shop built diy home made tools jigs and fixtures

[PatrickOOOMazin]

The important information:
Point first - I'm cheap! Are you cheap? Great, lets discuss the making of our own tools, from wood, metal, sweat, and cursing.. and as little money as possible.

Point the latter - There doesn't really seem to be a logical place on this forum to post this, so admins please feel free to move it wherever makes most sense. Also I did try to search for this topic, but if you search for anything related to tools or shop built... well that is exactly the entire forum. So if this has been asked before, my apologies.

On to the ramble:
Well, I've done it. I've officially transferred over from a self employed furniture maker to a prop maker/ mad tinkerer while I wait for the fine arts school I applied at to get back to me. I've got to say, the strategies and techniques I'm using now are vastly different from anything I have ever used in a woodshop, and they require a whole new way of working... and new equipment!

As a woodworker, I built basically all my own tools, or refurbished old heavily loved (usually loved through abject neglect.. the most sincere form of love) tools back to operational status. Sure I bought a couple slick and shiny hand planes, and yea, I own a (broken and replaced by a shop built) tablesaw

BUT MAN! How do you secure a sculpture to a work surface when all you have are bar clamps?

So what I'm hoping for is for the more industrious of us who have built tools, clamps or vices, jigs or fixtures, specifically designed to accommodate the challenges of prop making on a budget to share your experiences and maybe a photo or two. And to create a database of solutions.

So to start it off, I'm just going to list the tools I've made. If there is any interest, I can go into further detail on any or all of the list below

I've made from scratch a
band saw
a treadle powered fret saw (like a scroll saw, but specifically for marquetry)
a steady rest for the lathe
dividers for lathe work
hand planes
a proper woodworking work bench

and by beefing up common tools, I've made a
table saw
a router table and router lift
a multi-router type machine (a mortising jig)

Todays project: a ball type sculpting vice for working in the round so that I can get at every angle on a piece without having to roll it around on my work surface

or do we all just use dremels for everything?

 

[Beer_Money_Props]

I generally make all my own jigs since the way I work has very little to do with "standard" or "always observes noted safety rules", but short of some MacGyver'd repairs to get tools that stopped functioning working again. I'm a big fan of using something until it absolutely, positively, and without a doubt will not work again. And even then the parts I scavenge from broken stuff will find it's way back into something else someday.

Although...I've graduated from a Dremel to a Foredom and I'll never look back. The ability to run in reverse alone is worth the extra cash I laid out, not to mention the speed controller foot pedal doo-hickey that I get to play racecar with every time I fire it up.

 

[Philly]

My cordless drill is used to attach anything to everything I also use hot glue.

 

[PatrickOOOMazin]

i will second the foredom! i love running in reverse and watching all the wood dust shoot anywhere that isnt directly into my face.
plus, price wise, its a good investment at only a little over double a dremel. my dremel died recently (bought the foredom first, got the dremel as a hand me down) and given how lightly it was used, id say it was a smart decision to start with the foredom instead of replacing dremels every... 6 months ish

observed safety rules? well let me tell you! before i had a foredom, i used a laminate trimming router freehand. like a dremel. only with like 600% greater likelihood of death

 

[PatrickOOOMazin]

this weekends project is one of these:
http://www.alxshoeman.bizland.com/DSCF2184 G1.JPG

ive been sculpting a bomb (http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb..._Bomb_Artwork.jpg/250px-FFIX_Bomb_Artwork.jpg) from final fantasy, and every time i turn the thing around to work on a different section, i wind up getting shirt or hand prints on a finished segment of the sculpture. it was high time for a change.

now that ive finished the sculpture, its time to mold the bugger. i figured since the sculpting process was so difficult, i would definitely be needing a third hand when it came to molding it