While I'm in a posting mood, I might as well put down what I'm looking to do since my tool purchasing is going on a hiatus (more on that next time). More organizational and layout stuff than anything. Perhaps starting small is the wise thing.
I have a few loose items lying around that really don't have a home, or have a poor, temporary home. First thing is to figure out where these things go, so the larger projects have a home.
I have a few cans of paint and like-sized things that need a home. I was thinking a shallow bookshelf, but don't have anything sorted out yet. All I know is the area behind my drill press needs help. Also behind there is my mobile miter platform, I'm debating keeping it or scuttling it. Those two problems solved, and that section will be done.
Moving along that wall, I need to finish the drawers in the miter saw cabinet. That should be the extent for small storage for the foreseeable future. On the upper cabinet, I need to make doors with dry erase inserts for random thoughts or measurements. Dust collection for the miter saw is a must.
My work table has been a warrior, but I need a new work surface that's dead on flat and has bench dog capacity. A cabinetmakers workbench is in order, or a least the style. The footprint will have to stay equal. I have two bins underneath that will leave, but will have to figure out a plan for the spare shop vac. The French cleats above will stay, but a few of the tool holders need to be reworked.
Unknown what I will do with the sander at this point. Will stand pat for the time being. Golf clubs may be on the way out. I can consolidate bags so they can go elsewhere. Four bins are under those, but only two are related to the shop. Don't know where those go.
The router table is going to be redone in the NYW style. Tired of it being Frankenstein. The prototype of the planer cart is going to morph into a dust separator cart, pulling double duty.
Only other things I can think of are a mobile base for the bandsaw and a more stable base and possible storage for the drill press.
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26 September 2011
Loose ends
Occasionally I feel the need to think out loud, or put thoughts into physical form to evaluate them later. Now that I can take a short breather and evaluate the shop, I need to tie up loose ends and put some things in their place.
Things that need a more permanent home:
- paint cans. 4-6 in a shallow bookcase behind the drill press? Don't need to be accessible.
- drill bits. Have plans for these, execute.
- shop vac. Dust collector will render obsolete. Separator will be tossed when separator cart is built.
- tool belt. Need to hang somewhere besides the entry. Door?
- tool cases. TBD. Bookshelf? High shelf?
End of random thoughts for now.
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Things that need a more permanent home:
- paint cans. 4-6 in a shallow bookcase behind the drill press? Don't need to be accessible.
- drill bits. Have plans for these, execute.
- shop vac. Dust collector will render obsolete. Separator will be tossed when separator cart is built.
- tool belt. Need to hang somewhere besides the entry. Door?
- tool cases. TBD. Bookshelf? High shelf?
End of random thoughts for now.
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Dusty Rhodes...err, floors
The American Dream...to have clean shop floors.
I've struggled a bit with this over the months, and have tried to make a bit of progress along the way. For most of the time, it really hasn't been an issue: make a mess, clean it up later with a broom. It's not really even the dust, but it's the larger chips and flakes. But, as I make things a bit more mobile - due to space restrictions - I need to keep things cleaner.
I have two 3HP Shop Vacs (one is a spare, and was bought at the same price as an additional hose) that have done decently so far, especially with my router. However, it showed its deficiencies when it came to planing last week. The dust chute clogged on the planer and chips were shooting out the front, making a huge mess on the floor and some settling on the board, making indentations as it got planed. I can't continue to clean up pounds of shavings each time I plane, and with the planer cart I can't just wheel it outside anymore. Besides, I want to stop making a huge mess on the ground outside.
I bought a Kobalt wall-mount vac a few days ago to see if that would help. It only offers a marginal improvement in CFM, but I could mount it on the wall and it had a remote start. It worked well for a few days, but then the same problems came about. It will be returned. If I didn't already have a (two) shop vacs, I might have kept it for convenience. I really need a true dust collector, if I can make the room. I'm interested in the small 1HP model from Harbor Freight or the Rockler wall-mount, but the HF one is a lot cheaper. The Rockler one you're paying for the nice look I think. Rockler also has plans for a very interesting dust separator cart, something I could put the planer on top of. Might be worth checking out, would have to find alternate storage for my plastic tool cases, but that's not that big of a deal. My 5gal 'Homer' bucket is going to be completely useless for a dust collector anyway.
