Terms of Use

Welcome to Sawdust Smart (sawdustsmart.com). The site is owned and run by Cody Lee ("we," "us"). These terms explain the rules for using the site and our build ideas, how-to tips, tool guides, and other content. By using the site, you agree to them. If you don't agree, please don't use the site.

The short version: woodworking is dangerous, so work safely and use your own judgment. Our build ideas, tips, and guides are free and provided as-is, with no guarantees. Build anything you like from them, for yourself or to sell. Please don't copy, share, or sell our content itself.

1. Woodworking is dangerous. Use the site at your own risk.

Woodworking tools, machines, materials, dust, and finishes can cause serious injury, illness, fire, and property damage, including amputation, blindness, hearing loss, and death. Our build ideas, tips, and guides are general information for hobbyists. They don't replace training, experience, or your tools' manuals.

When you use anything on this site, you agree that:

You are responsible for your own safety, the safety of anyone helping you or near your shop, and the safety of anything you build.
You will read and follow the manufacturer's instructions for every tool, material, and finish, and use the guards and protective equipment they call for. If our content and a manufacturer's instructions disagree, follow the manufacturer.
You will work within your skills and experience, and stop if a step seems unsafe to you.
You will check that any project is suitable and safe for how and where it will be used, including for children, for supporting weight, and for contact with food.

You use the site, and build any project, at your own risk.

2. No warranty on our content

We work hard to make our build ideas, tips, and guides accurate, and we fix mistakes when we find them. Still, our content can contain errors, measurements can be off, diagrams are approximate, and techniques that work for one person may not suit your tools, materials, or skills. The site and everything on it are provided "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including warranties of accuracy, completeness, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. To the fullest extent the law allows, we disclaim all such warranties.

In particular, we don't promise that:

any build idea, tip, or diagram is free of errors, or that a finished project will be strong, stable, durable, or safe for any use;
any design has been tested, or meets any building code, safety standard, or legal requirement;
cost, time, material, or price estimates will match your experience; or
the site will always be available or free of errors or harmful code.

Cost estimates, time estimates, and price comps (including the "Build to sell" boxes) are rough estimates and dated snapshots, not promises. See our selling disclaimer. Nothing on the site is legal, tax, financial, insurance, or professional engineering advice.

3. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent the law allows, Cody Lee will not be liable for any injury, illness, death, property damage, or loss of any kind (including lost profits, lost data, or indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages) arising out of or relating to your use of the site, its content, or any project you build or sell, even if we were told the loss was possible.

If we are found liable to you anyway, our total liability for all claims relating to the site will not exceed US $100. The site is free, and we can only offer it on these terms.

Some places don't allow certain warranty disclaimers or limits on liability, so some of the above may not apply to you. In those places, our liability is limited to the smallest amount the law permits. Nothing in these terms limits liability that can't legally be limited.

4. Indemnity

If someone makes a claim against us because of something you did, you agree to cover our reasonable losses and costs (including reasonable legal fees). This applies to claims arising from: your use of the site or its content; any project you build, give away, or sell (including claims by people who buy or use it); your breach of these terms; or content you send us that infringes someone else's rights. This doesn't apply to the extent a claim is caused by our own breach of these terms.

5. Copyright and what you can do with our content

Unless noted otherwise, the text, build ideas, how-to tips, tool guides, drawings, diagrams, any downloadable files, and original photos and graphics (other than AI-generated decorative images, see below) on Sawdust Smart are © Cody Lee and protected by copyright. (Third-party images and reader photos are different. See sections 6 and 7.)

You may:

Read, print, and save a copy of our build ideas, tips, and guides for your own personal, non-commercial use, including printing a copy to use in your shop.
Build anything you like from our build ideas and tips: for yourself, as gifts, or to sell. You don't need permission or a license fee to sell physical items you make from our build ideas and tips, and you don't have to credit us (but we'd love it if you did). You're responsible for following all laws that apply to what you sell (see our selling disclaimer).
Link to any page on the site, and quote a short excerpt with a credit and a link back to the original page.
Share a copy with a friend or helper working on the same build with you, or use our content to teach a class or club session, as long as you don't charge for the copies and you credit Sawdust Smart.

You may not:

Copy, republish, or redistribute our build ideas, tips, guides, text, drawings, diagrams, files, or original images, in full or in substantial part, on another website, app, social-media account, file-sharing service, or in print, whether free or paid.
Sell, resell, rent, license, or bundle our build ideas, tips, guides, diagrams, or files, or anything substantially copied from them (including traced or redrawn diagrams, translated versions, or "plan packs" or "idea packs"), or offer them as a bonus with other products.
Use our text, diagrams, or images in your product listings (for example, our photos or diagrams on an Etsy listing). Use your own photos of what you built.
Claim our build ideas, tips, or other content as your own, remove copyright notices, or suggest that we endorse, certify, or are affiliated with you or your products.
Scrape or bulk-download the site, or use its content to build a competing collection of build ideas, tips, guides, or plans.

