Printable Protractor For Your Home Made Jigs and Fixtures

Free Printable Protractor

If your like me you make custom jigs and fixtures to make your work more accurate and faster. I have often wished I could add a protractor that I could use on some of my angle jigs. I drew up this generic protractor for you to use too. It is a standard 180 degrees with major tic marks at 5 degree increments, minor tic marks at one degree increments as well as half degree tic marks. You can print it, cut it out and use spray adhesive to mount it on your jig. A couple coats of clear polyurethane over it will help protect it.
Get out of your chair, and into the shop and build that jig! Send us a photo and show us how you used it.
Download PDF Here

Free Plans: Homemade Biesemeyer Style T-Square Table Saw Fence

A Nice Homemade T-Square Table Saw Fence

You need a new table saw fence but have more time than money. Well We have just what you are looking for. Detailed plans instructions, photos and CAD drawings showing you how to build your own Biesemeyer T-Square style saw fence.
A poorly functioning table saw fence can make even the best saw worthless.  A few nights in the shop, a little bit of steel and a twelve pack should be all the supplies you need to complete your new homemade table saw fence.
The fence in the photo is homemade. Nice looking isn't it.


A few readers have had problems downloading from the frame below, so here is another download option: PDF Plans For Homemade T-Square Table Saw Fence

A BBQ Grill You Can Build Yourself

Photo Via: Lincoln Electric

Here is a fantastic project from Lincoln Electric you can build yourself. With a little time and some scrounging around you should be able to weld up this very cool Home made grill dirt cheap compared to buying one. With a welder and a few basic tools you could be standing beside this beauty after a good weekend of quality shop time. A welder, a thick steak and maybe a cocktail too, come on who doesn't love that combination?

Thanks To Lincoln Electric for providing these great free grill plans




Tell us about your homemade grill or any other shop projects, we would love to see some photos too! Thanks to Lincoln Electric for providing these great shop built grill plans. Don't forget to follow them on Twitter.

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Cheap Home Made Router Lift

Vetuses Ultra Cheap Homemade Router Lift

Around the ArmChairDIY shop we love home made, modified, hacked, or better than new tools. Even better is if we can do it cheap.

Vetus over at Instructables posted his homemade ultra cheap router lift. It's very similar to the one I fabricated for my Porter Cable plunge router. You can see my router post Right here. The big difference is mine required more machining welding and fabrication. Vetus did a great job of simplifying the process.





Ultra-cheap router lift - More DIY How To Projects



Look at them both and see if you can adapt it to your router. We all would like to see or hear about your homemade router lift.

The Best Homemade Bandsaw I Have Ever Seen

Photo Via: bednair.org

Here is a really nice homemade 18" woodcutting bandsaw!
I found Steve's site a while back and it looks like he did a really nice job of putting this together.

He does not have plans for sale, but he has posted a lot of photos. If your thinking about a similar project you really should take a close look.

The saw looks like it has a very nice blade guide design that could be retrofitted to some older saws.

When your saw is built, check out Steve's wood chipper!

Nice work Steve!
If you build a saw like this or any other tool ArmChairDIY would love to hear about it.
You may be able to find some parts to use in your building project here

17 Things You Need to Know About Your Christmas Tree

Photo Via: NCTA

When a Christmas tree is cut, over half of its weight is water. With proper care, you can maintain the quality of your displayed trees. Below are a number of tips relating to the care of displayed trees:

