The Tips and Tricks Thread

[Ole Anderson]

OK, let's see if this gets legs. Some time ago I asked (in the Forum Tech Support forum which apparently almost no one reads) if we could have a separate forum dedicated to workshop tips and tricks. Well that didn't go anywhere, so why not just have a thread dedicated to your ideas around the shop that you would like to share? Ideas that help you do a better job of whatever you are trying to do. Ideas that help you do things faster when you are doing repetitive work. Ideas that help organize your shop. And put that thread in the most read forum, General Woodworking and Power Tools. And encourage lots of photos. If you post an idea, choose the "Go Advanced" tab at the bottom after hitting the "Reply to Thread" button and then title your idea at the top so others searching for something will have an easier time finding your idea. So I will start it off with three things I did in the last 2 days to help me organize my shop and make sanding easier.

First, a place to store those pesky cabinet arch templates. Next a place to store my PC ROS near my sanding station and plugged in and ready to use. Lastly a lever clamp hold down to keep small parts stationary while I keep both hands on my ROS. Pictures ought to show adequately what I did:

(Keith, it would be great if you made this a sticky)

[Ole Anderson]

I'll bump this with a couple of really simple things I just did while reorganizing some shop stuff yesterday. First I have been just using my shop vac to collect dust from my 6"x48" belt sander. But I keep needing my vac for other tasks. I have been meaning to build a hood to connect my 4" flex hose but it just seemed too complicated for now. So I just grabbed an extra piece of 2.5" hose I got for my router rear dust collector, and reused an old 2.5" to 4" adapter, just to see how it worked and viola, I can't believe how well this sucks, better than the shop vac. Problem solved. Notice how the long slinky hose sucks up with just the restriction of the 2.5" hose. Pic taken with DC running. Also the pic shows a platen I made long ago so I can use the machine like an edge sander turned on its side. Platen is at an angle so it uses most of the belt.

Next in my cleanup, going from big blue shelves to my new tool storage unit, I really had no room to store the bulky TS tenoning sled. Then I saw I had the opportunity to add a shelf below my planer. So I took a piece of left over 1-1/8" particle board, cut it to fit and another problem solved.

One more thing I did long ago. Those of you with the Delta lunchbox planer know how the dust collector hood sags and drags on the wood exiting the machine. If you look carefully you see that I used an extra micro v-belt (drill press) looped around the hood to hold it up. I just added a screw at the top of the planer to hook the other end of the belt around.

[Ole Anderson]

OK, so I guess this is going to be a one man show. Well, here is another thing I ran across which I really like. Fastcap makes a number of unconventional measuring tapes in their Pro Carpenter series. Some time ago I got their Lefty-Righty which reads from both sides of the tape. I like as it actually numbers the sixteenths, but for me it would work better if it read from the top of the tape instead of the bottom. So most of the time I hook on the left end of the board, and have to read the tape upside down when marking a cut on the top of the tape. But if you hook on the right end, you don't have to read upside down like you would with any other tape.

Then last week I ran across their Old Standby Flatback. This one I really like as the tape is flat, so when doing cabinet work, it is easier to mark an exact length as the tape isn't an eighth inch above the board due to the curl in the tape. The hook is fixed, unlike most tapes that allow a measurement while pushing the hook against a wall. Of course, this tape won't give you any standout like you need when doing framing or rough measuring lumber.

Other nice features include a momentary hold button on the bottom as well as the standard lock on the front, an easy to use belt clip feature as well as a built in PENCIL SHARPENER, and a pencil friendly, erasable white surface if you need to write down a measurement. Not bad for $6.99 at my local tool center. These guys did it right.

[David G Baker]

Ole, it sounds like a good idea to have a "tips and tricks" thread. I have learned quite a bit from some of the threads that share ideas.

[Ole Anderson]

Ah, one more quicky: When installing a router bit, you should not let it bottom out and then tighten the collet. To eliminate the problem drop a 1/4" rubber Rockler SpaceBall in your router collet to keep your bits from bottoming out. I have seen bit manufacturers recommend using an o-ring or a small rubber grommet as a spacer also.

[Ole Anderson]

I went to post one more tip I just ran across and couldn't find the thread. It had been made a sticky! Thanks Ken!:)

OK one more quick one: running a ton of rails and stiles through the edge bit on the router table, it occurred to me that instead of fiddling with a feather board, just use the ball bearing end of the Rockler thin strip ripping jig. I tried and it worked great. Board width is even as I stack them on edge 4-6 at a time and take 2 passes through the planer, going from 2-1/2" rough to 2-7/16" final wide taking 1/32" off each edge.

I have no affiliation with anybody, maybe I should fuzz out the names on products. Nah, I hate when they do that on reality or home improvement shows.

[John McClanahan]

I have both of those tapes. I also have the yellow fraction/metric 16 ft. tape. I like the clip release lever. Fastcap makes other models, too.

I like your sander holder. I need to make something like that for mine.

John

[Bill Space]

Hi all,

Apologies if this is a common solution...to a common problem!

When I got my Grizzly 8" jointer, I needed to align the motor and cutter head pulleys. But there was a piece of the cabinet in the way, and I could not see the edges of the pulleys, or run a straight edge across them.

I came up with this simple idea that worked really well. Used a Forstner bit to drill a hole larger in diameter than the obstruction, and the band saw to cut a slot the width of the diameter of the hole.

Pulley alignment then became a simple task...

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=251151&d=1358209335&thumb=1

[Bill Space]

Hi again,

Here is another thing that worked well with the Grizzly G0490 jointer, but could likely work with other jointers out there as well.

The problem was that the rear of the motor is not supported, when the mounting bolts are loosened to adjust the angle of the motor pulley. So adjustment of the pulley vertical angle was difficult for me as one man to do.

Also, it was difficult to adjust belt tension, as doing so required pushing down on the motor and tightening a mounting bolt at the same time. I needed three hands...

So I added some simple brackets, which on the back hold the motor up and allow downward (or upward) adjustment. And which on the front allow simple adjustment of belt tension, which sure beats the hit and miss push down and tighten method.

When making adjustments to the motor position (angular and horizontal position, all four motor mounting rail bolts need to be loose. The belt holds the pulley end of the motor, but the fan end wants to fall unless supported by something. I used a bottle jack to do this initially, but found it cumbersome. I was not able to easily adjust the belt tension so I came up with this idea. Works really well!

I hope the pictures will be clear enough. I did add some notes to them... if you click on them they should enlarge so the text is more readable.


Billhttp://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=251149&d=1358209332&thumb=1 (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=251149&d=1358209332)http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=251150&d=1358209333&thumb=1 (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=251150&d=1358209333)

[Rick Potter]

I like Ole's use of the thin strip jig as a feather board. It reminds me of a setup I have planned, but not built yet. It would use two wheels, like the ones on some mortisers, mounted on an adjustable board, which would straddle the shaper/router bit or saw blade. It would be set up somewhat like the thin strip setup, but give support on both sides of the blade/bit.

Sorry, the only picture is in my head.

Rick Potter

[Don Morris]

A #5 Jack plane started to clog letting shavings in between the chip breaker and the blade. Seemed the blade wasn't flat and/or the chip breaker needed to have it's bevel refreshed. I use the Scary Sharp system of one sided sand paper stuck to float glass. Other systems could be used. But using your hands to move the blades and the chip breaker over the sand paper is a PITA. I had an epiphany... Brought out the Grip Tites and Whalllaaaa. You have to have these items, and I'm sure a lot of you don't, but for those of you who do, it's a little trick to help. Hope the photos are self explanatory. You can see areas where the blade wasn't flat. Best example was the shiny metal only in one spot of the heal of the blade. At the other end, there was a small dark spot where the chip breaker touched the blade and was accumulating shavings. That area obviously wasn't flat and allowed the shavings to jam in between the chip breaker and blade. I eliminated that spot pretty much and now the problem is solved. I don't use hand planes a lot, just enjoy using them when I do, and probably the reason my blades get dark because it may be many months between use.


