Rubette73 asked:


I have a finished wood dining table. It is a light color wood and I think it is maple. The thing is that with three kids (and no table cloth because it got torn a while back and was never replaced) I do have some sticky spots on the table. My family does use place mats at every meal and we do wipe up spills quickly. But these sticky spots are more towards the center of the table. I’ve tried wiping them down with a wet cloth to no avail and I don’t want the wood to warp. Any ideas?

ALONZO

ryanmartin8 asked:


There are 2 fireplaces sharing one pit, 1 on each side in 2 separate rooms. Will burning wood most of the night help with heating costs? What are other methods for cutting back on heating?

CLARK

Len Q. asked:


Whittling is the removal of pare shavings or the cutting of small bits from a piece of wood using a knife or similar wedge-edged tool.  It is the most basic form of wood carving but it is not actually the art of wood carving, as it is done today.  Wood carving requires a number of tools, even power tools at that.  So it could get complicated pretty fast.  But this is not how it is when one whittles.  All you need to whittle are two things:  a piece of wood and a knife.

True whittling has always been very simple.  Details in the wood aren’t very refined but rather pretty coarse.  When you are holding a whittled object in your hand, you know it.  You can plainly see each knife stroke.  Using sand paper isn’t an option.  This is the exact opposite of wood carving, which typically excels in details.  When you’re holding a wood carving of the same object, you usually won’t see even one knife stroke.  It’s very interesting.  Whittling a little girl could take a week when all you’re using is a knife.  Wood carving the same little girl requires more tools but it takes just a fraction of the time.  She’ll also have many details that couldn’t be produced with just a knife.  

Whittling requires no special tools, no special circumstance or any specific type of working environment.  Just you, a piece of wood and your knife are all it takes.  You can whittle anywhere inside or outside your home, in a car, at a picnic, in a park—nearly anywhere.  This is not so with detailed wood carving.

There are quite a number of special tools that you’ll likely be using when wood carving.  There are detail knives and carving knives, wood rasps and wood files, wood gouges and wood chisels.  And these aren’t all of them.  (Ever heard of a sanding stick?)  There’s a very good chance that you’ll probably have a handful of power tools as part of your wood carving tool kit.  Then you’ll also need to concern yourself with how to supply electric power.  It isn’t so simple. 

You really do need a designated work area when you’re wood carving.  You usually aren’t even holding the wood you’re working on.  Many times it’d be a vise doing that for you so you’ll need a good work bench or platform.  And with all those valuable tools around, you don’t want anyone fiddling with them.  Besides the possibility of losing them, many of them are dangerously sharp and no one should touch them but you.  And what about that special creation that you’ve been working on for so long?  You surely don’t want any spectators scoping it out when you’re not around.  Who knows what’ll happen?  (Hey, where’d the nose go?)

The act of whittling is considered to be a contemplative, meditative process.  It isn’t so much what you’re whittling but the process itself.  Wood carving, on the other hand, is more of an end result process.  You strive to create what you see in your mind with all the details that come with it.  You’ve a product to produce and so you may not care to spare any time.

It comes down to a matter of taste and how you feel.  If you have no care to rush, you want to take your time and see what happens, whittling could be for you.  If you’d like to see just how skilled you can be, how good you are at bringing out details, wood carving may be just what you’re looking for.  Hey, try them both.  You might surprise yourself.

—————————————–

Len Q. is a master blade sharpener and an adventurer who strives to protect the natural world.  If you would like to learn about

            -  Knife Sharpening:  How to Sharpen Knives, Maintain and Store Them

            -  The Fastest Way to Sharpen, Tests for Sharpness and more

            -  Sharpening Other Edges

               (e.g. Chain Saws, Gardening Tools, Axes)

            -  Or maybe you could use a Free Guide on  Sharpening Lawn Mower Blades

Find it here at www.MakeKnivesSharp.com. 



