DIY Network

Versatile Bookshelves: Dowels, Center Points and Finishing with Lacquer (Web Extra) From "Freeform Furniture" episode DFFF-105

In this Web Extra host Amy Devers shares information on working with dowels, dowel center points and finishing with lacquer.

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Host Amy Devers provides information on using dowels for your woodworking projects.

Dowels and Dowel Center Points

• A dowel is a cylindrical wooden pin that is used to attach pieces of wood together and to reinforce wood joints. Dowels are available at home improvement stores and hardware stores. They come in 36" lengths and in diameters from 1/8" to 1". The most common sizes are 1/4", 5/16", 3/8" and 1/2".

• In Freeform Furniture all of the joints were butt joints, where one piece of wood is butted up to the other. Dowels served to reinforce the joints.

• To use a dowel in a joint you have to cut it to size, chamfer the ends, and cut a groove in the side before installing it. The chamfer makes the dowel easier to insert into the hole. Air and glue inside the hole can prevent the dowel from sliding in properly, and the groove allows excess glue to escape from the hole. Use a band saw to cut a groove into the side of the dowel. Be sure to use a clamp to hold the dowel when you cut the groove. This also prevents the wood around the hole from splitting due to pressure.

• Cut dowels about 1/8" shorter than the length of the hole they are meant for in order to leave room for glue and to allow you to pull the joint tight.

• Some stores sell pre-cut, ready-to-use dowels in an assortment of diameters and sizes. The dowels on Freeform Furniture are ready-to-use. Use a dowel with a diameter not larger than one half the thickness of the wood that it is entering. A large dowel can weaken the wood. For example, in a 3/4" piece of wood, the dowel should measure 3/8" or less in diameter.

• For strength, use at least two dowels in a joint.

• When working with dowels, it is often a challenge to get all of your parts lined up. A jig can help with this, but a simpler solution is a dowel center. A dowel center is a cylindrical metal pin with a raised point that is inserted into a dowel hole and used to locate the exact center on a mating piece of wood. Place the dowel center in the hole of one piece and press it against the piece it will be joined with. When pressed against another piece, it will leave a small mark in the appropriate location for the hole in the adjoining piece. This mark can be used to drill the mating hole in the exact location.

• Use an awl and hammer and gently tap into the center of the mark. Then set the drill in the indent and make the dowel holes. To make sure the holes are a uniform depth, use masking tape as a depth indicator on the drill bit. Repeat this process for all the dowel holes.

• Make sure that the holes on both sides of the joint line up properly. You can do this using a jig, or by measuring for each hole.

• After the holes are drilled, it is always a good idea to do a check fit. Put the pieces together with the dowels in the holes and make sure all the joints line up and everything is snug.

• After checking that everything lines up, place some wood glue in each dowel hole, insert the dowels into the holes, and tap the dowels into the appropriate holes with a plastic mallet.

• After checking that everything lines up, place some wood glue in each dowel hole, insert the dowels into the holes, and tap the dowels into the appropriate holes with a plastic mallet.

Amy shares pointers on finishing a woodworking piece with lacquer.

Finishing with Lacquer

• The term finish refers to a protective coating that sits on or in the surface of the wood. There are five common types of finishes: oil, varnish and polyurethane, shellac, lacquer, and water-based finishes.

• Freeform Furniture used lacquer finish. Lacquer's fast drying properties reduce dust related finish problems and produce a surface with clarity and depth. Lacquer is usually applied with a spray gun. Be aware that the fumes are hazardous and the dry dust can be explosive.

• To begin, go over the work surface with an orbital sander making sure to sand with the grain.
  Then, go over the surface with a cloth making sure to remove all dust particles.

• Before spraying, mask off the glue joints. Glue doesn't bond well if there is a finish on the wood. Masking off the joints with lacquer tape will avoid any of the finish getting on the parts where the glue will go.

• Set up a tent or covering over the project to try and keep dust from settling on the wet finish.

  Freeform Furniture used a professional spray gun to apply the finish. The gun works on a turbine system. The turbine supplies a steady flow of warm, dry air at a low pressure that mixes with the lacquer in the can and forms a controllable spray. Make sure your spray gun is set up properly for the material you are spraying and has a matched air cap, fluid nozzle, and needle of appropriate size. Spray with as little air pressure as will allow the transfer of material. Too much air pressure causes over atomization, air turbulence and overspray. With the spray gun set up, turn on the turbine system and apply a thin even coat of sealer onto the work pieces. Sealer seals or primes the wood to provide a base for the build coats. It also makes sanding easier.

• Repeat this spraying process on both sides of the work surface.

• Let the work pieces sit for a few minutes and lightly sand the surfaces with 400-grit sandpaper until smooth. Then, fill the spray gun with 20 percent thinner and 80 percent lacquer. Thin as little as possible (unless specifically otherwise directed on the label). Over thinning reduces the total solids applied per coat and more coats must be applied to get the same thickness of coating and protection for the surface. Overly thinned lacquer creates many application problems.

• Apply a wet coat of lacquer to the work pieces, but not so much that the lacquer runs. Be careful to avoid overspray.

• Lightly sand with 400-grit sandpaper.

• Spray on two more coats of lacquer, allowing a few minutes of dry time between each coat. Lightly hand sanding with 400-grit sandpaper in between coats.

• Let the last coat dry for a few hours.

• Buff the sprayed surfaces with fine gauge synthetic steel wool, knocking back any uneven surfaces.

• Finally, wipe it down with a cloth.