Telltail Locations

 Add enough and your sails will look like something from a wind tunnel lab. Yes, you can do well through experience and looking at the shape of the cloth, but they do remove some of the guesswork from sail trim. I've been doing this for over 40 years and I still appreciate a full set.

 The main leach tell tales can suck around behind the sail intermittently at the top when trimmed for peak power. The jib telltails should never suck back. Jib stall is worse than main stall since it will reduce the flow over the main.

 The  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tying Up a Wide Boat

 Tying up a wide boat can be complicated. I can only reach one piling from the dock.  The slip does not fit the boat.Currently, I use the black lines in the illustration, but as my legs get old I wish I could tie it nearer to the dock (a big step). But I must tie it well off to allow for tides.

I'm considering putting a pulley or low friction ring on the port bow line piling and lead the tail back to a cleat on the dock so I can adjust it from there. But I worry about chafe. The strong winds and wakes come from aft, so I can probably just keep an eye on it.

Gulls and Halyards

 Some attest they love the sound of gulls. It reminds them where they are. I think they havn't been around the water long enough to get sick of the screaming vandals. All the noise tells me is that I'm in a messy harbor. The Little Mermaid had it right.

"Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine ...."

As for halyards, I have no problem with stepping on an unoccupied boat and tying them off. They left a nuisance behind, so they have no reasonable expectation that someone board to fix it. When they see it tied off they might learn from that. 

[Once 40 years ago someone tied mine off. When I came back I saw the string and I was immediately chastened. It never happened again, not because I'm a great guy, but because it was an embarrassing lesson I didn't want to repeat.] 

 

Line Hangers

Whether halyard tails or docklines, sailors always have ropes to hang. A few ideas. Bags are good to, when there is room (the lines will grow more algae in a bag).

 Button Line Holders from United Yacht Manufacturing are my favorites for halyard tails. Easy to adjust or replace the string. Nothing snags on them. Comfortable to lean against.

 

 

For dock lines and other spares, I like these DIY aluminum non-snagging holders installed in a locker. I can hang multiple lines on one hook by slinging the coils. I've used them on several boats without a failure. Strong and light.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Non-Sailing Projects

 I'm kind of out of boat projects, so I've been welding up stuff. With the exception of some of the rebar, everything is recycled from scrap.

 

 One of my first efforts. Simple.

A representation of my F-24, sailing the lawn. The sail trim is sharp but it doesn't float well. Too many leaks.

Glasswing Butterfly mobile. The lilly pads (helium cylinder ends) under it will get bright metal flowers soon. Repurposed anchor chain, of course.
 

The planter was welded from old bedframes.

The head is an old worn-out weld chipping hammer head.

Steady rest, also mostly bed frame steel. Very stiff.

Rolling kayak rack. This makes loading it onto the car much easier, and rolling it away easier and neater. Bed frame, straps from old PFDs, and casters from Amazon.

If you have a portable metal band saw you NEED to make a stand/base for it. I use it 20 times as much now. Many examples on-line, and you can buy them for newer saws. I had to make this one, because the saw is older. Even a little table makes cutting parts and backing plates so easy and far more accurate.

The saw just lifts out of the base. A few screws take the table off, leaving the stock rest in place for hand-held use. But I've never taken it off the stand.

 For cutting long material, I have several adjustable stands, similar to those used to support long work on a able saw.  One was made from bed frames. The other is a photo light stand for which I fabricated multiple heads, either for support or for work lights.

 

I had this piece of glass, so I made this end table for our front porch. Bed frame.

 

More stuff that I have given away. More to come. Once you get the hang of it, welding open many fun possibilities. I have quite a few bits of tooling for my lathes (wood and metal) that involved both machining and welding--machining is subtractive and welding is additive--combining them results in great flexibility in fabrication.  

