One of the things I found useful for organizing and adding space is a simple over the door shoe organizer from Walmart. For just a few dollars you get 24 pockets for whatever you can fit, and you can hang it anywhere, not just over doors.
Yep. I use mine for cans (WD-40, adhesives, spray paint) and some tools (mostly pliers). The cotton cloth ones are better than the plastic ones for my needs.
Colin, sometimes you may have trouble holding small screws while starting them. Stick a rare earth magnet to the shaft of your screwdriver and it will hold the screw while you are starting it.
Colin, Here is an extremely simple tip for setting a basic miter gauge on a table saw to 90°. Loosen the handle on the miter gauge. Turn the miter gauge upside down and place the miter bar in the slot. Slide the gauge up until it butts up against the back of the saw table. Then tighten the handle. Assuming that the back of the saw and the slot are at an exact 90°. You have just set your miter gauge to 90°. Turn it over, place it in the slot. You're ready to go.
Wish I had thought of the ironing board! Also, years ago I disassembled a rare antique tea cart to restore. For various reasons, I couldn't get back to it for about 10 years. I don't know why I did, but I took photos while disassembling. Those photos made reassembly more efficient and probably possible.
I have a tip. The other day I was trying to get my router bit to the correct height on my router table, and even with a lift I was having a hard time seeing up close enough to the bit to make it exact. So I pulled out my phone and put it in picture mode and zoomed in to the bit area and that gave me a much bigger view of what I was doing. Worked well, so I wanted to share.
The tip about finishing with a hole saw from the other side also works with spade (paddle) bits. As soon as the point penetrates the bottom surface, I flip the workpiece and use that hole to finish drilling from the other side to prevent tear-out.
I use an over-the-door shoe pocket storage device to hold many of my cans (wd-40, adhesives, spray paints). In a shop you could probably just screw that on the wall or a backing board; it does need reinforcement if you are putting a lot of cans into it.
I love the ironing board outfeed table. That might be just what I'm looking for--I have space issues, so I'm using a folding jobsite saw that I can tuck away in the corner. Great for space, but doesn't give me a whole lot of table surface to work with (nor do I have a lot of space in which to store a larger outfeed table I might build). But the ironing board might give me just the extra bit of surface I need.
The hanging storage devices go in & out of fashion - in Oz they are sometimes called 'Shower caddies'. I have found them in the camping section (!?!) of some chain stores but at the moment I think your best source is likely to be the $2 shops that sell cheap Asian homewares. Rockler sells something similar made from a sturdy poly canvas but its about 10x the price
Excellent video. Here's one for all.... when drilling metal we use a cutting oil for better drilling and less friction.... but those bottles tend to drip and oil gets messy etc and if pieces of shard metal are everywhere ....where do u keep the cutting oil handy for use or storage..... try this.... use a section of pvc pipe usually 2" and cut it a 1/4 to 1/2 inch tall add a inside cap on one end use tape or glue in place... add your bottle of cutting oil and now you can find it clean and ready for use....mounting to a wooden workbench requies a 1/8" hole. A small L bracket and a small machine screw and nut ..... mounting to wood... use a wood screw.... now attaching to metal can use a magnet if it stays put.
Saw your vision pallet Wood and why to not use it. I use EPAL pallets only. Anywhere from 7/8 to1" thick, flat, excellent wood. Get these from a good warehouse. You will need to do research as to where you can get these pallets. You won't regret it. Have fun with this wood.
I used a plastic kitchen chopping board and simply cut it with the table saw to the correct dimensions. I made a simple cross slide with two strips sitting in the two table saw slots. Works great and very smooth running.
A tip for finding the inside width of something without guessing where a bent tape measure's markings as it's pushed against one side _would have_ ended up, is to overlap 2 sticks of scrap together, each one averaging longer than half the distance but not longer than the entire distance. Put the 2 sticks into the opening being measured and spread them apart until they touch both sides, then use a clamp to hold them together at the overlap. Then remove, and measure the length out where you can measure them easily.
I find it easy to simply measure an inch or two from each side inward and mark it. Then all you have to do is measure between the two marks and add the inch or two you measured from the ends back to that measurement. Simple, fast and easy.