EUGENIO

Stephanie Larkin asked:


The Wood Heater Compliance Monitoring Program is a federal program in the United States that is managed by the Compliance Assessment and Media Programs Division at the Environmental Protection Agency Headquarters located in Washington, D.C. The purpose of the Wood Heater Compliance Monitoring Program is to promote compliance with the wood heater regulation, which has been in effect since 1988. The Environmental Protection Agency started the wood heater regulation for particulate emissions from wood heaters because products that burn wood for heat, such as wood stoves, can significantly contribute to particulate air pollution.

The Wood Heater Compliance Monitoring Program promotes the compliance with these regulations which include:



Certifying new residential wood heaters.

Approving changes in design requests for wood heaters.

Interpreting the rule language.

Conducting inspections of the facilities that make wood heaters.

Provides public access to compliance information.

Monitors compliance directly of all accredited laboratories, retailers, homeowners and manufacturers.

Responds to complaints regarding violations of the wood heater regulations.



Wood heaters in residential areas, including wood stoves, can easily pollute the air with particulates. The Wood Heater Compliance Monitoring Program certifies wood stoves for use, and these wood stoves that comply with the regulations are referred to as EPA-certified wood stoves.

 

The certification process for wood stoves requires the manufacturers to verify that their wood stove models meet a particulate emission limit and undergo emission testing at an Environmental Protection Agency accredited laboratory. This is to certify that the wood heater complies with the particulate emission limits of:



7.5 grams per hour for a non-catalytic wood stove.

4.1 grams per hour for a catalytic wood stove.



There are several things a manufacturer must do in order to have their model line of wood stoves EPA-certified. The manufacturer must maintain a quality assurance program for wood heaters produced on a production line, as well as affix permanent labels to each wood stove or wood heater that meets the emission standard. They must also attach a temporary label that lists:



The emission rate, as rated by an EPA-approved test method.

The heating range of the heater, so that people may purchase the correct size

Overall efficiency of the wood heater.



 

The wood stove regulations apply to all wood stoves that have:



A firebox volume of less than 20 cubic feet,

An air to fuel ration of less than 35 to one,

Burn rate of less than five kilograms per hour,

Total weight of less than 800 kilograms.



The chief reason that you should purchase a wood stove that has been certified by the Environmental Protection Agency is because they burn 80 per cent cleaner and are 30 per cent more efficient than an un-certified wood stove. The wood stoves that are certified by the Environmental Protection Agency are also better for the environment and for the health of people who live in that environment where wood stoves are used.

Some states and some jurisdictions throughout the United States have declared it illegal to purchase, operate, offer for sale or sell a house that contains a wood stove that is not certified by the Environmental Protection Agency wood heater program.

It is easy to determine if a wood stove has been certified by the Environmental Protection Agency. You can review the list of Environmental Protection Agency certified wood stoves at the Environmental Protection Agency website online, look for the permanent label on the front, bottom or side of the wood stove that states it is certified by the Environmental Protection Agency, or read the temporary label on a new wood stove. The permanent label on a wood stove is most often located on the front, bottom, back or side of the wood stove and specifies directly that the wood stove product meets the Environmental Protection Agency particulate emissions limit.

The temporary label is usually made of cardboard and is most often attached to the front of a new wood stove. The temporary label provides the purchaser with the information regarding the emissions rate and the efficiency rating of the wood stove purchased.

There are three basic types of wood stoves that have Environmental Protection Agency certification with the wood heater program:

1. Catalytic wood stoves that have a ceramic or metal honeycomb device that is the combustor or catalyst. The default efficiency rating for a catalytic wood stove is 72 per cent.

2. Pellet stoves that use pellets of saw dust, wood products and other biomass materials. Pellet stoves are given a default efficiency rating of 78 per cent.

3. Non-catalytic wood stoves that do not use catalysts but do have emission-reducing technology, such as baffles or secondary air chambers. The default efficiency rating for non-catalytic wood stoves is 63 per cent.



