business
Shop owners discuss whether custom small-volume runs or large stock moulding jobs are the preferred path to profitability. June 12, 2005

Rolling Jobsite Tool Carts
Ideas for putting your tool chest on wheels to get in an out of install sites quickly. September 27, 2008

Measuring Line Feet Produced with a Straight-Line Rip Saw
Here's how you rig up a rolling measuring wheel to your ripsaw to count how many feet of wood you're running through the machine. July 9, 2007

Fixing Manufactured Windows
A few tips on pulling apart and repairing window sash that have failed prematurely from rot. May 20, 2011

Tear-Out Problem When Machining Flooring Ends
Ideas for stopping the wood from tearing out when the cutters get close to the edge. November 27, 2007

Glued-Up MDF on the Lathe
A woodworker experiments with laying up MDF blanks and turning them on a lathe. He reports mixed results, but says the idea has potential. May 6, 2006

Relative Humidity in the Wood Storage Area
Advice on what humidity level to maintain where rough lumber is stored, and how to accomplish that. September 23, 2008

Multi-Profile Knives and Heads
Shop owner gets advice on finding appropriate cutter heads for a set of nice knives (manufacturer unknown). Included are some set-up tips. July 13, 2005

Do ANSI B11 Standards Apply to Woodworking Equipment?
ANSI Standard B11 was created to apply to machine tools, not woodworking machinery. But an argument could be made for a broader application of the rules. October 26, 2011

Counterweights for a Folding Door
Thoughts on how to balance the weight of a heavy folding door with vertical action. October 2, 2010

Laminating Teak Strips
Advice on adhesive choice, wood prep, and springback when laying up curved laminated members from Teak strips. November 3, 2010

Volutes and Easements: Custom Versus Stock
Complex stair rail parts: make or buy? February 8, 2008

Fabricating Radius Jambs
An architectural millwork pro outlines his process for making radius-curve door jambs. December 26, 2006

Metal Edging for Oak Doors
Pros discuss the options for metal edge trim on sawn wood doors. July 3, 2006

Waste Allowance for Running Trim
Suggestions for how to handle the "fudge factor" involved in estimating trim material quantities. August 13, 2007

Treated Cypress Options
A discussion of surface coatings, preservative treatments, and natural decay resistance of Cypress used for outdoor shutters. July 12, 2008

Interior Barn-Style Doors
Tips for building board-and-batten doors mounted on slider or roller tracks. April 6, 2011

Steam Bending Bloodwood
Bloodwood is a tough wood to bend. Bent laminations might be a more practical method. January 20, 2011

Wainscot for Stairs and Landings
A discussion of how to handle the tricky transitions brought on by stairway elevation changes. February 16, 2006

Cutting crown moulding laying flat
Calculating angles properly. April 2, 2002

De-Nailing Antique Pine
Advice on finding and removing the nails from reclaimed lumber before milling into flooring. April 27, 2007

Steam-Bending Base Moulding
Is it practical to bend base moulding around a curved island? February 15, 2009

Estimating and purchasing software
Recommended reading and computer software for estimating architectural woodwork. February 7, 2001

Using a Stair-Stringer Router Template
Basic directions for using a manufactured router template to route out stringers for fully-housed stair treads. October 19, 2006

Making Box Beams Look Hand-Hewed
It's hard to duplicate the look of an authentic hand-hewn beam, but here are some suggestions. August 24, 2005

Exterior Door Core Material and Moisture
Which will handle moisture changes better, LVL or solid wood door cores? February 8, 2008

Pricing Moulder Services
How to charge for machining someone else's material. January 13, 2006

Raised Panel Barrel Arch Doorway
Advice on grain direction, panel construction, and more for a custom door arch. December 14, 2009

Flexible Door Stop Stock for Curves
Plastic moulding or bending plywood are suggested solutions. July 25, 2010

Mantle and Fireplace Surround Minimum Clearances
Advice on how to check whether woodwork around a fireplace meets fire codes. October 4, 2005

Preventing Tearout When Jointing Maple
A five-degree back bevel on the knives works like a charm. May 13, 2005

Milling Your Own Flooring
Sawmill operator asks about the wisdom of milling up some mesquite flooring, and gets opinions both ways — along with some practical tips. October 4, 2005

Scheduling Routine Machine Maintenence
Ideas that can help you stay on top of regular shop machine maintenance tasks. July 23, 2007

Gluing Veneer on Site
Pondering the problem of placing veneer on the inside of an existing TV cabinet. June 30, 2014

Constructing Wood Grilles for Floor Vents
Advice on custom-crafting wood grilles for heating supply and return vent openings. November 23, 2012

Flooring Equipment
Basic descriptions of moulders and end-matchers used to make wood flooring. November 11, 2008

Optimal Size to Rough Cut for Flooring
Start with a uniform finish thickness, then add allowances for planing, drying shrinkage, and cupping. October 26, 2011

Press-On Wall Panel Fasteners
A woodwork installer needs zero-clearance fasteners for a tricky panel attachment problem. Suggestions include velcro, magnets, and inverted Z-clips. November 10, 2005

Applying Divided Lights to Insulated Windows
Some woodworkers have learned to piggyback original divided-light window glazing on the interior of modern insulated sash. June 17, 2012

Mitering Arched Door Top Casing to Straight Side Casing
For profiled casings, the only way to achieve a perfect fit is with a curved joint. January 25, 2010

Wide Board Flooring Tips
Advice on sawing, fastening and sanding wide board oak floors. September 15, 2006

Hiding a Compartment Behind a Wainscot Panel
Magnets or self-closing hinges can hold a panel in place over a hidden compartment. August 5, 2006

Making Curved Casings from MDF
MDF is rough on knives, which makes custom moulding runs costly. January 12, 2009

Window Shutter Dimensions and Angles
Thoughts on the the spacing and angling of louvers in traditional window shutters. June 4, 2012

Design Drafting for a Tudor Arch
Looking like a flattened Gothic arch, a Tudor arch involves a complex interaction of four radius centers. Here's some help with designing one. October 11, 2007

Feeder Wheel Hardness
A shop owner asks about products to soften old power feed wheels. Instead, he gets advice about re-covering the wheels or switching to a replaceable tire system. October 13, 2005

Mounting a Mantel to a Brick Fireplace
Suggestions for drill bits and fasteners for attaching wood to brick. July 28, 2012

Vacuum Bag Versus Clamp Jig for Curved Moldings
For a small molding laid up from laminated plies, keep it simple: a curved jig and clamps works as well as vacuum baggin, or better. June 23, 2006

Calculating Springback
Simple formula for determining amount of springback in bent solid wood. April 18, 2004

Working with Balau Wood
A dense, durable tropical hardwood that is rough on blades, Balau is good for outdoor features such as decks. April 4, 2011

"Crosette Corner" Period Door Casing
An example with some discussion of a wide-shoulder door casing from the Georgian period in American architecture. January 19, 2011