 

 

 

Tramp Lacing Knobs

 After 30 years the original knobs are breaking down. A few days ago a line tried to jump off. Time for replacement. The tramps are good and the line OK (replace in a 1-2 years?), but the knobs are toast.

 

 

The knob in the foreground is missing chunks. Behind is a portion of the 46 replacements I turned. 

 

I could have bought them, but I had something a little different in mind. The replacements are twice as strong and should outlast the boat. The screw is recessed.  There is non-skid on the top.

 

So I turned them from 1/2-inch HDPE on my metal lathe. The first few took an hour, figuring out the measurements, materials, and machining a mandrel. But after that I was down to about 3 minutes each. Not a bad way to spend a few hours.

 

 

 

 

Blanks were cut from 1/2-inch HDPE sheet using a hole saw with a 3/16-inch center bit fitted (1/4-inch is standard). They were then turned on a mandrel, and the hole countersunk on the drill press. Assembly line.

 

 Installing them was another matter. Most of the screws were seized and grabbing round heads with Vice Grips is a pain. But the end result was pretty.

 

 

 

Snubber Design

 How can we get more stretch from a bridle?

 More length. Yes, but there will also be losses from friction. In the left center (below) illustration the stretch would be 5 feet in 50 feet, given the assumptions about line size and stretch, but it is only 4.5 feet because some force is subtracted by friction over the bow.

Double around a low friction ring (left illustration). The problem here is that we lose a lot of tension going around the ring. They are only 70-75% efficient in a 90 degree bend (testing). Stretch goes down to 3 feet and a new chafe point is introduced. What if we use a thinner line (center right illustration) to increase stretch? The safety factor stays the same and stretch goes up to 3.4 feet.  The only way the doubly method comes even close is by using pulleys, and it is still less efficient.

What about energy absorbed by friction? Yes, that is valid, but work is still force through a distance and the damping distance is still reduced. The same effect would be had by using one size larger rope, and without the chafe risk.

 In fact, there is fourth case, (left), where the stretch increases to 8.4 feet, using a 0.5:1 purchase. In stead of rigging the bow as a 2:1 purchase, a line runs forward, but on the side deck a reverse purchase is rigged, so that the forward line moves twice as far as the side line stretches. Complicated, though.

 

 

Shore Power

 A boat a few marinas down burned up a few weeks ago. The cause is not clear, but bad shore power is suspected.

 There really should be a marine code for 15 amp shore power, but there isn't, so things like this are too common. Oh dear. 

 Strain relief. The ring is missing, the cord is not looped around the pedestal, and the plug is tortured when a storm comes. But the owner isn't around the boat on windy days. It's a locking plug, right?

Not marine 30 amp shore power, but there are in-use covers, GFI, and strain relief. And all they are running is a battery charger and a bilge pump.

 

Making Your Own Parts

 I needed a winch feeder block so that I could cross sheet for certain operations. Specifically, reefing on port tack requires two operations on one winch.

 I had a large low friction ring I didn't need. I had some 1-inch thick HDPE sheet. I have a metal lathe.  

 Works perfectly, VERY high load. The HDPE was turned to make a top, bottom, and core for the LFR to run on. The oversized LFR allows for a wide range of in and out angles, and the large core provides friction as low as ball bearings. he full story is in Practical sailor.  

 

 

This could be made on a 3-D printer. For me, the lathe was faster and I could use solid HDPE. A printer would be faster if you were making more than one.

 

I need more boat machining projects.

 

Why Did I Sell My PDQ, Why Am I Downsizing?

This was a while ago (about 7 years), but I never posted it. 

 

November 2020 

I've been asked this question dozens of times by friends, family members, and fellow sailors.  And although I was certain sometime ago it was the right thing to do, it took me a long time to understand and get comfortable with the reasons. It's many things, of course. So will apply to other people, some only to me, I supose:

Kids Grown

• My daughter is finishing grad school, so we just don't do the same family and friends cruising that we started when she was about 8.
• I've done the cruising I wanted to do with that boat. Been everyplace I like multiple times.

