Four years ago I did not know how to join two pieces of wood together. Now I’m making furniture and pushing myself to learn more all the time, but I still consider myself to be a beginner. Unlike metal that can be turned to fine tolerances and will maintain it’s shape, woodworking requires some artistic skill. I’ve found that you can use the best tools and cut everything the right way every time, but often you’ll have to sand or chisel to make things fit just right. In other words things don’t always workout as perfect as they do on the woodworking TV shows.
As a beginner I’m looking for the simple type tips from people who have figured things out over the years. I’ll start the conversation by offering my beginners tip.
Obviously you want to do a dry-fit before you apply glue. There has been a time or two when I got excited after the dry-fit worked out well and I went ahead and applied the glue without thinking of my clamping strategy. As a result I found myself in a mini-panic having to quickly come up with a creative clamping plan. – So my tip is, plan your clamping strategy at the same time you do your dry fit.
Have you got any tips for us beginners?
Replies
Look at middle of the road stuff made to sell to the likes of you and me as stocked in stores. Usually its not made that well yet it sells on easy to buy.
Do not be overly critical of your own work, compare it to the above and you should be pleased.
In my humble opinion, I would say buy the best tools you can afford and be patient. Also, read as much as you can about woodworking. I have learned a lot from people on this forum. Also listen to the females here...They know what they are talking about. Everyone seems to be very passionate......just mention Festool or Sharpening and BINGO....instant 300 thread!
Jeff
I’ve already experienced the “passion” of the sight and I have no desire to try and understand how people think they can scream loud over the anonymous internet and change other people’s minds. I’m just looking for tips/opinions and I have no desire to waste one second of the life I have left arguing on a woodworking sight.
Steve,
Her are a few favourites off the top of my head:
1) As far as possible, plan your initial timber selection and cutting to match wood colour and grain where it will matter (ie show up) in the finished piece.
1a) Don't be seduced by loud grain too much or your final piece will also be too loud and also distract from its form.
1c) Form should follow function but not to a degree where the piece breaks major rules of proportion.
2) Sand and finish as many parts as you can before assembly, taking care to keep finishing materials off the joint surfaces. It makes life a lot easier in the long run.
2a) Select a finish that lets the wood retain its natural colour and surface texture, for the most part. Staining, gel and all that other stuff tends to make a piece look "factoryish" unless you are expert at it (and sometimes then too).
3) Plan and glue up complex pieces in the smallest sections you can, to help with that glue-up panic you mention.
4) Even a tiny glue patch will show up horribly when finish is applied, so pay lots of attention to the final sanding, scraping or other final surface preparation, especially around the joints.
5) Never make furniture with cabriole legs and ball & claw feet, as it comes alive at night and murders you in your bed.
Lataxe
Edited 1/18/2007 2:19 pm ET by Lataxe
I appreciate your taking the time to pass along the tips, especially number 5! With the extra “U” that you add to the word color and favorite, I can only assume that you’re European. When are you guys going to learn how to spell? (ha) I’ve got a smile on my face and I’m just kidding. Please, lets don’t start a feud.
Steve,
It starts with missing out the Us then, before you know it, you are speaking in texting talk. Just ask the Riverprof, who is confused by his students' argot from one minute to the next so has taken to berating them.
Lataxe
Lataxe
re. #5--great--you can just rock me to sleep tonight as my bed, dresser, bench and tv stand all have ball and claw feet.
A few years ago on the back cover of FWW, there was a photo of a chippendale chair that was tongue in cheek--the ball in one of the feet had rolled away, and the claw was trying to capture it--great stuff. The frame was racked, and there were two eyes on the back splat focused on the ball.
Tom, afraid to close his eyes"Notice that at no time do my fingers leave my hand"
Ok,
Since no one has brought this up, I will.
IMHO the most important "tip" is that there is no joy in woodworking whatsoever until one learns the importance and the techniques of making one's stock true and square. The stock not only should be, but must be straight, free of all warping, faces and edges must be absolutely square to one another and opposite faces of boards must be plane-parallel.
