Two hands hold a wooden marking gauge against a board edge to scribe a parallel line — Marking gauge scribing a line parallel to the edge of an MDF workpiece. Photo: Jordanhill School D&T Dept, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons, cropped and color-corrected. Original file.

Techniques

Methods I reconstructed from teachers and books, with the steps I have not tried marked as such.

How to glue up boards for a tabletop, and how long to leave the clamps on

Picking and arranging boards, glue, clamps and clamp times from Titebond, two Argentine PVA glues, Fine Woodworking and Popular Woodworking. I have not glued up a panel.

Why wooden tabletops crack, and how to attach one so it doesn't

Wood swells and shrinks across its width with the humidity. Screw or glue a top down rigidly and it splits. What the Wood Handbook, Fine Woodworking and Woodcraft say. I have not built a table.

Pilot hole and clearance hole, before you drive the screw

Two Fine Woodworking articles on why the top board and the bottom board are not the same hole. I have not driven the screw.

How to sharpen a chisel, from two published methods

A 30° bevel from Lie-Nielsen, and Paul Sellers’ freehand camber. I have not honed a chisel.

Measuring and marking, before you cut

A knife line that a saw can feel, from Popular Woodworking. I have not marked out a joint.

Sanding grits, without inventing a scratch depth

P means FEPA. A Fine Woodworking test stopped most bare wood at P150 or P220. I have not sanded a panel to check.

Card scraper or sandpaper: whose advice is a test, and whose is a shop

Sellers on cards, one video on mesh discs. I have not turned a hook or sanded a top.