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10 Great Workbench Upgrades | Family Handyman

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Family Handyman

Simplest Support for Long Boards

Have you ever needed to hold a long board or door on edge to work on it but struggled to find a good method? If you have a woodworker’s vise, adding this board jack is an easy solution. The board jack shown hooks onto the beveled support strip and slides along it to adjust for the length of the workpiece. The 3/4-in. dowel adjusts up and down to accommodate different widths.

Start by ripping a 45-degree angle on a 1×3 board or strip of plywood. Screw the strip to the front of your workbench. Then build a board jack like the one shown. Drill 3/4-in. holes every 6 in. and insert a 4-in. dowel in the hole to support your work. Adjust the length of the standoff to hold the board jack plumb on your workbench.

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Miter Saw Waste

Senior Editor Travis Larson’s waste-management ingenuity really shows up at his miter saw station. ‘I always had this huge pile of cutoff scraps on the table next to my miter saw. So when I rebuilt the miter saw table, I incorporated a drop hole right next to the saw.’ Directly below the hole is a recycling bin resting on a rollout shelf. When the bin fills up, it’s off to the burn pile. ‘When designing my shop’s layout, I decided to keep everything stowed, like gear on a sailboat. Everything has a home, whether in a drawer or cabinet. It really makes things run a lot smoother.’

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