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Sliding dovetails are one of the unsung joints that are seldom used in woodworking, too bad because they are not nearly as intimidating as they may seem and they hold fast and give lots of area for glue to grab on to making an excellent, tight joint.
In this video we are ultimately making a 3 legged pedestal table but in order to get to that point there are many steps and this is another one of those steps. We needed something to but the dovetail slots into so we needed to start off making a six sided or hexagon shaped column or post.
Using the correct technique on a table saw, a column like this can be cut accurately in a couple of minutes. The secret to cutting a hexagon column is to start off with a blank that is about twice as wide on one side as the other and length can be whatever you want. Set the angle of your table saw blade to 30 degrees (which conversely is 60 degrees off the table) and make your first cut, then flip the board upside down and make the second cut.
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Almost every woodwork has used stain to change the color or wood at one time or another, but few of them have ever used "wood dye" to color wood, in fact, few woodworkers have even heard of wood dye so now is the opportunity to see the differences and understand the pros and cons of each. With this information we can then go about choosing which products to select for any given project.
Dying Wood Versus Staining Wood
Stain - Pretty much the standard of the woodworking industry, wood stains are primarily made from dirt. Yup, that's right dirt. Ground up and pulverized clays of various colors are the primary ingredient in stains.
They are then often mixed with some sort of oil type base and a few other ingredients like driers and emulsifiers to give them specific paint-on and adherence features. Because stains are made from earthen material they are very color fast, in fact, that is why they are used on fences, the outsides of buildings and many other out-door applications, because they are so color fast. Basically if you can get a stain to adhere to a wood, and leave it in the sun, it will barely fade after years and years of exposure. What actually happens in most cases is the stain dries and slowly falls off after time because the oil base can no longer keep it adhered to the wood. The key with stains, is they are earthen and that when they are painted on, they are primarily coated on the surface of the wood. There is very little penetration of the stain into the wood, mostly the stain lays on top the wood. Because most stains are oil based, they don't raise the grain of the wood and all in all, for most projects they give a great finish. So now you may be wondering, if stain is so good, why would anyone even bother with a wood dye? The answer of course is in what are the properties of wood dyes and why should a woodworker know about them and want to use them? Read on for the answers ....
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When we have no other criteria to judge things on, we always select the cheapest product. Well, most of us do. Isn't it always true that once we know some things to look for in the products and services we purchase, we are all willing to pay more if there are benefits to the more expensive product. This is always the case with the lowly paint brush. I have done it myself. There I stand in front of a rack of paint brushes, they all look pretty much the same to me sitting their in their packages and priced from $1.99 up to $24.99 ... so, what do I do, I purchase the cheapest one.
Then when I get home and start clear finishing my woodworking projects and find that I am really making a mess of an otherwise great project, and something I spent a lot of time making, and how the finish I am putting on is looking like crap. What's the first thing I blade ... the can of finish. BUT little did I know the real culprit was ME by selecting a cheap paint brush in the first place.
I can honestly say that when it comes to purchasing paint brushes, the more you pay the better quality you are going to get. But like all things, when you are armed with knowledge it makes all the difference in the world, and so ...
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In the scheme of things, there are not many actual "tools" when it comes to finishing of wood projects. Sure there are paint brushes of various types and sizes and large selection of spray type tools and attachments but other than that, there is not a lot avalable.
One of the challenges of so many of who use paint brushes to apply stains and final coats is trying to finish an entire project in one session. That often means having to finish all the sides that "show" without having to worry about the finish being marred. In most cases we have to do the finishing in 2 sessions, which contributes to making the finishing process long and tedious.
Thankfully someone has addressed some of the finishing challenges that woodworkers encounter while finishing and have invented some products to help meet these challenges.
The first product is the Veraspin 360. Nothing particularly high tech about this unit, it is basically a plastic turn table that comes in 2 sizes, 11" and 16". True, it spins around in a 360 degree circle nicely, but the real benefit to the Veraspins' are the built in little "nubs" on the top surface. These little nubs are used to help hold 2 other products that attach on top of them to make a great finishing platform.