Your favorite hints & tricks

[lrogers]

These are some really great tips, guys! KEEP IT UP!!!!

[rnelson0]

Measure twice, cut once.
Or maybe it's measure three times? Measure four times?

Take your time with planning and measuring, especially if the object you're cutting is difficult to replace. A crappy cut can cost you a LOT to fix in time, money and effort, where the double and triple checking of the measurements only costs you 30 seconds. This applies to everything - woodworking, plumbing, painting, even planning your vacation. Think ahead, double check, then do.



Find a proper place for everything. I'm not talking about cleaning up, although that's important, too. I mean to make a place for things to be when they're out and being used. That way if you have to hold something and can't let go, you know where you need to twist and contort to try and reach it with your other hand, or it just plain makes it easier to find something that's not in your toolbelt or on the shelf. It sounds silly, but on my temporary workbench I always leave the triangle in one place, the screwdrivers in another, the sandpaper and sanding block is in the top right, etc.


Get a portable lamp with a flexible base so you can aim the bulb. You can never have too much light and having one that's portable and you can aim is even better.


Mentally prepare your steps for turning on tools. Earplugs? Check. Safety glasses? Check. Vacuum or dust collection system on? Check. Tool plugged in? Check. Wood at hand in the proper order to be cut? Check. Pushsticks and stopblocks in proper place? Check. Okay, now you can turn it on. Do the reverse when shutting it down - turn it off, put the wood away, unplug it, turn the DC off, take the glasses off, and then pull the earplugs out. The other day I left my glasses on and turned the DC off, then when I went to use the saw again I had my glasses on so I thought I was good to go. Dust everywhere, especially since I was ripping and had the guard off. On the other hand, it was better than turning the DC on and leaving my glasses off!

[Ed62]

Since I don't have a router lift in my table, I like the idea of using a couple of pieces of 1/8" and/or 1/4" hardboard with a hole cut out for the bit. Instead of having to lift the router bit for each pass to make the depth of cut I want, I can put the stock on top of the pieces of hardboard for the first pass, with the bit at the final height. Remove the top piece of hardboard for the second pass, and you'll make the depth of cut that much deeper without having to raise the bit. Keep removing the hardboard until you get the depth you want. It's a real time saver.

Ed

[Stytooner]

Triple check to make sure you are not wearing loose clothing around a lathe, DP etc.
Even if it's cold, don't wear gloves around any of this type equipment.
I realize these are safety, but they can help a lot. I am usually pretty good about this, but the other day I caught myself running the lathe I just cnc'ed. I was wearing one of those hooded jackets with the strings to close the hood. I caught it in time, but that might have really hurt to have kissed the spinning lathe.

If you find a roll of packing paper or even newsprint somewhere cheap, it is very nice to spread over your bench and fasten down with spring clamps. Write dimension's, doodle or what have you. It makes a nice clean work surface too.

[messmaker]

Use a tape measure only when you have to. I try to use a story-board,stop block or template whenever possible. Use a Sharp pencil or marking knife. The width of a dull pencil line X 10 will add up.

[Lonnie in Orlando]

I attached a mechanical pencil to a retractable key fob / ID-card fob. I clip the fob to the collar of my tee shirt. The cable extends an arm's length, so I can easily mark and write. The pencil dangles only 6" below my collar, so it doesn't catch in spinning machinery.

No more lost pencils.

Now, if I can find a safe/comfortable way hold my reading glasses when I remove them, I could save a couple hours a day looking for them!

- Lonnie

[jhart]

Lonnie, those are pretty slick. HD had something like that a while back that did basically the same thing. Just attach a pen/pencil to it. Was cheap, but don't know if they still have. I use it all the time now that I have to wear glasses to do the measuring and found that the pencil doesn't stay in the ear very well with the glasses.

[luteman]

My favorite tip is using quart and gallon size ZipLok food storage bags to store size related parts such as bolts,screws, and other misc. small hardware parts. I keep these bags in a dedicated drawer. When I need the necessary parts, there they are. No searching and no fumbling to match up the nuts with the proper sized bolts etc.

[tlt]

silly question, but what is a story-board?

[LarryG]

silly question, but what is a story-board?

It's not a silly question if you don't know the answer.

Also called a story stick or story pole, it's a method of recording the key dimensions of something without taking actual measurements. This little article on the Woodcraft site explains. The example shown is for cabinetry, but the technique could be used for anything ... furniture, raised panel doors, a router table, whatever.

[SARGE..g-47]

silly question, but what is a story-board?

To add to the excellent link Larry just posted, I used a "story stick" just yesterday. 12 drawer sides to cut and 6 backs for the drawers.

Now.. do I trust my eyes and hands to use a measuring tape to come up with the a tick mark from a tape measure to be exactly 19 13/16" (sides) and 18 7/8" backs on all the individual pieces? That's a lot of trust and I don't have the mechanical ability to produce the exact same mark on each piece.

So.. I cut a "story stick" 19 13/16" and one 18 7/8" and set up a stop on my SCMS for the cross-cuts. Even if I made a slight error in the initial measurem ent of the "stroy stick", it won't matter as all will be the same and you still have "square". So I cut the pieces.

Am I done at this point? NO.. as I double check with the "story stick" after the 12 and 6 pieces are cut to make sure there was no "creep" from the saw (teeth slightly moving stock.. run-out.. etc.) It would take forever re-checking with a tape measure.

As long as the pieces are all the same.. if you are off by several .000 or even a 1/32".. who cares as it all comes back to they are the same as the template or "story stick" which leads back to square.

That's my "Story Stick"... and I'm sticking to it as I have for 36 years since an uncle that was a master carpenter taught me how to use one. ha.. ha... ha..ha..ha..

Regards...

[rnelson0]

My favorite tip is using quart and gallon size ZipLok food storage bags to store size related parts such as bolts,screws, and other misc. small hardware parts. I keep these bags in a dedicated drawer.

I saw something on this in a magazine. Take a board about 1"x6"x whatever length you need. Cut 5" deep slots in it every inch or so with a thin kerf blade. If done right, you can slide your ziplock bags into the slots and the clasp at the top will hold it in place. Basically you end up with a piece of wood that looks like one of those pieces of paper on the bulletin board that says "Take me!" and you hang it on the wall oriented perpindicular.

I can't find a picture of it but you can buy the issue from Amazon at an outrageous price, or you can probably figure it out yourself...

[Wood_workur]

I saw something on this in a magazine. Take a board about 1"x6"x whatever length you need. Cut 5" deep slots in it every inch or so with a thin kerf blade. If done right, you can slide your ziplock bags into the slots and the clasp at the top will hold it in place. Basically you end up with a piece of wood that looks like one of those pieces of paper on the bulletin board that says "Take me!" and you hang it on the wall oriented perpindicular.

I can't find a picture of it but you can buy the issue from Amazon at an outrageous price, or you can probably figure it out yourself...

slot it like a feather board to hold them?

[lrogers]

This thread just keeps getting better and better!

tlt - Not a silly question at all! This was exactly why I thought this would be a good thread.

[rnelson0]

slot it like a feather board to hold them?

Yeah, that's the description I was looking for! The slots would be spaced a bit further apart though, and you can decide if you want the slots at an angle or 90 degrees to the grain. Their example had the slots at 90deg. Depending on what's in the bags, a 30-45deg slant might provide a bit more visibility, but it might be harder to put them back on the board.