Home Tips And Hints: June 2003

Piggyback Vise
Chances are, the first vise you buy for your basement workshop will need to handle a wide range of jobs--everything from holding your lawnmower blade for a spring touchup to gripping a rusty bolt while you clean the threads. For this kind of work, you need a metalworking vise that's designed to mount on the top of your workbench.

However, it won't take many woodworking projects for you to realize that holding wood for planing or shaping requires an entirely different vise. Here, you'll want something with wood-padded jaws that sits flush with the top of your bench. Before you go out to buy wood for a second workbench--so you'll have one for each vise--here's an economical solution. Simply mount your woodworking vise on your bench and lagscrew your metalworking vise to a thick block of hardwood. Then, when the time comes to cut that threaded rod to length, just install the block-mounted metal vise in the padded jaws of the woodworking vise and get to work.
TOM KLENCK

Don't Screw Up
Hanging cabinet doors or installing the lid on a jewelry box can be a finicky chore--if things don't line up properly when the hinges are in place, even the finest joinery can look amateurish. Because of this, most woodworkers fit the hinges before the final finishing and sanding, giving themselves a chance to make minor adjustments.

Trouble is, putting the hinges on, taking them off and then reinstalling them takes a toll on the small screws that hold these hinges in place. And, if they're brass screws, there's a good chance you'll damage the slots--or worse, break the screws--no matter how carefully you drive them. The solution is to save the soft brass screws that came with the hinges for final installation, and use steel screws of the same size for the fitting process. Not only will the steel screws hold up better, but they'll tap your pilot holes with threads that will make driving the brass screws that much easier.
TOM KLENCK

Using Minirollers
Everybody knows that the typical 9-in.-wide paint roller makes short work of covering walls, ceilings and floors. And, it's hard to beat one for thick, consistent coverage. Can you imagine painting a room with a brush? But these tools do have a couple of drawbacks. You need a paint tray to use them, which is either down on the floor where it's hard to reach or up on a stepladder where it's easy to spill. And standard rollers are too big for narrow surfaces like trimwork and door panels. A miniroller is a great alternative. These tools have 4-in.-wide roller covers that come in a wide variety of materials designed for different chores--just like standard rollers. Their size allows them to fit inside a gallon can of paint, so when you use one you can kiss your paint tray goodbye. And, they work well for trim and other narrow surfaces. In fact, it's hard to imagine a better tool for painting bookshelves or the inside of cabinets, or handling just about any priming chore. If you have to paint a 400-sq.-ft. ceiling, you still want your big roller. But for most anything else, the miniroller makes more sense.
STEVE WILLSON

Scrap Stick Holds Kindling
It sounds a bit old-fashioned, and maybe even out-of-date, but the best tool for splitting kindling quickly is still a hatchet. The only problem with using a hatchet is that the piece of scrap lumber or firewood that you are splitting has a tendency to fall over after every cut. Fortunately, there's an easy way to keep the wood upright. Take a piece of scrap lumber, and drive a roofing nail through it so that its tip extends just through the other side. Then, take the scrap stick and tap the nail into the piece of wood you are splitting. The nail grips the wood, holding it upright, and the stick lets you keep your hand well away from the swinging hatchet.
ROY BERENDSOHN