INPUT ARTICLE: Article: The sides of the box should be sturdy, and if you can afford solid wood, that is best, but you can use many types of wood. Place your board on top of a saw horse so that the cut is made perpendicular to where you're standing. Clamp a metal straightedge, or a straight board, down to use as a guide. Carefully run your circular saw over the area you want cut.  Remember you will need room for gutters. The box should be six inches longer on each end and several inches wider than the surface. Because the boards square up the box, take extreme caution when cutting them. Adding any boards that are cut incorrectly will result in an uneven playing surface. Line boards up along the edges of each other to make a box frame. Pre-drill holes, if you’re using a softer wood like pine. This will prevent wood splitting. Use wood screws around the edges of the box to fasten them together. Because your table will be long, it is important to support the length of the box with additional boards to keep the wood from bending. Reinforce the sides by laying boards perpendicular to the length of the box. Space strips of board about a foot apart and place them towards the underside of the box. Secure them with wood screws along the sides. Use sheets of plywood  cut to the correct dimensions to lay over the supports. Fasten the plywood together with mending plates. Drill wood screws through the plywood and some of the supports. There’s no need to drill through every support. Use just enough screws to attach the plywood. The carpet in the box will look nice, when the playing surface is laid, and it will catch and soften the blow of pucks during a lively game. Cut the carpet into pieces for the bottom and each side. Staple away to attach it to the wood.  Try to use a powerful staple gun for this job. Look into battery operated guns, which may staple a bit stronger than manual ones. The top of the playing surface should be about three feet from the ground. Remember the rest of the table will be laying on the legs though. Adjust the length of the legs to the correct dimensions of the overall table and cut them accordingly. If you’re building a table around sixteen feet or longer, additional legs will be needed to support the weight. Instead of screwing legs directly into the bottom of your box, attach them to separate boards first. This will further stabilize your shuffleboard table. You can use pieces of pine wood cut to the width of your box for each pair of legs. Drill screws into the boards to attach them to the legs. After you attach the legs to separate boards, you can simply attach the boards to the underside of the box. Position where you want the legs to be on the box, and drill into the boards to attach them.

SUMMARY: Cut boards for the sides. Fasten boards together. Add supports to the sides. Add plywood to the box. Lay carpet in your box. Cut the table legs the correct length. Use boards to help attach the table legs. Screw the boards onto the box.


INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Try to pick a surface that is as flat as possible so your tabletop is even as well. Select a side on each board to serve as the top part of your table. Position each board so this side is facedown. Arrange the boards into the tabletop you sketched in your plan.  When making large tables, lay the boards on the floor. You may want to lay down a sheet or tarp first so that the wood doesn’t get scratched. Planking is when you lay boards together. The easiest way to join the boards to the rest of the table this way is through tongue and groove planking, but you can also use a dowel to create a butt joint if you know how to do that. Another way to make the tabletop is with a single sheet of wood. This can be a little more expensive and difficult due to the weight of the wood. To save money, consider using hardwood veneer construction plywood. Drilling the holes before adding screws prevents the boards from cracking. To create the holes, measure along the sides of the center board. Mark it about every 7 in (18 cm). You will need to use a very long drill bit, about 3 in (7.6 cm) wide, called a pocket hole drill bit. Drill at an angle down through the side boards and into the side of the center board every 7 in (18 cm).  To make drilling easy, use a pocket hole jig. You set the jig’s depth, then use it to drill the perfect holes. It reduces the chances of drilling all the way through the wood. You will have a much easier time securing the boards if you clamp them together first. This isn’t the only way to connect boards. You can also assemble the legs and aprons first.  Attach the boards directly to the aprons with pocket holes. Place 2 1⁄2 in (6.4 cm) pocket hole screws in each of the holes you drilled. Use a power drill to push the screws all the way into the pocket holes. They won’t cut into the wood, leaving you with a very secure tabletop. The aprons attach to the tabletop and legs, preventing them from moving. From the edges of the tabletop, measure in about 1 in (2.5 cm). Then, draw a line in pencil to indicate where the aprons will connect to the tabletop.  Having the 1 in (2.5 cm) margin prevents the aprons from sticking out past the edge of the table. This leaves a little more leg room and makes your table look better overall. If you haven’t cut the aprons yet, use the tabletop length and width measurements to create them. Set the aprons down on the lines you traced. You will have 2 shorter aprons along the table’s width and 2 longer aprons for the table’s length. Spread a solid, even coating of wood glue underneath the aprons to secure them to the table. Clamp them in place overnight to ensure they stay attached.  You may attach these pieces permanently by screwing them to the tabletop. Use a pocket hole jig to secure the wood together with pocket screws. You can also attach the legs to the table first then connect the aprons to the legs using pocket screws. You may then add corner braces to help hold the legs in place.

SUMMARY: Lay the tabletop planks side by side on a flat surface. Drill pocket holes from the outer boards to the inner board. Attach the boards together with screws. Trace the position of the aprons on the table’s underside. Clamp and glue the aprons to the tabletop.


INPUT ARTICLE: Article: There will be quite a few accessories you'll want to bring with you on safari. Pants and shorts or vests with a few pockets will give you a place to store your stuff without having to drag around a bag or dig in the back of your safari vehicle. You might be tempted to go with the cheapest option when you're choosing safari clothing. But cheap clothes also tend to be less durable, and when you're climbing in and out of a safari vehicle or hiking through brush, you want clothes that will hold up. Look for woven cotton and try to stay away from nylon or anything with more than 25 percent spandex. Most safari lodges and hotels are pretty casual, but dressing so that you can wear the same thing out on safari and back in the hotel helps you cut down on the amount you need to pack. Long pants or shorts that are at least mid-thigh length and neat t-shirts or collared shirts are good choices.

SUMMARY: Pick clothing with lots of pockets. Select durable clothing. Make sure your clothing is versatile.


INPUT ARTICLE: Article: If the stain is still there when you put the garment into the dryer, you will risk setting the stain. Try to remove the stain again. If you can't, let the garment air dry, and take it to a professional dry cleaner.

SUMMARY:
Make sure that the stain is completely gone before you use the dryer.