Making progress

As you can see some major progress has already been made on changing stuff around in the shop. Just today I moved the basement door project out and into position (it's so horrible I'm going to have to redo it. I don't have the energy to try and explain my errors right now.), so that freed up some space. I moved the clamp rack to the more obvious spot between the benches. You can also see my new parallel Irwin clamps, my first set of parallels - first of many. I set up some stuff under the wall cabinet, a box of gloves, paper towels, small bags and a new screwdriver caddy. It's going to be little steps for awhile improving things. In the spring the rest of the walls will get pulled and replaced, and I'll have to decide if they'll get the white paint treatment to lighten up the space. It'll also be at that time where I build my version of the Holtzapffel workbench. The only real expenditures between now and then is I'm going to get my bandsaw up to snuff by adding a fence of some sort, a riser block and finally putting on some decent blades. I also have a new switch on order, so I can convert it from being below my knee in a very awkward spot to up on the spine about shoulder level. Much more convenient spot and I think safer. I'll be burning through as much plywood stock as I have for small projects like the router caddy and some more drawers for the cabinet. I need to look at my hardwood stock and see if there's anything I can do for gifts. I know I'd like to make a lamp or two, but I've not attempted something like that to this point. Another cutting board or two wouldn't be out of the question. I also am going to be spending a little bit of time tuning up the other tools in the shop, getting ready for the winter lull.

Here are the Sketchup renders I promised, laying out what I consider a 'final' version of what I'll be turning the shop into. I haven't been able to think of a more efficient use of my layout, and there's only two more power tools I'd be interested in adding to the shop - a mortiser and the very outside possibility of adding a mini lathe. I haven't gotten a response from the comdev commissioner on if I could attach storage for a dust collector. That's still pending.

Ignore the obvious column error with the pictures, I wanted them to show as much detail as possible without having to click-through. The first render shows the view from over the front left corner. The bandsaw, planer, jointer, cabinets, miter saw, compressor and clamps are already in their final positions. The remaining renders follow the process anticlockwise. There is one point I do need to make though - after I made these renders I did swap the drill press and router table and I think that will do better for workflow. The next time I'm in there playing with the model I'll make new renders.



As always I hope you enjoy the blog.

Design on a dime...or a ten-penny nail

I've spent a long time trying to finalize my long term plans for the shop, and I think I'm nearing the end. It's been an interesting ride from having a bunch of crap in piles with moldy curtains and stinky carpet to even this point. But from here is where it really turns the page to an actual shop.

The reason for the master plan is that I don't want to keep building projects only to tear them down later when they don't meet my needs. I also wanted to have a layout to see exactly what I could fit in the shop. Fit, but it also needed to be usable. One of the biggest problems I have now is stuff piled on top of stuff because I needed to move that stuff to reach other stuff. I need more work space, more efficient work space. The project I just (sorta) completed I had to assemble on top of my table saw. Which, in and of itself isn't a horrible thing, but I don't want it to be the go-to surface that's not occupied. In short, I need an assembly table, a woodworkers table.

So as I said, I had to plan my shop to see not only if I could fit one, but how best to arrange it. After some consultation with some fellow woodworkers, I think I have a master plan that should be one that I can use even my table saw inside for some things and only have to set up stuff outside for large projects or for finishing. This is the work of a few months contemplating and playing with different things, and Sketchup has been an invaluable tool to visualize all of this without picking up a single tool.

It's taken me so long to formulate what I want to write that even now some of the changes have already started. In some previous posts and pictures you may have seen my golf clubs on an elevated stand. Under this stand sat four plastic tubs filled with various items, only one of them being actual tools for the shop. Another was scrap wood, another is drywall and assorted house supplies. The fourth was junk for the house. Well today I disassembled the stand, liquidated all the scrap in the scrap bin and that bin is now gone. The house junk bin will come inside to be evaluated, and the drywall etc bin will probably go under the house since I need it so rarely. Also under my workbench was another bin, filled with sporting goods. That will also go under the house. I have a spare Shop Vac that I'm not sure what I'll do with. Guess the standard answer of under the house might apply.

So, to what has already happened - I mentioned the golf area got disassembled. The miter stand/floor cabinet and wall cabinet both went in it's place. I also moved the wall cabinet up a little higher this time to create a higher workspace on the cabinet. It's still got enough gap at the top where I can stow my straight edges. I took the time to level the cabinet, and unfortunately the shop is so not level it's very distracting. Oh well, that will just have to do until I can get the side area cleaned up and get it level. I think it's slowly sinking on the earth side. The work bench moved from that same wall to a space facing the cabinet. It has created what would best be compared to a galley kitchen. When I'm assembling something very large, I hopefully can use the two together as a large work surface. I gave myself enough room in the galley to use a vise on the bench, and open all of the drawers and pull out the scrap bin. I'm hoping this arrangement will work well, as it's key to making enough space for everything to function well.

