Time once again for a sampling of those wacky tools and accessories you can make from stuff that’s just lying around.
Old bicycle inner tubes are great for a whole mess o’ stuff. Don’t have a rubber mallet handy? Wrap a tube around a regular claw hammer. Use them to “clamp” chair legs together when gluing up rails by wrapping it tightly around the legs. They also make good cushions when clamping wood with metal pipe clamps; just fold a section and insert it between the clamp and the wood.
While we’re on bike parts, if you need a tiny screwdriver or pry, you can simply grind an old bicycle spoke flat on one end. Make it as small as you want.
Forget the bleach bottle drill holster we’ve talked about before… use a 4″ PVC 45-degree elbow. It’s stronger and sturdier for heavier cordless drills.
Nylon tiedown straps (for automobile roof racks and such) are great for aligning bowed lumber or pulling warped deckboards into place.
When you’re stripping or staining a chair or a table, you can put the whole job on newspaper (and still end up with a big mess) or you can use old coffee cans to keep things tidy. Any stripper or stain drips down into the cans, and you might even be able to reuse some of it.
Good old-fashioned spring clothespins make great little clamps for gluing tiny projects. You can even shape the ends with sandpaper to better hold your project.
Use a chip bag clip to hold up plans and “honey-do” lists at your bench. (Or use those old clothespins again.)
Use bubble wrap to protect partially finished projects from accidental damage on your workbench.
Even more next time.