Some of the best woodworking tips don’t require building a jig or buying another tool. They’re simply clever ways to solve those little problems that come up again and again in the shop.
These three Woodsmith reader tips cover everything from maintaining your glue bottles to measuring an unknown dowel and keeping matched drawer fronts in the right order during a furniture build.
1. Keep Wood Glue Bottle Caps From Sticking
Anyone who uses wood glue regularly has probably encountered a cap that seems permanently attached to the bottle. A little glue gets onto the threads, dries, and suddenly removing the cap becomes a wrestling match.
John Welch of Springfield, Ohio, has a simple way to prevent the problem.
Whenever he refills his glue bottles, he coats the threads with a small amount of lip balm. Petroleum jelly works as well. The coating helps prevent glue from bonding the cap to the threads, making the bottle easier to open the next time you need it.
You don’t need much. A light coating on the threads is enough to help keep the cap operating smoothly.
It’s a quick bit of glue bottle maintenance that only takes a few seconds whenever you refill the bottle.
Tip submitted by John Welch, Springfield, Ohio.
2. Measure an Unknown Dowel Diameter With Two Squares
Have an old dowel or other round part in the shop and aren’t sure what size it is? You could reach for a caliper, but Sidney Phillips of Melville, New York, has a clever method that uses a pair of common layout tools.
Start by setting a combination square at a convenient inch mark. Then use a second square to trap the dowel between the two squares.
Where the squares intersect reveals the diameter of the dowel.
This technique can also come in handy for checking other odd-size parts when you don’t have a caliper nearby.
Tip submitted by Sidney Phillips, Melville, New York.
3. Label Drawers to Preserve a Continuous Grain Pattern
Carefully matching the grain across a series of drawer fronts can make a big difference in the appearance of a finished cabinet or tool chest. But all that effort can be wasted if the drawers get mixed up during assembly or finishing.
After spending considerable time matching the grain patterns on the drawer fronts of a new tool chest, Mack Brown of Spokane, Washington, came up with a simple way to make sure every drawer returned to its intended location.
Before moving on, he wrote the location of each drawer on its underside. When it was time for final installation, there was no question about which drawer belonged where.
This is an especially useful habit when you’ve cut several drawer fronts sequentially from the same board to create a continuous grain pattern. A simple label such as Top, 2, 3, and Bottom can save you from trying to reconstruct the arrangement later.
Tip submitted by Mack Brown, Spokane, Washington.
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Simple Woodworking Tips That Save Time
None of these shop tips is complicated, but that’s exactly what makes them useful. A dab of lip balm can keep a glue bottle working smoothly. Two squares can help identify the diameter of an unknown dowel. And a few handwritten labels can preserve the grain pattern you worked hard to create across a bank of drawers.
Small habits like these can prevent surprisingly frustrating problems — and make everyday woodworking just a little easier.
