Technical Little tips and tricks for garage hobbyists.

I'D DO THAT! Dad Gum I bet that would work.

 

Better than thinkin "I don't gotta torch, let's build a fire under it!"

 

Or swinging a 15+lb sledge.
Marcus...

 

For a totally different reason I did build a fire under my bulldozer once. There was 2 miles of road with 3 feet of snow and the crawler would barely turn over with 12v to the 6v starter. It has to turn for starting fluid to work. No power for a block heater. A little fire under the pan to thin the oil and it fired right up.

 

Amazing how now days everyone is scared to death to give a diesel a little whiff of starting fluid. Used to be almost no diesel engine would start below 40 above without just a little sniff of smelling salts to wake it up.
When we go ice fishing, or ride snowmobiles to a remote cabin and leave our pickups parked for a couple days in the cold we always carry a propane weed burner and a couple joints of 6" stove pipe with an elbow on the end. Shove the stovepipe under the pickup elbow first, weed burner in the outboard end and warm the engine for 20 minutes while we load up. Sometimes the weather has changed from 20 above going in to 30 below coming out, but the pickups always start.

 

I installed an AliExpress Magnetic scale dro on my old lathe, some small aluminium angle, some bits from my scrap bin, an old 12v plug pack. Works fine all for under $100 AUD ($60 USD)

 

Just saw a "neet" video on Reelz. Its about how to make a "trough" shape in a piece of wood. The guy makes a fancy gage which in our case we don't need. I'd simply put a board on the table saw's table and clamp each end with a C clamp on a 45 degree angle for a guide. My thought here is that when building old cars we sometimes need to fasten some wood to a panel, and the panel has a rib or something preventing it from laying flat. The idea is that a small (or large) trough would provide clearance for a raised spot or a wiring harness and only take a short time to make the clearance. Probably other ways to accomplish this, but I thought this was worth knowing about as one possible solution.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1252468779147944

 

I'd be interested in hearing what @mamllc says about this.
For a limited production run like shown in the video, I could see it. For your mentioned application (reliefs behind a board) I'd think a router would be quicker and easier.

 

It is called cove cutting. You can usually go wider and deeper than with a router. Width is controlled by the angle of the fence board to the blade. I can't tell you what the go/no-go angle is. The fence board can be on either side of the blade so long as the far end is angled away. If the bottom end of the fence is angled away from the blade, the force of the blade will pull the workpiece away from the fence. Like the video showed, you have to make incremental cuts. A push stick or board is absolutely necessary. This is NOT a finger friendly procedure.

 

“ You can usually go wider and deeper. “

Hey wait a minute , ahh never mind

 

Yes, a router would be good for many reliefs. It would just depend somewhat on how wide someone needs. In the back of my mind I was thinking about wiring harnesses that may need to pass under some wood to get to its destination or a structural body support. Just a quick way if someone happens to own a table saw. Guess I just mostly thought it was a neat idea.......

 

Yes, but also use brass fittings with ferrules. I hate those rubbers on transmission lines, they always give out when you are out in nowhere land.

 

I was going to go out and set up a picture, but naw...
When you are taking it apart to rebuild, you use baggies for the hardware, right?
Get those magnetic trays from HF, set it close, then flip the baggie open on top. The bits stay in place and just pick up the bag when done with that part.

 

i only use the Ziplock brand with slider closure which stay open by design:

Quart Slider Bags | Medium Durable Freezer Bags | Ziploc

the slider allows use with gloves or slippery fingers

 

I haven't counted lately, but I think I have about 20 of these. I'm not entirely sure I have enough. These are, to me anyway, probably like addictive drugs. Once you start using them you keep finding more and more uses for them.

 

Sure beats old speakers!
I'm lucky with the new project having so much access, but they were huge timesavers on stuff with non-flat inner fenders and floors. I even place screws as they come out in clumps, so they are first off, last off = first in, last in or 'clocked' if different lengths. Great to have 'em sticking up for threadlock, too.

 

More tips:

