Woodworking Tips
Here is a collection of workshop tips that I share from WoodworkersWorkshop®.
-
Woodworking Tip for Borrowed Tools
Do family members or neighbors who borrow your tools? I gladly let them as long as they sign the tool out and then sign it in when returned. Just keep a clipboard and paper or tack a piece of paper near the shop door! At least you know who to ask when something’s missing!
-
Woodworking Tip for Threading
Trying to put a piece of string through a small hole? Try dipping it in super glue and it will dry to a stiff point!
-
Woodworking Tip for Design
Design Tip: A great part of designing your own projects is to listen to others for the basic idea and then use your woodworking expertise to to work out the technical aspects while keeping the common goal in mind. There are a lot of creative people out there…take advantage of that!
-
Woodworking Tip for Small Parts
Need clamps for gluing miniature pieces? Spring clip clothespins work quite well and the “jaw” ends may be shaped, rounded, pointed, etc. as needed to fit your purpose.
-
Woodworking Tip for Easy Mixing
Easy Mixing: It can be messy mixing adhesives, like two part epoxy, powdered glues, dry putty, etc. They are just another opportunity to ruin my clothes, stain my hands and generally make a mess of my workbench. Now we do our mixing without any fuss or mess. Put the ingredients in a small plastic sandwich bad and “squish” it until well mixed. Then, snip off the corner of the bag and squeeze out what you need. Different materials and different uses may require a larger or smaller ‘snip’, but the technique definitely works and I thank you…It’s simple and effective!
As an add-on, I discovered that some ‘thick’ materials are difficult to squeeze from the bag. I solved this by placing a 1″ diameter dowel near the top of the bag and rolling up the bag on the dowel to gain some leverage. -
Woodworking Tip for Scrap Wood
Money Making & Saving Tip: We tried to use every bit of wood that we could by taking scraps from big projects to make smaller projects, using those scraps for cut out small animals, shapes, and figures that we threw in a bin and sold by the piece or handfull and then bagged those scraps and sold them as kindling wood for a ‘buck a grocery bag’!
-
Woodworking Tip for Paint Cans
When done using paint, stain or finish, place a piece of masking tape on the can to mark the level. Then it is easy to see how much is left when planning the next job.
-
Walnut Flooring has other uses
Making the most of left overs is just as important in the workshop as it is in the kitchen. I had overestimated the amount of hardwood laminated engineered flooring (plywood sub-base) by 3 cases.
-
Woodworking Tip for Faster Sanding
We place 3 or 4 pieces of sandpaper in our sanding block at once. Then as one wears, just tear it off and keep going!
-
Woodworking Tip with Baking Soda
Another good hand cleaner is made by adding a pinch of Baking Soda to a squirt of liquid soap. The tiny grits in the baking soda help the scrubbing action, but are not rough on your hands.