From Glen-L newsletter. —Eds
C-CLAMP PADS
Afraid of scratching the wood when clamping things with your C-clamps? Here are a couple of ideas to make those cast iron C-Clamps a little more wood-friendly.
Put self-adhesive chair foot pads on each clamping surface; these small stick-on pads are easy to replace, and inexpensive. As an alternative, you can also use those plastic milk bottle lids or the screw off tops from 2-liter bottles. You can leave them loose, or glue them to the metal with hot-melt glue.
SHOP VAC MUFFLER BOX
Avoiding clouds of sawdust is a must in a small work area, but a dust collection system eats up valuable space and money. A shop vacuum makes a good substitute, but because the decibel level of most shop vacuums rivals that of a jet engine, build a box like this one to muffle the noise. Put casters on it and it'll follow along as you connect it to various power tools or when you're just cleaning up your work area.
Build the box from a 4 x 8-ft. sheet of 3/4-in. plywood or MDF (medium-density fiberboard). Glue in wood battens at vertical corners for additional strength. Fasten with 2-in. screws. Line yours with carpet scraps for extra muffling. Cut them to size and glue them to the box with construction adhesive. Use strap hinges on the door so the screws drive through the face of the door and box side. Avoid butt hinges because there's little holding power for screws driven into the edge of plywood or MDF.