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The cost of this stock is physical exertion, but it’s fun and rewarding. The riven oak that I use for joinery work is the best stock available; but it comes at a cost – the labor invested to [...]

It can save you lots of money—and grief! Are you a scrounger? Always looking for a deal? Self-reliant? Those words fit a lot of woodworkers, particularly those who search for unusual or [...]

Traditionally-trained furniture maker Martin Goebel takes you through the step-by-step process of making a live-edge solid-slab top. Follow along and learn: Why bark — while appealing — [...]

The end grain holds the secret to what stock to use where. The single-most important factor in the appearance of any woodworking project is the selection of the material. This isn’t what species [...]

Now that we’ve uncovered the reasons behind plain-sawn boards’ tendency to cup and explored methods to rectify their misalignment, let’s delve into addressing cupping in [...]

An easy way to fix cupped boards. After our discussion last week on why plain-sawn lumber tends to cup as it dries, I’m eager to share a solution for reforming cupped boards, like the old [...]

Getting to know the what and why of cupping lumber. In our 1960s house, many of the old-fashioned closet shelves were crafted from solid carpentry-grade softwood. It appears that the lumber for [...]

Having lived in our house for over three years now, we’ve had to make some difficult decisions about our trees. Unfortunately, we had to fell a few trees upon moving in, including some sick [...]

The bogs of New Zealand yield gargantuan Kauri logs. Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in American Woodworker #139. Ancientwood is listed as permanently closed on Google but [...]

With sweat equity and a few simple tools, you can split strong, stable stock. Though sawn lumber was available to 17th- and 18th-century European woodworkers in Colonial America, many American [...]

Small logs from a local downed tree are a great windfall of free lumber for small projects. They’re easy to saw into boards on the band saw once you have established a couple flat reference [...]

Tree Anatomy In woodworking, we’re generally concerned about the sapwood, heartwood, and annular rings (which is what we see as “grain pattern”). The slower a tree grew, the tighter the annular [...]