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It seems that some great ideas are born from other great ideas. There are 2 ideas in this episode that are ideas from others that I also happened to be working on and their ideas prompted me to get moving on the idea and see if or how it worked ...

Watch it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/TPLeETGPzDM

So many woodworking ideas to work with and often one leads to another ... like ... 

 David happens to use an old hacksaw blade to not only spread glue but also apply the correct amount so that there is some glue squeeze-out but not so much that it makes a mess or wastes glue. This is something I have been thinking about for some time and it works the same way as laying ceramic tile where you lay down a layer of cement and use a notched trowel to get the right amount down, then lay the tiles on top. Glue can work the same way but everything I have tried didn't work well and I never thought of hacksaw blades. They come in a variety of tooth sizes, all I need to do is find the correct tooth size and presto ... a perfect glue spreader.  Thanks for the idea on this David, I am continuing to see how to choose the right hacksaw blade.

Wood glue spreader 

Here is another idea that is right along the same vein as my recent attempt. Quite some time ago I made a video on how to make Push Blocks or Push Pads. These are usually used on the Jointer but can also be used on the table saw and router. The ones I made used anti-skid material that was stapled to the bottom of the plywood pad and they worked well until the anti-skid material clogged with sawdust then it needed to be cleaned to work again. I then took off the anti-skid material and added Great Tape instead. What I never thought of doing was adding Great Tape to the old Push Pads that came with my jointer that had lost their effectiveness over time. It never dawned on me that I could just pull off the old rubber pads and put on a new layer of Great Tape ... and of course, it works perfectly. Thanks, Ken for this idea. I am finding more and more used for Great Tape.  

None Stick Pads in the Workshop

For those of you who ask where to get Great Tape, you can purchase it from the woodworkweb Amazon store HERE
or click the link below.
great tape 

This idea came from Jason in California, who "borrowed" the idea from cake decorating 101. Jason's idea was to use Glue instead of pastry icing to get glue into tight areas which is something I have struggled with for years. He puts a small amount of glue in the bottom of a plastic bag then snips off a TINY corner (and I mean TINY ... smaller is better for this) then you can push a small amount of the glue out into hard to get at areas that most glue bottles simply cannot get into. Great idea Jason .. thanks! 

Wood glue in a cake bag

And here is yet another idea I have used in the past, but for this, I am giving credit to Woody who says you can use a Cotton Swab, or the brand name Q-Tip which is a small stick with a cotton ball attached, and use if for applying glue to tiny projects, such as model making, carving or intarsia. Woody says you can use either the cotton part, or snip that part off and use the stick, and in fact, I use both, sometimes the cotton part is good for wiping off too much glue. Thanks for the tip, Woody.  

Qtips for wood glue

My buddy Steve sent this to me. As some of you know Steve works in the woodworking industry and is constantly gluing items up for his marketplace. Steve suggested using brown "Craft Paper" as a base to keep glue off your workbench or glue-up table. I have been using newspapers and I hate it. It's too light, I get black ink on everything and there are always too many overlapping pieces, it's a bit of a pain to work with. What I like about Steve's idea is that a slightly thicker craft paper is much more stable, you can use and re-use it over and over and it's just easier to use.
As a side note, I have also been working with Parchment Paper lately, especially for smaller glue-up. I love it because it is readily available, easy to use AND glue does not stick to it so when you drop glue on it and it dries, you can just flick it off when it dries and like craft paper, use and re-use this parchment paper over and over ... and it's pretty cheap to begin with, just another thought for some of you to try. 

Parchment paper for wood glue.

Bill hit on one of my favorite topics ... using the MAGSWITCH. I love these things and now have 2 sets I use them so much. Bill suggests if you are cutting or drilling metal and want to pick up the iron filings, you can use a magswitch to do this by turning it "ON" then collecting all the iron filing to the magnet, then to remove them, take the Magwitch to the trash can, turn the switch "OFF" and you can easily brush off the iron filings into the trash can. I didn't have any filings on hand so did a similar idea with screws ... which, hmmm ... made me think this is yet another great way of picking up sorting screws or nails .. using a magswitch. 
By the way, if you want to save money on the purchase of these magswitchs I have an AFFILIATE PURCHASE LINK below, if you use the code word you even get a discount ... and you help me out along the way. If you haven't checked out the magswitch site, have a quick look, they have lots or cool things there. 

Magswitches

Thanks again everyone for your super ideas ... lots of cool things from my Subscribers 

Copyright Colin Knecht
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