9 Woodshop Tips from Smoke and Sand Woodworking

Our friend Greg over at Smoke and Sand Woodworking just told us some of his woodshop tips that range from how to keep a clean workspace to seamless miters to perfecting your sanding technique and we just couldn't keep them a secret. Here are nine of his top tips: 

Tip #1

When you're making a box, make sure to mark your sides and their orientation for easy glue-up to keep your continuous grain flow.

Tip #2

Use chalk for marking. It's easier to remove than pencil!

Tip #3

Use a carpenter's square or digital angle finder to check your miters. Seamless miters don't need to be difficult, so a second check is worth it.

Tip #4

Use painter's tape to keep the sides of your boxes held together before clamping. It will make your life much easier.

Tip #5

When gluing miters, coat the endgrain lightly with your wood glue and give it a couple minutes to absorb before adding a little more. Endgrain is very porous and absorbent, so the extra little bit will help.

Tip #6

Parchment paper is amazing for easy clean up.

Tip #7

Wipe off your excess glue squeeze-out with a damp rag once the glue starts to dry a bit. It'll make it much easier to get off the excess with your drum sander or planer after it dries. Dried glue is tough on your belts and blades.

Tip #8 

Use a wide smoothie straw to clean up glue squeeze-out in hard to reach cracks.

Tip #9

Before sanding your finished product, know what finish you plan to use and make sure you don't sand to too high of a grit. Most finishes don't want you to sand over 180 or 220 grit. Sanding to high grits may feel nice, but it could hurt the absorption of your finish.

We hope Greg's tips help make your life easier, your work more efficient, and your projects the best that they can possibly be. Want to follow along Greg's woodworking journey? Check out his most recent projects on social @SmokeAndSandWoodworking.

Happy woodworking!