ShopNGarage

I stuck a rare earth magnet to the side of my drill press. It’s a great place to store the chuck key.

Valve grinding compound is a grease mixed with an abrasive grit. To help remove a really tight screw without stripping, put a dab of grinding compound on the tip of your screwdriver. This will dramatically increase the grip.

Some things leak. Tubes or syringes of epoxy and JB Weld are notorious. If I think something might leak, I put it in a ziplock bag before storing it away. This will contain the mess to the bag instead of having it ooze all over a shelf or drawer.

On LumberJocks, a comment was made that marking a cut line with a pencil introduces a lot of error into a project. It was said that the thickness of the lead can throw the cut off by 1/64th of an inch.

I like to mark precision wood cuts with a .5mm mechanical pencil. I make the pencil mark on the waste side of the cut. On the left, I have made a partial cut with my compound miter saw. The blade removes the pencil line, as the mark is on the waste wood.

I’ve never used a marking knife before. I would have guessed that a cut line marked with a knife would be difficult to see. In the center, I have marked the wood with a knife. It resulted in a precision line that is also very visible.

On the right, I marked a cut line on steel with a worn out Sharpie marker. I pressed hard against the square so that the ink would cover tight to the edge of the blade. Even though the line is very fat, the ink is on the waste side of the cut. I set my horizontal bandsaw to cut right on the edge of the line. Again, a precision cut and the part is exactly the desired length.

A little 4 x 6 metal-cutting bandsaw is a popular addition to many home shops.

Many parts are too small to hold with the built-in clamp. Simply clamp the small part to the out-feed table. It can easily be cut square or at any desired angle.