Since the bench moved to the middle right of the space, right underneath the window, that meant the bandsaw had to relocate, and it did to the opposite wall where the cabinet was. When everything is said and done, I'll have enough room to cut a 5-6' long piece without having to move it. Should be plenty. Where the bench was in the back left corner now sits the jointer. I swapped the front and back on the base so I could maneuver it into position. It's really not usable in the parking space unless the stock is short, but it will pull out towards the center of the shop for actual use - no different than it was doing. Under the infeed table I parked the air compressor, with no permanent home in mind.

Everything else for now has been left alone or slightly moved to make temporary space. The saw still gets parked wherever, and the spindle sander is now next to the bandsaw until I find suitable wheels for the short cart. But I dunno, I might not put wheels on it at all, as it might be too low to use sitting down. I won't worry too much about that for the time being, as I think the casters I have already will work fine as long as I shorten the sides of the cart. This is because I planned for it to call home under an extension of the miter saw cabinet, to the saw's right. This will give me a little bit of room to cut to the right, but I'm worried that it might not be enough. I suppose I could flip the miter saw to the left of the cabinet and have about 5-6' of room on either side. That would be fairly easy to do later on if I find it was shortsighted. The drill press is going to move to the other side of the door, and basically swap places with the router table. Above the router table will be a mini-cab with three spots for my router bases and possibly accessories.

My mobile miter saw base will probably get scrapped. I never use it anymore, but I'll have to see with where the cabinet now is. I have to dispose of all the old paint, and find a home for the pails I want to keep. The detailing cabinet is up in the air - I'd like to put something up on the wall. With this new configuration, I think I will be able to use the new bench as an outfeed table for my saw, and keep it set up ready to go. We'll see. I may or may not return the door I bought as a knock-down outfeed table and pick one up again should it become necessary. Of course, the walls still need to be finished, and they might get covered with a coat of white paint to lighten things up a bit.

The temporary planer cart has been disassembled and I built a planer cart/dust separator in it's place. This makes it a bit taller, but skinnier. Hopefully the dust part will work out well. I haven't decided what I'm going to do about a dust collector. I will either get a wall-mount DC and hang it outside when in use (come in through wall) or build a lean-to and use a full DC. The latter would be my preference but I am unsure as to if that would meet code. I do have a query about that into the community development commission. I'm not going to attach pictures to this post as it's already very long. I'll have my Sketchup renders and pictures of the shop as current in the next post.

Quick hits

I've been buying some small stuff for the shop the last couple of weeks an one of those items was a saw plate for my straightedge clamp. I have a Pro Grip clamp for crosscutting full sheets I bought probably a year ago. These clamps come with a couple of slots to use accessories, one of which you can use to make your own version of a track saw.

I love my little Ryobi One+ saw, but it just doesn't have any guts anymore. Accurate, but underpowered. So I bought a clearance Task Force saw at Lowe's a few weeks ago but it was horrible with my straightedge. Wanted to wander, but I liked the power of the corded and larger saw.

I finally made it over to Peachtree Woodworking to buy the saw plate that goes with the clamp. It's a little pricey at $30, but after today I'm glad I spent it. It doesn't come with hardware (which I think is a mistake), so I had to buy some 1/4 bolts and nuts to attach it. After some careful measuring I drilled the holes in the saw base an the saw plate. They advise you to line it up with the edge, but I wanted to line up the blade with a nice easy number so I could easily figure out where to place the clamp. I aimed for 6" from the clamp.

After drilling the holes I had to countersink them. I don't have a bit that large so I used a chisel. Not pretty, but it worked. I attached the saw to the plate and tested it out. Instead of 6", I have 6-1/8" but that's easy to remember.

As long as I take the time to set up the clamp correctly, using the saw now is an absolute pleasure. It's as close to a track or panel saw as I'll get. Set the clamp, and go to town. I was able to do the crosscuts for my new project so much faster than I could before. What used to be a chore is now an easy task.

And about that new project? Next time.


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Jointer pics

Had a spare minute, so here we go. Nothing flashy, but after a bit more tuneup should do the job. It's very difficult to feed stock through, it's either of the beds most likely.




