Tip #1: Label individual tool storage boxes so you can easily identify the contents.

Tip #2:Picture Framing Board help ensure you're using the best grain.

Tip #3: Use your drill to quickly raise & lower your router bits (on a table).

Tip #4: Use Electrical Box punch-outs as SCRAPERS. Use for small hard to get into places.

Tip #5: Shine a little light on the problem! Have trouble finding parts you dropped? This will help!

Tip #6: Easy router table setups for repeatable cuts using disposble measuring tape.

Tip #7: Just a TAP will easy loosen stuck router bits (from the collet).

Tip #8: Wear gloves for safety, but also for better grip!

Tip #9: New twist for perfect tenon shoulders.

Tip #10: 10+ uses for Foam Board (the kind used for insulation).

Tip #1: Label individual tool storage boxes so you can easily idendify the contents.
Many of the power tools we buy these days it comes in a molded storage case. After a while it can get hard to remember what is in each case. Or if you need to send someone to the shop for a tool, you have to describe the box and hope they come back with the right tool. If you're a little anal retentive like me, you might like this tip-- I made individual labels for all my cases using strips of COPPER flashing (you can buy it by the roll at most places that install window, door and roofing (you probably won't find it at a home improvement store). I tried using a label maker to make the labels, but depending on the material the case is made of, eventually it will work loose and fall off. My solution was to add the label maker label to the brass strip, then used either copper screws or split rivets to attach the label. After applying the label maker label, I covered it with clear tape to help further protect the text (depending on the label maker, text on some labels can eventually fade away making the label unreadable. Below is a photo showing the parts used and a finished and installed label.

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Tip #2: Picture Framing Boards (helps ensure you're using the best grain).
Use this simple technique to ensure you show the best grain on your projects.

When you use a piece of wood for a project, you're not always resigned to the grain that there. If you have a larger pice of wood than you'll need for your project, you can choose the section you want to use in order to show the the best or to showcase the grain pattern. It's easy, only takes a few minutes, and can made a big difference in the outcome of your project.

How to get started...
1. First you need a larger piece of wood than the project you're going to make.

2. Next you need to make the "Picture Frame" template that you'll use to choose the grain area in the wood. Take a piece of oversized cardboard and cut out the center in the size and or shape of the pattern of your project. In this example, I'm cutting out a 3" x 5" piece of wood, so I'm using an 8" x 10" piece of cardboard and cutting a 3" x 5" rectangular hole out of the center.

3. Take your picture frame template and lay it on the piece of wood, then move it around until you get the woodgrain you like "Framed" in the cut out.

4. Now draw a line around the inside edge of the template before you remove it.

5. Now you have your cut-out pattern. Once it's cut it will showcase the best position of the wood grain.
See the photo's below:

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Tip #3: Use your drill (and a custom made socket wrench) to quickly raise & lower your router bits (on a table).
Do you have a hand-held router that you use in a table? Do you envy the new hardware that allows you to easily adjust the bit height, but it doesn't fit your router? Depending on your router, it may still be possible to have some of that convienience, and have it at a minimal cost.. I made a simple SOCKET WRENCH that fits over the lift knob of my Freud router that I mount in my cordless drill. It allows me to quickly and easily raise and lower the bit, while keeping the router stock so it can still be removed from the table and used if necessary. Below are a few photo's of the wrench and how I use it.

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Tip #4: Use Electrical Box punch-out as a SCRAPER.
I was making on some deep wooden trays shaped like Snowman to give away as Christmas gifts that were made from Mahogany and soft maple. Anyone that's made these deep trays know their's a lot of sanding involved once all the routring is completed in order to smooth the inside, as well as getting rid of burn marks left by the router bits. My Snowman trays had some tight radius areas on the inside so the router bits left burn marks in some of them. To compound the problem, because they were so tight, it was even hard to get to with sandpaper, so it was taking forever to get some of the burn marks out.