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[Ole Anderson]

Add a vetical fence to your short jointer fence to help keep wide boards at 90 degrees when edging them. Cover it with Formica and wax to to make even more slippery. Works like a charm.

[Bryan Cramer]

I know this isn't a scrolling forum, but angling your scroll saw so the rear of the table is higher than the front prevents fatigue. Adjust the angle to suit you. I bolted a 4X4 to the rear legs. I just spent 22 hours cutting a portrait and it sure helped.

[Ole Anderson]

Sanding large pieces and controlling dust can be a problem. I don't have a good woodworker's bench or a large dedicated down draft table so I use the top of my TS. It is at just the right height. I throw a piece of 1/4" Masonite on top which has some cleats to keep it in place. Then I lay down a sticky (or used to be) sanding rubber mat. Two small spring clamps at one end hold that side in place with the other end kept in place with my portable downdraft table, stood on edge. When cleaning up glue ups that don't fit in my 13" planer, I use a 60 grit belt in my sander. To keep the board from sliding toward me, I just stick a properly sized chunk of 3/4" scrap just tall enough to catch the bottom edge, in the groove between the table top and the rail. My palm sander and my belt sander do not have dust collection, but the side draft dust collector seems to do a good job of keeping the dust out of the air, although the coarse dust from the belt sander does get pretty thick on the table top. I do run my ambient air cleaner and wear a mask while sanding, even when the profiles of the raised panel doors get hand sanded.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Very simple shop made jig used to position sanding disks on a ROS.

[Rick Potter]

While answering a question about dowel sizes, I decided to post this here too,

Many dowel rods, and sometimes factory dowels, are undersized and don't fit in the normal sized holes properly. I suspect they just make them to the closest metric size. To make the problem worse, I have found that all bradpoint drill bits are not exactly the same. I have a nice set from Shopsmith, a set of B&D's, some from Sears.

To make sure my dowel stock or dowel is going to fit my holes, I have made a simple block of wood with the common size holes drilled in it with each set of drills I have, including forstner bits, and spade bits. Now, when I am looking for dowels at the store or at home, I just take the sample block with me and test the dowel.

I also bought an inexpensive set of over/under brad points. It has sizes 1/32 on both sides of the desired size. Pretty handy sometimes.

Rick Potter

[Mark Kay]

OK, so I guess this is going to be a one man show. Well, here is another thing I ran across which I really like. Fastcap makes a number of unconventional measuring tapes in their Pro Carpenter series. Some time ago I got their Lefty-Righty which reads from both sides of the tape. I like as it actually numbers the sixteenths, but for me it would work better if it read from the top of the tape instead of the bottom. So most of the time I hook on the left end of the board, and have to read the tape upside down when marking a cut on the top of the tape. But if you hook on the right end, you don't have to read upside down like you would with any other tape.

Then last week I ran across their Old Standby Flatback. This one I really like as the tape is flat, so when doing cabinet work, it is easier to mark an exact length as the tape isn't an eighth inch above the board due to the curl in the tape. The hook is fixed, unlike most tapes that allow a measurement while pushing the hook against a wall. Of course, this tape won't give you any standout like you need when doing framing or rough measuring lumber.

Other nice features include a momentary hold button on the bottom as well as the standard lock on the front, an easy to use belt clip feature as well as a built in PENCIL SHARPENER, and a pencil friendly, erasable white surface if you need to write down a measurement. Not bad for $6.99 at my local tool center. These guys did it right.

Didn't try it out yet but I bought their Story Stick/Pole tape measure (whichever it's called!) It has room on the tape to write on it & put marks on it to act as a story stick--like when measuring for cabinets, you'd lay their locations right out on the tape with marks. I think it has the pencil sharpener too. I bought it last year on ebay I think, forgot how much as the price included shipping... sounds a lot like the one you described.

[Todd Brewer]

I recently purchased a Fastcap Metric/Standard tape measure. I bought it to help me with standard to metric (think Festool). The metric edge is finer resolution than the standard edge, I find it easier to check diagonals for square using the metric edge. Didn't expect that! My only complaint is that the body is black, I hate that! Doesn't stand out amongst the other stuff in my shop like the yellow Stanleys.

[Ole Anderson]

I recently purchased a Fastcap Metric/Standard tape measure. I bought it to help me with standard to metric (think Festool). The metric edge is finer resolution than the standard edge, I find it easier to check diagonals for square using the metric edge. Didn't expect that! My only complaint is that the body is black, I hate that! Doesn't stand out amongst the other stuff in my shop like the yellow Stanleys.

Fastcap has a different color for each of their tapes. For guys like me with more than one version, I don't have to pull out the tape to see which one I am picking up. But, yea, they are easier to loose on the bench than say my bright orange Lufkin.

[Andrew Joiner]

Now, when I am looking for dowels at the store or at home, I just take the sample block with me and test the dowel.

Rick Potter

Great tip Rick. I do it in the shop with my "stock" of dowels, but I'll bring it to the store now when I go to buy dowels.

[Lee Schierer]

If you have a narrow crack in a board that you want to repair, how do you get the glue into the crack?

Here are two methods that work. You can take a length of dental floss, apply a bead of glue on the surface along the length of the crack. Then slide the dental floss into the end of the crack and use it to pull the glue from the surface into the crack. You may need to apply more glue to get glue in the crack. Un-waxed floss seems to work best.

The second method works better for wider cracks. Again place a bead of glue on the surface and then use the suction from your shop vac from the back side to pull the glue into the crack.

Once you are satisfied that you have enough glue in the crack, wipe the excess off the surface with a damp cloth and clamp the crack shut. Be sure to sand the surface to remove any trace of glue before applying your finish.

[Andy Pratt]

Ok, this is definitely one of my better ideas, and I was actually able to put it into practice so that's a first. You know how if you let a panel glue-up dry fully before scraping it, you usually have a lot of tear out along the glue lines, which leads to having to do excessive sanding on the panel? Sometimes you can run it over the jointer, but you have to be careful not to introduce a wide taper (due to the glue throwing off the flatness) if you do that, and then you have to plane it again and both cost you thickness. I have tried every method in the book and nothing worked aside from either a ton of hand-held sander work or scraping the glue off when it was only semi-dried, which has to be timed well. I like to do my glue ups at the end of the day, then leave the shop, so I needed a method that worked with fully dried glue.

For this to be sensible, you need a powered hand planer with removable wear bases that you can leave dedicated to this purpose. Luckily for me I had a Freud FE82 planer collecting dust (part of freud's failed entry into the power tool market) and decided to make it my new glue joint planer. The entire conversion took me 1-2 hours.

Modification:
1) Remove the front and back wear bases on the planer, set your front plate adjustment to something you can leave it locked at or remember easily.
2) Make shop-built wooden versions of each that are the same thickness or a little thinner (you will shim them)
3) Route a groove into the bases that is as wide/deep as you can make it given your planer construction and base material
4) Install the new bases back on the planer, leaving the screws loose
5) Shim between the bases and the planer with thin, wide shims (i used 1"x1"x1/16" slices of maple) and tighten the screws until the bases are roughly coplaner and are a hair "thicker" now than the cutting depth of the blade. This extra thickness prevents the planer blade from ever touching the wood of the panel, so it gets just the glue. Modify your shimming/thickness based on the thickness of glue film you can put through your sander. If you would rather risk barely hitting the wood than having any glue left, leave the bases at the exact same height as the blade.
6) It is ready to use: run the planer over a glue line, keeping all glue dots/runs in the channel at the base
7) Fine tune the shimming as necessary for your preferences

Pictures, which should give you the idea of the concept if my description is lacking: 258328258329258330

edit: the backing to my front plate was at exactly 1/4" from where I wanted it, so i just glued on guides made out of hardboard. The back portion follows my description exactly though, and is the method that is probably more applicable for most people.