Whether one is using hand tools or machines, this basic requirement precedes any other. This is not a hand tool vs machine's discussion, either can be used. I much prefer machines, but only because I have learned first to accomplish it by hand. For the novice, I actually recommend learning by machines first, as the feedback is more immediate and the frustration is lower.
It is possible for a master craftsman to produce good work with less than optimally-prepared stock, but it is impossible for a lesser-skilled person to do the same.
Once stock is true and square, it is then possible to just start to learn good technique with the most simple joinery, progressively learning the more complex after initial success. Beginners should focus on simply producing consistent, straight and true stock as a "project," rather rthan attempting an actual piece. While it seems like drudgery, much like the beginning piano student wants to play a melody, rather than scales, the pay-off is enormous. (Ask a concert pianist to give up the opportunity to practice scales on almost a daily basis, and watch the scorn you'll get!).
There are many little techniques to master including proper use of a straight edge and a tri-square. Methods of checking each of those for their accuracy. Methods of measuring and marking and the importance of a marking knife and the correct way to use it, and its role in positioning the straight edge and the square. The use of stop blocks rather than the other "measuring" methods for consistent sizing.
It takes time to become aware of all the little sub-skills, let alone master them, but that's what must be done.
Once you really know how to adjust your equipment and use your tools, and that your stock is really true, and is going to stay that way, everything else gets easy!
Rich
Very good tips, thank you. I have made the mistake of using wood that was not perfectly square and everything ended up being out of whack. I've thought about building a crosscut sled for the table saw to be used to square up lumber. Is there an easier way to square wood?
Steve,
Necessary (machine) tools are a properly-adjusted table saw, cross-cut sled for same (not a miter gauge!), jointer/planer, thickness planer.
Necessary hand tools include properly-adjusted hand planes, a variety of shooter boards, squares and straight edges, marking knife.
And most important, techniques for testing that things are "truely" square and "truely" straight.
Rich
Canadians spell colour/honour/neighbour etc. with a "u" as well !I don't know if this is a tip or not, but carefully planning a project with a cutlist, scale or fullsize drawing and planning out your joinery makes a project go a lot smoother for me.2. Keeping it simple is oftentimes the best solution and can be the most elegant. Certain joinery has been around for hundreds if not thousands of years and the reason this is so is that "it works".3. Less is oftentimes more. When starting out I would wander around tools stores and machinery outlets for the newest newfangled gadget from a company, only to discover that I really didn't need the new equipment. Instead of dropping money on a tool which I probably didn't need, I should have more likely spent it on lumber and 'had at it' with another project.4. Most importantly, enjoy what you do, and do it safely.Cheers from the Frozen North.
My friend I'm starting to feel like you. I love all the new machinery but I've come to the conclusion I don't have to have the latest of everything. It’s freezing down here too! And you're right safety is #1! I’ve been thumped several times by the table saw and I’ve gotten to where I won’t even turn it on without a face shield.
Amen !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Speaking of cautions in woodworking, one of the biggest dangers is 'taste creep.' This is very subtle, but it's worse than cancer.When you start out, you are happy if a table looks like a table, and holds together. A year further down the road, you're not happy unless your latest table floats above the legs somehow.Another year, and everything you do has to have bookmatched veneers.Beyond that, there's the search for dreaded crotchwood, for big slabs of 16/4 walnut, and so on forever unto fear and loathing and death by refined taste in woodwork.To the best of my knowledge, there is no cure. Oh, how I long for the days when I didn't even notice grain on a piece of furniture.Rp
Rp, Prozac, 40mg every day. It'll be ok! Rich
Rich,
Amen.
Right there!
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
Kidderville, NH
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Very well said. And it has the added virtue of being true.
Steve,
Here are a few of my favorites:
1) I'd like to second Rich on learning to prep your lumber accurately. There are few things more frustrating that finding that the M & T or dovetail joints you just spent an hour cutting don't fit properly because your wood is not square and/or of a consistent thickness, etc.....
