On false economy: And ways to save money with three sanders
For this example, assume in your shop there's a belt sander that needs a 3/16 T handle hex wrench to make a tracking adjustment. We could buy a wrench just for use on this machine, or in the name of economy you could have only one hex wrench set in the whole shop, and everyone temporarily borrows the tool they need from the shop set. A 3/16 T handle hex wrench costs $ 1.72 (well, at the time this was written it did). You probably have a set of hex wrenches, and if you're lucky it's a complete set. Why isn’t it a complete set? At $1.72 each it’s so easy to order replacement wrenches to complete the set. This is best done from a well thumbed industrial supply catalog that a home shop owner can certainly get, but probably hasn’t yet. In any case, the shop will now have a complete set.
So you might think getting another wrench just to hang on the machine to make this required adjustment is overkill. But it's not - and here's why.
A machinist is paid, let's say, $10 an hour. Yes, that's really, really on the low side, but this is set low as a part of the example. If it was high you might think it didn’t apply to you - but it would, and does in both cases.
Let's say this machinist spends 5 minutes each working day just walking over to get this hex wrench from the set, and then putting it back when he's finished. We'll say the wrench never gets lost (ha!), never is so worn it doesn't work, and no one else is using it so he doesn't have to stand around waiting for the tool to be free, or someone else doesn't have to stand around waiting for him to finish with it. Ha, again. This isn't going to be true in the real world, but we'll continue our example as if it was.
Lets see what not having this tool by the machine costs in a month. We said the machinist spent 5 minutes over the course of each day just getting this tool. Five minutes times 22 working days in a month is about 1.8 hours. That's 1.8 hours of work lost in just one month doing nothing but getting a two dollar tool. Remember, we said this machinist is paid $10 an hour? I know, that’s low but that is intentional, this is a worst case analysis. His services are probably billed at 30 dollars an hour, more likely at $100 an hour, or better. In other words, he spent almost two hours of the month doing nothing but just getting this tool. Hello, that’s a $2 tool at best - less than that, really. 32 times 2 is $ 64, so let’s call that a modest loss of $36, not $64.
So, in just one month management lost at least 36 dollars (or more!) making the machinist get a 2 dollar tool. Sound like a good move to you?
Hey! Look at those numbers again. Management could buy a brand new hex wrench for this guy each month and still come out ahead. Of course they wouldn't have to. I would be surprised if in the real world the hex wrench didn't last for, say, a minimum of three years - probably it would last 10 years at least, but let’s pick on 3 years. It will probably last a bit longer, as you can grind off the worn end and get a fractionally shorter but ‘works like new’ tool right on the spot. But let’s say you don’t take advantage of this little feature of hex wrenches for whatever reason, you decide to only deal with brand new wrenches. Let's see, over 3 years, that’s 3 years times 12 months in a year times 18 dollars per month is 648 dollars, so by spending 2 dollars to get a tool just for dedicated use on one machine, management gets back over 600 dollars over 3 years. That's 2 dollars spent to get 600 dollars back - a very nice rate of return in anyone's book.
2 dollars out, 600 dollars back. Nice. Are you interested in any other such arrangements? Ok, so you now see how to invest a bit of money to get a lot more back over time. There are other ways as well to get money back.
By the way, careful use of a belt sander or bench grinder can ‘freshen’ or sharpen many tools. Problem is, most hobby shop owners don’t know how to care for a bench grinder or have never used a hollow ground screwdriver.
I always wanted one of those little wire bending jigs, but didn’t have a large need for one, or couldn't afford one at the time. Today I had a project that called for 1/8" stainless welding wire to be bent in different ways. Ok, time to add to my tool box.
I took a large old door hinge, pulled the pin and cut part of one end off so that the pin sticks out a bit. Then I cut some notches in the hinge body next to the end of the pin. Put one side of the hinge in the vise, and a vise grip on the other half as a temporary handle. Instant tool, but needs a bit of welding to be really effective. In any case the wire bends look great.
Ok, making a tool is another way to save money. By the way, one way to remind yourself what the tool is for is to leave a completed item in the jig. And you can attach a tag to the unit to name it and its functions. Oh, you are taking notes, too, right?
