Making nice square deck furniture?

[Brewerpaul]

Hi-- my Pride of Baltimore II is my first build where I have to make my own deck furniture; hatches, cabins, boxes, etc. How do you make these nice and square? How do you hold the sides at the right angles?  Thanks.

[Jim Lad]

Best way is with a template of some sort.  I use a couple of scrap pieces of wood that I have joined absolutely square using an engineers square to check the angle while the glue was setting.  Pieces can then be held against it while being joined.  I'm sure other members will have far more sophistcated methods.

 

John

[Bob Cleek]

Carpenter's and machinist's squares, plus clamps, rubber bands, and a lot of fancy jigs sold for the purpose. You may want to do some YouTube watching about basic carpentry and welding assembly skills to get familiar with the options. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=corner+clamps+for+woodworking

 

Or you can buy store-bought ones: 

 

 

https://www.micromark.com/Magnetic-Gluing-Jig-10-1-4-Inch-Square

 

 

https://www.micromark.com/SET-OF-THREE-ANGLE-PLATES

 

 

https://www.micromark.com/Mini-4-Corner-Clamps-1-2-Inch-x-1-2-Inch-to-5-Inch-x-5-Inch-Capacity

 

While MicroMark has perfected the art of separating modelers from their money, I must say that one item they sell that two set-up tools I've found hugely helpful that they offer are their set of small machinist's squares and their thin-beam square, which makes striking square lines on thin sheet stock a breeze.

 

 

https://www.micromark.com/Thin-Beam-Square

 

https://www.micromark.com/Steel-Machinists-Squares-Set-of-3

 

These items sometimes come up on MicroMark's "loss leader discount" sales, too.

 

 

Edited November 1, 2020 by Bob Cleek

[mangulator63]

I made several jigs for gluing parts together out of a cheap teflon cutting boards I purchased from a dollar store.

You can cut blocks or long panels that allow for clamping parts to and CA will not stick to it.

I purchased a few, one for a base and then the others to cut out the blocks or shapes needed. You can even thread holes in it for using threaded fasteners to make jigs that need to be set to the base.

 

[bartley]

Lego works well as well.

 

John

[glbarlow]

https://www.ustoolandfastener.com/woodpeckers-mini-square-minisquare/?utm_term=&utm_campaign=ECI+-

I have three of these and two mini triangles they work great for keeping things square. 
 

Sorry for the huge photo and crazy long link. 

 

+Google+Shopping+-+All+Products+(non-mobile)+(non+Brand)(medium)&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=3922278569&hsa_cam=672881209&hsa_grp=37100490674&hsa_ad=146185118552&hsa_src=g&hsa_tgt=pla-138196596032&hsa_kw=&hsa_mt=&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gclid=Cj0KCQiA2af-BRDzARIsAIVQUOf44CAKLTrRNMeHZZfYGp91qKjmxr66YcjFtctVW4TSYHnA9nCH0cMaAm8SEALw_wcB

[el cid]

Another vote for Lego blocks.

[Brewerpaul]

We just bought something whose packing included some nice big pieces of Styrofoam. Back when I built wooden model airplanes, I used to lay the full size plan on a suitable board,cover it with wax paper, and pin and glue the parts right on the plan. I think I'll try that for some deck furniture.

[Estoy_Listo]

Late to the party, but....about that magnetic gluing jig at the top of the thread.

The poor man's version: a dry erase board (be sure it's "magnetic" ) and a couple of magnetic door catches. The magnetic strip that came with the board actually works better than the door catches. It's up to you to create a square corner, but It works well enough for simple jobs, and you could find ways to improve upon it.  Just an idea. 

 

[mtaylor]

Estoy, your link goes to a Google account.    Can you post the picture?