You can have a more finished and professional look to your work by using joints instead of screws and nails. Here are some of the basic joints used in woodworking.

Butt Joints

The butt joint is the simplest of the woodworking joints, and is very easy for beginners to master. The joint consists of two board ends that are pushed, or butted, together and held with nails, screws or glue. Simple wood boxes are often constructed with butt joints. While the butt joint offers a quick finish, it does not offer structural strength in most cases. If a butt joint held together with nails is required to bear much weight, the nails may soon pull out of the wood. For beginners, though, the butt joint offers an easy way to complete a project without expensive equipment or in-depth woodworking knowledge.

Dowel Joints

This technique is ideal for joining two flat pieces together to form a larger flat surface.

Take two pieces of equal length wood. Decide now which side will be the top and which the bottom for each piece and mark the top side of each so that you do not forget.

Clamp both pieces together, one on top of the other, with the bottoms face to face in the middle. When clamping, ensure that the two surfaces along which you plan to join these pieces of wood are level with each other (see diagram one).

Draw a line down the middle of each surface to be joined. This must be exactly the same on both pieces of wood, otherwise when they are joined there will be a step at the join. Once this line has been drawn, use a set square and mark lines across the grain of the wood. The intersection of the length and width lines will show where the dowel holes will be drawn.

There is no hard and fast rule for how many dowels should be used. However, the heavier the weight of whatever will be on the surface, the more dowels should be used. Typically, one dowel per foot is a good rule (with a minimum of two).

Once these lines have been drawn you can then proceed to drill the holes at the marked intersections. The drill bit used should match the diameter of the dowel being used, thus ensuring a tight fit.

As for the dowel itself, you can either make your own small dowels from a longer length, or you can buy dowel made specifically for this reason. The latter option is a far better solution, as the small dowels are beveled at the ends to make it easier to but them in the holes, and are ribbed to allow the glue to bond more efficiently. Each hole should be just over half as deep as the length of the dowel being used.

Once the holes have been drilled, glue one end of each dowel into the holes in the first piece of wood. Then place glue along the full length of the second piece, ensuring that some glue falls into each of the holes.

Unclamp the two pieces and push them together, ensuring that the two top markings are facing up. Once done you should clamp tightly overnight. Be careful when you clamp them to make sure that both pieces remain flat and do not try and warp upwards. To avoid this, it may be necessary to clamp the entire piece down to a flat surface.

Dovetail Joints

The dovetail joint is possibly the best joint that you can use to join two pieces of wood together at a right angle. Not only is it a very strong joint, but it also adds to the appeal of the woodworking project.

The simplest way to create dovetail joints is to use a router and a dovetail template jig. The latter is available from any good home improvement store and can cost as little as $70. It’s well worth the investment if you plan on doing many dovetail joints in the future.

Arrange the three pieces of the drawer or box and mark the inside and outside of each piece. In addition, mark the ends of each piece as it is imperative that when cutting the dovetails the correct two ends are cut at one go.

Clamp the front of the drawer and one side into the dovetail machine as follows: the left side of the drawer should be clamped under the front clamp (pointing upwards towards the template) with the inside of the drawer pointing out; the front of the drawer - again with the inside pointing out -should be clamped under the top clamp so that it butts up against the left drawer.

These two pieces should be staggered slightly, rather than being aligned exactly. The precise measurement will depend upon the particular dovetail machine that you are using, and this distance will be supplied with its manual. However, it should be roughly in the region of 7/16 inch.

Once everything is tightly clamped in place, use the router to cut around the template.

You can then join the boards together at the joints securing with glue and clamping overnight.

It is well worth practicing with scrap wood before trying the above procedure on any project as it will take a while to get the exact measurements (such as the depth of the router cut) perfect.

If the joint is too loose, slightly increase the depth of the router cut. If the joint is too tight (remember that you still have to squeeze some glue into the joint), slightly decrease the depth of the cut.

Slotted Tenon Joints

Slotted tenon joints are typically used as a method of fixing shelving into a unit’s shelf walls. However, it can also be used for a number of other purposes.

The idea of a slotted tenon joint is that only one of the two pieces of wood needs to be modified in order to attain a good, tight fit. To do this, one piece has a slot made into it that is the same width as the thickness of the second piece of wood. This latter piece of wood can then be pushed into the groove, making a strong, right-angled join.

The most effective way of creating the groove (or slot) is to use a router. Although a chisel can be used, the quality of finish will not be the same (and it takes far longer to make).

Be careful when making the slot to ensure that it is not too wide, otherwise the joint will not be tight enough to work. It is far better to start with too tight a groove and then widen it.

A router is not always the best tool to use however. If the groove is to hold a piece of 1/4 inch (or smaller) plywood, you should use a circular saw instead, changing the depth of cut to as little as 1/4 inch. This smaller cut is ideal when making the joint for a back panel of a cabinet, such as a bedside cabinet.

Since bonsai trees are meant to be grown in a container, you’ll want to select an appropriate one to foster the growth of your tree.

The bonsai with its container and soil are physically independent of the earth since its roots are not planted in it. It is a separate entity, complete in itself, yet part of nature. This is what is meant by the expression “heaven and earth in one container”.

