Recycled Brush Holder

When using oil finishes, I like to keep my brush immersed in thinner until I'm finished with the project.

Problem is, if you stand the brush up in a can or jar, you'll eventually ruin your brush with permanently curled bristles.

One way to keep bristles in like-new condition is to temporarily store your brushes in baby wipe plastic containers. The lids already have an expansion hole in the top, which makes it easy to insert the brush handle.

With the lid in place, the brush stays suspended and the thinner doesn't evaporate as quickly as it would in an open jar.

Putty Trick

When filling nail holes with putty, I sometimes smear the putty around without too much thought. This can cause problems if the putty is lighter than the wood around it, resulting in large ugly blotches (instead of tiny nail-sized spots). Fortunately, I found a better way to fill the holes with less mess.

Before picking up the hammer, I apply a strip of masking tape over the area where I'm going to set the nails. Then I nail and recess the heads as normal. 

When I fill the nail holes, the putty goes in the holes and never touches the surrounding wood. After I remove the tape, I simply sand the small bump of putty that remains.

Power Stir Stick

Here's a quick and easy way to thoroughly mix a can of paint that's been sitting in your shop for awhile.

Simply cut a piece out of a plastic coat hanger and chuck it in your power drill, see photo. You'll find it mixes the paint quicker and more thoroughly than stirring by hand.

When you're done mixing, just open the chuck and let the hanger drop in the trash.

Glue Brush Tip

I like to use a small acid brush to apply glue to my projects. Problem is that I never know what to do with my brush between applying coats. It always seems to end up on my workbench, leaving a sticky mess.

To solve this problem, I converted a standard-size baby jar lid into a brush holder.

The lid keeps my brush off the bench surface while I'm working.

And when I'm finished, I simply leave the brush in the lid and screw it back onto the jar. It's a great way to store the glue until it's time for my next project.

Finishing Wood Plugs

Whenever I use wood plugs, I like to stain or finish them before adding them to my project. Problem is, they’re so small it’s difficult to hold on to them. Plus, I usually end up with stain on my hands and fingers. To make things easier, I came up with this simple trick.

Take a piece of masking tape and push a row of thumbtacks into the sticky side of the tape. Then place the tape down on a piece of scrap wood, with the point of the thumbtacks facing up. Now push your wood plugs onto the thumbtacks, just enough to keep them steady while you apply the stain or finish.

When the plugs are dry, simply pull up the tape and remove the plugs.

Finishing Shelves

Finishing shelves can be a time-con-suming task. Once you’ve applied the finish to one side of the shelf, you have to wait for it to dry before turning the shelf over to finish the other side.

While working on a project with a lot of shelves, I came up with a simple solution. I screw some narrow strips of wood to the back edge of the shelf to act as temporary "feet", as you can see in the drawing.

Then I stand the shelf up while applying finish to both sides. Once the finish is dry, I simply remove the feet. Don't worry about the screw holes.

They're aren’t visible since they are on the back edge of the shelf.

Finishing Easel

Applying a finish to something lying on a sawhorse can be a pain, literally. To ease the strain on my back and make the work less tiring, I built an adjustable "easel" that rests on a sawhorse. Now I can work at a more comfortable height.

Finishing Dowels

Once I designed a project that included quite a few dowels. I really didn't give the dowels too much thought — that is until I had to stain and finish them. I soon found out that finishing dowels with a brush can be extremely time consuming and tedious. Plus, it's easy to miss spots around the sides of the dowel.

After a bit of experimenting, I came up with a quick fix that made the job go a lot quicker. I simply taped a couple of foam brushes together, as shown in the photo. The double-edge completely covers one side of the dowel in one stroke. Another stroke down the other side and I'm on to the next dowel.

Drying Rack for Shelves

Finishing shelves can be awkward and time consuming, especially if you need a finish on both the top and bottom surfaces of a shelf. For most of us, this means letting one side dry completely before we can start on the other side. To make things go a little quicker, I built this drying rack that lets me hang the shelves vertically so the entire shelf can be finished in one shot. It only takes a few minutes to build.

First create the side rails by drilling a series of 1"-dia. holes down the center of a scrap board. I used a piece of 2x4 stock. Space the holes about four inches apart. Then rip the board, cutting through the center of the holes, to create a left and right rail, see below.

Now join the rails with a cross brace across the top, as shown in the drawing at right. Size the length of your cross brace according to the length of the shelves you will be finishing.

Next, partially drive a small nail or screw into each end of the shelf, somewhere near the back. Now simply hang the shelves from the half circles you created in the rails. With the rack leaning against a wall, you can finish and hang several shelves at the same time without taking up a lot of space.

Clean-Up Can

I like using a spray gun for finishing. It produces a smooth, even finish in a fraction of the time it takes using a brush. The only downside is the clean up. It's messy and time consuming, especially when you're spraying a solvent-based finish. Plus, the fumes can be dangerous.

To simplify the clean up, I made a special clean-up can out of an old 3-lb. coffee can and a cabinet handle. Simply cut a hole in the plastic lid for the end of your spray nozzle. Then fill the can with rags or paper towels to absorb the finish and thinner that's sprayed out when cleaning the gun.

Note: Be sure to take the rags out of the can and let them air dry in a well-ventilated area before you dispose of them.

Applying Veneer

A piece of veneer with swirling grain can turn a project into something special. But getting the piece centered on the panel can be difficult. Here's a trick that makes the job easier.

First, cut a cardboard mask the same size as the panel you want to cover, and then find the bestlooking area from a sheet of veneer. Trim the veneer to rough size and apply a coat of contact cement.

Before attaching the veneer to the panel, place a piece of waxed paper between the two pieces, see Fig. 1. This allows you to move the veneer around and position it before it's permanently attached.

Once you have the veneer positioned where you want it, slowly pull the wax paper out while applying pressure from a roller.


Finally, trim the edges of the veneer by turning the panel upside down and running a razor knife along the edges, see in Fig. 2.