1. Protect your project from Glue Run-Outs
When glue leaks onto a wood exposed surface it generally seeps into the pores of the wood, and any finish you want to apply to the wood will have blemishes, as the finish cannot fill the wood spores because they are already filled up with glue.
A simple trick to get rid of the problem is after dry-fitting your work and before you apply any glue, simply line up the edges that you are going to glue and use some masking tape or even some blue painter's tape.
The result is that any glue that leaks out will end up on the tape instead of the wood.
After the glue has dried, all you have to do is peel off the tape and your wood has been protected.
2. How to Eliminate Saw Blade Burns
The simple answer is to avoid them in the first place.
Check your saw blade. Is it sharp and clean?
A dull blade slows how fast your wood can go through the saw and a slow cut is very often the cause of saw blade burn.
Burns on your stock can be removed by sanding but a better idea is to use a wood plane or a sharp, flat scraper.
3. How to Drill Clean Holes
When you drill with a large hole saw or spade bit, do you find that the backside of the stock tends to tear when completing the hole?
You can avoid this by clamping a block of hardwood to the backside of your work before you drill. Do not use anything softer than your workpiece or you might find that a tear will still happen.
Another thing you can do is just drill halfway through the stock, until the pilot just penetrates the backside of the workpiece, then flip your workpiece over and drill back the other way.
4. Stop Pipe Clamp Stains
Glue loves to drip and stick to the metal bar of a pipe clamp. This can stain the wood or even interfere with the operation of the clamp.
One solution to this problem is - to use a hand saw to cut a roll of wax paper into 2" strips. Either wrap the strips around the bar or lay them over the bar during glue-up. Your problems are over.
5. Information Makes Strong Joints
Oil, wax, and sawdust can compromise the strength of a glue joint. Just a very small amount of sawdust can wedge the pieces out of line or create gaps in the glue joint. Take the time to remove dust, chips, or splinters from a joint. It does not take much effort or time but can save hours of repair time.
Learning about the adhesives you are using is important, and can eliminate many of the common problems new woodworkers come across. You can get a lot of information by simply checking on the package or container of the adhesive you use. Many manufacturers have websites, which will give you a lot of information you should be aware of. This can give you a good head start on producing long-lasting glue joints.
6. Safety with push sticks
Here is a safety tool to keep your fingers safe around your router table or table saw.
One slip around the blades of your table saw or router table a slip could bring a quick end to your fun with woodworking very fast.
Push sticks and Push Blocks can be used to take some of this danger away from your fingers. Using them enables you to rip and shape smaller pieces of stock with a greater level of safety.
Check locally or even on the Internet as you can find a number of commercial push sticks and push blocks available or you could even make one.
The size or shape varies from user to user and which machine you are using and even what application you need a push stick or block for.
For feeding narrow stock between a feather-board and a fence a push stick with a 45-degree angle with a small notch at the end usually works best.
Design and make your own for different jobs to suit you.
7. Surface Planing
One of the problems you may run up against is knowing if the entire surface of a board that you have run through a thickness planer is flat.
A simple method to find out is to use a piece of chalk mark and scribble on the surface of the board.
Then just run it through your planer until all your chalk marks disappear.
8. Fix A Sagging Door With Deck Screws
We have all seen how a heavy door can sag after it has been hanging for a while. What happens is, that the weight of the door can cause the doorjamb to twist.
Generally why this happens is, that the fasteners holding the door in place are not strong enough to support the door's weight and the screws holding the door hinge to the jamb are fairly short., Just use long screws so you can connect with the wall framing. Replace the short screws in the hinge with 2" deck screws. These 2" screws will reach into the stud and help secure the door
9. A Simple Putty Trick
After filling some nail holes with putty and the putty is lighter than the wood around it- you will usually see large blotches (instead of tiny nail-sized spots.)
Here comes masking tape to the rescue once more!
Before you use your hammer and nails, simply put down a strip of masking tape and nail and set the heads like normal.
Then push your putty into the holes and remove the tape. The little bit of putty that is still there can be easily sanded.
10. How To Keep Your Costs Down
When starting out - only add tools as you need them.
You would be surprised at how many jobs can be done with the tools you already have. Far better to check that out first before heading out to buy what you think is really necessary at that time.
Consider alternate ways to do the job with what you already have.
Do not go running out to buy cheap tools either, because you will probably regret that later. There is no substitute for quality.
Be very careful buying used power tools, the bargain price may look great but, you had best do a careful check before you buy. Find out why the tool is for sale, has it been replaced with a bigger and better model or is it just a dud?
Generally speaking, used hand tools, especially older brand names usually have better quality than the newer models. Check with friends and family to see if they have any tools they are not going to use and are willing to part with them.
Woodworking Plans
Woodworking plans are classified according to the purpose for which they are used. They can be for commercial or non-commercial purposes.
There is a number of things to consider while choosing a woodworking plan for your work. There are a huge variety of plans available.
For non-commercial people who do not have much skill, a woodworking plan, which involves a simple but artistic design, is easy to follow is best.
A plan should have good descriptions and explanations along with good diagrams and illustrations, which explain things in more depth.
There are a number of sources where you can get the woodworking plans.
Consider websites. Many sites provide online woodworking plans. The nice thing about that is you can download and store the plans on your computer and use them whenever required.
I have found many good sources of information so... Go here for more