Useful Tips for Your

Woodworking Enjoyment

Woodworking is fulfilling and enjoyable. It can be a great way for you to show your creative side, and test your patience as well, because this activity entails much of your time and your ability to create unique things. Admit it! As a beginner, you feel the need to learn more about some tips on how to properly deal with your woodworking pleasures.

Ten Tips for Properly Cutting your Plywood

• Stay away with cross cutting- Since plywood tends chipping when cut right across its grain or width, stay away with cross cutting in order to avoid this. To deal with this, try to cut the plywood along the length instead.

• Use the Correct Blade- Remember that there are different specialized blades that are manufactured according to the different cutting jobs. The number of width, the teeth, the angle and the rake all has specific functions. Choose the one that matches your specific cutting situation.

• Circular Saw- A lot of owners are having a hard time on dealing with their circular saws. The best way is to cut with the “best face” down.

• Table Saw- If with the circular saw we cut with the “best face” down, with the table saw; cut with the “best face” up.

• Always Score the Cut First- Running the plywood through the saw before you actually cut them can help. This will keep your next cuts leave a cleaner result.

• Make Do with Masking Tapes- Placing masking tapes over the cut lines of the wood are good help. This will help keep the fibers on the edge from pulling up.

• Backing Panel- It is better to attach a backing panel on the plywood using a strong double-sided tape. The backing panel will take all the brunt of any damage.

• Try Using a Router- Having a router that is fitted with a straight bit can give you a clean-cut line. A pilot bit and a straight edge bit can both provide a clean line.

• Score Using a Utility Knife- Use utility knives when scoring the cut lines.

• Purchase a Panel Scoring Set-up- This panel scoring set-up comprises smaller blades that scores surfaces of plywood before it can even reach the cutter. There are some saws that can be fitted with the paneling of the plywood and are ideal enough especially if you are to cut a lot of plywood.

How to Stabilize the Base of Your Table Saw

• Since most workshop floors are flat, keeping your table saws from wobbling can actually be major concerns, and can eventually cause accuracy and sometimes safety issues. If you intend to use your table saws for a period of time, it is best to have them secured with wooden shims under one of their legs. If your table is a contractor’s style—like most of the conventional workshop tables-, and you are to leave your table saws in place, you can consider loosening the bolts that secure the legs together and then re-tightening them. This will enable the stand of the table saw to adjust for the floor’s imperfections. Moreover, there are table saws that have adjustable feet that can be twisted to perfectly adjust to the variations of the floor.

Should Router Bits be sharpened?

• So long as your router bits are not that excessively dull nor nicked, you can actually sharpen it by yourself. But with carbide cutter that are excessively worn or damaged, it is best to have them endorsed to professional servicing. This can only cost you about ten dollars, depending on the type of the bit.

Before you sharpen the router bits, make sure to check the bit and they have to be actually dull and not just in need for a thorough cleaning. The first step in sharpening your router bits is to clean the resin and the pitch off your router bit. You can use solvents like WD-40, paint thinner, or denatured alcohol. Once you have done this, try the sharpness of the router bits. Carefully scrape the cutting edge across your fingernails. Be cautious about it. If the blade scrapes off a surface of your nails, then it is already sharp. With sharpening router bits, you need to have a diamond paddle honing stone and water. About four to six passes on the carbide cutter is considerable. For a light touch up, a six hundred-grit paddle is all you need. For a more aggressive sharpening works, a three hundred twenty- five grit paddle followed by six hundred-grit is required.

What are Blade Stabilizers?

• Because the best woodworking demands exact tolerance with clean cuts, it is best to improve the accuracy of your table saws by adding a blade stabilizer to soften the vibrations that is cause by the table saw’s belts, motors, and bearings. They are sometimes referred to as blade dampeners. A blade stabilizer is just a metal disk that has been precision balanced and machined to give an added amount of accuracy and stability. The work of the blade stabilizer is to reduce the vibration of the rim, to give you an improved cutting performance, extended blade life, and reduced rim vibration. A blade stabilizer is installed on the arbor of the table saw and directly fitted next to the blade.

Cutting bolts without compromising the bolt threads

• You may have encountered a problem with bolts, wherein when you cut them, you discover that the threads are damaged and do not accept the nut anymore. The next time you do this, try twisting the nut onto the bolts before you cut them. To ease the edges of the bolt, try using a file. This will make it a less difficult to re-thread the nut later. Once you remove the nuts, it will repair the threads that are damaged.

How to Fix Misplaced Biscuits Slots

• Biscuit joiners are great tools for making accurate wood joints efficiently and quickly. Most of the time, beginners often end up with misplaced slots that will not line up with the mating side. A solution to this concern is to glue a biscuit onto the slots, let them dry, and then use a flush trim handsaw in trimming the biscuit flush.

