sandingwainscotingwoodworking
I was following the guide at http://www.familyhandyman.com/walls/how-to-build-a-wainscoted-wall/view-all
Basically, my issue is that the vertical stiles don't match up exactly with the horizontal beams. Wondering if I should use a sander to sand them down and feather it in, or some other method…
Dowels are probably your best bet for this fix because the tool cost is much lower for the case that you need to purchase tools to do this repair. The cost of a doweling jig is much lower than a biscuit cutter. Drilling the dowel holes is easily accomplished with an electric drill.
If you end up with just a one inch wide repair strip added in then I would just drill the dowel holes right through the strip and into the original material on each side. Do check your table top pieces for overall flatness after you separate the two sides from the split. Warped lumber often develops a curvature that spans a greater distance than just one inch. You'll need to take this into account when you decide to start trimming away the split edges.
With properly jointed surfaces on the two trimmed edges and the hardwood accent piece the dowels and glue should be plenty strong to hold things together.
You may want to cut the accent piece just a small bit longer than the amount needed and then trim and sand it to the existing round table edges after the gluing is done. This will give you the greatest opportunity blend the edge of the table to the nicest fit and look.
I see some challenge in clamping the round table to get good tight glue joints. You may need to fabricate some jigs to help provide a place to engage your clamps across the width of the table. The sketch below shows one idea of how to do this. Some flat boards about 4 -> 5 inches wide can have some blocks glued and screwed on the ends that will provide a place to engage the clamps.
I have shown the blocks somewhat offset from where they would actually be attached to the boards so that you can see the nature of how they would fit to the contour of the table edge. Long bar clamps or pipe clamps would be spanned across the table top at the overhang of these boards as shown in the next picture.
As it appears the 'wobble' is between the metal leg, the metal bracket, and the bolts provided, I'd say this wobble is due to IKEA's ahem rather wide tolerance specifications.
In other words, sometimes you just get wobble when it comes to IKEA products. :)
I'd suggest using something to solidify the connection between the leg and the plates. JB Weld would be a possible option. Mix it up and put a generous amount between the leg and bracket, then tighten up the bolts. Let it set up for about 24 hours and you should now have solid material between the two parts to shim the wobble away.
Best Answer
If the difference isn't very great, you could sand them down with a belt sander. This is probably best if your wall is a bit uneven and you need a very slight taper.
Otherwise, you may want to use shims behind the thinner piece to make it flush at the surface. Then fill the edge of the slight void behind the beam or stile with caulk.
A third solution would be to plane them down, but this won't be able to account for a taper like the other two above methods.
Whatever you do, the most important thing would be to make sure the biscuit joints still line up correctly for the front side! So anything material you're removing should come from the back, if the uneven wall is the cause of misalignment.