Your woodworking plans

Friday, December 24, 2010

Wood Carving: So You Want to Be a Wood Carver


Wood carving is a special craft. It requires extreme patience that could flourish with a fine imagination. If you decide to become a wood carver, you'll have several styles to choose from. You could use just a piece of wood and a small knife. Or you could go so far as using power tools. So how can you know which style is best for you?

There are five main styles of woodcarving. Each style is distinctly different from the other. These styles are whittling, chip carving, relief carving, intaglio carving and carving in the round.

Whittling. Whittling involves the removal of pare shavings or bits of wood with a cutting blade. It is the simplest form of wood carving, but not actually the art of wood carving. This is a significant distinction because whittling is, and should always be, very simple. All you need is a piece of wood and a knife and you're set to go. And because it is so simple, whittled objects don't have much detail, as is the case in all other styles of wood carving.

When you're holding a whittled object in your hand, you absolutely know it. You can plainly see each knife stroke. It remains as simple as when it began centuries ago, during the time of cavemen. Isn't that amazing?

Chip Carving. Chip carving involves the use of several knives to remove small pieces of wood (chips) from a flat wood surface. These are specially made chip knives that are used to push or pull at the wood, cutting upwards or downwards to free each chip.

Chip carving has expanded to become its own art form. The main technique is to chip varying triangular shapes from the wood. This is done in a way that creates intricately detailed patterns that are often geometric in nature. Free form lines are regularly used to accentuate these chipped patterns. You could really let your imagination go.

Relief Carving. This type of carving is done on a flat back cut of wood with images cut in 3-dimensional fashion. These are the wood carvings you see on walls or sitting on tables or surface tops.
There are two types of relief carving. A low relief carving is identifiable by the visual effect that is created. Without shadows to imply deep carving, the product appears very shallow and is thus considered low relief. In high relief carvings, a spectacular depth effect is created by the addition of shadows throughout. Both types result in carvings with good dimension and detail. The end product is polished to create a very smooth surface. Then it may be painted, waxed or varnished.

Intaglio Carving. This style of wood carving is very similar to relief carving. But instead of looking as though it is above the wood surface, it looks as if it is part of the wood. This is because the design is actually carved deep into the wood, below the surface. Think of old wooden rolling pins. Remember the cute little pictures that were carved into it? That's intaglio carving.

Intaglio carving has been very popular with furniture makers. It has come so far as to be fitted for a blank space, carved separately and then inserted into the furniture. How about that? It can even be found in dining tables and in bedroom furniture. It's wonderful for wood paneling. You can even see it in specialty plaques, as part of an existing decorative item or as the actual surface of coffee tables and end tables.

Carving In The Round. This is the most advanced style of wood carving. It involves a completely detailed carving that can be viewed from all sides. It is carved out of the wood and its base serves as a supporting platform or as a pedestal. The carving could be a person, an animal or a landscape-nearly anything you can imagine. It could be life-sized or to scale. The sky is almost the limit with carving in the round.

This style of carving requires quite a number of tools. A variety of knives, gouges and chisels are a bare minimum. The use of power tools is not surprising and often expected. The final product then is usually quite spectacular. Oftentimes, a product of carving in the round is easily mistaken for a porcelain creation. The details are that impressive.

Wood carving has been around since the days of cavemen. With time, it has become quite an impressive art to behold. It's very relaxing, often exhilarating and extremely satisfying. If you're looking for a hobby, wood carving could be just what you're looking for.

Retrieved from "http://www.articlesbase.com/art-and-entertainment-articles/wood-carving-so-you-want-to-be-a-wood-carver-585194.html"

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

The Arts and Crafts Styled Kitchen

Kitchens today are more than form and function. A properly designed kitchen can add great style to your whole home. But what style to go with may be your question. While there are a handful of styles to choose from, one that has remained popular through the decades is the Arts and Crafts styled kitchen.

What would you expect to see in an Arts and Crafts kitchen? The Arts and Crafts movement was based on form and function, therefore such kitchens emphasize natural colors, rich woods, clean strong lines and light. For a kitchen to appear Arts and Crafts it may have recessed panel doors with thick frames, contrast in finishes of wood, stained glass windows and lighting fixtures, and mullioned glass doors.

