Solving Some of the Little Problems

The big difference between someone who’s really handy around the home and shop and one who is not lies in knowing how to solve minor problems quickly and effectively.

Here are some tips that might be helpful:

* When nailing from the side opposite a finished surface, don’t pick nails directly out of the box. All too often, oversized and undersized nails will be mixed in with those of proper size, even in a new box. An oversized nail could break through the good surface. Spread a few nails on your workbench and select the good ones from among them. Wrong sizes, uncut points and other defects will show up. In a random sampling, we found five out of 13 from one box were oversized or defective.

* Spreading glue can be messy work. Plastic applicators designed to apply auto-body filler make it easy and neat. They spread wood glue over wide areas quickly. The feathered edge lays on glue smoothly. What’s more, cleanup is a snap. Let the glue dry on the applicator, then flex it to pop off the hardened glue. Auto stores sell these applicators in sets of three for about $2.

* When sharpening the teeth of a hand or circular saw blade, smoke them with a candle. Pass the flame quickly along the edge of the blade so the smoke blackens the teeth. Do not pause in any one place to avoid overheating and possibly drawing the temper from the steel. As you file each tooth, the contrast between shiny and smoked steel shows your progress.

* Drawing a straight line parallel to the edge of a board without having the pencil slip becomes simple if you file a tiny nick in the blade edge of your combination square. File the V-notch in the center of the blade end just deep enough to keep the pencil point from slipping as you move the square along the board. When marking, hold the pencil at an angle with the point leaning toward the square. Keep it steady, because changing the angle will cause the line to waver.

* Boring a hole exactly where you want it in a piece of wood requires a lot of blowing to keep chips from obscuring your guide marks. Save your breath and make a fan to blow them away when using either a hand or power drill. A four-inch strip of two-inch-wide masking tape folded over so it sticks to itself with the drill bit in the center does the job. Locate the fan on the drill bit so it clears the work surface by about half an inch at maximum hole depth.

* If you have to mark very soft wood such as clear pine, cedar or redwood, avoid having to sand out places where pencil marks crushed the surface fibers by using soft chalk instead. A damp cloth removes the marks for final finishing, and there will be no dents in the soft surface to show through the paint or stain.