[rmorgan66]

Hello everyone, got a newbie here and I am just getting started. I recently retired and I am anxious about getting back into woodworking that I left when I went into the military back in the 60's. Anyway, found this site and I believe that this is the site that I will need for all my woodworking projects and I am looking forward to many a fireside chat:yes:. So, I am kind of a novice so please bear with me if I ask some dumb questions from time to time. I really want to learn and hone my skills. Really looking forward to this site.

Rick

 

[woodnthings]

Hi Rick

Nice intro and welcome! You will find a variety of opinions and probably several different answers to the same question here since there is always more than one way to "skin the cat", so fire away.
How 'bout a list of the tools you have and what type of projects you might want to tackle? :blink:

 

[cabinetman]

.

 

[adot45]

Hello and Welcome to the forum. Glad you found this site. It's full of us old guys and there is plenty of help available. Thank You for serving.

 

[Paarker]

Welcome!

 

[calwilliams63]

Welcome Rick!!! Chances are if you have a questions their are many others that have the same one. Cheers

 

[cuerodoc]

Welcome!
They told me there weren't any dumb questions here.

 

[rmorgan66]

hello everyone, sorry that it has taken me forever to reply but I have been kinda busy as of late.
Dumb question #1. Concerning routing, I am finishing out a workbench and to top it off I put a laminate top on it. I cut it down to make it easier to work with and now that it is permantely attached to the bench top I want to smooth off the corners and edges. I have a laminate bit that I am going to use with my router and to make sure that I do it right, I am asking the pros. Which way do I go when I get started cutting, is it clockwise or counter clockwise?
I have being a novice

 

[Dave Paine]

Many ways to hold the router or orient the workpiece.

If the table top is horizontal and you have holding the router above the table top, the router is rotating clockwise and you would normally start at the left of the workpiece and progress to the right.

The nuance is end grain. What is the material of the top? You may end up being better off sanding the laminate if you have end grain on the ends of the table top.

 

[rayking49]

Welcome to wwt.

 

[rmorgan66]

Thx, followed ur advice David, worked out great. Now, have another dumb question if you don't mind. Concerning hollow interior closet doors. I am replacing two int.closet doors and I need to make sure they are the same in length and width. I am guessing that the width is a common measurement but the length I am susre needs to be adjusted. How do I cut it to proper length or width if need be?

 

[Dave Paine]

The width and height are standard sizes - however the opening in your home may be non-standard. I have too many openings in my house which are non-standard.

Hollow core doors have a solid frame around the edge, but this is only about 1in wide. Hence you want to get a door which is closest to your opening so you do not have to remove too much or else you will expose the hollow interior matrix.

Adjusting to match the width is easy, can be done by hand plane, router, circular saw. Just need a good straight reference guide.

Adjusting for the height is not so easy since you are going across the grain - easy for tearout. This time I would use router or circular saw.

To minimize tearout I would score the exact line of the cut with an xacto knife or sharp utility knife. I would then clamp a sacrificial piece of wood across the cut. This will support the weak grain on the hollow core door. A belt-and-braces approach, but cannot be too careful. I did not do this the first time I cut a hollow core door to length and experienced the tearout issue.