Here are some carpentry tricks to file away.
1. Another way to hold a small nail in place, or position a nail in a tight place you can’t reach well with your fingers. Keep a small piece of putty or Plasticine in your toolbox. When you encounter that tough nailing job, stick the putty in position, stick the nail into the putty and hammer away. You can remove the putty once you’ve driven in the nail.
2. It can be tough to get nails started in hardwood, and once you do, you can end up with a bent nail. Try dipping the nails in linseed before driving them. This will help lubricate the passage of the nail through the wood.
3. If you’ve ever tried screwing something into the endgrain of a piece of wood, you may have noticed that it just doesn’t grip the way it does across the grain. Here are two ways to get around this. You can predrill the hole and squeeze in some carpenters glue before driving in your screw. Or, if you want to be able to remove the screw again, try inserting a dowel (wide enough to take the screw) below the hole. Drill a hole across the grain of the fastening member, stick in the dowel, drive your screws and sand off the dowel.
