In 2008, I was installing a kitchen every week, on average. As you can probably imagine, I was bringing in a lot of equipment each time to set up shop: miter saw, work bench, table saw, screw guns, levels, and of course nail guns, compressor, hose, and cord—even though there isn’t a lot of need for air guns in kitchen installs, you still need them. Read the full article…
The first time I used a Bosch sliding compound miter saw, with up-front bevel lock, I didn’t like the saw at all—it weighed too much. But after working with it for six months, I loved it (as long as someone else would carry it!). And when I first starting using a Kapex, I didn’t like it at all. Other than the fact that I could carry it myself, I just wasn’t comfortable using it. Within a month, I loved it. Tools are like that. You have to use them before you really get to known them, and some you end up loving. Read the full article…
The joinery in baseboard forms the foundation for nearly all the joinery in finish carpentry, which makes perfect sense because baseboard is meant to replicate the foundation—the plinth—of a classical column. Though casing is the first molding profile noticed in a home, and often the first molding installed in a home, baseboard is usually the first molding that an apprentice carpenter learns to cut, and for good reason. Read the full article…
(Photos by Kirk Grodske)
I don’t do a lot of trim work. But when I do, it’s often stain-grade or pre-painted, and the miters have to be perfect! I mostly hang doors, so I rarely have a full-size work table set up—usually, I just have a door bench. Most of the casing I work with is small. At first, I thought it was too small to survive a Clam Clamp, but I’ve learned better (more on that later!). Read the full article…
Since I first took the pictures you saw in the first half of my article, Portable Pre-assembly Tables, I was able to figure out an even better way to pre-assemble casing, especially small casing. Now I use a Clam Clamp! Read the full article…
(Photos by Kirk Grodske)
I don’t do a lot of trim work. But when I do, it’s often stain-grade or pre-painted, and the miters have to be perfect! I mostly hang doors, so I rarely have a full-size work table set up—usually, I just have a door bench. Most of the casing I work with is small. At first, I thought it was too small to survive a Clam Clamp, but I’ve learned better (more on that later!). Read the full article…
Co-written by Mike Sloggatt
Around 2,500 years ago, a Greek philosopher we all met in high school named Pythagoras discovered a theorem that can make life easy for carpenters and contractors—if we just knew how to use it, and how to find right angles!
Most of us remember our ABC’s from high school, and we remember the Pythagorean Theorem, too, which applies to any 90-degree triangle. Read the full article…
I’ve been hanging doors for over thirty-five years, and writing about it for nearly twenty-five. For many years, I approached door installs differently every time (like most carpenters). After all, there are so many steps, and there is a lot you need to watch for! It’s tough to do it the same way every time. But a door is a door is a door. Which means unless you’re doing exactly the same thing every time you install one, you’re wasting valuable energy and time. Read the full article…
A door is a door is a door. And although doors might differ in construction or design, you should be doing the exact same thing every time you install one. Read the full article…
When I started out in the building business, interest rates were low, money was easy to borrow, and custom homes were the way to go. But six years later, in the early 1980s, that all changed. Interest rates went over 15%. No one could afford, let alone qualify, for a loan. Economics and demand dragged us into multi-family housing—we started installing finish work on apartment complexes, condominiums, and townhouses. The work was hard, the prices competitive, but the profits were good if you had your act together, if you were fast and didn’t make mistakes. Read the full article…
“I suspect we’re seeing an early preview of what the future holds for carpentry: laser measures, automatic digital miter saw fences, Bluetooth, iPads . . . .” Gary Katz, THISisCarpentry, July 30, 2010
iPads? Really, Gary? I think that’s going a little too far. iPads are Apple products and Apple computers are for long-haired, tofu-eating, poetry-reading, and otherwise useless people who use them to design wine bottle labels, right? We meat-eating, boot-wearing, beer-drinking, hardworking types need real computers that can crunch numbers, run drafting programs and surf the web for—wait, it will come to me—yes, search the web for discounts on tools. Who needs an iPad, I say. Read the full article…
When it comes to installing closet shelving, if your crew isn’t following a manual of practice—a system that simplifies repetitive tasks, eliminates needless steps, and speeds installation time—then you’ll never enjoy the profits that can be made in closets. Read the full article…