Learn the basics of woodworking with these online courses

Jonathan / / DIY Tips

 

Being good at woodworking is a skill that everyone should have, no matter if you’re planning to turn this into a job or just want to invest in yourself and fully develop as a human being. That’s why we’ve comprised a list of the best courses available online because it can be tricky to find a starting point when you don’t know what you’re looking for.

The first course I want to bring to you is this article from The Spruce. It explains everything in detail, and it also has images to aid your learning process. It covers all the essential points and offers you the chance to go in depth if you decide you’d like to learn more about this trending topic.

 

 

Another educational resource that could potentially spark the love of woodworking in your mind is this guide. It covers everything from the tools you are going to need to buy before picking up this activity, to the type of wood that works best for beginners. It also has a few pro tips on how to cut different patterns to enrich your final product.

The next woodworking guide I want to recommend is this one. It doesn’t have just one course published, but also dozens of helpful articles on this topic which come complete with pictures. You can find tips for woodworking, product recommendations and tons of resources regarding what separates a professional woodworker from an amateur, and how to avoid rookie mistakes.

Now, this class is something that you will enjoy a lot. It lays down the fundamentals of the hobby in a simple and straightforward manner. You will learn in no time how to make basic woodcuts and how to cohesively join the pieces together, meaning it will surely bring you a lot of satisfaction. There’s hardly any other task that is more fulfilling than making something with your own hands.

If you are someone who is a bit more visual, try to look up some interesting courses on YouTube. There you can find quite a few people who explain the art in detail, even if the quality is not always the best. Also, an excellent suggestion might be to go and check your local library to see if they have any books on the subject. These are especially good because they have plenty of glossy pictures to inspire and to aid your development as an individual.

It doesn’t matter which one you use, the important thing is that you pick a source that works for you. Otherwise, it would be wasted time. My recommendation would be that you go through all of them one by one, to maximize the information you acquire.

 

5 most dangerous insects in the world

Jonathan / / Random News

 

I’ve never been a fan of insects, which is probably one of the reasons I didn’t get to spend a lot of time outdoors. I was spooked by all the bugs out there, and my parents couldn’t help me cope with my fear in any way. Things got a bit worse when I started researching various insects online. I was horrified of the dangers they could pose to a human being.

For a while, I entertained the idea of moving to Australia, partly because I wanted to leave my old life behind and partly because it seemed a cool adventure. Unfortunately, I found out that some of my friends who had immigrated to the land Down Under were having a lot of trouble dealing with the huge insects in their homes.

Of course, the reality of bugs is ever-present in the States, as well, where cockroaches can get to a pretty impressive size. To cut things short, I’m going to tell you all about the 5 deadliest insects in the world today.

  1. Bot Fly

The Bot Fly can be found mostly in South and Central America. One of the grossest things about this insect is that it deposits its eggs underneath the superficial skin layer of mammals, including humans. The larvae can live in the subdermal zones of the skin for as many as sixty days and more.

 

  1. Tsetse Fly

This type of insect is one of the most dangerous ones that are native to Africa. They feed on the blood of mammals, but their taste in victims isn’t all that picky as they basically prefer the taste of any vertebrate. What makes it dangerous is not that it is a blood-sucking bug, but the fact that it releases a toxin every time it strings the skin of humans and animals. The venom makes the victim sleepy, and given that the symptoms aren’t specific, a string can easily lead to fatality.

 

  1. Killer Bee

The problem with killer bees is not that they are dangerous per se. In fact, the toxin of an individual might hardly cause you harm. However, the issue with killer bees is that they attack in groups. Colonies of over 70,000 members can be attacked by humans, in which case the bees are alert for as many as 24 hours and can kill anything that comes their way.

 

  1. Mosquito

Believe it or not, mosquitoes are the deadliest insects ever to have seen the face of the Earth, and that is because they are the main vector for malaria disease transmission. They cause over one million deaths per year. It’s estimated that every thirty seconds or so, a child dies from this disease.

  1. Driver Ant

Because they have remarkably strong mandibles, driver ants are way more dangerous than their regular counterparts. They can make dozens of wounds on animals and humans alike and they raid the nests of other insects that they kill, if they need their food.

 

 

A device that makes fuel and cleans air – is it possible?

Jonathan / / Random News

Cleaning up the Earth should be a matter of concern for all the humans who live on this planet. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be a concern of the current administration, which is something I will probably address in another post. Today, I’d like to tell you about a new device that seems to be capable of making fuel and cleaning air at the same time.

