The Straight and Narrow
I never knew how hard it was to get something straight until I started fooling around with carpentry. Oh, I've had my share of crooked pictures, and the seams I learned to sew as a teen were never perfectly straight. But they were usually close enough.
In carpentry, however, if you miss the mark when sawing or assembling something, your whole project is out of kilter! Even the slightest mistake can make the next step impossible, or at best, unprofessional-looking.
Today, I spent about 30 minutes constructing a square jig to use when assembling the window seat. I got the idea from a photo in Family Handyman, which showed the carpenter assembling a cabinet using this method. The jig was simply two pieces of 2x4 lumber screwed together at a right angle. Of course, the catch is you have to get the angle on the jig precisely right if you want the project to be right.
I thought it would be relatively easy. Just use a right angle ruler (I still don't know the proper name for these things), butt it up against the 2x4 pieces, drill, and screw. (If you ask why I don't use the ruler for my jig in the first place, it's because the ruler is a flat piece of metal. I need something hefty that I can push my box corners against and clamp them to.)
At any rate, it was harder than I thought. I couldn't clamp the ruler to the 2x4 pieces, so I had to hold it in place while I held the 2x4 pieces and used the drill/screwdriver. I needed two more hands. Of course, the battery on the drill died in the middle of it all--we really need to replace that thing! I had to go upstairs and get my new drill to finish it off.
It all seems square now, so tomorrow I can begin the assembly. The only thing I need to do first is rout a rabbet on the ends of the window seat bottom. The sides will then set into the rabbet before I glue and screw the pieces together.
That shouldn't be too hard. But then, I find myself eating those words a lot, don't I?
In carpentry, however, if you miss the mark when sawing or assembling something, your whole project is out of kilter! Even the slightest mistake can make the next step impossible, or at best, unprofessional-looking.
Today, I spent about 30 minutes constructing a square jig to use when assembling the window seat. I got the idea from a photo in Family Handyman, which showed the carpenter assembling a cabinet using this method. The jig was simply two pieces of 2x4 lumber screwed together at a right angle. Of course, the catch is you have to get the angle on the jig precisely right if you want the project to be right.
I thought it would be relatively easy. Just use a right angle ruler (I still don't know the proper name for these things), butt it up against the 2x4 pieces, drill, and screw. (If you ask why I don't use the ruler for my jig in the first place, it's because the ruler is a flat piece of metal. I need something hefty that I can push my box corners against and clamp them to.)
At any rate, it was harder than I thought. I couldn't clamp the ruler to the 2x4 pieces, so I had to hold it in place while I held the 2x4 pieces and used the drill/screwdriver. I needed two more hands. Of course, the battery on the drill died in the middle of it all--we really need to replace that thing! I had to go upstairs and get my new drill to finish it off.
It all seems square now, so tomorrow I can begin the assembly. The only thing I need to do first is rout a rabbet on the ends of the window seat bottom. The sides will then set into the rabbet before I glue and screw the pieces together.
That shouldn't be too hard. But then, I find myself eating those words a lot, don't I?
posted by Tif at 10:57 PM
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