Furniture Sale Article

Building Childrens Furntiture To simplify construction procedure with-out sacrificing strength, dowel assembly is avoided in favor of screws and glue. Nails should never be used in the main assembly to hold basic sections of the furniture together. Only screws, which pull and hold the pieces together in a firm tight grip, should be used here. Nails can be used for fastening light drawers, attaching edge trim and other decorative features that have no bearing on strength. To make a strong permanent joint, spread a thin layer of glue on both sections to be joined, set them together, and immedi-ately tighten with screws. The best method of working with screws is to pre-drill screw holes in the top piece; the diameter of the hole is equal to the diameter of the screw being used. Countersink these holes (if the screws are located at the back or underside of the piece where they will not be visible). Then, after setting the two pieces together, drop screws into all the screw holes, hammer them part way into the undrilled wood beneath (unless it is hardwood), and tighten in the usual manner. In the case of a long row or ring of screws, don't tighten them in consecutive order, but skip around, tightening first one at one end, then one at the opposite end, then back to one midway between, and so on until all are tightened. This will insure the pieces being evenly brought to-gether and keep them from getting out of line while assembling.