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A Guide to Woodworking Plans

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Woodworking plans are an essential component of any project. Wood working patterns and scroll saw patterns are needed to plan a project and create accents in your piece. Good plans give step by step instructions, diagrams and illustrations to guide you through from start to finish. You can buy plans, find them for free on the internet or make your own plan.

Finding Woodworking Plans

Free woodworking patterns can be found on the internet. Many are free, but others need to be purchased. You can search for general plans or for specific projects. Patterns are available for everything from a simple box or bird feeder to elaborate furniture projects. Several websites offer plans for making children’s toys and decorative items. Enter the project you are looking for in your favorite search engine or just enter free woodworking plans.

There are books available that are devoted to wood working patterns. You can find these at book stores, on the internet or in your local library. Often, woodworking magazines will contain plans for a wide variety of projects. Purchase a few of these at your local news stand. After you have found one you like best, you may decide to subscribe and receive new plans month after month.

If you are new to woodworking, it’s best to start of with a simple pattern. This will help you learn to read and follow the plans. As your skills increase, you can move on to more difficult projects. Start off with a simple toy or bird feeder before attempting to make a dining room set. Look for detailed and thorough plans to help you create your project.

Good plans include detailed instructions. The instructions should take you step by step through the entire project. Look for plans that have detailed diagrams as well as illustrations of the project at each stage. Print out your plans and keep them in a binder. This will help keep you organized and prevent pages from getting lost or damaged.

You can follow the plan step by step or you may decide to make a few changes to the plan. Changing a few details is a great way to make a generic plan more personal and original. For example, you can change certain designs or accent pieces and give the project a whole new look. Another option is to paint the finished product, rather than staining.

Creating Woodworking Plans

Once you become more experienced, you may decide to try to create your own plan. Start by sketching how you want the finished product to look. The first sketch doesn’t need to be too technical or detailed. You will add the details and dimensions later. Once you have made your original sketch, determine the dimensions of the total finished product.

Determine what type of wood you will use in your project and how much wood you will need. It’s important to use accurate measurements when ordering the wood to avoid running out before the project is finished. Determine what other materials you will need to complete the project. This will help you estimate the total cost.

Create a detailed list of all materials needed and the quantity of each material. Include items such as paint, stain or polyurethane. Consider the tools that will be needed to complete the project. Do you have all that you need? With this information, you can then determine the overall cost. Take this list with you when you go out to purchase supplies.

You will then draw a more detailed sketch of your design. Create diagrams like those found in woodworking plans on the internet. Draw each stage of the process in detail. Write out detailed instructions that will take you step by step through the project. This will help you stay organized and ensure that you don’t skip any essential steps along the way.

Selling Woodworking On Ebay

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Creating your own products to sell online is definitely a unique way to be your own supplier. A lot of people really love to buy unique items that cater to craftsmanship. If you have good skills you can do well.

Traditionally when you think of wooden items that are for sale, you think of the traditional items you see at crafts sales. It used to be that spice racks, paper towel holders and picture frames were the most common item. This has always bothered me since they are such basic and mundane items that don’t really cater to the skills of real craftsman. Even in my 11th grade shop class when most guys were making sconces, I wanted to make something practical. So I built a cabinet to house my stereo. To me this made sense. I bought the wood for $11 and ended up with something that we used in our home for years. This is how buyers think as well, give them something they can use and that they cannot regularly find in a typical department store.

Target Audience

Think of who your target audience is when thinking of a product to make. Large target audiences give you a better chance of selling your product on a regular basis. The typical woodworking items discussed above are often purchased by an “older” target audience. The problem is, they are not a large user of the internet shopping portals. This group is changing and starting to access shopping online, but start out with a better chance to make consistent sales.

Another idea to keep in mind is to do your research. Take the time to look through the completed items portion of EBay. You can find out a lot about what items sell by looking at auctions that already closed and sold their items. You can do this several ways including accessing the “what’s hot” section of EBay, (go to sitemap at top of page and then scroll down half way down in the middle of the screen) I have found that unusual items sell the best.

Think about this, table legs. Table legs that are handmade and unique, sell very well. Don’t take my word for it, do your research. A lot of woodworkers come online to buy a part of a project they cannot make themselves. Most table legs require the use of a lathe to make them. A lot of shops don’t have a lathe in their arsenal. Woodworkers tend to stock their shops with a limited budget with the die hard basic tools. You can also use a legacy ornamental mill to make some excellent table legs that will fetch high prices. Most people will wince at the thought of spending the bigger dollars to get the mill. However you can make some items on it that you cannot get or make anywhere else. I call these short cut tools. They make killer projects but cost premium dollars. The extra dollars can be justified quite easily by making more sales and the tools area tax write off, if you structure your business. I use woodworking shows to get great ideas on what to market. The vendors are eager to help you figure out a unique product that you can make with their tool. Again the key is to think outside the box.