Think I'll be headed down to Rockler later this week to check out some 4" hoses. This is going to incur some expense to go from a 1.25" Shop Vac system to a 4" collection system.
I've struggled a bit with this over the months, and have tried to make a bit of progress along the way. For most of the time, it really hasn't been an issue: make a mess, clean it up later with a broom. It's not really even the dust, but it's the larger chips and flakes. But, as I make things a bit more mobile - due to space restrictions - I need to keep things cleaner.
I have two 3HP Shop Vacs (one is a spare, and was bought at the same price as an additional hose) that have done decently so far, especially with my router. However, it showed its deficiencies when it came to planing last week. The dust chute clogged on the planer and chips were shooting out the front, making a huge mess on the floor and some settling on the board, making indentations as it got planed. I can't continue to clean up pounds of shavings each time I plane, and with the planer cart I can't just wheel it outside anymore. Besides, I want to stop making a huge mess on the ground outside.
I bought a Kobalt wall-mount vac a few days ago to see if that would help. It only offers a marginal improvement in CFM, but I could mount it on the wall and it had a remote start. It worked well for a few days, but then the same problems came about. It will be returned. If I didn't already have a (two) shop vacs, I might have kept it for convenience. I really need a true dust collector, if I can make the room. I'm interested in the small 1HP model from Harbor Freight or the Rockler wall-mount, but the HF one is a lot cheaper. The Rockler one you're paying for the nice look I think. Rockler also has plans for a very interesting dust separator cart, something I could put the planer on top of. Might be worth checking out, would have to find alternate storage for my plastic tool cases, but that's not that big of a deal. My 5gal 'Homer' bucket is going to be completely useless for a dust collector anyway.
Think I'll be headed down to Rockler later this week to check out some 4" hoses. This is going to incur some expense to go from a 1.25" Shop Vac system to a 4" collection system.
24 September 2011
The big reveal
With my schedule, it took a lot longer to complete than I would have liked. But it's basically done, and I can move on to other projects. The project is a microwave stand/garbage and recycling cabinet. The garbage can has been sitting out on the floor, and the recycling bin has been in the pantry. I wasn't comfortable with that, and wanted it changed.
I measured the garbage can (the recycling can will be replaced with the same style) and based my measurements off eventually having the bins sit on door-mounted drawers. More on that later. I splurged slightly at the lumber yard and bought two-sided prefinished plywood for the case. This will help prevent stains with little effort. I cut the bottom and sides to size, and cut dadoes on the back to accept the 1/4" plywood back, and on the bottom and top to accept...well, the bottom and top. There was really no need to construct a full top to the carcass, since there was going to be a counter-style top. So I made two small stretchers to help tie the carcass together and give an anchor to the real top.
Helping with structural integrity and providing a visual cue is a face frame made of 5/4 poplar, joined together with butt joints and pocket screws. I went out of my comfort zone and attempted biscuit joints to attach the face frame to the carcass. I must say I was rather pleased with the results. I attached a separate toe kick box (again, a new technique) on the bottom with pocket screws. The counter came out about .5-1" too high, but being a separate box construction, I can easily remove it, trim it, and put it back on to get the right height.
The top itself is constructed of soft maple, planed to a thickness of 1.5", then rip cut to that same specification. Then the pieces were turned on edge and glued together to form two pieces. Those got planed to around 1-3/8", and joined together to form a top that is about 18" deep. The ends were trimmed perpendicular and is about 47" long. It's secured to the carcass with six screws.
There will eventually be doors covering the bins, but we're going to let that simmer for a few weeks while we determine what we want - the bins on door drawers, or just regular doors and pulling the bins out manually. Either way the doors will be a rail and style construction with hardware matching the rest of the kitchen.
With this project I can really see how far I've come with my skills, with this project sitting right next to the first one I did, the pantry. My face frame skills have greatly improved, but still needs polishing. I wanted to plug the pocket holes, but forgot to do so in my haste to get the frame glued on. I need better clamps before I try to glue up a butcher block style surface again. Also, better glue brushes are mandatory.
