Here is an example of what homeowners can do to brighten a dull spot in their home. With a little help from EG Wood, this refrigerator corner is now useful and definitely brighter with the new lighting system. Here are before and after pictures.

 

 

 

     First the refrigerator was given a better home.  The exposed side was covered with nice harwood veneer to match the surrounding wood. 
     The top of the refrigerator is always a catch-all spot for "things" that can't be easily fetched unless husband gets a ladder.  So, a display shelf was the choice, created with added lighting to show off some better pieces of kitchen ware that may only be used occasionally. 
     The final step was to create a cabinet worthy of that corner.  Instead of a flimsy roll cart, a more permanent cabinet was made.  It has three functions now.  With a granite top it is part of the kitchen, a usable surface.  The doors and drawer are storage you can reach. The sides hold 20 bottles of wine.  You can use the entire cabinet for wine serving.  The granite top is unharmed by water, heat or alcohol.

Many of you woodworkers might have a workbench like mine.  My end vise has a single screw and rides on two pipe pieces.  It is a simple mechanism but when clamping anything on the corner of the vise the jaws won't remain parallel.  This idea came to me to help keep the jaws aligned when I'm using just the corner of the vise.

I made a stack of 1/4 x 2 x 3 inch pieces and used a carraige bolt and wing nut to secure them.  I then put the number of blocks in the opposite end of the vise that matches the thickness of the board I'm trying to clamp. 

  

 

Now the jaws of the vise are parallel and will hold the work solidly.

  



 

This is a creative idea for a wood push stick.  Take a wooden coat hanger and cut it in half and presto! you have two of them for price of one.  I've seen this type of stick being used to pull out oven trays, only only with a hook on the end instead of a notch.

This is a simple trick.  Anything to save your fingers.  Always use a solid push stick when working close to the blade.

Project, Torsion Box.....

The torsion box is a handy way to create a thick panel with the strength to span a large area.  Because the panel is mostly hollow, it also is very light.  It can also maintain its flatness and not flex under stress. 

The secret is in the core.  Everyone has seen the concept in the making of hollow core doors. The core is mostly made with cardboard and the doors don't really have to lay horizontally and support a lot of weight.  However, if you want to make a table or roof where strength is an issue, then try this idea and make a torsion box of your own.

The system requires three components, a core grid with a layer on top and a layer on the bottom.  Sounds simple and is.  In this project I used 1/2 in plywood for the grid with 1/4 ply for the top and bottom layers.  In the choice of materials, the factors of strength, length and lightness dictate. 

Make the grid by cutting long strips and then filling in the cross pieces with short cut-offs, or make continuous crossing strips and notch them to fit together, finger joint style.  Smaller grids make the panel heavier and larger grids are more open and make  a lighter panel.  Make the outside pieces of the whole frame, out of thicker material. 

 

The flat spots are where table legs will be added.

 

This torsion box, covered with stainless, makes a generous work station.

 

The central horizontal has to span a five foot wide TV and support the top cabinets.

 

 

Work on a solid, flat surface to attach the top with glue and screws. This will be the underside that won't be seen.  Using weight, (cement blocks, etc....) make sure of the flatness and let the glue dry.  Turn the whole thing over and add the bottom layer with glue and add weight to the top instead of screws.  Let the glue dry, sand the edges or add trim and you have a great table or whatever other use you have devised.

The two projects I've shown here are first a bakery table covered with stainless steel and secondly a cabinet for a huge TV.  Both utilize a torsion box for horizontal strength.

Push-stick tip #3

You can use this handy  push stick to quickly cut yards of moldings for any project.  First determine the lengths you need then cut wide pieces that you will need to cut strips from.  Take the wide pieces and rout or shape the molding contour on one or both edges.   Then with your handy dandy push stick you can safely cut off strips of molding as fast as you can rout them without having to change the table saw fence setting.

Some styles of moldings are round or irregular and the pusher might not make good contact.   The tip here is to take off the side of the push stick and make one thaat is thicker or thinner or just makes better contact.   Safety here comes at the end of the cut when the tendency is for the cut piece to twist or turn.  Good contact all through the cut is imperative.  It's worth the time it takes to do this for safety.  The idea that "I'm only going to make one or two pieces" can be the dangerous concept.

Super-safe table saw push stick #2

Super-safe table saw push stick #2

This push stick for the table saw is great because it prevents you from getting involved with the blade.  It is shown here being used with a newer saw with a wider fence.  As you can see all you need do is adjust the width to the dimensions of your particular fence.

