Grab a roll of wax coated lunch wrapping paper from the kitchen or local supermarket for a bit more than $2 a roll. You can use baking paper but it’s more expensive and no more effective.
Here’s a few ways I use waxed paper:
- When doing big glue-ups I lay several sheets under the clamps to catch squeeze-out and save on a big clean up later on.
- When doing small glue jobs using the bench vice as a clamp, paper over the vice threads stops them getting gummed up.
- Got a fracture to repair, a chisel slip, or some heavy tear out from the lathe? Glue it up neatly, then wrap it in waxed paper with wax side facing the repair. Now lock it into the vice or clamp. The paper holds the repair in place and protects the clamping surface from unwanted glue residue.
- Veneering? Place waxed paper over a few sheets of newspaper and wrap this around the cauls you are using. This makes for a cleaner clamping and less mess when removing veneered sheets.
- When stacking several veneered panels of the same size I use three sheets of waxed paper between each panel. The first one is wax side down, for the next one either way doesn’t matter, but the last one goes wax side to the next panel in the pile. The waxed paper is much easier to get off and cleaner than using newspaper.
- You can try wrapping your lunch in it too.
Steve Hay presents Woodworking Masterclass on 31 Digital TV, find out more at www.woodworkingmasterclass.com