Arts and Crafts kitchens look similar to Shaker, Prairie or Mission style kitchens. Woods used for both include maple, birch, beech or oak. Most important is the use of wood. Rich dark woods, distinctive styles utilized from wood along with styled cabinets is important.

To understand the Arts and Crafts look is to understand the style. Arts and Crafts has also been called Mission, Stickley, Prairie or even Frank Lloyd Wright. The design started around 1900 as a backlash against the ornate style prior to 1900. People wanted a design that was more functional and furnishings that were better built. An emphasis on quality craftsmanship was important. Cabinetry was constructed with mortise and tenon, dovetail joinery, and of solid hardwoods.

The movement of Arts and Crafts was not limited to the United States, matter-of-fact it was quite international and is said to have started in England. Artists and craftsmen such as William Morris and Gustav Stickley became notorious with the movement. The Arts and Crafts style spread from England to Europe and then North America. The writings of John Ruskin influenced the movement. Ruskin emphasized the belief that art communicated an understanding of nature and rejected mechanization and standardization. He advocated the value of an organic relationship between worker and his natural environment. At this time, industrialization was destroying the world of craft labor.

With this, style became more simple and straightforward. Decoration was limited, especially if it was superfluous. Patterns imitated British flora and fauna. Architects drew on the vernacular of an area for design. Many architects were influenced by traditions of the British countryside. Designers stepped up to meet the demand and began hosting workshops reviving old craftsmanship techniques.

The Arts and Crafts style also stemmed from a reaction of style against things shown in the Great Exhibition of 1851. This exhibition took place in The Crystal Palace in England and was to display examples of the latest technology developed in the Industrial Revolution. The Great Exhibition of 1851 had more than 14,000 exhibitors from around the world. Artists, philosophers and writers alike critiqued the styles shown stating it was too ornamental. Art historian Nikolaus Pevsner even stated, the Great Exhibition showed ‘vulgarity in detail.'

With all of this combined, it wasn't long before the Arts and Crafts ideals were influencing architecture, sculpture, paintings, illustration, book making, photography, domestic design and decorative arts Decorative arts included furniture, woodwork, stained glass, leatherwork, lacemaking, embroidery, rug making, jewelry and metalwork, enameling and ceramics.

The Arts and Crafts kitchen, even of today, still reflects these ideals. If you are somebody who enjoys the practicality of craftsmanship and the look of straight-lines, this style of kitchen may be for you.

Retrieved from "http://www.articlesbase.com/kitchens-articles/the-arts-and-crafts-styled-kitchen-3604080.html"

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Wood Finishing And Painting

Changes in the art of wood-finishing has come about through the rapid progress in the development of quick-drying, very permanent, nitrocellulose lacquers which are new finishes derived from the realm of magic and mystery.

Present-day lacquers contain varnish-gums in addition to nitrocellulose, and dry so quickly that they are practically dust-proof; yet they set slowly enough so that they can be applied with little training by use of either a brush or a spray-gun.

The student wood-finisher in the school, the arts and crafts painter in the home who wishes to refinish old furniture, door toppers, or woodwork, and the professional painter will all find new and helpful hints and much practical information about lacquer and its use.

While it is true that the emphasis has been placed on new materials and processes, mention should be made of the fact that the entire field of wood-finishing, including wood-filling, shellacking, and enameling has changed.

Many microscopic studies have been made of the reaction of various finishes, especially wood-fillers, in the pores of several kinds of wood. Many technical difficulties were encountered in attempts to prepare photomicrographs of wood filler in the pores of wood, but nevertheless some interesting information was secured.

Some new and very valuable paint-pigments, such as lithophone, titanox, and "extenders," such as asbestine, are now used rather extensively in the paint trade since they were developed. For many purposes these new materials can be used to advantage. The person who applies paint at the present time has a wide field to choose from in selecting pigments, extenders, colors, drying-oils, and thinners, and needs information about these materials.

Another very fundamental characteristic of wood-finishing is that it is treated as a science as well as an art. It is for this reason that a rich background of related science is given in connection with the descriptions of the materials and the methods of using them.

The chemical formulas of the substances described are usually given, and some of the chemical and physical reactions of the materials are pointed out for the benefit of the amateur, the apprentice, or the master painter who may lack a thorough scientific background for his trade.

