Welcome to Woodworks Made Easy

Practice any art, however well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to find out what's inside you.
--- Kurt Vonnegut

Pictures are meant to be self explanatory, and for visual clarity you may
click on each photo to enlarge. For older projects see Blog Archive. I don't specialize on a particular genre so there is quite a variety of projects for a number of different interests.

Even if you are not a woodworker but you like some or all of the projects, have your local crafts person make them for you from the ideas and photos you see here. For a particular project just click the specific title on the Blog Archive list (right side column below).

For anyone willing to learn or begin to do woodworking for the first time, please read first from the Blog Archive, "How and Where to Begin a Woodworking Hobby.

And it is not for men only. Read my note on "Women in Woodworking" from Blog Archive, April 2010.


click on each photo to enlarge


Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Marking and Measuring Tool Caddie



Almost every wood working operation (or step), such as cutting and joining, is preceded by measuring and marking. And no wood working project is ever possible without measuring and marking.

I've had my share of frustration and wasted time because I misplaced a marking tool. Except for a square and T-squares, marking tools are comparatively small and are simply set aside during the cutting operation. The solution is to organize them in such a way that it becomes easy to retrieve them when needed and returned to the same place each time they needed to be set aside.

Common pine from the scrap heap is all that's needed.



Customizing the slots is easy. Plan their location and cut them before glue up.



I added the four corner legs like so but not necessarily in this fashion. The legs though allow for clearance underneath for some of the tools.



This piece will be glued to the side to contain a rubber eraser and extra pencil leads.

A chisel cleaned up the router bit marks



I drilled the holes for the various tools - pencils, awl, spring loaded punch and chalk, before glue up.

The black walnut handle with finger hole allows for the caddie to be picked up so it can be moved from one work area to the next, i.e. from near the table saw to the work bench to the router table or even away from the workshop to inside the house.


The rare earth magnet is perfect for attaching the measuring tapes


It is clear how easily one could misplace any of the above marking tools

The caddie's "footprint" is a mere 5-1/2 by 8-1/2 inch but it can store the tools in a space smaller than but with the portability of a tool box. More importantly, each tool is visible to a quick glance and can easily be picked up and returned.


 After some disciplined practice I've made it a habit to return each tool after each use. It is a time saver and each tool is kept safely away.



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