{"id":40246,"date":"2022-09-06T11:54:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-06T18:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/?p=40246"},"modified":"2022-09-07T16:04:41","modified_gmt":"2022-09-07T23:04:41","slug":"clever-tools-for-your-shop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/clever-tools-for-your-shop\/","title":{"rendered":"Clever Tools for Your Shop"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
* Talk to me<\/a>. Tell me a story. Share me a tip. A tool.
* Support my work by buying my tips books (Vol. 1<\/a>, Vol. 2<\/a>).
* Take out an Unclassified<\/a> in this newsletter to reach fellow makers.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Clever Tools for Your Shop<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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As I frequently say about Stumpy Nubs<\/em> videos, even though James<\/strong> is a woodworker, many of the tools he recommends apply to all sorts of makery. In this video<\/a> he covers 7 clever shop tools. As a non-woodworker, I was particularly interested in CBN (cubic boron nitride) dowels and hones (an alternative to much more expensive diamond plates) for manual tool sharpening, FastCap FatBoy<\/a> mechanical shop pencils, the Air Defender Bluetooth shop ear muffs, and fire blankets<\/a> (a great alternative to extinguishers for small kitchen and shop fires). I was already a huge fan of the FastCap Long Nose markers<\/a>. Good stuff as always.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Making Waterproof Tarps Out of Old Bedsheets<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Behold
Behold ancient button technology!<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s something I\u2019ve never thought of \u2014 waterproofing old bed sheets to create waterproof tarps<\/a>. You might wonder if it\u2019s worth the effort, but the process basically involves little more than soaking the sheets in naphtha and cheap silicone chalking and then hanging them out to dry. The real eye-opener in this video comes at the end when Ben<\/strong> shows you how to make an ancient button out of a pebble. No, really.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
More Tips on Tap & Die<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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In response to the tutorial in the last issue<\/a> on tap & die, reader Craig<\/strong> shared these additional tips:

That\u2019s a good tutorial on threading.

thing 1\u2026.hss [high-speed] steel taps survive much longer.

thing 2\u2026i make threading solution from 3in1 and dry graphite lock lube and have done so since the 60s

thing 2a\u2026aluminum and brass are sticky, you really need to use a lube

thing 3\u2026you can thread HARD wood with metal taps

thing3a\u2026i use pipe taps and dies for large plastic and wood threading

thing 3b\u2026in plywood or pine that i\u2019m going to thread, i drizzle CA or epoxy into my hole, let it set, then thread it\u2026that makes the soft wood hard (so does styrene-based wood hardener)

thing 4\u2026if you can\u2019t find a bottoming tap you can grind off the taper of a regular tap

thing 5\u2026even though tap and die wrenches are preferred, crescent wrenches and vise grips work in a pinch<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
TOYS! B\u0101be-Bot Glue Bottle<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Everyone who\u2019s ever worked in a woodshop, visited a woodshop, or seen one on YouTube is likely to have spotted a Glu-Bot<\/a>. These are wood glue dispensers, designed by cabinetmakers, to be easy to fill, not drip, and to dispense glue in both horizontal and vertical positions. Once you get one, you\u2019ll wonder what took you so long. Recently, on YouTube, I saw a modeling video where a guy was using a B\u0101be-Bot<\/a>, a tiny 4 oz. version of the original 16 oz. bottle. I ordered one immediately. Now, I have all of the usefulness of the large bottle on my modeling table.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Noteable Quotables<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou always go to school on your first one.\u201d –Jimmy DiResta<\/strong>

\u201cThe day you believe you have enough [clamps] is the day you don\u2019t.\u201d -Newsletter Reader Craig<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Shop Talk<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Finally, we have the response to the question asked by Steve Roberts\u00a0<\/em>several issues ago<\/em><\/a>! Reader\u00a0<\/em>Daniel\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>sent the link to this baker\u2019s rack portable parts organizing solution that I remember seeing years ago. He even wrote up the instructions for making them. Thanks, Daniel!<\/em>

Someone probably already sent you details on the baker rack solution.\u00a0But just in case, I found the details\u00a0here<\/a>.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1) Cut cross bars on rack to make rack narrower for cases

2) Tap modified cross bars ( large bar – M10-1.5, small bar M6-1.0)

3) Remove rails from bottom position & use angled pieces to attach wooden work top

TOOLS:

Saw – to cut aluminum cross bars

Drill for re-tapping cross bars

Taps

M10-1.5 (Drill = 8.5mm, 0.3346″)

M6-1.0 (Drill = 5.0mm, 0.1969″)

The racks have 90 lbs per rail and 485 lbs total capacity. I purchased such a rack\u00a0here<\/a>.

Hope this helps.\u00a0I have followed\u00a0Steven K Roberts\u2019 blog<\/a>\u00a0for years.

NOTE: The racks that Daniel links to only have 3″ clearance, so they can only work with shallower Stanley and other organizer brands. Unless you remove sets of rack brackets as they appear to have done on the bottom of the racks pictured above.<\/em><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gareth’s Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales – Issue #131<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40248,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[2371],"tags":[2372],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40246"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40246"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40246\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40261,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40246\/revisions\/40261"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}