Solution - Scrap it away... I used a flat scraper on the inside floor of the tray, so I decided to try using a goose neck shaped scraper in those tight spaces, but the wider end of the scraper wouldn't quite allow me to get it into some of the smallest areas, so I had to come up with another idea. I'm one of these guys that doesn't throw anything away, so I dug out my box of scrap metal to see if I could find something small enough I could use to make a small scraper. As I dug through to the bottom of the box, I found the perfect tool-- and it was something that I didn't even have to do anything to in order to make it work. In the bottom of the box were about a half dozen electrical box punch-out blanks. The discs were the perfect size for the smallest areas I had to scrape. It even worked for the curved edges around the bottom edges.

Extending manuverability... The blanks were doing the job, but my big fingers kept getting in the way, so it was still hard to get into some of the areas. My solution was to use some small size needle-nose vise-grip pliers as handles for the blanks-- just like a woodturning scraper. I had two different shaped pliers-- one straight, and one with a bend, and each of them allowed me to make different aproaches that eventurally allowed me to scrape out all the burn marks that only needed a little sanding to clean up. Click here to go back to the top of the page.

Electrical Box Punch-outs:	Use punch-outs for tight spaces:	Extend the reach with pliers:

Tip #5: Shine a little light on the problem!
If like me, you have a habit of dropping small items on the floor such as screws or nuts , then have a hard time finding them. Then try shinning a light, BUT at a different angle. Instead of holding it and shinning straight down on the floor, move the light down ON THE FLOOR and turn the flashlight so the light just skips across the floor. The steep angle of the light will cause the part to shine, and cast a long shadow making it much easier to find. I use to work for a printer and we used that trick to find debris on sheets paper. Using this method you can make a small speck stand out like marble. One more tip, if you're still having a problem finding the part you dropped, turn off the room lighting. That way the part will be that much brighter when the flashlight finds it. Click here to go back to the top of the page.

Tip #6: Easy router table setups for repeatable cuts using disposeable measuring tape.
During a recent project that required the use of my router table, I wanted a way to make quick and easy repetative setups so that if needed, I could easily go back to those same mulitple settings. What I came up with was so easy, I don't know why I haven't used it before!

My solution was to use some sticky back measureing tape (I used a paper type called "Measure It"). Using my router table fence, I found and marked the "zero" point for the bit onto the table with a pencil. I used a short 3" piece for the bit depth, then a longer 12" piece for the location of the cuts along the length of the peice. After finding and marking off the zero point of the bit on the table with a pencil, Iset the tape at the Zero points and I adheard it to the table.

Next, I calculated all the stops I was going to need to have for the fence, and using colored pencils, I marked each of the settings onto the tape for each of my pieces. I use a different colored pencil for eash of the peices to be routered, and made a X onto each piece to be routed with the same colored pencil so I knew which piece used what color markings.

Although it took an extra few minutes to come up with and mark my initial setups, it save a lot of time in the long run as well as not having the stress of worrying whether I had repeatable, yet still accurate, setups. Click here to go back to the top of the page.

Tip #7: Just a TAP will easily loosen stuck router bits (from the collet).
Ever have an issue with stuck router bit that don't want to come loose from the collet? For some reason this is more of an issue with certain routers-- my Freud FT2000 being one of them. But I purchased a collet extension to get more lift in a table and found I still had the same problem. But the solution ended up being VERY simple to solve. Once you unlock the collet using the wrench(s), just simply give the collet nut a TAP with the head of the wrench. That TAP will cause the internal collet to spring open, and the bit shank to pop right up! It works EVERY TIME!

Tip #8: Wear GLOVES for safety, but also to get a better grip!
We're always told to wear work gloves to protect our hands. But they can also help if you have a weak grip. Unfortunately, as we get older, our grip starts to weaken. Using work gloves, or even just rubber gloves will give you a better grip. One of the best uses is for tightening up clamps. They also work well for connecting a garden hose to a faucet. I still can't get into the habbit of wearing them all the time (most likey because I'm also a woodturner, and gloves are a no no to use when using the lathe), but I always go for them when I need to tighten something by hand.
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Tip #9: New twist for perfect tenon shoulders.
After several back surgeries back in the 90's, I had to start using a cane to aid my walking. But like any woodworker, store bought canes just wouldn't cut it for me. So I decided I had to make my own. Fast forward-- I recently decided I wanted to make a few more. I made the handles, and drilled them out for the cane shaft (also called the "stick") before cutting out the full profile. For the sticks, I used a variety of items from small limbs or immature tree turnks to premade wooden dowels. But cutting the round tenons on the ends of the sticks-- especially the shoulder where it meets the handle can sometimes be a little challenging especially if the wood isn't green.

