Cutlist

Levelling up a cupboard

Tools required: Level, Chisel, Block of wood and various packers from 1mm thick to 10mm thick

First grab your level and lay it across the back edge, take note of which end the bubble floats to. If it is in the middle, between the two lines then the back edge is level, if it has floated to one side, then that is the high point.

From the high point, set your level from that corner to the front corner, take note of which end the bubble floats to again. If the bubble is at the same end as your last high point, then this is where you need to start levelling the cupboard from. If the bubble floats to the opposite end to the previous high point, then you need to repeat the process from this new one.

Once you have determined exactly which corner is the highest point, you then need to work backwards. Place your level along the edge of the highest point. Grab some packers and place a couple under the opposite end until the bubble is in the centre. Once you have worked out how many packers this requires, take those packers and place them under that bottom corner of the cupboard.

Tip: If the cupboard is too heavy to lift or too awkward to lift the corner on, take your chisel and block of wood, place the block about 40mm away from the bottom edge of the cupboard. Next grab your chisel and place it on top of the block of wood with the front edge of the chisel wedged under the edge of the cupboard. Then push down using the chisel as a lever action, once the cupboard lifts, pop the packers under the edge.

Once you have that edge of the cupboard levelled, do the same to the next side, repeat the process until all 4 sides are level.

If the cupboard is rather tall, you can use level the cupboard by placing the level on its edge running vertically. This is called levelling for plum. The principles are the same as when levelling the way mentioned above.

Tip: How to determine if your level is still actually level. Start by placing your level on the edge of a cupboard. Pack the level up until the bubble is in the centre. Once you have done this, pick the level up and turn it around 180 degrees. If the bubble is still in the centre, then your level is fine, if it is no longer in the centre, it's time to get a new one or change the bubbles if your level has this option.

To ensure your level is still plum, rest it against a wall and position so that the plum bubble is in the centre, draw a line down the side of the level. Next flip the level over and line it up with the line. Once again, if the bubble is in the centre, your level is fine, otherwise it's time to replace the level.

That's it for this one.

Power Tools safety tips.

I remember when I was an apprentice using an Electric Plane to plane down the side of a vanity benchtop. As an apprentice I was silly enough to be wearing a long shirt that wasn't tucked into my pants. While I was planing the side down my shirt came to close to the Electric Plane and got dragged into the blades. Lucky for me, it dragged in enough of the shirt to jam up the blades and stopped them from spinning anymore, otherwise I would've had a got chunck of my stomach torn out.

So this is one of the reasons why I thought some safety tips for power tools would be a good thing to write about.

1. Always tuck in loose clothing and preferably don't wear lose fitting clothing.

2. If you wear rings on your fingers, remove them whilst using power tools.

3. Wear saftey goggles whenever using tools that spray out any flying debri.

4. If you have long hair, tie it up and out of the way.

5. Wear ear plugs or ear muffs when using power tools that are excessively loud.

6. Steel Cap boots should be worn when working with heavy materials and power tools.

They are the general safety tips that should be taken into consideration when you work with power tools.

Measuring up rooms.

Please not, I will be talking in metric with these measurements.

When measuring up a room, its always a good idea to have a decent tape measure. There are alot of cheap ones on the market and most of them have bad clips at the front. I personally always buy Stanley Tape Measures.

Start by drawing out the room on a piece of paper, show all walls, windows, doorways and positions of the architraves. If the walls are very long it is best to grab someone else to give you a hand. Start with the walls that are open at one end, place your tape measures clip at the internal wall and measure all the way to the other end. Take note of the wall length on your drawings. Do the same on any other open ended walls. For walls that are between each other eg: a U-shaped room, have someone hold the clip of the tape measure at one end and then at the other end, push the tape measure right into the corner and estimate what the measurement will be.

If you have a good quality tape measure, it should show you how wide the tape actually is, if so then all you need to do is stretch the tape measure out to the other wall and push the back of it against the wall. Look down the front edge of the tape and take note of the measurement it reads as, then add the width of the tape measurement to that first measurement.

When measuring windows and door frames, it is always best to measure to the outer edge of the architrave, not the inside where the door or window actually is. This will make sure that when building anything you wont have to worry about interfering with them. It is also best to measure how high off the floor these architraves are too.

Angle walls, this is a little tip that I use for angle walls. From the internal corner of the wall measure out around 800mm from each corner and place a small mark on the wall. Then measure from mark to mark and take note of the measurement. Make sure you note the measurement you used to mark on the walls. I then use a great little program called KwikTrig, it is free unless you want the more advanced version. In Kwiktrig, you can input the measurements of the wall, and it will tell you exactly what the angle is.

Ok, that should be all you need to know about measuring up a room.

Hi I am Jason from Cutlist.biz. I thought this would be a great way to create a resource of tips to do with Cabinet making and wood working. I know there are alot of home handy men out there that would appreciate some tips from a qualified tradesmen, so hopefully this will be a good tool for them.

If you have any question please feel free to post a comment on any of the tips that you are interested in.