Experts gather information about wood finishing with meticulous care through visits to some of the best paint, varnish, and lacquer factories in the United States in order to obtain up-to-date, reliable information. A very careful study has also been made of the writings of scientists on this subject, on everything from finishing wooden bar rails to wood fireplace inserts.

In the industrial-arts departments of schools, wood-finishing and painting have often been taught in connection with woodworking, but at present there is a strong tendency toward the establishment of separate courses in which the informational aspect of wood-finishing and painting can receive proper attention.

The industrial-arts departments of 30 years ago gave little attention to wood-finishing, and attempts were made to finish articles in dusty woodworking shops; now separate rooms, after the universal practice of industry, will be found in all schools where serious work in wood-finishing is done.

The science and art of wood-finishing can be more clearly understood through a study of wood as a material. There is a book entitled "Wood and Lumber" which can be used to advantage in schools when related information and a scientific background are desired in order to give a more intellectual trend to shop work which may be too largely manual or manipulative to be educational and vocational in the best sense.

Retrieved from "http://www.articlesbase.com/education-articles/wood-finishing-and-painting-1206047.html"

Monday, November 29, 2010

How Many Different Rubberstamps are There in the Big World of Art Stamps?

For me it all started with these rubberstamps. That's right this cute little butterfly art stamp and this set of alphabet stamps.

I can remember my first rubberstamps. My brother gave them to me for my birthday. It was a butterfly art stamp, and an alphabet stamp set, that was 15 years ago. I can remember thinking to myself "what am I going to do with these rubberstamps"? Boy did I find out what to do with them. I made cute little butterfly note cards and I remember coloring them with a colored pencil (since that is all that I had back then or crayons), then with the alphabet stamps I stamped my family and friends name and of course finished it with a butterfly. Holy crow, he is the one that created my obsession with art stamps, and I am so happy that he did, thanks Mike.

What can I say; I Love Rubber Art Stamps and all the rubber stamping supplies that go along with them. Take a look at just some of the art stamps that I have. I have labeled each drawer and bin so I kind of know what is inside. I also have a few scattered around my craft studio on shelves. I told you that I Love Art Stamps. Now do you believe me?

Rubberstamps have come a long way. There are a ton of manufacturers for Art Stamps, depending on what you are looking for. A long time ago the only kind of art stamp that was available was the red rubber stamp mounted on a wood block. Now, those stamps are still available but there are also clear un-mounted art stamps that you take off of a cling sheet and adhere to an acrylic block. When you are done you just clean the stamp and take off the acrylic block and out back on the plastic sheet or in a clear plastic CD case.

The great thing about these art stamps is that you can see exactly where your image will be stamped on your card stock. This gives you less room for error (even though there is never an error in art, it just makes a different masterpiece then you expected)

What I love about the acrylic block rubber stamps is when you are working with alphabet stamps. The reason is you can have the correct spacing between each letter and word. When I have used alphabet stamps that were wood mounted, I usually had crooked words and phrases on my card or scrapbook page.

Another cool thing about these clear un-mounted rubberstamps is that they do not take up so much room as the original wood block art stamps. So if you do not have a lot of space to store your rubberstamps then this is the ideal way to go. I have two ways that I store my clear un-mounted rubberstamps. One is in a 3 ring binder, and the other in my Crop in Style Stamp Store tote. The stamp store can hold hundreds in the drawers.

There are also red rubber un-mounted stamps that you can purchase. They are cheaper than mounted rubberstamps. You can then mount them any way that you want; either on a wood block or use the ez-mount foam system (I will explain that in a near future article)

The last kind of rubberstamps that I can think of is the pre-inked art stamps. I have some art stamps that are pre-inked wheels. They are great for backgrounds or borders. All you do is insert the small cartridge of ink into the handle of the rubberstamps wheel, insert the wheel and away you go.

Well, as you can see I have A LOT of rubberstamps. And with all these Art Stamps I do not have any duplicates and I can honestly say that I use or have used each and every one.

