When sawing wood, take time to consider which side of the material will be facing up. Keep the good side up when you are using a hand saw, scroll saw, band saw or radial-arm saw. Keep the good side down when you are suing a portable circular saw, table saw or sabre saw. The principle is to have the tooth of the blade first break through the rough side of the board or panel.
A rule can be used to quickly divide a board into equal parts. Lay the rule on the board with the start of the scale against one edge. Then angle the opposite end to a number that is easily divided by the number of parts you want. (If you want to divide a board into three equal parts you might use 9 and mark the board at 3 and 6.) Likewise, if you need four equal parts, angle the rule to numbers divisible by four, like 8, 12 or 16.
You can use a rule to quickly find the center of a board’s width without dealing with small fractions. Lay the rule across the width, keeping the scale’s zero mark lined up with one side. Then angle the rule so that an even number lines up with the opposite side. Mark the board at half the distance. You can also find the center by drawing an “X” diagonally across from one set of opposite corners, then across from the other set of opposite corners. The exact center will be where the lines cross.
It’s always preferable to nail through the thinner piece into the thicker piece. Driving the nail at an angle may not be attractive, but will give you a stronger hold. Use a nail that is long enough to allow approximately two thirds of the nail to be driven into the thicker piece.
To save trim during remodeling, use two small, flat prybars. Slide the thin end of one behind the trim, pull, then insert the second in the space that opens up. Alternate pulling each bar to inch the trim off. If finishing nails protrude from the back, use slip-jaw pliers with a rounded top jaw to pull them through.
You can extend the the time it takes hot-melt glue to set by slightly pre-warming both the surfaces to be joined with a heat gun. A heat gun also works great for stripping paint and other odd jobs. For example, you can use it to remove bumper stickers, defrost freezers, char-stain wood, dry wood for painting, burn weeds from cracks in sidewalks and patios, light charcoal, loosen rusted bolt nuts and bend certain plastic piping.
The width of your bandsaw blade and its tooth set will determine the smallest circle you can cut without damaging the blade or the saw guides. Generally a 3/16-in. blade will cut a radius as small as 5/16 in.; a 1/4-in. blade will cut as small as 5/8, and a 3/8-in. blade as small as 1-7/16. The wider a blade, the thicker it will be and the longer it will stand up and keep its edge.
An inexpensive nylon-bristle brush and a few small “acid” brushes that are sold for applying soldering flux can make great tools for spreading glue. Clipping off about half the paint brush bristles will make them stiff enough so they won’t slop glue around on board edges or mitered joints.
Professional woodworkers buy quality tools capable of precision adjustments. Two tools which give them a leg up are the thinckness planer and planer/joiner. If you don’t have these tools to help make sure your stock is perfectly dimensioned, try to find someone who has them and will dress up your project lumber for you. Chances are good that the wood you buy from the lumberyard will not be precisely square and true, and will need further processing if you are building a project to critical dimensions.
For a good joint, a fluted or spiraled dowel must fit snugly enough in the hole to allow the glue to come up around it. The dowel should reach to the bottom of the hole and be used with enough glue. For insurance, apply glue to both the sides of the hole and to the dowel itself.
