Tricks of the Trade
-
Time Saving Picture Frames
I used pre-finished flooring to make a couple of shadow box style display frames.
-
Shower Curtain Finishing
One of my favorite materials for covering tables benches, etc. for finishing or gluing is a vinyl shower curtain.
-
Filling in the Cracks
I was fortunate enough to come by a few pieces of a very special bodock tree and turned it into a peppermill.
-
Aluminum Foil Glue Protection
When you use steel clamps to hold wood components together and the clamp face is wetted by the glue, it sometimes leaves a black discoloration on the wood surface.
-
Smoother Nail Hole Fillings
What to do when filling in nail holes or other imperfections where wood filler WILL stick out after finishing.
-
Installing Straighter Shelves
When I install fixed shelves in an open cabinet such as a bookcase, I often use use biscuits, but until I used this little trick, I had difficulty getting them aligned perfectly with the face frame rails.
-
Epoxy Hole Fillers
Often times I have wood with a crack, knot or hole (worm wood) and I fill it using 5 minute epoxy.
-
Clean Surface for Glue-Ups
I glue every day in my shop, the best way I have found is to use Melamine counter tops and flat stock PVC for setting your glue-ups on.
-
Better End Grain Stains
End grain will always stain darker than the rest of the piece because end grain absorbs more of a pigmented stain.
-
Acrylic Clamp Pads
I keep a few scrap pieces of acrylic about 2×2 and 3×3 size in my shop.
