woodworker

7 mistakes to avoid as a woodworker 

Woodcrafting as well as carpentry was the most ancient occupation of human beings that is also known as the oldest form of real-time arts. Many people out there are still trying to earn efficiency in different genres of woodworking. It is not possible to become skilled in woodworking within a single night.

Whether he or she can be a tenderfoot or professional in woodworking, everyone has committed or tends to commit some kinds of common mistakes during carpentry that must be avoided as woodworkers.

From cutting a straight line to curve an edgy corner joint, every single woodworker has to face a lot of issues. Every individual woodworker must have to overcome several awe-stricken moments to become a successful professional. Sometimes it is very much frustrating for the beginner woodworkers when they have to go through different silly mistakes even working with a minimal wooden project.

Most of the time newbies want to sort out such issues by applying solutions provided by different online DIY videos. Sometimes they succeed, but most of the time the solutions won’t work at all as those DIY videos are provided by the pros who are already skilled in the same. Moreover, not only is it woodworking, in every profession a person must identify his or her flaws to rectify those perfectly.

To assist the readers, novice as well as expert woodworkers to become aware of such few mistakes that should be eliminated while working on their dream projects. Furthermore, identifying and resolving such issues would save the woodworkers valuable times that could be utilised in future project plans and also they will be able to work without any disturbance.

Let’s get into them:

1. Using low quality materials and tools

It is obvious that the incredibility of your work depends on what material you are working with. Any kind of crafting job or art related job genres need to choose the best quality raw materials to get better outcomes. For instance, suppose there are requirements for repairing both the exterior and interior of a house.

Naturally, the lumbers used for both the jobs should be different from one another according to their textures, sustainability etc. But if you use the same for the exterior design that would be used for interiors, there are chances of faster damages as the lumbers for exterior designs should be more sturdy than that of the interior’s ones as the outer parts of a house are directly in exposure to the outer environmental climate.

Along with that must have the knowledge of the specific woods of that particular of the country you live in. You should understand the distinctive features of every wood that belong to your locality like their thickness, textures, grades etc. You must be aware of the different woods’ behaviour in different climate changes.

Additionally, to become a successful woodworking you need to know the usage of every single tool whether it is a hand or power tool of woodworking. To get the best results in woodworking a woodworker must know that every different wooden project requires several distinctive sets of tools.

There are several ancient and advanced equipment of woodworking and as a woodworker one must know them as well as the techniques of handling them properly. Better every beginner woodworker should choose a mentor to train him or her properly in handling each woodworking tool perfectly. Otherwise, it could be fatal work with advanced power tools without adequate training and practices in the workshop. You can also visit theedgecutter to check some of the best tools to invest in when it comes to woodworking.

Using low quality materials and tools

2. Not following proper safety measures

Whenever you think of starting your career in woodworking, the very important thing along with the project planning is to arrange sufficient safety precautions that would be very much needed for making your projects flawless and nuisance free. Whether it is a small woodworking workshop situated in your basement or a large woodworking outlet, every place needs to be secured from all aspects.

Most of the woodworkers never follow precautions while working with power tools. As a result they get injured and they never come back to woodworking. So to avoid such issues during woodworking a woodworker must wear proper uniform, protective eyewear, gloves, head and face shield etc. to protect ownelves. Otherwise it will be dangerous while working with sharp and fast power to tools. Moreover, to make your woodworking projects more flawless by arranging adequate light, air circulation system, moisture controller etc.

3. Inaccurate measuring procedures

Measuring is the prior concern of any kind of woodworking project. A minimal sort of wrong measurements can ruin your works. Correct measurements are the key factor to get total success in your project. To get rid of such unacceptable issues every woodworker should choose the best quality measuring tape for your works.

Never choose the measuring tapes that are made of cheap plastic components and they can not be placed on any surface for taking measurements as plastics are slippery enough to be settled at any place as required. To ensure accuracy in your measurements try to use metal based measuring tapes that remain rigid in any situation.

4. Using dull blades

There is a myth that the woodworkers work with dull blades and moreover never take care of their “weapons” after their particular project is done. This saying is true to many extent as at the beginning most of the woodworkers start working on their new projects with full enthusiasm and gradually after several usage the blades of the different saws or other cutting tools become dull and blunt. To saw or not to saw. Head over to Lumber Work to find the right one for the job!

These types of conditions of the blades resist you working with adequate swiftness. Moreover, there are chances of danger to happen while working with dull blades. So, it is to be suggested that woodworkers must change or replace their equipment blades as per requirements. Otherwise, because of dull blades your expensive tools might be damaged. So, take care of your tools’ health while needed.

5. Conception of different wood stains

A flawless wooden product can never become perfect without having a matching stain or color finishing. This is considered to be the very last job in any woodworking project after clamping, joining, screwing or glueing etc. It often happens that it seems a stain is similar to the wooden texture immediately after when it is applied, but after the stain becomes dry the stain is not at all matching with wood textures. Most of the beginner woodworkers must have to face this issue very often. To overcome such difficulties woodworkers should examine the stains on sample products and then get into the bigger projects. Verify the perfection of your sample works and if you are satisfied then start planning over further works.

6. Using wrong glues and fasteners

Different woodworking plans and projects require several different types of glues and fasteners. Picking up wrong glues, nails, pins etc can damage the entire work procedures. You should be very careful during selection of adhesives for your wooden products. There are mainly two types of adhesives for any kind of woodworking. Yellow glue or carpenter’s glue for trimming and cabinetry projects and the later one is construction glue for making project structures.

Construction adhesive can be applied on any kind of surface but yellow adhesives require a smooth surface to be applied on. Both adhesives come in squeezable bottles. You should be very much careful about the temperature level during usage of such glues and must follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Always make sure that the surface you are going to apply the glue on is properly clean and dry. Otherwise, the grips of the joints of your wooden products would weaken , which might result in dangling for bigger projects.

Generally, nails are easier to work with than screws as nails can be hooked up by using regular hammers whereas screws require drills to make them fit in. But it is suggested not to use nails for heavier wooden constructions, it is advisable to use screws instead as those have tighter and stronger grips than nails. Whenever you choose screws for your job, examine their heads carefully.

If you want stronger grips then go with washer headed screws, for flush finishing buse bugle head once and for interior joinings use the smallest trim screws. However the screw or nail heads are, those can be hidden by using wood putty before finishing. There is only one drawback of screws that they are expensive enough than nails. So, if you want to curtail the making expenditure you can use bigger head and diameter nails for stronger regular fastening. Choose screws and nails according to the lumber’s depth so that they won’t peep out from the other side of the lumber after fastening.

7. Excess sanding

To give your made up wooden product a perfect polished finish, you must sand it properly before applying stain on it. Moreover, finishing wood stains depends on sanding to many extent. The prior purpose of sanding is to eliminate the uneven surfaces from the wood pieces.

The woodworkers make common mistakes while sanding large wood lumbers as they just sand the defected places only that would make the whole piece more uneven and this also makes those places more prominent.

As a result the stains wouldn’t blend properly. Therefore, it is important to sand the wood pieces evenly from all sides but never over-sand them as too much sanding can affect the natural texture of the woods. As a result too much smoother surface becomes resistant to take the stain evenly.