# Dollar store items



## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

Here are a couple of items from the dollar store that will make your routing easier. The light shown has been mentioned in other threads but I wanted everyone to find it easily. I attached it with a small piece of double sided carpet tape. This little LED light really makes a difference in viewing a cut. The red velcro strap holding the power cord comes in a pack of 10, all different colors and tames cords quick and easy. These items amount to $2 well spent.


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## papawd (Jan 5, 2011)

Pretty cool Mike


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## fdcox (Dec 3, 2007)

I really like the light idea.. Thanks for the post


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## j_h_smith (Oct 29, 2011)

I guess I'll be heading out to the Dollar Store just for that light. Great idea!


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## Absinthe (Nov 8, 2011)

Who knew! The dollar store has useful items. And for a dollar


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## L Town Graphics (May 24, 2012)

Love the light idea! May have to make a stop today to pick one up


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## john880 (Aug 18, 2010)

Hey Mike,
Thanks for you having this inter desire to help, and in perticular this light. I have been kinds of scouting out the where abouts of such, since I saw a photo of one of the pillers of this site showing his & how much he said it has helped. I had laying around one of these long flex necked desk lights, tried it out to show onto the work piece,,,, well, it now continuse to be laying about,,, only in a different location.


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## greenacres2 (Dec 23, 2011)

Okay, it's time for me to think outside the house--i bought a 100 count pack of the cable ties from Tiger Direct a few years ago--for $4 or $5. Every guitar cord, mic cord, computer cable around the house and at church have them. And here i am not using them out in the shop/garage. Doh!!

earl


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## amassey08873 (May 26, 2012)

Great Post Mike! As was said in a movie, I loved as a kid
"I'll buy that for a dollar".....a little side Trivia..lol
Greenacers2 I'm a little worst, I did the same as you and bought the 100 pack, as I awaited they're delivery. Everything I'd come across where I could use 1, I made a mental note. When they arrived things were a little hectic so I was only able to use 3 or 4 on the things I mostly use.. IE Computer Wires TV. I put them to the side and for the next few months. I kept telling myself Ahh well do it tomorrow, and continued to make mental notes of where I'd redecorate (Use One)lol. I must of moved them 20 times cleaning and rearranging. And when I went to make good on the list I accumulated.... I forgot where I put the damn things. lol I still haven't found them..... But I was able to pick up 10 at a garage sale for .25cents lol Needless to say I didn't waste any time using those. And till this day when I see somewhere I can use one. I grumble off one day I'll find them and then your gonna get one... Some Day.

And now that I'm putting together a home garage shop, I've got a thousand uses for them, But my new thing now is Industrial Velcro, I bought a small 2 pack of 3"x2" Industrial Velcro to help my father out in stoping his totes bounce around the back of his pickup when he's driving. They worked like a charm so I thought these would work great in the garage cause I]m pretty limited on space. So I went out and got held at gunpoint picking up a roll this time. $30 at home depot. Then a week later I almost cried when I saw it at Harbor Freight for $15. In my planning stage there was 100 different uses for this Industrial Velcro Roll....... I've used maybe a ft, and fail to remember or see the uses I so eagerly spent $30 on. lol 
But thank you, after I pick up a couple of these lights I know I'll be able to hang em to what ever I want. Now I just better write down what I'm putting the lights on......and maybe even where I'm going to store them until I do lol


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## Chris Curl (Feb 13, 2012)

my $59 el-cheapo router (a ryobi) came with a light built in. the problem i have with it is that it only comes on when you turn the router on, so it is not as easy to line things up as it could be if the light had a separate switch. i can see why they might not want to have 2 switches though ... if even one person mistook the router switch for the light switch, it could be really bad.

but i would have made it so that the light was on whenever it was plugged in.

i'm going to look into my dollar store for a little light i can control for it.


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## MrBaron (Jul 12, 2012)

Hi,

Great information i have found here there is really a great contents. 

Thanks


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## dust4tears (Jun 21, 2012)

Mike said:


> Here are a couple of items from the dollar store that will make your routing easier. The light shown has been mentioned in other threads but I wanted everyone to find it easily. I attached it with a small piece of double sided carpet tape. This little LED light really makes a difference in viewing a cut. The red velcro strap holding the power cord comes in a pack of 10, all different colors and tames cords quick and easy. These items amount to $2 well spent.


I know this is an old post,~~~But, the time is coming up~~~
I used these same lights for my Halloween Jack~O~lanterns and they worked great.
And if you want to do 'difficult' designs, these are great for creating SHADOWS....in the pumpkin and on the wall~~~

Food for thought~ Fall isnt too far away!


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## MorrisonCharles (Feb 13, 2009)

The Velcro straps for the power cord are the greatest.