• If you happen to cut the biscuit on the board where the side is exposed, you can try using scrap pieces of the same wood then fill them in the slot. Simply plane the scraps with the thickness of the biscuit. Then carefully trace the biscuit shapes onto the wood before you cut it out to make a patch. Use glue in patching the slots. The moment it dries, cut the patch flush with the board by using a flush trim saw.

How to Drill Angled or Pocket Holes

• Drilling angled or pocket holes can be easily accomplished with or without a jig. A major problem with how you “start” the drill is common as the drill bit will “walk” along the boards itself. One of the quickest solutions is to start the hole by directly drilling into the wood. When the width if the bit is roughly equal with the depth of the hole, change the angles of the drill then go on with the hole.

• Another method of drilling an angled hole involves the use of jigs as well as other special tools. There are commercial pocket hole jigs that can be purchased affordably. They are mostly made from metal, for longer life; while there are some models that have integrated clamps to further secure the jigs of the wood.

• Simple pocket hole jigs can be done in two methods. The first one is by drilling directly a straight hole into a block of wood. After that, cut the board at the desired angle, and then clamp it to the work piece.

How to Calculate Board Feet

• Board feet is defined as the measurement of lumber volume. One board foot is equivalent to a hundred and forty-four inches of wood. If you having a hard time calculating this, the formula is just (Thickness x Width x Length) divided by one hundred and forty-four; and you can get the measurement of the wood in board feet. You should be aware the lumbers are specified by its rough size; which explains why a 1” x 4” board is really ¾’ thick, and the 2” x 4” boards are 1-1/2” thick.

• Upon figuring out the board feet of the lumber, bear in mind a waste factor. If you try to purchase the best clear material, try to add about fifteen percent of your waste. If you go for the lower grade material, you should have a room to allow defects and more wasted materials, about thirty percent. Take about a few boards and run its measurements, and see for yourself how easy that works.

How to Nail without Split Ends

• Like most beginners, driving a nail near the end of the board often results in a split. While the nail is being driven onto the wood, it forces the wood fibers apart, making its grains split unexpectedly. A trick is to flatten first the tips of the nails with a hammer. This will allow the nail to chop through the wood, crushing the wood fibers rather than splitting them. This is also applicable when you install moldings and trims.

Gluing Tips

• Woodworking entails a lot of gluing. It is inevitable then to note that there are some glue that will squeeze out of the joints. It is then best advised to wait for the glue to gel up, right before scraping it off with the use of sharp chisels or razor blades. Take note that when you wipe the glue of even before it gels, it can spread on the wooden surface and can cause a lot of sanding later.

What is Selective Staining?

• Everyone has a hard time dealing with stains. You have all encountered the disappointment of wiping stains on your projects, only to find visible light spots where glue was left on your projects. The glue is the sealing agent of the wood’s grains, preventing the stains from penetrating on the wood. This is actually a major concern where even the most rigorous sanding cannot take care of this problem. That is why; a lot of woodworkers opt to stain their projects selectively before they finally glue them. However, you should be careful in dealing with them because glue may not also stick to the stained surfaces. Since this can only result in glue joints that fail, this should only be use only when you are sure that your project will not be affected.

How to Prevent Brush Marks in Polyurethane

• This is one of the most common problem most of you might have encountered already. Since most oil based polyurethane finish is very thick to brush straight out from the cans, most woodworkers are having a hard time coming up with ideas on how to deal with them. Thicker finishes may take a longer time to flow together and even out. The best solution is to thin the finish first with mineral spirits or paint thinners to about ten to fifteen percent. The thinned finish can take a longer time to cure, thus allowing more time for the brush marks to disappear as well as the bubbles to escape.

How to Reduce Bubbles when Brushing

• When brushing wood finishes, having some bubbles is inevitable. The best trick is to get the bubbles pop out of the surfaces before they start to harden or cure. To accomplish this, try to lay on a very smooth and thin coat. Do this by flowing the finish on very smooth motions. Do not brush back and forth as they are very prone for bubbles.

• Another idea is to thin the finish with mineral water or paint thinner. This will make the finish last a lot longer to dry, thus allowing bubbles to pop out in time. However, by doing this, it may take a lot longer for you finish to dry and the chances of dust landing on the surface is very high.

Longer Lasting Finishes

• When you constantly open and close your finish or wood putty cans, the chances of leaving the lids mangled and not tightly sealed is very possible. The quickest way to retain the airtight status of your cans is to place a piece of plastic bags over the lid of the can and then tap it into place. The plastic bag acts as a gasket and are best ones in helping seal the air out.

Your woodworking should be fun filled and educational at the same time. Along with the proper tools and the best knowledge, you are on your way to have a woodworking activity that is a learning experience for you.