• Buy several 4" or 4 1/2" angle grinders. Last time I checked I think I have 13 of them. I almost never have to switch wheels/disks out. Just lay one down and pick up a different one with the disk I want to use already installed. I said lay down but actually they hang on racks.
• Buy a bunch of identical tape measures and hang them around your shop. I have 12 that I bought all at the same time. They hang on these sectional sofa connectors. NOTE: when doing anything critical use ONLY one tape measure. Like squaring up a frame or such. For most things when using a tape somewhere in the shop to measure and then cutting a 2x4 somewhere else (using a different tape) being exact usually isn't of the utmost importance.
• Scrap 2x4's to hold pencils. Drill several holes of various sizes in 8-12" long scraps for pens, pencils, carpenter pencils, Sharpies, etc. Screw these to shelves or walls around your shop so you never have to go very far to get a pencil. Especially put some near drill presses, chop saws, table saws, welding table, etc. And if you ever use a silver Sharpie you'll wonder how you ever got along without them. I keep black and silver ones in all the pencil holders but in one toolbox drawer there are blue, red, black, silver, and maybe some other color Sharpies.
• I use an old boom box for music. I wired an outlet on the main lighting circuit so that when I open the door and turn on the lights the music comes on.
• Lots of folks have done the same thing with their compressor using relays but I never have. The compressor can only run when the lights are on, i.e., when you turn the lights off your compressor can't come on. It has happened (not to me) that an air fitting has failed when no one was in the shop and the compressor ran indefinitely until someone entered the shop (next day or after a weekend) and turned it off. That's probably a good idea but I've just never gotten around to doing it.
• In my roll-around toolboxes I use plastic dividers in several drawers. That is, in my screwdriver drawers I put the small screwdrivers in a small tray inside the drawer with all the other screwdrivers. Same with the punch drawer and several other drawers. I'm talking about the plastic trays that some food comes in. Like carrots etc. where there is a plastic tray with clear plastic wrap over the food.
• My big door is a 10' x 10' overhead door. Recently I had a door opener installed on it. Wish I had done that 25 years ago. Sure is easier, especially since I keep Clarence in there and now I don't have to get out, open the door, pull in, and close the door like I used to. Not really a tip but consider this for your door(s). I had put it off for years because openers for that large of a door are somewhat pricey. False economy.
• I have about 15-18 of the H-F 4-wheel dollies that you move furniture around on. They are really handy to store transmissions and other heavy items that you don't want to be picking up to move. Mine are usually all holding something in semi-permanent storage.
• I have two very nearly identical Craftsman cast-iron drill presses from the 1950's. One is strictly for wood and the other is strictly for metal. That way I never get metal shavings in wood projects and never get sawdust in metal projects. Same thing with two band saws; for the same reasons.
• I have two "main" benches but my toolbox towers are all adjacent to the largest one. In order to eliminate walking across the shop every time I need a wrench at the secondary bench I painted and hung up the metal tine portion of an antique yard rake over that bench. I hung one each of combination open/box end wrenches from 3/8" to 1" on the rake. Sure saves a lot of steps.
• a 2x4 is just the right width to make shelves to store rattle cans: paint, oil, spray adhesive, etc. I started with a plywood scrap, about 2' x 4', with 2x4's screwed onto it. After hanging that on a wall I've made more of them whenever I had a plywood scrap of about that size. I now have about 8' x 8' of rattle can storage. Sounds like a lot but I still have some rattle cans stored in milk crates.
• Speaking of milk crates, you can't have too many of them. They are uber useful for dozens of uses. I was fortunate in that about 25 years ago the US Postal mailman brought some of the mail for the hospital into the building in milk crates but never took the empties away. I was able to snag about 30 of them. Very useful.
• File cabinets: In addition to the tool towers I have about 15 file cabinets. Most are "normal depth" drawers but 4-5 of them have half-height drawers. That makes them 10-drawer cabinets. The thin drawers are useful for storing hardware (bolts/nuts/screws), small seldom used items like zip ties and the tool to tension/cut them, S-hooks, calipers & dividers, plumbing fittings, tubes/bottles of lock-tite/RTV, etc. Half-gallon milk jugs cut down to the height of the drawers make storing hardware, nails, etc., especially easy. The full height drawers are great for storing skill-saws, battery chargers, sanders, sandpaper, jacks/jack stands, and lots of other things including car parts.
• Log chain storage: I have 5-6 log chains. Each one is in a white 5-gallon bucket. The buckets are stacked inside each other, so in total all the chains occupy only the footprint of one bucket. Each bucket has a couple of inches showing at the top and the size (length and link size) of chain is written in this space in black Sharpie.

I want to thank each and every one of you who have contributed to this thread. I've been subscribed since it was first started and have used many of the tips mentioned.

b-t-w; please forgive me if I've posted any of the above tips before.

 

A similar idea and easy to do.........I wired a light just above (2 feet) my compressor in my main shop. When the compressor is on I tapped off one of the 220 wires (110) and used one of those outside lights.
I put a red bulb in it. So when its on, the red lightbulb is on. Later I built two smaller buildings further back in the yard, and each has its own compressor. One for painting and one for sand blasting. I wired them basically the same way, but mounted the lights outside the building.....again using red bulbs. If I leave a compressor on, you can see it from the house. I used those small outside lights where they have a round tube shape to protect the light. They are cheap too.

What I used kind of resembles using just one of the lights in the picture, but the outer light protector was just plain round.

 

Some wives might be a bit fussy about where you hang the red light.

 

Smarter than my way. I have a sign on the door. "Turn off compressor" after an air line gave up & left it running overnight.

 

My phone lives in a safe spot on the side of one of my tool boxes while I'm in the shop. When it's time to go to the house, I have trained myself not to reach for the phone before checking that the compressor and gas bottles are off. If I forget the phone and have to go back, the same rules apply.

Not fool proof, but at least fool resistant.

 

The sign I put on the inside of my exit door says "turn off the welding gas."

 

To quote my late best friend Ed: "nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool."

 

The jig in the video looks a little Rube Goldberg-ish to me. Back in my boatbuilding days we used to build a part like the one in the drawing. A table saw with a straight edge clamped to the table works just fine. The size of that tube is only limited by the size of your saw blade, and can be any length you want. For smaller coves, which I would think would be more common in cars, a router would make more sense. Router bits with guide bearings can be had in many shapes and sizes. A bearing with the right OD and ID can be added to a bit with a shape you want. A bit without a bearing can be used by running the router base against a straight edge or pattern, or in a router table. Many possibilities. The smaller bits pictured here are 1/2" OD, the larger half round bit is 2" dia and the bigger one is 2-3/4".

 

Folding arms for a horizontal ladder rack on the side of my shelf on wheels.

 

the above ladder storage device looks suspiciously like a bicycle kick stand.....

 

I kept leaving the lights on in my pit, because it is covered with a row of short planks which I can drive over if necessary, and can't be seen once a car is parked over it. I wired a small indicator light across the main pit light, in a spot where it can be seen when I lock up for the day. It is in a direct line of sight when I am about to latch the door closed. You could use a flashing light if you want to get more attention.

 

No, just a piece of 1/2" rod, a vice, heat and a BFH.