Cheap Shop Trick

    My little shops produces cutting of various sizes and shapes.  All the the boards are made by gluing smaller boards together, often edge to edge, sometimes face to face.  To glue anything properly requires clamps, and while I have many clamps, you can never have too many clamps. I'll show you my wall of clamps one day.


   As well as clamps you need glue, lots of glue.  The glue goes on the wood, gets on the work bench and if you saw my work clothes you would also know that it gets on my shirts and pants.  The one place that glues unintentionally gets that is a problem; a real problem not just a small problem like glue stained t-shirts, is when glue can get on the clamps.  Once glue hardens on the bars of a bar clamp the pieces don't slid properly and what should be an easy tool to use becomes a serious pain in the backside to use.


  There are various solutions to unwanted glue, I have been putting waxed paper on the clamp bars for some time but now I found an easier, cheaper solution.

  Those clamps are covered by the bags that newspapers are wrapped in when they are thrown onto your driveway early each morning.   The glue will stick to the bags a bit but so what! The bags last several uses before becoming shredded and replacements arrive daily and for free.The bags are easier to use than waxed paper since the can't fall off while you are manipulating the pieces being glued. 
   It is a win-win situation.