Down Sizing

• Financial. There is a small money aspect, but it's not about cash flow. First, I really hate waste (read "Keeping a Cruising Boat for Pennies") and I didn't feel like I would be using the boat enough. I like the idea of house, car, and well, life that fits my actual needs. Nothing excess or superfluous.

Simplify

The Need to Keep Learning

• I'm not learning anymore from the boat. Handling the boat has become as familiar as pulling on my shoes, and it is the learning process I enjoy. That is why I am always testing things.
• I've tweaked this boat as far as I want to. I like to study a boat and then decide how to upgrade her in subtle ways, always endeavoring to maintain a factory look and feel. Nothing should look pasted on and the changes should work with the original design (which in the case of the PDQ 32 is pretty darn good). Though I could probably point out 100 small changes, the most important ones were revised settee bunks, winterization fittings, inside genoa tracks, Heat, AC, modified keels, and 2' transom extensions. A lot of this is on my blog, but some has also been reserved for Practical Sailor or Good Old Boat. If you want to tweak a boat sensibly, you should subscribe to both of these. They both good search functions, particularly PS.

My Sports Car

• I like the feel of the wind. I like a boat that tacks on a dime and that one person can throw about in tight harbors. A bicycle will always be more fun to drive than a Winnebago. You only need the Winnebago when you are cruising; for a day sail it feel ridiculous.

I am in no way satisfied with the PDQ 32 and Shoal Survivor specifically. If I wanted a cruising cat for where and how I sail, I would be looking to buy exactly this boat. She's fast, durable, roomy, seaworthy in a blow, and easy to singlehand. She's tweaked exactly the way I want her. I don't think there is another cruising cat that would make me happier, and I'm including some pretty fancy rides. I trust her to go anywhere, any time.

I will be getting another boat and soon. It will back to my performance multihull roots. I see myself a little bit as the older Englishman in the flat hat and the open top sports car. I sold my SUV and bought a Mazda 3 (zoom). The focus will be daysailing with a few solo overnights. Yup, I'll tweaking it. Speed will be one thing, but this time I will be more interested in nimble handling for the singlehander. I want something "fun." Unfortunately, this means giving up a meaningful cabin and (gasp) a real toilet. Damn. I've got a dry suit for winter.

------

I have no intention of leaving this forum. I have too many friends here. I will maintain my blog. After all, it started when I have Stiletto 27. I will maintain some PDQ stuff like the Word version of the owner's manual. But the way I see it, a new boat should help invigorate my writing, opening up some new topics. An who knows. In 10 years I might be looking for a PDQ again. Sailing is sailing.

But I'm not going to be one of those sad sailors that has a boat at the dock that doesn't get used but a few times a year. If I'm not sailing her every week or two, year round, it's time for someone else to love her and for me to find another boat to love. I could never stand to see a boat just sit.

I thought the PDQ was going to be my retirement boat. I really did. Good quality and would do everything I wanted. However, I have owned three boats, each for 10 years, and I think I think that is simply my nature. Thankfully, I do not feel that way about my wife, which is my constant.

Grok Goes on a Rant

(From "Stranger in a Strange Land" by Robert Heinlein, for those of you that are young or do not read science fiction. A Martian word that means I understand you deeply.)

 

xAI has apologized for Grok's "horrific behavior" and said that new instructions caused the AI chatbot to prioritize engagement, even if that meant reflecting "extremist views" from user posts on X.

 Put more simply, the AI is dumb enough to read from social media and believe it. And so are people.

 I'm scared for what social media can do to society. Maybe I'm part of that too. Read Socrates: learn to question everything, to look at everything from several perspectives, to evaluated things for yourself, and finally to recognize that virtue, morals, and even "truth" change with time. Not as easy as listening to sound bites, is it?

