It's Been Awhile

As is pretty self-evident, it's been some time since my last post. Hmm, reminds of being a kid kneeling in the confessional. Anyway, it's been awhile. I'm going to do my best to get back into keeping this updated and keeping this blog focused on DIY.

Lately I've found the benefits of getting some custom wood work done. I'm very cheap at heart and hate to pay others to do things I can do on my own. In this case it's resawing wood. Most of what I make are smaller objects. 3/4" thick wood is usually too big for the stuff I do. I used a lot of 1/4" and would usually resaw it myself. But it takes awhile to resaw and plane it all down.

There's a lumber store nearby called Barndoor Lumber that does custom work and offers a wide variety of wood. A little of everything from ash to zebra wood. I bought a couple dozen board feet of oak and had it sawn and planed down to 1/4". The small amount I paid was well worth the time I saved. Sometimes it pays to pay.

The last big project I did was applying hardwood facing to my basement stairway. I used a product called Retro Stairs. Basically a 3/4" thick, solid edge-glued oak with a built-in bullnose, that is glued/bradded to the existing stair tread. I used some 1/4" luan plywood to finish the risers. The old stairs were covered in thick carpet and really looked kind of nasty. After a weekend's work (stretched out over several weeks) I have a nice looking hardwood staircase.

Let's see if I can keep this posting up.