A role of ¾” filament strapping tape is a great thing to have around. I used that in place of clamps for small pieces. The sticky side of that tape has great holding power and it won’t rip like masking tape will. My pieces stayed perfectly in place and any glue squeeze-out was contained by the masking tape.

After all the joints had dried sufficiently, I took off all the tape and checked my work. All the joints were looking good. But in spite of careful measuring, careful glue up, and a sharp blade on the saw, there are always imperfections in the joinery that need a little love before you start to sand.

Speaking of loves, another one of mine is water-based wood putty. A friend turned me on to this stuff years ago when it first came out. I love two things about it. First, I like its texture as opposed to the solvent-based variety. For me, it goes into smaller cracks and holes and works in easier than the solvent-based equivalent. Second, it dries faster. The solvent-based stuff seems to skin over and dry from the top down. The water-based stuff seems to dry in all directions at once. I can get on it with the sand paper much more quickly.

Back to mylove affair with tape. The next step in my project was to take ¾” tape and mask off each side of each joint. Look at my photo and see how close I mask to the joint. Then, I take my finger and some putty and I rub it into the crack at the joint regardless of whether there is a visible crack or not. I seldom use a putty knife with this stuff. I feel that I can control it better with my finger.

Next weeks discussion will include a further explanation on how putty helps put the finishing touches on your wood project before sanding and finishing take place.

Until next time...spray on!