Water and other liquids won’t immediately damage most finishes. Let it sit long enough, though, and it will eventually create a milky, cloudy stain.

Restor-A-Finish: The traditional fix for water damage is rubbing alcohol, but we found that alcohol actually begins to remove the finish if not wiped off immediately.

A much more effective solution is Restor-A-Finish from Howard Products. It literally erased water spots we thought were permanent. To use it, place a small amount on a rag, wipe it over the surface, and then wipe it off.

Have a nice weekend,

Wyatt Myers
Online Editor, Workbench

If you’ve always wanted to make picture frames, but the thought of getting all those pieces to line up correctly seems a bit intimidating, then this is the perfect project for you.

That’s because these frames aren’t technically frames — not in the true sense of the word, at least. Each “frame” is made from a single piece of 3?4″ MDF (medium-density fiberboard). The MDF is cut to size and then painted. A piece of clear acrylic covers the photo.

You’ll also notice that we added a few decorative metallic touches to these frames. But if you look closely, you’ll see that these are just ordinary nuts and screws that you can find at any hardware store.

Making your own “no-frame” picture frames isn’t difficult. Just “picture” the following steps:

Gather your supplies, and cut the MDF panels to size as shown in the Construction View above. Also cut the acrylic to size on the table saw. Sand the edges smooth, and then lay out and drill mounting holes in the corners. You’ll also want to carefully lay out and drill ten holes in the face of each panel. The three holes at the top and bottom are for the decorative screws and nuts, and the four holes closer to the center are for mounting the acrylic. After drilling these holes, flip the MDF face down, and bore shallow counterbores around the four inner holes to accept the T-nuts. Also countersink the outer holes to accept the decorative screws (Screw Detail, above). If desired, drill holes in the MDF to accept two dowels that allow the frame to sit on a table (Dowel Detail and Photo, above). Prime and paint the frame, and allow it to dry. Install the T-nuts, and then the machine screws and nuts. Place a photo behind the acrylic, and tighten the Allen screws to secure it in place.

Applying tape to the trim and molding in a room is the best way to keep paint off its surface. And as simple as it seems, a few basic techniques will help you make the tape do this job as efficiently as possible.

Fig. 1		Fig. 2		Fig. 3

When you need to add a fitting to a water pipe, it’s almost impossible to get all the water out. And that in turn makes it difficult to get a good solder joint if there’s water running from the pipe while you’re trying to heat it with a torch.

The solution is to stuff a piece of bread into the pipe (Photo, below).

Today’s cabinet-refacing veneers are simpler than ever to use. They come in large sheets that you can easily cut with a utility knife and a straightedge. And because they already have a pressure-sensitive adhesive applied to the back surface, there’s no messy glue cleanup.

	1] Cut strips of veneer to match the face frames. Position the veneer carefully, and apply light pressure by hand.
	2] Then use the applicator tool to smooth the veneer and apply increased pressure to ensure good adhesion.
	3] Use a sanding block and medium-grit (120) sandpaper to ease any sharp or irregular edges in the veneer.

When working under a sink, that lip on the edge of the cabinet can really hurt your back. To ease the pain, lay on a couple old chair cushions or pillows as you work.

Have a nice weekend,

Wyatt Myers

Editor, Workbench

Most truck beds are too short to accommodate an extension ladder. But you can still haul one, even without a ladder rack, using this simple tip.

The trick is to rest the ladder on the cab and tailgate, rather than in the bed (Photo, below). In order for this setup to be safe, though, you need to take a few precautions. First, you’ll want to pad the top of the truck cab with a blanket or towel. Then, loop a rope around a rung of the ladder, and secure it to the front tie-down hooks. The rope doesn’t need to be taut at this point.

Now at the back, use two bungee cords to secure the ladder to the rear tie-downs, as shown in the illustration above-right. They’ll pull back against the front rope, tensioning it and locking the ladder in place so it can’t move.

Have a nice weekend,

Wyatt Myers

Editor, Workbench

Own a table or shelf long enough, and chances are good that eventually it will end up with a large scratch or two that expose the bare wood beneath the finish.

Scratch repair involves two steps: matching the color and then repairing the finish. For color matching, stain markers have a fine tip that’s perfect for filling in scratches (above). You may need to experiment by combining the stain from two or more markers before you find the right color match.

Step 1: Just like with regular stain, you’ll want to “over-apply” the stain from the marker. Then let it soak in for five to ten minutes, and dab off the excess with a clean cloth.

Step 2: When the stain dries, fill in the missing finish with a fine-tipped artist’s brush. Choose a sheen that’s consistent with the existing finish.

Step 3: To prevent the new “line” of finish from standing out, blend it with the surrounding finish after it dries. To do this, use water and 600-grit “wet and dry” sandpaper to lightly wet-sand the finish.

Have a nice weekend,

Wyatt Myers

Editor, Workbench

Medium-density fiberboard (MDF) is a great material for building projects. But it’s also porous, which means it’s tough to get a smooth painted surface.

To make it easier, you can create a sealer for MDF by mixing white glue and water in a 1:1 ratio in an old glue bottle (Photo, right). Then squeeze the mixture onto the MDF, and smooth it with a foam brush. After an hour, sand it lightly with 180-grit sandpaper, wipe off the dust, and apply a coat of paint. As you can see on the sample pieces below, sealed MDF ends up much smoother than unsealed.

Have a nice weekend,

Wyatt Myers

Editor, Workbench

Wall cracks are like telemarketers – no matter how many times you try to get rid of them, they just keep coming back.

According to Dick Seitz of Valspar, that’s because people often don’t prepare the crack properly to be patched. If it’s a hairline crack, proper prep means widening it to about ¹/₄″ with a 5-in-1 tool, so it will accept spackle or joint compound (Fig. A).

After filling the crack (Fig. B), an added bit of insurance to keep it from coming back is to apply a rubberized coating such as Good-bye Cracks (Fig. C). This coating stretches and moves with the crack to prevent it from reemerging.

Another common wall problem is a “popped” nailhead (Fig. D). These can just be set with the other end of the 5-in-1 tool before filling the hole.

Have a nice weekend,

Wyatt Myers

Editor, Workbench