Useful, Out-of-the-Ordinary Shop Items.

[Russell Neyman]

...and a couple of others I spotted later:
• Oven Cleaner -- incredibly effective for removing pitch from saw blades
• Old Sweatshirts & Socks-- I cut the shirt sleeves into segments and slide my bowls into the openings for protection during transportation; socks are for small objects; sweatpants work for very large items.

[Ken Barney]

Old/used fabric covered mouse pads are great sandpaper backers for hand-sanding - the foam material is tacky and keeps the sandpaper from slipping. Old business cards make great glue spreaders when gluing up segmented rings or when attaching waste blocks.

[George Morris]

I use a white 4 foot window shade as a backdrop for taking pictures of my turnings. roll it up out of the way when done. also use clear shower curtains on wood dowels in front of all tools to keep shavings out . G

[Bill White]

Bamboo chop sticks. You'll find all sorts of applications.
Bill

[Prashun Patel]

Roller blade (I know, I'm dating myself) wheels for a bowl steady.

Washers to shim a face plate for optimal orientation.

[Dewayne Reding]

This may sound silly but small tin cans such as tuna fish and 8 oz tomato sauce. I often use them when I am assembling or disassembling things in the woodshop, garage or household repairs. A magnetic tray works well too and I have some of them of course. I always seem to have a half dozen containers of small hardware I need to keep safe for a week (or a month lol). Small refinishing and cleaning projects are what the cans are most useful for. A bit of finish, solvent, oil, etc. Toss it in the trash when done. I prefer the short tin cans as they don't tip over too easily.

[Bob Vavricka]

Scraps of vinyl siding cut into squares and kept on hand for mixing epoxy. Throw it away or pop the epoxy off after it dries.

[Sid Matheny]

A pack of pop cycle sticks for mixing. Bicycle inter tube. cut to fit inside of jaws so not to scuff up finished surfaces.

[Joe Bradshaw]

I save my large OTC pill bottles and cut them into strips to use inside my chuck jaws to keep from marring my pieces.
Joe

[Stan Calow]

Yogurt containers for mixing glue, paint, stain, etc. Old wiper blades for spreading grain filler.

[John Beaver]

Clothes pins for clamping small objects.

[Paul Saffold]

Shower curtains, 2 of them hanging to keep chips from flying too far into the garage.

[John K Jordan]

SOFT SANDING BLOCKS

This is one of my favorites for sanding things larger than small spindles. It's simply sandpaper stretched tight around a flexible eraser. The original Magic Rub erasers work well as do the cheaper ones from the Dollar Store.

I can control the paper far better than just holding it with my fingers for both the outside and inside of a form or bowl (if it's large enough), plates, platters, etc. With this I can get more pressure spread evenly over a larger area than I can ever get holding it in my fingers, even when folded several times. The eraser is flexible enough to conform to broad curves. I know you can buy flexible pads with sanding surface attached but they cost too much for my frugal side.


I also use these on carvings and chip carvings, small flat work, metals, etc. As a bonus there is always something handy to erase pencil marks.


BTW, I don't do this to keep my fingers from getting hot - if sanding when the lathe is turning it is turning at a very slow speed. If fingers get hot there is too much pressure and/or too much speed.

sanding_soft_block.jpg

JKJ

[John K Jordan]

- Aluminum tape made for HVAC. I put a short strip of this on the lathe bed when mixing small amounts of epoxy rather than use some container.

- A small gimlet, attached to a magnet. A gimlet is the original cordless drill. (sold at Woodcraft and elsewhere) I use this to drill a small hole into the end of spindle blanks, not only for centering but to prevent some types of woods from splitting from the point when tightening the tailstock.

- A rectangle of indoor/outdoor carpet stuck to the flat top of the lathe headstock. Good for resting the left arm when supporting delicate spindles. Good backing for a piece of sandpaper when finishing the cut off end of a spindle turning. Helps keep little tools and stuff from sliding off when turning.

- A length of soft iron bailing wire wrapped around the end of a carpenter's pencil. This lets me stick the pencil to a a magnet so it is always in the same place.

- This tray I have been using for a decade or more to keep tools from rolling off the bed. Can be moved to left or right of the tailstock as needed. Carpet applied with double-sided tape. Block fits in gap in bed to keep from tilting. So useful I take it with me when doing a demo.

JKJtooltray.jpg

JKJ

[robert baccus]

Tongue depressors from Hobby Lobby--i sand them square for spreading glues.