Retrieved from "http://www.articlesbase.com/crafts-articles/how-many-different-rubberstamps-are-there-in-the-big-world-of-art-stamps-1104386.html"

Woodworking Butt Joints Detailed Explanation

OF all the joints used to assemble boards, the butt joint is certainly the most straightforward. Affixing the edge, end, or face of one board to that of another may not always produce the strongest joint. However, a properly reinforced butt joint is an excellent option for dozens of woodworking tasks, from joining smaller boards into a wide panel to assembling carcases and frames.


Visit Woodworking Plans Website for more woodworking tools details.

The simple butt joint contains no interlocking parts, relying instead on the glue bond for its strength. The solidity of that bond is determined by the grain orientation of the mating boards. Gluing long grain to long grain, as in panel, edge,and face-to-face joints, produces a solid connection, requiring no reinforcement. All other butt joints involve end grain; this porous surface provides a much less effective gluing surface than an equivalent area of long grain. Therefore, end grain joints must be reinforced.

Nails and screws can be used for reinforcement, but cabinetmakers try to avoid them for two principal reasons: Additional work is required to conceal the fasteners, and neither does as good a job joining end grain as some of the alternatives. Screws are considered superior for one application, however, and that is the task of fastening a tabletop to its supporting rails. The technique, which involves drilling angled boards.

Most other joinery needs are filled by dowels, compressed-wood wafers or "biscuitsl" or splines, which can also serve to align parts of a joint that do not require reinforcement. Each demands mastery of a specialized technique-but the procedures are simple and they allow the quick assembly of strong, attractive joints in which the mechanical parts can be hidden from view.

At least one butt-joining technique--the butterfly key joint--is not meant to be hidden; in fact it is used as much for decoration as for strength. In this joint a doubledovetail key--the butterfly--is cut from a contrasting wood and used to tie together two edge-joined boards. The butterfly demands patience, but a well-set key can be a striking feature of a tabletop.

At the other end of the form-to-function scale is the use of threaded rods to reinforce such workaday surfaces as butcher blocks, workbenches, and countertops. These are often built up of face-glued stock, and the rods serve to stabilize the heavy slab when room humidity changes.Visit Woodworking Plans TV for more woodworking skills....

Retrieved from "http://www.articlesbase.com/crafts-articles/woodworking-butt-joints-detailed-explanation-2056833.html"

Mortise And Tenon Joints

Mortise and tenon is one of the oldest and simplest joints around, but it is also one of the strongest. When tested against other joints by Wood Magazine, the mortise and tenon joint took two to three times more force to break than any other joint that they tested. It also took the award for hardest joint to pull apart. Over 4,700 pounds of force were used to pull this joint apart, and it still didn't budge before the wood broke.


The mortise is the female "receiving" end of the joint. A hole is cut partway or all the way through a piece of wood. The tenon is formed on the other piece of wood. The tenon is the male end. It is a tab cut into a piece of wood that fits perfectly into the mortise. This joint joins two pieces of wood at ninety degrees, like a key in a lock.

An open mortise is the same as a bridle joint. A tenon is cut into the end of a board, and a mortise into the other, just like a regular mortise and tenon joint. However, the tenon is cut to be the full length of the end of the board. So, it is more like the tongue of a tongue and groove joint, only cut on two sides. The mortise is more of a slot than a hole. You can use a router or a circular saw to cut the slot and tenon of the open mortise joint.

A stub mortise is a mortise that doesn't go all the way through the board. It is a hole of a specific depth and the tenon is cut to fit into the hole. A through mortise is one that has a mortise that completely goes through the board.

One of the oldest types of mortise and tenon joints is the dovetail joint. This joint is known for its tensile strength and is often used in furniture that will be put through a lot of pushing and pulling. You will most likely see a dovetail joint if you open your dresser drawer and take a look where the front connects with the sides. For this joint, pins are cut in the end of one board. Then tails, or slots, are cut in the end of the other board. The pins and tails are usually cut into a trapezoid shape and glued. No other hardware is needed once the dovetails are glued into place.

There are many types of joints that you can use depending on what you are building. Mortise and tenon joints are great for projects that will need to endure a lot of wear and tear. You can also use dowels for joining boards together. A dowel rod creates a strong joint and can sometimes be easier than some mortise and tenon joints. Consult a woodworking professional or follow professional advice when choosing the best kind of joints for your woodworking projects.

