JP McKee
10-20-2005, 4:14 PM
Hey there everyone. I just found this forum and am exited about expanding my knowledge base of woodworking. I am am an archaeologist and have a strong interest in old ways of working wood, specifically house construction. I used to work as a carpenter. I enjoyed that work and am fairly good at it, but I have just recently become interested in building smaller things. This has presented some new problems for me because it seems like the details I have to be concerned with now are on a nearly miscroscopic level compared to what I have experience with.
I have started a new project that I need some tips on. I have begun constructing some Woodduck houses for myself and to sell. The material Im using is 1x12 rough cut cypress that I got from a local guy. I got the wood green and let it sit stacked to dry for about a month and then made a couple of houses. The wood distorted on these houses making them out of square and not very pretty up close, but still functional. I let the wood dry some more (it is inside a metal building) and tried it again. This time I found that some of the boards had started to bow lengthwise which made trying to fit them even more difficult.
I have also been cutting them with a Dewalt circular saw and am having trouble making the cuts as precise as I would like. I mark them from both sides with a swanson speed square and cut the line as precise as I can, but somehow it always seems to be a little off. I have a brand new Dewalt miter saw but it will only cut half way through the width of the boards and when I have to flip them to cut them, the results dont seem to be any better than the hand saw. I guess my main problem in a nutshell is keeping things square and it seems that no matter how hard I try, nothing fits as good as I would like. If I was just doing it for my own use it wouldnt bother me as bad, but I want them to look good to sell. Its getting really discouraging.
Any tips to improve my work?
I have started a new project that I need some tips on. I have begun constructing some Woodduck houses for myself and to sell. The material Im using is 1x12 rough cut cypress that I got from a local guy. I got the wood green and let it sit stacked to dry for about a month and then made a couple of houses. The wood distorted on these houses making them out of square and not very pretty up close, but still functional. I let the wood dry some more (it is inside a metal building) and tried it again. This time I found that some of the boards had started to bow lengthwise which made trying to fit them even more difficult.
I have also been cutting them with a Dewalt circular saw and am having trouble making the cuts as precise as I would like. I mark them from both sides with a swanson speed square and cut the line as precise as I can, but somehow it always seems to be a little off. I have a brand new Dewalt miter saw but it will only cut half way through the width of the boards and when I have to flip them to cut them, the results dont seem to be any better than the hand saw. I guess my main problem in a nutshell is keeping things square and it seems that no matter how hard I try, nothing fits as good as I would like. If I was just doing it for my own use it wouldnt bother me as bad, but I want them to look good to sell. Its getting really discouraging.
Any tips to improve my work?