Don't laugh, but the $15.00 4" angle grider from Harbor Freight. Remakably handy for a variety of grinding and rough sharpening jobs. Perfect for sharpening lawn mower blades and garden tools. No, its not a makita, but it's a remarkably well made tool for $15.00. My ebay pencil sharpener. It's a Dixon Enduro No. 20. Far superior to the common Bostons. Sturdy support on both sides of the dual cutter head and an adjustable stop for the perfect point. Scott.
[snip]
Yup, I have two of them big honkin' Johnson adjustable squares. In the solid surface countertop business, no lay-out tool works as hard as that one. Sturdy enough to run a circular saw along its straight edge. The one I have, has a notched cross bar, which locks onto the main leg to form a reasonably accurate 90-degree T. When I attach the cross bar from the other set, I end up with a huge caliper... useful in measuring the width of odd-shaped stuff, like sinks.... but we're well over 20 bucks here..
r
Inexpensive dial calipers are always in my apron for everyday use - much easier to read, especially since we're all stuck on fractional measurements. (Quick what's 5/8 + 7/32 in digital format...) The digital ones mostly live in their case, used only on special occasions like measuring shims or aligning tools.
My most unexpected handy tool is a cheap ($10) little flush-cut pull saw. I hadn't used anything like it, and wasn't going to spend $$$s on a Japanese saw when I didn't really know what to do with them. I still use that little saw for all kinds of trimming and small saw cuts - and have since purchased more Japanese pull saws, too.
A Stanley 10-779 knife for about $5.
Barry Lennox
Good point! I picked up a couple from Harbor Fright on sale and then bought the "shark" and a few extra blades...
Great for flush cutting dowels and small miters, one you remember which way the teeth are pointed.. *g*
I use them on the lathe, too.. great for parting off stuff.. Mac
A friend of mine wanted some metal rods in a headboard he was making. He settled on some very large nails (spikes), maybe 7/16" diameter. He cut the heads off, leaving about 4" of length. I keep two of these in a little bowl on the workbench, along with other detritus like the odd extra nail and a candle. Every now and then I need to bang something and these things fit the bill more often than I ever could have predicted when I got them. I guess the bowl is also surprisingly useful, since sometimes I need a random nail and there they are right in front of me and not scratching under my workpieces. BTW, it's only full enough to cover the bottom.
- Owen -
A box of rubber bands, I once had to glue a 1/4" bead moulding to the top of a 10' peice of crown moulding, a bunch of rubber bands held it fine. Also I raided SWMB's clothspin bag (spring type) and used them to clamp small projects.
Laminate flooring strips make great straight edge guides for router and circular saw. Factory edges are very straight, the ends snap together to make unlimited lengths and they are thin and cheep. Clamped on the end in the right place and the strip curves down, providing a nice ramp for an outfeed support for the portable table saw.
The Robatoy entity posted thusly:
And with my eyes the way they are, I might as well measure it with a piece of string and guesswork. I picked up a digital unit for about 25 bucks, on sale, and I can actually see the measured value.
Since you mentioned that it reminded me that I always keep several pairs of $5.00 reading glasses around, from 1.5 to 2.5 diopter strength depending on what I'm looking at. 10 years ago they were "handy"; Now they're essential!
Two of these little multi-squares.
FoggyTown
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