As a new DIYer I have learnt a lot from people on this forum who have done wood working (which my boss wants me to call that as wood fun - to him it is not work) but doing a project makes you learn the hard way.
In my latest project I wanted to use dowels and glue (the design was very fancy which my LOML changed it for me to make it simple with the KISS principle). I learnt the following:
1 - you need good / straight wood to ensure good joints
2 - dowels work well if you hold your work piece solidly otherwise the hole will walk. I landed up buying a drill guide from HD yesterday on clearance for 14 bucks from 35 original price. Hopefully this will help me to be better wood fun guy.
3 - be generous with the glue and use a good quality glue. Is there a glue out there that starts setting quickly and is highly recommended?
4 - you need to hold the pieces together for a long time for the glue to take a set. My project fell apart and I had to screw the wood down.
5 - Measure twice (and one more time again and write down the measurement) and cut once.
6 - A dado slot would have provided me some anchoring for the floating shelf that I built.
7 - You need some good clamps for the wood once glued.
8 - You do not need all kinds of tools for projects but the right kind.
9 - Square of the wood or else you will have gaps.
10 - Dowels do not behave as you would want them to if the holes are not perfectly aligned. Well! Duh!
My next project will incoporate the Kreg hidden fastner kit and will likely buy better wood plank. Any advice of how I could improve and what wood cutting skils I could have incorporated in this project?
Thanks to all for allowing me to share.
In my latest project I wanted to use dowels and glue (the design was very fancy which my LOML changed it for me to make it simple with the KISS principle). I learnt the following:
1 - you need good / straight wood to ensure good joints
2 - dowels work well if you hold your work piece solidly otherwise the hole will walk. I landed up buying a drill guide from HD yesterday on clearance for 14 bucks from 35 original price. Hopefully this will help me to be better wood fun guy.
3 - be generous with the glue and use a good quality glue. Is there a glue out there that starts setting quickly and is highly recommended?
4 - you need to hold the pieces together for a long time for the glue to take a set. My project fell apart and I had to screw the wood down.
5 - Measure twice (and one more time again and write down the measurement) and cut once.
6 - A dado slot would have provided me some anchoring for the floating shelf that I built.
7 - You need some good clamps for the wood once glued.
8 - You do not need all kinds of tools for projects but the right kind.
9 - Square of the wood or else you will have gaps.
10 - Dowels do not behave as you would want them to if the holes are not perfectly aligned. Well! Duh!
My next project will incoporate the Kreg hidden fastner kit and will likely buy better wood plank. Any advice of how I could improve and what wood cutting skils I could have incorporated in this project?
Thanks to all for allowing me to share.
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