KC’s Observations on Woodworking
I’m not a fancy woodworker. I enjoy some of the more ‘stylish’ styles, but I don’t like fancy for the sake of being fancy. Maybe that’s why I don’t sell more stuff…
1. Dovetails are nice, but I won’t build a project around ‘em. I’ve never made a hand-cut dovetail. I suppose I should, just so I can say I have, but it’s not where I wanna go. In fact, I’ve only used machine dovetails on a couple of projects, and frankly, I think they’re a PITA. That said, like every other woodworker in the universe, if I see an old piece of furniture somewhere, first thing I do is open up the drawers and see if they used dovetails. We’ve all been trained and now accept as fact that a quality piece has dovetailed drawers, and if they’re handcut…well that just shouts ‘craftsmanship’. Maybe. I figure I can make several different joints for a drawer that can swell up and get stuck just as well a finely crafted dovetailed drawer, and I won’t wake up at 3:00 AM worried about whether I sanded the left side of the top drawer enough. Of course, I don’t want the drawers to fall apart in 3 months, but with the glues available today, I just don’t think the majority of people care about dovetails like our grandparents did.
2. Screws have a place in woodworking. There’re an awful lot of folks who go out of their way to make something entirely out of wood, then puff their chest out and call the rest of us names for using screws. If I was a paying customer, I’d want something metal holding the top of the dining room table to the base, not some kind of wooden gizmo rigged up solely because, ‘I don’t wanna use screws’. I don’t like nails very much, but I hope the guy that invented the wood screw died a wealthy man.
3. Always wipe the glue off while it’s wet! Nah, I just said that to get your attention. I reckon some people might come to blows over the dreaded ‘squeeze out’ question. This is such an obvious example of personal preference that I’m amazed at the discussions that go on and on about the ‘right way’…and nobody will back down. Geez…I’ve done it every way you can do it, and the end result is the same…if you don’t get it all off, it’s going to be ugly. I generally scrape it off after it’s dry.
4. You’ll never get a nice flat, even surface with a belt sander. It might look flat, but wait until you do your finish sanding then look at it with a bit of light. It’s not flat. I’ve never had a scraper, but this is probably the ideal use for one.
5. If you’re using a published plan, follow it! Why in the world would anybody pay for measured drawings, then change things around? Why would anybody decide that step 13c can really be done along with step 7, and step 9 would be easier before step 8? Study the plan in your recliner far away from your woodshop. Study it for several evenings if necessary, until the things you thought you understood the first time don’t make sense anymore. Then go back and read it a couple more times until you haven’t got a clue as to why anything is done the way it’s done. Now you’re ready to gather your materials and start cutting. Follow the plan…the author’s already made the mistakes you’re going to make by simplifying. That’s why you paid him money.
6. You can do a lot of woodworking with crappy tools. Most woodworkers started with ‘hobbyist’ equipment, and worked their way into the tool ‘big leagues’. I’m sure there’re folks out there that started on Unisaws and 12" jointers (in fact, I did…but it wasn’t mine!), but most of us bought what we could afford, and Delta sold a whole lot of 34-670 tablesaws. I’ve still got mine. And my ultra cheap Taiwanese bandsaw that only cuts well when the blade is brand new. And my second Craftsman lathe. For those that don’t know, these are not premier machines. But they will get the job done.
7. You can never have too many clamps. Well, of course you can. What this should say is, ‘No matter how many clamps you have, you’ll need one more of the size you’re out of’. If you’ve been butchering wood for awhile, you should have an idea how many you need. I build a lot of small tables, and glue a lot of scraps into cutting boards, so I’ve got several short pipe clamps…but I almost always need one more. I’ve got plenty of longer ones, but I hate it when I have to use a 48" pipe when 24" will do. And those little spring clamps are quite useful. I pooh-poohed them for a time, but one day they were on sale so I picked up a couple. I’ve got about 20 of ‘em now…very handy. You’ll reach for these much more often than you think!
8. How do you get a point on those square pencils the construction guys use?
9. Why won’t a good old fashioned crank-type pencil sharpener actually sharpen a pencil anymore? It always ends up ‘crooked’.
10. When you 'use up' one of your hook&loop sanding disks, move it over to the lathe…unless you've used it for wet sanding, there's probably a lot of life in it. And the padding is easy on your hands. In other words, it takes longer before you realize it's too late and you’re gonna get burnt. So you'll still burn your fingers, but you'll get more done.