Wood Works -- Shop Tour

[ssmith1627]

Did any of you guys see the shop tour episode of Woodworks over the weekend ? He went pretty quick but it was neat to see what he had there. He doesn't build things that are my style for the most part but I still enjoy the show.

Interesting that his TS fence looks to be a Biesemeyer but the name is totally obscured. I wonder if they're not a sponsor of the show or if it's just a well used fence. Hard to tell if it's on purpose or not. A lot of his power tools are older models which is interesting to see. Probably a lot to be said for the way they used to make power tools vs. the Chinese imports we get now -- I've heard some of that talk on this board as well.

But the most interesting part to me was his dust collection. A cyclone....outside ? And with no bag / filter. There was a pile of sawdust under it. I thought that part was really strange. If you were going to vent outside, why would you bother have a cyclone at all ? Why not just a really big motor / impeller ?

Steve

[crokett]

I've seen that episode, though not this past weekend. As I recall a lot of his tools are older ones that he refurbed himself. I think he does obscure the names of his tools - I've seen that with his other tools in other shows.

On the cyclone, I thought maybe it was so the blades on an impeller didn't get damaged? The place I get my wood from has a huge cyclone that dumps on the ground also. Well actually it dumps into a bin. I wondered the same thing - why bother with a cyclone.

[LarryG]

The shop tour episode was ordered just past the middle of the show's 91-episode run. Toward the very end, several Festool items began to replace some of his older stuff. But yeah ... DJM does use a lot of tools that were pretty plainly not supplied to him by some deep-pockets corporate sponsor. His belt sander, which many assume to be a Bosch, is actually the Ryobi 321. That little green 6" jointer? Harbor Freight. And I just love his drill press with the foot-operated quill.

As I recall, he mentioned during this show that he bought a lot of his tools used.

I always assumed the TS fence is a Bies. Never noticed the obscured name.

EDIT: For those who might want to know more about DJM's shop, a downloadable plan in PDF format is available here.

[ssmith1627]

I saw that 6" jointer. Very similar to mine. BUT...sitting beside it he had the 16" version he said he'd found used. With that, I have trouble feeling sorry for him ! haha

Interesting with the cyclone. Good point above, maybe it just separates the larger pieces out from the dust. But it wasn't covered at all was it ? Just exposed to the weather like that? My experience is very limited -- I just hadn't seen anything like that. The lumber mill I've been in here in Knoxville had a ton of Grizzly dust collectors but not even one cyclone that I saw. And the one sawmill I visited -- whew -- those country guys didn't know what a dust collector was. They hauled off sawdust by the truckload and their portable bandsaw mill was buried in it.......lol......

Steve

[SHADOWFOX]

That was an awesome episode. I still have it saved on my Tivo. One of these days I will burn to a dvd disc so that I can watch it again and free up space on my Tivo.

[ssmith1627]

I have 25-30 episodes of Norm's show on my Tivo now. It's starting to clog things up !

Steve

[cgallery]

But the most interesting part to me was his dust collection. A cyclone....outside ? And with no bag / filter. There was a pile of sawdust under it. I thought that part was really strange. If you were going to vent outside, why would you bother have a cyclone at all ? Why not just a really big motor / impeller ?

Steve

The cyclone was being used in a push configuration. So the dust collector blower was pushing INTO the cyclone. The way you can tell is that there was no drop bin, the dust was just collecting on the ground.

I assume the reason he was doing this was that he had a use for the sawdust elsewhere on his farm. And perhaps he wanted to keep the # of dust clouds down, too.

The show was a good one.

I also liked the part (same episode?) on tuning up the bandsaw. His trick for truing the wheels/tires was neat, but didn't work on my bandsaw (due to the design of the frame). Yet, it did inspire me to make a wedge version that DID work and further reduced vibration.

[drumpriest]

I have to admit to having nearly all of the wood works episodes burned to DVD, I'm only missing one at this point (oak bar stool). The tour was indeed awesome, and I'd LOVE to get a DP with the foot pedal.

I'm pretty sure that there was an episode along the way where some tool was on screen and the name taped over, making it obvious that they were not advertising the maker. I think it was something dewalt if I remember correctly. I recall thinking that it was silly to tape over a name on a bright yellow tool like that.

[Jeffrey Schronce]

But the most interesting part to me was his dust collection. A cyclone....outside ? And with no bag / filter. There was a pile of sawdust under it. I thought that part was really strange. If you were going to vent outside, why would you bother have a cyclone at all ? Why not just a really big motor / impeller ?

My cyclone is outside in an shed attached to my shop. No bag/no filter. I personally am not interested in building a motor/impeller system. Cheaper/easier just to buy the cyclone. I have the option of routing the fine back inside the shop to reclaim heat and air . . . . when I get heat and air someday!