[Rick Potter]

Tip O' the Day from the Village Idiot..

I am probably the last person in the world to realize this, but I thought I would pass it on for other-worldly members. Not my tip, I got it from this weeks WOOD magazine e-mail.

When installing side mounted, full extension drawer guides, you install the drawer part using only the vertical slots on the guides. Then install the cabinet part using only the horizontal slots. This allows you to adjust in any direction. When you are happy with the fit, put in a couple screws in the round holes to lock it in.

Check out the WOOD tips for the week, they even have a video for those of us who have been doing it the hard way.

Rick Potter

[Jim Matthews]

I use the same gizmo as a "depth stop" for resawing on my bandsaw.

No measuring required.

PS - That sanding station with a third hand and rubber baby buggy bumpers to raise the workpiece over the downdraft?


That's clever, right there.

[ryan meacham]

Wow thous are great ideas. I like the sanding station. For me it's a clean shop. which is a given. I'm not good at it, but I try to put 5 things back before and after each day. It kind of helps.

[johnny means]

When using a chamfer bit in a router table, use the outermost portion of the bit as possible. This well reduce tearout.

[Ole Anderson]

This idea only works if you have a nice smooth floor (mine is Pergo): I screwed the CI base of my DP to a piece of 1-1/8" MDF and added four felt furniture pads at the corners. Slides easily, but not too easily, and is very stable. I used up a whole package of felt tabs in my shop for those things that didn't already have casters.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/misc/paperclip.png Attached Thumbnailshttp://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=262295&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1358985307 (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=262295&d=1368622811)

[Rick Potter]

This is the flip side of Ole's tip above. I made a benchtop router table out of scraps of pre finished plywood. Turned out great, except it tended to move on my formica covered bench. At first I clamped it down, but being lazy I went to HD and got some anti skid tabs. They are just 1" patches of rubberized something, and stick on just like felt pads. They were right next to the felt pads at HD.

Problem solved....non skid, and I don't have to unclamp it to move it.

Rick Potter

[Rick Potter]

I have picked up half a dozen cheap ($10-20) routers off Craigs list, and I keep them set up with roundover, chamfer, ogee, and flush trim bits. Hey the routers were cheaper than the bits. This has worked out very well, since they are set up and ready for a quick trim.

In the post above, I talked about making a little bench top router table. This is my second one, and more are on the way. On this one, I tried out one of those little Rockler router table tops, made to clamp to a bench, because it was on sale. Size is about 11X15", and I made a base for it. I am doing this because I feel much more comfortable doing roundovers, etc, on a table than freehand, especially with a laminate trimmer sized router. I find myself holding them with my fingers way too close to the bit. I made an egg shaped base for one, and it works well, but since I have the extra routers, I am going with the tiny tables. My first one, 25 years old, is just about the same size as the Rockler, melamine....could build more for $5 each, so I will build the next two.

Anyway, I just wanted to mention how handy these tiny tables can be, and how cheaply you can do them. Maybe give someone some ideas. Like maybe a lazy Susan, with four small routers in it, or a flip top stand with two on each side:rolleyes:.

Rick Potter

[Greg Hines, MD]

My tips are hardly my own original ideas, but I did build the shop-vac cart featured in Shopnotes, and also on the tips/tricks episode of the Woodsmith Shop TV show, and did mobilize my workbench by the same trick that Norm Abram did with his assembly table. They both work great.

Doc

[Ole Anderson]

I have the Leigh D1600 jig that is being used to make dovetail joints on several drawer boxes for my kitchen remod. A couple of things that helped me:


The dovetail bits were a 8 mm shank. I had a 5/16 x 1/2" collet adaptor that worked well to adapt the 8 mm shank to the 1/2" router collet. 5/16" = 7.9375 mm.
The 621 uses the left knob to tighten the plunge mechanism. Once you have the depth set, tighten that knob about as tight as you can get it. I didn't and my first use of the router unplunged it so that the dovetail bit ate the brass bushing. I had to get a new one from Highland Woodworking. http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/search.aspx?find=leigh
My first use of the jig generated copious amounts of sawdust. I opted to get the Leigh vacuum and router support, well worth it. Bought that also from Highland Woodworking.
My kit did not come with the 12 degree dovetail bits needed for 5/8" drawer sides. Infinity Tools were one of the few places I could find them in the states. http://www.infinitytools.com/?key=gppc&gclid=CP_8ypWCwbcCFc5DMgodrTIA6g#&panel1-1
When routing the pins, the manual recommends removing the material in 3 or 4 passes. I found that by marking 2 lines on the jig templates with a sharpie and peering over the top of the router (using eye and ear protection of course), I could get some repeatability on doing it in 3 fairly even passes. A small thing but when you are routing a hundred or more pins, doing 300 vs 400 passes can be a a big help.
I could have used my shop vac for dust collection but opted to utilize the dust collector. As I had the Leigh jig clamped to my router table, I just connected a section of 2-1/2" vac hose from the Leigh dust collector to the 2-1/2" inlet on the side of the router table that normally services the rear fence collector. Worked fine.
Using two layers of 1-1/8" particle board and a large forstner bit I constructed a router "landing pad" that allowed me to set the router down with the bit extended.

[Kelly Craig]

I bought a Powermatic 14" band saw several years back. It's turned out to be a great purchase. One of my complaints was the position of the goose neck light. Bending it to where it did its job pushed it to its limits. Also, it got in the way of the tension release and I had to move it each time I opened a cover to change blades. For that reason, I took a deep breath and tackled moving it. The only reasonable place was the blade support bar you adjust for different thicknesses of wood. Of course, this mean drilling and taping a hole in a sensitive spot.

Using high tech methods (a drill bit sized for the threads and blue painters' tape to set the dept), I drill holes, then tapped them. Now, the light works wonderfully without all the aforementioned issues.

[Ole Anderson]

Here is another one with a twist: I have at least 24 pieces of plywood I need to add solid wood edging to, mostly shelves, but some cabinet bottoms too. I even joined Woodworkers Guild yesterday to see two recent premium videos regarding applying edge banding. Both left a lot to be desired. I needed something quick that made sure both edges stood proud of the ply. After ripping solid edge pieces at 7/8" I laid two shelves (10-1/2" wide) on my parallel clamps with two pieces of edging in the middle to mark the locations of the edging on the clamp rails. Then I took about 10 wraps of painters tape at 4 locations around the bars that would support the shelves a bit less than a 1/16" above the clamp bars, with the edging sitting directly on the bars. Stand the shelves on edge, hold together with a spring clamp and slather both edges at once with glue. Lay them back down with the two pieces of edging back to back and tighten the clamps. The shelves act as cauls to apply even pressure along the glue line. I added a clamp in the middle for shelves longer than 28 inches. All I need to do is scrape excess glue at 1/2 hour, when I pull the clamps and run on edge across my flush trim bit on the table with a tall fence. Hit them with a palm sander and I am done.

Phase II: The upper cabinet tops and sides will be edge banded with hot melt veneer roll stock. I've done a little bit of this before on Oak with mixed results. Borrowed my wife's iron, set it on hottest (cotton/linen) and heated it in 3 passes at about 6" per second applying good pressure (to copy David Mark's terminology) , then hit it with a J-roller. When I purchased the roll of 250 feet of veneer I also got a fancy knife trimmer for the long edges. It didn't work worth a darn as it wanted to follow the grain. But the router table flush edge trimmer works as good on the veneer as it does on the solid wood edging. And to trim the ends of the veneer I just set it on a piece of hardboard on my workbench, veneer side down, and flush cut it with a 1" chisel and mallet. Hey, I am back having fun after spending the afternoon stewing over finishing eight drawer boxes with 5 coats of wipe on varnish.

