Bought a table second hand on market place. What would be the best approach to refinishing it?

I'd like to make my own marking knife, but don't have the means to mill my own metal so would need to buy a blade to make a wood handle for.

So far have only found full-length blades like this but not the 'tip' or 'head' only though. That leaves these options:

• sandwiching two strips like this to create a 'full tang' handle
• fitting the whole existing handle inside a huge fat handle
• grinding the main shaft down to slot into a handle
• cutting the head off to mount at the end of a handle

All of which sound either wasteful, silly or against the point of making one in the first place. If you can't buy the knife heads only, the best compromise I can think of is to restore an unwanted marking knife, then grinding/cuttting to fit a new handle.

It feels very dry, but I don't know if I should sand it and apply some kind of oil? It also developed a black "film" as you can see in the last picture,

Any advice is welcome! :D

https://preview.redd.it/lhqa472kystc1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=07b7dbb91da9032aee5b915be63ae942143b2625

https://preview.redd.it/y5yfk72kystc1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=adc00179e00532fe6a38c270f84d126d0309c710

https://preview.redd.it/r7koe72kystc1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c4437476a21f1ce46eac4cda75ed1b0336ef5d39

First time poster, more of a DIY guy than a real woodworker. Built a few desks, cabinets, shelves, boxes - nothing fancy.

I've had an idea in my head that I want to make real, hope y'all can help me out a bit. I live in New York so space is at a premium. I want to combine a high dining table (counter/bar height) and have enough space to have my music/DJ gear inside. Normally, it'd be pretty easy to have a storage dining table - there's plenty of gaming table plans that have that exact idea. Unfortunately, since it's music stuff, I need one long edge to not be covered. This has the problem of nothing to leave my covering table leaves to rest on for one side. Dimensions would roughly be 90" x 24" x 36"

Main problems I've identified so far:

• I need access to both the inside and the top each day, so having a removable threaded insert and knobs as a side panel isn't ideal.
• Any spill on the dining table is going to seep through the panels and potential wreck a lot of delicate electronic equipment
• This thing needs to be able to bear 300lbs or so without wobbling, that's kinda a tough ask. I originally was going to put it on a sit-stand electric mechanism, but abandoned that idea really quickly.

Potential solutions:

• Build table leaves that are actually 90 degrees and fit them into some kind of groove for stability
• Put a tarp underneath? Rubber tongue and groove on the panels? Both?
• Giant flip over thing on a continuous piano hinge that runs the entire length? This sounds like a terrible idea

Reference pictures:

Ideally like this, but without one of the long sides (picture/product not mine)

https://preview.redd.it/p5zz1sv1nstc1.jpg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=31eaf4cd7f0125d72630b1ed54b582ab3cf7eeb9

Here's what would be hidden underneath (picture/product not mine)

https://preview.redd.it/6tphkt08nstc1.jpg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=918e380a9f3211665c398b6a496a4988419fb609

If this post isn't enough of a pain already, I also have some limitations with my shop:

• I'm in NYC, so I don't actually have access to a table saw, a planer, or a router. I've been thinking of solving this by using plywood and butcherblock.
• I do have some tools - a track saw, a chop saw, miter saw, a hand router, various things of small size. It's gonna be hard to do some better joints though, no table router or drill press.
• My wood source is probably going to be the local Home Depot, unfortunately

Early brainstorming

https://preview.redd.it/pt7lvbdrpstc1.jpg?width=1512&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8d223bebaf29b4fccddefa15caab7d8498eb9895

(Cross section view)
Maybe this kind of thing would work? The 90 degree leaf idea. Probably need to use magnets or something to keep the pieces together. Still not sure how stable it would be. Or honestly, how convenient to move... would be a lot of leaves, and quite heavy.

Man I’ve been through it all with sharpening. Jigs, power sharpeners, and in the end for my few mild success and many failures and destroyed chisels. I can finally sharpen… by hand. My now and forever more method is a 6” lapidary wheel and my dmt plates. So fast. But back to the jigs and guides and sliding guides and why don’t they work? I could never get them to register to the edge of the chisel. Always in the middle or at the back or only one side. I’m looking at the thing and it is plainly touching along the entire cutting edge but as soon as I take swipes that’s not where it’s cutting. Adjust, still not right. Adjust, closer. Get frustrated and just do it by hand. Which god bless I guess because I can just do it by hand after 10 years of frustration. Though a big part of it I think is coming to the realization that your chisels don’t have to be perfectly flat and shiny. They need to have a cutting edge and they need to take as little time to get there as possible. So maturity and practicality in a word. Still to hell with those guides!

Watched YT video of Shelix cutter head on DeWalt 735 planer. He ran pencil or crayon over the top of just planed wood and it showed impressions of where cutters on Shelix head had cut. One could clearly see each cut made by the carbide cutters. I thought Shelix cutter heads were supposed to plane the wood flat like straight blade cutters. I put the brakes on my purchase of a Shelix cutter head based on this video. What’s the deal?

So this is my first project; I sanded, whittled, and varnished a nice looking hiking stick. Recently I discovered a bunch of tiny holes towards the top, and after vanishing, a bunch of small shiny black bugs (I believe to be bark beetles, after looking it up) came crawling out. I killed them as they came out, and slowly they stopped, but I'm worried now. Are there more in there? Are there tunnels throughout the wood that make it weaker? Will this problem sort itself out or should I do something?

I've been gifted this workbench, I can't quite work out the logic behind the dog hole positioning on the surface. The only markings I can see on it are on the tops of the dogs it says "veritus Canada"

I have a finished engineered Hampton Bay Butcher block that I got from Home Depot that I've been using as my office desktop for roughly a half a year and I was wondering how I should go about applying a glossy water-based polyurethane to it. My hope is to make the countertop as glossy as possible. I also wanted to say that I don't have any experience woodworking.

