Padauk Plywood

Padauk is a beautiful wood with intense reddish hues. Cut from the tree bearing the same name, the wood starts a bright red, darkening to a reddish-brown, almost purple color over time. This color change can be slowed somewhat by the application of finishes that have been developed to protect the wood from ultraviolet rays. … Read more

Hanging Wall Cabinets

hanging wall cabinets, wooden

Cabinets are an integral part of any home. At one time, cabinets were built in place, often custom made to match the home. Those cabinets would include hutches, corner hutches and glass-fronted cabinets to show off dishes and glassware. Today’s cabinets may not be as elegant or complicated as those and are not usually installed … Read more

Categories DIY

Linden Plywood

carving, linden, plywood

Linden plywood is also known by the regional names of basswood and title. Various strains of the tree species grow throughout Europe, North America and parts of Asia. Basswood is the name most commonly used in the United States, while Europeans refer to the same wood as Linden and the name Title is used throughout … Read more

Wrap a Beam in Wood

wrap styles, lap joint, miter joint

Beams and columns are an important part of any home’s structure. As architectural styles change, trending to larger open spaces and higher ceilings, with more complex roof designs, the need for beams becomes greater. But those beams don’t always look attractive, especially in areas of the home which were not originally finished, so the builder … Read more

Burn Wood with Electricity

Lichtenberg figure, plywood, burnt wood

The art of burning wood with electricity produces fragmented designs burnt into the surface of the wood. These designs are called “fractiles,” after the statistical principle of the same name. Without getting into complex descriptions of the mathematics behind the fractile, the basic idea is that each succeeding section is smaller than the previous. In … Read more