Does this help?

When you are brand new to something everything you 'invent' seems like a brilliant idea.  After you have been going for a while, in my case a couple of years, they just seem plain obvious.  Just in case there are very new people reading this maybe these will help?

I am making a simple set of shelves at the moment.  I discovered early on last year when I made the kitchen for the Wentworth that it was important to have something to make sure your joins were accurate and to support an item while it dried.  I got my other half to make a jig for me out of bits found in the garage.

The top and left side pieces of wood are (wood glue) glued to the baseboard at a perfect right angle - just check it with a set square (or a CD case!) and gently lower a heavy book onto to the wood while it dries.  Be really well behaved and leave it alone, preferably overnight.  Bob's your uncle you now have a starting point for all and sundry.  That said, today my shelf pieces sort of stuck to it.  They came off OK with a nudge but it did remind me that perhaps I ought to wax the wood to stop this happening.

The bottom parallel strip of wood (under the clamp) has a good ninety degree cut across each end.  I have a couple of these in different lengths to use to butt up against stuff like this to allow me to glue a few pieces at the same time.  So, here, I have two sides, one bottom and two shelves all in place, all square to each other and all being gently pressed in place while they dry.  A couple of hours later I stuck on the top shelf and the job was done.  The top shelf was slightly wider to give it a bit of an overhang that's why it hasn't joined the rest of the crew here.

Don't be envious of the posh pale blue Xacto clamps they were a cheap EBay buy.  I got four of them and some other stuff!  The other one on the left was a dollar shop find as usual.  I got four this size and four small ones - they are useful for all kinds of stuff.



Apologies if this next tip is stating the glaringly obvious.

I have seen all kinds of glue stands - commercial and home made but this is great, cheap and no trouble.  Again buy the cheapest bathroom 'mug' you can find.  Cheap, chunky, heavy, chipped and fifty cents.  It holds every size glue pot I use from the large wood glue, through the most used Aleene's tacky glue (the one in the photo) down to my tiny fine nozzle one. Never falls over and I can pick off or wash out any leaked glue easily.

This is this week's discovery and is what set me off doing this.  If you are a good girl or a good boy and you clean out the lids of all your glues before you put them away you need read no further.  As for the rest of us....  doesn't it drive you crackers that they sometimes get  bunged up while they are resting and the first thing you have to do when you get them out is sort them out.  Here's the perfect kit.  The black thing is the lid of my wood glue.  It has four very small holes around a central blob which occasionally need a clean.  You can pick at them with all and sundry for ages but this method is so simple.  Warm water in your washbasin, drop in the lid - leave it if you can and go and find something else to do, like lunch!  After that it is a simple wash and brush up with interdental brushes.  Second-hand (or second-mouthed) if you don't mind that, so therefore free!  Failing that buy them, guess where - the dollar shop