Comments on: Quiz: Are You a Cheapskate Woodworker??!!

By: dpocius

dpocius — Sun, 31 May 2009 23:12:23 +0000

Tearing down an old shed, I ended up with a bunch of odd-sized 1/2″ plywood that should have rightly been trashed. It was horribly weathered and quite warped in spots. I figured out that I could cut it into 12″ wide strips and laminate it into 1″ thick shelves of any length. I used subfloor construction glue (the stuff in the big caulking tubes) to laminate the layers and used 3/4″ drywall screws at the piece ends and plenty of rocks and concrete blocks to flatten the stack while drying. The trick is to overlap the joints between sections in the middle of the piece on the other side. The shelves are really strong and almost free, after a coat of leftover primer and house paint I wouldn’t use on my house.

To complete the cheap shelves, I used those folded sheet-metal triple-shelf brackets you used to see at all the big-box home stores years ago. I had to order them online from Ace Hardware, but at a dollar per support, they’re the cheapest thing going, and again, quite strong, even on 32″ centers. Now I have a 6 shelf 1′ wide by 14′ long floor-to-ceiling storage wall in the garage for perhaps 50 bucks.

By: toolcrib

toolcrib — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 21:43:20 +0000

I was able to get all three results when I just now tested the quiz… I did weight the quiz towards frugal when I made it because I think most folks are frugal rather than truly cheapskates…

Here’s a cheapskate:
http://stusshed.wordpress.com/2008/08/19/cheapskate-woodworker-quiz/

By: toolcrib

toolcrib — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 21:36:50 +0000

Hey Brew – it’s not rigged deliberately. If it’s returning the same results then it could be we have some problems with the quiz application (which we’re still perfecting). I will check into it.

You *should* be able to manipulate the results by selecting the answers that suggest one of three results. Frugal’s the middle one.

Again, I’ll take a look.

By: Brew

Brew — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 18:23:27 +0000

This quiz is rigged. No matter how you answer the questions you get the same answer. I took it normally, then tried the “least frugal” answers, and last the most frugal, and each time it had the same results.

Brew

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:59:49 +0000

Like Jim, I save sawdust to make filler. I have a bag from a deck I made years ago, I don’t even live at that house anymore! I packed up the bag of sawdust and it moved with the shop.

By: Jim

Jim — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 01:31:10 +0000

I admit I even save the fine sawdust from the orbital sander collection bag – might need to make filler out of it!

By: Obi

Obi — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:42:11 +0000

To everything there is a purpose… Ecc 3:1

people who throw away wood have no vision for the smaller things that too have their place in the world.

I was stopping at 3/4″ x 3/4″ x 12″ until i bought a dowel maker now anything 3/8″ square can be a dowel.

And then i started saving the thin strips of leftover wood for pinstriping laminates…

there is no waste. And the router lumps make firestarter

By: toolcrib

toolcrib — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:56:47 +0000

Yup – definitely a cheapskate.

This quote’s goin’ in the newsletter ;)

Thanks for stopping by.

By: Heck yeah I'm a cheapskate woodworker!

Heck yeah I'm a cheapskate woodworker! — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 21:48:46 +0000

I once made an entire workbench from dunnage. It took about 6 months because we only got one delivery a week with about 2 or 3 ratty 2×4’s as dunnage. Slather them with glue, shoot them in with a zillion nails and before you know it, you’ve got a 3-1/2 in thick workbench top that weighs a ton and takes a beating, fer nearly nothing!