I love to hear old-timers tell stories. At a JLC Live stair building seminar taught by Jed Dixon, I talked with Jed and Don Jackson (editor of JLC) about installing skirt boards and how I was taught to install the treads and risers first, and then scribe the skirts over the top of them. Read the full article…
I’ve repaired a lot of rotting trim in the past few years—mostly window sills, door framing trim, and garage door trim. I’ve used all of the commonly accepted practices—like cutting out and replacing the rotted piece and using structural repair epoxy—as well as not-so-accepted practices, like using Bondo. I’ve come to the conclusion that they all have their place in the hierarchy of repair options. Read the full article…
As a member of a trim crew, once the doors have been hung and the case and base is installed, I can’t wait to get to the fun and unusual jobs. Some of these are crown molding or built-ins, but, for me, the best is building Jacuzzi/garden tub surrounds. These surrounds come in all different sizes and shapes, but they all need some means of access to the pumps, motors, and valves hidden under the tub deck. Read the full article…
Like most contractors, I’m always looking for ways to be more efficient and accurate when it comes to the paperwork needed in this business. There are a great many programs available that claim to fully automate your construction business. Most of them are either too expensive and/or too complicated for my small business. What I need is something easier to use and more flexible. Read the full article…
(With Jesper Cook)
Our company, Millworks By Design, is one of the largest high-end trim companies in the Los Angeles, CA area. We started our company in 2007 with the resolve to run it differently than the other outfits in the area. We saw opportunity in the lack of professionalism and organization one finds in some of the other companies around us. Read the full article…
I remember reading an article about melamine years ago. The author was very apologetic about the topic because he knew he was addressing woodworkers who had a disdain for the material. Melamine has a rap sheet alright; it is looked down upon by both fabricators and consumers for its imitation wood grain and particleboard core. However, like it or not, it does have a place in the world of cabinetry. And that place is not always located at the bottom of the food chain. Read the full article…
Have you ever wished you had a little desk inside your van, where you could write notes, or even comfortably type on your computer? Well, here’s a nifty solution for any van or truck with an extra cup holder. Read the full article…
As a finish carpenter, I have gone through god-knows how many shims in my career, and I have a feeling I’m going to need a few more in the years ahead. 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…
In my article on building a sunburst I described how to find the circumference of a circle given a specific radius. I then divided that circumference in half, because I was working with a half-round arch. This gave me the length measured along the arches curve, otherwise known as the arc length. Finding the arc length of a segmental arch is a little more difficult, but a construction calculator makes it incredibly easy. Read the full article…