7 Quick Tips for improving your Woodworking Skills

7 Quick Tips for Improving your Woodworking Skills

Creating your own furniture from scratch is enjoying something of a revival. With the credit crunch showing its claws, considerable savings can be made.

So, here are a few tips to follow when it comes to honing your woodworking skills and creating a piece of furniture for you, and perhaps, future generations, to cherish.

1. Look around a home interiors store and check out what’s hot, and what’s not. It may have been a while since you last bought, or made furniture, and fashions change.

2. Run a safety check on your fixing tools and look them over carefully. Replace any mishapen or blunt saw blades, and discard any that are so worn they’re unlikely to be safe to use.

As a basic rule of thumb, here are the fixing tools which are usually more than enough for any project; a vice, several chisels of varying widths, a clamp, sanding blocks, squares and straight edges, a steel rule and, finally, a tape measure.

3. The fun part comes with choosing your project! A whole kitchen, or a bedside cabinet? Choose a project suitable for your skill level, and also one that appeals and is interesting to make.

4. Furniture making plans and furniture “how-to” articles are widely available in books, magazines, on television and the internet. Select plans according to your DIY skill level. A Welsh dresser may be something to aspire to, but start with a simple set of shelving and gradually work your way up!

5. Once you’ve decided what to make, write a list of everything you’ll need before you go shopping. There’s nothing more frustrating than running out of glue as the shops shut! Bear in mind that you’ll not only need wood and fixings, but finishes too. [Wax, oil, or varnish, for example.]

6. Clear and clean your workspace before you start. Lay out everything you’ll need to save time later. A messy workspace will slow you down, and may result in mistakes.

7. A useful tip is to pin your furniture plans to the wall so that you can see them at a glance. Losing them under a pile of sawdust is no fun. Use your plans to jot down notes as you work. If you make, say, a table or chair leg 2cm longer than the plans stipulate, you’ll need to remember the exact amount to add to the other legs, too!

Above all else, have fun, and remember that everything you create will be unique!