Every beginner needs to hear this

the internet is littered with tips and tricks for beginner Woodworkers but like most of the online World a good portion is utter nonsense So today we're playing a little game of fact or fiction pocket holes aren't strong enough to build Furniture perfect example a couple nights ago this post was made in a woodworking Facebook group and the person was asking for advice on how to prevent wood from splitting while using pocket scars to fasten some 2 by tws together I believe he was making his first nightstand or something so instead of helping him answer that question over 75% of the responses were people telling them to use Morse and Tenon if we can't do that DS because it will be much stronger imagine you're a beginner woodworker trying to slap together some 2 by tws to complete your first project and someone is lecturing you about mortise and Tenon now let's just push that absurdity to the side for a moment we're going to discuss the strength now I'm about to talk out of both sides of my mouth while simultaneously praising and then ragging on my two friends Scott and suan they both love to publish videos on their YouTube channels testing the strength of wood joints and Scott recently broke a bunch of joints with pocket screws and it took an average of 88 lbs of force to make the joint fail 88 lb and when he added glue to the Joint it was over 170 lb now comes the part where I rag on them who the hell is building this and calling it a day we build boxes coffee tables American flag noodle boards not shitty boomerangs imagine what you would need to do to exert that much force on an actual piece of furniture that isn't a de facto lever actually why leave it to your imagination my 6-year-old kids helped me whip together this side table and then I'll let the guys from my hockey team have at it and yes we are pretty bad at hockey but great at drinking beer after the games however the table is still intact the reality is unless you're building something to sit on or ride screws or glue or a combination of both is more than strong enough for most builds and it's why I find all these joint tests interesting but at the same time essentially irrelevant if you're looking to get going in woodworking start making Furniture my media cabinet is made from just glue and wood and like most Furniture this is the most Force it's subjected to every day ignore those cranky Gatekeepers because this tip is 100% fiction that was satisfying one brand of battery operated tools is far superior to another when most beginners are getting ready to build out their tool collection the first purchase are generally battery operated drills drivers circular saws and routers but if you go to the internet to help make an informed decision one person will tell you to buy Milwaukee and then next screens to the top of their lungs for Ryobi it's a bit like debating politics and they just become further entrenched in their own viewpoints now all that is to say the average person is not going to notice a major difference between a rigid Makita or DeWalt drill they all work so pick a battery platform color that you like and then just run with it what I do recommend men is checking out their secondary tier of tools outside of woodworking I chose Makita when a friend recommended their electric weed whacker and now I'm a Makita guy for life because I love blue and weed whackers hobbywood workers simply don't put enough hours on tools to really wear them out and I assure you the first person to tell you that your Ryobi Circular Saw is going to break is the same person that worries about towing capacity in their pickup truck but only drives it to and from soccer practice we can file this advice as 100% fiction if you don't alternate growth rings your panel will not stay flat man this is a fun one and if you're unfamiliar with this advice here is the crash course trees have growth rings which is what you see on the end grains of your wood and depending on how boards are cut from logs the orientation of those growth rings relative to the face changes the cheapest and fastest way to Mill up a log is called flats on and this results in engrain that looks like a sad or a happy face depending on which way you hold it when the wood dries and shrinks after it's milled the natural tendencies is for the wood to cup in the opposite direction of said growth rings away from the center of the tree those Rings just want to lay flat this is where the idea that alternating happy and sad faces comes into play if board one wants the cup up towards the ceiling and then board two wants to cup towards the floor they effectively cancel themselves out and as the experts often like to remind you if you ignore this tip your panel will not might will cup and it's often sacrificing the best looking piece for this supposed stability and yet I've come across plenty of antique furniture without alternating rings that is nice and flat and conversely alternated tops that are cup because like most things in woodworking there are other factors to consider for instance if you go to Home Depot and you buy a bunch of 2x6s then glue them together to make a tabletop it will likely not stay flat no matter what you do with the growth rings because the wood isn't fully dry yet so you're choosing between a U or a washboard instead you should be using wood that you know has been properly killing or air dried for the right amount of time which is a rabbit hole of a topic and I'll leave a link below to a video that covers it in full detail another major factor is the joinery methods you will use for a project rails and styles for solid wood doors traditional aprons and breadboard ends for tables are all different techniques that are used to keep panel glow-ups flat over time moisture exposure also plays a big role in this equation last week I glued up two panels from the same boards one I alternated and the other I didn't and after the glue up they were nice and flat and I spritzed one side of both pieces with a healthy dose of water and I left them face down on my bench overnight and here are the results they both cued because