2:1 Main Halyard

 Thirty years ago, when I had a Stiletto 27, I switched from a wire/rope halyard to a 2:1 high modulous line halyard. Part of the reason was a wonky shoulder, the same one that is flaring up now. Both the Stiletto and my current F-24 MK1 have bolt rope-in-slot luffs, which can be high friction for the size of the sail. It's a new sail and moves as smoothly as any I have seen, so that is not the problem. 

I'm not sure how much clearance there is between the fully hoisted sail and the masthead. Some, because it tension well with a winch. But I need to hoist and probably look from down the dock with a spotting scope.

 These  images give me an idea of the other clearances.

• There seems to be enough fore-aft offset  between the pulley pin and the pin the topping lift is secured to for the dead end of the 2:1 halyard. My blue ladder is hanging from the main halyard (red), so it looks to be a good 1.5 inches forward of the pin. If I knot the halyard to the pin, the knot will not contact the sheave attached to the head of the sail. But I will need a low-profile sheave stack. I might just lash a large LFR to the head grommet, pretty slippery with Dyneema, low profile, light, and no chafe points.
• There are some sharp spots cause by a shackle hitting the masthead I should do something with. But they have not chafed my current halyard, so probably not a big problem. 

 

 I'm thinking 8 mm NER Viper with a stripped (about 6 mm) last 25-30 feet is the proper rope. The current halyard is10 mm polyester DB.

Hero Life Jackets

 Yeah, I know it is PFD in the us.

 

I very nearly never wear a PFD sailing. It's hard to fall off a multi-hull and it's easy to rig jacklines and tethers that will keep you inside the lifelines. 

Whitewater kayaking, or open water paddling, yes. Beach cat and dinghy sailing, yes. But I don't wear the common inflatables. I wear either a whitewater-specific PFD or a Hero Waterwear inflatable. What you do not want is:

• Auto-inflatable. If it inflates while you are under the boat you will not be able to swim out. This has happened too many times. They also snag on everything when inflated.
• A jacket with gadgets attached. A light. A PLB. A radio. They will snag on ropes, and much worse, lines when the boat flips. You want something clean and simple, with no snag points.

 I was asked to test a HERO some years ago, and it has become a favorite. It's comfortable, better than a fixed PFD. Unlike an inflatable, it is not a snag machine when inflated. In fact, it is the smoothest, least snag-prone jacket I have ever found. It is just as effective (turning and flotaion) as standard inflatable PFDs.

 

Not in the way paddling. 

 

Pops you right up, even if starting with an intentional inverted kayak capsize. It contains some foam, so it can be worn on manual and will still provide some flotation.

 

Easy to deflate.  Standard oral inflation, backed up by foam, should you go in more than once in a day (which kayaking and dinghy racing are not that unlikely).

 My one recommendation is to pre-wet it on really hot days. The cooling effect is very nice.

Hero Waterwear 

Homebuilt Wood Lathe

 Well, not quite.

This winter I've gotten into machining and shop stuff. Metal lathe. Milling machine. Improvements to many shop tools. Learned to weld (I bought the machine several years ago but didn't get enough practice to get good at anything other than straight passes on 1/4-inch plate required for certain oil tank floor repairs).  Originally I was thinking about sailboat modifications/inventions/repairs, but the shop has taken on a life of its own.  

I rebuilt the wood lathe I was given in middle school. I was a piece of junk from the back of a 1974 Popular Mechanics (cheap American junk, don't blame the Chinese). Dissatisfied with it's performance, this winter, I replaced the tool rests (made several new shapes and sizes), tool rest banjo (the new one, made from channel, is many times more rigid), tail stock quill (snapped--increased the quill size, improved the adjustment, and increased the center diameter from 3/8-inch to 1-inch), ways (lengthened to turn 55-inch spindles, and replaced with thicker walled pipe), built a steady rest (very rigid--based on in-line skate wheels), and most recently, built new ball bearing headstock (far more rigid, 20 times less runout, and much smoother), buile a self-tensioning motor mount (quieter and easier speed changes), all in the quest for improved, precision, rigidity, and reduced noise.  All that remains of the original lathe is the tailstock casting and the ways foot casting. Over 90% replaced, virtually all with home built parts. None of the original moving parts; they either worked poorly or broke. Between welding, the metal lathe, and milling, it seems I can make most things. And retired folk have time (I'm still working part time, barely).