[Jesse Busenitz]

New guy here, but I'm enjoying all the tips. I just got a 6x80 sander and was trying to figure out where to store all the extra belts, and then I got the idea of using a metal gallon can, and screwing what nomally is the bottom to the wall. It works great as it won't kink the belts and I put in a half moon block inside the can and made a little cubby to store misc in.

[Rick Potter]

My wife is off work for a while, and is helping with the kitchen cabinets. She has been doing the staining and finishing on the current crop for the last couple weeks. She stained a dozen panels before I woke up the other morning, and started finishing them the next day. When she got done varnishing the second coat (wipe on) she noticed the Red Oak panels were not red at all, just brown.

After a bit of soul searching we finally figured it out, she had not stirred the stain before using it. This was the same can she had use the previous day, but I stirred it before use, and she did not realize this. The stain worked great, except the reddish tint was not there, and it was easily missed till we put the panels next to some previously done. Luckily, except for two shelves, the panels are all on the inside of cabinets, and will not show once the drawers are in, so we let them go. The two shelves that are in a bookcase type unit we sanded, re-tinted, and will finish again tomorrow. Whew, no harm done.

Obviously the tip is...........stir your stain thoroughly and often, and make sure any helpers know this too.

Rick Potter

PS: Bonus tip.........In case you don't know, always keep varnish stirred, because the flattening agent settles to the bottom pretty quickly.

[Justin Ludwig]

I built a stand for my bench top drill press. I need things mobile in my shop and usually buy castors in sets of 4. The only extra castors I had at the time were 400lb rated ones I bought from Grizzly. I figured 1600lbs of castor ability was a little over the top for a bench drill press. See the pics below for a simple solution at 1/2 the cost. I'll eventually replace these big daddy castors with smaller ones once I need them.

268419268420

[david milton]

i cant figure out how to post new content on the forum. can you tell me how, or tell me of someone who might be able to help?

[Ole Anderson]

i cant figure out how to post new content on the forum. can you tell me how, or tell me of someone who might be able to help?David, welcome to the Creek! Presuming you want to start a new thread, just go to the forum you would like to post the new thread in (for example "Project Finishing") and just hit the big "Post New Thread" button on the left side and midway down the screen. You have to be on a forum index page, not already in a thread. That will bring up a fresh page for you to title a thread and post content.

[Rick Potter]

Oldie but goodie.....

The wife bought a very nice carved sign which we decided to put on a solid oak front door. I decided the least offensive way was to hit it with a few 18 ga. brads because they would hardly show, and never come out of the oak. When she got the top of the sign lined up nicely with a window in the door, I put two brads in to fasten it.

Stepping back to admire it, we realized that the bottom, not the top of the sign was the level part, and we were low on one side about 3/16". What to do? If I tried to pull the delicate sign off, the brad would pull through the sign, or worse, break the sign. There was no way the brad was coming out of solid oak. As I got out my thinnest trim puller, and as I was thinking about how it was gonna mess up my nice door, a light bulb turned on, the sun came out, and angels started singing. I remembered a really old tip about sliding the thinnest putty knife under the sign and cutting the brad.

I managed to slide the putty knife in without damage to the door. A couple strikes with a hammer cut the brad with no damage to door or plaque, we left the other sides brad alone, moved the cut side up slightly, gave it a love tap to set the cut brad in the new location, and put in a new one to hold it. Hit it with a brown crayon for the tiny brad holes, and walked away happy. Another prayer answered.

Oh, yeah. The plaque is inscribed....."Prayer Changes Things" :) .

Rick Potter

[Kelly Craig]

Like many, I have hundreds of sheets of sandpaper that must be cut to fit my 1/4 sheet sander. Using scissors is a slow option and a paper cutter is only marginally better. About thirty years ago, some magazine posted this simple, but efficient cutter and i have been using it ever since.

All it requires is a scrap piece of sheet stock a few inches wider than (a little more than the width of a hack saw blade) and about the same length as a sanding sheet, a hack saw blade, two screws and a couple washers.

To make it:

1) Lay a full sheet of paper on the sheet stock and trace around it with a felt tip. When positioning the paper, leave enough room on each side to mount the hack saw blade, in step 3).

2) Measure half way down the long dimension and draw a line, which cuts the outline of the long dimension of the sheet in half.

3) Mount the hack saw blade with a flat washer on each side, between it and the sheet stock. The blade teeth should be on the line which dissected the outline.

4) Slide a full sheet under the blade so it lines up with your initial outline. Pull down from a corner so the paper is torn by the blade, producing a sheet exactly half the original length.

5) Turn one of the torn sheets over, measure for half the longest dimension and mark a line across.

6) Slide the marked sheet under the blade, with the line showing and the grit against the sheet material until the line lines with the hack saw teeth. Now draw another outline on the sheet goods around the bottom of this piece.

When done, for all future cuts:

1) Slide a sheet of paper, grit out, under hack saw blade, lining it with the full sheet outline and pull down, at an angle across the blade teeth.

2) Spin the cut sheet ninety degrees and align it with the half sheet outline and pull down again.

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[Joe O'Connor]

I'd been searching for a quick and easy bench hold down clamp when I discovered I already had several. The Irwin quick grip clamps I recently purchased have removable heads and the bar slides right through a 3/4 inch dog hole so all you have to do is take the head off put the bar through the hole and replace the head on the underside of your bench.

[Bill Sutherland]

Hmmm....my Irwins have a little nib near the bottom and that stops the one clamp from sliding off.

[Joe O'Connor]

Hmmm....my Irwins have a little nib near the bottom and that stops the one clamp from sliding off.
Mine may be a newer model. On mine it's the fixed jaw that is removable, there's a small spring loaded knob that unscrews allowing the head to slide off.

[George Bokros]

I have seen bit manufacturers recommend using an o-ring or a small rubber grommet as a spacer also.

I use the grommet, it does not fall out when you set the router down without a bit in the collet.

George

[Greg Hines, MD]

I use a pipe flange, screwed to the underside of the top of my bench, with some large access holes drilled through the top. This allows me to screw in a pipe nipple (usually 12" or 18") into the flange, and use a deep throat pipe clamp head to clamp things to my bench. I spaced 4 of them around my bench top, and generally, use them for clamping down my planer when I need it on the bench. It works quite well.

Doc

[Alan Gan]

Not sure if this is an idea that has been posted before or even if it is worth posting. I found it to be very helpful when sanding between coats of Finish. I took some of the pad used for holding lumber from slipping while sanding and cut a small section out. Then rolled a piece of sandpaper over the pad.

This gave me a little spring to the sand paper that prevented sanding through the finish.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k66/photolinks/WoodWorking/Sanding/DSCN1139_zps3037f6a7.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k66/photolinks/WoodWorking/Sanding/DSCN1143_zps8e316b6e.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k66/photolinks/WoodWorking/Sanding/DSCN1141_zps723c0b9d.jpg

[Bruce Page]

Alan, that's one of those "why didn't I think of that" tips. I will file that away for future use!

[Ole Anderson]

Probably obvious to most, but when finishing a large number of panels or drawers in my garage, I put up two sawhorses and lay an extension ladder on top in order to be able to spread out many pieces at one time. I usually lay a tarp down first on the floor to catch any drips. And sometimes I cover the ladder first with a roll of plastic sheeting. Right now I am ready to repaint (with a roller) five large pantry shelves.

[Ole Anderson]

I just finished a renovation of my mudroom which required pulling all of my oak trim, retiling the floor and then reusing the trim. You can't pound 18 ga brads, or even 15 ga power driven finish nails back out of Oak, and you can't pull the nails through, so I had to cut the nails off. Problem is that typical diagonal cutters don't cut flush due to the double bevel. In the past I have used a grinder with a cutoff wheel, but that is a pain. While at my local tool store I spotted as set of FastCap flush cutters. Man those worked like a charm, I wish I had found those years ago. It wasn't until I looked at this ad that I understood what the magnets were for. I left them in the store not knowing. Oh well. They also make a similar cutter with larger jaws for flush cutting the end of veneer edge banding.