After racking my brain to find a way to easily cut the tenon shoulders, I settled on trimming the tenons by hand with a chisel and mallet. But the shoulder was still causing problems-- I had trouble getting a nice straight shoulder around the shaft. Looking through my toolbox for an answer, I spied my PIPE CUTTER-- used for cutting copper water pipes. I figured if it could score copper pipe, it should easily score a wooden dowel. On my first attempt, it quickly scored a nice smooth stop line, allowing me to chisel away the rest of the tenon. The results couldn't have been better.

OTHER USES... Although I used mine for my cane sticks, I see no reason why it couldn't also be used for chair spindles too!
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Tip #10: 10+ Uses for Foam Board (the kind used for insulation).
Most woodworkers have some type of foam board laying around the shop. After insulating my shop walls with 4" thick ridged foam board, I was left with pile of cut-offs. Not one to throw anything away, after a while I found it useful in a variety of ways. Try some of these tips. If you have one of your own and would like to add it to my list, I'd be glad to hear from you!

Use #1. Riser blocks. Use under items stored in the basement or workshop to keep them off the floor and away from water and moisture.

Use #2. Glue blocks. Cut small squares to put under glue-ups to keep them up off the bench and from sticking to the benchtop.

Use #2A. Painting/gluing Pyramids. Don't waste your money on buying those expensive painting pyramids and make your own! Use this handy jig to cut up scraps of foarm board and keep some on hand.

Use #3. Clamping Blocks. Cut pieces the same size as your wood clamps to protect your work.

Use #4. Bulletin board. Use a large piece and screw it to the wall to use to pin up notes.

Use #5. Pen tube glue inserts/plugs. If you are a woodturner and make pens, there's nothing more frustrating than having the ends of the brass tubes get glued shut from polyurethane (foaming) glues. To avoid this issue, use different sized plug cutters and cutout plugs to fit the ends of the tubes before gluing them into the blanks. I drill out a box full of 1/2" and 3/8" plugs at a time.

Use #6. Ear Plugs. After discovering tip #5 when I used a pair of those little yellow ear plugs for the pen tube inserts, and then using the foamboard, , I also found the form board works just as good for ear plugs.

Use #7. Back-saver mats. Use larger pieces of the thinner 1" thick form board and cut up mat size peices and place them in front of your workbench. If you can't afford the hook together mats, you could also place it underneath your wood or carpeted shop floor.

Use #8. Tool Trays. Use pieces of foam board to store your hand tools. Cut-out a section in the board the shape of the tool for a nice little storage tray (And if you're forgetful like me - it will help you remember where the tool goes!).

Use #9. Parts Mockups. Use form board instead of your expensive wood for mockups. You can use this for making anything you'd make from wood. Works great for figuring out proportions before going to wood.

Use #10. Chair Cushions. Save your bottom! Cut out a piece and use it for a cushion on your hard-top bench stool.

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Tip #1: Make your own WIRE BURNERS.
One of the easiest accents you can add to a (spindled) woodturning is the a thin pinstripe created with a wire-burner. While you can buy wire-burners, you can just as easily make your own. All you need is some braded electrical wire (you can use solid, but braided heats up much faster). I made a set of three using three different gauges of wire, and then short cut-offs from rounded pen blanks as handles. One of the keys to making the wire burners is to use a length of wire that is comfortable to use (to apply to the part), yet is also long enough that the heat won't make it out the the ends of the wire where it could burn your hands. Usually the heat is concentrated only where the wire makes contact with the wood, but afterwards it can radiate out toward the rest of the wire, so make sure you use a long enough peice. You can always start out long, and trim it shorter if you find it's too long. I used wire scraps, so I'm not sure what the wire size was, but it's probably between 20 gauge (thinest) up to 12 gauge (thickest). For the handles I used short 1" to 1 1/4" long x 3/4" diameter acrylic pen blank cut-offs (eing a pen maker, I have a big tub full of them!). I drilled holes through the center of the cut-offs to fit the diameter of the wire (the closer you get the hole to fit the diameter of the wire, the easier it will be to get your knot to hold). For the knot on the wires, you have a few options. The easiest is to simply tie a knot. But you could also use a combination of a knot and a short pin to hold the wire in place on the oppoisite end. I just used a knot, but then I added a few drops of soldered to keep the knot closed.