So, the question is, if you replace the head of an ax when it chips, and then replace the handle when it breaks ... is it the same ax? I painted the lathe a new color, in recognition of this rebirth.

 

 

In fact, I've spent very little money on tool and shop upgrades. I bought a cheap Chinese metal lathe with good bones, then adjusted and upgraded that. It can now turn steel t good precision. I added milling set-ups to both the lathe and drill press (they excel at different operations). I bought a really cheap welding machine and tuned that. Between that and a trove of WWII machine tools I inherited from my great uncle, I can make most things. He was a machinist at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria and also family black sheep. I've learned more about him from the tools he used than from family conversation. I don't even know what he looked like, because his image was snipped out of picture albums, including pictures from the wedding of his daughter! After she was married, he went to the store and (figuratively) kept going.  Between me and my Dad, and our experiences with his wife, we know why. No one else talks about him: "We don't talk about Bruno ...".

 

The lathe gained so much weight I had to add a hoist to haul it off the bench into storage. Fortunately, any good sailor has a lot of old pulleys and much rope lying about.

 

Many of my creation contain an odd collection of weldments and machined bits. Some examples ...

• I inherited may dies, in 4 diameters, but only one holder. So I made three more, including guides, mostly from pipe. Rings were cut, bent to diameter, and welded. They were then turned to precise dimensions and then welded together. Tabs were welded on and threaded for handles.  A machinist would turn the rings from solid stock, a fabricator works with what he has.
• Lathe drive spur for soft woods and spaulted logs.  Normally they are milled. Mine was fabricated almost entirely by welding, then hardened and tempered. 
• The center, quill, and shaft for the wood lathe were metal lathe projects. Nothing complicated, simpler than the cannon, really.
• The bandsaw table is used on a daily basis. A lot of steel needed cut, some of it quite precisely. The Porta-Band has power, but the table gives you control. The belt guard was a fun sheet metal project. I learned those skills in middle school. It was bent from an old gas furnace access door, using a 6-inch machinists vice and some angle iron as a break. One piece, with the screws tapped into the headstock. I welded up the miter; one less thing to rattle or shake. I hate stick welding really thin metal. It's so easy to burn-through and so hard to hold an arc at very low amps. Welding up the 3/16-inch plate for the headstock, and the 3-inch channel for the tool rest banjo,on the other hand, were relaxing.
• The radius turning attachment for the metal lathe (for odd-sized pulleys) required turning and milling (on the drill press) of steel. But the square hole for the lathe tool was filed out using WW II square machinists file. It didn't take long and the fit is snug (secure by a machine screw, of course).  

I need a new project. I'll we installing a new solar panel on the boat soon, along with a LiFePO4 battery soon. That might yield something interesting. Look for it in PS, and eventually, perhaps here. (Update. This is done and it's working fine. Go lithium! So much easier to lift into place.)

---

Update 5-15-2025. Building a deep hollowing rig for vases. A metal lathe and welding required.

Update 6-29-2025. Added a bowl steady rest, conventional steady rest, and a deep hollowing tool. All home-built, all very rigid.

 

 

Need a Vice?

 Clamp-on vices are never satisfactory. They slip and twist and the surface is scared. They are not strong enough. My solution is a drill press vice mounted to a sheet of plywood. The underside of the sheet has cleats which prevent the vice from twisting or sliding. It also provides a work surface you are unafraid of scaring.

