Lean Thinking Tip #1: Handle Plywood Once

In the past some of the various strategies I’ve used for handling sheet goods in a small shop included cutting in half lengthwise and stacking on shelves, piling vertically against a wall, inserting in a “vertical file,” etc.  No matter, a stored sheet is a thief of time, a hog of space.  Now I schedule all the cuts and piece sizes before the plywood arrives.  When it comes off the truck it goes directly onto the tablesaw and is cut before the next sheet comes off the truck.  A roller stand is located between the truck bed and tablesaw to make this aspect of materials handling even easier. 

Tool Tip #2: Nuts over Tangs

Turned wooden handles are fine for large files and rasps or for those used frequently, but they are quite bulky and what about protecting the tangs of all the other myriad files in your collection?  Wire connectors (wire nuts) make perfect sheaths to save your palm or tool bag from the sharply cut edges.  Wire connectors come in several color-coded sizes.  So it's easy to find one that will tighten snugly over the end of most any file or rasp.

Medicine Cabinet & Shelf Unit

Tool Tip #1: Block Tenderizing

Did you ever rubberize a raw egg back in elementary school science by soaking it in vinegar?  Vinegar works well to rubberize rubber too.  So if you have some quarter-sheet sanding blocks with stiff upper lips that refuse to open enough to admit and latch the paper easily onto the nails, try this:  completely immerse the block(s) in fresh vinegar for ten days or so.  Unless the block is really more plastic than rubber it should emerge fresh and flexible as the day you bought it.  The bottom now might even flex to concave during paper installation, insuring a nice taut sanding surface.