There are so many woodworking tips it's hard to remember them, but often when we see one or two we have used in the past, reminds of others useful ideas.
A recent project I was working on reminded me of a couple of things I not used in a long, long time ...
Recently I needed to make a new Mitre Box, I have made these in the past and they work fine for a time, but eventually they all get a bit of wear and from saw tooth action and need to be replaced. The ones I make are 2 45 degree angles, one left, one right and of course one 90 degree cut. The main thing with the angles is they need to accurate in the 45 degrees from top to bottom, so a temporary wooden guide is used to get these cuts made.
To clamping a flat wooden block to this mitre box is difficult because they are always in the way as you are trying to cut the slots. The answer, use CA glue as a temporary glue. In my case I use Starbond Medium, a bit more than a drop on either side, the use Accelerator on the opposing wood ends to match up with the glue, and presto, you have instant temporary gluing surface. Be careful not to use too much CA glue or it could be come much more permanent.
Keeping your blades clean is an ongoing workshop task. When your see your blades starting to "burn" the wood, it might be your blades need cleaning (it could also be other issues also but cleaning is the first go-to solution). You don't need fancy equipment and blades only need to be cleaned when you are starting to feel they might not be as sharp as they once seemed, or getting burning. In my case one or twice a year seems to be plenty depending on the blade and how often it's used.
No miracles, any dish soap ... warm water ... and about a 15 minute soaking (more is better) and honestly, with a tiny bit of scrubbing with a tooth brush or anything similar will usually clean 90% of what you need done. This is also an excellent time to examine your blades for chipped or damaged teeth or other imperfections in the blade.
Getting back to the CA glue, but this time as an alternate to using wood clamps. I recently need to do some wood repairs in an area I could not get a wood clamp into. Then remembered about using CA glue for clamping ... I works extraordinarily well, easy to do and does a great job. I used, again, Starbond Medium (my go to CA glue) and the job was to quickly and permanently.
Here's tip I don't think I have ever listed but one I use ALL THE TIME. I'm sure ... this wrapping / packing tape is the most used accessory in my workshop. I fact, I have 3 rolls of this around my house, one in my storage rook, my workshop and even in my office for packaging and shipping. This stuff is so handy for keeping things tied together. What I like is that it seems to last for ever, unlike elastic bands for example the rot and break after a few months, or masking tape that tears easily, this packing tape is perfect for so many jobs ....
Another tool I use seldom, but it does come in handy some times. It started out as a template for me to make a variety of throat plates for my table saw to accommodate a variety of different blades, thin kerf, full kerf, dado, 7-1/4 circ saw blades etc. ... then one day I felt like I was having dust collector issues with my saw so I cut a slot in it to see I was getting a "draw air flow" and if not, likely my hose from inside the saw to the dust collector was plugged ... again. Then I found it was also useful for working with very small pieces of wood and one of my thin strip ripping jigs. In have a bit more insight into how it was cutting. It's made of Lexan, which is often called a bullet proof glass, when really it is just form of plastic that is highly resistant to fracturing and works perfect in the workshop for many forms of blade guides.
