DIY Life

I've abandoned my office chair for a yoga ball. The hope is that I might get a little ab-action, while sitting around on the computer. For the most part, it's very comfortable, and it encourages better posture, which I could definitely use. Still, I find that over time I start to lose my balance and the ball becomes an awkward seat.

It looks like this balance chair might be just the right compromise for me. Essentially, it's working on the same principle, but designed to give you added balance when you need it. The best feature of all is that you can easily build one yourself.

Along with the recycled seat and back from an old office chair, you'll need 45x45mm wood x 2m and 45x65mm wood x 1m, wooden shims and a hinge. You could have rolling casters on the feet if you want to pivot and move around the office easily. Check out the full assembly instructions, and images to guide you through the simple construction process. The end results aren't widely adjustable, but as long as you're not sharing the seat with your entire household, it should work just fine.

There are many different wood joinery techniques such as tongue in groove, biscuits, dowels, etc. The more complex the joinery technique, the tighter the joining pieces of wood will interlock. In almost all cases, glue is used to further strengthen the joint.

The strength of the glued surface is dependent on the degree of contact on open grain surfaces. In many cases, it's easy enough to get a good spread because the surfaces are narrow. Just squiggle a bit of glue on both pieces, mate them, and that act will naturally distribute the glue evenly. Then just wipe off the squeeze-out.

But what if the pieces are wider? This is a bit more problematic. But a tip from Woodworker's Journal has come up with a very slick method to remedy the situation. Simply apply the glue in the typical snake pattern, and then use a threaded rod to roll it out to evenly coat the entire piece of stock evenly. Then mate, clamp it up, and let it dry.

You're bound to make mistakes while you're learning to woodwork, and even as a seasoned woodworker. The real separation is in those who know how to fix them and those who don't. A good woodworker can fix his mistakes so seamlessly that you'd never know there was one when looking at the final project.

Canadian Home Workshop compiled a list of these 10 woodworking mistakes and how to fix them:

1. Removing Router Burn
2. Tightening Sloppy Mortise-and-Tenon Joints
3. Eliminating Gaps in Face Frame Joints
4. Adjusting a Too-Deep Hinge Pocket
5. Removing Mystery Glue Smears
6. Repair Dents in Wood
7. Widening Cabinet Doors That Are Too Narrow
8. Fixing Nail-Split or Screw-Split Wood
9. Salvaging a Bubbly Finish
10. Lengthening a Board You Cut Too Short

Number 10 sounds more like a job for for a magician then a woodworker. I'll share that secret with you after the break.

Dust is a major problem in my shop and most home wood shops. My tiny shop has more dust than projects in it. Not only does my enormous "portable" wet/dry vac suck at sucking and is even worse at filtering, it's a major roadblock to sweeping up at the end of the day. I've long dreamed of buying one of those big suck-your-brains-out dust vacuums that they sell at tool centers. However, even those have bags for filters and I never liked the way the old household bag vacuums would billow dust every time you turned it on. I imagined that the big monsters probably did the same thing only more. That can't be good for the lungs!

Enter Bill Pentz, woodworker, geek, and DIYer extraordinaire. Bill designed and built his own dust collection system that out performs just about everything on the market. His system really sucks!!

Most manufactured dust collection systems available to the home woodworker provide miserably low air volume and static pressure. According to Bill, none of the dust collection systems available in retail outlets provide even half of the air flow necessary to actually keep the dust from escaping large tools like your table saw, planer, jointer, or router table. The dust that does get swallowed up is often just spit back out into the air. Many of the filters don't actually filter the size of particles they advertise. Of course, we all could have guessed that much of marketing departments! In addition, course sawdust and the inevitable chunks of debrit damage even the best cartridge filters. A cyclone seperator like Bill's keeps all but the tiniest particles from getting to the filter allowing it to last indefinitely.

I used to be under the misapprehension that birds always nest in the branches of trees. How wrong I was! Since becoming interested in backyard birdwatching, I've learned that a great many bird species, including woodpeckers (like the red-bellied woodpecker pictured here) and wrens, nest in the cavities of dead or dying trees. Problem is: most people cut those trees down to make their yards look nice and tidy. What's a bird to do?

If you have a dead tree in your yard, consider leaving it standing. If not, but you still want to encourage wildlife, how about making a DIY nesting box? It's pretty easy even for the beginner woodworker because precision is not necessary. In fact, birds prefer the rustic look!