I love the HTC base, it's a breeze to move around. I bought a jointer jig to fine tune the outfeed table and knives, and at some point this winter I'll flip it on its side to see what I can do about hooking up dust collection.

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Dearth Essayer

Sometimes I don't find enough to write. Sometimes there's nothing worth writing about. It's been a bit of both these last three weeks, primarily getting my day job done along with some volunteer work, and work in the shop has consisted mostly of cleanup. I worked some on a basement door, getting the base done (more on that next time) and doing some major cleanup. The things I was using was making a big mess, and I had to keep hunting for what I was looking for. I took several days to put things where I wanted them, to the best of what the shop affords right now. I need to be able to find things, and then remember to put them back when I am done. It will be a major focus of what the shop is all about over the winter.

I'm working on a longer post, plus I finally took pictures of the jointer. Those I don't have a timetable for posting, but they will be up as soon as I have time.

Changes

I said in a previous post that I would be making some changes, but it turns out that it will be much more extensive than I had anticipated.

The first part of this process is to look at the things that don't have a place and find them a home so they aren't sitting out all the time. I have a bit of a problem with scrap wood and small tools. If I can finish the drawers on the miter cabinet, that will accomplish the later. The former will be just using some scrap wood wherever possible.

I also like to use Sketchup to figure out a long term plan and to see where things need to go to best facilitate workflow and not have to constantly move things to get to other things.

A major goal in this process is to determine if I have enough room for a real dust collector. The shop vac and separator has reached it's limits and a better solution must be obtained. More airflow is needed to contain the chips in the planer and the jointer. Also, the dust at the miter station has become intolerable.

Tomorrow I will share the pictures of my Sketchup progress as I think I've pretty much finalized where most everything will go. Part of those plans called for scrapping the sander stand I just made, but it needed to be done if I want a more efficient shop. I will be storing the sander on a low mobile cart underneath an extension of the counter. It will be very low, but sitting down for the sanding process might be a decent idea. The cart itself was constructed today, just needing casters to be called finished.

I also mocked up plans for storing the handheld routers and bases above where the router table will nest, I may be able to start on that tomorrow. But at least I finally attached the alternate Milescraft/Craftsman base on one of the extra bases. This will be great for edge routing and circle routing. Template routing might also become easier.


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It's finally here

This is the post I've been waiting to write for nearly a year now. I finally got my jointer.

In the course of building a worthy shop, there are a few major tool purchases one will need to make. A table saw is a near-must. While a bandsaw with a great blade and a fence will do your rip cuts in a pinch, and a radial arm saw or router can take care of your dadoes, a table saw is great and preferred method of doing both...at least for me. A bandsaw is critical for resawing, or making delicate cuts that would cause your arm to fall off if you tried a jigsaw. While you can use a router to accomplish it, a planer is mandatory in my book for getting work down to the right thickness and getting parallel faces. Going to find it very difficult to do moldings without a router. I've got all those things, but I've been having trouble getting a nice edge. That's where the planer comes in.

I experienced some bad glue lines when I tried to put together the cutting boards last year, and even my microwave stand top a few days ago. You need two nice flat surfaces to get a good glue joint, and it wasn't working well with me with my table saw. Those with standard table saws with miter slots would find it easy to use a sled. Since I don't, and still haven't added my miter slots, I wasn't getting the results I wanted. I could theoretically achieve the desired results with a bench plane, or on the router table, but I wasn't doing well with either. On the router table I was getting gouges, and the planes would take way too much time. I knew I needed a jointer, so I started looking.

And looking.







And looking.

I looked for about a year, seriously. I had searches set up on Craigslist, and kept looking at ads for Sears, Rockler, Woodcraft...you name it. I found the used models on Craigslist to either be way too high, or gone within an hour if it was a good deal. I had gotten to the point where I was seriously looking at buying new. I had cash in hand to buy the Harbor Freight model that is well-reviewed, but the day I went to buy I discovered a clearance sign to $200 (good!) but they were out and it was discontinued (bad!). It had come down to a Craftsman or a Ridgid otherwise, about at the same price ($400). I briefly considered Grizzly, but their freight prices pushed them over the top.

I finally found a worthy specimen in an older Craftsman that was listed for $200. Its a contractor series saw from 1996, and it was well taken care of. In fact, just a bit of mineral spirits and wax were needed to get smooth operation. Took me a little while to get it dialed in, but once I did it cuts beautifully. Very pleased with my find. Pictures to come.