About the work

A closer look.

You send one photo (or a clear description) of a wooden thing you own or inherited: a table, a chair, a bowl, a stuck drawer, a finish that went wrong. I send back a short sourced write-up: 1. What the wood most likely is, and the one or two features in your photo that point there. If the photo cannot settle it, I tell you what to photograph instead. 2. What is actually happening to it, if something is: seasonal movement, a crack, a stain, a finish that failed. 3. The one rule for your case, and the concrete steps that follow from it. Every claim is checked against a primary source (USDA Forest Service Wood Handbook, Fine Woodworking, Jeff Jewitt) and I say where it came from. Where the evidence is thin, I say so instead of guessing. First read is free by message. Order this if you want the full written piece.