[ATM] shop tips

[renrepro at surfglobal.net (Ina Ron Lippard Renaissance Reproductions)]

    I was hesitant to write this piece.Bandwidth is expensive.Wood is even 
more expensive.
    Next time your working that new dob over and are using birch plywood 
and/or Doug fir,here are some tips I found building kitchen cabinet telescope.
   There is a little tool that saves wood and nerves.It puts a very 
accurate line where you want it.Meet utility knife.I have written about 
this tool before but decided to re-visit it again.Materials that tend to 
splinter like Doug fir and veneer plywood are difficult to machine.This 
tool,(aka box-cutter,drywall cutter) prevents spoiling valuable 
material.While building my kitchen telescope,I had to cross-cut some 1/4 
sawn 1" fir.This stuff is the worst wood to work because of its tendency to 
feather at the cut line.Therefore I used my knife to pre-score every 
cut.When measuring,use the tip to place the initial mark instead of a 
pencil.If your working with poor lighting this makes excellent sense.You 
can always find your mark by feel if necessary. A light strike across the 
wood severs the fibers prior to cutting.Since my joints need to be 
perfect,I drew my marks all the way around each piece.Then I cut the part 
leaving a hair more wood past the mark.If you watch the blade on your 
saw,you'll notice the fiber flake to the line,and stop.As you trim to fit 
what's left,it will flake off with no feather.While your doing this,take a 
scrap of wood and cut it.Stop the saw without moving the piece.Take your 
knife and draw a line on the saw table using the cut piece as a guide.This 
will be the exact cut line for your saw.Any future cutting will be more 
accurate as long as you don't change the blade.For sheet stock such as 
plywood,use the utility knife in the same manner.Clamping a straight-edge 
to the work helps in drawing the blade across the wood.If you are using a 
hand-held saw,notice how the wood between the blade and line crumbles 
away.Because your going to plane this edge to dimension,you leave a bit of 
wood to work with.Once cut it is very easy to see what you missed with 
sawing.The razor edge of the line gives you an excellent guide to finish 
planing the edge.I prefer a block plane to dress the edge.With try and 
framing squares,you get professional results.Change your blades 
frequently.They are cheap compared to a sheet of plywood.Score lines in 
plywood a bit heavier then fir.One more thing.Because of its nature,Doug 
fir has a reputation of splintering,(feathering).Corners can impale 
themselves very nicely into your hands.And fir loves to fester.I use a fine 
double-cut cabinet file with handle to run over the edges,NOT SANDPAPER.The 
resin wood of fir will go through sandpaper like butter.Look at the grain 
as you file.The pulp wood files quicker then the resin wood.Therefore care 
needs to be taken to even out the edge.
regards,Ron