Retrieved from "http://www.articlesbase.com/hobbies-articles/mortise-and-tenon-joints-2086024.html"

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Today, I have a question for you...Do you have your first product online yet? Maybe it's all ready to go, but you just aren't sure about some of the technical aspects. You know, things like,- setting it up to take payments - providing a secure download - putting an affiliate program in place Well, if that sounds like you, I have good news! *The* Instant Commission Marketplace known as RAP Bank now offers a simple service that handles ALL this for you without any expensive scripts. Definitely check this out. I think it could be just what you're looking for...
==> http://tinyurl.com/3ab9cb6
To Your Success,
Neil
This is important, so make sure you read this short
email right away. My friend Michael Rasmussen has just
released a video today that the entire Internet
marketing community is scrambling to get their hands
on.
*************************************************
If you re in a hurry, just go ahead and take a
look at this web page to see what I m talking
about in this email.
http://tinyurl.com/33uaenq
*************************************************
I'm serious, people have been eagerly anticipating the
launch of this course for weeks, and now that it's
live, people are practically tripping over each other
to get themselves a copy of this video. Michael uses
these secrets to earn $381,195.06 in only 90 days with
NO product, and there's no reason you can't do the same.
In a nutshell, it teaches you how to build the most
profitable kind of list you can possibly have... a
list of buyers. You need to get your hands on this
training before your competitors start using this
strategy... trust me.
Here's the link. And don't worry, it's cheap and
available instantly:
http://tinyurl.com/33uaenq
Whether you're an affiliate marketer or an established
guru in your industry, you need to use the strategies
that Michael is teaching to take your business to the
next level.
There's no time to waste. Michael is offering a
discount and a fast action bonus for those who buy the
course right away. I strong suggest you grab yours now
before it's too late.
All the best,
P.S. - Make sure you sign up for the free video at the
top of the web page. In the video, Michael will give
you a sneak preview of the course, and show you the
first steps you need to take in order to build a big
list of eager buyers. Here's the URL one last time:
http://tinyurl.com/33uaenq
This course will reveal Michael Rasmussen's top ten
strategies for building a list of people who are eager
to buy the products and services that you recommend.
And even better... he'll teach you how to get OTHER
people to build that list for you. It's true! You can
get your competitors to build your list of buyers for
you, and then THANK you for the opportunity to do so
(when you know the secret that makes it work).
It's all covered in Michael's new program (which just
went live today). Go ahead and check out the Get More
Buyers video course today, and see what all the fuss
is about. Here's the URL one more time:
http://tinyurl.com/33uaenq
All the best,
P.S. - Make sure you sign up for the free video at the
top of the web page. In the video, Michael will give
you a sneak preview of the course, and show you the
first steps you need to take in order to build a big
list of eager buyers. Here's the URL one last time:
http://tinyurl.com/33uaenq
Just in case this is all brand new to you, here's a
quick rundown of what the Get More Buyers Course is
all about. The main idea behind the course is that
it's a waste of time to build a list of
freebie-seeking subscribers.
The only people on your list who make you any money
are the buyers... the people who are proven to whip
out their credit card and buy products in their areas
of interest.
But How do you build a list of buyers if you're just
starting out? What if you don't have any products to
sell right now? What if you're only interested in
affiliate marketing, but still want to build a list of
hungry buyers?
*************************************************
THE GET MORE BUYERS VIDEO COURSE IS THE ANSWER
*************************************************
This course will reveal Michael Rasmussen's top ten
strategies for building a list of people who are eager
to buy the products and services that you recommend.
And even better... he'll teach you how to get OTHER
people to build that list for you. It's true! You can
get your competitors to build your list of buyers for
you, and then THANK you for the opportunity to do so
(when you know the secret that makes it work).
It's all covered in Michael's new program (which just
went live today). Go ahead and check out the Get More
Buyers video course today, and see what all the fuss
is about. Here's the URL one more time:
http://tinyurl.com/33uaenq
All the best,
P.S. - Make sure you sign up for the free video at the
top of the web page. In the video, Michael will give
you a sneak preview of the course, and show you the
first steps you need to take in order to build a big
list of eager buyers. Here's the URL one last time:
http://tinyurl.com/33uaenq
If you've been following the launch of the Get More
Buyers course, then I have some great news for you.
Today is the big day!
There's no time to waste. If you've been excited at
the possibility of building your own list of eager
buyers, then you owe it to yourself to get this
training.
Plus, if you're an affiliate marketer, this course
will skyrocket your success. Michael earned $381,195.06
in only 90 days with NO product using these strategies
and there's no reason you can't do the same.
NOTE: If you haven't already seen the preview
video on Michael Rasmussen's blog, then don't
worry. I'll fill you in on what Get More Buyers
is just below.
http://tinyurl.com/33uaenq
If you thought ClickBank was big... This really is a "NO" Brainer!
Why would you wait? Don’t you want to increase, sign ups earnings and Sales?
Make changes happen today and you will never look back. Visit -- http://tinyurl.com/36azxxp ----for a total shopping experience and if you don’t want to buy anything sell their products and earn immediate commission. This could be a fun and enjoyable experience for everyone. The results? Amazing.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

