Popular Woodworking 2003-08 № 135, страница 65
done, something unspeakably bad happens. The part is ruined. NEXT TIME: Making replacement parts is easier if you plan for the problem in advance. First, always run out extra stock in all the thicknesses you're using (thickness is the most difficult dimension to reproduce). For the critical parts in a project, always make an extra one. For a table, make an extra leg. For a set of doors, make an extra stile and a couple extra rails. 13. Fasteners Too Long PROBLEM: One of us (who shall remain nameless) once nailed a project to his father's bench with a pneumatic nailer. The nails were too long. Nails and screws that emerge where they are not supposed to emerge is sadly common. With screws this happens when you countersink too deep or the clutch is set too high on your cordless drill. NEXT TIME: You can measure your fasteners and keep them organized to avoid this problem, but we have a better solution. Before you fire a nail or drive a screw, hold it up to the work. Fasteners should be twice as long (or a hair less) as the material they're passing through. For example, when joining 3/4" material, use 11/4"- to 11/2"-long screws. When driving screws, always measure your countersinks and start with a low clutch setting. 14. The Color of Your Finish Isn't What You Expected PROBLEM: Surprise surprise, the stain color on your project looks nothing like the stain color on the can (or in your head). NEXT TIME: Good finishing requires making a sample board beforehand. As you are sanding or planing the parts of your project, take one of your extra boards and sand or plane them the same way. This means sanding them using the same equipment, the same amount of pressure and for the same amount of time. Use this as your sample board. Stain the board and add your topcoat finish of choice. Then take your sample board into the room where the project will be When we added the glaze to this cherry table it started to look like red oak.A sample board would have saved us the time spent removing the glaze. Hold your pencil at this low angle and use a light touch when marking pieces (not joinery).This will keep you from denting the wood. located. Daylight, florescent and lamp light all make stain colors look different. QUICK FIX: Get out the can of stripper or the appropriate solvent. You'll never be happy with a bad-looking finish. 15. When You Glue Up a Panel the Edges Don't Close PROBLEM: You joint the edges of the boards you are planning to glue into a panel but there are gaps between the boards' edges. You check the jointer's fence and it reads 90° to the bed. NEXT TIME: Even if your square says the fence is at 90°, it might be a little off at other places on the fence. Or your square is off. Either way, there's an easy way to fix the problem: geometry. Use the power of complementary angles to make perfect tabletops. For every joint in the table-top, mark one board to edge-joint with its face against the fence, then joint its mate with the face facing away from the jointer's fence. Even if your jointer is off by some whopping degree, the two angles will cancel each other out and result in a tight fit. QUICK FIX: If you glued up the panel, rip it apart along the joint lines and start over. 16. More Panel Problems: The Boards Slip at Glue-up PROBLEM: You're gluing up a table-top. As you apply clamping pressure, the boards slip up and down and refuse to line up. NEXT TIME: To avoid the problem in the future, consider using dowels, splines or biscuits to line up the boards during critical glue-ups (though they will not add any strength to the joint). Clamp only until the joint closes - no further. Most woodworkers use far too much pressure when clamping. And the pipe in pipe clamps tends to bend under pressure, which also can push the boards out of alignment. QUICK FIX: If you're in the middle of a glue-up, grab handscrew clamps and clamp them across the joints at each end of the panel. Then apply pressure with your bar clamps. PW Have we missed some of the dumbest mistakes? E-mail your mistakes to chris.schwarz@fwpubs.com and it might appear in a future issue. www.popwood.com 63 |
