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Joined 7 months ago
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Cake day: February 2nd, 2024

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  • White maple is my go-to for projects I want to keep. I love how clean it is and the large curvy grain patterns. Titanium bits and saw blades help and getting your saw blade sharpened after a couple of large projects is a good idea but you’re going to be burning through it a lot of the time even with high quality brand new cutting tools. I leave an 8th extra on and bring it down with a belt sander to deal with the burn marks. Downsize drill bits by one size and use a file for holes that you will be able to see into.

    If you use reclaimed wood don’t assume all of the metal has been removed. Sometimes nails and screws break instead of working out and that can be easy to miss especially for someone checking a large amount of wood. If a saw blade hits a nail you potentially have a very dangerous projectile. Run a magnet over the wood while you’re marking your cuts to make sure. If you’re going to be working with reclaimed wood a lot a wand style metal detector is a good investment.


  • Pecan is pretty dense so it will stand up to the elements better than most woods. It will require a good moisture barrier that should be regularly reapplied because water is outdoor wood’s biggest weakness and if you use something with a UV protection added that will help.

    I wouldn’t use Pecan for outdoor furniture. No wood will stand up to the elements in the long term and you’ll be doing lots of refinishing which is easier with a less dense wood. I like cedar or a furniture grade pine for outdoor projects. Cedar is exceptional at resisting moisture damage and they are both relatively cheap and easy to sand and refinish. Plus they are lighter and outdoor furniture gets moved around more. I save better woods and especially visually interesting woods like pecan for projects that I will give to someone or that I can pass down.

    Edit: somehow moisture became moisturizer in the second sentence, edited to fix that.



  • Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, did not have wmd’s, and was the only major Sunni power in the region. Saddam Hussain was not a good guy by any means but he actively worked against Iranian influence and was a stabilizing presence on the middle east after the first Gulf War. Pre-invasion Iraq was good for US policy. The invasion led to the growth of Iranian influence in the region and the rise of the Islamic State terrorist organization. We should not have attacked Iraq.

    I was in support of attacking Afghanistan at the time and still think military action to go after Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Ladin was warranted. The diversion of resources from that conflict is another reason we shouldn’t have attacked Iraq. We probably should have extended that conflict into northern Pakistan where we knew Al-Qaeda’s leadership and the bulk of their fighters were hiding.

    We definitely should have invaded Saudi Arabia. They provided training, equipment, travel, and money to enable the 9/11 attacks. 9/11 would not have been possible without Saudi Arabia’s support. Saudi Arabia was(is) in the curious position of publicly allying with us while plotting terrorism against us. Curious because by siding with us publicly they gave up Iran’s advantage of attacks against them potentially leading to conflict with Russia. Iran had some part in 9/11 but between their having a lesser role and the risk of Russia coming to their defense it would not have been worth it to attack Iran. Saudi Arabia had our backing instead of Russia’s. When they used proxies to attack us we should have leveled their royal palace. So far we haven’t even pulled our support.