Tag: quick projects

bookmark_borderVise & Bench Modifications

Posted on by Elliott Evans

The woodworking vise that I have mounted to the front of my workbench has a steel block that you can slide up above the top surface of the vise. The idea is that you can use this block along with a bench-mounted block (called a “bench dog”) to clamp things on the surface of the bench. The only problem is that my bench is made of 2×4 and plywood instead of solid wood. Since the vise bolts to the underside of the benchtop, the top of the vise isn’t flush with the top of the bench, so this clamping block is useless. I have added wood to the vise jaws, and the top of that wood is roughly flush, but the block is still way shorter than would be useful. Today I changed that.

  • This is the old,
    useless block
  • This is the new,
    useful block
  • Here you can see the dog bolted to the bench top
  • Here’s how you use the two together

I cut a block of 1/2-inch walnut so it had the same width as the block, but was longer. Then, I removed the old block and slid the new block down into the recess. I cut the new block so that when it was retracted, it would be below the top surface of the vise jaws. Then, I drilled the block so it would accept a 5/16″ tee nut. I made a new knob by adding a nut to a 5/16″ x 1″ bolt. Now, I can raise and lower the block, and secure it in place by tightening the nut. I would have re-used the knob from the old block, but it seems to be some kind of metric thread.

The dog is a piece of scrap wood with a hole drilled through it and a counter-sink to put the bolt head down below the surface of the block. This is important to make it more difficult for a tool to hit the metal of bolt while working on a clamped piece. I drove a 1/4″ threaded insert down into the bench so that I can bolt any old piece of material to the bench top, whenever.

The walnut block is maybe a little flexible for this application, but it’s certainly better than ol’ useless that it replaced. I can’t believe I put off making this modification for so long. It was immediately useful. Maybe in another few years I will barter with a metalworker for a metal block, now that I know the dimensions I need.

bookmark_borderTwo-by-Phonerest

Posted on by Elliott Evans

A while back, and I can’t really remember how long ago this was, I was working in the shop and wanted a place to rest my phone where I could still see the screen. I guess I had the table saw set up because it mostly consisted of a dado cut into a piece of scrap 2×4. That piece of 2×4 was mostly likely an off-cut from when I shortened my workbench. Anyway, I’ve been using that phone rest ever since. the cut down the center enables you to charge the phone while it is in the rest, provided the rest is hanging off the edge of a surface. I eventually added some foam because the slot was too wide. More recently, I cut the bevel on the back edge so that the phone camera can’t see the rest.

The Mark 01 Phone Rest

This rest is still a great accessory in the shop, since it doesn’t really matter what happens to it, or if it gets damaged. I think the screw hole in the top is part of the original piece of scrap. This stand didn’t really look very nice in my office, though. Hence, the new one I just made from slightly nicer lumber, using the same design.

The Mark 02 Phone Rest

This one is made from some left-over cypress from the camp gate project. Yes, I still have lumber left over from that project. I think this one is much cleaner and refined. There’s a bit of boiled linseed oil on there to make the color pop.

I must have seen this design someplace. I can’t imagine that I came up with it myself. It’s just too simple and elegant. I might make a Mark 03 version from some ipe that Mr. Arimoto gave me.

bookmark_borderTill for Carving Tools

Posted on by Elliott Evans

I have this set of five wood carving tools that I bought at Harbor Freight way back when, and they’ve been rolling around in a cardboard box ever since then. I have a more involved box project going on right now, but while I was waiting for some glue to dry I decided to make a wooden till to hold them.

The till in its drawer

It’s just some pine 2×4 trimmings glued to some thin plywood. I wound up making it way longer than it needed to be, so I added the partition so the back part could be a a little bin of miscellany. I’ve been meaning to make this till for a while, so it was nice to just make a thing in a couple of hours and put it to use right away.