Shop ideas

Secrets, tips, tools, design considerations, materials, the "science" behind it all, and other topics related to building the cars and semi-trucks.
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ah8tk
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Shop ideas

Post by ah8tk »

Now that there is not much happening in the PWD world, here is one of the ideas I have been working on… Start your own thread about new ideas, or how you use something in a new way, in your shop. Or add your ideas to this thread.

How do you store sandpaper? The way I previously used to was in the cardboard containers that the sandpaper is purchased in. I had multiple of these all over the shop and I could never find the right grit sandpaper (even though they were all stored in the same drawer). Often on a pinewood car build you just need very small sections of sandpaper, to clean up a small spot on the car.

I had a new idea for storing sandpaper, I purchased a small letter hanging file storage bin from an office supply store… (something like this)
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And used some hanging file folders that I had lying around. Made some labels and now my sandpaper storage looks like this…

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I found I had a lot more sandpaper that I didn’t even know I had. I was able to recycle all of this cardboard after I was finished with the new storage system…
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The nice thing about this is if you put all of the small pieces in the front and the full pieces in the back. You should be able to lift the file out and find the small pieces in the front of the folder.
Last edited by ah8tk on Fri Mar 11, 2016 7:00 pm, edited 2 times in total.
quadad
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Re: Shop ideas

Post by quadad »

I had done something similar, using hanging folders that were getting thrown away at work, but didn't have the box to put them in. I like that. :thumbup: My biggest problem was negotiating between the US (standard grit #'s), European (P#), micron rated, etc., values for all the different stuff I had. Even though there are several excellent reports of how to relate all of these on the web (and mentioned on this site), everyone lists them at least a little different.

In the end I negotiated my own scales and organized the folders by micron range of particles. To not confuse myself too much, I list the micron range and the grit values on the outside.

And yeah, when you do this you find that all those multi-grit packages you bought really add up and somehow there is always some type you don't have enough of ! :pullhair:
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Re: Shop ideas

Post by rpcarpe »

That's very similar to my sandpaper organizer!
I use a stacked plastic rack, just haven't added any fancy labels.
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ah8tk
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Re: Shop ideas

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OK here is another idea, this year we needed to build a new car for the district race and two others for another race. I was building two cars and my son was building one and sometimes he would ask me “what is next”? Most days I cannot remember what I had for lunch, much less, what is next in the car build.

I had started the build of a car, with fenders, I drilled the block, tested the drilled holes. Cut the sides, cut out the wheel wells and cleaned up the wheel well holes on the drum sander. Then glued the sides and top to the main block, and forgot to make the cut to get most of the weight out of the main block (this was about two and a half hours wasted).

Right after that I started a build checklist, this way I can leave and check the checklist the next time I get a chance to work and I know where I am in the build process. On my checklist there is a space for the car name and boxes to check off when you have completed that step. I am sure this list will change many times before it is complete… Here is my checklist

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Last edited by ah8tk on Fri Mar 11, 2016 7:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Shop ideas

Post by rpcarpe »

That's a great idea! Especially on multi-car days... I've also found myself wondering if I'd skipped a step.
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ah8tk
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Re: Shop ideas

Post by ah8tk »

Here is another one I have wanted to build the last couple of years. When we are polishing axles we place the paper on a mis-drilled pinewood block, sometimes the paper gets all messed up and falls off the table that is holding the block. And when I am blowing the axles dry after cleaning them the air gets misdirected and blows the little strips all over the shop. I cannot tell the difference between Micro Mesh 3600 and 8000 by feeling them.

Also there is the trouble with ANSI grit size and Micro Mesh size, I usually go to this website to figure where I want to start and finish with Micro Mesh 12000, and line up my sandpaper accordingly.

This was my idea to accomplish both of these goals in an easy to use tool.

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The black numbers are the ANSI grit sizes and the blue numbers are the Micro Mesh grit numbers. With this I can start wherever I want depending on which axles I choose to use on the car I am building.

It was originally going to use the pinewood derby block but I found a 7” 1X so I used it instead. The dividers are some scrap 1/6” plywood and the ends are some underlayment I found in the shop. The block is cleared so there shouldn’t be any trouble with staining. Already used it once and it worked great, another tool to add to the PWD box.
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Re: Shop ideas

Post by rcmoeur »

At our workshops, we post large pieces of paper with all the car-building steps displayed. Really helps everyone (including those who have built a car or dozen).
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Loder66
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Re: Shop ideas

Post by Loder66 »

Great ideas! Thanks for sharing. Looks like I have a new project to get organized.
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ah8tk
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Re: Shop ideas

Post by ah8tk »

rcmoeur wrote:At our workshops, we post large pieces of paper with all the car-building steps displayed. Really helps everyone (including those who have built a car or dozen).
Do you have something you can share with this group?
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Re: Shop ideas

Post by rcmoeur »

Take a look at Page 3 of my "In-Fun-Mation" handout:
http://www.richardcmoeur.com/scout/pwdhandout.pdf
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Re: Shop ideas

Post by Gtdhw »

You all are high tech, lol.

My biggest issue was getting the pieces loose, then mixed up. Came up with this out of frustration, a few sets of axles back. Been a game changer for me, lol.

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ah8tk
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Re: Shop ideas

Post by ah8tk »

rcmoeur wrote:Take a look at Page 3 of my "In-Fun-Mation" handout:
http://www.richardcmoeur.com/scout/pwdhandout.pdf
This is very nice, thanks for sharing.
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ah8tk
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Re: Shop ideas

Post by ah8tk »

Gtdhw wrote:You all are high tech, lol.

My biggest issue was getting the pieces loose, then mixed up. Came up with this out of frustration, a few sets of axles back. Been a game changer for me, lol.

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It almost looks like it dispenses like a Kleenex box. Looks like it would work good.
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whodathunkit
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Re: Shop ideas

Post by whodathunkit »

Cool shop ideas Andy!

Here's an idea that uses a hack saw blade to make a sand paper cutter!
This works well for all your shop sand paper size cutting needs.
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ah8tk
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Re: Shop ideas

Post by ah8tk »

Mark, this is a great idea. I may have to make something like this in the future. Can you explain what the markings on this cutter are for?

Thanks for sharing.
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