Also, being a true butcher block surface, I could remove the microwave (and any future appliances) and use it as a food prep counter. I don't think I would do any cutting on it, because it's not hard maple and wouldn't stand up to abuse (soft maple provided a cost savings over hard at around 50%).
I do have a small shop, but I'm proud to say that a large portion of this project was accomplished completely within the confines of the 144. Some during rainy conditions. This was a fairly large project, and one I hope to try again at some point as I gain experience, a few more tools and most importantly - better developed work surfaces.
I measured the garbage can (the recycling can will be replaced with the same style) and based my measurements off eventually having the bins sit on door-mounted drawers. More on that later. I splurged slightly at the lumber yard and bought two-sided prefinished plywood for the case. This will help prevent stains with little effort. I cut the bottom and sides to size, and cut dadoes on the back to accept the 1/4" plywood back, and on the bottom and top to accept...well, the bottom and top. There was really no need to construct a full top to the carcass, since there was going to be a counter-style top. So I made two small stretchers to help tie the carcass together and give an anchor to the real top.
Helping with structural integrity and providing a visual cue is a face frame made of 5/4 poplar, joined together with butt joints and pocket screws. I went out of my comfort zone and attempted biscuit joints to attach the face frame to the carcass. I must say I was rather pleased with the results. I attached a separate toe kick box (again, a new technique) on the bottom with pocket screws. The counter came out about .5-1" too high, but being a separate box construction, I can easily remove it, trim it, and put it back on to get the right height.
The top itself is constructed of soft maple, planed to a thickness of 1.5", then rip cut to that same specification. Then the pieces were turned on edge and glued together to form two pieces. Those got planed to around 1-3/8", and joined together to form a top that is about 18" deep. The ends were trimmed perpendicular and is about 47" long. It's secured to the carcass with six screws.
There will eventually be doors covering the bins, but we're going to let that simmer for a few weeks while we determine what we want - the bins on door drawers, or just regular doors and pulling the bins out manually. Either way the doors will be a rail and style construction with hardware matching the rest of the kitchen.
With this project I can really see how far I've come with my skills, with this project sitting right next to the first one I did, the pantry. My face frame skills have greatly improved, but still needs polishing. I wanted to plug the pocket holes, but forgot to do so in my haste to get the frame glued on. I need better clamps before I try to glue up a butcher block style surface again. Also, better glue brushes are mandatory.
Also, being a true butcher block surface, I could remove the microwave (and any future appliances) and use it as a food prep counter. I don't think I would do any cutting on it, because it's not hard maple and wouldn't stand up to abuse (soft maple provided a cost savings over hard at around 50%).
I do have a small shop, but I'm proud to say that a large portion of this project was accomplished completely within the confines of the 144. Some during rainy conditions. This was a fairly large project, and one I hope to try again at some point as I gain experience, a few more tools and most importantly - better developed work surfaces.
23 September 2011
The train bridge
Sorry for taking so long on this update. With my day job and home life, sometimes I don't get the time I want to share what I'm going. The limited amount of time I get in the shop takes up most of my free time. Hopefully with smaller posts like this I can squeeze them in.
My son has gotten into trains, big time. Especially Thomas. So naturally, he has a very big collection of wooden train tracks. One of the items he has is a tower drawbridge. Here is a stock photo:
Well, I always thought it was kinda dumb to have a solid base underneath with no way for a train or a boat to go through. After I had done my other work Saturday, I decided it was time to change that. I took the bridge and a short section of track out to the shop, and started disassembling the base. It is held in place with four screws, but after those were out it wouldn't budge. They tricked me! After some gentle persuasion the towers came free and I discovered they used a bit of glue and dowels to hold it in. Not bad construction here. Some of the paint came off the base, but it was all hidden by the tower anyway. I found the middle, and started tracing the outline of the male connector on each side. Making this a female connection on both sides was going to be the easiest thing to do and not make it look odd. I used a forstner bit on my drill press and made the holes, then used the bandsaw to complete the connector.
