This Week from Chief’s Shop: One Tip, one Plan of the Week, five Sketches of the Day, five Videos.
Click on the image below to see them all:
Make Some Sawdust!
Chief
Beginner Tip: How to Create a Handle Opening
Handle openings are good additions to jigs in the shop, as they make it easier to transport and hang on a hook. They’re also useful on trays, totes and stools, plus you don’t have to spend extra money like you would if you added a machined handle or pull.
For details on how to create a handle opening, click on the image below.
Make Some Sawdust!
Chief
Launching This Week
Launching today, This Week will be a summary of the Sketch of the Day, Plan of the Week, Quick Projects, and Videos I produce each week – all in one location.
Click on the image to access the page.
Look for updates each Saturday.
Make Some Sawdust!
Chief
Beginner Hand Tools: Measuring & Marking
Measure twice and cut once is the mantra we hear about woodworking or any DIY project, but gauging size or distance a hundred times with a bad or outta-whack measuring device will give you bad results.
While I advocate buying power tools that you can afford, then stepping up, I firmly believe that you should purchase quality measuring tools right out of the gate. Click here for the full story on measuring tapes, squares, rulers, compass, and pencils.
Be sure to like Chief’s Shop on Facebook! Prizes are awarded at various levels of “likes”.
Make Some Sawdust!
Chief
The Woodworking Shows – Atlanta – March 2013
The Woodworking Shows – Atlanta – March 2013 – A quick montage of some of the sights at The Woodworking Shows in Atlanta, Ga., March 2013.
Shop Tip: Creating Large Arcs
A simple tip for creating large arcs using scrap.
Make Some Sawdust!
Chief
Chief’s Shop Beginner Tip: Pocket Hole Assembly Clamping – Face Frames
A couple of tips for beginners when clamping during pocket hole assembly.
Save On Lumber By Ripping
You can save a few bucks on a large project by ripping larger home center boards into smaller stock, and perhaps create trim, nosing, or spacer scrap.
Take a 1 x 6 for example. At 5 1/2″ wide, you can rip it twice at 2 1/2″ wide and create two 1 x 3s, plus wind up with a thin strip that is roughly 1/4″ depending on the thickness of your blade.
1 x 6 ripped into two 1 x 3s
In this particular example, you can save between 50 cents and $1 by creating two 1 x 3s instead of buying two 1 x 3s. Sometimes with larger width boards (1 x 10s and 1 x 12s) you might not necessarily come out ahead. Be sure to do your math before purchasing.
Also make sure to account for the width of you blade for each rip cut when determining how many cuts you can get from a particular board.
Here’s a helpful chart (you can probably create several more combinations, but this will give you an idea):
1 x 4 = two 1 x 2s
1 x 6 = one 1 x 4 and one 1 x 2; two 1 x 3s; one 1 x 3 and one 1 x 2; three 1 x 2s
1 x 8 = one 1 x 6 and one 1 x 2; two 1 x 3s and one 1 x 2; one 1 x 3 and two 1 x 2s; four 1 x 2s
1 x 10 = one 1 x 8 and one 1 x 2; one 1 x 6 and one 1 x 4 or one 1 x 6 and one 1 x 3 or one 1 x 6 and two 1 x 2s; two 1 x 4s and one 1 x 2; one 1 x 4 and two 1 x 3s or one 1 x 4 and one 1 x 3 and one 1 x 2; three 1 x 3s; five 1 x 2s
Be sure to like Chief’s Shop on Facebook! At 1,500 likes someone will be selected to receive a box of 500 Kreg pocket hole screws.
Make Some Sawdust!
Chief
Label Project Parts
I highly recommend you diligently identify and mark work pieces during the process of building a project. This is particularly important with a project that has numerous parts, or several parts that are nearly the same size.
There have been projects in my past that contained parts that were within 1/2-inch , 1/4-inch, and even 1/8-inch of each other. With dimensions that close, it’s REAL easy to grab the wrong part, slap some glue on, and attach it. It’s even easier to do this at the end of a work session, which is REAL interesting when you get back to the project the next day…
After I mark a measurement I like to go ahead and write the length as well as the part name BEFORE I make the cut. I often make several measurement marks on various parts at a time, so this really helps me.
Note in the above photo that I’ve marked an “X” on the waste side of the cut. I also don’t always use the “V” symbol to mark the line, and I use a .9 mm mechanical pencil rather than a carpenter’s pencil. Call me a rebel. I find the .9 mm lead works just fine on most lumber I use for interior projects. However, I do use a carpenter’s pencil and “V” on exterior lumber.
Cut As You Go
Never, ever, EVER cut all of the parts of a project first, then assemble.
Why? No matter how great you think you are in the shop, there is a good chance you will be off just ever so slightly on a cut or measurement.
And, unless you plane all of your lumber to the same exact thickness, you could run into variations in the size of stock you purchase.
This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t follow measurements in project instructions, but you should always measure distances between parts just to make sure, then make adjustments as needed.
Being slightly off on project parts, particularly if you cut several identical parts, can create compounded measurement problems. Just being off 1/16 inch on 4 parts can create a 1/4-inch discrepancy.
In conjunction with this – always factor in the kerf, or thickness of a saw blade, when cutting multiple parts from one board. Kerf can vary between circular blades, but they also are different between band saw blades, jig saw blades, etc.
I always allow for a 1/8-inch kerf between cuts when determining a cut list and cutting diagram – both for rip cuts and cross cuts. This is VERY important because if you don’t factor in that fraction, you could come up short on a project part.
For example, you won’t get two 48-inch parts from on 8-foot (96-inch) board. Subtract the 48 inches, then the kerf, and you’re left with no more than 47 7/8 inches. And, if you are checking your board ends for square, and need to trim them up (which you should do anyway), you’ll have even less stock with which to work.
There are rare exceptions when you’ll wind up with a board that is slightly longer than the listed dimension. I’ve had that happen a few times with outdoor lumber. I’ve also had the opposite happen, where a board was shorter than its listed dimension. It can’t be said enough – measure twice and cut once.
