Sue and I were visiting Bewdley, a small riverside town in Worcester last week when I saw a pack of 36 old fashioned wooden clothes pegs for sale for just 99p. I had been looking out for a pack for some time as my own supply had dwindled quite a bit over the years. What do you use those for? I hear you ask.....
Well they have many uses;
1 - The obvious is holding things together while glue sets - I can remember old Airfix Magazine articles stating the usefulness of these simple clamps as aids while scratch-building and even today their use in holding plastic kits together while the glue dries is as relevant as it has always been.
2 - Holding illustrations or sketches up while modelling. I like to have my inspirational images on display as I'm working on new projects. Usually the sketch is pegged to my overhead lamp.
3 - Lately I have used clothes pegs as grips while sculpting. If you need a bit more 'bite' just add a rubber band around the claws and you can hold your sculpted pieces with ease.
4 - Figure holders while painting or in my case while varnishing. I find that a simple wooden clothes peg either as it comes or with a large wooden lollipop stick glued on the top gives me a great figure holder (with the figure either glued in place with a tiny drop of glue from my hot-glue gun or just plain Blu tac).
The clip means that you can clip them to a spare piece of cardboard while waiting for the paint/varnish to dry.
Do you have a simple low-cost hint or tool that you could share?
Tony
3 comments:
I do love a wooden peg for all the uses you have identified and of course for keeping myf frozen peas from rolling around the freezer - just fold over the top and attach peg. :)
My favourite low cost trick is: whenever I snip a suitably sized metal bit off of a figure, I drop it into a pot of paint to use as a shaker/agitator. It works well!
Wet palett made from lunch box, oven paper and cut sponge.
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