Evolution of a Shop #24: A couple of shop helpers

I thought I’d post these two little shop helpers I recently made up. The first is something most have seen, but maybe a newbie can get some use out of it: A sandpaper cutter. I’m lazy, so I find myself using sandpaper longer than I should because cutting it to fit my sanding blocks is a bit of a pain. I got fed up with my own laziness and made this super simple sandpaper cutting jig:

It’s simply a piece of plywood with a hacksaw blade. The blade is raised up off of the plywood by some washers so that the sandpaper will fit under it easily. I drew a line on the plywood for the two types of sanding blocks that I’ve got. Now I just slide the sandpaper under the blade and rip it off. No more measuring or cutting with a box cutter or scissors. I can’t believe how much easier this is and I’m kicking myself for not doing it sooner.

The other little shop helper is a modification of a Black and Decker Workmate. In my little garage shop, space is at a premium and everything needs to be on wheels. So I set out to put a mobile base on my workmate and still make it collapsible. The base is a simple plywood platform with locking casters. I wrapped the base with a couple of 2×4s for rigidity and some 1/4” plywood for looks. I also added a larger 3/4” MDF top to the workmate. The top is attached with dowels that are glued to the MDF and sized for the holes in the workmate top.

I wheel this little thing all over the shop to hold pieces I’m milling, to help with glue ups, and to provide a small light duty assembly bench.

Hope it helps someone out. Thanks for looking.

Cory

-- The secret to getting ahead is getting started.