2) Use the same face/edge to base all of your measurements and markings from; shifting between faces/edges generally results in inaccurate measurements and markings.
3) Learn to saw to a line accurately and consistently.
4) Learn to drill accurately.
5) Learn to use hand tools effectively, even if you do most of your woodworking with power tools. Using hand tools gives you a different perspective, widens your skill set, and offers solutions that, for many things, are often faster, easier, and safer than a power-tool/complicated-jig solution.
6) Build a good reference library.
7) Learn how to finish, and what the properties of the various finishes are, so you can select the appropriate one(s) for your project.
Note to Lataxe: Furniture with Cabriole Legs and Ball & Claw feet comes alive at night to murder you in your bed only if you live in one of them auld haunted places in the Misty Moors of the Old Country.... The furniture here in the Colonies appropriately refrains from such nefarious activities.... :-)
Beste Wünschen auf ein glückliches und wohlbehaltenes Neues Jahr!
Tschüß!
Mit freundlichen holzbearbeitungischen Grüßen aus dem Land der Rio Grande!!
James
pzgren and Lataxe,
Oh, if only Ball and Claw feet behaved themselves on this side of the pond! I have an issue of FWW in which an alert craftsman caught one, on film, having released its ball, and unemcumbered, was ready to do its nasty with unfettered claws. I hate that!
I stopped making the buggers long ago. Won't have them around no more. But while I did, I took all precautions against them. At first, I bored small holes in their claws and secured them with wire during the night. I had to stop that, as they screamed horrible, and truth be told, it broke my heart, 'cause they are decent people during the day. Also, it was hard to sell those pieces and explain the tiny holes.
So I went to using Duct Tape, which you know is the Universal Answer to Every Problem. They also hated that, but it worked well enough, although I did have to clean the gummy adhesive off in the morning. They usually giggled when I got the old toothbrush underneath and in back.
Rich
You know how some people declaw thier cats? well you can do the same thing with those pesky feet. They hardly get any birds, or any thing that way.
Pedro
Declaw an innocent pussycat (or even the normal kind)!?! Certainly not! How would the beast climb the plum tree in order to pounce on the unsuspecting humans, with great glee?
Our Korky has a bell to save the spuggies and meece from a premature end; and he knows the penalty for clawin' furniture. I have shown him the bandsaw and pictures of a Davy Crocket hat.
Lataxe, cat lover (not that sort of love).
We don't have a cat, but if we did, it would come with apendages attached. If you want a cat, you get a cat. I found a squirt gun to be a significent training device for cats, I never thought of a band saw.
Pedro
Re the cat (not the woodworking), a squirt bottle (or squirt gun) is a marvelous cat training tool. Just a little really goes a long way.
Another is the word "sssssssssss!"
This is "no" in cat. Said quietly, it means, "no, I'm not going to do that right now."
Said slightly louder, it means "I told you already that I'm not going to do that right now."
Said loudly, it means "STOP THAT!" Said loudly with squirt bottle in hand means "STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!".
I will refrain from saying on this family site what the look that the cat gives you at that moment means.
Mike D
Yeah, *sigh*, I know. They have stuff for that, too. But this is a family show and we can't discuss it. Rich
Yeah, that's why I deleted the message about how prozac turns ironwood into balsa.
Just a few-
Select woods that you love and pay for the best pieces. I have furniture in my house that I made 25 years ago- It's nice when you make choices for the future.Try new techniques every year- even if it seems impossible- most woodworking skills develop over time. Carving, inlay, turning, are all part of the journey. Don't wait 20 years before you try to turn your first bowl.Join a woodworking club or take a class every once in awhile.Ask your wife if there is anything she wants- build it :-)Dave
Buy good quailty marking tools as far as try square, combination square, marking knife, wheel gauge, and hook rule. A joint well marked is a joint a long way toward well fitting.
