Frugal Woodworking

Woodworking Tips for Affordable Woodworking

Category : Reuse

Detail Sander Toothbrush

This idea comes from Jimthecarver at Lumberjocks.  He uses self-adhesive sandpaper on old battery operated tooth brushes.

detail sander toothbrushSome of these toothbrushes have rotationally oscillating heads and some oscillate front to back.  Either way, they can be a useful tool for sanding in tight spaces.

This is a great example of re-using and re-purposing a tool.  When they get too scuzzy to be used on your teeth anymore, trim the bristles off with a knife or razor blade, then stick the sandpaper down to one of the moving parts.   To add a bit of control, it is best to epoxy a piece  shaped wood or plastic to one of the moving parts.  That way the sandpaper is fully supported.

Many of the toothbrushes have exchangeable heads so you can prepare a few different shapes that suit your detail sanding needs.

There are a couple of tutorials on making similar toothbrush detail sanders, this one using double sided tape and this one using sanding sponge.

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Bench Brush – snow no more

For those in the snowbelt, a snow brush for the car is a necessity.  Mostly I find that the brush and scraper combination lasts for maybe two seasons at best.  After a few years the scraper ends up dull or chipped and is no longer good for scraping ice off your car windows.  The brush portion however is usually in pretty good shape.

Rather than throw that beat up snow brush in the landfill, re-purpose it for the workshop.    The stiff bristles and the length of the brush make it perfect for cleaning off a workbench or table saw.  Just use a hack saw to cut the scraper portion off the end.

Bench brush for the workshop

This old snow brush witht he scraper cut of makes a great bench brush

The bristles are often fairly stiff so I find that the narrow rof of bristles is great for cleaning the debris out of my rasps.

great brush for cleaning a rasp

Clean the sawdust out of the teeth of the rasp

Another reason I like re-using these old snow brushes in the workshop is that they are usually flat so you can hot glue a neodymium magnet to the side and stick it to the side of your table saw, drill press, band saw, miter saw or other large power tools that need a good sweeping.

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