Four grand

4000 views! Thanks so much for reading.

To celebrate, a small update ahead of schedule. The Jet parallel clamps I ordered came in early, and I swung by Rockler to purchase a new rack just for them. Got that installed on Friday, and boy do they look nice. Haven't had an opportunity to use them yet, but I will.

Also on Friday I was able to get further along on the left side cabinet install. Got the cabinet proper braced at the top and the counter top installed along with the outrigger vertical. Will have to do some sort of bracing to this area, but that will have to wait until I redo the router table. It's hard to see, but it just barely fit. It's very nice finally having a solid surface over in this corner. Now this can be the 'set stuff down' surface instead of the workbench or the miter cabinet.

Not a lot to speak of otherwise, just did a touch of cleaning with the vac as it's probably going to be a quiet period for awhile. Spent time and money recently taking care of some yard work, and there's yet more needed. I can see a scenario where the two will mesh soon though, as the first replacement door to my crawlspace is already falling apart and wasn't that well done to begin with. I'm talking crappy. My approach and execution were horrible. I tried to do it as fast as possible and didn't prepare or plan properly.

This will give me a some practice for the shop doors as the construction will resemble them in part. I was going to use T111 siding as the field, and dimensional lumber as the frame. Construction will be completely different than the first door, which was simply 2x4s made into a frame and cheap plywood connected to it via screws. The frame has already separated from the plywood, and it's not sized correctly for the entrance anyway. I tried to do it very cheaply and I'm ending up having to do it again. I wish I didn't have to spend the money to buy a full sheet of T111 for this small door, one that I won't be able to then use for the shop door project. It's going to be wasteful, as I have nothing else that I can think of to use it on. 5'x3' (approximately) is a bad size to have to make something for. If they sold the T111 like baltic birch (5'x5'), I could be cool with that. Once I'm satisfied with how the door turned out, I'll hit it with primer and paint to either match or contrast with the house.

I do have two potential projects that would be financed externally, but will have to see if time, resources and sense dictate whether I do them or not. I think one, a picnic table, will have to be turned down because it's simply cheaper just to buy one right now. The other, bookcase doors, will be a nice challenge as will trying to duplicate chair rail.

A couple of quick pictures to show the progress.

Mega Dreaming

It's a slow day on the forums, so I thought I would do a little daydreaming about what I would do with this enormous Mega Millions jackpot drawing tonight. This would be, of course, taking care of family and friends and charities, so we've covered all of those bases. This would be, you have a basically unlimited budget now go build your shop and outfit it.

Challenge accepted.

Since I'm more of a mountain than beach person, my estate would be on a large expanse of land in the foothills of some mountains. My shop would be integrated into what is in effect a three story building. There would be a garage on the middle floor, with drive-in access from the front. Five or six bays, with one wash bay. Plenty of room to engage in my other major love, cars. And since we're in the foothills, there's definitely going to be a Jeep. Above the garage is an expansive living area that people can hang out in or possibly stay in. Pool table, Foosball, arcade cabinets, etc. Have to see if there's enough room for it to be an in-law suite.

But enough about that, this is a woodworking blog. The shop would have 10' ceilings, with recessed lighting and duct work embedded inside the ceiling for clearance. Since the garage is above, the back wall of the shop is where all the storage will be. Huge air compressor (plumbed for use with the shop and the garage), dust collection, etc will be along this wall along with some scrap storage. This will be a separate room, and in the shop proper along this wall will be wall storage. Cabinets, french cleats, etc. Along the opposite wall, the one with walk-out access, will be an expanse of windows and french doors in order to enjoy expansive natural light and the nice weather when available. This will lead out onto a large patio with seating for relaxing or entertainment. Perhaps this is where a pool and hot tub could go?

Back inside, we have 4" or 6" duct going to each machine. As much as I don't like the inventor/lawyer, I'd own a 5HP SawStop with massive outfeed/assembly table behind it. If I'm going to be 'retired' and out in the country, I need to be as safe as possible. I'd have an array of spare brakes and blades so I can get back up and running. I may splurge and have another table saw set up for dados only.

Because the garage is up above, I'll have to deal with support columns. As such, I'll use them to my advantage by running some duct and air lines down them and positioning tools accordingly. My bandsaw, probably an 18" Powermatic, would abut a column. In fact, I think most of my tools would be Powermatic, but I don't have a real reason for that aside from their reputation. Full sized lathe, shaper, mortiser, 18" drill press, 20" planer, drum sander, RAS, miter saw, router table, etc would all adorn the shop floor. Since I'd have the money, I'd also splurge on some of the very expensive Festool products, such as the tracksaw, MFT and Domino. I'd have a reading area, complete with a mini-kitchen and kegerator.

