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Joinery or Carpentry is a highly
skilled profession often requiring inventiveness. At the DIY level,
although you won't require the usually large arsenal of tools
carried by joiners, you will need the basic kit comprising claw
hammer, tape measure, panel saw, a drill etc. My father was an
engineer and offered the following good advice: "Measure twice and
cut once". This has saved my bacon on more than one occasion. Some
other pearls follow.
- If your saw is struggling to cut a piece of wood and it's
taking more effort than usual, rubbing a wax candle down both sides
of the saw will help by creating glide and reducing friction.
You can also use soap but this doesn't last as long.
- If you've made a hole that needs filling in, take some
sawdust from the same wood and mix it with PVA and fill the hole
with the resulting paste leaving it proud of the surface. When it's set, you can sand it down
leaving it almost invisible.
- Always cut on the waste side of a pencil line.
- A small pilot hole in hardwood before nailing or screwing
will reduce the chance of splitting.
- Allow tongue and groove flooring to dry out as long as
possible (the longer the better - several weeks if the job
allows it) at room temperature before fixing, as later shrinkage
will be visible.
- Keep all tools sharp as this makes the work easier and safe.
Buy the best tools that you can afford. The old saying that "a
bad workman always blames his tools" is not strictly true. What
if his tools are really rubbish.
- A great little book I came across called The Carpenter's
Metric Roofing Ready Reckoner by W. E. Gray. ISBN088442 0045
first published in 1972 and reprinted in 2005. The first non
metric edition was printed in 1948. This book calculates all the
roof timbers lengths and angles and demonstrates how to use a
roofer's square which to most tradesmen is a mystery.
- Try and secure any timber in a Black and Decker Workmate or
similar as this leaves both hands and feet free. If you don't
have a Workmate, you can always knock up a saw board like the
one below and place it on a saw bench or table.
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