The edge guide for my router came with two different sizes of rods, so it could fit two different models of router. The other day my husband suggested, logically enough, putting the extra rods into the recycling bin.
I was shocked. What, throw out two perfectly good steel rods?
“Well, what are you going to use them for?” Got me there. These 15-inch-long, 1/2-inch-diameter rods don’t fit any of my tools or hardware.
“I can’t just throw them away! Look at them–they’re beautiful. Strong, perfectly straight, rust-proof coating…I’m sure they’ll be useful–someday.” He looked doubtful but put the rods back on the shelf.
I’ve always had a problem throwing things away. Wait, that’s a negative description. Second spin: I’ve always been able to appreciate an object’s potential.
Q: Could these rods be used to construct a woodworking vise? I was picturing the rods that go on either side of the screw mechanism.
Q: Do you, too, have to save hardware for which you have no use?
Janet
Replies
The proper thing to do given that situation is to buy another router so you have a use for the second set of guides. :)
You haven't run him off yet, so he must have some redeeming characteristics. :) The thing to do is train him to stay out of your shop. You might start by asking him to stick his finger in the jointer to see if it's running. A few painful but small scale injuries like that and he won't have any inclination to dig around in your shop looking for things that can be recycled.
Janet,
I think this is why so many "handy" types dream of moving to a farm. Not only would there likely be a barn, soon to be a barn no longer, but a shop, but there would be enough room that you'd never have to throw anything away, ever!
Alan
I bought a length of 1/2" drill rod to make a jack-shaft for my old planer. I used 6" out of 24". I have about 6" left. I used some for indexing pins for my shop-built Lexan version the MEG shelf pin router jig. Also used a chunk for a router table starting pin. Keep it you'll use it.John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking
Life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid - John Wayne
i am the undisputed king of saving any and ALL STUFF that could conceivably be useful sometime in this, or any other, lifetime! and i use it! for example, just yesterday we had a catastrophic, some would say life-threatening, failure of the family corkscrew. a minute or two rummaging around in one of my many collections of conserved crap produced a quarter inch long, eighth inch diameter roll (spring) pin that was ideal for this critical operation- another minute with a drill and a punch and we were back in business- crisis averted.
NEVER, EVER THROW ANYTHING LIKE THAT AWAY!!! (Well, at least if you are reasonably mechanically inclined and can actually make use of it- otherwise, it really is just junk. a man, or woman, has got to know their limitations.)
mitch
ps- one of my all time favorite movie scenes is in Apollo 13 when they have to build an adapter for their air unit from a pile of odds and ends- that would be my dream job.
Here's another thing that I can't bear to throw out: A Kenwood (not Sears Kenmore) electric mixer from 1980. At the time, it had the strongest motor of any home mixer. Unfortunately, it was also the noisiest!
Now that I have a better mixer, is there some way to reuse the motor from the old one? Even if I could use the motor somewhere else, is it worth keeping? The label says 115V, 50-60Hz, 450W.
Janet
Edited 12/20/2002 9:16:51 PM ET by DWREAD
A shop is filled with three classes of space occupiers. Things, Stuff, and Junk. You throw out junk to make room for stuff so that you can get more things. Objects can move in either direction depending on one's needs and ingenuity. Also depending on what is free. I think that your half inch rods that don't fit anything are no longer things but I wouldn't call them junk just yet.
As for their usefulness as vice parts, I think that they are a bit small diameter. Try the rods inside the struts for an Audi or other hi end car that uses this type of suspension. These are highly polished, heavy duty hardened steel, are threaded on one end and the strut mechanism has bearings that can be incorporated into the vice. With big persimmon jaws and a Record screw it worked fine for me.
OH, BTW, oil filled struts are VERY messy to dissasemble.
BJGardening, cooking and woodworking in Southern Maryland
Speaking about used parts, I just came back from a x-mas party and some friends and I were discussing uses of old compressors from refrigerators. They tell me these compressors can be used to suck the air out of a bag and hence create your own vacuum press. Use 5mm plastic with all sealed edges, reverse the hose from the compressor and you are in business. I would like to try it and see how well it works. They said they have used garbage bags as well in lieu of the 5mm plastic. If it rips, use some duct tape and seal it. For $5 you can get a compressor from the junk yard. Beats $200 plus from an exclusive vacuum press manufacturer. Has any one else tried this method?
It does work. About 30 years ago a friend used that method to extract the air from the AC unit on my car after we made repairs. Attach a hose to the exhaust side of the compressor and submerge the end in a bucket of water. When the bubbles stop all the air has been removed. You can connect a guage to the inlet and check the vacuume pull.
Dave Koury
Been trying to find a source for various sizes od "drill rod". Only one or two at a time in small dias--by mail or whatever.