Milling Ipe with a Router
Ipe wood is hard, stubborn and toxic. Wear a respirator and use carbide tooling. June 23, 2006

Fabricating Spiral Stair Handrails
More good advice on one of the most challenging tasks in woodworking: making handrails for a spiral staircase. May 26, 2008

Custom Mouldings for Arched Window Tops
Manufactured windows may not have regular, true, or consistent dimensions. The safest bet is to make a template from the actual window. October 13, 2005

Making a Fabric-Covered Tack Board
Pros suggest backing materials, fabrics, and attachment methods for building a "tack-friendly" bulletin board. August 13, 2007

Machinery for Running Radius Mouldings
Woodworkers discuss equipment choices for producing radius flat arch casings and curved crown mouldings. March 3, 2009

Blanks for Curved Mouldings
Two ways to make curved blanks for machining into radiused moulding. May 5, 2007

Outside Corner Details for Commercial Wall Panels
Tips on turning the corner with wall paneling in a public space. December 20, 2005

Tips on Making Radius Moldings
Explanation and examples of radius arched door casings. September 15, 2006

Equipment for Square Turnings
Certain old-style lathes can some make square turned posts easily, but some complex designs (such as pictured here) are only achievable on a CNC. May 20, 2011

Tangent Handrail Class
Tips from a class on tangent handrail fabrication, presented by expert Jim Baldwin. July 28, 2012

Black Locust for Window Sash
Black Locust wood is naturally durable, but unstable and prone to movement and cracking. April 13, 2010

Shutter Louver End Detailing
Plastic hardware for louver ends is the norm, but tenoning the ends is a classier way to go. July 12, 2008

Making Tapered Stopped Flutes
Woodworkers explain how they prefer to machine tapered stopped flutes, and why. July 9, 2007

Mantel Clearance for Masonry Versus Manufactured Fireplaces
For site-built fireplaces you need to check local codes, but for manufactured units you follow the UL specs. August 28, 2010

An Antique Look for Nails
Advice on creating a look of staining and age in antique nails in a custom mantelpiece. February 12, 2009

Exterior Kitchens
Tips on materials and methods for building outdoor kitchen cabinets. April 8, 2008

Hardware for Heavy Bifold Doors
Advice on hinge and track choices for an extra-beefy bifold door, with discussion of a few fine points. February 27, 2013

Marketing for a New Custom Mouldings Business
How to reach customers who want custom runs of moulding. January 22, 2006

End-Grain Flooring
Advice on installation methods for end-grain wood flooring. February 10, 2009

Preventing Pine-Sap Buildup
Pine sap is building up on the bed and rollers of his moulder, reports a shop owner who's milling up large batches of flooring from reclaimed pine. Others supply advice for cleanup and prevention. October 20, 2005

Bending Plastic Pipe
Here's information on bending PVC or ABS pipe for use as a curved moulding form. Hot sand does the trick for softening these thermoplastic materials. July 3, 2006

Priming MDF Mouldings
A solvent-borne primer may reduce MDF's surface fuzz after machining, but some sanding is almost always unavoidable. January 22, 2006

Relief Cuts for the Back of Mouldings
Advice on dimensions and moulder setup for making relief cuts on the backs of mouldings. April 21, 2011

Building a Circular Window Jamb
Constructing the circle from overlapping half-circle segments promotes stability and accuracy. December 24, 2012

Glue Choice for Cypress Shutters
A shutter specialist advises on adhesive selection for exterior shutter fabrication. October 16, 2013

Handling and Installing High-End Appliances
What's the best way to get a heavy, expensive Sub-Zero or Wolf fridge or range off the truck and into the house? Short answer: pay somebody else to do it. January 23, 2014

Installing Crown Moulding Around a Bullnose Drywall Corner
Pros advise turning the corner in two joints. November 19, 2005

Running Radius Mouldings on a Standard Shaper
Tips on making curved mouldings with jigs, ingenuity, and a shaper. December 6, 2008

Acute Angle Jigs for Trim Work
Rigging a chopsaw to accurately cut angles sharper than 45 degrees. May 23, 2011

Exterior Door Joinery
Ideas for detailing the joints on frame-and-panel doors for weather resistance. June 8, 2008

Buying Premade Moulder Blanks Versus Ripping Your Own
Purchasing pre-ripped stock for moulding manufacture has its advantages and disadvantages. November 19, 2005

Cupping Door Stile
A moisture-related wood movement problem leads to a discussion of LVL versus solid wood core material for veneered exterior doors. August 6, 2008

Constructing Cantilevered Shelf Supports
Advice (with an example) on doweling shelves to walls with no support showing. March 5, 2008

Attaching a Newel Post to Concrete
Tips and techniques for setting a newel post in an existing concrete slab floor. August 7, 2006

Joints for Large Window Casing
Trim installers discuss ways to reinforce the corner miters when casing out a window with wide material. May 6, 2007

Machining Mouldings from Southern Yellow Pine
The stock may be cheaper, but what about the quality of the product? December 31, 2013

Is Sassafras Suitable for Flooring
Sassafras is an attractive wood, but probably too soft to use for flooring. May 11, 2008

Long Angle Cutting on a Miter Saw
A nice illustration in this thread shows how you can cut a 140-degree angle (for instance) on a chopsaw. June 17, 2010

Joinery for Wrapping Columns
Quick suggestions for corner joinery for wrapping columns with a Shaker frame. May 6, 2014

Outside Radius Corners for Crown Moulding
Here's a handful of cool ways to deal with bullnose wall corners when installing crown moulding. November 14, 2011

Door Panel and Moulding Assembly Methods
Advice on constructing a door with floating panels and applied mouldings. July 12, 2012

MDF Crown in a High-Rise
Steel stud walls and a cement ceiling add a few wrinkles to what would otherwise be a routine crown-molding install. June 23, 2006

Laminated Exterior Stair Stringer Details
Some ideas for constructing exterior spiral stairs, with a wrinkle (stone treads and a stucco cladding).October 19, 2013

Grit Progression for Sanding Doors on the Widebelt
Which grits to use depends on how much thickness you need to remove. July 9, 2009

Drilling into Hard Concrete
Tips for making drill bits last when drilling for fasteners in concrete. May 6, 2007

Detailing Crown to Mask Truss Movement
Multiple-piece crown can disguise a multitude of sins. March 25, 2008

How Stable is Lyptus Wood?
Lyptus has a reputation for lots of shrinkage and twisting. March 20, 2012

Frosting Acrylic
Advice on sanding clear acrylic to achieve a frosted appearance. December 17, 2014

Fuzzy Mahogany
Tension wood may exhibit more "fuzz" than wood that was not stressed during tree growth. December 24, 2012

Borate-Based Wood Preservatives
Effective but water-soluble, so leaching is an issue. November 19, 2006

Pulling Casing Tight to the Wall
Stiff hardwood casing is hard to get tight. Here are a handful of tips and tricks. November 11, 2005