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NTAwWDUwMA==/z/mb4AAOxyi3FRyhmc/$(KGrHqMOKpIFGu7!v!5hBRyhmcZRfQ~~60_12.JPG

[William C Rogers]

I don't know if this is really a tip, but about every 12-18 months I gather all my old finishing materials separating the oil base from water base. This is stuff to old to use on anything good. Keeping separate dump it into a 5 gallon bucket and put it on the wood of my 16 foot trailer with a roller. Just a way to keep it from the landfill. I usually end up with a gallon of each.

[Ole Anderson]

Today I needed to put a bevel on a small scrap in order to use it to support a photo on an aluminum plate. I found a small piece of Ipe that would work nicely, but running that small piece through the table saw required too much of a pucker factor. My push "stick" just wouldn't hold it against the fence. So I stuck a piece of double stick tape to the piece and found that now my push "stick" and the scrap were now one and I was able to rip the bevel with confidence that there would be no kickback. Although looking at the picture, I didn't position the foot of the stick at the rear of the piece, yet all went well.

[Ole Anderson]

Ok, this is only a WW tip if you put liners in your shop trash cans: Kitchen trash bags are always a bit too large and they get pushed into the bin along with the trash. If you pull out the embedded tie, and take up a little by putting a knot in it, the bag will now fit snug and not fall in along with the trash.


http://youtu.be/bBZt_lyOeXM

[Ole Anderson]

This tip is similar to #6, but even more foolproof. I was making new 3-1/2" square legs for my pool table and made them up using 3/4" oak joined at the corners with a lock miter bit. Anyone having used that bit know how finicky they are as far a keeping the stock up against the bit and flat on the table. So I wanted a foolproof way to do that, short of using a shaper with a power feed. I had an old aluminum angle previously used as a fence that I clamped to the table to positively keep stock up against the fence all the way through the cut. And with the acrylic safety shield that came with my Freud fence pushed down on the stock, it was totally captive as it was fed through the bit.

[Ole Anderson]

This is a pretty obvious tip. If you have a miter saw extended fence with an attached measurement system ( in my case the one from Kreg), you know you can't set the fence at much less than 12 inches. And many cuts on the MS are less than 12 inches. So I just cut a piece of hardwood at exactly 10" as a spacer and clearly marked it so it wouldn't end up scrap. I hang it on the pegboard between cuts.

[Keith Outten]

Ole,

At the top of most Forums is a special thread for Sticky threads. Check it out, you will find a link to this thread.

We did this so we don't end up with 25 sticky threads in each forum which causes people to complain.
I read every thread and post in the Support Forum.

[Rick Potter]

Ole,

I use that same trick on my RAS, to keep me from getting my hands too close to the blade. Works for me, too.

[Ole Anderson]

Ole,

At the top of most Forums is a special thread for Sticky threads. Check it out, you will find a link to this thread.

We did this so we don't end up with 25 sticky threads in each forum which causes people to complain.
I read every thread and post in the Support Forum.

I just thought it odd that there is only one sticky in the GWP forum, the most popular, while in the companion Workshop forum there were 5 that didn't warrant the same rationale. I agree, I don't want 25 stickies at the top of the index either.

[Keith Outten]

Ole,

I'm surprised that since the Sticky threads are open for anyone to use that people aren't sharing their favorite links.

[Rick Potter]

Keith,

Perhaps it is because once a sticky is read, some of us, like me for instance, don't go back to it. We automatically start our browsing at the regular threads, and never think to recheck the sticky's.

[Keith Outten]

You don't have to recheck any sticky threads if you use the new posts option, they will come up in the list of threads that have changed.

The Master Sticky Thread will at least give everyone an opportunity to visit threads of special interest in one place, even if you just check the thread once per week or month.
.

[Keith Westfall]

Not sure it has been posted here, ut, when changing the plastic bag on my dust collector, it usually took about 5 hands to get it done, after about 7.5 tries... :mad:

Next time you want to do it, get some 1/2" rare earth magnets and start on the back side (of the bag) just above the clamp track. Then work around, folding as required, and adding additional magnets in a few places to hold it in place.

Then EASILY put the clamp around and fasten it in the track. Remove magnets until next time. Made it MUCH EASIER to get the job done.

Hope I didn't duplicate anybody on this, big thread to check!

[Tom Trees]

backwards drillbit for a flat bottomed hole , made from a cheap spade bit.352290352291352292
Thread through previously drilled hole backwards and chuck into your drill .

[Ole Anderson]

I needed to cut a dozen small wedges or keys for my pool table base through-tenons. I found some contrasting black walnut and milled it to 5/8" thick to match the size of the mortises in the tails. I knew the easiest way was to cut the 5 degree angle was on my miter saw but I didn't have a safe way to hold them as my walnut stock was only 2" wide. So I ripped the stock to 7/8" and cut it into 3" lengths. I then cut a small scrap piece and ran a sharp pointed Kreg screw through it near the end and ran the screw through the scrap just far enough to catch the work and keep it from being pulled into the blade. It worked so well I am keeping the little piece to act a a finger to hold small pieces for cross cutting. No need to run the screw into the work, just enough for the point of the screw to catch the work. Click on the image to enlarge.
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[Lee Schierer]

Many of us use zero clearance inserts on our saws to eliminate or at least significantly reduce tear out when cross cutting. However, we still get some tear out where the blade exits the side of the board that is against our cross cut guide's fence. I have found that you can eliminate that tear out by mounting a sacrificial piece of wood to your cross cut guide to create a zero clearance opening against the back edge of the board. Some crosscut sleds do this by nature of their design. With a well tuned saw and most modern carbide tipped blades you can all but eliminate cut line tear out on both sides of your cross cut while getting a burn and tooth mark free cut.

[David Falkner]

I wasn't certain where to post this, I don't see a 'Tips' subforum so moderators please move this if it doesn't need to go here - thanks! David

This certainly isn't anything new but since I dented a piece today I thought it would be a good time to video the little tip for those who may never have tried this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD2_Wrs6YDM (not sure why the video isn't showing up so the link should work)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD2_Wrs6YDM

[richard b miller]

i had resawed some pine with my band saw and when i finished, i had a bunch of pitch all over my blade. i've tried simple green to remove pitch in the past, but that required too much scrubing.
i have a bottle of "purple power" degreaser that i use for removing bugs from my car and truck. i removed the blade and sprayed it with the degreaser and the pitch just dripped off. after letting it sit
for ~10 mins, i dried the blade and it was spotless! ps- i use it at full strength but don't let it sit on anything for more than 15 mins.

[Brian Henderson]

i had resawed some pine with my band saw and when i finished, i had a bunch of pitch all over my blade. i've tried simple green to remove pitch in the past, but that required too much scrubing.
i have a bottle of "purple power" degreaser that i use for removing bugs from my car and truck. i removed the blade and sprayed it with the degreaser and the pitch just dripped off. after letting it sit
for ~10 mins, i dried the blade and it was spotless! ps- i use it at full strength but don't let it sit on anything for more than 15 mins.

Agree with that, Purple Power is amazing stuff. Changed the oil in my wife's car over the weekend in the middle of a windstorm, got oil blown all over the driveway. Put on Purple Power, did a little light scrubbing with a deck brush and it's all gone.

[John TenEyck]

I sometimes use colored wax sticks from Behlen's and others to fill nail holes in trim, etc. Those sticks are almost always too hard for the wax to rub into the holes w/o damaging the wood, especially on softer woods like pine. But if you put it in a cup of really hot water for 10 minutes or so it will soften up nicely and you can easily press it into the nail holes with a small piece of wood or plastic.

