Simple DIY shop made items for use in the shop. What have you made? Part II

[nicer20]

Push Block

A quick small shop accessory using scraps lying around to save my fingers. Old mouse pad serves as a very good Gripping Pad. Lets see how it handles the sawdust.

(Painted orange in the hope of finding it in the shop )

[nicer20]

L fence update - Poor man's jointer

Yesterday I needed to get a straight face on a piece of 2x material for gluing. The piece I am using had a bit of convexity to it. The right tool would have been a jointer but I don't own one. So decided to give a shot to my newly built L fence with the Orientation "B". Just the 2x workpiece, another straight piece as reference and a piece of antiskid material between the two - and a single pass that cut a sliver off.

Here are the results - a joiner might have produced perfection but what I got is quite decent enough.

[LCHIEN]

OK, thanks for the links everyone. Got it!
Nicer20, I like your simplification, the one in the video is pretty complex.

[nicer20]

@mpc: Yes exactly what you said. BTW thanks for that Fine Woodworking link - I will read it. Basically I built it because I need to trim and create straight edge for some random cutoffs I have lying around.
@Lchien: I have updated my post to include a link to the video I saw on Youtube. That one is adjustable though. I have built mine as a fixed one. I am hoping the heights I have chosen will serve me well for 99% of the time. Will find out if that is true or not. At least at the moment I avoided the complexity of building an adjustable one.

[mpc]

I've seen similar "L" fence setups used for pattern work with a table saw. Basically clamp this to the table saw fence, then move the two until the "L" fence is flush with the blade tooth (directly above the blade) and a small gap between the blade and "L" fence. Now a pattern attached to the top of a workpiece can ride the "L" fence with the cutoff/waste material ending up underneath the "L" fence. The "L" fence also serves as a blade guard. It works well for tenons and rabbet cuts where you'd normally attach a sacrificial face to the table saw rip fence and bury part of the blade in the sacrificial fence. Do that a few times and eventually the sacrificial face has a large half-round section that a workpiece can tilt into, especially when cutting the end of a stick-shaped workpiece. The "L" fence instead never gets chewed up so it always provides a clean face to guide a workpiece and the cutoffs are not trapped between the rip fence and the blade. It works for skinny rips as well thanks to not trapping the cutoff.

See this link: Fine Woodworking table saw L fence and the video at the end that article.

The trick is to be able to set the height of the "L" fence horizontal portion (which becomes the actual fence) high enough to be above the blade but low enough that the workpiece makes positive contact with it... and setting it so it is pretty much parallel to the saw tabletop.

mpc

[LCHIEN]

Not sure I understand the purpose of this thing. What problem does it solve? A link to the inspiration is always helpful.

[nicer20]

"L" ("T?") Fence
Built this "L" fence - well it is more like a T. Saw the basic idea in some YT videos but did my own twists.
(Here is an example video to help understand how it is used - https://youtu.be/8TNLudKivbc)

What I have done is built it in such a way that it is reversible i.e. flipped over.

In one orientation the blade to fence height clearance is 1": This allows trimming/cutting stock up to 7/8" thick. That should take care of majority of situations with a typical 3/4" or 1/2" stock.
In the other orientation the blade height clearance is 1.75": This allows stock up to 1 5/8". That will help with any 2X material.

I will post some drawings if there is any interest.

[LCHIEN]

No reason it won't work with full size router... jig will be larger and router a little harder to use. If it has a round base the rectangle opening will be as wide as the base plus a hair and as tall as the base is wide plus the length of the throw... and still use an adjustable stop to set the actual throw.

As for worth it, there's no other easy way to get the vertical slots in a horizontal bar consistently. I puzzled over it for a long time. You want them, its worth it.

[dbhost]

Interesting. I am wondering if such a thing could...
A. Work with a full size router.
B. Be worth the storage space for working with a full size router.

Simply put, I don't have a trim / palm router, but honestly I need to be able to cut keyholes...

[LCHIEN]

Shop is dusty. Used a trim router for doing roundovers and have not cleaned up yet. Rod K would faint if he saw this.

[LCHIEN]

WIRE BENDING JIG

This is actually a purchased jig, it is useful for bending wires such as the one a couple of posts back for the Branding iron rest.

I got the jig for $7 from Duluth Trading. There's one near me.
https://www.duluthtrading.com/wire-t...der-28011.html
and there are copies everywhere for about $10-20 bucks, including Amazon if you need free delivery.


I made the mounting block to hold the spare pegs. The holes in the side are for clamping to a table top with a fence clamp.
Or sometimes I just put it in the vise to hold it.
The various slots are good for lining up wire, I especially use coat hanger steel wires which are free, and stiff enough for most mechanical stuff, but need a tool like this to bend it.
I make S-hooks and eye hooks and bent wire stands and other little gizmos out of coat hanger wires when I need them.

https://youtu.be/6zpzJrDRcr0

https://toolmonger.com/2008/01/14/wire-bending-jigs/

[LCHIEN]

Storage like this:

https://www.sawdustzone.org/filedata/fetch?id=840140&d=1596526104

[dbhost]

Good design. Since mine heats from a gas burner not an electric element, and I use teh Coleman stove, I just rest it on the grate to the stove, but with these electric ones, that is a LONG overdue idea... That and a proper storage box...

[LCHIEN]

BRAND STAND (for a branding iron)

Branding irons are getting popular with you guys.
They give you a little stamped sheet metal stand that assembles but is very flimsy and kind of narrow. I'm always worried that its gonna be knocked over and fall and burn something or worse set something on fire. Even the stiffness of the power cord is enough to twist the base into falling over. You have to leave the brand heating for 10-15 minutes before using and then wait another 15 minutes to cool off before putting away. Working around the flimsy stand seems like an accident waiting to happen.

I'm in the process of getting a new brand.

So I made this one brand stand that is not going anywhere. Rubber feet so it won't be sliding around. 15-20 minute project included using my wire bending jig whoo hoo!

[LCHIEN]

VACUUM HOSE ADAPTER FEIN 1-3/8" to 2-1/4" OD Dust port

I Wanted to hook my FEIN vac hose to a 2-1/4" Diameter dust port on my Router fence.

The Fein vacuum has a 1-3/8" tapered hose end.

I had a 2-1/2" diameter scrap disk I cut out of something once using a hole saw. Just a little oversized. It had a 3/16 hole in the center I used as a pivot and angled the table of my disc sander 5 or 10 degrees. Put the disk on a board with a small dowel and pushed it against the disk sander and rotated until I got this nice tapered plug that was just over 2" on the bottom.

Drilled a 1-3/8" hole in it (clamping it was a bit of a chore but had to be done after tapering). The hole can be straight because the hose end is tapered.

Labeled it so I won't lose it accidentally one day.

And I have my adapter: