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Maybe, but it's rather a gamble. If I were trying I'd take one board, plane it down to about 6mm (if that's what would work with a frame) and then observe it for a week or two. Does it cup, does it twist? If it does, can I cope with the result or counteract it with the frame/braces? I'd...

It's doable, but .... At 10mm I'd expect each board to cup along its length in different directions and in different amounts, depending on the grain orientation. The only way a door like that would stay flat is either (a) it's in a humidity-controlled environment which happens to match the...

For guitar necks you can laminate two pieces with grain like this \\\\\\///////. That makes an even more stable neck than a single piece (and Fender necks are flat sawn anyway, at least in maple). And you can add a skunk stripe if you like. For solid bodies I wouldn't worry about grain...

My wife's granny would have told you that the sin will polish out if you use enough elbow grease :D If it's any help, ukulele makers value it as a kind of mahogany, more like true mahogany than sapele. The grain direction is probably wrong for my needs (slab rather than quarter sawn)...

Your issue is cross-grain expansion of the top with humidity changes, which will tend to pull open the joints at the ends of the lid on the cross-grain side. Or crack the top if it shrinks more than the end piece. Oak expands a bit more than, say, mahogany. If the top is not to take any load...

I don't have much experience with glue blocks, but some (from musical instrument making) removing wood glued to other wood without damaging one of the pieces. The easy way, if you use Titebond Original or PVA, is to chisel and plane away the block until only a paper-thin sliver is left. Then if...

If it's for your own use, why not. But I doubt you could sell them easily to luthiers if that's what you have in mind. They (I wont claim to be one) are pretty conservative about new techniques. Additionally, many want to focus their radiusing on the vanishing point where the projected sides of...

Ebay sellers have variety packs - a dozen or so sheets about 10x8 ins from memory - for just a few pounds.

I was channelling Renaissance and Baroque guitars, which were often stripy, but Mexican would please its intended owner too. Under finish it's toning down nicely - I'll post a pic when it's done to show the full mint humbug effect :D

Simo kindly sold me some offcuts of mahogany and maple, and I couldn't resist ... The back was easier than I expected, and the bent side far harder - I think I have 5 or 6 sides in the trash pile :D

I suspect the heel of your hand is brushing the trackpad. Put a cloth very it and try again. In Settings you can adjust trackpad sensitivity (or quicker, get a child to adjust it for you).

You can do lateral adjusting just by tapping one side of the blade with a small hammer/mallet/lump of wood. It takes a few tries to work out how hard to tap, but it's nearly as fast as using the lateral adjuster. And it's not as if you need to keep changing it every two minutes. So it's quite...

I reckon your workmate's frame is a huge part of the effort this involves. They are springy, and so absorb the energy you put in to the plane. Once I got a bench I was amazed how much easier planing was! If you can somehow fix the frame to the ground and stop the top moving sideways as you...

I'm far from a planing expert, but I find that with end grain I need to take the tiniest cut I can and just gently shave away the excess. If I try to take anything more, the plane stalls as you describe. I believe that a lower angle on the blade is helpful, and of course as sharp as you can...

To give you some idea of sizing, in wooden planes, a jack is around 600 mm long, a jointer maybe 900 mm, and a smoother around 200 mm. These are very approximate sizes. Each size has a different use, as already explained, so no one size is best. You need them all (though a jointer might not be...

Glider trailers often use aluminium bent over hoops, and I'm sure they use the cheapest grade. They sit out all year long in exposed conditions, and I've seen trailers which are 30+ years old and the aluminium is still fine. The steel parts rust away of course, but the aluminium keeps on going!

The main drawback of most vegetable dyes is that they fade rapidly on light exposure. Tea produces a very pale brown, which fades. Not sure about coffee. But you could test both tomorrow, using the dregs from breakfast. You'll want to test, whatever you use. But I doubt either will produce a...

My experience of the US is that they have three kinds of cheese: American cheddar (aka Cheese) - yellow and tasteless Cheese Whizz - comes in an aerosol can, enough said Monterey Jack ("This will blow your head off") - like a mild cheddar So I'd suggest: 1. A fairly strong Cheddar 2...

Ok, now you have my attention! Too big for mice, too small for a unicorn trap. What do your traps trap? PS no idea on bending.

If this is new to you, then I'm guessing your blade isn't sharp enough and you're taking too deep a cut. I do this far too often. If you can take wispy shavings but still get bad tearout, then there are several things you can try. How well they work depends on the wood - I used some mahogany...