If you could only give ONE tip, what would it be?

[davidtu]

Came across the following comment regarding when to remove a glue line...

Either way, don't do any of this for several days after glue up, as that area around the seams will be swollen from the glue moisture. If you planarize the area when swollen, you'll have a depression when it dries.

That seems like a great tip for a beginner. So I thought about making a list of these tips for myself... but putting it here before the BT3 Crew will yield some gems and benefit everyone.

SO, YOU *ONLY GET TO ADD ONE* TIP to impart to a newbie... what will it be??

[kwgeorge]

That is pretty good advice I think. When I am asked a question such as this I always tell people to be patient. Just being patients with a project will make the ends much better. Mistakes mostly happen when one is in a hurry or tired. I decided a long time ago that this is my hobby and what I do for fun so when I am tired or aggravated about the way something is progressing along I just walk away and come back another time. You know the funny thing is, up to this point that project has always been as I left it any nobody has stole one yet! So what’s the hurry?

Ken

[JR]

After you've decided on a printed plan, take it and a cold beverage to a quiet place and learn why the plan has the dimensions it has.

Don't start cutting until you understand how each piece relates to the others in a project. Look for similar cuts that should be done with a single setup, thereby assuring symmetry. Watch out for mistakes in the plan - there's usually at least one.

If you don't have the same tools as the plan's author you may need to do things differently. For instance, the plan might call for mortise and tenon joinery, but you've got a pocket hole jig that would work just as well. The lengths of the pieces in the plan will need adjustment, so understanding how it all comes together is mandatory.

The end product of this effort should be a step-by-step project plan. It doesn't have to be written down for a simple project, but you should have a strong idea of how to approach the entire effort before turning on power tools.

And now a word about shop safety... (Just kidding )

JR

[Crockett]

Walk Away

I'm with Ken. No matter how difficult the problem or how aggravated I am about something that just doesn't seem to work; as soon as I leave and do something else, my mind slows down and all of a sudden the answer shows itself. When I first started wood working regularly, this happened so often that now I don't even think about it, I just stop what I'm doing and return a few hours later or the next day.

Al

[Wood_workur]

thinking is what make projects turn out good, not speed

[SARGE..g-47]

With patience (espcially in glue ups and finish) and sitting down with a cup of coffee and calculating every possible twist and turn as a chess game already mentioned, my tip would be:

FULL ATTENTION & KEEP the LANE CLEAR!!

[Pappy]

Best tip I can think of is to teach your loved ones, or anyone else likley to come around your shop, is that tools are dangerous. If you are working with a tool, be it a table saw, hand saw, chisel, or a hand plane, you are NOT to be interupted. They should wait until you acknowledge their presence rather than chance distracting you from what you are doing. Best case, you screw up a good piece of wood. Worse case, you bleed on your tools and project!

[lcm1947]

My best advise would be to learn how to properly measure and use good accurate rules and a #5 mechanical pencil for marking. Seems obvious at first but it's not. You need a thin line to cut on. A thick one allows you to be off. I know it wouldn't seem like it would be that much but just that hair causes things to be off. Cutting accurately was my biggest problem. I screwed up everything I tried building when I first started. Nothing was square until I learned this advise from this very forum. Now my cuts are square and amazingly things match up upon assembly.

[LCHIEN]

Be Careful.

[TheRic]

Best tip I can think of is to teach your loved ones, or anyone else likley to come around your shop, is that tools are dangerous. If you are working with a tool, be it a table saw, hand saw, chisel, or a hand plane, you are NOT to be interupted. They should wait until you acknowledge their presence rather than chance distracting you from what you are doing. Best case, you screw up a good piece of wood. Worse case, you bleed on your tools and project!

Not to mention getting the heart back down out of your throat.

My comment would be:

When calculating the time it will take to finish a project budget extra time. For example if your an expert, figure the time and multiply it by 2. If a newbie figure the time and multiply by 10.

[Tequila]

Always wear the appropriate safety gear.

[just4funsies]

Here's three:

1) Protect your eyes.

2) Measure twice, cut once.

3) EVERYTHING will take at least three times as long as your wife thinks it will.

[LarryG]

This is quite a coincidence, as for several days I've been meaning to start a similar thread ... something like "Best Woodworking Advice One-Liners." Mine was going to be:

If it doesn't fit together right when dry, it won't fit any better when the glue's on it.

[brooks]

The biggest "little tip" I picked up recently is: Don't sand parts which must meet in a really flat way, use a cutting blade of some sort, such as a saw or router. Nothing else makes a flat enough surface.

For instance, between the carcass and the face frame, or the edges of the cabinet back and the back itself. Sanding rounds off the the edges and the next panel which must be glued to it will tilt and go out of square or be less secure than it would be with full, flat contact. Cut or rout the panels you're trying to put a face frame on.

In all the time I've been reading woodworking, that clue never popped up anywhere. I thought you could sand your way a really flat gluing surface. Turns out it's nowhere near optimal for a good glue joint.

[vaking]

Finishing and sanding is the hardest part. After you completed all parts and ready to glue up - stop and ask yourself "Are all the parts properly sanded and ready for glue? May be some need to be stained before the glue? Once the glue sets it is too late for most sanding.