Most lumber is warped, the wrong size, and generally awful. Here are all the ways to tame this beast. Here’s the deal — no matter what, if you’ve purchased lumber, you’re going to be disappointed how crappy it is. …

Hi, I’m Wil, a hobbyist carpenter. You may have seen some highly skilled, professional carpenters out there. I’m not one of them. What I am is a really curious dude who decided to get super nerdy about carpentry as a hobby, and well, kind of took it too far.

A quick rundown of every power tool you should own, and roughly what order to buy them. Most tools do one of two things — make things smaller or connect them together. …

About to buy tools for the first time? Here’s a quick primer to keep you feeling good about parting with your money. Only buy battery-operated handheld power tools. A while back drills, saws, and every other handheld power tool became affordable and as powerful as corded tools. The only contractor…

For as many tools as I own, there’s only a small number that I use on a regular basis, and if I had to, I could probably buy them all for less than $50 total. DISCLAIMER — I’m going to assume you have a basic toolbox of things like a…

Not everything comes down to just the perfect measure and mark. We have to be extra mindful of how to approach our cuts as well. None of this stuff is hard — but the little extra attention will change your game completely. Always make your first cut longer than you need. I used to think that great carpenters measure…

Only use Torx screws (the ones with the star head) Forget all you know about screws. If you’re even thinking about screwing anything together with a Philips head screw, you’re.. well.. screwed. Still using nails? What are you a homesteader from the 1850's?! Anymore, people who love building things but…

If you don’t pre-drill your holes you’re going to fuck up your project every time. Pre-drilling your boards before you drill is a total pain in the ass, but if you want to do the project right, you’ve got to do it. Here’s why. Every time your screw into a…

I used to think wood glue was something nerdy kids used to build wooden models. It turns out, that wood glue works even better for nerdy adults — like me. Little known fact — wood glue, if applied properly — can be as strong as the original board itself. How…