 I had the vice (it normally lives on my drill press at home--oddly enough, to hold metal bits that that are being drilled), but it would only be ~ $40 at Home Depot or on Amazon. Multiple holes allow mounting at 90 degree orientations.

The bolts grab T-nuts, saving time. The sheet can be slipped into the locker for storage.

 Sometimes you can jam a part between dock boards or hold it with Vice-Grips, but sometimes you need both hands plus the firm grip that only a solidly mounted vice can provide.

Metal Lathe -- Concave Radius Turning Attachment

 Small radius curves, like the Wheel thimbles and small pulleys are turned using a form tool; a chisel ground to the desired profile. But with metals and small lathes this becomes impractical from a tool pressure perspective at about 0.10" to 0.25", depending on the metal, and about 0.50" for plastics. You can turn larger radius curves in a few other ways:

• Freehand, with a special chisel, like on a wood lathe. The chisels are small and it is very slow on metals. It is also difficult to make repeatable parts.
• Remove most of the material with standard tooling, then smooth it up with a large rat tail file. Tricky.

Or you can use a radius attachment. However, most are made for convex curves (which are much easier to free hand and/or make with conventional tooling), and those that will turn convex won't do deep curves, such as a low friction ring or wheel thimble. So I made my own. 

It covers 11/16-inch to 2-inch and up to 1-inch past the pivot deep. Enough for my needs. 

Somehow it reminds me of one of the robots on the old MST 3000.

It looks dead simple, but it must be very rigid, very compact, and quite precise, so it took a good many steps:

• Careful band saw work
• Milling a slot
• Facing and turning a rod down 
• Concentric boring
  
• Threading several times
• A square hole
• Indexed milling of the hex at the top 
• Fitting the bearing surfaces so that it turns smoothly but with no flex
• Parkerizing of some parts for rust prevention
• Grinding the custom chisel
  

It replaces the tool post and is rotated in use by a 6-point socket with a T-handle from above (see below). The chisel is symmetrical to cut both ways. It uses tiny 1/4-inch blank pieces.

 

I made the 1/2-inch drive Tee handle from #4 rebar with some welding and careful grinding. Why waste good rod? It fits perfectly and is used with other setups on the same lathe.

I've gone kind of shop-crazy this winter

  

Just a few of the projects:

Lathe-related

·         Shim or re-fit all lathe control handles. They were sloppy.

·         Cross slide lock (homemade). Required for facing. Or you can keep one hand on the main crank.

·         New cross slide hand wheel (homemade). The original was too small and did not have a bearing.

·         Tailstock lapped to ways. Bad alignment.

·         Center finding gauge (homemade).

·         Compact depth gauge (homemade).

·         Bump center (homemade). It’s a thing made from ball bearings to help align work in chuck.

·         Milling 90 degree plate (homemade) that bolts direct to compound.  Also hold-down bars and studs.

·         Milling 90 degree plate that fits vertical slide (below) (homemade).  Additional hold-down bars and studs. Toe clamps from 2-inch schd 40 pipe (homemade).

·         Marking/bolting 90 degree plate (homemade).

·         Vertical slide.

·         Vice for vertical slide.

·         Fitted milling vice. Handle needed re-machined. Mounting holes.

·         Keyway mod in lathe tailstock. Stock keyway was omitted at factory due to casting error.

·         Mods to drill press milling vice.

o   Handles and gibs.

o   Wider jaws with 6 screws and pressure plate (homemade).

·         Three machinist’s jacks (homemade), mostly for use with the drill press and lathe.

·         Built shallow drawer under work bench for mics etc.

·         Built drawer under lathe (right side, for lathe accessories), with lift-out tray. More trays lower.

·         Built drawer under lathe (left side), for milling accessories) with lift-out tray. More trays lower.

·         Several other drawers to organize drills and boat fittings.

·         Organizer behind chip guard.

·         Ways cover (attached with aluminum strip embedded with rare earth magnets).

·         Shallow, removable chip tray under chuck-half.