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Tip #2: Use open-end wrenches for sizing tenons and other small parts.
Everybody knows how handy an open-end wrench can be for tightening bolts and nuts. But what isn't commonly known is that they can be used as a measuring gauge as well. Open-end wrenches are sized for bolts and nuts, but since those sizes are accurate (example the gap in a 1/2" wrench is 1/2" wide), they can be used as quick measuring gauges. The most comon use for open-end wrenches as measuring gauges is at the lathe. You can use the wrenches to quickly check the diameter of a turning, or know when you've finally turned to that diameter. Just put the open end to the wood, and as you turn and the diameter hits that diameter, the wrench neatly slides onto the part.

Open end wrenches are so useful for lathe work, that I keep a set of both SAE and Metric wrenches hanging on the wall in my lathe studio!

EXTRA TIP!
You can also use an adjustable wrench for custom sizing. Take your adjustable wrench and set the opening using either calipers or your sample part, then lock down the wheel so it can't move (I commonly use a toothpick or sliver of wood and jam it in the adjusting roller), then use the adjustable wrench the same as you would the open-end wrench. Click here to go back to the top of the page.

Tip #3: Add a stop to hollow Live Centers. One of the most annoying aspects I found on my lathe when I first started using it was that the stock Live Center was HOLLOW. Because the Live Center was hollow, I couldn't use the (supplied) jam bar to remove it from the tailstock. The Live Center had a removeable point, so my only guess for it being hollow was so you could remove the point. But that would be a much more infrequent need than the need to actually remove the entire Live Center. To solve the problem, I looked for a short flat end bolt that would fit snugly in the hole--I ended up wrapping it with tape in order to get it to stay in place. But that also made it easier to remove the stop IF I ever had the need to pop out the point. Click here to go back to the top of the page.

Tip #4: Homemade Chatter Tools.
One of the most intriguing designs made on the lathe (at least to me) is the spiral patterns created by using a special "Chatter" tool on end-grain.This unique design looks very complicated, but in reality, like many of the woodturning techniques, can be very simple to create once you nail down the basics. The most important parts are a) the wood; and b) the actual chatter tool. Chatter tools can be purchased, but if you have the right scrap pieces, you can easily make your own. I made two of them using peices of electrical conduit for the handles, then various peices of scrap metal for the cutting tips. I'm still learning how to create all the different patterns, but once I got started, I was surprised at how easy the patterns were to create. I've been practicing, and hope to feature chatter tool patterns on my Christmas tree ornaments this year.

To hold my cutters in place I turned a peice of acrylic pen blank to match the inside diameter of the pipe, then split it in half down the center. After sanding off a little to make room for the cutters, I simply mount the cutter between the two peices of acrylic, slide it into the end of the tool, then tighten down on the wing nut. I added some handle tape to make the handes more comfortable. I used a variety of metals to make the cutters, and sharpened them with various patterns on the grinding wheel.

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Tip #5: Use lathe shavings for Easter basket grass. If you turn a lot of different types of woods and acrylics, you know some can create nice long shavings. Don't throw them away! Instead, save them in individual storage bags so the colors don't get mixed, and them pull them out at Easter and use it as GRASS in Easter baskets. If you make Easter Eggs every year for Easter, it will add a nice custom touch to the presentation. Click here to go back to the top of the page.