Sounds wonderful, doesn't it? Anything I forget?

Happy Monday

It's a Monday, so it's back to the computer for me. This also means time to update weekend events in The 144. I posted about upgrading my bandsaw in the shop tour series. I needed to get that project out of the way so I could get down and dirty on my table saw extension. I purchased two 2x4x10' boards late last week, and spent Thursday and Friday turning them into a mini cart to support the saw extension. I previously placed a scrap piece of MDF to serve as the table, but ultimately wasn't happy with the look or the function, as it was sagging in the middle inexplicably.

I cut the 2x4s down into the sizes I wanted, and fashioned four of them into the base. I then attached the two swivel 4" casters I had, and the 2 3" (not a typo, the bracket is longer) straight casters I purchased on Thursday. Since this wasn't a glamorous project, I put the entire thing together with pocket screws to decrease time. I cut down a large piece of scrap pre-finished ply into the longest section I could make, and used that as the new extension top. I had to guess at the height of the legs of the cart, and will have to eventually redo them. However, it works for now. I was going to make a floor for the cart, but the vacuum sits so perfectly in it now I probably won't. The cart is attached to the saw via brackets screwed into the underside of the cart and attaches to the rails at four points.

I'm very happy with it overall, but at some point when there's nothing better to do and finances are good I may upgrade it or make some adjustments. By that time, though, I may be ready for a hybrid saw. Who knows. The only things that nibble about me about this setup is that one of the brackets rubs on the rip fence, but it still works. The other is a lack of 'right now' measurement. I shifted the stock rails to the left, so the measurement on the front of the fence is worthless. I'd really like to remove it and put it my own, but I'd want another one on hand in case I sold it. Unfortunately, it looks like it's not available for purchase. Shame. We'll see what I can do, because it really does effect the usefulness of the saw that I loved so much.

Place is a bit of a mess right now, as I have a couple pieces of ply cut for the left side of the cabinet wall, but unfortunately can't put them in right now due to the fact that the old portion of the right side is wider than the new part. Still haven't addressed the hardware containers yet either. Unfortunately the solution might have to be it gets rebuilt a 1/4" wider. So wasteful, so we'll see. Not high on the priority list.
What is high is the following:

1) get rid of some of my out of control scrap collection, beginning with all the MDF.
2) get the cabinet wall further along
3) work on the rearranging task - more on this coming up
Here are some pics of the saw extension. Not the best pictures, but then again I did say to mind the mess.

Series - Around the Workshop: The Bandsaw

I've been wanting to share info about some of my tools and things in my shop, and with the major upgrade to the bandsaw complete I thought I would start this series here.

My bandsaw is a Central Machinery (Harbor Freight) model 65795. I purchased it mid-January 2011. I had searched for several months on Craigslist for a decent used saw, but either prices were too high or the saws were a disaster. I looked at one Delta that was so rusted, the guy cut the rusted blade off so I could take a look at the rusted table. No thanks. Thanks to their generous coupons, I was able to get the saw at near what I was going to pay for a used saw.

Assembly was fairly straightforward, and accomplished in a couple hours. The hardest part was attaching the motor and getting it lined up. I assembled it by myself, and anyone in decent shape or with a hoist could easily do it. Those with back problems would be advised to ask for help. I used a link belt (also from HF) to ease vibration. Shortly after assembly, I added cool blocks, a guide pin and zero clearance insert. I was thinking about a wheel brush, but they thoughtfully included one with the saw.

It stayed like this for a year, even with the included HF blade. It was no great shakes, but it did what I asked it to do, which was mostly errata and playing around. I had decided a good 6-8 months ago to add a riser block to the saw, but had been putting off ordering it from HF. For those that don't know, a 14" bandsaw has 14" of cutting capacity between the blade and the post, it doesn't refer to how thick of stock you can cut. Those are limited to 6" for these saws. Adding a 6" riser block therefore doubles the height capacity and lets the saw be better able to resaw (split thickness) boards. For example, a 8/4 (~2") board could be resawn to two boards each just under 1" each. A couple of months ago I made a fence for the saw from plans found in a magazine. It's not fantastic, but it will serve my purposes for now until I modify it, or purchase something.

