What are the basic methods of woodworking?
By: Sufal Roy
Tags: DIY, Craft, Woodworking

Woodshop should have taught you these 7 skills in high school.

1. Be familiar with how wood works and behaves.

Before you use any tool on your lumber, make sure you know how to properly place it and which way to plane it. Development ring layers begin to develop on top of one another as trees mature, resulting in beautiful grain in our boards. If we don’t work in the best way, this grain will make planning more difficult. Working with wood grain is similar to petting a cat: if you go from tail to head, the fur will stand straight up, resulting in hissing disapproval, but if you go from head to tail, the hairs will lie down nice and smooth, resulting in purring.

It’s also crucial to comprehend how wood expands and contracts as humidity levels change throughout the year. This natural property is considered in all wooden buildings, and failure to recognize it can be catastrophic.

2. Sharpen saws, planes, and chisels, as needed.

Many people have perpetuated the misconception that working with wood by hand is extremely difficult simply because they used a dull tool. It’s a woodworker’s axiom that you should “let the tool do the job” if you want things to run smoothly. You aren’t doing yourself any favors if you have to use a lot of force to cut with your saw or if you have to get a running start with your hand plane to make shavings. Sharpening the tools is a fundamental ability that must be done on a regular basis. Working with dull tools is not only inefficient but often risky. If you feel compelled to use your body weight to complete the cut, you will lose control and your tool will stab into whatever is in its way when it pops free. If you know how to sharpen your tools, you’ll find that woodworking is fun, healthy, and productive.

3. Use a Hand Plane

The basic technique is fairly self-explanatory with a lot of woodworking equipment. However, not all of them are as simple as they seem. To develop the feel of changing the cut from coarse to fine with hand planes, a little guidance and practice are required. Furthermore, the edge may be crooked or the cap iron may be misplaced. Using a hand plane correctly is an obviously attainable ability, despite the fact that it takes a little bit of study to find out. Grab an old plane and look up “tune-up an old hand plane” or “how to use a hand plane” on YouTube. There will be plenty of footage to compensate for the time you lost in shop class.

4. Prep Lumber With Hand Tools

You may already have a table saw and a 13-inch thickness planer, but the majority of us don’t. Stop the trap of thinking that you must purchase costly machines in order to create items. I just use hand tools while working with wood, and I enjoy every second of it. Woodworking by hand is effective and viable if you learn how artisans worked with their lumber before machines took over the furniture industry. There is a slew of tried-and-true methods for speeding up the process that relieves us of the burden of having to do machine-perfect work by hand. The most important thing is to use the right tool for the job: coarse tools for coarse work and fine tools for fine work.

5. Cut a Mortise and Tenon Joint

In all wood construction, this is the most basic joint. We must interlock horizontal (such as a chair rail) and vertical (such as a leg) members at the right angle whenever we join them. We can create a solid 90° joint by fitting a tenon into a matching mortise (hole). While it can seem easy to make, creating a good, tight fit takes time and practice. There are a lot of ways to create a mortise, but I tend to use a robust chisel built for the job and then measure the width of the tenon using the chisel’s dimension. Typically, four straight saw cuts are required to cut the tenon. The world of woodworking opens up to you once you learn how to layout this joint properly and cut it to a snug fit. You’ll have learned all of the joinery skills needed to create most tables and chairs at that stage.

6. Cut Dovetail Joints

What if you want to make a box, on the other hand? The respected (and overly-mystified) dovetail joint is a very powerful way to tie two boards together at their corners. The dovetail joint is the most awe-inspiring element in today’s world of non-woodworkers. It’s made up of wedge-shaped “tails” on one side that line up with corresponding “pins.” The wedge form of the boards prevents them from falling apart in one direction while they are fitted together. Since the 1700s, this joint has been a popular design. It was normally covered behind veneer, molding, or paint so no one had to see the “ugly” joinery. Visible joinery was not considered a desirable aesthetic feature until the arts and crafts movement. Making dovetail joints has become something of a litmus test for serious woodworkers these days, but don’t let that deter you from giving it a shot. After that, go into the shop and watch a couple of the four million “How to Cut Dovetails” videos on YouTube. It’s much simpler than most people believe: Tails should be removed. On the opposite board, trace the tails. The waste you traced was then cut out. Basically, that’s what there is to it. It’s just a matter of getting used to it.

7. Finish Your Furniture

How are you going to finish a beautiful table or chest after spending many weekends constructing it? Finishes improve and preserve the piece you’ve spent so much time and effort making, so don’t skimp and just “rub it with oil.” There are so many lovely finishes to choose from that working with them becomes second nature. The majority of the time, I use shellac. It’s very easy to apply once you get the hang of it, very forgiving, easily repairable, and you never have to clean a brush (because it softens in alcohol)! Other varnishes are also ideal for outdoor use and provide sufficient protection.