#027: Drill Press Vice

Here’s a third (but probably not final) use from Erle - a homemade jig for holding small objects whilst drilling. Erle uses magnets to separate the two pieces when the vice is opened, effectively acting as an extension and a reshaping of the vice jaws.

Erle’s shed is positively brimming with magnets. Where do magnets feature in your workshop? Let us know!

#026: “Soft Jaws” Magnetic Vice

Erle is still going strong with uses for Aussie magnets, this time with a “soft jaws” attachment for his vice. To prevent the metal jaws of the vice damaging delicate materials, Erle embedded two magnets into pieces of MDF. Then, he simply attaches the MDF to the vice, the magnets lock them in place and he can work safely without the jaws causing any damage. Clever stuff.

#025: Magnetise Your Shed or Workshop

Aussie Magnet-er Erle has found some priceless uses for magnets – keeping tools handy in the shed. There’s nothing worse than being stuck without the tool you need (especially if you’re doing precision work), so Erle employs magnets to save the day:

I use Aussie rare earth magnets throughout my shed to hold the tools applicable to the various machines on the machines e.g allen keys and spanners. This means I don’t need to go searching for them when I want to make an adjustment.

I also attach small rare earth magnets to pencils and these are located at strategic places so all I need to do is put my hand out and generally there’s one there!

Above you’ll see magnets holding up various calipers, chuck keys, drill press covers, awls, allen keys, blade holders, rulers and of course pencils. Adding magnets is a simple (yet genius) trick that makes these tools endlessly handy.

Erle’s using our 12mm x 1mm Rare Earth Discs to hold up most of his tools (they hold 671 grams), but for heavier equipment he uses our 12mm x 1.5mm’s (these hold up to 1 kilogram).

Great uses Erle! We’ve sent some free magnets your way as a thankyou - be sure to let us know what use you find for them.