1. Displaying trees in water in a traditional reservoir type stand is the most effective way of maintaining their freshness and minimizing needle loss problems.
2. Make a fresh cut to remove about a 1/2-inch thick disk of wood from the base of the trunk before putting the tree in the stand. Make the cut perpendicular to the stem axis. Don't cut the trunk at an angle, or into a v-shape, which makes it far more difficult to hold the tree in the stand and also reduces the amount of water available to the tree. 
3. Once home, place the tree in water as soon as possible. Most species can go 6 to 8 hours after cutting the trunk and still take up water. Don't bruise the cut surface or get it dirty. 
4. If needed, trees can be temporarily stored for several days in a cool location. Place the freshly cut trunk in a bucket that is kept full of water. 
5. To display the trees indoors, use a stand with an adequate water holding capacity for the tree. As a general rule, stands should provide 1 quart of water per inch of stem diameter. Devices are available that help maintain a constant water level in the stand. 
6. Use a stand that fits your tree. Avoid whittling the sides of the trunk down to fit a stand. The outer layers of wood are the most efficient in taking up water and should not be removed. 
7. Keep displayed trees away from sources of heat (fireplaces, heaters, heat vents, direct sunlight). Lowering the room temperature will slow the drying process, resulting in less water consumption each day. 
8. The temperature of the water used to fill the stand is not important and does not affect water uptake. 
9. Check the stand daily to make sure that the level of water does not go below the base of the tree. With many stands, there can still be water in the stand even though the base of the tree is no longer submerged in water. 
10. Drilling a hole in the base of the trunk does not improve water uptake. 
11. Use of lights that produce low heat, such as miniature lights, will reduce drying of the tree. 
12. Always inspect light sets prior to placing them on the tree. If worn, replace with a new set. 
13. Do not overload electrical circuits. 
14. Always turn off the tree lights when leaving the house or when going to bed. 
15. Monitor the tree for freshness. After Christmas or if the tree is dry, remove it from the house. 
16. Go to www.realchristmastrees.org and type in your ZIP code to find a recycling program near you. 
17. Never burn any part of a Christmas tree in a wood stove or fireplace.

Prepared by Dr. Gary Chastagner and Dr. Eric Hinesley
Edited by the Scientific Research Committee of the National Christmas Tree Association

I know you have heard about adding 7-up, aspirin, bleach, fertilizer and who knows what else to the water.

Do not add any of these, just plain fresh warm water. Studies have shown that none of these additives help and some may even be harmful.

I grew up on a Christmas Tree Farm and have heard many people swear these things helped, but the real reason their trees lasted so well is they bought quality trees that were harvested and handled properly.

Happy Holidays from ArmchairDIY and enjoy that fresh pine scent in your home.

Parts to Repair Your Tools and Appliances 3 Reliable Sources

Repair Your Own Appliances

Repairing tools and appliances is not always that difficult. Often times the hardest part is locating the correct parts. We have put together a great list of sources for you to use. Now you can find the parts you need and make the repairs yourself and save a bunch of money doing it. 

Sears Parts Direct has parts for all major brands, including GE, Whirlpool, Briggs & Stratton, Husqvarna, Maytag, Craftsman, Kenmore, Bosch, Sony, Panasonic, Singer, ProForm and many more. I have even found parts for a very old Sears Drill Press I own. They have an easy to use website and a very broad range of parts. With exploded diagrams to help you find the right parts. ArmchairDIY is happy to be able to help you [ad#Save 10 percent at sears partsdirect] . Just follow the link from here to save money. Enter your model number or part number and your on your way to getting your repair parts.

Tool Parts Direct also offers [ad#Tool Parts Direct] I have ordered air compressor parts and drill switches from Tool Parts Direct and I have been very happy with the service they have given me. They currently have 609,390 power tool parts online along with over 17,165 free tool schematics. They carry AccuSet, Apach, Biesemeyer, Black and Decker, Bosch, Stanley-Bostitch, Delta, DeVilbiss Air Power, DeWALT, Duo-Fast, Emglo, Flex, Grip-Rite, Hitachi, Ingersoll Rand, Makita, Max, Metabo, Milwaukee, Panasonic, Paslode, Porter Cable, Quik Drive, Ramset, Ridgid, Rol-Air, Ryobi, Senco, Skil, SpotNails, and the list is continually growing. They may also be able to find parts that they do not stock.

RepairClinic For appliance parts visit [ad#repairclinic.com] I have not purchased from them yet, but I have heard positive feedback about the company. The website has an impressive amount of helpful information as well as a very large selection of parts for Admiral Airtemp Amana Amana Commercial Microwave Aprilaire Arctic Air Arietta Asko Autoflow Bemis Bosch Broan Caloric Climatrol Crosley Dacor Dynasty Electrolux Emerson Estate E-Wave Fedders Frigidaire Gaggenau Garland GE General Gibson Glenwood Goldstar Haier Hampton Bay Hardwick Hitachi Holmes Hotpoint Insinkerator JC Penney Jenn Air Kelvinator Kenmore KitchenAid LG Litton Lobb Magic Chef Maytag Modern Maid Montgomery Wards Norge Nutone Panasonic Quasar RCA Roper Samsung Samsung (from Maytag) Sanyo Scotsman Sharp Sinkmaster Skuttle Speed Queen Sub Zero Sunray Tappan Thermador Toshiba U-Line Universal Waste King Westinghouse Whirlaway Whirlpool White-Westinghouse Wolf .
You can see they have a huge selection.