wood is always moving but it gets truly unhappy when opposing faces are exposed to different conditions this was obviously an extreme case and not a perfect example but the point I'm trying to make is the same thing can happen to whatever project You're Building if you don't apply finish to the bottom because over time it will be exposed to more humidity than the top and if it wants the cup no amount of alternating Rings will save you this is one of those tips that just gets passed around as gospel and I have no doubts it was much more relevant 150 years ago when Furniture was stored in homes that weren't properly sealed and didn't have modern HVAC units to maintain a consistent humidity and there are still instances when I abide by this rule like when I'm making a thinner panel that won't be supported however for the most part if you use Lumber that's been properly dried with correct joinery and your piece is equally finished all over it's really not a major concern so put your best looking boards face up and have a blast reading the inevitable comments on this video telling me I'm an idiot because they've been woodworking for 35 years and always alternate growth rings enjoy use wood glue and sawdust to fix mistakes in your projects it doesn't matter what your skill level is projects are going to go sideways gaps in between between boards joints that don't close up or nature winds and you're stuck with wood that has a bunch of knot holes the most common advice is to create a mixture of sawdust and glue to fill in those boo boos even easier you can just dab glue on the workpiece and unhook the dust collection to your sander and have at it but does this work yes and no and let me explain there is no doubt you can fill those spots with the wood glue and sawdust tricked and it's likely they look great right after sanding however what's often glossed over when people demonstrate this online is what the repair looks like once a finish is applied and well some sometimes may be good sometimes may be on large gaps that are in plain site I would try and stay away from this technique instead of trying to hide your mistake you can use CA glue or epoxy which will stand out but it's going to look more like a natural crack in the wood and I would apply the same logic to knot holes or voids that bugs can leave behind in the trees sometimes it's better to accentuate than it is to try and cover something up or you can get cre cretive like I did on a table a couple years back after drilling through the top accidentally and I used a knot from an offcut that was shaped to fit into the hole and I filled the remaining gaps with epoxy and it looks all natural still to this day where the sawdust and wood glue trick works wonders is on very small gaps along joints especially on darker color Woods like my media cabinet we saw earlier because the glue does darken a significant amount with finish on it it tends to not look out of place along these joint lines so let's say this tip is about 50% fact 50% fiction it all depends when and where you use it don't go overboard all right let's change things up I'm feeling a little spontaneous let's go for a bonus sanding tip before we get to the main event you ever heard of this one to help keep track of your sanding progress what you want to do is scribble all over your board and the idea is that once you've sanded that area enough the lines will disappear and then you can move on obviously once all the lines are done you move up to to your next grit but does this actually work it sure does however make sure you're using a nice thick pencil especially on something with an open grain like this Oak and the reason for that is Tiny mechanical pencils can dip down into the Grain and then now you have Mars below the surface and the only way to get those out there is by sanding a dividend into the spot which totally defeats the entire premise of this trick to begin with so overall this is 100% fact something I do on every project and something that will help you get better finished results measure twice cut at once perhaps the most ubiquitous advice out there it's even become the wood shop Decor equivalent to live love laugh signs however is it actually good in practice now the idea of double-checking your measurements and then chopping away is no doubt sound I can't dispute that but let me propose a couple scenarios where I think there are better methods I was recently building some floating shelves and I needed to cut pieces to match this internal dimension of the Shelf beginner John would have measured it maybe twice but probably not set my table saw fence and started cutting the actual wood I was going to use instead I used a scrap piece of wood and took multiple cuts nudging the fence over each time until it was exactly what I needed it's possible I could have nailed it the first time but highly unlikely and the results would have been pieces that were too small and I'm left with a big headache let's take a look at an even more common occurrence Sam trying to perfectly fit a board in between these pieces now instead of taking a tape measure saying it out loud transferring the line onto your workpiece and then going back and double or triple checking that you said 11/16th and not 1/16th place the board down in between and simply draw a mark with your pencil this is referred to as a referential measurement but do not just go to your saw of choice and cut right on that line just like we discussed in scenario number one sneak up on it and test fit each time you will waste less wood this way and save yourself time in the long run I promise you these are painful lessons to learn otherwise so measure twice cut on great for cheesy shop signs mostly fiction when building Furniture if you want to see more helpful woodworking tips check out these videos we'll see you

Channel: Lincoln St. Woodworks

Views: 978,228

Keywords: woodworking tips, woodworking tips and tricks, woodworking tricks, woodworking for beginners, wood working, workshop tips, woodworking tools

Id: r0sIss-QR0I

Length: 11min 10sec (670 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 11 2024