In NW Phila area any ideas?? Chips
http://www.mscdirect.com/
They will have anything you might need in metal raw stock.Tom
My advice to you is: Dont ever ever throw something away, just try to remember where you put the thing. Last week I was trying to take apart the upper part of my band saw. I had a chain block on the roof but the thing is that the upper wheel assembly is a square hole and the post is a square, so if I lifted a wee bit out of alignement, the thing just got stuck, so I though, well, what I need is a car jack (do you call it that in good english??? The device to lift your car ?? ) anyway, it happened that two years ago, my wife had an accident and the car was useless, but I kept the jack, so I had what I needed in a box, somewhere in the house. The good news is that I'll probably use the thing to make some sort of press one day, but this time I'll keep it in the shop. So remember, and pass the word : DONT THROW ANYTHING AWAY !!
p.s. when I use something like that I always explain to my wife in great detail how I did it and with what piece of junk I acheived my goal. To my great astonichment (not good in orthograph) I never heard the phrase ``Throw it in the garbage``in my houyse again (I hear a lot of``Throw it down the stairs``)
Car jacks can be very useful. Last year our garbage disposer needed replacing, but I didn't want to pay more for installation than the cost of the new disposer. Actually, that's just an excuse; one of my pleasures in life is fixing things by myself.
What I didn't count on was how difficult it was to hold up a heavy appliance while working the fasteners. The jack from my car supported the disposer while I worked--tadaaa!
Janet
I had a sink mounted on to a kitchen counter in my old house which had sagged about 2" in the center. Took out the car jack and lifted it out until it was level, reinforced the top with bracket supports, and presto, a sink counter top where the water did not run onto the floor. --- don't throw away those car jacks!!!
Marcello
You can also look at mcmaster.com. They have a big selection of drill rod, water, oil, or air hardening. They also have 3000+ pages of other stuff. We order 2-3 times/wk from them at work.
Cheers.
Bill
Any machinists supply shop and many machine shops carry drill rod in drill sizes from number drills to fractional drills. steel suppliers carry cold rolled steel rods in many sizes up to several inches in diameter'
Woodgraphs
I get mine from locally (Santa Ana, CA) from an industrial hardware store called McFadden Dale. I don't know if they're on the web though. Very handy place when dealing with machinery.John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking
Life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid - John Wayne
my car jack story-
my brother called one afternoon and told me his jeep cj5 had lost its u-joint- could i come pick him up? i remember clearly, "bring a pair of channel-locks, a grease gun, retainer ring pliers, a hammer and, um, oh yeah- your checkbook!"
anyway, we go get a new u-joint and bearings then we realize we have no vise or hydraulic press to put the bearings in with- whacking them with the hammer and a block only jostles the needle rollers out of their tracks. so i first pack the bearings with grease to hold the needles in place, and then put the jack under the rear bumper as a vise or press. it actually started lifting the vehicle a bit so we had to tap on the bumper a little with the hammer. in order to countersink them past the retainer ring grooves i put a stack of nickels on the bearings and jacked some more.
necessity is truly the mother of invention
m
I save all my bits and pieces of metal, at least for a while.
Sooner or later, I find a use for lots of them - just a few days after I throw them out!
Janet,
Can you afford to build an addition to your shop? You're sure to need one in the coming years.
I wouldn't dispose of the rods. I'd stow them in my newly built rod, tube and dowel rack. I'm forever experimenting with mixing iron and other materials into my woodwork. And in the process, I've learned how much I enjoy working with other materials. I've even made locks, catches and hinges for some of my work. Keep the rods. You'll find a use for them - or not. Throw them away and you'll find yourself at Home Depot buying some next week.
Enjoy your holidays.
John Gaiennie
Baton Rouge, La.
Hi,
The sad truth is ( in my experience with this sort of thing) you'll not find a use for these until you've thrown them out. I can set my watch to it, about 10 minutes after the recycler comes by I can't live without them!!
On the other hand if I save them I'll never use them or find them when I need them.
....sigh...
W
DWREAD,
You must have bought the 2hp dewalt router also. I saved the two rods for six months before I found the perfect use in a wood magazine. THE SCARY SHARPENING JIG....oh but don't be scaird. It is a sharpening jig for chisels and hand planes that utilizes two steel rods for adjusting the sharpening angle. It works great and is cheap too. Ill look up the article and post back if you are interested but I think it was in popular woodworking.
PS Throw nothing away, use your dining room for extra storage!hahaha
Bo
I'd like to see the reference to the sharpening-jig article. My spare Dewalt edge-guide rods have been rolling around on my junk- I mean work-bench for several months now :)
-pete
PeteM,
It was a special issue of Popular Woodworking, something like shop tips. Anyway I will look it up tonight. The article talks about using the jig and very little about how to build it but the illustration is self explanitory. I also built the chop saw stand on the cover and a small tool carosel (sp) in the same issue. All have been useful items.
Bo
Bo,
Yes, I do have the DeWalt 621 router, and I like it a lot.
I read somewhere that it can use Porter-Cable templates. Do you know anything about that?
Janet
Edited 12/30/2002 1:36:17 PM ET by DWREAD
Janet,
Sorry I can't help you there.:( But I did just buy a second router Fri. at Woodcrafters. I had been wanting one to put in the router table and leave it there. I bought a Porter Cable but I dont remember the model number.
Bo
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