Shoutout to the old timer at the lumberyard in Tacoma

I was picking up some maple last week and mentioned my trouble with a tricky miter joint. He told me to try a 0.5 degree shim behind the fence on my table saw, saying 'It's not about perfect 45s, it's about what the wood sees.' I tried it on a test piece and the joint closed up tight. Why don't they teach that little trick in the books? What's the best piece of simple advice you've gotten from another maker?

2 comments

2 Comments

stellahayes12d ago

That shim trick is a lifesaver for sure. Best simple advice I ever got was about glue ups, an old guy told me to always put a tiny bit of glue in the bottom of my dowel holes before the dowel goes in. It seals the end grain so the main glue line doesn't get sucked dry, stops those weird starved joints. Made my chair repairs way stronger overnight.

ivanb4112d ago

Remember that advice about what the wood sees. It's so true. The best tip I ever got was to stop trying to force a board flat on the jointer if it has a serious twist. An old cabinetmaker told me to look for the two high corners, joint those edges first to make a stable triangle, then work from there. It sounds backwards, but it keeps you from chasing your tail and wasting material. Changed how I mill everything now.

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