I have a problem which, admittedly, is a good problem to have. After a few years of woodworking (and thoughtful gifts from family and friends), I’ve got more than one router. The problem comes up when I reach for wrenches. Since the routers aren’t all the same brand, the wrenches aren’t interchangeable. Seems like I always grab the wrong one first.
Paint pens provided a perfect prescription for problem solving. The pen looks like a felt tip, but instead of ink, it writes with paint. I haven’t found a surface yet that the paint won’t stick to, and it’s permanent. The pens, about $3 each, are available in a variety of colors so you can make sure the color you use is visible on the surface you’re writing on. I bought my pens in the paint department of a home center.
Outside of keeping my wrenches straight, I’ve also found that the paint pens are a good way to identify my tools – so my tool borrowing, woodworking buddy knows to bring them back when he’s done.
Photos By Trent Johnson, a registered member of the WWGOA.
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Great tip for paint pens; I will surely use it, but I have a serious question on dado sets. I have a table saw for dado but it will not hold my whole dado set. How much thread should I have to secure my nut and can I extend that stud for my saw?
Hi Robert. You should check the manual or refer to the manufacturer as to what the maximum size dado the saw will support. You should see threads behind the nut. I would discourage you from trying to modify or extend the arbor to accommodate a larger dado. Having a nut loosen and a dado come off the saw during operation would be a terrifying event.