New thing! Now with biscuits!

It had been AGES since I’ve made a bit of furniture or done things with wood/construction. 

Partly time, partly I didn’t really have anything I needed. I however worked out I would like to replace the oversized TV table with a smaller one, which we can do if we clamp the TV to the wall.

I finally started it. It’s not finished yet -my tendonitis is back and holding powertools and stuff isn’t optimal at the moment.  Super annoying. Has stopped me doing other things too like sewing and bass playing. 

This is in tasmanian oak, btw. From bunnings, it’s the only hardwood that is readily available, sustainable and affordable in Australia, as it is plantation wood.

Anyway, I mentioned to someone I was using biscuits to join the wood and I got back a look of confusion.  Not edible biscuits.

These are biscuits – I think they are pine.

Biscuits are little compressed tablets of reconstituted wood gloop. If you want to join up two flat bits of wood in an invisible join, you cut little slots in the edges, glue in the biscuit, and clamp them shut. They expand with glue and make a very robust join.

My biscuit joiner was a cheapy from Aldi. It rotates so fast that it burns the wood and so if I’m biscuiting I am standing in a shed full of smoke and sawdust.  Awesome.

I always take precautions when dealing with wood. Safety glasses over my glasses, ear protection, dust protection over the face. Also wearing a top I bought in 1996 that is more holes than fabric at this point.

You lay everything flat and push the blade into the wood to cut corresponding half circular slots. This shows you how the biscuit works once you’ve cut the slots

all glued up ready for clamping

wood put together and clamped

I had to do some this on the floor. My shed is too small to do most stuff in. Worse since Dad gave me his old mitre drop saw that has it’s own little stand -it’s huge and cumbersome and takes up room I don’t have. I have to move this thing around all the time to get to things. And Dave keeps his brewing stuff in the shed and does a brew every so often – lots and lots of things needed to brew beer. So there is far far less space than there used to be and we are constantly doing swaps for the usable space. Oh it’s the brewing this week. Oh it’s the blah this week. Do a clean up! Move everything around!

I need a bigger shed.

I still have a fair bit of work to do on this bit of furniture. But it was good to get back into woodworking. Woodworking is very satisfying. Here I am looking satisfied!