How to Build a Smokehouse

smokehouse

Smoked meat is a favorite of many people. There’s just something about the smoke flavoring that tickles the taste buds, making the meal more enjoyable. But that’s not where smoking began. The act of smoking meat probably goes back to the days when people lived in caves and is one of the oldest means of … Read more

Categories DIY

How to Make Wooden Gears

gear outline

Wooden gears and sprockets have been in use for millennia. While the actual history of early gears is rather unclear, they were first written about by the Greek mathematician Hero of Alexandria in 50 AD. But there is evidence that they were used by the Greeks in the third century BC, having been invented by … Read more

Categories DIY

Pallet Flag

pallet flag

Pallets have become much more than just shipping contrivances, with people making a wide variety of craft, decorative and furniture projects. Pallet slat walls are a popular decorative theme, both in homes and places of business, while furniture made out of pallets gives a rustic, casual look to family rooms and patios. So what makes … Read more

Categories DIY

Garden Gate

mortise, tenon

Owning a home means more than just the building, there’s the property that the home sits on as well. Granted, some homeowners buy a condominium, where exterior maintenance is taken care of by the homeowner’s association. But the majority of people buy free-standing homes, which sets the new homeowner up for a number of exterior … Read more

Categories DIY

DIY Tree Slice Table

longitudinal rails, spacer blocks

Tree slices and slabs have been used as crude tables for centuries. While there are examples of elegant wood tables, such as those used by the Egyptian Pharaohs, which go back to about 2500 BC, those are unlikely the earliest tables built. Simpler tables had to exist before those, if for no other reason than … Read more

Categories DIY