Machining Alder
Tips on hook angle, feed speed, and more. February 19, 2006

Veneer Thickness for Laminating Curves
Advice on determining the fattest thickness of Oak veneer that can manage a 24-inch radius bend. August 18, 2009

Fitting Trim to a Badly Plastered Ceiling
Tips and tricks for a funky ceiling trim job. March 25, 2008

Butt Seaming Veneer Panels
Advice on joining three 4x10 veneered wall panels together with a seamless and stable joint. January 12, 2012

Fuzz and Tearout with Soft Maple
What's causing machining problems with soft maple? Could be the hook setting, the knife angle, or just too high a moisture content. July 13, 2005

The Look of Hand-Hewn with Power Tools
A curved power-planer or planer knife can approximate the look, but for the real thing you need the hand tool (an adze). December 15, 2005

Unit Pricing for Production Trim Carpentry
Pros discuss the ballpark price of trimming production homes, and throw a tip or two for making time on the job. November 19, 2005

Weatherstripping for an Arched Bead-Board Door
Bead-board lets air bypass the air seal at the grooves between the beads. Here are suggested solutions. March 3, 2009

Elevator Panel Retrofit Methods
Tips for removing and replacing plastic laminate elevator wall paneling. April 14, 2010

Floating Glass Shelves
Thoughts on a tricky glass shelving challenge. April 10, 2009

Fire Resistant Coatings for Millwork
Alternatives for treating wood mouldings in commercial applications where fire codes apply. June 23, 2006

Open Stringer Stair Construction
Construction suggestions for an architect-specified open-stringer stair with plywood stringers and walnut treads. October 19, 2013

Shimming Baseboard Moulding with Screws
Tips on dialing in the position of baseboard using shims or screws. February 15, 2015

Lining Up Stair Rail Dowel Joints
Ideas for jigs to ensure accurate placement of dowels at a butt joint in a stair rail. December 7, 2007

Hanging Panels with Z Clips on a Crooked Wall
Nice step-by-step game plan for hanging wall panels with Z clips onto a furred-out metal stud wall (some straightening required). January 2, 2012

Single-Blade Moulder
Advice on running a moulder with just one knife, for the sake of economy on short custom runs. February 12, 2009

Making Odd-Angle Templates
For out-of-whack shapes (like shelves for irregular closets), assembling templates with hot-melt glue does the trick. September 22, 2005

Antique Oak Wall Paneling
Ideas for making large veneered panels with resawn reclaimed Oak. August 19, 2008

Whether to Continue Baseboard onto a Bathroom Vanity
Should baseboard be installed on the sides of a bath vanity? Here are suggested bathroom trim details for that situation.

Joinery for KerfKore FlexBoard
Advice on how to fasten flexible material to stiff structural backing. July 15, 2014

Z-Clip Panel Installation Tips
Tips and tricks for using Z-clips to hang architectural wall panels. February 25, 2009

Preventing Board from Crowning When Ripped
Boards sometimes crown when ripped, as fiber tension is released. There's no easy fix. June 24, 2007

Attaching Hardwood Edges to Panels
Here's a handy tip: use pocket holes and screws for edging panels with solid wood, and mate the pieces using tongue-and-groove joints. November 19, 2006

Setting Up to Produce Dentil Moulding
Suggestions for fast ways to make dentil mouldings. December 27, 2008

Hanging Crown Moulding on Wavy Walls
Tips for blending crown into an irregular wall surface. April 6, 2007

Door and Home Construction Equipment
A brief introduction to specialized machinery designed for door manufacturing. September 20, 2008

Hidden Door Hardware
Advice on how to hinge a heavy door disguised as a hanging mirror on a wall. May 11, 2011

Making Base Moulding from Engineered Flooring
Suggestions for fabricating baseboard moulding out of engineered flooring, even though the face and core are different materials. October 3, 2011

Stable Construction for a Slat Door
For an unusual door design, woodworkers suggest methods that won't risk excessive movement of the pieces. August 5, 2006

Hide glue
Proper mix ratio and storage info. September 24, 2002

Carving Machines
Here's a quick introduction to some of the high-tech, high-volume carving and duplication machinery that is now available. September 20, 2008

Mating Cove Moulding to Baseboard
An installer gets advice on a tricky trim joint where vertical cove moulding meets the top of a baseboard. July 5, 2005

Fastening Bamboo Plywood Panels
When attaching architectural bamboo panels, splitting is a concern. Drilling, screwing and plugging is a practical solution. December 20, 2005

Crown Moulding Calculators
Sources for charts and calculators that provide compound-cut angles for crown moulding installation. February 8, 2008

Filling Nail Holes in Azek Trim
Installation tip for cellular PVC trim nailing. March 3, 2010

Rot Resistance of White Pine Versus White Spruce
Unless it's old-growth heartwood, neither species is particularly durable in outdoor exposures. March 28, 2010

Handles for Sliding Glass Office Windows
June 4, 2009

Resawing PVC
Advice on locating 1/8-inch PVC material, or making it in the shop out of thicker stock. January 9, 2015

Battened Plank Door Detail
Here's a way to kerf the boards in a solid wood door to help absorb wood movement. February 5, 2007

Louvered Shutter Specs
Quick advice on dimensions and assembly details for custom-built louvered window shutters. March 4, 2007

Curved Stair Rail and Stringer Bending Frames
Advice on making a full-scale adjustable template for bending stair parts, or on buying a manufactured system. February 25, 2009

Elliptical Jig Q&A
Before buying, a shop owner gets info on how the device actually works. July 14, 2005

Flipper Door Hardware for Passage Door
Advice on choosing hardware for built-in doors that open and slide back into a recess. December 28, 2014

Cutting a spiral groove
Suggestions on how to cut a clean spiral groove. June 13, 2001

Trying to cope
and how to do it. May 15, 2002

Flexible Rope Moulding
There are sources of flexible rope molding, but if you know what you're doing you can also use actual rope. May 24, 2006

Fitting Handrails to Fluted Columns
Ideas for fitting a handrail to a structural fiberglass fluted column. April 13, 2010

Crown Moulding for a Vaulted Ceiling
Tips for applying crown molding into a 30-degree ceiling joint. June 16, 2005

Grinding and Polishing Granite
A variable speed grinder and a full assortment of grits, and you're in business. April 20, 2011

Quick Outdoor Pop-Up Shelters for On-Site Carpentry
Tips on using quick, cheap fabric structures for temporary work shelter on trim jobs. December 27, 2008

Radius of an arc
Formulas for determining the radius of an arc, or "eyebrow"

Wide Solid Wood Stair Treads
Relief cuts on the underside of a wide stair tread can reduce the risk of cupping in service. April 4, 2011

Handrail to Newel Connection Tips
Advice on joining a handrail to the newel post. February 10, 2009

Fastening Wainscoting
Pre-assemble the frames, and team up mechanical fasteners with a good adhesive. May 6, 2006

