PVC and your shop, a wonderful combination

Having used PVC pipe in plumbing and other projects it was only a matter of time before it became a staple in my shop. Here are some of the most obvious uses. I would encourage you, dear reader to think up more ingenious uses and tell me about them.

Used to center the weight during the glue up:

One problem I was having was an unnecessarily wide glue line in-between my rings. I discovered that often this was due to uneven weight distribution or placing weight (sometimes I use my old workout weights instead of clamps) in the center of a wider ring causing a push out or cupping effect making the glue lines noticeably wider around the circumference of the rings. The solution was simple; distribute the weight evenly and directly over the glue up area. PVC in the 6, 8 and 10 inch come in real handy for this.

Used to lengthen your tool handles:

I love long tool handles but they can be a pain to store, so I simple use one and a half or one and a quarter PVC and jamb them into the handle ends and now your tool handle is as long as your comfort zone. A dowel in the non tool end with a tap or two and it is released and ready to be put back in the drawer. For this I would suggest schedule 40 or the heavier PVC pipe as a means to reduce vibration.

As a storage device for face plates:

Face plates can be difficult to store and work with off the lathe. 6 inch PVC 6 or so inches long and you are no longer chasing them across the shop floor or scraping your countertops with the threaded end of the face plate.

As tool storage on your lathe or counter top or wall area:

This is one I use constantly. Using multiple lathe tools on a project can give you a mess or at least spending too much time finding a tool you just put down. Attaching different diameter lengths of 4 to 6 inches gives the storage right where you need it. Believe it or not on some projects every one of these has one tool or another in it. You will notice here that I also place weight on my lathe bottom. The more the merrier as it is an eliminator of vibration to a lathe that is not bolted to your shop floor.

As a storage area for drills and screw guns:

Organizing my screw guns with PVC was one of the best and most productive things I did with PVC. I picked it up off a woodworking mag and man am I thankful. The biggest benefit was the mess it cleaned up and the counter top space it freed up. Here you see 10 to 12 inch 4 inch schedule 40 with the first 4 to 6 inches of its bottom in a 2 inch width cut away and mounted to the underneath of a counter area. The guns or drills slip in like a holster. In between the guns I have mounted the chargers so the batteries you see are recharging while being stored.

Finally, I use PVC as a dying chamber:

I have been using wood dye as a means of getting different effects and accents in my projects. It began with ‘ebony X’ a process of using vinegar and rusted metal to make veneers of walnut and darker wood jet black. Since then I have been experimenting with many colors, red, blue, green and yellow for example add highlighs to many segmented projects with a huge wow factor. They are especially useful in my game board work highlighting and distinguishing the boards.  I will not take the time here to go over the process but as you can see each color has a ‘dying chamber’ made from PVC. The veneer is cut into one inch by 36 inch strips. Dates are used to determine the proper exposure time to the dye and they are rolled every week or so to make sure the dye impregnates the vineer uniformly.  Usally then are in the tubes for a couple of months at a minimum.

So there you have my PVC extravaganza. Remember an organized but messy shop is better and safer by far than an unorganized clean shop.

I look forward to your feedback and responces.

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