Also, if you can't find a wax stick that has the color you need, buy a lighter and darker one. Then make a custom color by melting whatever ratio of the two it takes to give you the color you want. I melt them in a metal spoon over a propane torch (carefully), mix the two together with a nail until the color is uniform and adjust as necessary until I get the color I need.

John

[Ole Anderson]

Helping my son with his bamboo flooring project, we finished up with the stairs. Pulled off the old carpet and went with bamboo flooring. Not wanting any moldings at the edge of the tread we were in need of a stair tread template (or gage). So Jay make an evening run to HD where the website said they had one in stock. Well it was delivered to the store, but not stocked yet. The cheapest was $20, others were up to $100. So I decided to make my own with materials I had in my shop. Turned out quite simple and actually works better than the commercial ones, only 2 knobs, vs 3 or 4. We had to pull up the 2x12 treads and flush cut them to the risers as the bamboo nose only would cover 1/2" of the old treads.

The knobs and bolts were left over from some track project I didn't end up using, the rest was scrap 1/2" plywood, come of it paper resin coated. Fun little project.

[Greg Hines, MD]

I was assembling the carcass of my shop cart, and using those Rockler clamping squares. I had really wanted to use some of the flat bar Festool clamps, but they have a tendency to slip. A 1/2" hole, enlarging the one that is already there, fixed the problem, though I think I am going to file a flat on the bottom side of it to make it fit a bit better.

355136355137

[Bill Carey]

When I moved into my new shop, I quickly tired of trying to find the right fastener on the book shelves, trying to read box labels, looking in cans, etc. So I went and got a cartful of small tuperware type containers, dadoed a few boards, assembled it - and now the good part - mounted it with by-pass door hardware from the front of the bookcases. Moves easily to get at stuff on the shelves, and the best part is I can SEE whats in the bins. Much, much cheaper than the storage bin next to it.
374428

[Yonak Hawkins]

Bill, that's a great idea. I especially like that it can slide back and forth to expose the shelves.

[Nick Decker]

Excellent, Bill!

[Frederick Skelly]

That's an idea I can makes use of Bill. Thank you!
Fred

[Simon MacGowen]

When I moved into my new shop, the best part is I can SEE whats in the bins. Much, much cheaper than the storage bin next to it. 374428
Great storage set-up and good use of space.
The real test is keeping the well-organized system ongoing. I must confess I am not that kind of guy and even if I built it, I would not be able to get everything back in place/designated containers.
Simon

[Bill Carey]

Pet peeve: waiting to put down the orbital sander. Can't stand it. Why the hell don't they have bakes??? So this am I'm sanding a maple top and got so aggravated I came up with this. It's hinged to my bench. I'll eventually put a locking pin on it so I can get rid of the clamp. So now I just slip the sander into the slot and it can orbit on to it's little orbiting heart's desire.
374967374968374969

[Mike Trent]

I found the following tip on YouTube, and it works for me:

Once you’ve taken your finger off the trigger, simply hold the sander down on a flat surface. The more force you use, the quicker the sander stops. About a second or two for me. I keep a piece of non-slip mesh next to the piece I’m sanding, and when I’m ready to stop, switch hands, whatever, I push the sander down on the mat and it stops very quickly.


374970

[Yonak Hawkins]

I have a piece of carpet padding nearby that I set it on.

[Ole Anderson]

Ole,

At the top of most Forums is a special thread for Sticky threads. Check it out, you will find a link to this thread.

We did this so we don't end up with 25 sticky threads in each forum which causes people to complain.
I read every thread and post in the Support Forum.

Not complaining about 4 other stickies now, but quicker access to this popular Tips and Tricks thread still makes sense.

[Lee Schierer]

OK, let's see if this gets legs. Some time ago I asked (in the Forum Tech Support forum which apparently almost no one reads) if we could have a separate forum dedicated to workshop tips and tricks. Well that didn't go anywhere, so why not just have a thread dedicated to your ideas around the shop that you would like to share?

Actually the Tips & Tricks is a sticky at the top of this forum called General Woodworking Forum Sticky Threads --- Tips & Tricks (https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?224811-General-Woodworking-Forum-Sticky-Threads)

[Keith Outten]

I haven't had time lately to move sticky threads into the master thread in many of our Forums. I will get to is soon.

[Nick Shattuck]

I haven't seen this so it may be a common thing to do, but to save space in my shop I mounted my dust collector to the ceiling. All I did was remove the casters on the stand and flip the filter/bag. It works great and I have enough room underneath to park my router table.
377668

[Lee Schierer]

They used to sell little round turn tables with a lazy susan bearing under it that would let you sit down your ROS while it was still turning. These were at nearly every woodworking show you went to.

[David Falkner]

When I do my glue-ups for cutting boards I leave a 'stick' or two a bit long on either end to prevent snipe in not only the planer but also the drum sander. This has the same effect as feeding a sacrificial board before and after your target board for surfacing. I don't always get snipe on my DW735 planer but it's often enough that doing this eliminates the snipe. The little board that's protruding may get some snipe but the target board doesn't. Hope this works for you like it does for me -

377722

David

[glenn bradley]

French's mustard lid fits Titebond bottles.

377745377744

[glenn bradley]

Old gift cards turn spring clamps into edge clamps.

377746377747

[glenn bradley]

Odd things from household supplies have a use in the shop. These little plastic 'caps' are on top of the product and under the cap of the brand of antiperspirant I use. They make great 'painter's pyramids' for long thin items.

377748377749

[glenn bradley]

Magnet/blocks cure clamping ills. This works on various tools around the shop but, my saw horses benefit as shown.

377755377752377751377754

Other tools . . .

377753377756

[Ole Anderson]

When the Tips and Tricks thread gets buried in a sticky within a sticky, there is little activity, but when someone posts to it, allowing it to be seen, activity picks up. 8 recent tips and tricks added, even if many were by one member (Glenn Bradley). If any thread should be a regular sticky, this is is. Tips and tricks spans all of woodworking. (Disclaimer, I created this thread so I may be biased).

Glenn (and others), what a great bunch of recent tips, thanks. Keep them coming, we all benefit.

[Charlie Jones]

Those plastic cards I get in the mail hoping you will join various organizations. I use them and old debit/credit cards for glue spreaders.

[Brian Henderson]

Those plastic cards I get in the mail hoping you will join various organizations. I use them and old debit/credit cards for glue spreaders.

Same here. I have hundreds of them. They want to give me credit cards, they just give me glue spreaders.

[Floyd Mah]

I have a couple of i-socket devices, made by DGC Products, sold by Rockler. The device allows a tool (like a router or Festool Domino) to turn on a vacuum when the tool is powered.
377809
The problem is that I have only one vacuum in the workshop, so that if I want to use the vacuum independently of the i-socket, I would need to unplug the vacuum from the i-socket and plug it into another outlet. Then I would need to plug the vacuum back into the i-socket when done. I determined that only the hot black lead is switched, via an internal relay to power the vacuum. The neutral and ground leads are passed through without switching.

I installed a single pole switch (SPDT or DPDT is ok also) into the case of the isocket. I divided the wire coming fromthe "VAC" hot (line) socket connection and screwed that to the common, middle post of the switch. The other half of the divided wire (emerging from the circuit board) goes to one of the "load" terminals of the switch and a separate jumper is wired from the hot (line) from the wall (via the power socket) to the remaining load terminal of the switch. I am being deliberately vague and not including a detailed drawing, since you would be working with power line voltages and need to know your way with simple power wiring to perform this modification. Just suffice it to say that there is space within the isocket to install a separate switch for turning the vacuum on and that the wiring of the original, intact device is simply using a sensor within the device to switch only the line voltage to the vacuum line socket connection via a simple relay.

Seems to work fine. I can now activate the vacuum the usual way via the isocket or switch it manually when I need to power the vacuum to pick up some debris separate from the attached power tool.