Coping Small Crown into Larger Crown
A quick description of the field technique for making two different moldings blend at the joint. November 22, 2005

Curved and Tapered Column Capitals
Woodworkers discuss ways to fabricate a custom curved column capital detail. Suggestions include vacuum-bagged veneer and sawn wood options. October 16, 2013

Built-up Crown Molding Configuration
Achieving unique looks with standard crown profiles. May 8, 2004

Corrugated Knife Stock for Shapers and Moulders
Corrugated steel knives can be swapped between a moulder and a shaper. October 2, 2007

Boring Long Holes in Doors
Here's how a pro lines up a bore hole the whole length of a man-door's strike rail. January 18, 2007

-- Architectural Woodworking Forum -- Milling Tolerances for Herringbone Flooring
How much variation is acceptable in the length of herringbone flooring pieces? March 28, 2015

Machining "Chicago Bar Moulding"
Advice on making a curved bar arm-rest moulding. December 24, 2009

Under Mount Door Sweep for Exterior Door?
Where to find entry door sweep hardware that attaches to the underside of the door instead of to the face. March 20, 2012

Hanging on a Floating Shelf
Here's a fun addition to the Knowledge Base collection on floating shelf attachment: a woodworker demonstrating how a small shelf will support his own weight. May 15, 2011

Pocket Screws for Stair Assembly
Advice on fastener choice for screwing treads to risers from the back side. December 28, 2014

Hanging Ceiling Panels
Quick, useful tip on hanging architectural panels on ceilings with a modified French cleat. April 5, 2011

Edge Treatment for Aromatic Cedar Plywood
Considering the choices for cedar-closet shelf plywood that won't be finished: edgebanding, solid edging, or miterfolding. December 20, 2005

Steel-Rod Reinforced Brace for an Outdoor Gate
Advice on the joinery for burying a steel reinforcing rod within the curved wooden brace in a custom outdoor wooden gate. July 11, 2013

Detailing Stair Tread Ends
There's more than one way to bullnose the end of an open stair tread. November 19, 2006

Paneling around Fire Sprinklers
Be aware of fire codes and industry standards when installing trim or painting around sprinkler heads. March 12, 2009

MDF Panel Door Warping Issues
How to anticipate and minimize warping in a large MDF frame-and-panel door. July 12, 2008

How to Retrofit Weatherstripping on Arched Doors
You can use traditional metal V-fold weatherstripping, or the appropriate router jig for modern synthetic weatherstripping. May 12, 2008

Crown Moulding Proportions in Rooms
Thoughts on what makes crown moulding look right-sized to our eyes. January 20, 2010

Sourcing Large Dowels for Door Construction
Suppliers typically have minimum order quantity requirements. March 22, 2013

Door Rail Attachments and Wood Movement
Advice on gluing large-dimension door rails so as to allow for expansion and contraction of the lumber. October 27, 2009

Attaching Trim to Walls in an Insulating Concrete Form House
Foam-form concrete houses make provisions for attaching trim, but the details can be a bear. This thread supplies several tips. November 19, 2005

Laying Up a Giant Corbel
One craftsman's suggestion for building up a huge mahogany corbel out of multiple solid wood pieces. February 8, 2008

Attaching Hollow Columns
Simple techniques for attaching fluted hollow columns to the floor and ceiling. June 23, 2006

Hardware for Doors Concealed as Wainscot Panels
Thoughts on slide, pull, and latch choices for doors disguised as paneling. December 27, 2008

Field-Treating Doug Fir Timbers for Insects
Impermeable woods such as Douglas fir are very difficult to successfully treat with insecticide. March 3, 2009

Arched Jambs for Circle-Top Doors
Quick tips on fabricating arched door jambs. May 16, 2008

Cutting 45° Crown Moulding
Info on cutting crown of various spring angles, and what to do if the walls are slightly off square. July 28, 2012

Building Shutters out of Ash
Brief advice on the characteristics of Ash wood when used to construct custom window shutters. August 15, 2012

Exterior Signboard Material
Modern plastic materials are the way to go for outdoor signs. August 6, 2008

Machinery for Making Rosettes
Specialized equipment works better than a standard drill press for cutting rosettes. September 27, 2008

Does Bubinga Fade in Bright Sunlight?
Sunlight doesn't lighten Bubinga wood — it darkens it. April 4, 2011

Gap Between Exterior Wood Double Doors
but given the variability of wood, it's a judgement call. December 26, 2007

Is Bendable Plywood Durable Outdoors?
Flexible plywood isn't marketed for outdoor use, but here's one anecdote of the material holding up in an exterior application. April 18, 2015

Veneering an Exterior Door
Can you use veneer on a solid-core slab door that's exposed to the outdoors? October 19, 2013

Bleeding Sap from Spanish Cedar
Tips for dealing with sap that seeps from cedar. November 10, 2005

Wood Wainscoting in the Bathroom
Seal all sides with a durable finish, and it's practical. October 4, 2005

Crown Moulding Transitions
When two slightly different crown-moulding profiles meet at an inside corner, there are several ways to handle the transition. November 11, 2005

Pinning a Wood Mantle Beam to Masonry
Here are several suggestions for attaching a heavy wood mantlepiece to a masonry chimney. December 27, 2008

Casing a Half-Round Archway
Trimming an opening with no jamb is a pesky problem. October 3, 2009

Spiral Stair Kit Sources
Advice on shopping for a spiral staircase package. March 26, 2010

Building Traditional Double-Hung Windows
Information and hardware sources for constructing windows the old-fashioned way.

Louvering an Arched-Top Door
Fitting louver ends to an arched door shape is tricky. May 21, 2007

Metal Edging for Wall Panels
Suggestions for a satin-finished aluminum panel edge detail. June 23, 2006

Specs for the Taper on Classical Round Columns
Quick advice on information sources for laying out classic architectural shapes and forms. January 9, 2015

Usfulness of Variable Speed in a Planer-Moulder
Single-speed equipment is okay for running very small and simple moulding, but not for anything large or complex. September 23, 2008

Afromosia Versus Teak for Exterior Use
A look at Afromosia as a Teak substitute. March 26, 2010

Height of Closet Poles
Where to set closet poles. March 3, 2009

Controlling Checking in a Walnut Mantel
A carefully located plunge cut in the hidden side of a large sawn member may restrict checking to that location. April 18, 2010

Steam bending wood
Information resources on how to steam bend wood. January 24, 2001

Flexible Stock for Curved Mouldings
Brief advice on using synthetics and composites to make custom curved mouldings. December 6, 2008

Octagon Columns
Determining the width of staves. January 24, 2005

Peg Joinery for Window Sash
How to make square pegs fit into round holes. July 23, 2014

Anchoring Shelf Brackets to Concrete
Suggestions for firmly attaching steel angle countertop supports to a poured concrete wall. February 19, 2011

