How to Make a Cross from Wood in 10 Ways (Free 3D Models)
Ten lap joints for a wooden cross, with a table for choosing between them. Most people want the cross-half lap – here is why, and when the other nine beat it.
How to Guides
Your go-to resource for mastering DIY skills and techniques. Step-by-step instructions and expert tips to help you become a proficient crafter in woodworking, electronics, metals, and marble.
How to Solder Enameled Wire (and Why It Won’t Stick)
Only polyurethane enamel comes off by itself at soldering heat. A five-second test tells you which coating you have, and whether you need to strip it first.
Can You Cut Wood With an Angle Grinder? Yes, With One Disc
Yes, with a disc rated for the grinder. Never with a woodworking saw blade. Which attachments work, which one causes the amputations, and when to use a saw instead.
How to Drill at a 45-Degree Angle: Four Ways That Work
A drill bit will not start on a slope. Every method here is really a way of solving that first quarter-second.
How to Smooth Wood After Staining – Don’t Make These Mistakes!
You cannot sand stain smooth. That rough feel is not stain sitting on top of the wood. It is wood fiber. The liquid in the stain soaked in and lifted those fibers, like hair standing up. If you sand them off now, the color comes off with them. That is why people end up with … Read more
How to Treat Wood for Outdoor Use Naturally (3 That Work)
I treated my outdoor garden bench with coffee. It gave the wood a darker, richer look, and I liked it for a while. But it did not last. The color faded, and the wood went dry and thirsty-looking. In the end, I painted the bench, and the paint has lasted far longer out in the … Read more
How to Stop Wood from Splitting When Screwing or Drilling
Drill a pilot hole sized to the screw’s shank — the solid core — not to its thread. That single change stops most splitting, because a screw doesn’t split wood by taking up space; it splits wood when its thread wedges the fibers apart faster than they can compress. A hole the width of the … Read more
How to Drill Through Metal With a Hand Drill
Metal is drilled slowly, with weight rather than speed, and with something wet on the cut. Heat takes the temper out of the bit and hardens the hole.
How to Plane Wood with an Electric Planer (Step-by-step Guide)
Shallow passes, grain direction, and shifting your weight front to back as you go. Plus snipe – the dip at each end – and the two mistakes that cost me a plank and several blades.
How to Drill a Hole in a Glass Bottle Without Cracking It
A diamond bit, water, and a speed slow enough to feel wrong. Plus the check that decides whether the glass can be drilled at all.