They say there are no shortcuts to success but when it comes to woodworking, there are. To be on top of your woodworking projects, you must strike a balance between hard work and hacks. You will find little tricks along the way that become a part of your trade and become a standard for your work. These tips and tricks can help you save time, make your work easier, and be more efficient.
We have shared some woodworking tips below to make your life easier so that you can enjoy your projects more.
MAKE A STICK
Accurate measurements are critical to any successful woodworking project. It can also become monotonous if you take the same measurements over and over again. To avoid taking the same measurements, again and again, you can make a story stick.
A story stick can be made from any scrap wood and is a measurement reference. It saves time and effort by serving as a layout tool in repeated work. It can be used to get multiple accurate measurements without the need for a tape measure. You can also use it to guide drilling consistent holes into multiple planks.
MARK DEPTH
Every hole you drill doesnt need to be all the way through the material. Sometimes you need a specific depth for your screws, and for that, you need to drill carefully. While you can guess at drilling a single hole, drilling multiple holes with the same depth is more difficult.
You can do this by using a drill press to set up stops. However, it is not the best tool for the job. A more accessible and efficient way of drilling accurate holes is making a depth marker on the drill bit using a piece of tape. When the tape is reached, the drill bit will stop drilling. In the end, youll have equally drilled holes.
GET RID OF GLUE
Woodworking projects are nearly impossible without glue. Although applying glue is easy and quick, it can be messy and difficult to clean up.
If youre dealing with glue squeeze-out, mix a little sawdust with the glue and rub it around. You can easily get rid of excess glue by using the sawdust.
Rub your hands together if glue is sticking to your hands. As long as the glue is wet or damp, it will flake off easily.
CENTRALIZE DOWEL HOLLES
It may seem like a trivial job, but making a centered hole in a dowel is pretty tricky. If you follow these steps though, youll never drill off-center again:
- Use a drill bit that is the same size as your dowel.
- Take a scrap piece of wood and make a cut down the center of it.
- Center the drill bit on the kerf line (the cut you made).
- Lock the arbor, set the fence, and add a stop block.
- You should drill all the way through the wood piece.
- Replace the drill bit with a smaller one for the dowel hole.
- Place the dowel inside the hole in the wooden piece.
- Clamp the gap and drill down the center.
GET RID OF SAWDUST
Where there is woodwork, there is sawdust. But having a portable air compressor makes it super easy to clean up sawdust. Attach it to your vacuum cleaner and it will collect everything, making your workspace spotless.
CONCLUSION
Woodworking is an exciting job. It doesn’t hurt to have a few tricks in your arsenal. These little hacks make your job less time-consuming and more rewarding. These little tricks reduce repetition, speed up cleanup, and allow you to complete more projects in a shorter time.
