What tips have you learned in your DIY experience that you wish you knew earlier? Let's learn from each other and share our tips! To keep this thread going come back each day to share a tip and read the latest posts. :yes:
I have small ones of those claws I used in IT work.They also make a device called Mechanic's Fingers.
it has a pair of little claws activated by a push button, that open to grab the dropped screw, then release the button to close the claws, and extract the screw.
I have both magnetic and mechanics fingers in my tools.
ED
Working in IT, I have amassed quite a collection of magnets that came out of defunct hard disk drives. These are powerful magnets that will give you a nasty pinch if you get a finger caught between it and and piece of ferrous metal.View attachment 741403
A large magnet will find the nails in wood ashes from burning rather than pulling them all prior to burning .
It will also find small screws , nuts . washers and cap screws you dropped in the tall grass when the lawn tractor broke down on the back 40 .
Note where the operatorKeeping a long, heavy board or a full sheet of plywood tight against a short fence can be challenging and frustrating, especially if you are working alone.
To make the task easier, clamp a long level or a long, straight board to the fence. The longer the fence, the easier it is to keep the wood tight against it.
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=========================================================Keeping a long, heavy board or a full sheet of plywood tight against a short fence can be challenging and frustrating, especially if you are working alone.
To make the task easier, clamp a long level or a long, straight board to the fence. The longer the fence, the easier it is to keep the wood tight against
DRACCH.... Pretty Neat....I recently painted my kitchen cabinets. The doors were removed and painted in the garage.
As I was using a sprayer, I rigged up a temporary spray booth on top of my table saw using 1x2 furring strips and inexpensive painter's plastic. The strips were cut into 40" lengths. I made 2 squares securing the corners using my pin nailer. I used 3 other strips to secure the 2 squares together and then covered the whole thing in plastic securing it to the frame with a staple gun. A 9x12 plastic drop cloth covers it nicely leaving one side open to work. The top of the saw was covered in painters masking paper. Be sure to change the plastic between priming and finish. The primer leaves particulate on the plastic that can blow onto the workpiece when applying paint.
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To make painting easier, I bought a cheap lazy susan swivel plate and secured some rubber feet I had laying around to the corners. They help hold the piece steady while turning without marring the finish.
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I could paint each door in less than 60 seconds with this setup which included the face and edges.