·         Face plates (2). Fitted from older lathe.

·         Hand turning rest (wood or metal) for metal lathe (homemade).

·         Hand turning chisels for metal lathe (2) (homemade) .

·         Chuck spider (homemade) (accessory to chuck short stuff).

·         Parting tool holder using hacksaw blades (homemade). Very good for brass, not steel. Got 1.5 mm parting tool from Buyaholic.

·         Manual die holders (1.5- and 2-inch) (homemade). Not lathe mounted, but can start 1-, 1.5-, and 2-inch on lathe using chuck to keep it straight. Removable handles.

·         Die pusher with aligning fit (homemade).

·         Tap follower. From great uncle.

·         Die grinder tool rest mount (homemade). Includes short hose extension and air control valve.

·         Drip coolant at tool post. Mounts with magnet. Probably over kill. (Also a bad idea—can’t see what you are doing, mess in mechanism, corrosion. Better with a spray bottle or squeeze bottle.)

·         Indexing for lathe head (homemade) (24 increments). Great for making hex and square heads.

·         Precision filing guide (homemade). Can be used for end stop or depth control.

·         Larger dog for turning between centers (homemade). (I still have my old 1975 small home-made dog!)

·         Assorted custom handles for hex sockets and square drives (homemade) (chuck and tool rest).

·         Radius turning attachment. 0.625” to 1.5” (homemade). For wide pulleys, such as trailer rollers, genoa leads, and low friction rings. A precision job, requiring milling, turning, threading, and indexed grinding. But not much bigger than my thumb.

Other projects (all homemade using lathe, welder, band saw, drill press, etc.)

·         Bending lever, large stock. Up to ½-inch rebar.

·         Bending rod jig for vice, small stock. Bar stock and up to about 3/8-inch round … maybe.

·         Band saw table and stand. Fence from speed square. Sled from scrap.

·         Improved hold-down tee-nuts for drill press.

·         Tuned up cross slide vice for drill press. Now I can mill on the press, up to ½-inch steel plate with ½-inch end mill.

·         Centers (top and bottom) for drill press table. Good for accurate concentric drilling.

·         Wooden clamp to hold work from spinning.

·         Steel fence for drill press.

·         Drill press clamp (Keats Plate) for round stock center drilling.

·         Drum sander table.

·         Tool handles. Lots, mostly for files.

·         9-inch disk sander stand. 90 degree fence.

·         Cradle for angle grinder (just for spin-down). I’m going to upgrade this to 12-inch when I run out of 12-inch paper.

·         Scribe/awl from triangular file. Full length tang. Very hard.

·         Light bracket for drill press. Old eyes appreciate this.

·         Switched outlets to control air compressor and shop air filter.

·         HEPA-rated show air filter from 5 MERV 13 20x20 filters and a 20x20 box fan. Allows welding indoors. Every shop should have one. Also great for remodeling mess.

·         Soft jaws with magnets (both vices) . Aluminum and wood.

·         Parallels with magnets. Parallel edge clamps for non-magnetic parallels.

·         V-blocks. Many sizes. Wood, steel, and aluminum.

·         Table saw sled and mini-rip fence. More accurate and less dust.

·         Zero clearance insert for table saw. Less dust.

·         Two hole deburing tools; one from a counter sink and the other from a ½-drill with the clearance angle reduced (plus handles).

·         Edge deburing tool from a rusted triangular file plus a handle. My favorite.

·         Up-side-down holders for 5-minute and G-Flex epoxy.

·         Cradle for angle grinder (for spin-down).

·         90 degree and variable angle brace/clamp for welding

·         Mini-chipping hammer from rebar. My new favorite.

 

And I'm sure there were more. And I'm reaping the benefits, as I now have just the tool or jig I need to do things more quickly and with better precision. More practice helps too. 

The cost? Barely anything, since most were homemade. With welding, milling, and a lathe, you can make most things.