a guide to fishing tackle

Share |

Just about everyone has longed to try their hand at fishing at one time or another. But like a lot outdoor activities, knowing what supplies to buy can be a challenge. Tackle, lures, knots--the learning curve for a beginning fisherman or woman is a steep one! This article will introduce you to a few of the basic fishing supplies and fish tackle you'll need before you head to your favorite waterway.

There are lots of fishing stores around, but a lot of them might try to sell unneeded fishing supplies to gain a little cash from the fishing novice. Here is a description of some of the fishing tackle you need for any sort of fishing in any location.

Hooks. When it comes to basic fishing supplies, next to the fishing pole, the most important tools are your hooks. In a variety of shape and sizes, the right hook is one of the most important parts of your fishing gear. Fishing hooks are cheap, so you can stock an assortment of hooks for each kind of fishing. Most hooks are shaped like a letter "J."

Rigs. These are utilized for catching different varieties and species of fish. The two most common rigs are the Bobber and Crappie. Bobber rigs are used for catching Bluegills and are suggested for beginners.

Sinkers.
 As the name states, sinkers are used to cast lighter lures and to rapidly drop the bait to the bottom of the water where fish are located. Collectively with the bobbers, the sinkers are used to hold your line at a given point. In angling stores, you will find several varieties of sinkers that come in various sizes, weights, and shapes. The current speed and the water depth determines the weight of the sinkers you will need for your fishing trip.

Bobber.
It is also called a cork or a float. The bobber's function to tell you when a fish bites your bait. The standard bobbers are pencil, slip bobbers and buttons. They are found in different sizes to fit all kinds of baits and sinkers. The best bobbers are those that are smaller. The wind will blow the bobber back to you if it's too light and will scare the fish off when it is too big.

Swivels.
 This kind of fishing equipment is utilized when you are angling with bait such as a spinner or a minnow. This kind of bait may twist and turn, which can leave your line twisted. By attaching the swivel and tying it between your line and bait, it allows the lure to spin around without snarling up the line. Swivels are cheap and are made in different sizes to fit the bait and hooks you use.

Other must-have equipment to purchase include a tackle box to organize your gear and your bait.

The bait may vary depending on the type of fishing you will be doing. Remember that purchasing basic fishing supplies and fish tackle are only the beginning. Having the correct equipment for the ideal location is important, but knowing the art of catching fish is significant to the sport. Always chat with the locals at the lake, river or dock for ideas on what works for them.

Retrieved from "http://www.articlesbase.com/fishing-articles/fish-tackle-a-guide-for-you-363248.html"

Woodworking Guide Wood Gluing Techniques Detailed Explanation

Share |

In preparing a glue joint, it's important to keep a couple of ground rules in mind. First, while modern glues are amazingly strong, if joints do not fit properly or the glue is not allowed to cure correctly, the bond will almost surely fail. And second, less is more. A thin, even layer of glue will form a strong bond between two pieces of wood, but a thick cushion of glue does just the opposite. It weakens the joint. And, usually you won't know if this joint is weak until the piece is done and has been used for a while.
Visit the Woodworking Plans Website pages for more woodworking articles.

