Woodworking Tips

I recently found this instructable: http://www.instructables.com/id/10-Woodworking-Tricks-the-Pros-Use/

One of the tips is to keep sandpaper in a filing system, and I remember the sandpaper system that we currently have (like a mini cubby thing) was annoying to use because there weren’t enough slots for all the different grits and there was no labeling and so much of the paper wasn’t well organized. So I think that implementing such a filing system (for the sheets at least since the bands wouldn’t fit well) would be very helpful.

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There’s some great tips in there.

I learned long ago to put an “X” in the waste side of my cut whenever I mark something. It’s become pretty much a habit now and something I do every time I mark a cut. Has saved me lots of frustration.

The other thing I’ve been trying to retrain myself to do is when I’m using a square or something to mark a line to put the pencil on the line and then slide the square up to it. That way the thickness of the pencil is already accounted for when striking the line.

You can accomplish the same thing as the hot glue clamping trick with some 2p-10 (super glue) and activator. Use a couple of dots of 2p-10 between your wood glue and it sticks instantly and provides a clamp while the wood glue dries. Awesome. There’s 2P-10 in the white cabinet in the metals area if anyone needs it.

We tried the filing system idea (kinda) with sandpaper for a while. With so many people getting into it and adding sandpaper that they brought in it just never seemed to stay organized. Plus you can’t see what we’re out of unless you go through every file. Maybe we just need to add another mailbox cubby to our current system so we have enough room. I know there’s another one by the garage door that isn’t being used that could happily find a new home.