Cutting Dovetail Joints With a Router Jig

January 5, 2018

Design

...lf-blind dovetails: Image: Wikipedia. Since I’m working on faced drawers I used through dovetails. I hope to make some furniture soon that will make use of half blind dovetails. To cut my dovetails I used a router and jig both made by Porter Cable. There are some other jigs on the market that work just as well but, judging from the reviews, I’d avoid the cheap models. Setting up a dovetail jig is a time intensive process and somewhat confusing in...

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On Sharpening Tools

Mr. Homegrown

August 8, 2017

Domesticus

9 Comments

...to start with a grinding wheel or a really coarse abrasive. Nagura stone (used for maintaining whetstones). Economical Sharpening In terms of price and versatility, it’s hard to beat a Japanese whetstone. With a set of whetstones you can polish everything from kitchen knives to chisels and planes. After the sharpening class I picked up a double sided 800/4,000 grit whetstone and few additional accessories: a sharpening stone holder, a honing guid...

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Our Rocket Stove

Mr. Homegrown

November 21, 2007

Preparedness, Rocket Stove

92 Comments

...e iconic palm trees that line our old L.A. street. Here’s the materials we used: 36 bricks 4-inch galvanized steel stove pipe elbow 4-inch stove pipe ash (scavenged from park BBQs) 1 tin can 50 pound bag of premixed concrete for the base mortar mix grill (scavenged) The first step was to make a small foundation for the rocket stove. We fashioned a 18 by 18-inch by 4-inch slab with 2 x 4 lumber and a bag of premixed cement. Folks in cold places wil...

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A Warning About Straw

Mr. Homegrown

October 25, 2009

Animals, Chickens, Gardening, Vegetable Gardening

12 Comments

...rmaculturalist David Kahn. It’s tempting to pick up bales that stores have used after Halloween, but make sure they weren’t treated with fire retardant. Fire retardant has some nasty chemicals in it you don’t want in your garden. When in doubt, just go to the feed store–straw it ain’t expensive! Addendum 10/27/09: Reader Polyparadigm raised another potential issue with using straw in your garden or compost pile: halogenated pesticide/herbacide res...

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A Primitive Bow Workshop

Mr. Homegrown

November 14, 2012

Preparedness

10 Comments

...ows. The first step was to find some suitable wood. We used willow, a wood used by Native Americans in our region. It’s plentiful and makes an acceptable if short lived bow. Ash and oak and bay trees are local woods which are better for the purpose, but our goal for the day was a quick and dirty bow. These bows aren’t bowyers’ masterpieces. They are survival tools, and their effectiveness is not about their long-range accuracy, but on the skills o...

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