Tip #6: Use tool handle wrap tape for separating stuck parts.
If you've dabbled in making pens (I make custom fountain pens), then you know how frustrating it can be when you have parts that won't come apart. I've used a variety of "helpers" to separate parts. The most obvious being slip-joint pliers (with and without the jaws wrapped with tape), even small hose clamps (both metal and plastic). Sometimes they worked, sometimes they didn't and just made things worse (maring the parts). But I think I finally found something that works for the majority of stuck parts-- small or large. I have to get perodic blood tests, and each time I do, they wrap my arm with gauze tape. It's the same product they sell for wrapping tool and fishing rod handles. I save the short peices and it's always plenty of material to wrap around the parts. I wrap BOTH parts in order to get the most grip possible, and it works almost every time. And you can keep it and resuse it a few more times before it starts to loose it's grip. Click here to go back to the top of the page.

Tip #7: Quck measuring with home-made sizing CARDS.

If you turn a lot of small parts, sometimes a ruler--even a short one--is too long to get against the short parts when mounted between centers. I make custom fountain pens (see www.jebspens.com), so I make a lot of short parts, or need to mark off short measurements. A solution to this is to make a set of "cards" or "strip gauges" for sizes you use most often. I started out that way, then finally one day I took the time to make a full set of gauges from 1/4" up to 3". I used some peices of leftover counter-top laminate (Formica) and carefully measure and cut the pieces. Some of the larger pieces have more than one size, which helped to minimize the amount of peices I had to make. I've been using them for more than FIVE YEARS now and they still work perfectly. At right is a photo: Click here to go back to the top of the page.

Tip #8: Lathe Spindle Lock-out Flag.
I have a lathe that has a lock for the spindle, that allows for locking the spindle in position for various tasks such as installing /removing a chuck or a bowl on the chuck. Although this is a nice feature, and one that I use often, more often than not, I forget to "re-engage" the lock before turning on my lathe. Having it engaged and turning on the lathe doesn't cause any immediate damage - the belts just slip - but I'm sure there are long term repercussions from allowing this to happen too often.

My solution to resolve this issue, was to make a "flag" for the power switch that lets me know when the spindle is locked. The flag is made so that it can be "flipped over" when the spindle is locked, and flipped-over again when the lock is off.

I make my flag so that it mounts on the top mounting bolt for the on/off switch, so that I can't turn the lathe on if the flag is flip over onto the switch. (that is as long as remember to flip the flag over just before I engage the spindle lock. I made the flag from a scrap piece of metal and a door hinge.

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Tip #9: Add a handle to your flat-bar style lathe wrench.
Most lathes come with a head-stock wrench, but they're usually just made from flat-bar stock, so their not very comfortable to use. If you use it often, you'll soon be lookig for a way to make the handle a little more user friendly. I solved this problem by adding a wooden handle to mine. I use a peice of scrap hardwood (in my case I used some 3/4" thick birch flooring) and rip a groove down the center for the handle to fit into. Then cut a thin strip of wood to fill in the gap. After the glue cured, I added some tapers to the handle on a bench sander, then added a few coats of polyurethane to protect the wood.

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Tip #10: My method for aligning head-stock and tail-stock.
Wood-lathe tune up (aligment): How to ensure your lathe is properly aligned for turning small part.
First a not about the purpose of this primer. These instructions were designed for a wood-working lathe. When I started making custom fountain pens, I did some extensive searching on the internet for some tutorials for tuning up my wood- lathe to get setup for making the small parts. I was hoping to find some easy setup tips that would allow me to quickly check it and move on, but I couldn't find anything that was either and extensive set of instructions or short revelating tips. So I thought it would be worthwhile to come up with something myself and after using it to tune up my own lathe, to post it on my website for others to benefit from what I learned. 

Is this REALLY necessary... It might seem a very hard, time-consuming or to some an even trivial thing to do but having a properly tuned wood-lathe is crucial for making small parts. One might think that when you buy a lathe that it will be setup properly and precisely. That might be true for a metal lathe, but not so for wood-lathes. Metal lathes are built for making very small precise parts. Wood lathes are made for hacking at rough wood, NOT making small precise parts, so they are not setup from the get go by the manufacturer to the same precision as a metal lathe. But that doesn't mean it can't be set up that way. It just means it needs a little extra care taken to get it setup correctly to turn out the precise parts, and in order to do so, you need to go though an alignment process to get your wood lathe ready. 

