Woodwork Tips Part 2

Removing Excess Dust:
It is essential that you remove all the excess dust and dirt from your assembled job before you apply a finish to it.

This is to ensure that your finish can be applied evenly and smoothly and if any dust is trapped it will be trapped for good and you will be able to see it.

The best way to remove excess dust is to use a slightly damp cloth and wiping your completed job but make sure it isn’t to damp or your timber could swell.

Glue Spots:
Sometimes you may find that after applying a finish to your completed woodwork job you are left with lighter coloured spots. This is caused from dried glue that has not been removed from the surface.

To locate these spots before you apply a finish you can wipe down your job with a denatured alcohol which will temporarily darken the timber revealing the spots and allowing you to sand them off.

Raising Timber:
This woodwork tip is a technique that is used to remove dents in your wood by raising the surface. This can be done in two main ways which is swelling with water or rising with a damp cloth and iron.

You can apply small amounts of water to the dent which will cause it to swell and rise and this will allow you to sand the surface flat. The other way to raise the timber is by applying a damp cloth to the surface where the dents are.

You then iron the cloth like you would your cloths and this should make the dents rise and allows you to sand them flat. Be careful not to iron the cloth for too long as you can burn the cloth and wood.

Sanding Blocks:
When you are going to sand large or long pieces of timber by hand with sandpaper the best way to do it is with a sanding block. A sanding block is a block of wood or cork that you wrap a small piece of sand paper around.

Sanding blocks make sanding by hand much easier, more comfortable and more consistent because you have the block to support your hand. They are very easy to make or a proper sanding bock can be bought from just about any hardware store.

Sawdust Putty:
Instead of using timber putty you can make your own from sawdust and PVA glue. All you have to do is mix some PVA glue with some sawdust from the timber you are using and then apply it to any holes or cracks in the timber. It also completely matches your timber and you can't see the dry glue.

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