Keep your blades sharp as there is no good and no satisfaction/fun in working with dull tools, but many delights in working with sharp ones.
Be flexible, no mistake cannot be overcome. You will make mistakes, and the challenge is to deal with them effectively.
Listen well to that little voice in your head - it's always right. If it says "This looks like it has a lot of potential to turn out badly" you'd better listen. It may well cost you a finger or more if you don't.
Wear safety glasses in the shop even if you can't imagine how your eyes could be in danger from a particular operation. The real world is more dangerous in more ways than you can imagine, Horatio.
Always visualize before performing any sort of operation involving sharp or spinning things : (1) where will my hands go if the stock disapperared or (2) where would the tool go if the stock disappeared.
Buy the best and cry one, as you'll soon forget the pain at the purchase and daily appreciate having a fine tool. Should you buy the crappy one, you'll avoid the pain at purchase, but curse it every time you use it not to mention endure the pain later anyway when you realize it must be replaced with a quality tool.
Save half you wood working budget for wood. It's great to have a shop full of tools, but amassing execllent wood that will be rewarding to work and contribute to nice projects is really important.
Others will disgaree, but: Build a bench. It will improve your woodworking results as it so helpful and central to good work, provide you some lessons, and is damn satisfying every time you use it.
Fettle a vintage Stanley jack plane that's a bit rusty. Cleaning it up and making it perform well provides an invalauable lesson in planes.
Test all finishes you've never used before on scraps before applying them to a real project.
And, finally, neither a borrower nor a lender be.
LORD POLONIUS
I appreciate your taking the time to share your woodworking thoughts/tips. Thank you.
steveky
here's a few
don't skip sanding grits
don't assume its square because it looks square
you can't always "fix it" when you get to the sanding
cleaning up is part of woodworking too
and, especially when doing something new, don't tinker with a proven design unless its for fun.
"don't skip sanding grits", I'm not sure what you mean, would you please explain?
Steve
without going through the numbers, if you are sanding from "coarse" through to "extra fine", don't skip "medium" or "fine"
each step removes the marks of the previous grit, so if you skip one, it harder to remove the coarser sanding marks so you sand more or end up going back.
On average, how many grits do think is necessary to do top quality work?
steveky
lots of old threads on the subject of "to what level to sand to" and of course depends on wood, stain, final finish and personal preference. Generally, if you intend to finish with a glossy film finish (shellac, lacquer, or varnish) it is unneccesary to sand beyond 180/220 grit. That's because you are sanding to remove scratches and marks, and the finish - which covers the surface - will provide the smoothness. If you are finishing with oil - which is absorbed into the wood surface, you might go higher grit. the very high grits >800 and up into the auto body finishing range - give an interesting hand feel and other interesting effectw, but not neccessary for most furniture, etc.
You almost never need to sand bare wood with paper finer than 220 grit. Start with the finest grit that will remove the machine marks and other defects that you have in a reasonable amount of time. If, for example, you have cleaned up the wood and the joints with hand planes, you may well start and finish at 220 grit.
Between coats of finish use 320 grit.
I thought of another: Don't be a slave to your tape measure or rule. Sure measurements are important, but meauring tools are nearly useless if you need multiples of the exact same size (instead use a gang cut, stop block, or similar method). Marking cut lines too is often better acomplished by holding a piece up to where it goes and making a mark, rather than measureing where it goes and transfering the measurement to the stock to be cut. Story sticks are similarly useful. In short, strange as it seems, you can often get much more precise results by not "measuring" at all!
Check these pod casts out they are pretty informative. Not to mention other info on the site
http://marcswoodcreations.com/thewoodwhisperer/
Here's mine..
1) Hand select all materials. Don't assume the lumber mill will deliver their finest materal. Pick it out yourself for quallity, and colo(u)r .
2) Don't feel you need to know 100 ways to to do the same job. If you find a good way to cut a mortise, use it. The other 99 methods aren't needed. After you have developed the basic skills you can study other methods.
