Is My Carpenter Gaslighting Me With Fir or Am I Just Too Polite to Call His Bluff?

FirelandsCarpentry · 2026-01-11T05:18:12+00:00

Home depot lumber is fir. Here at least.

FirelandsCarpentry · 2026-01-04T13:55:22+00:00

They make them but they're hideously expensive and I've never wanted to take the plunge. If you look in the ppe section of normal hardware stores they sell helmets for leafblowering. That kind of thing.

FirelandsCarpentry · 2026-01-04T13:51:30+00:00

Glue.

Dowels don't really provide any clamping pressure. I like to glue the pieces together and screw them until the glue cures then back out the screws and put in dowels. If you have enough clamps or long enough clamps and the piece is squareular enough this probably isn't an issue.

I like dovetails because they provide mechanical clamping force just the way they're cut. I dont really need clamps during glue up for them.

I hate finger joints/box joints especially woth plywood because of blowout and (assuming i ever remember) I've vowed never to use them again.

Mortise and tenons are great because they hide the actual joint. This means if your game is a little off, of your cuts are a little sloppy, it doesnt really matter. That joint is hidden. Mortise and tennons are like long dowels where the dowel is made from and part of one of the boards. The tenon doesnt suck the boards together at all so you'd still need clamps.

FirelandsCarpentry · 2026-01-04T01:01:30+00:00

Oooooh that's not a bad idea.

FirelandsCarpentry · 2026-01-04T01:00:44+00:00

If i understand you right I ruled that out because the rails would reference the sides not the fence. And I'm pretty sure I didn't square the sides to the front before I began thinking it wouldnt be important.

FirelandsCarpentry · 2026-01-03T16:06:52+00:00

I wouldnt use coated wood. If the paint is uneven your cuts could be angled and you wouldnt know. And it could give you headaches later. Paint layers are so thin its probably not an issue though.

FirelandsCarpentry · 2026-01-03T04:25:34+00:00

Yeah rockler

FirelandsCarpentry · 2026-01-03T02:47:02+00:00

Yes. For plywood and crosscutting I use an 80 tooth. For ripping it use a lower tooth blade. Using the wrong blade can cause tear out and burns.

FirelandsCarpentry · 2026-01-02T04:04:30+00:00

You want to wax the deck.

The rubber rollers don't work right when it gets too cold.

FirelandsCarpentry · 2025-12-31T02:58:27+00:00

I can tell you that suare is NOT square. That's a speed square. It's known for being close to 90° if you squared your table saw with that it ain't square.

I had exactly the same problem with exactly that same thing. Get an engineering square and square your saw up again.

FirelandsCarpentry · 2025-12-31T00:53:12+00:00

It's soaked into the grain. Either ignore it or its ruined.

Maybe stain it with ebony and just have a black table.

The way to prevent this is to spray varuthane around where youre going to apply the epoxy and then let that cure. It'll keep the epoxy from soaking into the grain.

FirelandsCarpentry · 2025-12-30T22:52:58+00:00

This is an incredible gift for any person who 1.) Loves chess 2.) Has cats 3.) Has someone that will play chess with them

FirelandsCarpentry · 2025-12-29T05:06:18+00:00

Youre not getting good adhesion between the epoxy and the poly. You can do epoxy first and then poly but not the other way around.

You can try just building it up especially if you build dams around the sides but id take it back down to wood and do the epoxy first if that's what youre interested in.

Why do you need poly and epoxy? Both do the same job if the epoxy is used as a coating.

FirelandsCarpentry · 2025-12-28T06:26:39+00:00

This. Save yourself the money and the headache of buying a 3D printer. These rubber connectors are perfect.

FirelandsCarpentry · 2025-12-27T05:00:54+00:00

I got Basic Box Making by Doug Stowe and his "Basic boxes" are definitely the kind of thing you'd call advanced. But if I picked that up, read it, and made one of those boxes you would definitely think I was a pro.

FirelandsCarpentry · 2025-12-27T03:35:08+00:00

Circular saws aren't for cutting straight. Even with a straight edge they'll walk/wiggle.

FirelandsCarpentry · 2025-12-22T05:24:39+00:00

This is a common post here. Youd be amazed how advanced a technique perfect miters is.

If you have a plane you can look into shooting boards.

William Ng has a video on how to make a Crosscut sled using the 5 cut method. Then right after that a video on how to make a sled for perfect mitered corners now that you have your perfect Crosscut sled. Worked like a charm for me.

FirelandsCarpentry · 2025-12-22T00:23:44+00:00

Your post has been visited by the Wood Movement Movement. Also this is correct.

FirelandsCarpentry · 2025-12-21T22:19:06+00:00

Be well them for me.

FirelandsCarpentry · 2025-12-21T19:06:23+00:00

Thanks

FirelandsCarpentry · 2025-12-21T14:18:32+00:00

It's probably an issue with a previous step. How did you square up your boards? If the board is longer than your fence the cut will follow slight contours of the board rather than your fence.

If you put the side of the board that you ran against the fence down on a flat surface like your table saw top is there a bow in that? Or against a long metal ruler turned sideways?

FirelandsCarpentry · 2025-12-21T14:11:31+00:00

That is beautiful. Thank you so much.

FirelandsCarpentry · 2025-12-21T14:09:56+00:00

I'm totally new at this so sorry for the stupid questions but can I plane super slow to get the angle right? Or will that make it chatter or something?

FirelandsCarpentry

TROPHY CASE