The alignment goal... It should be apparent, but if not the goal of a tune up is so you are sure that when you bring up the tailstock to the part that it's ALWAYS going to be dead center to the headstock, and that both the headstock and tailstock are perfectly parallel to the bed and each other. If they aren't, your parts are always going to be slightly out of round-- especially if you flip your parts end for end during your manufacturing process-- they will NEVER line up perfectly!

How to align the lathe... There are THREE different alignments you need to deal with: a) you need to be sure the headstock is aligned to the lathe bed; b) you need to be sure the tailstock is aligned to the lathe bed; and c) you need to make sure BOTH the headstock AND the tailstock are perfectly parallel to each other. If any one of these are off, your parts won't come out right. 

The biggest alignment problem you may have is if the headstock on your lathe isn't aligned to the lathe bed. If you lathe is made so that they headstock is fixed to the lathe bed (welded or a single part), then you have no way to adjust it. However on most lathes, even though they have a "fixed" headstock, most are bolted in place and the bolts can be loosened for making this adjustment. And many may not have been aligned correctly when it was installed to the bed (and usually the cheaper the lathe, the less likely it is that they will be aligned correctly). 
To tell if your headstock can be adjusted, look at the base of it and you should have four bolts that hold it in place. To adjust it, you simply loosen the four bolts and twist the headstock as needed to get it aligned, then retighten the bolts. To check it for alignment to the lathe bed, you need some kind of a long rod (see my note below about possible rod options). Whatever you use, you must be sure it is perfectly straight.). Mount your drill chuck or collet chuck in the headstock and check the very tip of the rod to see where it is in relationship to the bed. If it's off to one side, it out of alignment and needs adjusted. Loosen the headtock bolts slightly and adjust as needed and retighten.

Alignment rod options... I used a peice of aluminum rod about two foot long and 3/8" diameter. I know I'm going to get some emails from people telling me that using just a plain old aluminum rod won't work and that you need some type of special precison tool. While I won't disagree, I do feel that most people are not going to go out and spend $50 to $100 for a precision tool that they will only use once. So why not suggest something that most people will use? YES, it may not be DEAD ON accurate, but it's much better than not doing it at all because you can't afford the proper tool, and if used the right way will get you as close as it will matter.

I have two lathes. A small midi and a larger standard size. On my large lathe, the headstock rotates (it can be swiveled around a full 180 degrees to swing it out away from the bed for turing bowl). That made it a little easier to get it aligned, but harder to get it to stay in place. The locking leaver didn't hold it secure enough and it kept shifting. Eventually I ended up drilling a hold though it and bolting it to the bed to keep it in place. 

Next, once you are sure the headstock is aligned to the bed you need to check the tailstock. You want to be sure that whenever you slide it back out of the way and then bring it back up again that it's always going to be centered. First you want to make sure it doesn't wobble. Any wobble and there's a chance it's going to be out of alignment whenever you bring it up in place. So you need to eliminate that wobble first before you attempt to align it to the bed. The best way is with either shims if the wobble isn't that much, or if it's pretty bad, with an additional set of alignment brackets. Whichever method you choose, you need to be sure they will stay put, but also that you can then use these to adjust the taistock to get it aligned. 

Once the wobble is fixed, you want to perform basically the same thing with the taistock as you did with the headstock to align it to the bed. You're doing the same process, just on the opposite side. 
Once you perform the taistock alignment as you did the headstock, if by chance you have both of them aligned correctly to the bed, then they will be aligned to each other. BUT that probably won't happen (it's always off a little bit), so you need to perform this last alignment. The hard part is figuing out which of the two is off slightly, so a little fiddling and a few different adjustments may be required before you get it right. But once you get it, a lof of your misfit problems will dissapear. 

Head to tail alignment... the best thing to use for this alignment is drill bits, with one in either end and get them to meet in the middle. And the longer the bit the more precise your alignment will be. Once you get the tips of the bits to line up perfectly whennever you bring up the taistock, your lathe is in alignment. Another option you could try is a laser if you have one. I looked into using one of those pen-lasers, but no one could gurantee that the laser would be perfectly aligned to the pen, and if it's off, it's not accurate, and therefore no use for an alignment tool. So I stuck to the aluminum rod.

If you have any questions, or would like to offer any suggestions to improve on this tip, please email me.

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