Safety In Woodworking

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Woodworking involves the regular and intensive use of tools; tools that could cut, drill or scrape something else instead of the wood. To be sure that that something else does not happen to one of your digits or maybe even your entire hand or arm, it is prudent for you to proactively practice some common sense safety precautions so that your woodworking task becomes an enjoyable experience. Below are some of these tips:

• Woodworking and alcohol do not mix. Just like driving, woodworking demands your undivided attention. Remember that you are handling mostly power tools with blades, teeth, drill bits, and other similar sharp devices. Alcohol dulls the senses and takes away the focus that you need when handling potentially hazardous equipment. If you must drink, then do not do any woodworking.

• Dream it, then Do it. Recall that you are working with wood and that whatever you do with it, will result in an irrevocable change. For example, if you mistakenly cut off one of the fingers of a wooden sculpture, then there is nothing more that you can do with that which has been severed. It makes sense for you, therefore, to imagine the steps you will take prior to taking them. This lowers the risk of any possible accidents, too, because in your mind you have already run the procedure and have determined that it is safe.

• At the first sign of doubt or uncertainty, stop! Do not proceed with that cut, hole, or wood shaving if you have even the slightest doubt about it. When in doubt, do not proceed. It is always better to err on the side of conservatism rather than move forward aggressively only to run into several “oops” moments followed by expletives and other non-printables.

• Wear what is right. When you enter your woodworking workshop, you are entering a potentially dangerous area. Even if you are very careful, accidents may, and do, occur. When this inevitable event happens, then you need to be wearing protective clothing. Goggles, leather aprons, gloves, ear protectors, and the like are examples of the gear you need to wear to avoid becoming a statistic in the woodworking workshop.

• Let your tools rest. No matter how much of a beating your tools are touted to withstand, it makes really good sense if these tools are given time to rest. Remember that steel, just like people, get tired and stressed, too.

• Let your workshop breathe! Maintain proper ventilation in your workshop. If your workshop has windows, keep them open. If there are no windows, then install an exhaust system to let out those dangerous and flammable fumes coming from such chemicals as paint, thinner, varnish, etc.

By following some really simple safety rules, you will be able to enjoy the experience of woodworking and, at the same time, avoid any possible accidents that might inevitably occur in the course of your activity. All the tips mentioned above can actually be summarized in one statement on safety: Use your common sense.

Refinishing: How To Bring Your Woodwork Back To Life

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What is woodworking? It is the art of creating fashionable and exquisite furniture. It can be associated with joinery, cabinet-making, carpentry or anything else related to wood. Woodworking requires instruments to mark measure and create the good fashionably and to know the tactics to refinish it.

The aim of refinishing is to use different methods like scratching, shaping and chiseling to bring out the natural grain and lines of the wood adding to its beauty. Due to the methods used for refinishing, the wood is damage so you have to keep in mind few points before undertaking this job.

The method of refinishing requires scratching the wood with either severe force or chemical agents. It is therefore essential you use those methods, which are unharmful for both the wood and your hands. It is better to try out your refinishing method on a scrap wood first to avoid incurring any unchangeable damage to your woodwork. Chemical strippers can make old wood coatings to soften down and prevent harmful lead paint dust from flying in the air where you are working. Therefore, it is much safer than manual strippers are.

Use the citrus-based chemical strippers. Though they work slower than ethylene-chloride ones their odor in not toll taking on the lungs and stays longer without drying up.

Try using carbide stripped two handled scrappers of paint because their replacement is not so expensive and remains sharp for a longer period.

Your work ends with the usage of a steel wool, which removes the adhesives and leftover materials from the wood. Use it after you scrap the wood and apply chemicals to it. Remember keep your steel wools in metal cans and not near direct flames.

Whichever method you choose to refinish your woodwork, be it by force or chemicals and molecules, does it gently. Lot of skill and artistry is involved in woodworking so refinish it without damaging it.

Purchase Or Make Woodworking Jigs

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Woodworking jigs are an essential part of any woodworking shop. They are great for repetitive tasks in many projects and make the more difficult much easier and faster to complete. Jigs are not expensive, but making them from scrap wood is even cheaper. There are a variety of jigs available, and the type you need depends on the projects you like to do.

