Workshop Miscellaneous

Here is a fun project that will help you customize your tape measure.

Build this handy wall mounted charging station for cordless tools using 3/4 inch plywood. Here is how.

This handy wooden mallet was made from some left-over scraps of oak that I had salvaged from a pallet.

This simple center gauge will either mark a spot or scribe a line down the edge of a board, it is easily made with a short wooden bar, two dowels and a screw.

Use the free woodworking instructions at the link to build a whole load of fastener bins to get your screws or nails sorted and organized.

We all have extension cords laying around that have bad ends on them. This neat extension cord holder makes great use of these old cords. Extension cords, especially long ones, can be a real mess to string out and coil back up. Also plugs on the ends can become damaged by just yanking on the cord to unplug a tool. This is a good project to untangle those cords and fix the old damaged ones.

Keep your shop-vacuum hoses in check with this hose/cord holder from IDEA SHOP 3.

It seemed like whenever I needed waxed paper to protect my benchtop from glue squeeze-out, the waxed paper was buried in a drawer. This wall-hung project puts waxed paper within easy reach.

Pound for pound, a portable planer has to be one of the hardest-working machines in the shop. And when you combine your planer with this versatile stand, for you, the work will get a lot easier. The cutting diagrams and materials list are available to download in this Online Extra.

This is a link to a Google 3D SketchUp drawing for a bow saw. It excels at cutting curves; the blade allows for long strokes that cut much faster and more evenly than a coping saw. You will need the SketchUp software to download this drawing and its freely available online. We do not provide support for this software. Not all drawings have the measurements displayed but you can use the measurement tool in SketchUp to easily and accurately determine the dimensions of each lumber part. Most drawings do not have instructions, its assumed you can build it based on the completed drawing provided.

Select a piece of wood at least 1-1/2 inches - 2 inches square. The grain should run lengthwise down the blank, or the wood may break. Cut the wood blank to 2-3/4 inches, the length of the brass tube in the awl kit. Using the 7mm bit, drill a centered hole lengthwise through...

Slotted holder keeps your blades in sight and ready.

One of the more awkward things to handle around the shop is big sheets of plywood. With my bad shoulder it is almost impossible but with this handy device its a breeze. Put the plywood in the notch, pick it up with the handle and balance the top with your other hand. Now that is a lot better than the alternative!

Make this drying rack from scraps you may already have on hand. Simple yet effective.

I move my jointer around the shop thanks to its mobile base, but it seemed like wherever the jointer was, my pushpads were not. So, I came up with this solution.

And over the years, I have broken a lot of wings off using pliers. So I designed this to give me more leverage.

This wall-mounted glue-up rack saves space, stores pipe clamps, and makes it easy to glue up panels.

Inexpensive scraps of hardware cloth are ideal for making tool holders in a variety of shapes. These easily made racks are for use on a bench or as a wall mounted tool holder.

At the link you can watch the video of how this marking gauge was made.

The caul press costs little to build and can easily be stored out of your way when you are not using it.

What makes this mortising machine so fantastic is the fact that it can create perfect mortises quickly and easily. The way it works is simple. The workpiece is clamped to a sliding table, and the router is mounted to a carriage that travels on a pair of drawer slides. By pulling the lever arm forward, the router bit is plunged into the workpiece. Then you just slide the table back and forth to rout the mortise. The whole thing takes about 30 seconds. The cutting diagrams and materials list are available to download in this Online Extra.

In this article, I will show you a collapsible benchtop booth based on a simple box fan. A well-designed spray booth will capture the over-spray and direct it out of the building, away from you and your work.

Build a vertical sheet good cutting stand with this detailed tutorial. Everyone should build one.

Follow along at the link and build your own mallets. It is not as hard as you might think.

This Beam Scribe is a great little addition to you tool kit and it also makes a nice gift for that woodworker in your family.

I discovered a simple way to make use of the space underneath my workbench top and behind the skirt without re-engineering the base for drawer boxes.

This extension cord holder can be make from scrap wood and then hung on the wall. Simple.

Build your own roller stand for the workshop with this easy-to-follow woodworking plan.

While building a small bookcase, I stumbled on an age-old problem: how to apply finish to all six sides and edges of the shelves in one sitting. (And, how to handle and store the freshly finished pieces until they dried.) This time, though, I figured out a solution.

Whether storing or transporting circular saw blades, build our simple pair of holders to protect your expensive cutters.