Keeping tools sharp
Here’s a lead in for the next suggestion - I use my 3/8" drill bit more than ALL other bits combined.
“So buy a couple of extra 3/8 drills for the shop!”
Right.
Knowledge of how to sharpen a drill bit by hand is free, a bit sharpener costs about $30, repairing a broken drill press a bit more, and replacing, not repairing, a worn out drill press - a lot more.
The best try square
I've heard pros say, "Get the best try square available." The best try square is very pretty, very flashy - and no more square than a cheap one, if the cheap one has been tuned.
I know my average try square is just as good as the best try square available. You really should still have to check your squares for really being square every time you use them. And you have to know how to correct a square that’s not square, don‘t you? Precise and controlled ball pean hammer blows to the elbow is how, but I can’t go over everything and still bring this article to a close.
Small items should not hold you up. If you’re working at home get about 2 dozen pencils and sharpen them. Then scatter them all over your work room so you can always find one when you need it. A half-dozen pencil sharpeners should be done the same way, they’re cheap. And while you’re at the store, get some black felt tip markers, some acid brushes, a broom or two, and some dustpans. The same with some #2 Phillips (crosstip) screwdrivers.
Alcohol and acetone really are tools for the shop. You know what’s missing? A chemical tool box. If nothing else it gives you a place to collect all the shop chemicals in one place.
Making and using substitute tools
Learn to use substitute tools. The best way to make a small fortune in woodworking is to start with a large fortune. I've heard too often, "I can't make that project because I don't own a <blank> tool." Pros make tenons with a band saw, a table saw, a router, a hand saw, and chisels. Every tool that we have today has a non-electric counterpart from 200 years ago (or more). There is nothing that can be done in a modern shop that could not have been done 200 years ago. True, we can do it faster now, but they could have done it, too.
This does not mean that furniture made with hand tools has to look like it came from a cave man‘s shop. One of the greatest tragedies would be to take a novice and give him a shop like Norm Abrams TV show shop. That novice might learn the tools, but would never learn to work wood. Start with hand tools and pine wood as stock.
If you use yellow pine (not something I advocate for fine furniture) you’ll learn that the sap creates hard spots that will cause your tool to track - how do you counter it? The pros like working with mahogany, white oak, and cherry....but they don't pay for their wood - or the replacement piece if they make a mistake.
Don't get too wrapped up with having plans that call for measuring to 1/64". The furniture crafters from the last 500 years had to study as apprentices for an average of 7 years for a reason. They had to learn to care for the tools, but also how to see the finished product in their mind from the beginning. The old joke about the stone cutter who had chiseled a statue from a block of marble has more truth in it than we like to admit - "I just started with a block of stone and cut away everything that didn't look like an elephant." Look at a piece of work (furniture, knick-knack, whatever) that you like and study it to find out WHY you like it. The legs curve and taper, but how much do they curve, and at what point?
Back to belt sanders
One belt sander is all I need, you may say. After all, it only takes a few seconds to change the belt. . . . where have I heard that before? Oh, and how long does it take to change the sanding disk? Much longer, right? As that is a permanent change and not just a quick swap, chances are it doesn‘t get done. This is another example of money getting away without your noticing.
Still using only one belt sander in the shop? If that one tool dies, your production doesn’t just slow down, it stops dead in the water - has to, as your only sander is gone. Now you have to order a new belt sander, and hope that It’s in halfway decent shape when it arrives because you’re way behind and you have no time to tune it. You do know how to tune a belt sander, right? I do. Because I spent some time reworking mine until the cheap machine preformed like a much higher priced one.
While we’re on the topic of belt sanders, I have a 1 by 30 band sander. It’s even cheaper than the 4 by 36 belt sander. Not the same configuration, of course So why have it in the shop at all? Because the narrower belt can get into places the 4 inch belt can’t. Yes, I can mount a narrow belt on the 4 inch sander, but that doesn’t change the machine’s configuration. I use it for a somewhat different part of the job, and it works fine for that.
Take your 4 inch hand held grinder and remove the part of the sander that the belt rubbing on has shown to be excess. Now the belt will quickly slip on and off, and not be not fouled each time by going over projecting tabs.