The three different size side walls allow you to cut very thin strips.  You can use the pusher with the new guards and splitters in place for wider pieces.  The blade cover does prohibit cutting very thin slices.

Super-safe push stick for older table saws.

Super-safe table saw push stick.  #1

I am posting this idea for the sake of safety.  Many old table saws are still in use in cabinet shops today.  Being vintage, they don't come equipped with the newest safety features like riving knives and spreaders that prevent kick-back.  Also they lack the over the blade covers that keep your hands away from the blade.  Not everyone can or wants to upgrade their table saw's safety equipment, or buy a new saw.

I have come across a very simple idea to protect your fingers and maintain control in nearly all ripping operations on your table saw.  This push stick stradles the fence with a handle on top for control.  When you push a piece through the blade you have complete control and can't get close with your fingers.  Every saw owner can make one, even if you do have the latest model.

I have seen some woodworkers, trusting their experience, using their thumb to guide stock between the blade and the fence.  Some will hook their little finger over the fence
for better control.  This does improve your chances but  I don't want to take any chances!  I want to lower my odds of losing a finger to zero!  Have a look....

This simple "duck" push stick is like a seat belt, in that you will get used to using it.  It becomes second nature, a habit.  If anytime, this stick hits the blade you can replace it with a bright shiny new one and still order four beers with one hand.

Specimen trees in Hatboro, PA

    Here is one of the best trees in my neighborhood. Furniture in the raw. This is a tulip poplar. Poplar is easy to work with hand tools and has few knots.

     This tree you can see, has no side branches for thirty feet. This means it will produce a maximum of clear lumber.

      Growing in this spot without much competition, helped the tree to grow straight and tall without twisting and fighting for upper story light. It has fought its way to the sun by growing tall quickly, and now dominates its neighbors.

Wood

The parts of a tree are the roots, trunk(s), branches, twigs and leaves. Tree stems consist mainly of support and transport tissues. Wood consists of xylem cells, and bark is made of phloem and other tissues external to the vascular cambium. Trees may be grouped into exogenous and endogenous trees according to the way in which their stem diameter increases. Exogenous trees, which comprise the great majority of trees (all conifers, and almost all broadleaf trees), grow by the addition of new wood outwards, immediately under the bark. Endogenous trees, mainly in the monocotyledons (e.g., palms and dragon trees), but also cacti, grow by addition of new material inwards.

Trees with leaves range from being Deciduous to Evergreen. By analyzing the leaf arrangement and shape, a tree can be identified..

As an exogenous tree grows, it creates growth rings as new wood is laid down concentrically over the old wood. In species growing in areas with seasonal climate changes, wood growth produced at different times of the year may be visible as alternating light and dark, or soft and hard, rings of wood. In temperate climates, and tropical climates with a single wet-dry season alternation, the growth rings are annual, each pair of light and dark rings being one year of growth; these are known as annual rings. In areas with two wet and dry seasons each year, there may be two pairs of light and dark rings each year; and in some (mainly semi-desert regions with irregular rainfall), there may be a new growth ring with each rainfall. In tropical rainforest regions, with constant year-round climate, growth is continuous and the growth rings are not visible nor is there a change in the wood texture. In species with annual rings, these rings can be counted to determine the age of the tree, and used to date cores or even wood taken from trees in the past, a practice known as the science of dendrochronology. Very few tropical trees can be accurately dated in this manner. Age determination is also impossible in endogenous trees.

The roots of a tree are generally embedded in earth, providing anchorage for the above-ground biomass and absorbing water and nutrients from the soil. However, while ground nutrients are essential to a tree's growth the majority of its biomass -- over 90 percent -- comes from carbon dioxide absorbed from the atmosphere (see photosynthesis). Above ground, the trunk gives height to the leaf-bearing branches, aiding in competition with other plant species for sunlight. In many trees, the arrangement of the branches optimizes exposure of the leaves to sunlight.

Not all trees have all the plant organs or parts mentioned above. For example, most palm trees are not branched, the saguaro cactus of North America has no functional leaves, tree ferns do not produce bark, etc. Based on their general shape and size, all of these are nonetheless generally regarded as trees. A plant form that is similar to a tree, but generally having smaller, multiple trunks and/or branches that arise near the ground, is called a shrub. However, no precise differentiation between shrubs and trees is possible. Given their small size, bonsai plants would not technically be 'trees', but one should not confuse reference to the form of a species with the size or shape of individual specimens. A spruce seedling does not fit the definition of a tree, but all spruces are trees.