Assembling Your Project

Simple techniques for quick and accurate glue-ups.

One of the slickest ways to get the lid of a box to fit the box perfectly is to make them one and the same. You assemble all six sides of a box into one piece – and then cut the lid from the box.

When I make Euro-style cabinets, I generally use 1/4-in. thick edge banding. But getting this thin edge banding consistently bonded to the edge of a carcass piece can be dicey.

What's the best joinery method for drawer boxes? For that matter, what are the joinery methods for making drawer boxes? You can build drawer joints using any number of methods, keep in mind you want to make sure your joinery method is durable enough to stand up to the sometimes discourteous treatment that drawers typically receive. That means that in drawer making, the emphasis is on reliable, accurate joinery.

Wooodworkers I talk to who haven't tried working with veneers tend to think that it's just too difficult. This couldn't be further from the truth. Veneering is an easy woodworking technique that is both fun and creative. In the last issue I covered the simple task of veneering a drawer face.

Veneering is one of the most challenging and interesting aspects of woodworking. In fact, many in the field consider it an art form. While there's a lot of techniques to learn on the road to mastering veneering, there's always a starting point. In the seminars I teach, I like to start out by concentrating on a simple and practical application. Let's say you want to make a maple chest of drawers.

We demonstrate how to cover screw heads with wood plugs. You can make custom wood plugs to match any wood species using simple wood plug cutters.

A great way to make curved woodworking project parts is by laminating thin strips. Glue is applied between the wood strips and then they are clamped in a form that matches the shape of the final curve.