Woodworking

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

My planer is max 12 inch and after gluing you end up with 16, 20 and 24 inch wide pieces. I hand block planed the first one after gluing but this new Belt sander with 40 does a better job and grabs the dust real well.

That's really what's kept me from doing any kind of involved hardwood work.

I'm just not good at 'merging' stock. I'm sure it has a name, but when it's time to glue some 2x6s together to form a table-top and then smooth it all out to give it a finished look, I always end up with something with too many high spots or grooves or just an otherwise sloppy look.

Part of the problem is a lack of good bar clamps. Jet makes the top of the line ones and on Black Friday you can find the rare discount on them, but man alive they're expensive. So I make due with mediocre pipe clamps and they just don't hold the pieces together well enough. My planer's a 12 inch Porter Cable and it's a nice machine but I was an idiot and ran a piece with nails in it through there without realizing it and took chunks out of my blades so invariably, when I need it, it's not an option. I guess I could just loosen and offset the blades to cover for the chunks but again, lazy and stupid.

So I'm pretty much incapable of anything approaching furniture grade at this point because anything with a top on it or even a wide side either requires that I buy ridiculously expensive wide stock or somehow affix a plywood (see: shitty) top.

It's like golf and hitting a baseball - I know what I should do, I just don't seem to be able to actually do it.

As for dust collection, I'm kicking myself for not integrating a downdraft table into my bench. Those are miracle workers for sanding. I think I'm going to try a 'hinged' one with legs I can flip down to use and then hook into my dust collection ducts when in use. But again, that goes on the list behind 5 different projects for my daughter that haven't been made in a year, which is to say it will never actually get done.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

That's really what's kept me from doing any kind of involved hardwood work.

I'm just not good at 'merging' stock. I'm sure it has a name, but when it's time to glue some 2x6s together to form a table-top and then smooth it all out to give it a finished look, I always end up with something with too many high spots or grooves or just an otherwise sloppy look.

Part of the problem is a lack of good bar clamps. Jet makes the top of the line ones and on Black Friday you can find the rare discount on them, but man alive they're expensive. So I make due with mediocre pipe clamps and they just don't hold the pieces together well enough. My planer's a 12 inch Porter Cable and it's a nice machine but I was an idiot and ran a piece with nails in it through there without realizing it and took chunks out of my blades so invariably, when I need it, it's not an option. I guess I could just loosen and offset the blades to cover for the chunks but again, lazy and stupid.

.

Do you use biscuits or dowels when merging the stock? I bought a dowel jig and use three spaced evenly and it seems to do the trick. I bought some pretty good long clamps, two 24s and two 36s that have been great. Believe it or not, Walmart has a pretty good little clamp for the small stuff for about three dollars and I have about a dozen of those. I will end up with 10 or so clamps on a piece once it is glued up. Here is a picture with a few clamps on but many more were put on.

My planer is a Dewalt and it says the blades can be reversed. I haven't had to do it yet but the white oak is sure making me think about it.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

Do you use biscuits or dowels when merging the stock? I bought a dowel jig and use three spaced evenly and it seems to do the trick. I bought some pretty good long clamps, two 24s and two 36s that have been great. Believe it or not, Walmart has a pretty good little clamp for the small stuff for about three dollars and I have about a dozen of those. I will end up with 10 or so clamps on a piece once it is glued up. Here is a picture with a few clamps on but many more were put on.

My planer is a Dewalt and it says the blades can be reversed. I haven't had to do it yet but the white oak is sure making me think about it.

Dowels but I don't have a jig or anything; I put them on the press and put a stop in there for depth.

I should just spend a few bucks on a biscuit joiner; I've used one a handful of times and have always been impressed by the results.

Your clamp pattern is useful there, as is the idea of using scrap to form an 'edge' on the ends. I try to do something similar but it's more scattershot. I should probably just get more pipe clamps so I can get a better hold. I don't have a good reason not to; my new bench has a 4x6 work surface so I have plenty of room to operate, especially as my table saw has a nice extension table and my assembly table is my outfeed table so I can 'borrow' space from the cast-iron top on the saw or even the extension table as needed.

I have far more shop/tool than I have the skill for is the bottom line and all I can do to address that is keep failing forward. I was looking to make some mobile tool tables (want to build a new rolling table with folding sides for my slider, for instance) and my buddy just looks at me like I'm an idiot and says "guys with 800 sq foot workshops don't need mobile tools; design your space better".

Oh.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by bogey

Love this thread. Thanks for starting it! I had a nice little wood shop for several years. Used to make furniture as a hobby. Love thewoodwhisperer website!

Do you have any pictures of the furniture you made? I will check out that site, thanks.

Originally Posted by notorious

You basically water popped the grain.

150 grit is more than enough for most woods. If you want to get Maple or Hickory to stain dark, a mixture of 50/50 denatured alcohol and water will do the trick. Mix it, spray it on (after sanding), and it should be dry in 1/2 hour and ready for stain.

Water popping before stain will allow it to penetrate across the entire board instead of just the grain. Put a heavy sealer and a couple coats of good finish (I use only floor finish, obviously) and you will have a perfectly smooth finished piece that is well protected.

I usually don't like to pop oak too hard because the grain is so open. I usually mix more alcohol in to minimize opening up the grain too much. If you open the grain too much you will get what's called bleedback and the product will look like shit.

