Carpentry and Woodworking - Different tips

I personally like the zero clearance plates for the table saw. A zero clearance plate replaces the metal one you use now that the blade raises up through. You can find the zero clearance plates at www.rockler.com

Make sure you get the one that fits your table saw. When you get it, lower your blade, put the insert in, adjust the alan bolts til it sits flush with the top of the table. Move your fence over the plate about 1". Turn the saw on, raise the blade slowly through the zero clearance plate. When cutting miters, put the standard one that came with the saw back on.

The reasoning for this Zero Clearance Plate is to help minimize the blowout on the bottom of the wood as you're cutting. It also helps when cutting smaller pieces so they don't get caught.

*********************

A feeler gauge- This is a hand tool that has several pins in it that slide back and forth. What these pins do is help duplicate the profile of any molding. If you're trying to cut one piece of molding to fit into the other molding, this gauge will show you exactly what the profile is. "Litterly" You then trace around the pins onto your new wood, which have made the shape of the profile.

You can find this item at Home Depot.

*********************

Joining miters together- When I make angled columns and such, I sometimes will use Blue Masking Tape to join it together. That way I don't need to find a way to clamp it, nor do I need to use any nails. I let it dry for about 1 hour using Titebond II glue.

*********************

When you get holes or gaps that need to be filled, don't use wood filler. It will show too much. Use wax sticks. There are various colors to choose from and will blend in a lot better in the long run. Use the wax sticks only after the final coat of finish has dried for at least 2 days. Clean the wax off with mineral spirts aka paint thinner. No need to soak the rag.

*********************

If the floor infront of your machinery is slippery, Home Depot sells an adhesive backer sand paper which sticks to concrete. It comes in 25' rolls. You will find it in the paint dept. It's 2" wide. I put it about 6" apart

*********************

Color Matching- If you're having trouble matching a stain color, go to your local paint store that sells stains too and ask them if they offer color matching. Going to home depot to ask is a waste of time.

*********************

When you're jointing a piece of wood, do you notice that it never takes the cup out of the wood? It either stays the same or worse.

When pushing the wood through a jointer never allow your hands to go back behind the blade after your hands have surpassed it. Smaller pieces are very hard to take the cup or hook out of because it flexes too much. When you push the wood through keep feeding it in a downward position toward the fence. If your face jointing, the same rule applies, but if your piece has a bit of a rock too it, push down on the one corner and keep pushing that corner down every time or you won't get the rock out.

*********************

When bending wood, do not make your pieces larger than 3/16" and no less than 3/32" If you have a larger radius, you can use the 3/16". When you cut your radiused piece out with either a router or a jig saw, keep your cutoff, because that will serve as your clamp and a straight edge. When you glue your pieces together, you'll slide the cut off up to the bent pieces, slowly alternating tightening of each clamp until it pulls the wood around the radius. If the peices of wood aren't sandwiched together 100%, you can use squeeze clamps or a bar clamp to pull it together. There are methods to calculate spring back, but that's a totally different league and A LOT harder to do. if interested, I'll go in depth and tell you.




I hope these few tips will help some of you during your projects and if you're not exactly sure of what I'm talking about, I can either send you a digital pic or fax to further explain it.

Good Luck!

Mike,

Good stuff.

My jointer and I have a love/hate relationship going. I dearly love to listen for that telltale "tink" as the last 3/4", or so, of the board passes over the blades.

In addition to your suggestions, the way I've dealt with the cupping, or snipe, at the end of a run is to never try to take too much off in a single pass (about 1/16" at most). I also feed it through from opposite ends on each pass (that, at least, chases the snipe from one end of the board to the other :)). Finally, I cut my wood about an inch longer than necessary so that I can trim that booger off at the miter saw or table saw when I'm done. (That'll teach it! :D)

Planers used to be notorious for sniping boards at the end of a pass, as well, but most manufacturers have made excellent progress in addressing the problem. I usually take the precaution of cutting the boards a little longer than needed but my Delta planer hasn't given me a bit of trouble in this regard.