From here I test fit the male piece and both sides were ready to go. But there was no actual track yet, the trains would not be able to pass. I used my combination square to mark lines for the tracks. Now here is where my common math errors come into play once again. I measured from the end of the piece to the nearest line to set my router table and 1/4" straight bit to make the tracks. But I used this measurement on the wrong side of the bit. I should have measured from either the other side of the bit, or the second line. So when I put the track back on, the lines didn't match. I was so close to having a great project! I had to readjust the fence and make another pass so the tracks would line up. The second side came out perfect, but it looked odd. So I intentionally made the other side match the goof side to make it look intentional. The tracks are now double width, but it doesn't affect the function. A bit of hand sanding with a used random orbit paper cleaned up the edges and everything went back together. I didn't bother to reapply glue to the dowels, as the boy isn't that rough with his toys.
And here is the finished product. I now see that Rockler has a bit set designed to make your own tracks, but at over $100 it's a bit unnecessary and spendy. Individual track pieces are easy to come by, and cheap enough to not bother making your own unless you need a custom piece. Now if I start selling custom train tables and want to match it with some custom track pieces (say, the ability to have raised track extend out over the edges to expand play) then I might look into it.
(The pen is my son's artwork, not mine)
My son has gotten into trains, big time. Especially Thomas. So naturally, he has a very big collection of wooden train tracks. One of the items he has is a tower drawbridge. Here is a stock photo:
Well, I always thought it was kinda dumb to have a solid base underneath with no way for a train or a boat to go through. After I had done my other work Saturday, I decided it was time to change that. I took the bridge and a short section of track out to the shop, and started disassembling the base. It is held in place with four screws, but after those were out it wouldn't budge. They tricked me! After some gentle persuasion the towers came free and I discovered they used a bit of glue and dowels to hold it in. Not bad construction here. Some of the paint came off the base, but it was all hidden by the tower anyway. I found the middle, and started tracing the outline of the male connector on each side. Making this a female connection on both sides was going to be the easiest thing to do and not make it look odd. I used a forstner bit on my drill press and made the holes, then used the bandsaw to complete the connector.
From here I test fit the male piece and both sides were ready to go. But there was no actual track yet, the trains would not be able to pass. I used my combination square to mark lines for the tracks. Now here is where my common math errors come into play once again. I measured from the end of the piece to the nearest line to set my router table and 1/4" straight bit to make the tracks. But I used this measurement on the wrong side of the bit. I should have measured from either the other side of the bit, or the second line. So when I put the track back on, the lines didn't match. I was so close to having a great project! I had to readjust the fence and make another pass so the tracks would line up. The second side came out perfect, but it looked odd. So I intentionally made the other side match the goof side to make it look intentional. The tracks are now double width, but it doesn't affect the function. A bit of hand sanding with a used random orbit paper cleaned up the edges and everything went back together. I didn't bother to reapply glue to the dowels, as the boy isn't that rough with his toys.
And here is the finished product. I now see that Rockler has a bit set designed to make your own tracks, but at over $100 it's a bit unnecessary and spendy. Individual track pieces are easy to come by, and cheap enough to not bother making your own unless you need a custom piece. Now if I start selling custom train tables and want to match it with some custom track pieces (say, the ability to have raised track extend out over the edges to expand play) then I might look into it.
(The pen is my son's artwork, not mine)
17 September 2011
I fibbed
I said I'd go in-depth on my current project, but I'm so wiped from working on it today I don't have the energy. Tomorrow, I promise.
Sneak Peek
Just a little preview of the new project. Hope to have a more in-depth overview later today.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
15 September 2011
Wish list - big stuff
As I think about the things I would like to build in my shop, my thoughts sometimes turn to tools I still want to obtain. Alternately, there are tools that I hpe to one day upgrade to something a little bit nicer.
For a tool I still want to buy, a jointer is at the very top of the list. I'd really like to find a used floor model 6-1/8" model, such as the Ridgid. It's the one I can think of right now that has the most reasonable price point. I'd take a table model, but if it's my money I think I really need the floor model for doing these table tops that I want to. In fact, I think I'm going to only ask for funds to get this for Christmas. I have seen some decent things about the Harbor Freight jointer, but at $400 it's still a bit too rich. Now if they put it on sale for about $300 and I also use a 20% off coupon, all bets are off.
One other item I'd like to get my hands on is a mortiser. Sure, I could do most of what I want to do with my drill press and chisels, so this is more about convienence than actual need. It will probably be the last major tool I buy for the main reason of it being so superfluous.