At the Atlanta Woodworking show, a unique opportunity presented itself to purchase a riser kit for a Powermatic saw. Powermatic is a well-respected tool brand, and the PM 14" bandsaws are quite nice. The Powermatic kit was only $50, which was much cheaper than even buying the HF kit, the cheapest I knew of. I knew that it would be a risk, because of the potential it might not fit correctly, but I could have potentially resold it. After a few days, I was able to acquire the tools (socket and wrench sizes I didn't have) and attempted the assembly. To my shock, the kit was an exact fit. In fact, the only way you can tell it didn't come from HF is the the Powermatic gold contrasting with the Central Machinery green. Guess it's a Green Bay saw. It went together in a matter of minutes, and now I have a saw with 12" resaw capacity, and a 105" Powermatic blade. I can't say if the blade is any good. I'll be purchasing an assortment of good blades in a few months when the budget allows. I'll want to get a good resawing blade, plus a couple of general purpose ones.

SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY!

SUPER VALUE TICKETS ARE JUST $10!

I kinda feel like it's that kinda exciting in the shop right now. So much anticipation over changes, both tangible and just out of reach. It's been an incredible couple of weeks it seems like.

YOU GET THE WHOLE SEAT BUT YOU'LL ONLY NEED THE EDGE

Can't get that voice out of my head, sorry.

What's so exciting? Well, I know I've stated that I've felt the transition to a real shop before, but this seems like a second coming in a way.

I went to the Atlanta Woodworking Show on Sunday. The show was okay, even though it was my first time going I felt a bit disappointed leaving. Most of the vendor space was Peachtree (a local company) or about turning. But I met up with someone from the table saw forum and purchased a full set of rails for my saw. In doing this, I can attach them to my existing rails and finally have a wide table saw. It'll be somewhere on order of about 44 inches or so (I hope) to the right of the blade. I'd like 52, but I don't believe I have the room for that - the saw would stick too far out into the walkway. I'm still thinking about it though, so no definitive plans as of yet. I spent yesterday afternoon rearranging stuff into the shop to see how it would all work. The additional width of the saw also will give me additional assembly room. I'm planning on cutting the hollow core door I have down to the length of my future bench to have a level surface and protect the bench itself.

While at the show I picked up a J-roller, something I have been wanting for awhile to install laminate. This is one of those 'have around the shop' kind of tools. Not needed often, but there's no real substitute for. The real big deal happened as I was about ready to walk out though. A local (later learned) vendor was selling Powermatic riser blocks for $50, cheaper than I could get any others for, including a Harbor Freight version. After some thinking and researching to see if it would work, I took the chance on it and brought it home. Unfortunately it requires a 15/16" socket and a big combo wrench, two tools that I don't currently have. I'm planning to see if I can borrow those possibly tomorrow and see if this thing will work for me. The bolt looks like it's a direct replacement, the only issue will be if I have to cut a couple of locating pins off. Hesitant to do that, but my research shows it's a fairly common procedure for the Powermatics themselves. It comes with longer blade guards, the block, the bolt and a new 105" blade - which just has to be better than the HF one. Even if it isn't, I can finally start buying good blades now that the riser will be installed. The Powermatic Gold will clash slightly with the Central Machinery green, but function over form, right?

Another big addition came in the form of an Amazon sale yesterday. Ordered four 40" Jet parallel clamps, and they should be here in about a month, plenty of time to build back up the coffers.

Perhaps some pictures will help, I'll see what I can do.

Build thread - planer cart

Today I'll be building a planer cart, and if it goes well, the left side of my cabinet wall. I've got two hours to try and get all my cuts and construction done, so I can't guarantee how well this will work. But follow along and check in now and again to see the progress.
3:55pm - I purchased two sheets of Shop VC Birch and I just printed out my cutting diagram. Outside we go.
5:16p - all pieces cut for both projects. Now to change to the dado, run those and see about some assembly.


11:52 - well, it was a good effort. I'm just too pressed for time usually to do stuff like this.

The pieces are all cut for the planer cart and the left side of the cabinet. The dado stack was installed and the dados complete for the cart. I was in the process of drilling the holes to assemble the cart when I was called away for family business.

The nice thing is I will be able to have it assembled in very short order. I may have to run dados on the top and bottom pieces of the cart, but that's a quick process.

Have something else to share, but I'll wait until at least the cart is done.

As time goes by

I've only visited the shop a couple times in the last two weeks, so there's not much to report on. Purchased a new blade for my cordless saw, hoping to see if that improves the performance any. The 100T plywood blade I've had on it absolutely sucks. A foot into whatever, and it stalls. If this doesn't improve it, I may have to junk it. Being 18V doesn't help, but it should be able to make it through plywood. It used to before, before this blade was on it. I'm hoping that it was the cause.

