Tiny tip

[Rick Potter]

Need a quick thin shim??

Plastic tabs from bread wrappers. They even hang on the screw (or bolt) if necessary.


Whew, my day is finished now.

[glenn bradley]

Good one Rick!

[Jim Reffner]

Got it. Thanks Rick.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Thats clever! Formica color samples have bailed me out a time or two. The part in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance about using beer can aluminum to shim motorcycle handlebars comes to mind.

[Bill Dufour]

I pick up those plastic gift cards from the display rack next to the register.
Bill D

[mike calabrese]

I have some strips from a soda can working on keeping the jibs on my jointer up tight .
calabrese55

[Mark Beiting]

Hey Rick,
Good tip on the bread tabs! I use playing cards a lot in the shop, they are a nice, consistent .010".

I think my day is finished too!

[Michael Burnside]

Well, I told the wife today we're going to have to change the brand of bread we buy because of my woodworking. When she asked why, I said because the current brand comes with wire twist ties. She looked at me like I had broccoli growing out of my ears. :eek:

[Rod Sheridan]

Thats clever! Formica color samples have bailed me out a time or two. The part in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance about using beer can aluminum to shim motorcycle handlebars comes to mind.
I’ve carried a copy of Zen in the BMW’s tank bag for 40 years.

Still makes a great read at rallies.

Regards, Rod

[Maurice Mcmurry]

a copy of Zen in the BMW’s tank bag

Thank you Rod! I have a quality mental image of you, your Bike, and the contense of your tank bag!
The book has been hugely important to myself and many of my loved ones. It affected both of my sons. The younger one so much so that after graduating high school on a Friday, he got on his bicycle on Saturday and rode from Columbia MO to Astoria OR. Then down through the Alley of Giants to San Fransisco. When he got home in the fall he started studying Engineering and Philosophy. He is currently a working as a Nurse while he studies Nursing.

It is good that what BMWs lack in handlebar clamp clearance they make up for in suspension and power. That book is heavy.

[Rick Potter]

I have to admit I have a whole drawer full of shims, hard cardboard like election ads, masonite (1/8" fits perfectly in a standard saw kerf and looks a lot like ebony when used as splines, formica, playing cards, particle board, etc.

The drawer never fails me when I have to shim up something, beit a table saw or a drawer glide.

[Warren Lake]

have many shims and one I like in metal and aluminum is the metal roll used to form evestroughs. I used it to make flashings between the drip edge and into the eves so no facia was exposed. Cuts easily and stores in small rubbermaid type containers