A bonsai tree should always be positioned off-center in its container, for not only is asymmetry vital to the visual effect, but the center point is symbolically where heaven and earth meet, and nothing should occupy this place.

Another aesthetic principle is the triangular pattern necessary for visual balance and for expression of the relationship shared by a universal principle (life-giving energy or deity), the artist and the tree together. Tradition holds that three basic virtues are necessary to create a bonsai: truth, goodness and beauty. These three form the triangle that represents bonsai.

Since roots must be pruned on plants for bonsai, the initial containers are different from the traditional containers used later in the plant’s development. The beginning containers are called training pots.

Just about anything will do that will hold the heavy roots, but it is a good idea to choose something similar to the sort of pot the plant will be placed in once the roots are small and fibrous.

Cascading plants should be trained in deep pots, while tall specimens that will end up in shallow pots need to begin in fairly shallow containers. Make sure that the drain holes in all training pots are at least one half inch in diameter.

Traditional bonsai pots, available from large nurseries and some import stores, are round, oval, square, rectangular, and hexagonal. Cascade and semi-cascade styles of bonsai look good in round or rectangular pots.

You should place the plant in the center of the pot with the branches sweeping over the sides. Upright trees should be placed off center (about one third the distance from the edge) in rectangular or oval pots.

The pot needs to complement the tree and not be very big - usually the depth of the pot should equal the thickness of the trunk of the plant - but this law doesn’t always have to be obeyed.

Select a wide and shallow pot to keep the attention on the planting itself. The wide, flat planting gives the feeling of calm serenity found in the deep forest. Find a container whose length is about two-thirds the height of the tree.

If the tree is wider than it is tall, use the width as your gauge for the pot size. Find a planter with a width two-thirds the height of the tree and a depth of approximately 1 1/2 times the trunk diameter.

Use colors that complement the tree - a brightly colored pot for a flowering tree or for a deciduous tree that has stunning fall leaves or more muted and solemn colors for a pine or cedar. Look at the bark of your tree. If it has a rough texture, a bit of texture on the pot itself works well.

Remember that no pot is permanent. Your tree will require repotting over the course of time to keep it from becoming root bound. We’ll address re-potting in another chapter.

After the bonsai has been potted you can now add moss or other small plants around it to give the impression of a fully sized tree in nature.

You’ve got your tree, you’ve got its container, now let’s look at how to prune and shape your bonsai.

Coin collecting isn’t always for everyone. It takes patience, time, and an interest before the seed can even be planted. However, showing your own love for the hobby is probably the first step toward getting young people involved in this hobby.

One of the nice things about kids and coins is that a little exposure to the hobby is usually all it takes to kindle an interest or show that, at least for now, there is none. If your family has saved a few old and perhaps curious coins you already have the “starter kit”.

When looking at an Indian cent, silver dollar, or even a few world coins, the child should at least be curious. If you have no old coins, spending $20 or less at the local coin shop and giving these assorted coins as a birthday or holiday present is another good way to make the introduction.

An ideal choice would be a set of coins minted in the child’s birth year. Anyone would appreciate this gift. Even if they have no interest in collecting coins, this set is something that will be saved.

It is also wise to have a copy of some coin related publication on hand to offer the child who shows some interest. The most common mistake when introducing children to coin collecting is initially doing too much. Many would be chemists have been discouraged after receiving a chemistry set before they were ready for it. The last thing we want to do is create the impression that collecting coins is all your idea and something you want them to do.

Every child already has too much of this type of guidance. How many boys and girls do you think there are who hate playing soccer, but continue with the game because they don’t want to disappoint their parents? Coin collecting should not be made to seem like a required activity. Our purpose in gently exposing kids to the hobby is to help them discover it on their own.

Be prepared for your initial spark to light the collecting fire. Don’t let it go up in flames. New coin collectors of all ages have the common tendency to want to do it all right now. They often feel a sense of urgency. All sorts of supplies are purchased. Every extra dollar they can find is spent on coins. Then, sometimes after only a few months of collecting, they become disenchanted and abandon the hobby. Please don’t allow this to happen. It would be far better if the child only took a mild, but sustained interest. What follows is a list of suggested ways to keep a young collector’s enthusiasm under control.

Encourage the child to share their new interest with you—on their terms. Be there to enjoy the hobby when the child wants to get you involved.

Help the child develop a coin buying budget and see that it stays in place.

If possible, establish a system of rewards for research. Don’t lay down the law, but with the child involved develop some rules. For example, if they wish to add a coin to the collection can they write 100 words about why it should be included? If they have read an article on the Internet can they answer a few questions about it?

Absolutely discourage any ideas the child may have about making money by buying coins. Most coins any young collector can afford will be worth less, perhaps far less, should they wish to dispose of them. This should be explained as soon as the youngster shows any sustained interest in the hobby. At that point they should begin to understand the real benefits coin collecting has to offer.

Kids and coins go together. It’s a great hobby for young people. Collecting coins is also a very individual pursuit. It is extremely important to be receptive to the abilities and interests of every collector should they be nine or ninety.