It's been a while since I have posted any sort of shop progress, mostly because, well it's been a while since I had any. My time has been taken up elsewhere...
Last night, I finally was able to eke out at least a little bit of time to get me into the shop, and try to get my head cleared up...
Okay not much of anything to write a forum post about, but I did manage to pick up some cheapie plug cutters, and drill stops from Home Depot. These are General Tool And Instrument pieces, made in China, and I really don't expect a lot from them, but they were dirt cheap, and worth gambling on. So I made spaces for them in my racks by the drill press. Impatient me actually decided to try out the plug cutter in a small scrap of walnut... And I was rewarded with excellent results. (I keep the Wood Magazine speed chart by my drill press).
While I had the overhead air filter connected, I never did secure the power cable up and out of the way, for either it, OR the shop lights. This was fixed last night as well with some sheet rock anchors and cable straps. I HATE working overhead by the way...
The holidays saw a LOT of new stuff coming in to the shop, and old stuff going out, in woodworking gear, as well as lawn and garden, so I have a sizeable stack of boxes and packing material I at least started on clearing out.
I have some DC parts that I need to get stuffed in a box, and a shipping quote to a member here (sorry, I have been REALLY tied up lately) that is close to ready to go now. (I unburied the stuff again...).
I also spend a touch of time with the compressor and a blow gun cleaning up the Firestorm miter saw. I want it shiny and new looking so I can snap some new pics of it for listing on Craigslist. This is a really nice non slider, but I cam up against a glut of Delta, and Hitachi 10" non sliders on the used market now, and it is depressing prices below where I want to go.
I have been pulling the things like cans of mineral spirits (why do I have 2 partial cans?) and combining same for same to reduce the footprint, and risk involved in many of the chemicals. I am however coming up with a sizeable box of old spray paint and other misc household chemicals that I haven't touched in 10+ years. It's time for this junk to GO...
As I proceed cleaning out, removing old junk, and working on storage projects, I am seeing a satisfying evolution to my shop. 3 years ago, it was just a garage with a folding table saw, a cheap router, a handful of bits, and a shop vac. I am now surrounded with a well equipped shop, with almost all the major tools I could want (a mortiser and a wide drum sander would be nice) and I am producing decent finished projects now... Not fantastic, but decent... And getting better...
I had originally tried out the MLCS pins & tails through dovetail template set, and had gotten frustrated, BADLY by my results. The tails would just blow out for no reason... Well after fiddling with every piece of advice on the subject I can find, I come to the following conclusion. Don't bother trying to machine cut dovetails in Home Depot white pine boards. The stuff simply blows out. Actually it blows out big chunks when cutting with a hand saw... And I don't mean an old dull piece of junk, but a new, sharp marples pull saw...
I do have one request for the shop I am far from happy about though. LOML wants to move the upright freezer out of the kitchen and in to the shop. This could be worse, but I am not happy about the amount of space this takes up. HOWEVER, it DOES give me a bargaining chip to be able to get a garden shed out in the yard. If I can jettison lawn and garden, as well as BBQ materials, I will have bought back more than enough space to make my shop really work the way I want it to...
On a related note. As many of you know, I have 3 of those Stack On 39 drawer storage cabinet thingies. One of them has a busted large lower drawer, and honestly, they suck up too much wall space... I have been wanting to eliminate the bad one, and have finally coughed up the few bucks it will take to get a set of separators, so that my 3/4 empty drawers can be combined without mixing the contents (Thanks a LOT Stack on, what a PAIN!). I remember years ago, All of these sorts of things came with dividers, the cabinets, tackle boxes etc... This is a cheap shortcut that just ticks me off to no end... But, once they come in, I can rearrange my small stuff storage, move the router bit / drill bit rack, and reorient the router bit boxes. I am going to be filling a LOT of holes in sheetrock when I rearrange the wall anchors for this stuff!
I seriously doubt I am going to have an opportunity to get out to the shop again until at least Sunday. But on the plus side, I do have a long weekend coming up next weekend, which I have taken off for some personal celebration... And that is ME time...