Exception: files and diagrams we mark as shared under an open license follow that license instead of this section.

Exception: some decorative images on the site, such as backgrounds, section banners, and workshop scenes, are made with AI image generators. They're decoration only: they don't show real people, real shops, or our own builds, and they aren't instructions, product pictures, or tool recommendations. On our tools hub, some category cards show an AI illustration of the general tool type; it isn't a picture of any product we picked, and the picks are described in words on each category page. We don't claim copyright in those decorative images, and they aren't covered by this section or the permissions above. This doesn't change how the rest of the page is covered.

Build-idea pages may use AI-generated concept images. They aren't photos of real builds and we don't claim copyright in them.

Some how-to tips include AI-generated example images of a step. They're illustrations, not photos of real work, and the written steps and safety notes come first. We don't claim copyright in them.

This doesn't stop you from sharing a link to any of our pages, or saving a page with Pinterest's or another service's own save or share button (including the page's preview image), as long as the link leads back to our page.

If you'd like to use our content in a way these terms don't allow, email us at hello@sawdustsmart.com. We're often happy to say yes.

6. Third-party images and trademarks

Many images on our build ideas, tips, and guides come from other people and are used under their own licenses (mostly Creative Commons licenses or the public domain), as listed under each image and on our image credits page. Those images aren't covered by our copyright or by the permissions above. If you reuse one, follow its own license, which you'll find through the links on the credits page.

If you own the rights to an image on Sawdust Smart and want it removed or credited differently, email hello@sawdustsmart.com with the page link and the image. We’ll remove it within 24 hours of your message.

Brand and store names mentioned on the site belong to their owners. We use them only to identify products and stores. Mentioning a brand doesn't mean it endorses us or is affiliated with us. Where we recommend a product (on our Top tools pages), we say so and explain how we picked it.

7. Reader submissions

When you send us photos and a description of your build for our reader builds showcase — by the form on our Share your build page or by email — that page explains how we use it, what permission you're giving us, and how to have it removed. By submitting, you confirm what that page asks you to confirm: that you took or own the photos, that the project is your work, and that you have permission from anyone recognizable in the photos (and from a parent or guardian if you, or anyone shown, are a minor). You keep ownership of your photos. We may decline, edit for length, or remove any submission. We may also edit or replace a display name that impersonates someone, is offensive, or includes contact details. You can read the exact permission you give us on the Share your build form.

8. Links to other websites

We link to stores, lumber suppliers, tool makers, government resources, listings used as price comps, and other websites. We don't control those sites and aren't responsible for their content, products, prices, privacy practices, or availability. A link by itself isn't an endorsement. Purchases you make from other sites are between you and the seller. Check prices, return policies, and product details with the seller before you buy. Our disclosure explains whether any of our links earn us money.

9. Acceptable use

Please don't misuse the site. For example, don't try to break, overload, or get unauthorized access to it, introduce malware, or use it for anything unlawful.

10. Removal requests and copyright complaints

Your work on our site. If we've featured your project, photo, or post (for example, on Reader builds) and you'd like it removed or your credit changed, email hello@sawdustsmart.com or reply in the conversation where you gave us permission. Tell us which page it's on and what you'd like changed. You don't need a reason or a formal notice. We'll take it down promptly and let you know when it's done.

Copyright complaints. If you believe something on the site, or something we link to, infringes your copyright, email hello@sawdustsmart.com with: (1) the work you believe is infringed; (2) the material or link on our site you want removed, and the page address where it appears; (3) your name and contact details; (4) a statement that you believe in good faith that the use isn't authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; (5) a statement that the information in your notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you're the copyright owner or authorized to act for the owner; and (6) your physical or electronic signature (typing your full name is fine). We'll review it promptly and remove or disable access to the material where appropriate. Knowingly misrepresenting that material is infringing can make you liable for damages (17 U.S.C. § 512(f)).

If we remove something a reader sent us because of a complaint, we'll tell them. We won't feature further work from anyone who repeatedly sends us material that infringes other people's rights.

11. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Mississippi, USA, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Any dispute relating to the site or these terms will be brought only in the state or federal courts located in the State of Mississippi, and you and we agree to those courts' jurisdiction. If you live outside the US and the law where you live gives you rights that can't be waived by agreement, those rights still apply.

12. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time, for example when we add new features or kinds of content. When we do, we'll post the new version here and change the effective date above. Material changes apply only from that date. If you keep using the site after a change, the updated terms apply to your use from then on.

13. Other legal bits

If any part of these terms is found unenforceable, the rest still applies. If we don't enforce a term right away, we haven't given up the right to enforce it later. These terms, together with our privacy policy, disclosure, selling disclaimer, and Share your build page, are the whole agreement between you and us about the site.

14. Contact

Questions about these terms: hello@sawdustsmart.com, or see our contact page.