Scientists at the University of Antwerp and KU Leuven have managed to come up with a prototype that relies on the use of chemical reactions to rid the air of pollutants. Obviously, the first question that went through my mind was exactly what kind of byproduct was this device capable of producing because let’s face it, things can’t be all that good. Luckily, the prototype makes hydrogen gas, which can be utilized as fuel.

The best thing about the device is that it has a two-sided design. On one part, it’s made out of nanomaterial and its other side is used to produce the hydrogen. Best of all, it doesn’t need any electricity or source of energy to be able to do its job. It’s powered by the sun. So, you see, there won’t be any harmful chemicals coming out of the prototype anytime soon.

 

Of course, it may be some time before the researchers manage to come up with a finalized version of this unit; however, I am feeling quite hopeful in this regard as the Belgians and the Dutch have a long history behind them with regard to innovation and making things work as efficiently as possible. The design needs to be scaled and even be transformed so that it works on an industrial level. This process might just as well get rid of most of the pollutants in the air that we breathe.

Of all the countries that have issues with pollution, I think China has to be one of the most affected ones. I’ve actually read an article about this and there are people claiming that this country is likely to disappear in the next century or so because natives will have to leave it gradually. Some Chinese cities are so badly affected that you can’t see the sun or the sky through the smog.

 

London used to be the same back when the steam engine was invented by James Watt, but Europeans have made significant changes in the past centuries. Moreover, they have policies that make it impossible for business owners to avoid protecting the environment some way or the other. I think that the Americans should learn a bit from their European friends. It’s important to keep an open mind and understand that the environment is here not because of us. The Earth has existed for millennia without any help from us, humans.

 

 

3 tools every decent DIYer needs in their workshop

Jonathan / / DIY Tips

 

 

What is a workshop without the right kind of power tools? If you intend to make the most of your DIY workshop, you ought to invest in a variety of power tools with which you can leverage your creativity and increase the productivity in your work den. Any home DIYer ought to own these three crucial workshop tools:

 

 

A Drill press

Providing the needed accuracy and power for drilling holes, a drill press delivers a lot more than simply drilling by hand. A benchtop drill press can come with a minimum swing of 12 inches, but there are smaller models in the 8-inch range that can do just as well for lighter hole-making tasks.

You want a solidly-constructed machine, with the critical parts such as the head, table, column, and base made of high-quality steel and cast iron. Typically, drill presses feature pre-drilled holes that enable you to fasten the unit securely to the bench, stand, or floor.

What determines whether the unit is a benchtop or a floor model is the length of the hollow column. While a benchtop unit features a column ranging between 23 and 48 inches, a floor model will have a height between 66 and 75 inches.

The entire working mechanism of the drill press is in the head, which is mounted to the column’s upper part. The spindle is an essential part of the head and it rotates in a vertical position. The spindle is housed in bearings at either end of the quill, which is a movable sleeve. The quill that carries the spindle uses a basic rack-and-pinion gear system to move downward via a feed lever.

The quill goes back to its original up position when you release the feed handle. You can adjust the settings to lock the quill and preset the depth of travel for the quill. Most workshop drill presses feature a quill travel or stroke between 2 and 3.25 inches.

Typically, this type of machine comes with a ½-inch capacity chuck with a key. This component delivers the best grip for all-purpose drilling. You can attach a host of drill press accessories into the geared chuck.

 

 

Saws

A table saw can be an expensive acquisition but the investment is worth it. That said, there are cheaper yet high-quality models equipped with a stand and that can do every single thing you need it to do. The machine should enable you to set it at a specific cutting measurement for consistency in the work results even for large-scale projects.

If you don’t have the room or budget for a table saw, no matter how inexpensive, you could always get a circular saw. A circular saw can be a faster and more convenient alternative to a table saw.

A circular saw is useful for making long, straight cuts on materials like medium-density fiberboard and plywood. It will work much better on those projects when paired with a long and straight fence plus a couple of C-clamps to secure the fence in place when cutting. The type of blade determines the cutting agility of a circular saw.

A jigsaw can be used to cut out the circular fretwork panels on French doors, along with the frame for a scalloped mirror project for the home. You want the blade on this machine to be solid and able to cut straight as an arrow. A genuinely good jigsaw will give you fine detail cutting results.

A sliding, compound miter saw should not present any accuracy and design issues to allow you to cut items up to around 14 inches in width. A miter saw proves to be highly useful for cutting and installing baseboards, installing crown moldings, and framing doorways, among many other projects. For a bit of home improvement, you can’t go wrong with a miter saw, some nails, and a hammer.

 

A rotary sander

A quality rotary sander needs to have variable speeds to enable you to sand beautifully. It needs to have a lightweight design although there are larger sanders available. Look for palm sanders that are small and provide one-handed operations. It is all you will ever need in your DIY workshop.