Our Master Craftsman does not have computer facilities and at 92 years of age he indicates he doesn't want to learn. However, through me he has relayed some of his hints for your information.
You can always tell a quality of a joiner, by the way he fits his hinges and fittings. There was an old joinery shop foreman's saying, whom I was fortunate to work with many years ago. "If the screws are not flush, with the slots (or crosses) not lined up you can bet the other details are not looked after either."
To drill a pilot hole dead in the centre of a countersunk hole of a hinge or fitting is not easy, especially if the wood has a course grain. If the pilot hole is not central and consentric it is difficult to get the screw flush. To overcome this, make a small hardwood guide. Cut a block approx 25mm x 25mm x 35mm long, drill a hole the size of the pilot drill - say 4mm for No. 8 screws through the length of the block. Mount the block in the lathe and turn a pointed end at 45 degrees. The rest can be left square or - if you are an aspiring Master Carftsman - decorate the turning. In use, the guide is placed in the countersunk hole and then feed the drill down for a perfectly centred pilot hole. By making several guides - both for different size drills and for various length drills the guide can also be used as a depth stop.
This trammel was made from an article I found in an old magazine - forget where but here is the diagram that you can put on the internet.
I made up this trammel to overcome some marking up difficulties I had come up against. The dowel rods can be made any length or diameter provided the trammel blocks are drilled to the same size as the dowel you use. I made the steel pin out of a nail and sharpened the ends - you could prepare a small piece of steel rod and glue it into position. The diagramm shows the pencil glued it - I drilled a slightly oversized hole and used two (Three would be better!!) small wedges to hold the pencil. All of the dimensions in the diagram are in imperial but it would be easy to convert to metric.
Dowel length to suit the job. Blocks shown as 1 3/4" x 2 1/2" x 1 1/4" (Approx 45mm x64mm x 32mm) 1" between centres. (Approx 25mm) Steel pin 2 1/4 " higher than the top dowel. (Approx 57mm) Bolt and Wing Nut to suit 3/16" (Approx 4.5mm) Thick saw cut from the top of the block to the bottom of the hole allowing the bolt to pinch the dowel rods.
When I looked in my old mates workshop I saw an old tobacco tin with grease inside. Curious I received this reply: -
I hope all of your members are in the habit of greasing screws to help when driving them into hard wood and its especially useful where srews have to be removed from time to time out of door hinges and window frames. Always keep a small quantity of grease handy in your tool kit. But do you grease your nails? Try smearing a little grease around the point of the nail - try it with a 4" (100mm) or 5" (125mm) nail and hammer home with ease - especially when nailing into hard wood. Be careful never to get any grease on the head of the nail! Great advice here Ed.
The Master Craftsman has given us heaps of information and it will be submitted as time permits. (Admin)
There often comes a time when one needs to use pine to make a repair you you want to make the pine look aged. One of the easiest ways is by using a very strong brew of instant coffee. Try a little experiment on some scrap timber. First damped the work with warm water to raise the grain and when dry sand back. Make sure the work is dry before sanding. Use a lint free cloth to apply the 'Coffee' stain and continue until the desired depth of colour is achieved. When dry, then use your favorite polish to complete the work.
This tip comes from the original creator of this forum - Robert Bell.
The most economical way of buying white glue such as Aquadhere is to buy in bulk. Hoever, this then causes problems when opening a large container to use a few drops of glue. I transfer some of the glue into one of those screw top sauce bottles. The type that when you partially unscrew the top it allows the liquid to be squeezed out. Not the one's that have a little cap the type such as Kraft Mayonnaise are ideal.
I was one of the lucky one's because I gained an apprenticeship during the depression in the 1930's. And we were taught well. None of your fancy electric tools - everything was done by hand. We had to make our own Journey Man's Box to carry our tools of trade. Probably the most uselful item in my box was the stub of a candle. I used it to lubricate any moving part, and to rub on the thread of a screw before driving it home. A bit of a rub with candle wax on the sole of a plane will make it glide beautifully and helped to stop the resin from sticking to the sole of the plane. I used it to lubricate the tail stock end of a piece of wood when turning in the lathe - some say to use oil, but it can penetrate the wood - candle wax will not.
