All How-To Topics
|
|
Quick, accurate shims
comments (0) January 31st, 2011 in Project Gallery
Official Fine Homebuilding Post, editor
14 users recommend
Click the "thumbs up" button above to vote for this tip. Help us choose Fine Homebuilding's top-10 window and door tips.
Photo: Drawing by Chuck Miller
Obtaining the right-size shims for a job can be quick, easy, and precise if you put in about 10 minutes’ preparation. Begin with the shim stock.
A proper shim has grain running its entire length—no end grain allowed. To that end, I glue 3-1/2-in.-long 2x4 blocks together edge to edge, as shown in the drawing. The number of blocks depends on the length of bar clamps available for gluing. I label the glued pieces “Shim Material” so that this wood isn’t used for something else.
Next, on a piece of masking tape affixed to the miter-saw fence, I draw index marks exactly 3 in. left of the blade. These marks represent both sides of the sawcut. If I wanted to cut a shim 13/32 in. thick, I would mark the shim material at 3 plus 13/32 in. from the right end, as shown. Then I would align the mark on the wood with the right index mark on the miter saw. When I cut the wood, a piece exactly 13/32 in. thick is the result.
It’s also easy to cut wedged shims this way. A useful rule of thumb is that for every mitered degree you cut through a 3-1/2-in.-wide piece, the wedge becomes 1/16 in. thicker on one end than it is on the other.
posted in: Project Gallery, windows, doors
|
|
|
|
-
How to Paint Fiber-Cement Siding
Painter Jim Lacey shares some tips for caulking and painting fiber-cement siding. read more
|
|
The Best Door and Window Tips
Give you're favorite tip a thumbs up
Browse through this collection of Fine Homebuilding reader-submitted window and door tips, and tell us which ones are the most, useful, interesting, and innovative. We'll tally the thumbs up and make a pdf download of the ten favorite tips.
Have a better tip to share?
Stop by our There's a Better Way Quick Tips page and post your own ingenious construction solutions.
Comments (0)
You must be logged in to post comments. Click here to login.