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.

Small Workshop Solutions

For hobbyist woodworkers the size of the workshop is hardly a debatable topic, unlike that being argued by commercial or professional woodworkers. Even for the latter, the issue is mainly a business decision. For hobbyists the size of the workshop is determined by what one has next to or what the garage can accommodate. In other words we make do with what's available. In short we are most likely dealing with a small work area. I am fortunate to have a separate workshop next to the garage; needless to say it can only be defined as a one-person workshop.

The small workshop works fine for me. The one disadvantage of not having enough space to work around and the limit of how much power tools I can have are all made up for by the fact that the utility bill is very manageable since I have an AC working in the summer and heat for the winter.

I need to manage how I use the work bench among other things. The trick is to plan the work so that I only have a handful of tools occupy the bench top at any one time. Hand tools are notoriously the main cause of clutter. It is also a common cause for the frustration of not finding them when you need them.

Solution: Modular holder or caddy for a grouping of tools that can be moved in place and taken away to be set aside when not needed. It also organizes the tools conveniently.

Previously, I made one for certain general utility chisels. I improved the original by providing it with a wider base, measured to fit the center channel of the work bench where it is free to slide left to right and can be moved entirely out of the way.

Additional photos show other stands for various hand tools (specialty chisels, carvers and marking tools. Note: finger holes for the big caddies to help move them with both hands, of course, the two small ones can be moved by just gripping them with one hand..

For quick joinery I use the go-to pocket hole jig (which also easily stowed away after use)

Marking tools are in one caddy. A finger hole handle allows for moving this group of tools close to the work piece and gets out of the way when not needed.

Drilling accessories, below, sit on a platform on drawer slides. Second photo shows the platform sliding to the left.

Smart Phone Cradle II

It would be a shame - really - to throw away these hardwood scrap pieces. The challenge is always about coming up with small projects worthy of these material; marble wood is hard to come by. From a previous project there was left over walnut and bamboo joined together that I kept. And walnut left over from left over wood flooring cutoffs. It is a hodgepodge of material that I hope to turn into something worth keeping for a long time. It will have to be adjustable as you shall see so different sizes of phones will fit in the future.

I find often that as soon as I finish a project I realize often that there is another, and likely better, way to do it. This is the second version of a phone cradle  that this time was for my wife's phone; the first one works for me just fine but this is done a little differently.

I cut the walnut/bamboo piece and glued them together as shown. Joined together two strips of the marble wood to get to the proper width.

The $5 scraper scrounged from the flea market continues to serve well

Created the channel on the marble wood strip; cut into two to be glued to the walnut/bamboo piece

Tip: I was aware of the minor cracks on the marble wood piece. I spread some glue from one side and run a vacuum from the opposite side to suck the glue through the cracks.

A good amount of glue did get sucked in. Firm clamping followed (next photo)

From three strips of walnut is a center piece that will serve as a sliding mechanism, shown later.

Make note of the center piece marked by a green arrow. It will have a key role later

Next photos should be self-explanatory.

I made sure the base has the same width as the rectangular well between the front seats. The USB connection allows for charging the phone while traveling and for connecting it directly to the car audio/video systems