I’M ALMOST OUT OF LIPSTICK

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Is lipstick one of your necessary “tools” in the shop? How many of you woodworkers use it?

My lip balm gets used regularly but my lipstick is just a special-occasion item.

Today I installed hardware on the bed I’m making. The hanging plate is mortised with additional deeper mortises for the protrusions behind the two hangers.

To make the alignment easier, I just smear lipstick on the back of the hardware where it needs to be mortised.

Then I place it on the wooden part where it will be installed and give it a whack!

Ta-Da. Now I know exactly where to deepen the mortise for the hardware to set flat.

A perfect fit!

Any time I need to align two pieces, I take out the lipstick and it works great. It works well for installing and aligning locks on doors, too.

I hate to waste anything and needed somewhere to use all those lipstick samples that were given to me decades ago!

L/W

“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” Benjamin Franklin

11 Comments

I don’t use lipstick but vaseline on a couple of occasions to ease driving long screws.
baby powder trying to make a filer that tuned into a disaster :)

Thanks to your tip my wife will be missing a lipstick…

Abbas, Castro Valley, CA

Great Idea. I’ll be checking with my wife to see if she has any outdated lipsticks.

Mike, an American living in Norway

I usually use a black marker for that but I hate it because its permanent and you have to move fast. This is such a better idea.

Losing fingers since 1969

Great idea, thank you.

CHRIS, Charlottetown PEI Canada. Anytime you can repurpose, reuse, or recycle, everyone wins!

Whadayaknow . . . this old lady could actually teach you fellas a new trick! I’m sure it’s been used by others; (I’m not clever enough to come up with these ideas on my own).

Sometimes once we learn a trick and use it for a long time, we forget that someone else might benefit from the idea. Glad you guys can use it . . . but don’t blame me if your wife doesn’t believe your “lipstick-on-your-collar” story!

L/W

“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” Benjamin Franklin

Woodworking is sexy

-- Alec (Friends call me Wolf, no idea why)

I have used finger nail polish before

Jeff Vandenberg aka "Woodsconsin"