I finally got around to creating a circle cutting jig for the bandsaw today. This was spurred on by my recent purchase of a couple of bowl blocks that I needed to cut round.

Continue reading 'Bandsaw Circle Cutting Jig'

1. You’re wasting your time if you sand past 220 grit if you plan on using a film finish like varnish or shellac. Anymore than that and the small scratches are filled in by the finish.

2. To tell if the entire surface of a board that you ran through your thickness planer is flat scribble on it with chalk and run it through your planer until all the chalk is removed.

3. Use the eraser ends of pencils to make great guides for running small stock through a bandsaw.

4. Use rare earth magnets to keep your tool accessories handy like the drill press key, bandsaw wrench, etc.

5. To saw wide boards on your table saw turn your miter gauge around so that the miter gauge head is in front of the board instead of behind it. It also helps to add a longer faceboard to the miter gauge.

These are just a few tips that I picked up over this past week. They come from a variety of sources including books, magazines, newsletters, online and from personal experience.

There are more Woodworking Tips and Tidbits located here.

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This week my wife refinished our kitchen table. We bought it 6-7 years ago and since then it had picked up a few scratches and heat marks. It is 7 feet long with 8 chairs and made of red oak with a natural finish.

We bought it from a Menonite furniture shop that is located a couple of hours from here in a rural area. They did a fantastic job at very, very reasonable prices. Unfortunately, the finish was not as durable as we had hoped for. It marked very easily and anything hot, like a coffee cup, that was set on the table left a mark.

She started sanding it with 60 grit to remove the finish and continued up to 220 grit. Then she finished it with 10 coats of Varathane Professional Clear Coat, lightly sanding with 220 between each coat.

Here is the table before the new finish:

Continue reading 'Kitchen Table Refinishing'

1. When gluing up a project it’s inevitable that some of the glue will squeeze out of the joint. It’s best to wait for the glue to “gel up” before scraping it off with a sharp chisel or razor blade. Wiping up the glue before it gels can spread it over the surface of the wood and cause you a lot of sanding later.

2. Yellow and White glues have a shelf life of about 8-12 months after which they should be thrown away. Freezing also damages the bonding power of these glues. If the glue is excessively stringy this can also be a sign that it has passed its useful life. Glue is too inexpensive to risk building furniture with bad joints.

3. When spreading glue out across a wood joint don’t use your fingers! This introduces dirt and oil that may weaken the joint. A better solution is to use an old paintbrush or a small section of a hacksaw blade. Scraps of wood also serve as an inexpensive spreader.

4. Have you ever had trouble driving a dowel into its hole? Quite often air and glue inside the hole can prevent the dowel from sliding in easily. To prevent this resistance you can cut a slit into the side of the dowel. This will give the air and glue a channel to escape the hole. Use your bandsaw to cut the groove in the dowel. For safety, be sure to use a clamp to hold the dowel when you cut the groove.

These are just a few tips that I picked up over this past week. They come from a variety of sources including books, magazines, newsletters, online and from personal experience.

There are more Woodworking Tips and Tidbits located here.

Back to the shop…