So I have lot of questions in terms applying a film building finish, but the main things I'm concerned about are: how many coats should I put on it, what's the best method to do so, and should I be sanding before and/or after applying coats/ if so, should I progressively increase the grit as I go on?, etc. Any help would be appreciated.

I'm working on designing some new kitchen cabinets rights now. I would like the corners of the cabinets to have the look of a solid piece of wood (using rift sawn white oak), and am thinking a mitered corner would best accomplish this. However, I have some concerns with accomplishing it, and am looking for some advice on how to best approach it.

I would like all the face frames to be one piece for each continuous run. So, my expectation is to install all the base cabinets, and then come back and install the face frames after scribing where they meet the wall. The runs can get pretty long (126" and 83"), so gluing up that mitered corner and side face frames before attaching to the cabinet seems like it would be comedic trying to get it into the house, and impossible to install for the peninsula.

Would I have issues gluing that miter while installing the face frames onto the cabinets? I was hoping to spray finish (clear) the face frames before install, if that makes a difference. Should I use a lock miter or something else mechanical like that or a biscuit to help with alignment? Or just pin nail? I'm a little concerned about the miter opening up over time too.

I appreciate the help!

83\" wide

Peninsula 126\" x 30\"

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Finishing up a box that has to be delivered this weekend. Looking for the best (quickest) finish to bring out the figure and chatoyancy in the maple.

I spent a while looking through the posts here, but figured I’d ask again anyway. I am primarily searching for for the best looking finish, protection does not matter at all for this project.

Looking to keep the color as close to natural as possible, not opposed to some yellow/ambering if it brings out the figure of the wood better.

I’ve been thinking about BLO, shellac, or lacquer. I do have a scrap piece that I can do some tests on tomorrow, but I also wanted to get some opinions of fellow woodworkers.

I volunteer in a student wood shop, and an extremely common question I get is from students who are trying to build projects with geometry that is...maybe not made by a designer who knows the limits of common tools

Once a week I have a student come to me asking to cut a 60° miter on the edge or end of a board. I often tour them through the various options, such as running the edge vertically against a table saw set at the inverse angle, or building some kind of wedge, and the amount of hassle they are presented with usually discourages them and makes them decide to find a workaround. Truthfully, I don't really know the best way to do this. Because I know the maximum angles we can set tools to, I never design anything to need a bevel or miter above 45 or 50. Now, I've heard of the wedge method I mentioned above, but I actually don't know how to create such a wedge.

The math of converting, say, the readout angle on a miter saw, to a piece of wood for a wedge, to the final work piece, confuses me a little. Do you add or subtract? Is a 60 degree miter measured from 90 or 0? Etc etc.

Any tips or pointers on this generally would be great!

Hi all. I am putting up horizontal fencing similar to the photo.. Been having issues getting similar results of stain that matches the picture. I am using calbot stains on cedar. Maybe it's redwood?

Any advice or assistance is appreciated.

I’m using my 8x16 shed for now, I’m still able to produce some large pieces, but it’s a pain to move all of the large tools out so I can access the bench. There’s a second bench behind the camera that is where I store my planer, sander, vacuum, track saw, and table saw sleds.

Anyone one else working out of a tiny shop?

I was just about to get started on a project to make some plywood shelves faced with hardwood, and as I started thinking through my cuts I realized I'm not sure how to get straight cuts down the length of the full sheet of plywood. My shelves will be just over 7' long.

For Shelf #1, I was planning on cutting the first shelf a bit wide with my circular saw and then cutting it to exact width on my table saw with the factory edge of the shelf along the fence -- this would give me an even width. But now I don't have a factory edge to work with, and my recently sawn edge is only as good as I was able to get it with my circular saw. Same thing with my next shelf (I need three in total).

How do I do this? I know I could make a straight-edge jig . . . but I'd need something with a straight edge for that jig too :)

Help!

Want to build something like this grill cart I found on google. How do you think they secured the kettle grille hanging on the side?

Hello! I have a question for the masses. My landlord upgraded our dishwasher from 18 to 24 in (The Blue square) and that caused the removal of our end for drawer cabinet. I took on making the replacement since I work in a scene shop and are coming up short for some ideas to fill this void. The total length is: 1 ft 9 1/2in Deep 8 1/2 in Wide

My brain was thinking shoe rack but that's only 7 3/4" deep far to small for my shoes and then I'm like what about just vertical pan storage but we really don't need it. So I'm looking to you.

Hey guys,

I feel like I don't see toggle clamps used very often in professional shops. They have so much use for clamping and jig work.

Need to hold a part for a sketchy cut on a table saw or shaper? Plywood and toggle clamps

Need to clamp an assembly with angles that aren't easy to clamp (chair sides, frame assemblies)? Plywood a few reference blocks and some push pull toggle clamps.

For something so versatile, affordable and adjustable I wish I saw more these out in the wild!

What your experience? Any cool uses? See them all the time? I'd love to hear!

I’m trying to plane some boards down to maybe 1/4”. My first attempt, I made a planer sled and double sided sticky tape. What I was left with was even though I feed the boards through end to end, they didn’t end up at the same thickness, especially the first board. It ended up maybe 1/32 thicker. Now, I’ve thought about it and I think there’s a few things I can do better.

I was watching an Ishitani video and I noticed he was planing thin boards using what appeared as a stationary board and just ran the thin planed boards through as you normally would on top of the stationary board. Are there issues with doing it this way? Assuming I’m remembering the video correctly (can’t find the video), this way seems better. Thoughts?