Good Books about Historic Windows
Trying to learn some architectural woodworking history about windows? Here's a short list of valuable reference books. April 21, 2011

Low-Acid Wood Species?
All wood and sawdust tends to be acidic, but some varieties are milder than others. August 1, 2011

Traditional Double-Hung Window Plans
Here's a good source for drawings and instructions if you're looking to re-create a historic old double-hung window sash and frame (or just about any other old-time wood component). June 22, 2012

Hanging Heavy Mirrors
Quick explanations of three workable ways to hang a large bathroom mirror. November 11, 2005

Detaching Elevator Panels
Be careful if you take on a job that involves removing existing steel elevator panels. They may be screwed on from the back side. June 28, 2007

Heating and Bending PVC Trim
PVC trim softens at relatively low temperatures. Here are a couple of ideas for how to heat and bend it. June 23, 2006

Lap Siding for a Flared Turret
Those complex Victorian turret flares are usually shingled because siding them with boards is so hard. But here's a description of how to fit lap siding to a flared cone. March 4, 2007

Weatherstripping Pocket Doors
A quick tip on how to draft-stop an interior architectural pocket door. November 14, 2014

Improving Rough Mill Yield at the Moulder
Attention to the typical causes of material loss in the moulder can improve the moulding producer's bottom line. June 21, 2007

Heavy Solid-Wood Gate Details
Hinges are the easy part. April 24, 2012

Quartering a Turned Column
A trick for quartering a column after turning: Paper in the joint. March 26, 2010

Engineered Flooring over a Concrete Slab
Laminated wood flooring products work well applied to a concrete slab, as long as the floor is acceptably flat and a proper vapor barrier is applied first. February 5, 2007

Polystyrene Crown Molding Tips
Quick advice on cutting and fastening polystyrene trim. August 7, 2006

Stave-Core Door Skin Thickness?
Quick tips on applying and planing down the veneer skin on a stave-core door. October 11, 2007

Laminating Cellular PVC
Tip on laminating with Azek. August 27, 2013

Making Soundproof Studio Doors
Quick tips on making a door that will keep sound in (or out). September 7, 2013

Milling Tolerances for Herringbone Flooring
How much length variation from piece to piece is acceptable in herringbone wood flooring? March 28, 2015

Cutters for Machining Cellular PVC
Plastic trim material mills well with ordinary tooling. May 5, 2007

Yellow Pine for Mouldings
Drying stability and machining problems make Yellow Pine unsuitable for fine woodwork. December 24, 2012

Cutting Crown Molding the Simple Way
If you've never done it before, cutting crown molding is confusing — it's hard to visualize the angles. This Wood Magazine video walks you through the simple process of cutting crown standing up on the chopsaw. July 12, 2007

An Ax to Grind - A Practical Ax Manual
History, maintenance tips, and how-to for that ancient woodworking tool, the axe. December 21, 2009

Epoxy Porch Post Repair
Advice on suitable repair epoxies for a rotted exterior porch post. March 3, 2009

Sanding Carved Profiles
A small sand-blaster can be used for smoothing intricate carved profiles. September 19, 2009

Wood Medallion Accuracy Tip
Here's a slick trick for making all the angle cuts work out on a multi-piece medallion. November 28, 2006

Shutter Manufacturing
Be a fly on the wall as a CNC router cuts out parts for louvered arched wood shutters. (Leave the sound turned off for this one.)July 12, 2007

Left Versus Right Volutes
The difference is based on standing at the bottom of the stairs and looking up. May 12, 2008

Drawing and Cutting Ellipses
Drawing ellipses without strings or formulas, making a jig to cut an ellipse, and cutting an ellipse with a router and jig. January 28, 2007

Biscuit Casing and Jointing
Tweaking a biscuit jointer, and slotting casing for biscuits. January 28, 2007

Plugging and Un-Plugging Screw Holes
Plugging screw holes and removing plugs when they break off. January 28, 2007

Coping Crown Moulding
Coping crown moulding, and recognizing un-copable crown moulding. January 28, 2007

Working Safely with Ipe
Dust and oils from Ipe wood are allergenic and toxic. You need serious personal protective gear if you work with Ipe. Here's more info. May 16, 2008

Are Small Moulders Practical for Small Runs?
Here's an extensive and informative run on the hows and whys of buying and using a small moulder to make short runs of custom profiles. October 19, 2013

CNC Versus Conventional Equipment for Entry Door Construction
Woodworkers wax poetic as they discuss the practical considerations, the historical ramifications, and the spiritual significance of evolving technology in the field of door construction. January 23, 2014

Window Beading and Water Drainage Issues
An extended discussion of window construction wood joinery and water management. June 18, 2010

Antique Machinery and Stair Rail Fabrication
The old machinery is cool, but it can't compete with modern CNC equipment for productivity (or safety). October 19, 2013

Shaper and Moulder Choices
Observations on the relative capabilities of shapers and moulders. January 9, 2006

Climb cutting and why not
Climb cutting on a shaper with feeder--safety and procedure issues. September 19, 2001

Designing a Raised-Panel Wall
A design discussion of full-wall-height raised-panel wainscot delves into issues of ideal proportioning versus matching existing elements. March 20, 2007

Machining MDF Raised Panels
Four out of four doctors agree: you can run MDF door panels in one pass on the shaper, if your cutters are sharp.January 2, 2014

Shaper Advice for Euro-style Outswing & Tilt-Turn Windows
Tilt-and-turn windows in the European style require fine tolerances and call for good tooling. January 28, 2014

Machining S-Curved Crown Moulding
Woodworkers weigh in on a complex machining challenge: crown moulding with both an inside and an outside curve. September 5, 2006

Adhesive for Exterior Doors
Dark-stained wood exterior doors can get very hot in service. Here, woodworkers discuss choices for glues that will perform under those tough conditions. September 6, 2007

Running Radius Moulding: Shaper Technique
Tips for a newbie on making curved mouldings for an arched door jamb casing. January 26, 2008

Coping on a Shaper
For large quantities of base shoe and cap, coping ends on a shaper could be worth the setup expense. Here's a discussion of the fine points. November 10, 2006

Tooling for Cope-and-Stick Doors
Pros describe machinery and cutterheads for coped mortise and tenon door part machining. August 23, 2005

Power Feed Roller Hardness
Shop owners and experts discuss the ins and outs of maintaining, resurfacing, or replacing roller wheels for power feeders. October 1, 2005

Window Sash Shaper Cutters for Outswing Casement Windows
Outswing windows are a challenge for toolmakers and woodworkers. Here is some info. January 2, 2012

Making Stair Rail on a Shaper
A shaper owner asks for advice on making handrail stock. February 8, 2008

Sharpening Tongue-and-Groove Knife Sets
If you choose the right knives to begin with, tongue-and-groove profile cutters can be sharpened repeatedly. March 5, 2008

Durable Wood for a Screen Door
A craftsman's question about screen door materials kicks off a long discussion about the qualities of various wood species, old growth and second growth. October 4, 2005