3) Learn about wood glue.. How it works, open time, and shelf life.
4) Cry once.. Enough said..
5) Allow wood to stableize for at least 2 weeks before you mill it even if it's kiln dried.
6) If you have claw and ball feet in your home, get a gun.
I appreciate the tips on the glue. I'm still learning what I can and cannot do with glue.
I always enjoyed woodworking, but when I started, I generally went from my minds eye, so to speak.
Then I ordered a set of plans for a boat I built. My pleasure from woodworking really took off. Now, I always put pen to paper, make a plan from my head or a picture, and mull it over for a while, sometimes 10 mins, sometimes months. Make a plan, or order one, which you may modify, make a cutlist, and I think youll find it more rewarding.
I put up a dry erase board in my shop, so I can think and sketch aloud while doing a project. Then I put my cut list on that so I dont have to keep running back to my notepad. Works for me.
Enjoy
Joe P
Thank you for your opinion. I’m not at a point where I’m ready to pay for someone else’s plans but I have recently come to believe it is not a good idea to fly by the seat of your pants without having something on paper. I think it has to do with the fact I’ve screwed up some good wood by thinking I had it all straight in my mind.
steveky,
Now that you have come this far and learned many many different and important things, including how to keep the ball and claw beastie in its cage, here is one I haven't seen yet.
Calibrate your squares and levels and other verification hand tools. Check if square is really square and straight is really straight and level is really level. What was square once upon a time tends to change with with time due to material movement, fastener fatigue and simple knocks as it falls to the floor from vertiginous heights. There is nothing so frustrating as using that jig that was square once upon a time and ending up with a load of parts that will only be useful as shorter pieces or firewood.
Another is, push the envelope and do not limit yourself because of fear of failing. You will never fail, even at the worst of times. You will gain experience and move on.
Keep the workspace clean and organized.
Keep the wood dust out of your lungs.
Keep the particles out of your eyes.
Insure that you have sufficient lighting to see everything.
Learn all about spontaneous combustion and how to avoid ever witnessing what it can do to you.
Enjoy the work, because with it comes intense satisfaction... and several nasty splinters now and then.
(I think I will stop now) JL
Edited 1/19/2007 7:46 pm ET by jeanlou
I haven’t a clue what “spontaneous combustion” has to do with woodworking. Would you please elaborate?
If you use any oil based finishes - boiled linseed oil, varnishes, etc. - and ball up the rags you've used to apply it or wipe down the piece, you risk the rags bursting into flames spontaneously as the driers heat the cotton or paper towel or whatever. For real.
While not spontaneous combusion, piles of saw dust or wads of steel wool are also quite flamable and can be easily ignited by things like grinder sparks or cigarette butts.
Samson,
As an apprentice I oil finished a wood paneled room we built (the journeyman and yours truly). I used 4-0 steel wool to apply the linseed oil, and would leave the steel wool on the ladder as I wiped down each section I applied. Before the room was done the steel wool had a red ember core and it started to smoke. JL
Aye, Jean-Louis, I've found steel wool to be worse than rags as far as being easily ignited.
After one smoky expereince as a teenager when tasked with refinishing a chest by my Dad (I was there as it began to smoke, so no harm done), I've been especialy careful. I have a fire rated metal canister with a lid in my shop, and often just take rags out back to the fire pit and burn them.
Bon soir.
Samson,
It is a wise man that avoids burning his house down. I think we all get an opportunity or two to see what fire can do when we are unaware. When the wood working spirits are kind, they give us a small warning. When we ignore the warning they then show us the full fledged demonstration. JL
See Samson's post in this string. He explains it clearly... this is NOT a joke and can cause serious grief. JL
Thank you for bringing up the issue of “spontaneous combustion”. As a rookie I had no idea such an issue existed in woodworking. Again, thank you for taking the time to pass along your wisdom.
steveky,
If there is wisdom in getting burnt, then feel free to call it wisdom. I call it getting burnt...but I am happy if any of this was useful to you. As the Fine Wood Working people regularly write in their magazine, wood working can be dangerous and special care must be taken to do it safely. Enjoy your voyage as a woodworker. JL
Knowledge equals wisdom, especially concerning matters of safety.
