Hammering Out Ways to Make Life in Shop Shipshape

Here are some timesaving tips and hints that can make life easier in the workshop:

Plans and Instructions

* If you’re tackling a job that doesn’t come with instructions, take a few minutes to think about the project and write your own before you begin. You’ll be less likely to mess up and do the steps out of sequence.

* Avoid eyestrain. Enlarge fine print and small details of assembly instructions on a photocopier before beginning.

* Protect plans, drawings and instructions with some of the clear self-sticking plastic sold for lining shelves. Papers stay clean, dry and intact. And you can make notes on the plastic with a grease pencil.

* Create a holder for plans and notes by mounting a spring-type mousetrap to your workshop wall. Pry off the bait holder with a screwdriver before you mount the trap.

* Store instructions, owner’s manuals and warranty information for all appliances, tools and equipment in one place--in a three-ring binder or a magazine storage file.

Cutting Tools

* Restore the cutting edge of your craft knife by rubbing the blade a few times on the striking surface of a matchbox. Sharpen both sides, holding the blade at a low angle that matches the blade’s bevel.

* If you need to carry a razor blade to a job, tear the matches out of a matchbook, insert the blade and close the cover. Carry a craft knife in a plastic toothbrush holder.

* In your workshop, store single-edge razor blades in slots cut into a small piece of rigid foam packing material.

Steel Wool and Brushes

* Small particles of steel wool can collect on a piece and even become airborne as metal dust. To contain them, wrap a small or medium-size magnet in the wad of steel wool. As you work, periodically wipe off the magnet. When the job is done, run the magnet over the work to remove remaining metal particles. Always wear a dust mask when working with steel wool.

* The front end of a wire brush always wears out before the rest. To give a new life to the brush, clamp it in a vise and saw off the front inch or so of the brush.

* To convert an old paintbrush into a light-duty scrub brush, wrap the bristles securely with masking tape. The closer the tape is to the tips of the bristles, the stiffer the brush will be.

Handling Glue

* Dab a little petroleum jelly on the end of a tube of glue before replacing the cap to keep it from sticking.

* To keep the contents ready to pour, store glue bottles and tubes upside-down in holes drilled in a shelf, or a scrap 1-by-4 attached to the wall. Make sure the caps are on tight.

* Another way to store a plastic squeeze tube of cement and caulk is to hang it on a nail using a tape extender. Put doubled-over duct tape on the bottom of the tube--a piece about 2 inches long--and punch a hole in it for hanging.

Pails and Buckets

* To find where a bucket is leaking, place the bucket upside down over a lighted table lamp. The light will shine through the hole.

* To make a temporary patch over a small hole in a plastic pail, fill the hole from both sides with silicone caulk. The caulk layers adhere to each other better than to plastic.