Other details: When wiring to the line connector plug of the circuit board: it seems to be floating from the board without a rigid mechanical attachment, just the plastic of the case. Soldering on that terminal may make the connector change position due to melting of the plastic. In order to avoid that, I plug the isocket into a spare AC power cord that is unpowered (I stress that it must be unpowered), so that the heat from soldering my wire doesn't loosen the heated plug from the circuit board. The backup socket will keep the plugs' connectors from drifting apart. Don't heat it longer than necessary for a good solder joint. Be sure that the new wires and switch are rated for the same current of the unmodified device (15A at 120 VAC). Also insulate all connections and never work on a powered circuit.

Also note that the two devices that I have differ internally. The older one seems to have a large heat sink inside, but the amount of internal space is about the same. I was able to install the switch on the bottom of the case of the newer one. I think the older device would accommodate the switch better if placed on the left side. The older isocket has an extra mounting lug outboard from the case at the top, while the newer switch doesn't have this lug. You can use this lug to identify which version you have. The devices themselves disassemble via four Phillips screws on the rear of the case, under some hot glue plugs. No glue present holding the case together.

[glenn bradley]

For use as a glue spreader I use a hole punch to notch the edges of gift cards.

Some cards are 1/32", I use these as a sort of macro-feeler gauge when setting reveals.

377938

[Al Launier]

I've found my drill press table to be too small on occasions so I made an adjustable extension table to support longer pieces. The center strip can be slid in or out via a dovetail to provide a new surface under the workpiece.

I've also found myself occasionally making a series of inline holes, so a pivot fence does the trick. Just align the drill where needed, pivot the fence against the side of the piece to be drilled & clamp the fence to the table. Then slide the work piece along the fence to drill all holes the same distance from the fence. Both save time & work well.

[Charlie Jones]

For use as a glue spreader I use a hole punch to notch the edges of gift cards.

Some cards are 1/32", I use these as a sort of macro-feeler gauge when setting reveals.

377938

That's cool. I never thought of the hole punch. I will use that..Thanks.

[Brian Deakin]

I used a old compact discs to spread filler when repairing a large hole in a wall

You could use the same principle and use the discs to spread glue over large surfaces

[Bryan Cramer]

Just a quick tip: Vinegar cleans up epoxy that hasn’t cured yet. It’s a safe way to remove it from your hands and anywhere you don’t want it.

[Charlie Jones]

Many years ago someone gave me a Buck hunting knife. Not having another use for it I hung it in the sheath over my bench.
It is amazing how much I use it and for so many tasks.

[glenn bradley]

One of those things you do without thinking to share . . . I needed to cut a 1/2" rod in half and had to be pretty close as it was already a bit short for the application. I drill a hole the size of the rod through a piece of scrap. I then cut a cross into it at the bandsaw. The long cut only has to go just past the rod to allow the saw to make the cut. The short cut as to go far enough past the rod to allow the vise to apply some squeeze to hold the rod still.

378451 . 378452 . 378453

[Bill Carey]

Every now and then I have a small piece of metal that needs to be straightened. Might be a kitchen knife, a part from a machine or a drill bit. And pounding on it on wood or concrete was a pain. Walking thru a junk shop I saw one of those old cast iron irons. Flip it over and you have a nice small anvil. Won't take heavy abuse, but works great for minor "persuasion".

[glenn bradley]

I have had this 'version 1' made from a chunk of 2x4 for so long I forget when I made it. You can use a normal tape measure scrap and just divide by two. I printed this scale that I stretched/shrank until it was half scale. I looked for the file to attach here but, it has gone the way of the wind.

378701 . 378700

The idea was to just get close but, I find I can get darn near dead-on nearly every time.

[Justin Ludwig]

Here’s a short video of the jig I use to install drawer faces. I’m using it on an inset application here. It works for any overlay or inset and faceframes or euro.


https://youtu.be/c7cYAjBG6wU

[glenn bradley]

Your method of doing something like this will vary with your storage methods. I use Plano boxes for screw storage. I stick a piece of "ruler" marked tape to the lid.

381080

This gives me a quick place to check fasteners right where they are stored.

381081

I just use a piece of the tape that is 4" or so long. I don't care that it doesn't start at "1" or that it reads in reverse.

381082

For its purpose it is useful from any random whole-inch starting point. I space the tape off from the edge of the lid a bit for pan head and washer head in order to assure a good measurement as I keep some lengths in "tweener" sizes like 1-3/8" or 1-1/8".

[Patrick McCarthy]

Lud, thank you For posting.
1. Are you attaching the drawer fronts with screws?
2. If so, what are you adjusting on the sides of the top drawer?

I think I am missing something basic. Thank you, Patrick

[Dave huber]

Like others, I subscribe to and enjoy Serge's https://atelierdubricoleur.wordpress.com atelier du Bricoleur website. It is in both French and English, which is neat. He has TONS of great ideas.

However, I KNOW I had a PDF of many many tips from a man who's name I cannot recall. He is from Poland, I believe. The tips and hints this guy had were great.

I am sure I squirreled it away, but cannot find it online or in my personal digital horde right now. Does this ring a bell with anyone?
Thanks.

Dave

[Dave huber]

I found it!
Take a peek at
https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/the-wonderful-world-of-niki-s-jigs-t21712.html

Niki is the man’s name. I’d like to get him and Serge in the same workshop for a while. I’m sure they could build anything!

enjoy,

Dave

[Chris Parks]

Niki was a past member of this forum and few more but sadly passed away some years ago. He was definitely a very clever man who never stopped thinking, I just did a search for a sample post and the images have gone with the wind unfortunately.

[Dave huber]

He was clever, for sure. I like his sense of humor

i saved the posts to a PDF. I can’t post here since it weighs in at ~48 MB. However, if someone wants a copy, PM me and we will see what the best way to move a file that big is.

i Emailed it to myself, but I have a pretty lenient provider.

i could host it at DropBox unless someone has a better idea.

[John Blazy]

Heres a few from my past, and utilizing these tricks in the present:


Use 4" and 6" PVC to make clamps - my favorite trick. Cut a kerf longways in the pipe, then crosscut them like a carrot to however many you need. Love these things. You can thermoform the tips out a little, then drive screws through them and the screw points hold miters together
Then here is my most useful - buy a 600 grit diamond wheel from North Jersey diamond Wheel or other supplier, then sharpen your own tablesaw blades. Haven't sent out blades for 12 years now. Sharpens carbide router bits too. 382439382440382441
Favorite miter gluing trick right here using plastic packaging tape (many know this one, but some might not)382442
I made my own edgebander 30 some years ago, still works, and have run over 10,000 feet of edgebanding through it.382443
Doing alot of epoxy work lately, so I made my vacuum de-airing / de-bubbling chamber from a propane tank by cutting the top off, then making a 1" thick lexan lid with a garden hose nipple for my vac hose. Works like a dream. I can watch the bubbles disappear to know when its done, and shut of vac if it expands too much - so glad I mad a clear lid. 382444382445
Then lastly, only if you have a laser - make an angle jig, and you can cut polished bevels with your laser on acrylic 382446

[Andrew Joiner]

John, My utmost respect. You take DIY to another level! Love your posts.

[John Blazy]

John, My utmost respect. You take DIY to another level! Love your posts.

Thanks! Same gift of creativity used to make my jigs/tools/tricks keeps me up at night thinking of cool stuff like my figured CF "wood" veneer.
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[Ole Anderson]

Just keeping this thread going. This one is self explanatory:

[John K Jordan]

This one is self explanatory:

I like this! I have a big bright red label on the front of my bandsaw to remind me but after the first few days it turned invisible.

JKJ

https://sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=395515&d=1540589974

[Jim Becker]

I have a florescent pink ribbon on a magnet that I hang in front of the blade when it's de-tensioned.