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## biloxi tom (Sep 10, 2012)

HI MIKE, I like that idea. Here's another one for you. if you do glue ups and who doesn't buy a silicone basting brush at the for a buck store generally speaking lol. cut the bristles short and it cleans up easy if you need it right away for another glue up. if not set on some paper and it pulls right off when dried. Beats payin $5 elsewhere. Where, by the way, does it say anyone gets to charge woodworkers more for something just cause oh yea this works in a shop also. grrrrrr


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## Marvingee (Nov 9, 2012)

MIke,
I really like that light idea !!
Thanks.
Marvin


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## JCJCJC (May 15, 2012)

Marvingee said:


> MIke,
> I really like that light idea !!
> Thanks.
> Marvin


Not so sure I'm as enthused. If your workshop isn't well enough lit to work accurately, then it isn't well enough lit to work safely either. I'm inclined to think you should fit a few fluorescent lights in the ceiling and forget about fitting foglamps to routers ;-)


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## Dmeadows (Jun 28, 2011)

JCJCJC said:


> Not so sure I'm as enthused. If your workshop isn't well enough lit to work accurately, then it isn't well enough lit to work safely either. I'm inclined to think you should fit a few fluorescent lights in the ceiling and forget about fitting foglamps to routers ;-)


Oh, I don't know. My shop is quite well lit, but I still use the light on my drill press, pretty much every time I use the drill press. I also use clip-on or magnetic task lighting for a number of tasks. Haven't fastened one to a router yet, but I use my table mounted router _WAY_ more than freehand ones. Have done some sign routing and it would be really handy for that!


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## Chris Curl (Feb 13, 2012)

john, how old are you? i'm 52 now.

i have found that that as i have gotten older, my eyes prefer more light

like duane, my shop is also well lit, but sometimes a little extra light on that which my old eyes are looking is very helpful.


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## nutbushchris77 (Mar 2, 2013)

That is a great idea.... Thanks


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

John, even if your shop is well lit the router body casts shadows. These inexpensive stick on lights are a lot cheaper than buying a new router with built in LED's.


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## ja1n (Mar 1, 2013)

nice idea on the lamps. we use headlamps for extra lighting in operating rooms too. jan


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## scrollsawer13323 (Oct 10, 2013)

I know this is an older post but I just joined and wanted to add that I bought a goose neck light at the Dollar Store for my band saw because I had trouble seeing under the table. Works great!
Rick Smith
scrollsawer13323


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

I didn't get lights at the Dollar Store, but did get a $1 pan for oil changing that I use to toss scraps in when I scrollsaw. AND, I bought about 4-5 tape measures for $1 each. They're not the worlds best, but good enough to put one in a pocket of each of my jackets, one in the bathroom, one in the kitchen, one in the Jeep, a couple in the shop, and I don't know where all else. I don't use them for really precise measurements, but if I think about something I can pull one out and see just how lone two feet or three feet is. Handy, that. Next time I stop there, I'm going to try to remember to pick up a couple more.


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## tvman44 (Jun 25, 2013)

*Cord Holder!*

I buy a roll of double sided Velcro at Harbor Freight 3/4" x 35 Ft. Roll Hook and Loop Cable Strap and use it to hold cords coiled up in the workshop and a lot in the RV, also for hoses in the RV. For $6.99 it sure comes in handy and if you have one of their 20% or 25% off coupons a even better deal.  I di intend to find one of the flashlights as the only thing I don't like about my new Bosch router is no light, even my old Craftsman routers have a light.


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## Cleaner Claude (Oct 11, 2013)

Mike,
Cool idea and color coded besides.


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## Old but willing to learn (Oct 20, 2013)

Now this is what I'm looking for great idea's cheep!


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## Goblu (Mar 5, 2012)

This is for glue ups, but I recently got a silicone pastry brush at the dollar store that I have been using. I just cut the bristles shorter. I have the rockler one, too, but this one is wider. You can also use the silicone cupcake "papers" for holding the glue. 

I also like their jelly bellies, but that is even more off topic 

oops, I somehow missed that this had been posted already. But the cupcake holders or any small silicone container for glue has not.


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## budprine (Mar 6, 2014)

Mike said:


> Here are a couple of items from the dollar store that will make your routing easier. The light shown has been mentioned in other threads but I wanted everyone to find it easily. I attached it with a small piece of double sided carpet tape. This little LED light really makes a difference in viewing a cut. The red velcro strap holding the power cord comes in a pack of 10, all different colors and tames cords quick and easy. These items amount to $2 well spent.


Understanding I'm about 3 1/2 years late, which Dollar store did you get this at? Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Family Dollar, etc.?


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## bbandu (May 12, 2014)

There are alot of good places to find cheap things to aid a person in ones shop. I plicked up some hard ratching cable clamps at my local Dollar tree and use them to manage the cords on my new router station.


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