The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

am± (miller WELDING PRODUCTS WELDING EQUIPMENT ADAMS BROS. STEEL SERVICE 3003 W. RTE 120 (ACROSS FROM VFW) McHENRY 385-9100 Ttiakitn POW+jlTDOLA A LIFETIME WARRANTY From the Nation's Leading Pool Manufacturer Take advantage of the special savings youH find on all Pacific Inground Pools and get a Lifetime Warranty on our non-corrosive structural polymer wall and bracing ^--system. Add features like a PRO™ Pool Step or a PRO™ Spa Step and have a lifetime of fun and relaxation. Ben Arvidson & Sons, Inc. 3209S. Rt. 31. Crystal l ake 815/459-0660 Established in 1958 APRIL SPECIAL Sign up for your pool now & receive a FREE automatic pool vacuum or gas heater PPP PACIFIC POOLS Hardwood dowels provide more stability in joints By UPI-Popular Mechanics As simple as a dowel appears, there is still much to be learned about using this basic joining tool. To begin with, except for very rare in­ stances, you should always use hard­ wood dowels. They are more stable and much stronger than the soft wood varieties and the price difference is negligible. The cheapest way to buy them is in 3- foot lengths at hardware stores, home centers and lumber yards. They are generally available in a variety of diameters, but certainly the most com­ mon and useful for general wood­ working tasks are the Vi-, and Vfe-in. diameters. Here are several basics to keep in mind when using dowels to join boards: --The dowel holes must be bored deep enough to provide a slight well at both ends of the dowel once it is inserted into the boards. For example, if you plan on using 1-inch long dowels to join two boards, bore matching holes in both boards at least nine-sixteenths inch deep so you will have about one- sixteenths inch space on either end of the dowel to allow excess glue to escape. --The dowel must be scored with grooves so excess glue can move one way or the other. Failure to provide such relief can result in pressure that can split the boards. You can ac­ complish this in several ways. First, you can buy commercially available ringed dowels that have a spiral groove cut over their entire length. These are a bit more expensive but well worth the cost if you plan on us­ ing a lot of dowels. Or you can buy the standard smooth dowels and create the grooves by cut­ ting nicks over the dowel length with the corner of a fine file or by gripping the dowel with pliers and pulling the dowel through the jaws to create a series of striatums. --After glue has been applied and the dowels installed, always clamp the boards together for at least one hour if you are using standard carpenters glue and longer if you are using slower set­ ting glues. Firm clamping will produce a glue line that is practically invisible. -- E x c e p t f o r s o m e s p e c i a l assemblies, a dowel should always be- located at the exact center of the workpiece edge. For example, if you are working on %-inch thick stock, position the exact center of your dowel hole % inch in from both edges. --To locate these centers, the easiest method is to use small devices called dowel centers. These little hat-like con­ figurations are machined in various Continued on next page EVERYBODY'S DOIN' IT- HOME IMPROVEMENT WITH STRUCTURAL STEEL AND ORNAMENTAL IRON INSIDE OR OUTSIDE YOUR HOME