If you like to build your wood projects from plans you bought at Rockler.com–Woodworking plans, or some other source like a woodworking magazine, you know that to save space, the illustrations are scaled way down.

For example, the drawing of a curved chair arm has the right radius on paper (looks good on paper, as they say, eh?), but it’s sized for a doll house. There’s no way you’ll get your butt in the chair if you build it to the plan scale.

The perspective is kept honest by using grid paper for the plans, of course. But the problem for more complex components has always been figuring out an accurate method to morph that 1:10 scale to a 1:1 scale.

One common solution is to blow up the plan on a plotter copier at Kinko’s and then trace the project components onto your lumber. A plotter is an oversize printer, not a woodworking jig.

I’ve always hated tracing. In the first place, plotters don’t commonly use tracing paper; what they use is opaque. What a hassle.

But here’s great tip sent in by a reader (thanks, Walter!). If you use a laser toner-type plotter, you can make your own iron-on plan transfers. That’s cooler than temporary tattoos. Just turn the copy over onto your lumber and make a pass over it with a hot dry iron.

The toner will leave a perfect image that you can now cut out with your jig saw or scroll saw. Woo-hoo!

One situation where this technique comes in handy is when you’re making a yard decoration out of plywood. Just lay down the pieces, butt ‘em up, iron on the plan, and the project will mate up just right! Halloween is just around the corner; it’s time to put something spooky in the yard.

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Bamboo is fast becoming one of the hottest green flooring materials. Why green? There are at least two reasons. First and foremost, it’s sustainable. If you’ve ever had any in your backyard, you know how hard it is to contain. Even worse if you don’t want it, but it’s an under-the-fence gift from a neighbor!

Yes, I know there are non-spreading varieties. But the point is, compare bamboo’s renew rate to hardwood.

The second green aspect of bamboo is that it’s a natural product. Carpet usually has a lot of synthetics in it, and that means petrochemicals and off-gassing issues. Formaldehyde may also be an ingredient. Yuck.

There’s a variety of choices for installing bamboo flooring. It requires a dry floor and a membrane or layer of felt. Other than that, it can be nailed, glued, or floated like laminate floors. There’s something for whatever kind of subfloor you have!

Subscribe to the I Can Fix Up My Home newsletter! Just send an email to subscribe@icanfixupmyhome.com and then respond to the confirmation email you’ll receive. Important: And, add listserv@icanfixupmyhome.com to your address book and email white list to ensure the newsletters don’t get filtered out into your spam or junk folders.

Most of us have a can of WD-40 sitting around the house. Got a squeak? Give it a spray. Tight bolt? Squirt, squirt. But it might surprise you to see how many other uses it has (one of my favorites is the removal of adhesive goo).

I once worked for a very small company whose owner was, um, a bit peculiar. Shortly after moving into the new office, we were having a little house-warming party in the conference room. There was a huge white board on one wall for drawing flowcharts for upcoming projects.

During a particularly inspirational moment, the owner went over and wrote her name on the white board in five foot tall letters. The problem? She used a permanent marker. The solution? WD-40, a rag, and elbow grease.

A regular employee wouldn’t have lived that one down. But hey, she was the boss!

But the Uses of WD-40 Don’t Stop There

• Keep snow from messing up your satellite dish: spray the dish and the snow will slide off.
• Got a snow plow? Spray a coating on the blade and the snow won’t pack up on it.
• Make it easier to remove light bulbs: spray the threads lightly before you install the bulb.
• Roofing tar on your hands from fixing a leak? WD-40 will get the tar off!
• Use WD-40 to remove grease and road crud from your car’s fenders.
• Bug splats on your car’s grill and fenders? WD-40 works better than expensive sprays.
• It kills weeds too.

When the living room furniture, bedroom pieces, or even things like kitchen cabinets get to be tired looking, I always run into this question; refinish what we already own or run to the furniture store and buy new.

Living close to Houston, it’s easy to find bargains. For one thing, it’s the home of Gallery Furniture. They really offer the best deals around with same day delivery. But I usually opt to build my own or refinish what I’ve already got in the house.

There’s a few methods of refinishing, depending on what you want.

