Here’s a double-duty holder for storing and cleaning table saw and circular saw blades. It features a slotted dowel to keep stored blades spaced apart so the teeth stay sharp.
Using a handsaw, cut notches spaced at 3/8-in. intervals halfway through a 5/8-in. dowel. Glue the dowel in a hole drilled in a 16 x 12-in. piece of 3/4-in. plywood. Frame the sides and lower edge of the plywood with 2-in. strips of plywood and add a lower facing piece to create a basin at the bottom. When a blade needs cleaning, remove the other blades and line the rack with aluminum foil. Then mount the gunked-up blade on the dowel, spray one side with oven cleaner, and flip it over and spray the other side. Any drips go in the basin, and the sides minimize overspray. Let the cleaner work for an hour or so, then use a moistened kitchen scrub pad to scour the dissolved gunk and burned sawdust off the blade. Then throw away the foil and store your blades.
Keep all your hand tools within easy reach in a portable 16-in. pine carton. Build one from a 1x8 x 12-ft. pine board, 1/4-in. plywood and a 3/4-in. oak dowel, and you’ll never run back to the garage for a bit, blade, wrench or nail. Here’s how:
■ Cut and screw together the sides and ends with the ends protruding 1 in. beyond the sides. Drill holes in the top of the ends for a 3/4-in. dowel handle and tap it in the holes before assembling the ends and sides. Drill the 3/8-in. storage holes in the top edges of the sides before assembly.
■ Saw 1/4-in. x 1-1/2-in. pine strips for the side slats and screw them to the protruding ends.
■ Cut and screw on the 1/4-in. plywood floor.
■ Cut 3/8-in. pine partitions and screw them behind the side slats to create custom-width pockets for the tools.