As far as upgrading goes, there's really only one tool I have that I wouldn't mind getting a better version of: my planer. The little Ryobi AP-1300 does a pretty decent job, and should continue to function well once I dial it back in and change out the knives. But what I really have my eye on is a Dewalt DW735, the cadillac of portable planers. That's just a wish list item at this point, but it would be a nice upgrade.
Unfortunately at this location I'll never have true dust collection, due both to space and power issues. The same thing applies to a drum sander and a cabinet table saw. But it is what it is, and I have to deal with it. I can get pretty close on the table saw by adding miter channels and a couple of auxillary tables.
Hopefully I'll get some fresh pictures taken tomorrow for an up-to-date look at the shop progress. That is, if I can get to the Yard and pick up some maple to get this new project started.
For a tool I still want to buy, a jointer is at the very top of the list. I'd really like to find a used floor model 6-1/8" model, such as the Ridgid. It's the one I can think of right now that has the most reasonable price point. I'd take a table model, but if it's my money I think I really need the floor model for doing these table tops that I want to. In fact, I think I'm going to only ask for funds to get this for Christmas. I have seen some decent things about the Harbor Freight jointer, but at $400 it's still a bit too rich. Now if they put it on sale for about $300 and I also use a 20% off coupon, all bets are off.
One other item I'd like to get my hands on is a mortiser. Sure, I could do most of what I want to do with my drill press and chisels, so this is more about convienence than actual need. It will probably be the last major tool I buy for the main reason of it being so superfluous.
As far as upgrading goes, there's really only one tool I have that I wouldn't mind getting a better version of: my planer. The little Ryobi AP-1300 does a pretty decent job, and should continue to function well once I dial it back in and change out the knives. But what I really have my eye on is a Dewalt DW735, the cadillac of portable planers. That's just a wish list item at this point, but it would be a nice upgrade.
Unfortunately at this location I'll never have true dust collection, due both to space and power issues. The same thing applies to a drum sander and a cabinet table saw. But it is what it is, and I have to deal with it. I can get pretty close on the table saw by adding miter channels and a couple of auxillary tables.
Hopefully I'll get some fresh pictures taken tomorrow for an up-to-date look at the shop progress. That is, if I can get to the Yard and pick up some maple to get this new project started.
14 September 2011
Going global
You can now follow @the144workshop to get updates on when new content is posted, and you can always email the144workshop@gmail.com with any questions or comments. Thanks for taking part of this little corner of the internet!
13 September 2011
It's all good
For the first time in awhile after I left the shop, I was excited. I've finally gotten the shop to a place where I feel I could take on a major project. The last few days, I really haven't made any major changes, but the culmination of ideas and projects have finally come together into a functional shop.
I still had a bunch of leftover MDF from disassembling my Ultimate Tool Stand, so I used a majority of it to build a working design excercise - a planer cart. I previously had a flip-top planer cart, but it felt way too unstable for what it was. I purposely left off a counterbalance so it could fit under a table, and the design just didn't work. So for the past six months or so, it sat in the corner neglected, without a permanent home. I figured out what the ideal height would be for my arms, and took that scrap MDF and repurposed it into a lower, wider cart. While this will take up more floor space than the flip-top, the cavities below the planer now hold my plastic cases from various tools, making it a decent trade-off.
Part of the reason I had room to make this was that I finally removed the lawnmower. I had a corral that it sat in, with a shelf on top for my golf equipment, the vac/separator and the planer. I repurposed that into a taller, shallower shelf that still holds my clubs. But now I have room underneath to store four plastic bins, and perhaps my dovetail jig can also find a home on top. I think the shelf may even be tall enough to house a jointer when I finally get one, but I can't claim that was in the design - just getting it tall enough to fit the bins under was my goal.
