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Restoration

Exposed ends of carpenter bee tunnels — In addition to repairing nail holes in a collection of reclaimed redwood lumber, I was also faced with the task of repairing a number of voids in the wood made by carpenter bees. This task involved two basic types of repairs: 1) plugging holes, and 2) filling tunnels. The holes consisted of either entrance holes where the bees burrowed into […]

Repairing Carpenter Bee Holes in Reclaimed Wood

This entry was posted in Restoration Techniques on May 17, 2016 by Bill Kovalick

Old nail holes in top rail of redwood bench — I was fortunate to salvage a number of boards from an old redwood bench in order to repurpose the wood into a newer, cooler bench but one of the challenges was repairing the various nail holes that were left behind after pulling out all the rusty old nails. I could have gone for the rustic look […]

How to Fix Nail Holes in Reclaimed Wood

This entry was posted in Restoration Solutions on May 13, 2016 by Bill Kovalick

Cutaway view of carpenter bee tunnels in redwood lumber — When I reclaimed the lumber from an old redwood bench, I knew there were carpenter bees taking up residence in the wood but I had no idea how many – and how much damage they had caused. Boy, was I in for a surprise! The only external evidence of the bees was neat 1/2″ diameter […]

Carpenter Bee Damage

This entry was posted in Restoration Wood on March 6, 2016 by Bill Kovalick

When confronted with dilapidated shed doors, one can opt to either repair or replace. In the case of the doors shown below, I opted for replacement. These doors were probably 20 to 30 years old and in dire need of TLC. They were made from T1-11 plywood and painted a garish, ugly primer red that contrasted […]

New Shed Doors

This entry was posted in Projects Restoration on July 17, 2015 by Bill Kovalick

Could American chestnut be the wood of choice for future generations of woodworkers? Well, I’m not quite ready to make that prediction but there is reason for optimism. As some of you may know, chestnut was one of the dominant tree species in the eastern forests of North America a hundred years ago. It’s estimated that in the early […]

American Chestnut – Down But Not Out

This entry was posted in Restoration Wood on July 9, 2015 by Bill Kovalick

Damaged groove caused by impatient routering — In this installment of Woodworking Damage Control, the challenge was to repair a groove that got away from me. While making some wine totes, I was using a router bit to cut grooves along the inner face of each side to accommodate a plywood base. The problem was that I got a bit impatient and tried removing too […]

Groove Damage Control

This entry was posted in Restoration Techniques on June 26, 2015 by Bill Kovalick

Restored student desk with blue spray paint finish — While rummaging around the attic, I came across three old school desks that my siblings and I used back in the day. My dad picked the desks up from somewhere, probably very cheaply (if not free) and we used them hard for a number of years. After we left the roost, the desks were stored […]

Restored Vintage School Desk

This entry was posted in Projects Restoration on December 23, 2014 by Bill Kovalick

Restored turtle top table — I came across this turtle top table while cleaning out the attic in the home where I grew up. I remember my mom working on the table many years ago – she had partially stripped off the finish as the first step in reviving the table but didn’t get around to finishing the job. Eventually, […]

Restoring a Turtle Top Table

This entry was posted in Projects Restoration on December 23, 2014 by Bill Kovalick

Sewing machine table — What to do with an old sewing machine that is too far gone to economically restore as a sewing machine? Well, when I came across this beat-up old Singer sewing machine in the garage attic, I immediately thought what a great little table it would make. The decorative iron base was still in good condition […]

Vintage Sewing Machine Side Table

This entry was posted in Finishing Projects Restoration on December 23, 2014 by Bill Kovalick

Mission Style Rocking Chair

This entry was posted in Finishing Projects Restoration on December 23, 2014 by Bill Kovalick

Maple floor clock — This is a floor clock, also called a longcase clock, tall-case clock, or grandfather clock (technically, I suppose it’s a grandmother rather than a grandfather clock because it’s just under 6 feet tall). I’ve dubbed this clock the “Pop Clock” in honor of my dad who built the clock many years ago (early 1980’s I […]

Pop Clock

This entry was posted in Finishing Projects Restoration on December 23, 2014 by Bill Kovalick

My dad added a porch to our house back in the 1970’s and I must say he did a pretty good job overall. Especially for someone who wasn’t a professional builder or carpenter. However, there was one critical flaw in the construction: the main sill plate running across the front of the porch was made […]