1. Wax your lathe with car wax. This will keep it from collecting dirt and debris. Also if added to your ways the banjo will move easier and smoother.

2. Create a finish for cutting boards by mixing ten parts mineral oil to one part paraffin wax. Dissolve the wax on a low microwave setting. Once melted, stir to blend and wipe on your board. Let dry and buff.

3. It helps to briefly run your brad point bit in reverse to scribe the outside diameter of the hole. This slices the wood fibers and minimizes tearout, especially on softwoods like pine.

4. Running a board shorter than 12″ through your thickness planer will cause problems like getting caught between the infeed and outfeed rollers, sever snipe and cutterhead damage. To get around this glue long, narrow scrap strips to your piece. Once planed cut off the scrap pieces.

5. Check your bandsaw adustments periodically throughout a project, especially on those that require critical angles.

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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1. There’s no difference between rubbing the finish into the wood or letting it sit on top of the wood and giving it time to soak in.

2. Boiled Linseed Oil is not boiled at all, it’s not even heated. Metallic driers are now added to raw linseed oil to speed up the curing process.

3. To square up a cabinet or box for gluing or assembly clamp a speed square in the corner. This will bring it square.

4. To make your own downdraft table cut a piece of pegboard 12″ X 24″, make a shadowbox frame with 1X6′s and nail the pegboard to the frame. Cut a 4″ diameter in one end and install a plastic dust collection fitting into it. Cover the bottom with ‘masonite’ or 1/4″ plywood. Hook up your dust collector and start sanding.

5. By sanding the first coat of your finish level and smooth all additional coats will look better. The mineral soap in sanding sealers produces a fine white powder that doesn’t clog up sand paper, thus making it easier to sand. By sanding the sanding sealer smooth and level the next coat of varnish or lacquer should go on much smoother.

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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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.

Back to the shop…

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…