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Step 14Woodworking Tips and Other Projects
Dry Your Wood
Wood is never dry. No matter where you get it from and no matter how it is dried, it is perpetually wet. Over the years, it will swell and shrink with the seasons. Wood will not vary in length (along the grain) much at all. In the rainy season it will swell in width (across the grain) as much as 3/16" per foot. In the dry months it will shrink back down.
Over the decades it will continue to shrink and swell, but overall it will shrink. Some woodworkers who know wood and want to build with the driest wood possible, will buy their wood and let it air dry for 10 years before they even think of using it. Some (Such as those who make the finest Japanese wood planes) will let it dry for twenty years before they use it.
While that much of a lag time before use is not necessary for most projects, it is a good idea, if you can, to let your wood sit for at least a year in the state that it will be built in.
Tung oil and Linseed oil
My favorite oil which is non-toxic and easy to use is Tung oil. It comes from the seeds of the Tung tree. It changes the wood the least of any oil I have tried in terms of color. It also brings out the natural beauty of wood without changing it much. All of the projects here were finished with Tung oil.
I find it takes 3 coats of oil to bring the grain of the wood into focus and give a good protective surface that is easy to clean. I like to coat it with oil, let it soak in, and then wipe off the excess. I let it sit overnight and the next day give a buffing with 0000 steel wool before giving it another coat.
The final surface is not waterproof and if you leave a wet object such as a cup on it for any length of time it will stain the wood. Luckily, scratches and stains can be easily sanded out and re-oiled and in a couple of months the repair will darken as the wood oxidizes and disappear.
Linseed oil is cheaper than Tung oil and works almost as well. It will however, darken the wood more and over time tends to change light woods a more honey color.
Simple Design
Simplicity in design is not simple. Neither is it easy. A simple, classic, elegant design requires the minimum of parts to make it work. A complex design can use any number of parts. A simple design with simple lines and simple joints can require much more skill than a more ornamental design because every defect or error is exposed. A more complex and ornamental design has lots of parts that cover over other parts. If a complex design is gappy or crappy, you can just cover it with trim or fill it with putty. If it is too weak, you can just add more parts.
So for me, the ultimate woodworking challenge is to design the simplest lines with the least number of parts that will get the job done.
Fast and Easy
All this talk about making wood projects without metal or glue is fine. But sometimes we need to build something fast and dirty and don't have time to waste on refinements or building things for the next generation. If you are making something temporary (needs to last for a few years), or just for yourself, by all means throw it together with nails, screws, and glue. Get it done and move on to more important things. Life is short, don't waste a minute of it. As someone has said: "Waste is the only sin"
Pic 49 and 50 show a cradle and stand.
Pic 51 shows a shoji screen that uses paper bag paper instead of the traditional rice paper. The paper was glued on with corn starch boiled down to a paste. When the glue dries it shrinks the edges of the paper so that it comes out tight as a drum.
Pic 52 shows a walnut and cherry sewing desk with a hinged flap.
Wood is never dry. No matter where you get it from and no matter how it is dried, it is perpetually wet. Over the years, it will swell and shrink with the seasons. Wood will not vary in length (along the grain) much at all. In the rainy season it will swell in width (across the grain) as much as 3/16" per foot. In the dry months it will shrink back down.
Over the decades it will continue to shrink and swell, but overall it will shrink. Some woodworkers who know wood and want to build with the driest wood possible, will buy their wood and let it air dry for 10 years before they even think of using it. Some (Such as those who make the finest Japanese wood planes) will let it dry for twenty years before they use it.
While that much of a lag time before use is not necessary for most projects, it is a good idea, if you can, to let your wood sit for at least a year in the state that it will be built in.
Tung oil and Linseed oil
My favorite oil which is non-toxic and easy to use is Tung oil. It comes from the seeds of the Tung tree. It changes the wood the least of any oil I have tried in terms of color. It also brings out the natural beauty of wood without changing it much. All of the projects here were finished with Tung oil.
I find it takes 3 coats of oil to bring the grain of the wood into focus and give a good protective surface that is easy to clean. I like to coat it with oil, let it soak in, and then wipe off the excess. I let it sit overnight and the next day give a buffing with 0000 steel wool before giving it another coat.
The final surface is not waterproof and if you leave a wet object such as a cup on it for any length of time it will stain the wood. Luckily, scratches and stains can be easily sanded out and re-oiled and in a couple of months the repair will darken as the wood oxidizes and disappear.
Linseed oil is cheaper than Tung oil and works almost as well. It will however, darken the wood more and over time tends to change light woods a more honey color.
Simple Design
Simplicity in design is not simple. Neither is it easy. A simple, classic, elegant design requires the minimum of parts to make it work. A complex design can use any number of parts. A simple design with simple lines and simple joints can require much more skill than a more ornamental design because every defect or error is exposed. A more complex and ornamental design has lots of parts that cover over other parts. If a complex design is gappy or crappy, you can just cover it with trim or fill it with putty. If it is too weak, you can just add more parts.
So for me, the ultimate woodworking challenge is to design the simplest lines with the least number of parts that will get the job done.
Fast and Easy
All this talk about making wood projects without metal or glue is fine. But sometimes we need to build something fast and dirty and don't have time to waste on refinements or building things for the next generation. If you are making something temporary (needs to last for a few years), or just for yourself, by all means throw it together with nails, screws, and glue. Get it done and move on to more important things. Life is short, don't waste a minute of it. As someone has said: "Waste is the only sin"
Pic 49 and 50 show a cradle and stand.
Pic 51 shows a shoji screen that uses paper bag paper instead of the traditional rice paper. The paper was glued on with corn starch boiled down to a paste. When the glue dries it shrinks the edges of the paper so that it comes out tight as a drum.
Pic 52 shows a walnut and cherry sewing desk with a hinged flap.
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Someone has told me to use rice oil to treat it. I haven't t researched exactly what it is yet. I wonder if you've heard of it? (this is a different world. so probably not...)
Thank you very, very much for this Instructable...!