On color matching, I wonder if a store like Sherwin Williams could match stain the same way they do with paint. We do a fair share of touch-up painting at work and they do a great job, with their computerized system, of matching paint colors for us. Never thought to try them for stain.

Thanks for the tips.

Tom

If you need a zero clearance insert for just a few small pieces for a short time, two pieces of masking tape alongside the blade will keep the small pieces from falling into the saw.

chfite,

Ashamed as I am to admit this, I don't know that I would have thought of such an elegantly simple solution. In fact, I made one out of a piece of 1/4" oak plywood so I obviously didn't think of it.

A very clever idea. :)

Tom

I make my own zero clearance inserts from scrap plywood. I have them for the sawblade as well as 1/4", 1/2" & 3/4" widths for my stacked dado cutter. The biggest advantage is the reduction of "tear out" when cross cutting good plywood.

Tom

In regard to the way you're jointing, you're not really correcting the problem, rather you're doing a mirror image.

Set your jointer at 0 , take a straight edge across the whole table. "Metal straight edge" When you run the metal straight edge acrioss ithe blade in the opposite direction as the feed, the blade should barely move. It should just be touching it a little and not moving more than 1/8"

Follow me? Make sure your blades are aligned properly too.

I bought a machinest square, to check the fence so it's sitting at 90 degs to the top of the table.

Mike,

Got a set of machinist's squares a while back and use them, religiously, for setting all my blades, fences, etc.

No problem with blade alignment either, but your tip on the straight edge may be the answer I need. Odd how the feed side of the table will lower (A LOT) while we really don't need to take off a lot of material to do the job.

Excellent tip, Mike. Thanks.

Tom

Dave,

Here I am confessing again...

I've got the factory dado insert for my table saw but never really thought about making zero-tolerance inserts for my dado blade like I did for my standard blade.

You and Mike have got me running back to the basement! :D

Good stuff!

Tom

Tom,

You can pay by Credit Card, Check, or Cash. LOL :)

I like buying the Zero Clearance plates, because they have adjustments in them which work really well. If the thickness of your plywood is different than the height from the ridge it sits on to the top of the table, you'er going to have to shim it. With the inserts you buy, it has the alen key to adjust at any time. :)

Odd how the feed side of the table will lower (A LOT) while we really don't need to take off a lot of material to do the job.


Tom,

Because your table isn't sitting in the proper height in comparison to the blade and oher side of the table is the reason why you're getting snipe on your jointer.

The only reason I make my own is sheer stubborness. I can make several blanks in an hour or so then "finish" one whenever I need to. I recently did one for my stacked dado cutter set at 45 degrees. I need to find another project to use it for. :)

I have found that women are really good at making Honey-Do lists. :) My mother and sister are always finding more projects for me. Somehow it just never works out to be a profitable job since it's "Family" I know when I get married, my Honey-Do list will be a mile long. :D

Mike-

Speaking from the perspective of 32 years of wedded bliss and raising two daughters, I can safely tell you that you have no idea..........yet. :D :D

:::Laughs Hysterically:::


I'm 29, never been married or engaged, nor do I have any children. I'm saving that until I become established in my business. I guess you could say I'm trying to do things "The right way"

With the hours I put in "80-90" a week, it makes it hard to even date anyone.

Being a Custom Furniture Maker is rewarding for the most part, it's just doing the "business" end is what makes it stressful at times.

Because your table isn't sitting in the proper height in comparison to the blade and oher side of the table is the reason why you're getting snipe on your jointer.
Mike,

Gotcha! When I get this darned bathroom tile down, I'll be back playing with my woodworking tools (and back in my comfort zone, I might add! :))

I don't mind multi-faceted projects. In fact, I enjoy the learning, and the satisfaction. But, as a non-pro, I don't like "racing the clock" one bit and I am on this project. First, and foremost, I've got to get my wife and daughter back into their own bathroom. They've got their "girlie" stuff in mine and it's making me crazy!!! :rolleyes:

Tom

""Girlie Stuff"" LOL :) No comment!