Refurbishing antiques. This one is approached with caution. In order to maintain antique status, original materials must be used. For example, you can’t whip out the Gorilla Glue. Nope, chances are you’ll have to go with hide glue. It’s hard to find off the shelf but Rockler Woodworking and Hardware carries it.

• Making it look antique. Even if what you own is more contemporary, you can make it look antique. I recently posted an article on a technique to distress kitchen cabinets. Other options include faux finish methods.
• Typical refinishing. This is just a case of stripping or sanding, and then priming and painting or applying a more transparent finish, with or without a stain. I like to use either tung oil or Danish oil. Both absorb into the wood for protection from liquids. Varnish and it’s white rings are so yesterday.
• Refinishing makes more fiscal sense for most of us during this economic depression. Keep the cash in your pocket rather than using more credit.

Subscribe to the I Can Fix Up My Home newsletter! Just send an email to subscribe@icanfixupmyhome.com and then respond to the confirmation email you’ll receive. And, add listserv@icanfixupmyhome.com to ensure the newsletters don’t get filtered out into your spam or junk folders.

Which do you prefer, RotoZip or Dremel? I’m a Roto-fan myself. First, just let me state for the record that they are both mighty fine tools and take care of jobs that other tools just aren’t suited for.

The way I see it though (and this is just my opinion), the RotoZip Spiral tool is more professional while Dremel is in the arts and crafts arena. Why not just use the tool that does it all?

A Much-Used Drywall Tool

Back when I was hanging drywall for a living on a more consistent basis, they were just starting to use rotary tools for cutting out holes for electrical outlets and light switches. I never got into that because it meant one more cord to drag around and a drywall saw was just as fast.

That being said, I did use it a lot for other carpentry-related tasks.

The most interesting Dremel tool I’ve every owned was a small table scroll saw. It cut nice tight arcs in small stock if I went slow, but that thing made a helluva racket! 5 minutes at a stretch was about all the torture I could take.

It was like being at a Ted Nugent concert without the tunes. I went to one of Ted’s shows once and couldn’t hear right for several days thereafter.

Are You a Writer?

Finally, just wanted to throw this out: many of you know that I’m the Houston Running Fitness Examiner, covering the local running scene. If you’d like to apply to write for your area and pick up some cash, apply! They just sent out a note that they’re hiring.

Just apply at www.examiner.com/refer and be sure to mention my name and ID code (Kelly Smith, 7913) when prompted for who referred you. I believe there are some good openings now for different locations and different topics.

Back in December ‘08, I abandoned managing this blog by hand and installed the WordPress platform you are reading even as we speak, er, I mean, I write. Something like that. Anyway, although I had archived the older blog posts, for some reason I don’t think Google was spidering and indexing them.

Why do I think that? Well, they weren’t getting any hits, even though there’s good and relevant content there. So yesterday I forced the issue myself by packaging it all up and making a hard link to it. You can see the archive at ICFUMH archived blog posts.

So, enjoy! I also posted a clickable sitemap. For me, it’s not as intuitive as surfing the site the traditional way, but eh, each to his own.

I’ve also started a home improvement newsletter that’s starting to gather momentum. To sign up, just send an email to subscribe@icanfixupmyhome.com and then respond to the confirmation email you’ll receive. And, to ensure that your newsletters don’t get filtered out, add listserv@icanfixupmyhome.com to your email white list or address book.

I read an article the other day about how how they’re trying to make email clients “smarter” when it comes to filtering out spam. They were talking mostly about corporate email. It’s about time. A while ago I sent an email to a buddy who works for a NASA contractor which shall remain unnamed.

The email got bounced back to me from his company server for containing “sexist language”. What the heck? I knew I hadn’t done that but I looked anyway. Turns out I had been describing something wide and had used the term broad.

Whacha gonna do? Well, time to dash. Today’s entry on my marathon training schedule calls for me to run 4.5 miles easy. Might as well do it now to recharge so I can come home and do some more work.

Are You a Writer?

Finally, just wanted to throw this out: many of you know that I’m the Houston Running Fitness Examiner, covering the local running scene. If you’d like to apply to write for your area and pick up some cash, apply! They just sent out a note that they’re hiring.

Just apply at www.examiner.com/refer and be sure to mention my name and ID code (Kelly Smith, 7913) when prompted for who referred you. I believe there are some good openings now for different locations and different topics.

Until next time, happy trails!