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Thread: phone apps for shop use

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
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    Modesto, CA, USA
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    phone apps for shop use

    I tried looking for recommended aps for shop use and all I found was aps about how to shop for good deals etc.

    Any recommendations?
    Bill D.

  2. #2
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    Nov 2016
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    Itapevi, SP - Brazil
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    My first suggestion

    If you use imperial measurements I suggest you a specific calculator to work with a such fraction arithmetics. Look for some thing like "construction calculator" either in Apple Store or Google Play.

    BTW I do not have a such apps as I use metric system (SI) and really I do not need any app at all for woodworking.
    All the best.

    Osvaldo.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
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    Perth, Australia
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    There are inclinometers available. And a compass, should you get lost in your shop. But the only app I use is one for the Internet radio.

    Regards from Perth

    Derek
    Last edited by Derek Cohen; 10-09-2019 at 1:21 AM.

  4. #4
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    Mountain City, TN
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    573
    Norwood sawmills ha a board feet, Doyle scale calculator. It also calculated the weight of lumber or a log.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Derek Cohen View Post
    There are inclinometers available. And a compass, should you get lost in your shop. But the only app Imuse is one for the Internet radio.

    Regards from Perth

    Derek
    The radio app's the only one I use in the shop too.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Dufour View Post
    I tried looking for recommended aps for shop use and all I found was aps about how to shop for good deals etc.

    Any recommendations?
    Bill D.
    Fraction Calculator Plus by DigitAlchemy is handy sometimes.

    Carpenter by iHandy is kinda fun and really handsome, but I almost never use it. Has plumb bob, level, protractor.
    Last edited by Peter Rawlings; 10-09-2019 at 3:19 AM. Reason: because it was wrong...

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    DFW, TX
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    You might look at "Handyman Calculator".
    It has lots of conversions that you probably won't use, but it's nice just in case.
    It's never too late to have a happy childhood.

  8. #8
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    Oct 2006
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    Manistique, Michigan
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    1,367
    I must be nice to have good enough coverage that you have the internet in the shop. I should have buried an Ethernet wire to the shop in 2005 when I installed my outdoor wood boiler.

  9. #9
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    Jul 2016
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    Lebanon, TN
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    Thanks, I like that Fraction Calculator.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
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    E TN, near Knoxville
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rich Aldrich View Post
    .... I should have buried an Ethernet wire to the shop in 2005 when I installed my outdoor wood boiler.
    Could you still do it? The ethernet cable won't need to be deep. I used direct burial ethernet cable but still put it in small plastic conduit. ( I ran two cables so I would have a spare.)

    My shop is 250 ft from the house. I put a wifi router in the shop on the same SSID as the house. Since the cell phone coverage in the shop is not good, the ethernet also feeds a "femtocell", sort of a personal cell tower on the Verizon cellular network.

    As for phone apps, I sometimes use a triangle calculator so I don't have to use any trig to calculate angles. Also a good scientific calculator and a unit conversion program.

    JKJ

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
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    Perth, Australia
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rich Aldrich View Post
    I must be nice to have good enough coverage that you have the internet in the shop. I should have buried an Ethernet wire to the shop in 2005 when I installed my outdoor wood boiler.
    Rich, you already have it!

    Look up "powerline network extender". I have one from Netgear, and it works as advertised. What it does is use the powerlines in your home as a relay. One advert states, "Like a WiFi booster, a Powerline adapter is directly connected to a router via an Ethernet cable. The adapter is then plugged into a power socket, allowing network data to travel via the electrical system into a receiving adapter in another location".

    Regards from Perth

    Derek

  12. You can also use something like one or two Ubiquiti Loco M2's to send your WiFi connection to your shop, that's what I do. Basically what you do is plug one of the M2's in to your home router (assuming your WiFi signal isn't strong enough to make it to right outside of your shop) and mount it outside of our house. The second M2 would mount on your shop facing the first M2 and be plugged in to another WiFi router or access point inside the shop. For under $100 you could have an internet connection that is almost as fast being inside your home, but able to be transmitted a significant distance away. In my situation I was lucky as my router is newer and quite powerful so I have a good WiFi signal up to my metal shop, so I only required one M2 and a router inside of the building to make the system work.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Hayes, Virginia
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    14,772
    There is an iPhone and Android app called Woodshop Widget that is pretty handy. It calculates board feet, does fraction conversion, provides species information, compound angles rise and run, species movement, shellac mixing information, help with squareness testing.

    www.woodshopwidget.com

    Developed by Kenneth Woodruff
    $3.99 USD
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by Keith Outten; 10-09-2019 at 9:36 AM.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jul 2017
    Location
    Prairie Village, KS
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    397
    If you're ever needing to run conduit in your shop and need to make some bends, I recommend QuickBend. Very handy.

    https://apps.apple.com/us/app/quickb...g/id1010311475

  15. #15
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    SE PA - Central Bucks County
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    Quote Originally Posted by John K Jordan View Post
    Could you still do it? The ethernet cable won't need to be deep. I used direct burial ethernet cable but still put it in small plastic conduit. ( I ran two cables so I would have a spare.)

    My shop is 250 ft from the house. I put a wifi router in the shop on the same SSID as the house. Since the cell phone coverage in the shop is not good, the ethernet also feeds a "femtocell", sort of a personal cell tower on the Verizon cellular network.

    As for phone apps, I sometimes use a triangle calculator so I don't have to use any trig to calculate angles. Also a good scientific calculator and a unit conversion program.

    JKJ
    You can even buy pre-terminated direct burial Ethernet cables...I got mine from Amazon for the connection to my shop building. It wasn't all that expensive even as a 250' hunk (longer than I needed but I hedged) and I used black water supply tubing to further protect it. Burial was about a foot and a half down because it was under the driveway, but doesn't have to be all that deep in general. As long as the total distance doesn't exceed 100 meters (by specification), it will work just fine. I have a node for my mesh system in there which provides one hard wired port for my CNC Computer as well as wireless for my MiniSplit's remote access and "shop" Macbook Pro as well as Internet and phone service for my iPhone. (We live in a cellular "dead spot" more or less)

    ---

    To the OP's question, I honestly don't use many "shop" type apps beyond the regular calculator from time to time as well as a browser when I need to do an Imperial to Metric conversion. (I work primarily in metric these days) I do have a speeds/feeds app from Vortex Tools for CNC tooling, but don't use it often at this point since I've figured out what works well for what I do already.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

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