Last night, I finally was able to eke out at least a little bit of time to get me into the shop, and try to get my head cleared up...
Okay not much of anything to write a forum post about, but I did manage to pick up some cheapie plug cutters, and drill stops from Home Depot. These are General Tool And Instrument pieces, made in China, and I really don't expect a lot from them, but they were dirt cheap, and worth gambling on. So I made spaces for them in my racks by the drill press. Impatient me actually decided to try out the plug cutter in a small scrap of walnut... And I was rewarded with excellent results. (I keep the Wood Magazine speed chart by my drill press).
While I had the overhead air filter connected, I never did secure the power cable up and out of the way, for either it, OR the shop lights. This was fixed last night as well with some sheet rock anchors and cable straps. I HATE working overhead by the way...
The holidays saw a LOT of new stuff coming in to the shop, and old stuff going out, in woodworking gear, as well as lawn and garden, so I have a sizeable stack of boxes and packing material I at least started on clearing out.
I have some DC parts that I need to get stuffed in a box, and a shipping quote to a member here (sorry, I have been REALLY tied up lately) that is close to ready to go now. (I unburied the stuff again...).
I also spend a touch of time with the compressor and a blow gun cleaning up the Firestorm miter saw. I want it shiny and new looking so I can snap some new pics of it for listing on Craigslist. This is a really nice non slider, but I cam up against a glut of Delta, and Hitachi 10" non sliders on the used market now, and it is depressing prices below where I want to go.
I have been pulling the things like cans of mineral spirits (why do I have 2 partial cans?) and combining same for same to reduce the footprint, and risk involved in many of the chemicals. I am however coming up with a sizeable box of old spray paint and other misc household chemicals that I haven't touched in 10+ years. It's time for this junk to GO...
As I proceed cleaning out, removing old junk, and working on storage projects, I am seeing a satisfying evolution to my shop. 3 years ago, it was just a garage with a folding table saw, a cheap router, a handful of bits, and a shop vac. I am now surrounded with a well equipped shop, with almost all the major tools I could want (a mortiser and a wide drum sander would be nice) and I am producing decent finished projects now... Not fantastic, but decent... And getting better...
I had originally tried out the MLCS pins & tails through dovetail template set, and had gotten frustrated, BADLY by my results. The tails would just blow out for no reason... Well after fiddling with every piece of advice on the subject I can find, I come to the following conclusion. Don't bother trying to machine cut dovetails in Home Depot white pine boards. The stuff simply blows out. Actually it blows out big chunks when cutting with a hand saw... And I don't mean an old dull piece of junk, but a new, sharp marples pull saw...
I do have one request for the shop I am far from happy about though. LOML wants to move the upright freezer out of the kitchen and in to the shop. This could be worse, but I am not happy about the amount of space this takes up. HOWEVER, it DOES give me a bargaining chip to be able to get a garden shed out in the yard. If I can jettison lawn and garden, as well as BBQ materials, I will have bought back more than enough space to make my shop really work the way I want it to...
On a related note. As many of you know, I have 3 of those Stack On 39 drawer storage cabinet thingies. One of them has a busted large lower drawer, and honestly, they suck up too much wall space... I have been wanting to eliminate the bad one, and have finally coughed up the few bucks it will take to get a set of separators, so that my 3/4 empty drawers can be combined without mixing the contents (Thanks a LOT Stack on, what a PAIN!). I remember years ago, All of these sorts of things came with dividers, the cabinets, tackle boxes etc... This is a cheap shortcut that just ticks me off to no end... But, once they come in, I can rearrange my small stuff storage, move the router bit / drill bit rack, and reorient the router bit boxes. I am going to be filling a LOT of holes in sheetrock when I rearrange the wall anchors for this stuff!
I seriously doubt I am going to have an opportunity to get out to the shop again until at least Sunday. But on the plus side, I do have a long weekend coming up next weekend, which I have taken off for some personal celebration... And that is ME time...
Comment