Dovetail jigs help make dovetail joints accurately and can be purchased fairly inexpensively. Of course, you can make your own dovetail jig. Templates are available on the internet or in most stores selling woodworking supplies. If you plan to make your own jigs, you will want to pick up a dovetail saw or a dovetail bit for your router. Many templates allow you to make up to twelve different sizes of jigs. Templates also allow you to make a variety of spaced or fixed dovetails for a wide range of products, such as cabinets and drawers. Some kits come with bits and templates which can save you money as compared to purchasing them separately.

Dovetail saws are great tools for cutting dovetails and fine joints for other projects. Blades on dovetail saws are thicker than on others and provide greater accuracy when cutting joints. It is important to purchase quality tools for cutting tight joints. Fourteen to seventeen points per inch is a good guideline to look for in quality saws.

Another type is the dowel jig which is used to make consistent, quality dowels. A self centering jig provides better accuracy for those times when you are using thick wood. Sizes of dowel jigs vary from one-quarter to one-half inch. Especially if you are not sure what size you need, purchasing a complete kit with several hundred dowels in a variety of sizes might be a good choice.

Kreg jigs are a great jig for cabinet making. Accurately positioned slides are necessary for the drawer to move smoothly. A benefit of kreg jigs is that you do not need to measure and mark the spaces for the drawer slides. Kreg jigs make it much easier to mount drawer slides, especially for its low cost and versatility.

Making your own jigs saves money, particularly in supplies. You can just use scrap pieces of plywood. If you plan to re-use the jigs, you may want to use a stronger wood. Otherwise, since jigs are only used for one project, there is little reason to spend a lot on materials. Plywood should suffice. Instructions on making jigs can be found in magazines or books or on the internet. You can photocopy or print the instructions for future use.

Painting woodwork in and around your home

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There is no rule which says you must paint woodwork white, or strip it, or color it to merge with the walls. In a room whose walls, window frames and doors are in the same neutral color, you could paint the skirting board a clear contrasting color. This will define the line between the floor and walls. Trim colors that contrast with walls and ceilings might suit your style in one room, while a more subtle color change might be right somewhere else in the house.

You can liven up plain, flat walls by adding moldings so as to create panels around the room. For best results, make sure you keep your working area within the proper temperature range recommended for the paint. All interior woodwork that has been stripped, from baseboard to dining room tables, needs to be primed with either a standard acrylic wood primer. After that you can paint on it with oil-based flat eggshell, gloss, or acrylic paints.

Most interior woodwork looks best in an eggshell finish, as high-gloss paint can have a rather bleak, deadening effect. If your plan is to paint walls, ceiling, and trim, then it’s best to get the trim painted first, along with the room’s windows and doors. Paint woodwork in small sections. Keeping a wet edge to avoid lap marks.

A wide range of broken- color effects work well on woodwork, but ideally you should use oil-based paints as latex has little durability on wood. Stains add color to wood while allowing its natural grain pattern to show through. Varnishes are clear finishes that form a tough coating over stain. They are available in a range of finish sheens from satin to high gloss. At the end of a project, combine all of the leftover paint of the same color into as few cans as possible.

Making Shelves And Larger Projects For Woodworking

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I get the question a lot lately about cutting dado’s and grooves for larger projects such as shelves. If you are a beginner woodworker, you spend a lot of time just trying to figure out which tool you need to build the project you are interested in. It’s nice if you have someone there with you to ask your questions to, but it does not always work that way. If you go to a website to purchase the tools, you probably will not be able to speak to someone knowledgeable about how to make a part or cut a certain type of joint. The one question I get asked about a lot pertains to router tables. A lot of people want to use the table to cut the larger grooves to hold the horizontal shelf portion for a book case. Usually these items are longer, averaging about 72 inches in length. Most router tables are only about 30 to 35” long.

The problem you run into is that the project is longer than the table and you cannot support the work piece. This is a common problem, so you’re not alone. Unless you work in a cabinet shop, you are going to have to figure out a way to support your work piece. You can always go out and by a roller stand for the support. I recommend setting up some sort of bench stand. Even boxes that help hold your work piece have worked. The whole idea is to make something work and then take it apart. Again this is very common.

Cutting the grooves is left best to two different tools. The first is the table saw. You really need to have a dado blade set up in the table saw to do a decent job that will not take you all day. The table saw allows you to cut the grooves in one or two passes. Again because the pieces are larger you will have to fashion some sort of support. The other tool you can use is a handheld router. You will need an edge guide for this method. An edge guide is a nice tool that is basically a straight edge with a clamp built into each end. You can even substitute a straight piece of wood if you do not have an edge guide. You will want to install a straight bit into your router and line up the edge of the cutter with a line you have drawn on your project. Next clamp down your edge guide so that your routers base plate will move along the cut line as you have it drawn. It only takes one complete cut before you will be flying through this type of joint. The time is spent in the setup and in figuring out how you want to make the cut. Make sure you only take the stock out in small bites so as not to bog down the router. This is better for the tool and for your router bits.

