Being able to perform everyday tasks on my jobsites requires a well-balanced tool apron with all the appropriate tools needed. That’s the reason why my CLC (Custom Leather Crafts) tool apron is the most important tool I own. Read the full article…
It’s been three years since I wrote about the last wooden storm door I built. When that article was published on TiC, many readers expressed concerns about my decision to use pocket screws to fasten the boards together. The question was: would the wooden storm door last through New England’s changing seasons? Read the full article…
I was on a job recently where I had to completely rework the entry door install on a house. It was difficult to tell from a distance, but the original work had been poorly done (and that might be an understatement!). All of the errors made in that original installation became more and more apparent once I started disassembling the install in order to right the wrongs. Sometimes you have to peel back more than the skin to see how rotten the fruit is at the core. And then you need to take a strategic approach to help that core heal. Read the full article…
Like many carpenters, I’m always looking for an interesting challenge. I like tackling something I’ve never done before—and succeeding. Not only is it satisfying to push yourself, but a satisfied customer means good word-of-mouth, which (hopefully) leads to more work. Win-win. This is exactly what happened when one of my best clients approached me with an interesting project. Read the full article…
Ever wish you had a work table that could handle all your jobs?
When I first started out over fifteen years ago, I would use anything I could find as a table. I’d lay plywood on the ground, I’d set plywood on wood blocks, and, finally, I grew up enough to use sawhorses. But most of the time my “table” was never big enough for the project I was working on. And it was never efficient. Read the full article…