Steve,
Excellent thread.
I do not cut a piece of wood until I've constructed the piece in my head and again onto paper. Learn to sketch. Learn to make basic technical drawings. Learn how to use a scale ruler.
Never rush through any step in the designing or building of an object. Be patient. Creating wooden objects take time. Instant gratification of a finished object are best left to other media.
If you have the opportunity, work with someone who is more skilled than you are. I have learned more in this way than I ever could on my own.
Always have safety as your #1 concern in anything you do. Hand tools are as dangerous as power tools.
You do not need an expensive shop set-up to do great and satisfying work(although it is nice). The latest "fashions" in gadgets and gizmos are almost always a waste of time and money. I would rather be a great technician with average tools than a average technician with great tools.
Have fun!
-Paul
Remember to make all your pieces in mirror images two by two like noah's ark. lay outs, millings, assemblies. Its easier to keep track and your pieces wiil come out better and easier.
When you get your inspiration from anothers work, remember to think it through, and look for ways more suited to your skills and equipment. And always look for things that don't quite make sense.
Dad was a fairly accomplished woodworker, and I took the time to learn quite a bit from him while I was still at home. The older brother wasn't quite that bright.
After he moved out he borrowed a wall mounted gun cabinet that Dad had made, with a glass door in front that dropped down.
The older brother decided he wanted one of his own, and proceeded to copy every detail of the one Dad had made.
The first time Dad saw it, from twenty feet away, he said, "What in the h3ll did you bring the dado in the door all the way out for". To which the brother replied, "Because that's what you did, and I just copied your design".
Dad started to laugh and said, "This is the first thing I designed and built without any help. I was thirteen, and I messed it up. It's embarrassed me ever since, and I've always meant to redo it, but just have never had time."
Jigs-n-fixtures,
That is a great story. It under-scores the importance of filtering what we see and hear and always striving to improve on the status quo. JL
The previous 40 some notes have covered most everything. I'll add just 2:
1. safety is first and foremost. If you get hurt, everything else is secondary.
2. I recently purchased a digital, fractional caliper. I use it constantly. So much easier and more accurate than my combination square which I used for most measuring before the caliper.
PMM
I’ve been thinking about buying a caliper. Woodcraft has a $50 caliper that measures in 64th’s of an inch and one complete turn equals an inch. In their ad they say such a caliper did not exist until they had it made especially for them. Every caliper I’ve seen measures in millimeters, so perhaps their product is unique. I have nothing against millimeters but since I don’t use that method of measurement, I would prefer to avoid the constant confusion that comes from using systems that show millimeters and inches.
Steve:
There are a number of fractional calipers on the market. I purchased miine from Garrett Wade (they are on line). I much prefer the digital readout to the analog format. Love that tool. As I said earlier, I can't believe how often I use it.
Example 1. am building a pretty complicated sideboard. I have scale drawings but really no plan. So when the drawing is unclear about a diminsion, I measure the drawing with the caliper and bingo, I have the proper dimenion for my tenon or whatever.
Example 2. not sure of a drill bit size because etching worn off. Measure the diameter and bingo.
Example 3. Cutting tenon to fit mortise. Measure mortise. Exactly 3/8. Cut tenon to a little over 3/8. It's a little tight. Use my microfile to take off a little until it is exactly where I want it.
Write if you want more info. PMM
Heres a tip for beginners. Start making things. Don't get caught up in the " When I get the right tools I can build trap". Start woodworking now, buy tools as you really need them. By learning to work with what you have you will become much more competent in the techniques for those tools. You will also be able to more clearly decide what tools will enhance your work.
P.S. SteveKy, your handle reminded me of a cd that I had not enjoyed in a while. Bill Monroe's Blue Moon Of Kentucky. A real treat.
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