Woodworker's Journal 2011-35-Winter, страница 74

Tricks Of The Trade

Brush Cleaning Canister

Here's a very easy way to keep your finishing brush suspended in a cleaning or thinning solution. Just wash out an empty plastic hand wipes container with a feed-through lid. Pop off the top and fill it with solvent, then push the brush handle through the hole in the lid. The "fingers" around the hole will hold the handle firmly so the bristles won't rest on the bottom. It makes brush cleaning easy and self-contained.

Rosin Up That Workbench

A good workbench should last a lifetime, so it's worth the effort to keep it clean. Here's how one reader protects his bench during finishing and glue-ups. Years ago, he bought a roll of pink rosin underlayment paper from a home center. You can find it in the flooring section. It's quite water-resistant and provides a good barrier to glue, paint, stain and varnish. He lays two short pieces side by side and tapes them down to the bench. If the paper is still in good shape when he's through, he saves it for the next messy job. A roll of rosin paper is cheap, and he says it seems to last him forever.

The hand wipes container comes with a hole pre-installed, and it's perfect for holding your favorite paintbrush.

Apply Wipe-on Poly With Cotton Pads in Pantyhose

One reader discovered a much better applicator than balled-up cotton rags for applying wipe-on polyurethane. All you need are a few circular make-up remover pads and some old knee-high pantyhose. Slip two or three of these cotton pads inside the stocking and wrap up the excess. The cotton accepts a good charge of poly that's still easy to control, and the pantyhose keeps the cotton fibers out of the finish coat. It also lays down a nice, level coating without streaks.

Tack Cloth Substitute

If you always seem to run out of tack cloths in the middle of a finishing job, one reader tells us he borrowed his wife's disposable cluster refills in a moment of desperation. To his surprise, these soft pads remove sanding dust just as effectively as regular tack cloths do — and they're much cheaper to buy. They also leave no residue behind.

74 Tricks Of The Trade