 WWL Hardware: The BDSM Crafter's Supply |
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WWL Hardware: The BDSM Crafter's Supply |
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The technique descriptions here are by no means complete or definitive. I want to briefly covered things you need to know how to do. If these techniques are new to you, buy a good book on woodworking.
This may seem like a strange place for trigenometry, but right angle calculations are an important part of BDSM furniture design. Several projects will refer to the Pythagorian If you'd like more on the topic, visit Homework Central. Use a trig calculator or Excel to apply the formulas below based on these definitions:
The formulas:
A + B = 90
(a*a) + (b*b) = (c*c)
sin(A) = a/c
sin(B) = b/c
cos(A) = b/c
cos(B) = a/c
tan(A) = a/b
sin(B) = b/a
See the Basic Horse project for a practical application of this information.
There are probably dozens of slightly different ways to join two pieces of wood. In selecting one for a particular task, balance strength with complexity/difficulty, in light of your own skills and tools. To complete many of the designs in the Workshop, you should be very familiar with butt, overlap, dowel-reinforced, mitered, dadoed, and lap joints at a base minimum. Butt joints, with and without an overlap (see diagram on Design Practices page), are probably the most common joint. Much more information on joints is embedded in the various projects here. Jointery is important enough to justify buying a good book on the topic.
Working in wood, you'll do a lot of sanding. By far, it's my preference to use power tools for most of this work. Just a few tips, in case you haven't done a lot of finishing work.
- Think about _when_ to sand your parts. Some projects are best sanded before assembly, others after.
- Examine your parts or assembled piece carefully to identify what to sand. If large amounts of wood need to be removed, due to prro fit or defects, do so with a belt sander and/or file.
- Once in the world of finish sanding, you're focusing on smoothing, not on removing large amounts of stock. A good orbital sander is the tool of choice. With this tool, cost/quality do make a big difference.
- Use your orbital sander in an iterative fashion, working from rough (low number) grades of paper to extra-fine (high number). I usually take three steps: 100-grit, 150-grit, and 220-grit. Pressure makes a difference, too. Hard pressure on 100-grit will leave visible scratches, while the same paper floated across a surface can leave a passable final finish.
- Pay attention to your paper. Twenty minutes of hard sanding with a sheet of 100-grit can remove enough abrasive to make it the equivalent of 220. FOr this reason, do a series of passes over _all_ surfaces of all pieces, then change paper. By doing this, you're effectively sanding all faces with finer gradients as the paper looses it's effectivenes: 100 (new), 120 (slightly damaged), etc.
- In sappy wood, buildup of gunk on your paper can make it entirely ineffective. This can be removed with a wire brush, extending the paper's life. This is especially true on your belt sander.
- You can smooth edges with a light pass or two of an orbital sander. Only use fine or extra-fine paper for this, however. Finish up the edges with a couple of passes by hand.
- Hand sand everything lightly before finishing. You can use very light pressure on 220-grit paper, but I prefer 400-grit for hand sanding.
- For an even smoother finish, buff hard with a clean cloth by hand or use a clean buffing wheel in a hand drill.
There are a number of choices for finishing your project, many of which are described briefly in the various projects here. I don't have much to say about finishing, but here are a few points:
- Take your time. It doesn't make sense to put a lot of time and effort into construction only to screw up the piece during finishing. Finish is one of the most observable characteristics of furniture, and can make a piece gorgeous.
- Work in a clean,, dust-free environment. Airbourne particles will definitely become trapped in your finish, if they are present during application and drying.
- Polyurethane is, by far, my favorite final coating. Nothing else has equal protective characteristics, including scratch/dent resistance and washability.
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