Thanks for the tips. The hole saw tip reminded me of a question I wanted to ask, going back to your video on the carry out drink trays. What speed are you using for the larger hole saw sizes? I was using a brand new 2 - 3/4 hole saw on a drill press and it kept stalling. The speed setting chart on the drill press does give a recommended speed for that large of a bit diameter and material. I experimented for awhile, then bought a large forstner bit.
Is there some reason when drilling the hole from both sides you didn't reference the same side with the fence to align the hole? Another reason for extending the miter bar in the T-SLOT is so that it doesn't tip out of the slot and downward when you withdraw it for larger material. See ya next time. JimE
Any ideas on how to build a folding outfeed table that has adjustable height would be greatly appreciated. I have a contractor saw on a cart so attaching the table to my saw wouldn't work. I thought about adding it to my cart but I want it to be compatible with other machines. I need the ability to change the tables height so I can use it for my tablesaw and my planer outfeed. I was thinking of copying the design many foldable TV stands use to make the table, but I havent been able to think of a good way to adjust the height. I thought about adjustable feet or stops on the folding legs that let you set it at different heights, but its a half baked idea. Need the height change to be quick so screw adjusting feet are out.
Couple of ideas come to mind, depending on how much you prefer to fabricate vs. buy. For example, the ironing board in the video works on a principle of scissor legs causing the height of the table top to go up or down, depending on how tall or wide you scissor the legs. A pretty sturdy set of legs could be shop-made with two 2x2s joined in the middle with a bolt and nut (embed a nut in the outside of one, and pass a bolt through a washer and the hole in the other, then into the nut, with tightening squeezing the 2x2s together, and a star knob encasing the bolt head for hand adjustment), then crossbars at each end of the 2x2s, bottom ones for feet, top ones to fit into brackets on the underneath surface of the table top. Or there's also a store-bought option of purchasing 4 of those telescoping, twist-locking curtain rods, and fabricating a wooden tube for the underneath surface of the table top, for the top ends of the rods to fit into, maybe even locked into with screws through the wooden tube into the rods. Simply twist the rods one way to 'unlock' them, allow them to pull apart or push together to lower/raise the height, then twist the other way to lock together. Shop made telescoping ideas could also be to take 2 2x2s for each leg, cut a long slot in each, and make one or two bolt/nut arrangements with a star knob to hand adjust, with tightening, keeping the slotted boards squeezed together. As with the telescoping rods, each leg would need to be adjusted separately. Another one could be finding 2 sizes of tubing, one going inside the other, and make a hardwood or metal ring with a nut attached on one side, then a star-knobbed bolt going through that nut and squeezing the outer tube wall into the inner one, and again having friction keep them at that length. Finally, you can fabricate a plywood sleeve to fit around a 1x2 riser (either solid or plywood), drill a hole through the sleeve, then through the riser into the other wall of the sleeve. Then make a series of holes 1" apart all along the length of the riser. Attach either the riser end or the sleeve end to the table top, the other end being the foot. A simple peg would go in the hole when adjusting. Good luck!!
Rather than trying to extend the miter bar on a miter gauge, it might not line up perfectly, which could very easily cause problems, RU-vidr "Izzy Swan" makes, and affordably sells, small infeed tables that can easily be attached, and removed from just about any table saw.
Ironing board? No, that’s daft. Unstable, narrow and too long for smaller work spaces. I made an outfeed table on castors very cheaply which also doubles as tool storage and as an extension to my assembly bench as its the same height. Love your mitre board idea for extending square cuts. I have a cross cut carriage on mine but it wont cut longer width boards so may make up one like yours.
When making a straight line, one always makes two marks, one at one end of a board, another mark at the other end. What if one measure is off? You just wasted a board. SOLUTION: Make three measurements and mark them. Then hold a straight edge on the your marks. IF all three don't line up, remeasure!
You can get a lot of it if you cut up an old plastic kitchen cutting board. If they start to get icky, don't throw them away, just cut them up as you need plastic strips for jigs. A bit more expensive is to go to a Restaurant Supplies shop, they have extra thick & large cutting boards but more pricey. Most trade plastic suppliers also sell off cuts of 'UHMW Polythene'. Or you can go to someone like Lee Valley, Rockler, Woodcraft etc and get strips cut to exact width mailed to you.
