Thinks I've learned this weekend in the shop

[Mike S.]

I've plunked around in woodworking for several years but became serious about a year & a half ago. I've built a couple of decent pieces of furniture the last 6 months or so.Anyway the wife wanted me to build a entertainment center. Since I've never tackled anything that large or complicated I told her I'd build a small one first for the computer room to put tv, stereo and other equipment on. I picked up a couple of sheets of birch ply this weekend and planned on using scrap oak to trim it out with. It's turning out halfway decent and I've covered several opps but here are a few things I've learned. Don't measure twice & cut once, measure 3 or more times then before you cut measure again. If using a tape measure use the same one all the way through the project. Don't apply Gel stain when it's over 90 degrees in the shop (dries before you get to wipe it off) Make sure you know what size brads are in the nail gun (when you use them to toenail shelves into the sides to hold while the glue dries). Probably a few more to add but those few stick in my mind after this weekend.

[BRuce]

If they stick in your mind, your head was too close! ;-)

BRuce

Mike S. wrote:

[NoOne N Particular]

Don't measure twice & cut once, measure 3 or more times then before you cut

To this I might add - stop and make sure that what you are measuring is really what you want to measure (or measure from). I had a case where I measured and measured and measured. After I cut the piece it still didn't fit because I actually started my measurement 3/8" from where I should have. Since the cuts were dadoes in a sheet of 1/2 mahogany plywood, this one rated four full expletives when it didn't fit (there would have been more, but the wife was there). I really learned a lesson that day and I will definitely not make that mistake again. Next time the wife will be in the house!!

Wayne

[Mark Jerde]

I think I'd make fewer mistakes if I switched over to metric. ;-) 8th's,

16th's, adding 1/4" to 3/16" -- Bah, humbug!

Anyone else?

-- Mark

[patriarch]

"Mark Jerde" wrote in news:8NIzc.25150$ [e-mail]:

I think I do best when I mark using the project itself, rather than a ruler or tape. At least when that's feasible, and almost always as a check against the measured number.

Spacer blocks, rather than ruker marks, were what I used on the simple biscuited and faceframed bookshelf today. Everything came out nice and square and even for a change. ;-)

Patriarch, who couldn't tell you without some serious math head scratching whether

10mm is more or less than 3/8". Or by looking at a set of end wrenches.

[Leon]

Yeah, like 1/4mm + 3/16 mm would be easier. ;~)

I have a problem with what kind of ___meter to measure with. Do you use millimeters, centimeters, decameters? Seems 8 feet is easer to say and remember than say 2438.4mm.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

None of that stuff matters. I measured twice to cut 6 pieces the same length. Five were 59 5/8" and one was 58 5/8". Ed [e-mail]

[charlie b]

Probaly didn't matter if they were all 59 5/8 or 59 7/8 as long as they were all the same length. Having an 8 inch wide table that's 6 feet to the left of the blade and a stop block sure helps. All that assumes we're not talking stuff wider than 12" for a 12" CMS.

charlie b

[Phil Hansen]

When you work in mm's you work in mm's or if in metalworking decimal units thereof.

1/4mm is 0.0090" - read that on your rule! 1 mm is the smallest unit (usually) used in woodworking Design something which is 1800w * 700h * 300d. Easy. The conversion is screwing you up. Start from basics. Design in metric, work in metric. Easy 3mm + 19mm is a lot easier than 1/8" + 3/4" to work out.

Anyway you may not agree now but one day you will (LOL)

[Leon]

Naw, I believe durring the Jimmy Carter years that was tried and it was not accepted. Way too simple. If you quit using your brain it may fall off. ;~)

[Edwin Pawlowski]

In the end it didn't. I made them work and only I know the difference now.

It is on the wish list. Right now I'd have to mount the stop block on the snowblower or some garden tool. Ed [e-mail]

[Len]

I noticed somebody used my saw while I was gone.

==

There are 10 kinds of people in the world those who understand binary and those who don't.

[Michael Mcneil]

Measuring too much deadens the brain. If you are not cruising through it on auto you aught to get a niggle something is not righ. Time for a cuppa.

Living betwixt and between, I can tell you we have a choice of both but on the same tape. Someone send me a real English one from the colonies will you?

I have a fibreglass tape I never used until recently, when I used the metric side for the first time.

The manufacturers for some reason (inscrutable orientals????) decided to give that side a 300mm countdown so that when I measured up for some skirting my bill came out some 4 metres short. At £2.50 a metre I was not best pleased.

I'm still puzzling out that one.

Why on earth would they make a tape like that?

[Michael Mcneil]

Use metric for making stairs and fitting kitchens or -if you are a manufacturer and timber salesman, for giving short measure. Work in English. Two by four or 3 x 2 etc. Full English measures are rough sawn. Finished or "ex" sizes are 5 mm narrower and thinner.

The best bit is that metrication was supposed to make manufacturing easier.

("This will not infect the lb in your pocket") (Quote from the Big Cheat in charge at the time.)

[Phil Hansen]

That explains why 'I can see clearly now the brain is gone' ;)

[Phil Hansen]

I buy timber as 152x25 or 114x25 or 152x38 etc. Do not have to worry about converting 2x4 etc. Plan metric, buy metric, measure metric. Easy

[Leon]

Yeah.... 2x4 is way too hard to remember.. LOL

[Robert Bonomi]

And, for those with automation issues, 'On a clear disk, you can seek forever'.

[Phil Hansen]

No more. This could go on forever To be honest I still sometimes think in inches but much prefer metric.

[Leon]

I'm sure it is all in what you get used to using.