Sometimes you just need to compromise. If you're working with wood, there will be times when you are just going to be stuck for something. Maybe you need some glue or clamps, discover a drill bit that's just broken, need to find a way of filling a hole or getting your drill bit to stay on ninety degrees. Well, here are a few woodworking hacks that will sort you out in some of these situations.
First let's take a look at glue. Take the example of trying to put some glue onto your project without getting any on your work surface. Some jobs are just like that, no matter how much you try, you're always going to make some mess. To avoid this, use some ordinary greaseproof paper to put your work onto. You can leave it to stand without fear that any glue will come in contact to your working surface, the job won't stick to the surface and the wax paper will easily pull away after the glue dries.
Another trick involving glue is when you are attempting to glue two pieces together. You apply the glue to both surfaces. You then mate the two surfaces together. This is when slippage rears its ugly head. While you fumble around for the clamps, the two pieces of glued timber may slide. To avoid this, sprinkle a little bit of salt onto the glued parts. Just enough to prevent the slippage. Ordinary table salt is fine.
Finally, if you are trying to drill a hole into a piece of timber, but you haven't got the right size drill bit or your drill bit has just broken, I have a solution. Take a nail that is roughly the size of the hole you want to drill and snip its head off. Put the nail into the drill and you've got a makeshift drill bit. Also, if you want to drill a ninety degree hole but don't have a bench drill, you can easily do it by using a couple of pieces of 2 x 2 or similar dimension wood. Put the two pieces together so they form a ninety degree angle on top of your project. Now put your drill bit into the corner of the two pieces and proceed with your drilling.
There are plenty of different hacks that you can employ with woodworking projects when you are stuck. The more experience you have in the shop, the more of these hacks you will see, learn and practice yourself. Like anything else in life, the show must go on. You just have to learn how to hack your way out of it when you get stuck.
