Mike B
Established Member
Much is made these days of the accuracy of powertools, saws, planes etc and indeed the greater the accuracy of the component parts the greater the accuracy and quality of the finished article.Additionally, this is largely up to each individuals own standards/pride but as a relative newbie "how accurate is accurate enough?"
By this I mean in reality how accurately does a piece need to be made to look professional when placed in your living room (and I do not mean anything to do with design, colour, type of finish...).
For example, if I were to make a 1.2m tall bookcase and the sides are 1mm bowed over the length will anyone (except me) notice?? Obviously, if the dovetails joining the sides to the top have 1mm gaps then it will look terrible!!
So, I was wondering what "rules of thumb" / years of experience other users employ to know when to stop planing and paring joints and get the project finished??
As a relative newbie find it all too easy to spend hours and hours trying to eradicate every chink of light under the straightedge or paring every joint, only to get frustrated by the wood "settling" a little overnight or seemingly never getting anything finished!!
Cheers
Mike
By this I mean in reality how accurately does a piece need to be made to look professional when placed in your living room (and I do not mean anything to do with design, colour, type of finish...).
For example, if I were to make a 1.2m tall bookcase and the sides are 1mm bowed over the length will anyone (except me) notice?? Obviously, if the dovetails joining the sides to the top have 1mm gaps then it will look terrible!!
So, I was wondering what "rules of thumb" / years of experience other users employ to know when to stop planing and paring joints and get the project finished??
As a relative newbie find it all too easy to spend hours and hours trying to eradicate every chink of light under the straightedge or paring every joint, only to get frustrated by the wood "settling" a little overnight or seemingly never getting anything finished!!
Cheers
Mike