third hand help

[Pat Meeuwissen]

Guys, we all know eventually we need an extra hand to hold something or balance the other end of a long piece, has there been any discussion of how to accomplish this when your all by yourself? Thanks for any help, Pat

[Lee Koepke]

It depends :cool:

I almost always work alone, so I tend to be creative with clamps, braces, and tables.

Anything in particular you need help with

[Kent A Bathurst]

Not sure of your specific issue, but I will tend to grad a coupla 2x4's and a coupla quik-clamps, and clamp on temporary "legs".

[Jim Rimmer]

Rolling feedstock stand, braces, sawhorses. But mostly I keep a couple of quick grip clamps on my bench all the time and use them all the time.

[Ray Newman]

About 3 three years ago, the local Rockler was selling off the old model roller stands at bargain prices as a new and improved design -- read as higher priced?? -- was coming in.

www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=5914&filter=roller%20stands (http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=5914&filter=roller%20stands)

Stands of the above design work very well as the rollers do not need to be parallel with the tool to slide the work straight into the tool.

If you utilize the design that has a single roller -- see below link, make sure that the roller is parallel to the tool. Otherwise, the work will pull or drift to one side or the other as you move it through the cut, etc. -- been there, done that.
www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=10392&filter=roller%20stands (http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=10392&filter=roller%20stands)

Depending upon the available shop space, a large and stout assembly/cut-off table is a god send for the table saw.

I built a version of the New Yankee works shop mobile assembly table and routed grooves for the miter gauge bar. Turned sideways, a full sheet of plywood is fully supported without tipping.
www.newyankee.com/getproduct.php?0207 (http://www.newyankee.com/getproduct.php?0207)

Featherboards to hold the work flat and against the fence are also very helpful.

Awhile back, I purchased a magnetic on/off feather board from Lee Valley on a whim. It is being used more and more as it is so easy to position of the TS.

For ripping plywood, Board Buddies work very well.

[David DeCristoforo]

Isn't this one of the primary reasons we have kids?

[Rich Engelhardt]

The Stanley 93-301 Ez-Lift Panel Carrier get's my vote as one of the best inventions of all time.

For under $10.00 it's a steal.

I use mine all the time & not only for full 4x8 sheets.

[Pat Meeuwissen]

Guys, good morning and thanks for the feedback. I should have been clearer as to the exact application for what I'm working with, I'm using a Kreg system to attach butt joints for a light box for a friend and want to hold them flush and tight to each other, since the design is such that the long piece must be in the air its pretty hard to hold three things at once. I would love to see some pics of your setups if thats possible, I believe the motto is if "we" don't see it it didn't happen?? Or close to it. Thanks for any further help, Pat ;-)

[Kent A Bathurst]

Isn't this one of the primary reasons we have kids?

BMW. Instanbul. Mini Cooper S. New Zealand. Ornellaia. Scotland. Lie-Nielsen. Ireland. Budapest. Penfolds Grange. Vienna. A few of the primary reasons I don't have kids.:p

[Lee Koepke]

Dont have good pictures, but I tried to build all of my work surfaces at similar heights. My outfeed table is slightly below the table saw but 1/2" mdf on the outfeed keeps them on the same plane. My mitre station is higher but almost 12' long / 30" wide.

In a pinch, for something like you refer to, I can use a sawhorse and 'dead-man' combination to get the free end supported and on the same plane as the working surface.

Working by yourself, dead-men and clamps are your best friend.

[james bell]

I have built/bought numerous "thing" to assist as I work alone. A Trojan mitre stand, Rockler's drill press supports (kinda wobbly but functional), HTC outfeed rollers for my tablesaw, standalone rollers from home depot, etc. I recently built the 'tablesaw blade locker' - wood magazine may '08 - but made it wider and put on top of a cabinet so that it was approximately the same height as my table saw. In the cabinet I now store all of the table saw accessories that use to take up most of my TS extension and I put the cabinet on rollers. It moves easily and helps hold the infeed wood while I am turning on the TS and getting ready to cut, but doesn't get in the way while cutting.

All of my misc stands are on rollers, so when I need an extra hand I can move them around and if necessary stack scrap 2x' to get the right height. But occasionally I break down and call for the wife to assist in holding something, but that seems to be getting less and less all the time.

[glenn bradley]

Are we talking about just moving stuff around or assisting while cutting the material?

[Pat Meeuwissen]

Just kidding guys, I did find this link today and thought it would be a good addition to this thread. Pat
http://www.woodnet.net/tips/assembly/assembly-blocks/

[Van Huskey]

BMW. Instanbul. Mini Cooper S. New Zealand. Ornellaia. Scotland. Lie-Nielsen. Ireland. Budapest. Penfolds Grange. Vienna. A few of the primary reasons I don't have kids.:p


I have a very similar list... :o

[Floyd Mah]

Hey Pat. The answer is: Nail gun. A nail gun and maybe some glue turns all sorts of wood scraps into jigs, positioners and prototypes. Nothing is faster for assembling junk into something useful for a one-time use. Also consider those magnetic holders magswitchs (http://www.magswitch.com.au/mag-jigs/30mm-mag-jig.html).