One of the most useful oddball tools that I've picked up at my LHS are "Microbrushes". I usually use these to apply very small dabs of CA glue or small spots of paint. For example, I was preparing a set of Graupner instrument gauges and used a super-fine microbrush to apply a spot of odorless thin CA between the instrument bezel and the plastic lens. When using CA, the brushes can be dunked in acetone to clean off the CA and reused.

Microbrush Web Site

Neat items. Beats balancing a drop on the end of a toothpick...

Tip Submitted By: Bill Harris, USA

This is a rather simple idea, yet maybe you never thought of it.

After a club member run my beam of lime wood through his bench saw, the resulting longerons had some diverse thickness and slight bites of the saw blade. Here's what I do when I need some precision sanding. I tape little blocks with the correct thickness to the ends of my sanding block (on top of the sanding paper). The sanding is done on smooth MDF board, holding the work piece flat. First I check the result on a piece of scrap; if necessary I do some fine adjustment by adding tape. I use very coarse sanding paper (.80), stuck to the sanding block with Gudy 870. It's fast, easy and very precise.

Never lift the working piece or the sanding block from the board and use your vacuum cleaner a lot,  so no dust gets under it.

With some imagination and customized sanding blocks you can also use this as a manual alternative to milling and sand accurate notches and gaps (... for those who don't have the money or space for machinery).

Tip Submitted By: Henri Kaper, Netherlands

Here is a simple clamp I discovered around the house. They are used to hang skirts and underwear on the hangers in department stores. Each one comes with two cushioned clamps ideal for clamping balsa.

Simply cut them out of the hanger.

Now you have padded clamps and they were in the closet the whole time!
Tip Submitted By: Paul, United Kingdom

How often do you try to cut a straight line on some balsa or thin plywood, only to have the steel ruler slide when halfway through the cut?
An easy solution is to stick a length of plane ole' masking tape down the back of the steel rule. The slightly rough texture on the non-sticky side of the tape is enough to prevent the rule from sliding around on the surface of the wood you are cutting.
Tip Submitted By: Stephen Carr, United Kingdom