Now, with a three belt sander shop, in times of need you can speed up production by putting an operator on each machine. Opps, can’t do that in a one sander shop, can you?
In a three belt sander shop you can still have a single machine die, of course. But now, with three machines on the line, a lose of one means output only drops to 60%, not zero. You’re not running at full speed, true, but you are still moving. Which is better then totally stuck, right?
Now, with a three belt sander shop you can speed up production by putting an operator on each machine, yet not waste a single operator‘s time when things are slow, and he‘s the only person in the shop.
And in a three belt sander shop there is yet another trick possible. Need another reason to buy into a three sander shop? Often people use the small hollow in the belt right behind the front roller to help shape the item - well, why does that have to be a small hollow? Right, get a drill press to drill a series of small almost touching holes in the shape of a “U’ on the top. Carefully done, this should give you a more flexible machine.
So, now knowing all this, WHY do you still have only one belt sander? Right, we’re back to the 2$ wrench again. You now know there is a bit of a bonus to a three sander shop. Several, really. So start watching the Harbor Freight adds for the next sale, and jump on it!
Other tool savings Wooden yard sticks vs. metal yard sticks
Chances are, if you have a wooden yard stick in your shop it’s got advertising on it. In other words, it’s an advertising giveaway. Now, there’s nothing wrong with advertising, but the item itself is, well, less than top notch.
Much less.
Let’s face it, few wooden yard sticks ever made are straight. Or stays straight (the wood warps). But you use it as if it’s straight, which is really a joke because you just agreed it’s not straight - and you can check that. And yes, it can be straightened, but is the item worth the time and energy to straighten it? And once you do, will it stay straight? Probably not, wood warps. So why brother with a wooden adverting yard stick as a tool in your shop?
Think about it. Really, what good is a yardstick that’s not straight?. The only possible use for a wooden adverting yard stick is as an arm for a long reach compass. Or maybe stirring some paint. Or as a plant holder, but I have no plants in my shop. That’s it. So, get several metal yardsticks.
Now that I have gotten you off wooden yardsticks, please, don’t try to get by with just one yardstick in the shop. Yardsticks are cheap, and all shops can afford to have more than one. Ok, back to the first example, which you should know by heart by now. The operator spends 5 minutes each working day just getting this tool, and then putting it back when he's finished. Again, we'll say the tool never gets lost or misplaced (ha!), and never is there it someone else using it so he doesn't have to stand around waiting for the tool to be free, or someone else doesn't have to stand around waiting for him to finish with it. Ha, again. You know isn't going to be true in the real world, but we'll going to try for the prize given to the one-ruler shop. . . What do you mean, there isn‘t one? Oh. My bad. Or in this case, your bad. Because you’re spending all that time and energy following a non straight line, and in the end, being stuck with a completed project made of lines that are just not straight. Ouch. And you know why they are not straight, don‘t you?
On electric hand drills
There is a similar opportunity for cost effectiveness, this time with an electric drill. All of this started when I saw a ‘no minimum bit electric drill’ being sold on eBay. So, knowing that this was a bit of a gamble, but wanting to see what would happen, I went ahead and placed a $1 bid on it - and won! And lost when the tool, well, item arrived at the shop. Yes, it came with a chuck key.
I didn’t know how much of a mistake that bid was at the time. Hint : when it says ”Other” as the name of the tool manufacturer, read “Don’t buy - Real Junk here”.
There is no way this cheap drill will ever tackle a full power job -yes, it‘s that cheap. But I have found a use for it - I leave the right size drill in it to do nothing but drill holes for #4 wood screws in wood, a step in my bellows making. That is a ‘almost nothing’ job, of course, but the el-cheapo drill can handle that. This means I can leave the right drill chucked in it and my good 3/8 inch variable speed reversible drill is going to be free for other jobs, not tied up with a nothing task.
If someone grabs it for any kind of normal use job, that will cause it to burn out (no, I’m NOT kidding - it‘s that bad). So the drill becomes a kind of lighting rod to ward off tool borrowers.
Original text by user:DaveSmith