A couple of weeks ago I finally purchased the spindle sander I have had my eye on for about a year, and it came in really handy for duplicating the train table that finally gave out after eight months. But the only place I had for it was on top of the router table. I considered buying a metal stand for it, and actually did from Harbor Freight. But unfortunately the holes were horribly misaligned. Plus, I just disassembled and tossed the metal stand that was included with with my planer. For $30, I wasn't impressed. I thought, 'this is a woodworking shop. Make it out of wood already.' So I did. I went to the Borg and bought two 2x4s and had it built in about an hour, mostly. The skeleton was done. Simple pocket hole construction, about 32" high with structural support a foot below the bottom of the top rail. Today I rummaged through my extensive (overly so) scrap collection and found two pieces of cheap plywood that would do the trick. The first one fit the top nearly exactly. It's about 1/4" short on all sides, but it was way too perfect to even cut. Screwed it down, and only had to trim 1/4" off one side of the second piece to make the shelf below. I need to attach some adjustable feet on the bottom, but for $5 it's a really sweet stand. I think the shelf will hold my sharpening tool, but it may become home to all my sandpaper and the cordless sanders instead. Probably room for both.
The best part of that project was that I was able to get in, get it done and feel like I could just close the doors and leave when I was done. No extensive cleanup, no huge piles of crap everywhere. I didn't have to move a bunch of stuff to get it done. I'm very, very happy with how the shop is doing right now. Sure, there are some things I still need to acquire and make a home for, but that's okay. That will be for another blog entry.
I still had a bunch of leftover MDF from disassembling my Ultimate Tool Stand, so I used a majority of it to build a working design excercise - a planer cart. I previously had a flip-top planer cart, but it felt way too unstable for what it was. I purposely left off a counterbalance so it could fit under a table, and the design just didn't work. So for the past six months or so, it sat in the corner neglected, without a permanent home. I figured out what the ideal height would be for my arms, and took that scrap MDF and repurposed it into a lower, wider cart. While this will take up more floor space than the flip-top, the cavities below the planer now hold my plastic cases from various tools, making it a decent trade-off.
Part of the reason I had room to make this was that I finally removed the lawnmower. I had a corral that it sat in, with a shelf on top for my golf equipment, the vac/separator and the planer. I repurposed that into a taller, shallower shelf that still holds my clubs. But now I have room underneath to store four plastic bins, and perhaps my dovetail jig can also find a home on top. I think the shelf may even be tall enough to house a jointer when I finally get one, but I can't claim that was in the design - just getting it tall enough to fit the bins under was my goal.
A couple of weeks ago I finally purchased the spindle sander I have had my eye on for about a year, and it came in really handy for duplicating the train table that finally gave out after eight months. But the only place I had for it was on top of the router table. I considered buying a metal stand for it, and actually did from Harbor Freight. But unfortunately the holes were horribly misaligned. Plus, I just disassembled and tossed the metal stand that was included with with my planer. For $30, I wasn't impressed. I thought, 'this is a woodworking shop. Make it out of wood already.' So I did. I went to the Borg and bought two 2x4s and had it built in about an hour, mostly. The skeleton was done. Simple pocket hole construction, about 32" high with structural support a foot below the bottom of the top rail. Today I rummaged through my extensive (overly so) scrap collection and found two pieces of cheap plywood that would do the trick. The first one fit the top nearly exactly. It's about 1/4" short on all sides, but it was way too perfect to even cut. Screwed it down, and only had to trim 1/4" off one side of the second piece to make the shelf below. I need to attach some adjustable feet on the bottom, but for $5 it's a really sweet stand. I think the shelf will hold my sharpening tool, but it may become home to all my sandpaper and the cordless sanders instead. Probably room for both.
The best part of that project was that I was able to get in, get it done and feel like I could just close the doors and leave when I was done. No extensive cleanup, no huge piles of crap everywhere. I didn't have to move a bunch of stuff to get it done. I'm very, very happy with how the shop is doing right now. Sure, there are some things I still need to acquire and make a home for, but that's okay. That will be for another blog entry.
04 September 2011
Getting there
It was a very productive couple of days in the shop this weekend. No projects were worked on, but a lot of cleanup was accomplished. The air reel was mounted to the wall at the entrance under the drill press. Not sure if that's where it will stay, but it's a good start. Made spots for my weedeater (which will stay), various odds and ends and etc. Really it needed a major cleanup in order to progress to getting the planer, sander and dust collection storage done.
Speaking of which, I'm still trying to decide how that's going to be done. When I think of it I'll post it up. BTW, the train table came out great.
Speaking of which, I'm still trying to decide how that's going to be done. When I think of it I'll post it up. BTW, the train table came out great.
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