Stating Dimensions for Crown Moulding
Crown molding sizes can be looked at two ways: The thickness and width of the board, or the vertical and horizontal distances it will span when installed. Depending on the situation, either could be important. December 2, 2006

Fireplace Mantel Clearances
A discussion of national codes and local variations concerning the clearance from a fireplace opening to nearby combustible surfaces. January 12, 2009

Building an Entry Door
Here's a boatload of advice and commentary for a woodworker contemplating his first entry door. August 29, 2014

Poplar in Exterior Conditions
Although some people have noted 100-year-old poplar porch posts that are still sound, poplar generally seems to rot quickly in exterior use. November 10, 2005

Stair to Base Transition Example
Follow a trim carpenter from idea to execution as he figures out a tricky baseboard trim transition at the bottom of a staircase. April 21, 2011

Black Locust Durability for Outdoor Decking
A discussion of the suitability of Black Locust wood for outdoor use as decking or for benches. May 6, 2009

Installations in High Rise Residential Buildings
Advice on the ins and outs of installing cabinetry and millwork in the upper stories of a tall building in the city. July 13, 2010

Wearing Shorts on the Jobsite
OSHA cares how you dress on construction sites. Here's some info and some discussion. April 8, 2008

Charging Cordless Tools with your Vehicle
Truck batteries, deep-cycle backup batteries, power inverters, and cordless tools — what's the deal? May 6, 2007

Gluing MDF Miter Joints
MDF soaks up ordinary wood glues, compromising the bond. Here's advice on priming the joint before gluing, or using a specialized adhesive. February 25, 2009

Durable Wood for Porch Decking
What natural wood species might be suitable for a covered porch floor? June 26, 2009

Glue for Joining Handrail Pieces
Advice on getting a good solid joint when connecting handrail sections. May 12, 2008

Moisture Issues with Exterior Screen Doors
This extensive thread examines wood choices and finishing methods for custom-made exterior screen doors. March 26, 2010

Darkening existing finishes onsite
Setting up shop in the customer's home in order to modify a finish. October 9, 2002

Cleaning Furniture Polish Residue off Millwork
Suggestions for dealing with a hazy smear left on installed trim. June 18, 2013

MDF for Built-In Closet Shelving
A discussion of MDF's structural suitability for closet shelves and upright shelf support frames. March 3, 2009

Saw Blades for Laminate Flooring
Laminate flooring will eat up any saw blade. Most installers use cheap blades and expect to wear them out. August 13, 2007

Laying Up a Laminated Door Arch
An extended discussion with pictures goes into depth about various ways to make a laminated wood arch for a doorway. September 5, 2006

How to Make an Elliptical Jamb
Advice on various approaches to laying up and gluing an elliptical door jamb. December 9, 2013

Laminating Stock for Arched Casings
Here's a wide-ranging discussion of gluing and clamping processes for laying up arched casings using multiple thin laminations. November 26, 2007

Veneered columns with PVC substrates
The best procedures and products to get the job done right. June 20, 2001

Felder Or Scm Shaper
03/16/2014

Using Cypress In Doors
06/02/2014

Re: Engineered Stiles Veneer Failure
07/19/2014

Usability Of 12/4 Quarter Sawn White Oak
01/20/2014

Using Prelaminated Sheetgoods
02/20/2014

Vacuum Bag Glue-Ups with the Form Outside the Bag
For large, bulky curved laminations, keeping the form outside the vacuum bag simplifies the process. September 19, 2009

Gluing and Clamping a Curved Laminated Stair Rail
A discussion of the fine points of glue choice, glue mixing, clamping methods, and allowing for springback. March 18, 2006

Laminating a Curved Exterior Beam
Here's a detailed discussion of adhesive selection and clamping methods for a large, curved, laminated beam for an outdoor structure. March 12, 2014

Grain Orientation For Circular Laminations
02/27/2014

Producing Stable Part Stock
With little time and no system in place, can this shop produce parts that won't move over time? October 20, 2004

Blind Panel Install
01/20/2014

Frameless Overlays
02/14/2014

Glueing White Oak Treads To Metal
02/18/2014

Wide Exterior Raised Panel
02/01/2014

Clamping Methods for Stair Rail Miters
Advice on holding a glued joint tight without leaving visible marks. February 1, 2015

Hinge Pockets
01/23/2014

Helical [?] Casing
02/06/2014

Setting Special Order Minimums
02/26/2014

Building Plantation Shutters
Solutions for building custom shutters, including hardware choices. February 12, 2009

Building a Bowed Service Counter Front
Tips and techniques for creating the curved plywood front for a long bank counter.

- Spreadsheet Calculation Program -- for Curves, Angles, Compound Miters and Springback
Free downloadable program(s) in both Excel and MS Works, including illustrations that support the formulas.. August 6, 2002

Crown Molding With Staggered Cabinets
Making a smooth transition from cabinet to cabinet. July 20, 2004

Assorted Videos for Millwork Installers and Cabinetmakers
January 25, 2007

Door Construction
06/10/2014

Profiled Trestle Base
11/23/2014

Working With Accoya
02/24/2014

Does Intivos Meet AWI Premium Grade
02/25/2014

What Thickness Of PVC Banding?
02/24/2014

Wide Belt Shopping
01/24/2014

Using Rift White Oak For Pony Wall Cap
02/25/2014

Problems With Man Made Veneer
02/12/2014

Curved Crown Machine
01/20/2014

Buying A Shaper With Slider
03/01/2014

Wall Mountings, Hardware For Plywood
02/01/2014

Molding Profiles
02/24/2014

How much pressure?
A few gluing tips as well as a demonstration of the pressure that Clam Clamps exert on miters. January 28, 2007

- Wood species
Information on tree species and their uses. March 20, 2001

Vacuum application FAQ
All aspects of vacuum and how it is used by the woodworker. March 18, 2002

Cabinet installation tool kit
A thorough look at the tools professionals take on the job. August 4, 2003

Troubleshooting Adhesion Failure in Conversion Varnish Over Lacquer
Conversion varnish needs a mechanical bond. Here, pros analyze a case where it's not sticking. May 17, 2005

Compressed air delivery system
Appropriate piping for shop air distribution lines. January 15, 2003

Crown Molding Detail -- For Sloped Ceilings
Calculating angles and inside corner details for crown applied to sloped ceilings. April 2, 2004

Hardwood Built-In Installations
Hardwood Built-Ins Create Striking Centerpiece. December 3, 2001

Woodworking 101: The Basics
and shows how it can affect various production operations. 1998.

