Scrap Wood Soap Saver

[@Frelonian]

Hooked by the intro. Stayed for the excellent video.

[@JMKentzel]

You make entertaining yet remarkably informative videos. Well done!

[@WorkshopCompanion]

Thanks for the kind words.

[@TimH86]

Man I love the story line at the start. What a soap!

[@WorkshopCompanion]

Travis and I had a lot of fun with this one.

[@Frelonian]

Wise and adorkable content. I absolutely adore this channel.

[@WorkshopCompanion]

"Adorkable." I'm going to have to weave that into my sampler.

[@MyGrowthRings]

Very entertaining, Nick. Well done. Scott

[@WorkshopCompanion]

Thanks again, Scott

[@LightraysPhotography]

Thank you Travis.

[@bobwebberkc]

Nick you are a hoot

[@WorkshopCompanion]

Thanks, Bob. But I give all the credit for the comedy in the "Soap Saver" video to my buddy Travis -- he's the man behind the camera. He spent the better part of a day setting up that crazy pan at the beginning.

[@bobwebberkc]

Well thank you both for content and delivery. By the way I work in a 12 X 20 shop using a Shopsmith I bought in 1986 and you have been an inspiration and through video and books a damn fine education!

[@ellisreeves8936]

Hey Nick your dog didn't seem to impressed, but I was. Nice.

[@WorkshopCompanion]

Thanks, Ellis. Liberty (my dog) was 15 years old last July 4. (Yep, Liberty was born on Independence Day.) Not much impresses her these days, but she's stuck to me like Velcro -- and me to her.

[@sethwarner2540]

Im lovin this ! A soap saver! Im not you, so I would do the incremental cuts by cutting a bunch of 1/4" strips, put them all between the jig and the fence, and pull them out one at a time after each pass oer the saw blade. seems it woud go faster and reduce the human error. Plus, you would, then, put them all back for the next series of cuts! Love your music background for all your projects! Loved the canoe paddles, as well! I followed closely, and was mesmerized at each step, wondering what THAT was for, and what THAT was for...and then, OH!, I see! Oh, yeah, I get it! Nice thinking! and, I never thought of that( Iused to work for OLD TOWN CANOES---Built the very last plank-and-canvas canoe in 1972---July I think it was), referring to the extra thickness in the middle of the paddle. Loved the dowel across the handle(strong!), and the spline across the end to resist cracking, and for strength. What incredible patience and persistence you have! Al those hand tools! There are a couple of places they just didn't work; but you soldered on 1 I would have gone to my side grinder for it all! Keep up the good wrk! love the clamp table and plywood loading platform!

[@WorkshopCompanion]

Thanks for the kind words.

[@LightraysPhotography]

Hi Nick. I really liked the design so I wanted to change it a bit to make a 6"x6" trivet from a glue up of white oak, walnut and purple heart. What would be a good finish for a trivet? I was thinking of Tung oil but would like another suggestion if you have one. There will be hot pans placed on it. thank you.

[@WorkshopCompanion]

Hi, Travis here. The knob to the lid of my favorite pan melted and I replaced it with a wooden one. I was concerned about what finish to use and decided to try minwax tung oil just to see how it held up. 6 months later and it still looks great! I think your safest bet would be to use mineral oil, but it will need to be reapplied occasionally.

[@lucyburicin6372]

I am in love with these! Unfortunately we do not have a table saw :(

[@WorkshopCompanion]

They're available. I was at an Ohio Craftsman Guild event last week and saw two or three versions at various booths.

[@ElAnvaBar]

Apparently a soap saver is a kind of soap tray. I didn't know. (Dutch)

[@gpanizzolo6090]

Good day dear. I have started watching your videos and they are really very interesting, bearable and fun! I would like you to explain to me what "tung oil" is. Thank you very much from now! Germán, Montevideo, Uruguay.

[@WorkshopCompanion]

Tung oil is a drying oil that is pressed from the nut of the Tung tree, a tree native to China and southeast Asia. You can buy tung oil as 100% tung oil (very expensive, takes days to dry between coats), polymerized tung oil (,more expensive, but drying time is greatly reduced), and a "tung oil finish," which are blends of oil and varnish, and often contain other drying oils besides tung oil. These are more reasonably priced, although still expensive, and the time between coats can be a little as 8 hours. I use a commercial tung oil finish which I mix with a very small amount of spar urethane ( 2 tablespoons to a quart) to increase its durability.

[@MrMarkpeggy]

Thanks for the cute entertaining video Nick. I am curious about your tablesaw fence. Do you have a special control mechanism on it or does the video just make it look that way?

[@WorkshopCompanion]

Nope. All done by hand. I move the fence 1/4" before each cut. Of, course, I have a dynamite fence -- one of Delta's special add-ons for their Unisaw that I adapted to my contractor's saw.

[@richardjackson277]

Hi Nick Would it be possible to make this with on a benchtop router?

[@mheermance]

I had a similar thought. The table saw spooks me, so I avoid any cut on the table saw which requires taking the blade guard off. But a router I can handle.

[@EricRoy85]

I love these! Any chance you could show a build video of how to make the jig used to cut these? I would love to make it and crank out a bunch of these soap savers for gifts. Thanks for sharing. Sub'd 👍

[@WorkshopCompanion]

Thanks for your kind words, Roy. How to make the jig is part of the plan for sale at workshopcompanion.selz.com/item/scrapwood-soap-saver . In fact, it's most of the plan -- hard to show much more. The soap saver itself is just a block of wood.

[@EricRoy85]

@@WorkshopCompanion Perfect! Thank you

[@timplays6602]

@@WorkshopCompanion I downloaded the plans but while making the jig, I'm not sure how to cut out the angled squares in the jig?

[@WorkshopCompanion]

@@timplays6602 I ripped the part in which I would cut the angled squares in two. That way, instead of having to make interior cuts to create the squares, all I had to do was was cut some notches, and then glue the two part back together.

[@dubsbarry9963]

😆 too funny

[@joeystratner1902]

Lol this was good