To achieve a successful edge joint, the long mating surfaces must be perfectly tight all along their length. You shouldn't rely on clamps to pull bowed boards together because this places too much stress on the joint and eventually it will fail.
The fit of a mortise-and-tenon joint should also be precise, neither too tight nor too loose. If the parts must be forced together, there will be no room for the glue between the pieces and the joint will be starved. If, on the other hand, there is too much play in the joint, the glue layer will be too thick to perform properly when the piece is placed under stress. In a perfect joint, the glue layer is less than the thickness of a sheet of notebook paper.

In order to guarantee that there is sufficient glue in a joint, spread a thin layer on both mating surfaces. In a mortiseand-tenon joint, this means coating both the mortise and tenon walls with glue. You can use a scrap stick, a small brush or a narrow roller to do this. Just make sure the coverage is complete and even
.
The mating surfaces must also be clean, dry and free of contamination before you spread the glue. Oil, waxes and some chemicals, like silicone, will resist the glue. And dust and water can cause the joint to fail by preventing good contact between wood surfaces, or diluting the strength of the glue.

All glues have a recommended open time, which defines the amount of time you can safely leave the glue exposed to the air before assembling the joint. For most yellow glues, this is about 10 minutes. But the open time will vary with the temperature and humidity of your workroom. Hot, dry conditions will cause the glue to set quicker. In complicated assemblies, where many joints must be prepared at once, it's important to factor the open time limit into the process. 

Sometimes, you'll have to assemble a project by making smaller subassemblies first. Also, keep in mind that yellow glue will not perform well in cold conditions. Most manufacturers recommend that both the room and the wood surfaces be at least 55 degrees F before applying glue.
Once a joint is assembled, it must be clamped together. Clamps serve two purposes. They pull a joint together tightly and hold it in a fixed position while the glue sets. You should not apply tremendous force with your clamps because this will drive too much glue from the joint. Just firmly tighten them and set the assembly aside.

If a proper amount of glue has been spread and a proper amount of force used to tighten the clamps, you should see small beads of glue squeezing out of both sides of the joint. To remove this squeeze-out, allow it to set for about 20 minutes, and then use an old chisel or putty knife to scrape off the excess.
Some people recommend wiping the excess glue off with a damp rag. But this technique should be avoided because it can force glue into the surrounding wood pores–especially with open-grain woods. Unfortunately, this glue will not be apparent until you apply the finish, when it's too late to do anything easily to fix it.

Finally, yellow glue should be allowed to set for at least an hour before you remove the clamps. And a full cure takes at least 24 hours, so don't isturb the assembly until this time has passed.


Inspect Furniture Joints Before Buying

Share |

After wood the most important factor that determines the quality of furniture is the quality of joints. Good joining can make even average quality wood last really long. On the other hand, the best quality oak could also be rendered useless due to loose fittings.

All furniture is put together in a series of joints. Most structural problems involve joint weakening or failure. The joints used in good wooden furniture, such as Amish furniture, are usually stronger than those in cheap pieces, but age and abuse can take their toll even when the original construction was good.

Knowing the various joints used on a piece of furniture will help you evaluate the quality of a furniture piece before purchase. If you are a DIY type, having the following information will also help you repair them. Furniture bought online should be inspected in detail on delivery. If you buy Amish furniture online, you can be sure of high quality craftsmanship.

Dovetail joints: Dovetail joints consist of wedge-shaped openings, the dovetails, holding matching pins cut in the joining piece. In this joint, the dovetail goes completely through both pieces of wood. The pins in handmade dovetails are usually narrower than the spaces between the pins. In the older days only a few dovetails were used and the tails and pins did not match exactly. With modern equipment, the tails and the pins are exactly the same size and more dovetails are used in each joint.

Mortise-and-tenon joints: In this type of joint, a prong or tongue of wood, the tenon, is secured in a hole, the mortise, in the joining piece. Mortise-and-tenon joints are extremely strong; they're used chiefly in chairs and tables.

Dado joints: A dado is a slot cut into the face or end of a piece of wood; the joining piece fits into this slot. In a simple dado joint, the slot goes completely across the wood, and the edges of the joining piece are visible along the edges of the base piece. Dadoes and stopped dadoes have considerable shear strength and are used chiefly for shelving.

Lapped joints: Lapped joints are cut with both joining pieces notched or slanted to the same depth. Lapped joints offer a large glue area, but they aren't particularly strong. Cross-laps are used to join crossing pieces; half-laps and sloped laps are used to join the ends of long pieces. They're often used in drawer guide framing pieces and may be pinned with nails or screws from the back.

