Shop Tricks and Tips

Thanks for the tip Gary. I think this is going to be a very interesting thread, I’m looking forward to seeing it get rolling. Now, i have to think of a “post worthy” tip.

-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/

I guess my tip would be keep a spray bottle of WD40 handy to keep the wood sliding easy on all machinery. I like it because i’ve never had a problem with it interfering with the finish.

-- "The way to make a small fortune in woodworking- start with a large one"

Works on chop saws, too.

-- No piece is cut too short. It was meant for a smaller project.

Like you Gary, I will often measure once and cut alot. I’m much more confident sneaking up on those type of cuts. When I get real close though, I typically use my small disc sander to fine tune the fit. Just a touch of the piece to the disc takes the tiniest bit off. I’ve also found that the sander is good for fine tuning miters as well.

-- Working at Woodworking http://www.VillageLaneFurniture.com

That’s the way I sneak up on mitered corners on trim. I do it with my miter slider on the table saw. In front of the fence on the miter slider, I use Porter-Cable self-adhesive sand paper to keep the work pieces from sliding while I cut. I also use it on the front of the sliding miter gauge I built for the router table fence.

-- Thos. Angle, Jordan Valley, Oregon

Thanks for the tip! ;^)

-- Jesus is Lord!

I know one! When I do use glue it’s a pain to use brushes etc and I really don’t care to have to clean up anything. So what I do is use the pieces of plastic that comes with tool boxes or tackle boxes that you have extra. Then just throw them away.
Krum

Gary,

This is a good tip. I’m sure of some of us could work with some of you “seasoned” woodworkers, we could learn a whole lot!

This is one of my favorite woodworking topics. I hope you can give us a bunch of “tricks and tips.”

-- Tom, Surfside Beach, SC - Romans 8:28

Here’s another on of my favorites:

There is a very old method of clamping that you don’t see mentioned anymore. They are called Go-Bars.
See the pictures for how they are used. They are worth a thousand words.

It’s basically a thin stick that you can make as needed. You need something for the stick to push against like
the ceiling. This an example of how I glued in the soundboard on my harpsichord. You need a lot of clamps for this.

The thicker the stick and the closer it is to being straightened increases the force. You could easily get 100+ pounds of force per clamp. Make sure that you use a cawl to protect your project.

Try it, you will be surprised how good they work, and how much force they have.

Here you can see that you can build your own platform.

-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way - Tyler, TX

Now that is cool! What a trick!

-- Tom, Surfside Beach, SC - Romans 8:28

guess I’ll get some wd-40 and the clamping stick trick is cool too !

-- keeping myself entertained

learned a new trick from a man who owns a stained glass factory and restoration business.

dark paste wax and heat gun

-- keeping myself entertained

old cds (I work in IT and we have lots of cds from old software) work as very effective glue spreaders

-- Chelle http://artsgranddaughter.blogspot.com

Grain viewer. (I doubt that this is original, but I don’t recall where I might have seen it.)

Grain orientation and quality are part of the criteria when laying out a cutting pattern. To help select the optimal layout, cut one or more viewing windows the size of your parts and lay them on top of the candidate boards. Slide the viewer(s) around to test different areas and combinations.

-- Dave J. Oakdale, MN

the heat gun pushes the wax around and makes it easy to shine, it melts into the cracks, joints and gaps.

I like glues and finishes that dry fast !

TIP: add japanese dryer to oil stains. makes a 6-10 dry time more like 2 hours.

I like polyurethane glues because the easy cleanup and stainability etc. Titebond poly was my favorite
now I use Rhino glue. Faster drying and doesn’t expand as much. Less mess etc.

-- keeping myself entertained