[Bill Carey]

I put the safety plug from the switch on a binder clip taped to the tensioning arm.

[Chris Parks]

I never remove the tension, job done.

[Frank Pratt]

I never remove the tension, job done.

Same here.

[Doug Garson]

Just keeping this thread going. This one is self explanatory:

I've seen a variation on that where you use a carabiner, you hang it on the tension knob when tight and when you loosen it you clip it around the blade.

[Bill Carey]

this is probably old news but if you do a lot of hand sawing these are pretty handy. Flip up stops for push and pull saws, and they are out of the way when not in use.
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[Frederick Skelly]

Sometimes, plastic draftsman squares aren't really square. To square-up mine, I use my shooting board and plane.

Then I check them for square by drawing a line, flipping the square (mirror image) and drawing another line. If the two lines overlap, I succeeded.

[Frederick Skelly]

I made my own “Bandie Clamps” , I went to HD and got the .99 cent spring clamps , and then to WalMart to got a bike inner tube. You cut the inner tube into 6” lengths and slip the now open ends of the inner tube onto the clamp ends.

They work great for gluing on wood edge banding onto 3/4” plywood parts.
I think I made twenty , I made ten, liked how they worked then made ten more. The 10 clamps cost 9.99 + tax and the inner tube was under $5.00 , for for fifteen dollars I made 10 clamps , the Rockler Bandies was $13.00 + dollars for two , plus some shipping fees.

If you ever apply wood edge banding , and want to avoid pin nailing the strips on , or don’t want to use pipe clamps and cawl’s to do the clamping, the home made stretchy clamp might be some thing to consider.

Note: Fred Skelly copied this tip here to keep it from getting lost in the archives. It was originally posted by Paul Girouard on 1/2/19, as a response to another post about using spring clamps. Thanks Paul!

[Bill Carey]

I have a 6" ruler and a 4" square that I use almost exclusively for layout, and I get tired of trying to find them and then having them on bench top when I'm working, so I epoxied a couple of magnets to my bench light - without which it's hard for me to do precise layout - and now they are there at hand when I need them.
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[David Ortega Jr]

I got this tip years ago from a magazine - Although glue squeeze out is easy to clean from outside corners and joints, inside corners and joinery are more difficult to clean up. Use a straw to clean glue squeeze out from inside corners. Squeeze the end of the straw to create a "v" shape and push the "v" along the edge where the glue squeeze out is located. Instead of the glue smearing, it collects into the end of the straw. If the straw gets clogged, squeeze it out or cut off the end with scissors and continue. I often take the additional step of masking off the inside corners with tape to minimize clean up later on. Taping is a little extra work but worth it especially if the project will be stained and glue stains will show.

[Ole Anderson]

Having worked with several types of prefinished flooring including laminate, luxury vinyl planks and bamboo, I have found that all are very hard on saw blades. Particularly those floors finished with an aluminum oxide (ceramic) impregnated coating. A secret I recently found is that if you cut the planks on a MS laying flat, you will dull the blade much faster than if you are able to stand the planks on edge. And I found out that standing on edge, with the finished face facing you, even a 24 tooth general construction blade will make a perfect cut. And it helps if you are able to dedicate a 12" saw to 90 degree cuts and use a zero clearance backing board of a very hard material, in my case the same stranded bamboo I was using for the floor. Fortunately I have an older Milwaukee 10" saw for the miter cuts. Another advantage of cutting material vertically is that the sawdust will mostly spit out the back for collection whereas cutting material flat, much if the dust will spew all over, regardless of how good your dust collection system is.

To avoid measuring issues, I simply lay the plank on the floor flipping it end to end and mark the cut in place, and to avoid cutting on the wrong side of the line and spoiling an expensive plank, I mark both sides of the cut with a Milwaukee Markzall marker.

Once I finish my current bamboo flooring project, all of my blades are going in for a professional sharpening.

[Clint Baxter]

Was trying to install a replacement sanding sleeve on my oscillating spindle sander and having a rough time trying to get the sleeve on. After struggling, (way too long), I pulled off the partially installed sleeve and tossed the rubber drum into the freezer. After about an hour, I was pulled out the drum and the sleeve then slid on without any issues. I should have known to try this myself, but ended up being prompted by SWMBO before trying this. Kudo's to her.

(Be prepared to get some condensation on the drum afterwards if you're in a humid area.)

Clint

[Walter Mooney]

I do something very similar, but I use my wife’s pinking shears, since she no longer sews (but I don’t ‘publicize’ my use of them prior to doing it ;)). Leaves a very nice sawtooth edge. I cut one long side and one short side on each card.



For use as a glue spreader I use a hole punch to notch the edges of gift cards.

Some cards are 1/32", I use these as a sort of macro-feeler gauge when setting reveals.

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[Steven Woodward]

There are many ways of checking that blade is 90 degrees to table. Here is my favorite method. It requires no measuring tools, just a scrap of wood. Cut the piece of wood in half, then flip one half over and butt the cut ends together while pushing the two halves against a straight edge such as the fence. If the blade is not at 90 degrees to table, the cut ends will not butt together evenly.
Demonstrated in this video: https://youtu.be/uZu1VPtX8VE (https://youtu.be/uZu1VPtX8VE?fbclid=IwAR12I9b6UTUZc3gJMUN-Y-SBAgsD2d9jQXm-UXwHzba2Ouy5xJ9vRtrFxec)

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[Lee Schierer]

Here's another tip. If you are worried about splitting trim, snagging carpet fibers or hitting your fingers when installing trim. Use a finishing nail as your drill bit. Cut the head off an appropriately sized finishing nail, put the nail in your drill chuck and tighten. Drill your hole. It will not grab your carpet. This also works for installing wood trim without cracking or splitting. You also don't need three hands to hold the trim in place, hold the nail and the hammer all at the same time.

[Bill Dufour]

Easy free soft jaws for a vise. I was at Home Depot and saw them unboxing barbeques in the garden shope. They were throwing out what looked like angle iron about 3x3 inches about 3/8" thick made of solid tan cardboard. I took a couple of pieces of this packing material from the trash pile about three feet long. Cut it on the miter saw into pieces just longer then my vise jaw width. It is almost as hard as plywood and works well as soft jaws. Long enough web they do not fall off too easy.

[Walter Mooney]

We all have those cards and blister packs and other things that need to hang to be stored. The guts from 3-ring binders work wonders. Drill out the two pop rivets that hold the metal part to the ‘binding’ part of the binder (the part between the front and back covers), then screw the metal part to a strip of wood or directly to the wall in your shop. Don’t over-tighten the two screws — just get them snug.


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[J. Ed taylor]

I am making a saw track. I have the rails in place and am preparing a precision cut for the stiles on a RAS. I glued two pieces of wood together between the rails to serve as a substitute. I will set a fence saw stop an inch or so longer than the substitute. With the substitute in place I'll saw a piece of stock against it. Then remove the substitute, place that short piece of stock against the fence stop to cut the stile. The stile will be the same length as the substitute because they have both occupied the same space.

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[David William]

Great initiative! Having a dedicated thread for workshop tips and tricks in the General Woodworking and Power Tools forum sounds like a fantastic idea. It's a valuable resource for sharing innovative ideas and improving efficiency. Looking forward to seeing everyone's contributions and learning new techniques. Let's make this thread a go-to destination for woodworking enthusiasts!
Great initiative! Having a dedicated thread for workshop tips and tricks in the General Woodworking and Power Tools forum sounds like a fantastic idea. It's a valuable resource for sharing innovative ideas and improving efficiency. Looking forward to seeing everyone's contributions and learning new techniques. Let's make this thread a go-to destination for woodworking enthusiasts!

[Ole Anderson]

I started this thread on a whim 12 years ago. Just noticed it had 187K views. Wow! Keep those tips and tricks coming fellow woodworkers!