Butt joints: In this type of joint, the joining pieces are simply butted together with no integral fastener. Butt joints are weak and are sometimes fastened or held together with metal surface plates. They are used in chairs, tables, dressers, and cabinet pieces.

Miter joints: In a miter, the joining pieces are cut at a 45-degree angle and joined to form a right angle. Miters are used for decorative molding and for frames. They are very weak and are often reinforced with dowels, spline, or mechanical fasteners. Sometimes triangular glue blocks are used for strength; the blocks may be reinforced by screws.

Doweled joints: The doweled joint is a simple variation of the mortise-and-tenon joint, with dowels instead of a cut tenon holding the joining pieces together. Doweled joints require precision equipment. They are strong and are common in chairs, tables, and cabinets, usually on stretchers and other framing pieces.

Splined joints: In a splined joint, the edges of the joining pieces are grooved or dadoed to match each other and a reinforcing spline is inserted into the grooves to hold the pieces together. Splined joints are used chiefly to join narrow boards.

Rabbet joints: The rabbet is a reinforced butt joint, with one or both joining members notched to fit together. It is usually reinforced with screws or nails. Rabbet joints are easy to make and very strong. They are used chiefly for shelving and at the corners of cabinet pieces.

Drawer construction is generally a good indication of overall furniture quality. Doweled and dovetailed drawer joints indicate a high degree of craftsmanship. However, modern machine technology, good bonding glue and pneumatically driven staples coated with resin have afforded savings in construction while providing durability. The Amish craftsmen who make wholesale Amish furniture take very good care of the quality of the joints. Quality wood furniture purchased today can be used for a lifetime.


Woodworking Tongue And Dado Joint Detailed Explanation

Share |

We used tongue and dado joints to join the cladding that surrounds the 4x4 posts. As you can see in many projects, there's a tongue on one piece that's formed by cutting a rabbet in the edge. The tongue fits into a dado cut in a mating piece. These interlocking parts form a strong mechanical joint. Plus, the large glue surface of the joint provides additional strength. Visit the Woodworking Plans Website pages for more woodworking articles.

Tongue & Dado Basics — The main goal when creating this joint is to have the tongue fit into the dado with a friction fit — not too tight, but not so loose that the mating pieces can move around. Also, the pieces that are joined together should fit flush with each other on the outside.

Dado Setup — To accomplish these two things, I start by cutting the dado. (For some porch project on page 38,it's a 3 /8"-wide dado, 3 /8" deep.) For that size of dado, it's easy enough to mount the proper size of dado blade in the table saw.
The critical thing, however, is positioning the rip fence to cut this dado. That’s because the fence determines the location of the inside shoulder of the groove. To get a flush-fitting joint, this shoulder has to be set in from the edge of the work piece a distance that matches the thickness of the stock. The easiest way to do this is to use a scrap piece of the cladding material as a thickness gauge for setting the rip fence.

Get in the Groove — With the fence set, cutting the dado is as easy as setting the work piece face down on the table, butting it against the rip fence, and making a pass over the blade. To ensure that the dado is a consistent depth, I mounted a feather board to my rip fence to hold the work piece down on the table. Cut the dado in all four pieces before turning your attention to the rabbets.

Rabbet Setup — Once the grooves are completed, the next step is to cut a rabbet in the opposite edge of each piece to form the tongue. You can use the same width dado blade as for the groove to make the rabbet. Only this time, attach an auxiliary fence to the table saw's rip fence, and set the dado blade so it just grazes the side of this fence. Here, the position of the fence in relation to the blade determines the length of the tongue, which should match the depth of the mating dado.
The other critical dimension here is the depth of cut, as it determines the thickness of the tongue. To get a good fit, run a test piece through the blade. Then test the fit of this tongue in one of the dadoes you've already cut. Adjust the depth of cut accordingly, sneaking up on a perfect fit.

Make the Rabbet — Once you have achieved a nice fit between the tongue and the dado, proceed with cutting the rabbets in all four pieces. Again, use a feather board to hold the work piece down on the table saw during the cut.

Learn More about woodworking how to articles please go to woodworkingplans.tv