I am confused as to what you mean about water popping the wood? The quote you quoted of me I had already put the polyurethane on and had used the 400.600 then 1000 prior to buffing it out. Kind of like color sanding and buffing out the paint on a car.

The white oak I bought is hard as heck and very tight compared to the cedar. The last real woodwork I have done was over 50 years ago in school and it was all mahogany.

Thanks for your input.

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Dowels but I don't have a jig or anything; I put them on the press and put a stop in there for depth.

I should just spend a few bucks on a biscuit joiner; I've used one a handful of times and have always been impressed by the results.

Your clamp pattern is useful there, as is the idea of using scrap to form an 'edge' on the ends. I try to do something similar but it's more scattershot. I should probably just get more pipe clamps so I can get a better hold. I don't have a good reason not to; my new bench has a 4x6 work surface so I have plenty of room to operate, especially as my table saw has a nice extension table and my assembly table is my outfeed table so I can 'borrow' space from the cast-iron top on the saw or even the extension table as needed.

I have far more shop/tool than I have the skill for is the bottom line and all I can do to address that is keep failing forward. I was looking to make some mobile tool tables (want to build a new rolling table with folding sides for my slider, for instance) and my buddy just looks at me like I'm an idiot and says "guys with 800 sq foot workshops don't need mobile tools; design your space better".

Oh.

You can work on your bench? WTF? Mine is always cluttered with the stuff I am working with.

What is the advantage of a biscuit over a dowel? They seem to have a following. The dowel jig I bought was only about $20 and is complete with bits/collars/adaptors for 1/4-5/16 and 3/8 dowels. I have used a bunch of 3/8.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

You can work on your bench? WTF? Mine is always cluttered with the stuff I am working with.

What is the advantage of a biscuit over a dowel? They seem to have a following. The dowel jig I bought was only about $20 and is complete with bits/collars/adaptors for 1/4-5/16 and 3/8 dowels. I have used a bunch of 3/8.

My bench is in the center(ish) of the shop; pure assembly table. I have a conventional 3x14ish workbench run along the back wall where I have my cabinets, pegboards, etc.... That's what tends to turn into a cluster.

The assembly table stays fairly clean, especially with the drawers and cabinets I built into it; lots of storage space so I can just toss things in a drawer to keep them out of the way.

I don't know what the advantage would be but I suspect there's a little more give there; biscuits don't have to be razor precise to provide solid alignment; the taper and roundness allows for a little play there.

Probably just a margin for error thing. And a 'jig vs. joiner' thing; the joiners really are quick; line the tab in the center of the fence with your mark, push in once, move onto the next mark.

EDIT: Rockler's take on it -- http://www.rockler.com/how-to/doweli...iscuit-joints/

[HemiEd]

That is an interesting article. I am mainly using the dowels for alignment and they seem to be pretty good at that. Like they said, the initial investment is less.

When gluing five boards up it can take a while! It is brutal on that white oak compared to the cedar.

Oh and I was just kidding on the bench thing, but it is a constant battle for sure. Sounds like you are set up well.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

That is an interesting article. I am mainly using the dowels for alignment and they seem to be pretty good at that. Like they said, the initial investment is less.

When gluing five boards up it can take a while! It is brutal on that white oak compared to the cedar.

I figure a $70 harbor freight special will do the job in the near term if I get a joiner. A solid jig is in the 20-30 range and the joiner is another power tool so that's always fun. For just a few bucks more, it seems like you'd make back some of the expense in raw efficiency.

I'm going to build a little kitchen helper for the 3 year old in the near future (yeah, right) and I'm going to use knock down joinery with dowels for added stability against twisting. Shouldn't be terribly complicated when all is said and done.

[notorious]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

Do you have any pictures of the furniture you made? I will check out that site, thanks.

I am confused as to what you mean about water popping the wood? The quote you quoted of me I had already put the polyurethane on and had used the 400.600 then 1000 prior to buffing it out. Kind of like color sanding and buffing out the paint on a car.

The white oak I bought is hard as heck and very tight compared to the cedar. The last real woodwork I have done was over 50 years ago in school and it was all mahogany.

Thanks for your input.



You can work on your bench? WTF? Mine is always cluttered with the stuff I am working with.

What is the advantage of a biscuit over a dowel? They seem to have a following. The dowel jig I bought was only about $20 and is complete with bits/collars/adaptors for 1/4-5/16 and 3/8 dowels. I have used a bunch of 3/8.

Oh, the way I read it is that you were wetsanding the wood before stain, which wouldn't make any sense but I didn't want to be an asshole.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by notorious

Oh, the way I read it is that you were wetsanding the wood before stain, which wouldn't make any sense but I didn't want to be an asshole.

Yeah, that would be kind of silly, sorry for being so unclear. I even give the thinner wipe extra time to dry before finish.

I actually don't really like to use stain at all and prefer the natural color.

I am going to play around with some staining on this white oak though just to see how it comes out.

[notorious]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

Yeah, that would be kind of silly, sorry for being so unclear. I even give the thinner wipe extra time to dry before finish.

I actually don't really like to use stain at all and prefer the natural color.

I am going to play around with some staining on this white oak though just to see how it comes out.

I just finished 2 white oak floors today! One has Special Walnut stain and the other is Early American.

I like white oak better than red. For one, the grain is usually a little tighter, two, the color is is more of a neutral brown instead of a redish color to start.


Little known fact: Most prefinished oak floor is white oak, not red even though red is a lot more popular for everything else.