The frustration of losing or temporarily misplacing something is a source of stress we can all do without. So when a colleague put down a USB stick and then couldn’t find it again for 10 minutes due to it being covered up by paperwork, cables and other equipment I knew there had to be a solution to prevent such an event happening again!
I decided that an obvious shape in wood as a key ring could be attached to the metal loop on the end of the USB stick and after some thought, I settled on a large key! I drew out the shape on paper and then secured it to some scrap wood from a disassembled pallet with a small amount of glue. I used my jigsaw to cut out the shape, roughly at first and then focusing on smooth curves for the head of the key. I used my random orbit sander to smooth all the surfaces and then hand sanded the more fiddly bits where the orbit sander couldn’t reach.
I drilled a hole in the head of the key so it could be secured to the USB stick via the metal loop and then sanded the surface again to soften the entry point of the hole. After another all over sanding it was ready for some finish!
I used some Linseed oil to give the surface a bit of protection as it will probably be handled quite a bit. There isn’t much grain to show off in this scrap wood piece, so I decided to keep it simple with the finish. And that also meant it dried nice and quickly so I could take it into work and get it connected to the USB stick before it got misplaced again! Overall a nice quick and fun project – and it made my team laugh too! 🔨
The Woodworking Scientist 