Eliminating Wood Problems -- An Industry Review: 10 Ways of Eliminating Wood Problems
Gene Wengert explains why eliminating wood problems begins and ends with monitoring and controlling the moisture content (MC) in wood -March 18, 2000

Gluing door veneer
Systems for gluing hardwood veneer to stave-core stile and rail doors. Illustrated.. February 6, 2002

Refinishing old oak floor
Comparing methods and products for a reasonably priced, quality finish. January 28, 2002

Spray Shop Layout
Setting up an efficient spray-finishing area in an expanded shop. December 26, 2004

Installing Hardwood Flooring -- Over Radiant Heating
Hardwood Floors and Heated Flooring Systems Now a Good Match. November 23, 2001

Router Table and Lift
Designs and ideas for a smoothly functioning router workstation. December 9, 2004

Troubleshooting Warping in Veneered MDF Doors
A cabinetmaker gets advice about a set of bath cabinet doors that has cupped after finishing. February 15, 2015

Proper nail hole touchup
Using a material to fill holes that will be compatible with the finish. July 9, 2002

Millwork Touch-up and Repair
A visitor seeks advice on how to get training in the fine art of fixing faults. February 26, 2005

Safety and climb cutting
Safety issues involved in climb cutting with a shaper. January 21, 2003

Joint Tape "Shadows" -- at Veneer Seams
Why does the area from which tape was removed accept stain differently? March 14, 2004

Truing-up rough wood
Planers will not remove the bow from rough stock; jointing is required before boards can be properly thicknessed. February 13, 2001

Selling small quantity custom profiles
Dealing with customers who don't comprehend the work and cost involved in the manufacture of custom knives. June 6, 2001

Filling holes in pre-finished moulding
What to use for filling nail holes after pre-finished trim in installed. June 6, 2001

Warpage in maple door panels
Despite a careful glue-up, a woodworker gets warpage in door panels. June 14, 2000

Crown moulding: Calculating miters
How to calculate the correct mitering angles in crown moulding installation. November 29, 2000

Applying putty for the long haul
How to fill holes in cherry and keep the colors matched over time. February 13, 2001

Water-based Is the Way to Glue
There are many benefits to switching to water based contact adhesives - 1998

Cutting crown for cathedral ceilings
Tricks for installing crown moulding in rooms with cathedral ceilings. June 14, 2000

Why is Wood Flooring Kerfed on the Bottom Face?
Speculation, theories, and facts about why wood flooring and some door jamb stock is usually milled with grooves in the underside or back side. October 13, 2008

Financial Success in Woodworking
Philosophies and turning points on the path to $100K a year. January 6, 2005

Tile Setters vs. Trim carpenters
On a woodworking site, it's not tough to guess the winner of this battle. But the war of words makes for good reading. February 25, 2005

AutoCAD Drawings, Step by Step
Efficient development of shop drawings. April 18, 2004

Sawdust as fuel
Building a sawdust-fired boiler to heat kiln and shop. November 18, 2002

Who Are You? Thumbnail Biographies of Forum Members
Ever wonder who you're interacting with on WOODWEB? In this thread, forum posters give a brief history of their lives in the woodworking trade. June 16, 2014

Flattening boards with a planer
Methods for planing warped wood flat. September 25, 2002

Speeding Up CNC Router Production
Tips on operation, loading and unloading for efficiency. December 26, 2004

Shop lighting
Best bulbs for brightness and efficiency. February 12, 2003

Parametric Drawings
Can parametric design simplify change orders? May 19, 2004

Creating an installation division
Setting up a special division to install the product your company builds. July 9, 2002

Sink cutouts in post form tops
Woodworkers share their favorite methods. April 3, 2002

Math for Helical Stair Parts
Pros find and discuss a formula for figuring helixes (it's a real head-scratcher). April 11, 2005

Potential of a One-Man Shop
Is it realistic to think a small shop owner can make a decent living? December 9, 2004

New Shop Layout
Efficient shop flow for increased profit. February 28, 2004

"Floating" wood floors over concrete
Suggestions for installing a solid wood, "floating" floor over concrete. June 6, 2001

Crown Molding: Cope Or Miter?
Either can work - craftsmen share opinions and tips. April 14, 2005

Hardwood Flooring Grades -- Offer Affordable Choices
Making sure the budget matches the vision. November 15, 2001

Buying Equipment Versus Leasing
Comparing the advantages and disadvantages of leasing or purchasing shop equipment. February 6, 2010

Gluing and clamping pressure
Is clamping necessary, and if so, how much? January 21, 2003

Layer Names and Line Defaults
Organizing and simplifying layers in CAD. May 19, 2004

Installing Hardwood Floors -- Over Concrete Slabs
Considerations and procedures for this type of installation. November 7, 2001

FOB defined
Origins and meanings of the term "freight on board." (Sawing and Drying Forum) March 23, 2003

Corner cabinets and out-of-plumb walls
How do you deal with the gaps inevitably caused by less-than-perfect walls? August 25, 2003

Beaded face frames on CNC
Developing the right CNC setup for beaded face frames. February 13, 2001

Compression and Chatter
Pros discuss the meaning and causes of "compression" and "chatter" in moulder operation. October 4, 2005

Estimating High-End Cab Installs
An installer seeks tips on estimating his time and pricing his services. February 25, 2005

Creating templates for moulder knives
Thoughts on producing templates for cutting moulder knives. June 14, 2000

CNC feed rates for melamine
Concerns on purchasing a CNC router and software for cutting melamine. August 12, 2001

Delamination of Bending Plywood
Construction methods don't appear to be the problem in this example. More likely is a manufacturing quality issue. February 13, 2013

Housed Versus Butted Stair Stringers
Pros give tips on staircase construction. April 11, 2005

WOODPRO - Species Selection Made Easy
A free complete working computer program (that can be downloaded at WOODWEB), allowing woodworkers to select the most suitable wood species for any particular application - 1997

WOODnetWork Discussions: Glue
The correct amount of clamping pressure is vital to a strong bond - 1998

Carpenter to accomplished installer
How do you train a carpenter to become a cabinet and millwork installer? July 9, 2002

Moving to Metric
Tips on making the transition as smooth as possible. September 9, 2004

Comparing sliding and vertical saws
Woodworkers voice their views on the virtues and liabilities of both sliding and vertical saws. November 15, 2000

Red Alder Pros and Cons -- Pricing, Availability, Usefulness
Pros discuss the cost, availability, and characteristics of Red Alder solid stock and sheet goods. February 25, 2005

Clamp Cart
Shop-made carriers for clamps. December 26, 2004

Exhaust Fan Size for Spray Booth
How much ventilation is needed? August 17, 2004

Installing cabinets over tile
Tying kicks to a tile floor, and the complications presented by floor-integrated radiant heating. February 19, 2002

Springback formula for bent laminations
Calculating springback of laminated parts. October 2, 2001

Joining cabinets - at a 45 degree angle
Cabinetmakers offer illustrated tips on joining a line of cabinetry which incorporates a 45-degree-angled unit. April 3, 2002

Cutting "Edge-Installed" Crown
This "stand up" crown requires some adaptations to "normal" installation procedures. February 8, 2005

Machining crown moulding
What's the best way to run crown moulding? May 2, 2001

Straight Lining Rough Lumber
Efficient methods for creating an edge. December 9, 2004

