# Workshop helpers: Crosscut jig, glue bottle & shop trolley.



## Howie (2 Mar 2014)

Hi
I have just spent a reasonably productive weekend in the shop and thought that I would post up a few things that I find useful in my workshop.

*First up is my Crosscut Buddy jig.*
I have found that since getting my Festool TS55 track saw and guide rails last year my table saw is being used less and less. The ease of use, relative safety and accuracy of the Festool system has me reaching for it regularly throughout the day. However trying to achieve a consistent 90 degree crosscut was a bit hit and miss without a MFT table and dogs. So until I have enough readies to get the MFT I came up with this solution to produce consistently perfect 90 degree crosscuts. It was made entirely out of bits I had around the shop.
Pretty simple to make and I think the pictures will explain it. Idea is not original at all, just is cheap and works for me.













Here is a picture of my home made boom arm for the TS55 and midi vac. Once again practically zero cost apart for the castors which were about £15 from Toolstation.





*Next up is the glue bottle.*
I like to use the evostik wood glue as it sticks pretty quick which reduces clamping time and is readily available from shops local to me. I mostly make pretty big stuff so the sooner I can get it off the assembly table the better. However the evostik bottles suck, you get pretty tired trying to squeeze out a few meters of glue and the nozzle clogs up too. I nabbed one of SWMBO's empty bottles that had something that prolongs her beauty in it and thought it could be a great glue bottle for two reasons:
1/ it had a flat top, so it could be placed upside down which meant no waiting for the glue to run down to the nozzle.
2/ it has one of those little "sphincter" type holes that opens when the bottle is squeezed and then pinches closed which means the glue never dries in the nozzle.
The only negative is it can sometimes be a little difficult to get the glue exactly where you want it as it does not have a pointy nozzle. With practice you can be reasonable accurate. I am eyeing up the Frenches yellow mustard bottle in the pantry as it has a "sphincter" and a pointy nozzle.









*Shop trolley*
This a simple tray I have put onto a plastic drawer unit on castors. I keep it next to my assembly table and try to put my bits and pieces on it instead of the assembly table. This keeps my work surface clear and helps me to keep track of the tools I need to hand. Once again zero cost!





Also on another note:
In the past I have put up workshop tours and had a few comments about how clean and tidy my workshop was. Usually sarcastic.  
workshop-tour-warning-clean-shop-may-cause-offence-to-some-t77204.html
So here are a few pictures of it in action. Still not untidy, but being used!













Howie


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## mb233 (15 Apr 2014)

Thanks for posting these. I'm getting a ts55 soon & am planning a similar crosscut jig & vac trolley, & there's lots of great useful ideas here: the rail storage, sliding toggle clamp, trays on top of rolling tool carts, boom arm with vac & saw (I'm really going to need a boom arm having already experienced what it's like to wrestle festool's green python).

So is your midi vac inside the boom-arm cart, sitting on top of the drawers?


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## Silverbirch (19 Apr 2014)

Some neat ideas there. Good stuff!

Nice tidy workshop too! :wink: 

Ian


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