Category Archives: Weekend Projects

Quick Weekend Project: Drill Bit Block

A quick project for the workshop: Making a couple of drill bit blocks from some pine timber and using some olive oil to stain it.

I wanted a better solution for my drill bits – the plastic “home DIY” kit thing we bought 15+ years ago has actually done a decent job but it can be a bit fiddly and my olde eyes find it harder to read the numbers on it. Not to mention reading the numbers on the drill bits themselves. Plus it only caters to one of each sized drill bit – not always ideal.

For the video I used some basic pine timber offcuts I picked up at Bunnings for $2. I also used some olive oil to stain the drill blocks. As a “shop project” they probably don’t need finishing – but it was also a good experiment to use some of that timber and see how it came up using the oil as a stain / finish – I thought it looked great!

I’ve been using this now for a few months and it’s been a great addition to the workshop. Certainly helped organising my drill bits and being able to find the right size and special drill bits as needed. Good workshop storage solution.

Continue reading Quick Weekend Project: Drill Bit Block

Cleaning up leaky batteries / corroded battery terminal with household items. Battery disposal tips.

Cleaning up some old clocks that have been sitting out in the “Fix It Pile” in the shed for a while and came across some batteries that had leaked and corroded the terminals. So I wanted to show how easy it is to clean up and recover items if you have had a leaky battery in them.

(also – as far as I know, vinegar is just vinegar. No need to pay for “brand” on the label. I even found out my IGA is about 1/2 the price of the Coles brand)

The second clock didn’t quite work out – but it’s been pretty dodgy since it was given to us so I was pretty happy to get rid of it finally. So it was edited out and as such made the end a bit odd.

Hang around for the end to get my tips on disposing of old batteries.

Despite what I do / say in the video. When working with leaky batteries and battery acid corrosion – it’s probably not great to get it on your skin etc. Wear gloves / eye protection with this stuff.

Continue reading Cleaning up leaky batteries / corroded battery terminal with household items. Battery disposal tips.