Cabinet project is still waiting for all the stars to align. I've been making some smaller purchases, needed purchases. I bought a new set of HSS drill bits on clearance from Lowe's, and a countersink/taper bit set from Rockler (link at bottom). I'm also in need of a first aid kit and a fire extinguisher, but I'm hoping I won't need either of those ever, but at least until the third paycheck hits in May. As for the cabinet project, I'd like to have enough spare funds to purchase all the plywood at once so I can make repetitive cuts so everything comes out equal, and line up a day or two of nice weather to take off of work and bang it out.

There are two other projects I'd really like to tackle this year concerning the shop. One is a Holzapffel bench so I can start doing a bit more handwork. The bench I made for rough carpentry work is fine, but I need something that's heavy enough to put a hole in the world. Longer, as well. The other project that will most likely take precedence is new entry doors for the shop. I'll discuss that in the next blog entry, as it's in-depth and requires lots of thought.

Review - dust separator lid

(Unless otherwise noted, I have not received any compensation or consideration for any of the reviews listed. These have been purchased with my own funds at regular or sale prices publicly available.)

I first reviewed this on Router Forums in May of 2010. I'll republish portions of my original post and update it with what I've experienced over almost two years of owning it.


Republished in part from routerforums.com:

Now, let me tell you about my current setup and why it's relevant to the review. I do all my router table activities in my shed - henceforth known as the shop. It's a 12'x12' enclosed building in my backyard, and it also houses other assorted stuff like old baby clothes, the lawnmower, garden tools...the usual stuff. So, keeping dust at bay is a pretty big priority. So much so that any sawing I have to do, of whatever sort, gets done outside.

To gather the dust and bits from my router table, I'm using a Rockler fence and D/C port, hooked up to a 6g/3HP Shop-Vac. Nothing too fancy about that.

I had been doing a pretty decent amount of projects lately, and it has been working well. But the discussion about D/C recently brought my attention to various store and DIY solutions to help extend the life of the vacuum. One of these was the Rockler unit, which can be found here. Since this is on my way home (sort of), I decided to go pick it up. I bought it with one of the shop vac adapters as well. A 5g Homer bucket was purchased from the BORG, although I had a 5g bucket from Pep Boys that would have worked as well. NOTE= 5g buckets are not equal.

I emptied out the vacuum before I started, and noticed a copious amount of dust covering the filter and in the canister. It was good that I was doing this now, or I may have ended up burning the motor at some point. I had an entire duplicate Shop-Vac still in the box from a sale, so I borrowed the hose from it to complete assembly. The Rockler unit just sits on top of the bucket, and you can use the bucket handle to lock down the top. The whole thing isn't a huge space waster, I have it under my clamp table at the moment. If I had considered it beforehand, I could have incorporated it's inclusion in my router table. Perhaps next time.

Results
Now, I'm not a everyday woodworker. I also didn't do a ton of testing to reach this conclusion, but I think it's representative of what I do, so I included it. I'll do a small project, if I'm lucky, once a week. This week's project was to experiment with making biscuits and to make the face for my new bench clamp (small chamfer, 3/4" indent for the mechanism).

I experienced no discernible loss in suction from the hose. The vacuum was on during routing, and after when I cleaned up any dust and bits on the table and in the tracks. Sucked everything up fine. When I went to check on the results, I saw absolutely nothing in the vacuum. Nada. Now, it's entirely possible (and probable) that dust is still finding it's way into the vacuum and filter, but it's severely reduced compared to what was still in the bucket. I have to recommend this, so far, as an absolute buy. I'd recommend this to anyone in a similar position, and I'm interested in doing a bit heavier workload to see if the results still hold, but I see no reason to why it shouldn't.

Initial conclusion: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Final conclusion: TBD

End copy.


Up until a few months ago, I was using the Shop Vac 3HP model with 1.25" diameter hoses. I have since upgraded to a Ridgid 6HP model with 2.25" hoses. I had to upgrade in order to clear the chips from my planer. It works, but not quite as well as a true DC would. However, for small shops it works just fine. When hooked up to my table saw a while back, I could see a vortex inside the bucket after I recently emptied it. The performance of this unit has convinced me to hold off building another lid for it. I would be interested in seeing the results with a larger separator, and I may order one if the diameter will fit my shorty 20-gallon trash can. I give this five stars, as it has been a stalwart in my cleanliness initiative, and I haven't had any regrets about purchasing it. The bucket's handle helps hold down the lid securely - I do recommend the 'Homer' bucket from HD, it's what I use.

Rockler has stopped selling this, but luckily Amazon still does. You can find a link below (with my referral). If you are thinking of trying it out, please consider going through the link below in order to help fund the shop. It does not add to your purchase price.

Older pictures:





Woodstock W2049 Mini 2-Stage Cyclone Separator