Good references. The finish carpentry sites available online have a lot of finish carpentry tips that should get the carpenter in you going. It does not hurt to invest in good reference books that will not only give you sound advice but good patterns to follow and projects to do. There are loads of videos and how-tos online that can help even the most inexperienced of finish carpenters.
Get a great set of tools. Inferior tools will give you horrible results and can cause injury. Investing in a good set of tools can make finish carpentry jobs so much easier. This does not mean plunking down cash for the most expensive set of tools on the market but merely looking for the best quality for your money.
Remember, buying a $5 hammer is not an investment if it keeps breaking on you. Power tools are great but you can do a wonderful job even with the simplest of tools-the way that finish carpenters have been doing it for hundreds of years. These are the tips even veteran finish carpenters know.
Finish carpentry is a delicate process and the Carpenters Reading wrong tool can cost you money instead of saving you some. If you cannot afford the tools just yet, you can rent or borrow them as an alternative.
Practice. Lots of woodworkers start small with easy to do projects before gradually building up to big ambitious things that require more careful measurements. Resist the temptation to tear out your staircase! Start by replacing the trim around your windows then take it from there. Replace molding on the staircase or craft a nice easy shelf before diving in.
Before trying new cuts on wood, practice on scrap first until you can easily identify which way the grain goes. Practice pushing nails in. If you can or know someone who is a master carpenter, get tips from them and watch them as they work.
Can’t be too careful with those nails! Take a good look at the grooves and the parts of the wood before starting. Pushing nails into knots can cause the wood to split especially if you are working with very hard wood. Another finish carpentry tip is to drill a little hole for the nail before actually shooting the nail in, it prevents the wood from stressing and splitting.
Use your tape measure carefully. Tape measures can flex and bend and give wrong measurements which can lead to disaster. Make sure your measuring tape is not bent at the end and the end hook is in good condition or better yet, use a hard ruler to get exact measurements every single time on the shorter measurements. Mark your areas with straight, easily seen pencil marks. Or use tailor’s chalk, which is orange and easily seen. This is a finish carpentry tip -tailor’s chalk is easier to see then carpenter’s chalk because it is orange.