Bullnose Stair Tread Returns
Several ways to get a perfect return. April 14, 2005

Wrapping Columns with Veneer
Tips on how to wrap architectural columns with veneer. July 23, 2007

Cyanoacrylate adhesive
How does this glue work for gap filling? (From WOODWEB's Finishing Forum) March 23, 2003

Drying Large Rounds - Preventing Splitting
Is it possible to dry these without problems? October 20, 2003

Kitchen and Cabinet Crown Molding
Matching the molding details when cabinets meet the ceiling. May 4, 2005

Installing refrigerator end panels
The search for better methods. April 3, 2002

Architectural mouldings on CNC routers
A discussion of the ins and outs of producing architectural mouldings on CNC routers. June 14, 2000

Tapered Stop Flutes
The search for a simple, efficient method. December 26, 2004

Halogen lighting: Passing the temperature test
How high-heat halogen lighting is tested for safety, to ensure it is appropriate for various applications. - 1998

Finished end panels
How to install pre-finished end panels. April 3, 2002

Frequently Asked Questions about Widebelt Sanders
A general list of guidelines when using widebelt sanders - 1998

Salvaging painted heart pine
Ideas for removing lead paint and nails from heart pine beams. August 12, 2001

Curved Work - with Form Outside the Bag
Creating vacuum-pressed curved parts with the clamping form outside the vacuum bag. March 10, 2002

Finger Joints: A Few Whys and Wherefores
The Wood Doctor provides his prescription for effective finger joints in solid stock. 1998.

Double Doors, Flush Bolts, and Door Seals
The quest for a double door bottom which incorporates a flush bolt and door seal that aren't visible when the door is closed. May 15, 2014

Optimal feed rates for CNC machining
What are the best feed rates for CNC work? October 31, 2000

Where cabinets meet sloped floor
How to properly disguise the gap that appears during installation. August 25, 2003

Cutting Clear Acrylic
Advice on blades, bits, and procedures for cutting sheet acrylic. January 12, 2009

Waxing Equipment Surfaces
Using butcher's wax to make wood move easily across machine tables. April 18, 2004

Fastening Trim to Metal Framing
For commercial build-out in a coffee shop, a woodworker asks for tips on installing trim. November 19, 2008

Setting up a new moulder operation
Thoughts on setting up a moulding operation in an established architectural millwork shop. June 14, 2000

Heavy-duty CNC router recommendations
Suggestions choosing for a good-quality CNC router, offering adequate tech support and training. February 28, 2001

Moulding maple versus oak
Why such problematic tearout on one and not the other? September 23, 2003

Chip-out from a year-old moulder
The moulder had worked perfectly for a year when all of a sudden, chip-out reared its ugly face. June 14, 2000

Grain standards for radius mouldings
Standards methods for joinery of radius mouldings, with exposure of end-grain in mind. June 6, 2001

Procedures for shop-floor medical emergencies
What to do when a serious accident occurs in the shop. September 26, 2000

Glue failures
Adhesive failure can usually be traced to one of two causes: overly moist wood or defective glue. December 6, 2000

Cedar Wood for Closets
Rumors versus fact about the bug repellency of the traditional cedar-lined closet. May 20, 2011

Wide Belt Sander Tracking Marks
Troubleshooting wavy, snakelike sanding marks left by a wide belt sander. December 21, 2010

Production laminating -- is hot or cold press faster?
A laminator looks for time-saving pressing techniques. June 14, 2000

Moulding Calculator Spreadsheet Program
A free downloadable Excel spreadsheet that calculates the price per foot to charge for mouldings. December 16, 2000

Machinery setup: Squaring up your saw
How to make sure your saw is cutting square. February 12, 2001

Going metric: Pros and cons
Pros and cons of converting to metric measurement in your shop. February 28, 2001

Overcoming sander swirl marks
Why does a random orbit sander leave swirl marks and scratches? January 24, 2001

Cold Weather Gluing
Cold or frozen temperatures affect both the glue and materials and can create problems when gluing - 1998

PUR adhesives
A Q&A on PUR hot melt formulations and their proper use. December 6, 2000

Applied mouldings on raised-panel doors
Ideas for applying mouldings to raised panel doors without affecting panel movement. September 26, 2000

Techniques for drying wooden bowls
Advice on how to dry large, turned vessels. 1998.

Waste factors in floor manufacturing
The amount of wood wasted from rough to finished flooring may surprise you. January 24, 2001

Attaching Jambs To Steel Columns
Whether you pre-drill the steel or use heavy self-tapping screws, you'll want to drill and plug the wood for the sake of appearance. October 17, 2011

Quartersawn mahogany, or is it?
An architectural woodworker seeks specifications and industry guidelines for what constitutes truly quartersawn mahogany. March 5, 2000.

Trimming Concrete/Foam Walls
Making trim stick to a nail-unfriendly surface. February 25, 2005

Embossed mouldings
A discussion of various elements in the manufacture of embossed moulding. June 14, 2000

Attaching crown moulding
Methods of attaching crown moulding to frameless cabinets. March 28, 2001

Repairing a sequenced MDF door
reverse the terminal warp of a sequenced MDF/cherry door. 1998.

Learning the trade
How to approach a woodworking firm about becoming an apprentice. November 7, 2000

Pronouncing Exotic Wood Names
Does "Wenge" rhyme with "Ben-Gay"? Well, that depends on who you ask. November 23, 2012

Shrinkage allowances for red oak
Estimating radial and tangential shrinkage when drying red oak to 12 to 14 percent MC. 1998.

Water-resistant Adhesives for Exterior Millwork
Choosing the right adhesive is really a matter of how much water resistance is required. 1998

Wide belt sanders for moulding
Can the same finish quality be attained with a wide belt sander as with a random orbit sander? April 25, 2001

Boxing Out Columns
Quick tips on wrapping columns with a four-sided hardwood box. November 28, 2011

Choosing tooling for MDF moulding
Using carbide tooling on MDF in planer/moulder machines. November 21, 2000

Gluing Ebony: Deep, Dark Secrets Revealed.
Ebony is dense and oily and requires that certain procedures should be followed to ensure a good bond - 1998

ITEMIZER - From R & R Drummond, Inc.
Use your computer to generate efficient layouts for cutting sheet material into desired sizes (a link to a demo download is provided)1998

"Crying" Spanish cedar veneer
Cleaning up and fabricating "crying" Spanish cedar veneer. June 14, 2000

"M" particleboard grades
The difference between grades of particleboard is explained. June 14, 2000

Bonding wood to glass
Recommended glues and tapes for bonding wood to glass. January 24, 2001

Constructing large passage doors
Using the right materials, glues and assembly methods. September 2, 2002

Production ideas for box columns
Joint selection and assembly tips for box-type columns. September 26, 2000

Base cabinet installation
How to cope with wavy floors. April 3, 2002

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