EVAN

MED1UM asked:

Trailer de Ed Wood (1994) de Tim Burton. Con Patricia Arquette.

ISAIAS

abc_def asked:


We have a heavy door mounted with 3 hinges to a soft wood frame. The door was improperly blocked open with the result that the screws were pulled from the soft wood frame. The screws no longer “bite” into the wood and they cannot be tightened. Are expansion plugs like “molly” the only solution to this? Or, can the ***** holes be filled with a wood like material to allow the wood screws to be used again?

GLENN

Tomsriv asked:


I just built a wood shed and I am trying to decide what paint to use that will protect it the best from water and termites. I’m thinking a stain would be better because it penetrates the wood. But a regular primer/paint seems like it would form more of a barrier between the wood and the elements. What do you think?

CLYDE

Sushmita Gupta asked:


Wood paneling is a wall constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components, which are traditionally interlocking wood but it, could be also plastic or other materials.

Wood paneling is used in architecture and design, ornamental treatment of the walls, ceilings, doors, and furnishings that consist of a sequence of broad, thin sheets called panels that were framed together by smaller, thicker strips of wood. It was developed in antiquity to make rooms in stone buildings to look more comfortable. The panels work to insulate the room from the cold stone.

In modern buildings, it is installed for decorative purposes. Wood paneling such as wainscoting and boiserie in particular, may be extremely ornate and is particularly associated with 17th and 18th century interior design, Victorian architecture in Britain and its international contemporaries. Wainscot is a paneling design used to the lower 900mm to 1500mm of an interior wall, underneath the decorative rail on the wall or chair and above the skirting board or baseboard.

This style is traditionally created from tongue and groove boards though bead board or decorative panel such as wooden door might have is also common. Wainscot is also referring to other materials used in similar fashion. Its original purpose was to cover the lower parts of the walls in which in houses constructed with poor or nonexistent damp proof courses are often affected by rising dampness but now it general purpose is for decorative use. Boiserie is the term used to define ornate and intricately carved wood paneling.

Some early examples of boiserie were unpainted but later the raised moldings were painted or gilded. Boiserie is popular during the 17th and 18th century French interior design and Palace of Versailles has many fine examples. Wood panels were not just confined to the walls of the room but were also used to decorate doors, frames, cupboards and shelves. Wood paneling has been popular for hundreds of years ago and indeed it a natural wood adds warmth and elegance but the only way the craftsmen of earlier were able to apply wood paneling was in frames or what they called wainscoting.

Now, wood paneling became so popular that it is used in homes everywhere, in the kitchen, dining room, living room and bedroom. Today, wood paneling in homes have a lighter and sleeker look. Those people who buy or own older homes with dark paneled rooms may be faced with the decision of keeping the paneling as in, removing or changing it and the easiest and most cost effective way to change the look of a paneled room is to add color by painting the paneling.

The wood paneling is often passed over as a quality building material. The images of the inexpensive imitation composite paneling the gained fame and fortune during the last half of the 20th century tend to dominate not to knock the cheaper alternative. Wood paneling can be a wonderful and economic addition to any other living space but many homeowners fail to consider the higher end wood paneling options available to them.

From a dramatically crafted raised panel accents to knotty pine tongues and groove walls and ceilings wood panels can convert any home from ordinary to extraordinary overnight. In wood paneling, you have many options to choose from that are available in the market today that will suits your tastes and budget. And if you are really fascinated in wood paneling, you can ask the help of an experience contractor, dealer or installer about what alternatives is best for you. And without a doubt, quality wood panels are one of the most beautiful and timeless investments you can make when it comes to enhancing the look and character of your home.



FRANK

jon jon’s girl asked:


I would love to have to re-face them but that’s not in the budget especially since they are really in great shape-just not my favorite color.. My cabinets are a medium brown showing lots of wood grain. kitchen/dining & living room is one big space. I want wood flooring but what color and will that be too much wood? What about countertops and wall color?
any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

DION