Make Woodworking More Enjoyable With Quality Tools

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People everywhere are discovering the joy of woodworking. Today, when furniture and other types of wood-based manufacturing is moving overseas, getting old-fashioned quality is often next to impossible.

And of course, the high price of fine already-made wood products can also be prohibitively high. The good news is more and more people are either getting into woodworking or are expanding their skills and shops.

As a leading manufacturer of woodworking tools, our customers range from the weekend hobbyist with a set-up in the garage, to shops that turn out growing quantities of quality wood products.

One thing that will make your woodworking efforts far more productive and enjoyable is having the proper tools. Often we point to a professional’s skills as what separates him or her from the amateur, but skill isn’t the only factor. A pro usually has a well-developed collection of quality tools, with the right tool for every job.

And that’s a BIG advantage. Just about any job goes faster and gets better results when you have the RIGHT tool for the situation.

One constant challenge for woodworking shops is to keep dust under control. Super-fine saw dust can accumulate on floors, walls, in air conditioning, clog up tools, and even serve as fuel for fires. Worst of all, breathing saw dust can have a serious effect on your health. Most cities now have requirements that all commercial woodworking shops have dust gathering and removal systems.

An over-arm blade cover with dust collection for your table saw can be just what you need to control dust. Coupled to an appropriate dust collection system the blade cover will collect the dust as it flies off the revolving saw blade, keeping your shop and the air you breathe clean.

A sliding table will be a definite asset to your woodworking shop. Available in four sizes and designed to fit most table saws, sliding tables make it easy and safer for one person to cut large, heavy panels or long stock accurately. Plus, each sliding table has a two-part quick release-mounting bracket. With this you can quickly remove the sliding table from your table saw and attach it to your spindle shaper, router table or band saw.

If you’re serious about woodworking, don’t be afraid to spend the money to get really good quality professional tools. The price is often very affordable, and you’ll get years of enjoyment and productivity from your arsenal of well-chosen tools.

Jet Power Tools For All Your Woodworking Projects

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Setting up shop is easy when you have a supplier that can provide you with Jet power tools. The top-of-the-line woodworking and metalworking tools can be found at more than 9,000 dealers world-wide.

All About Jet

Jet power tools are not just made in one place, but are a collection of the finest technology and materials from around the world. The tools are manufactured in areas where engineers have perfected specific crafts and designed the tools to support them.

One of the unique qualities about Jet power tools is that they have the accessories that are most useful to each tool. For example, power saws are supported by products such as the Cyclone Dust Collector and Parallel Clamps. This makes working with the saw more efficient and creates a better workshop environment.

Jet power tools are backed by warranties on each and every product. Authorized Jet distributors stand behind this warranty as well. All tools can be maintained and services at authorized Jet service centres around the world. If you ever need a part, it will be available when you need it. Replacement and spare parts are well inventoried with more than $3 million of parts in stock at any given time.

And the Winner Is…

Jet has been the recipient of many prestigious awards within the power tool industry. Woodworking magazines are consistently rating Jet tools as the finest brand of power tools on the market. The awards don’t come easily either. They are based on a comparison of all tools within any given category from around the world and at all price levels.

What You Can Get From Jet Power Tools

In addition to quality you can get one of the widest varieties of power tools from Jet. The Jet lathe, Jet table saw and Long Bed Jointer are among the convenient woodworking tools by Jet.

One special item from Jet is the portable horizontal band saw. This lightweight series of saws are great for jobs outside of the workshop. They are small, yet big on capabilities. The blades can be adjusted to 45 and 60 degree angles great for miter cuts. The bi-metal blade makes it durable and able to handle jobs that normally require much bigger saws. There is also an optional floor stand that instantly turns the band saw into a multi-functional table saw.

To get the most from these portable saws and all of the tools carrying the Jet name, Jet has created training videos. These videos feature all of the top products by Jet in their training series known as the “Shopclass Series.” Either WMH Tool Group or specific distributors can provide you with the list of titles to help you complete any job.

Deep Backing for Jet WMH Tool Group

Jet power tools are one brand supported by parent company WMH Tool Group. This long-standing leader in tools also provides the Powermatic and Wilton lines to serious craftsman and do-it-yourself homeowners alike. To get a good look up close at the complete line of Jet power tools you can visit a distributor or attend one of the many industry trade shows where WMH Tool Group sets up their interactive booth. The website also features pictures and descriptions of all of their top selling tools and a list of distributors who carry them.