Above 1200 Sq/FT The Retread Shed

[Gizmosity]

I have been making things in the shop, but only things FOR the shop. I decided to hold off on dust collection and save up for a Clearvue Cyclone. It's bad.

I have to unclog the jointer after jointing 4 boards or so. The planer throws chip everywhere. I spend about half my time working and half my time digging myself out.

I started looking for a cheap portable dust collector to get me by for about the next year. Seems like everyone is asking near retail prices for their used dust collectors. A couple homebrew cyclones popped up over the last couple weeks but all but one were total amateur junk. The one that wasn't was such a screaming deal that I didn't even bother sending an email, I wouldn't be able to travel that far fast enough. Somebody got a deal of a lifetime. A couple weeks pass and I'm searching away and......it's STILL posted. Sent an email and it's still hooked up. I jumped on it. I still can't believe nobody else grabbed it in those 2 weeks.

It took me two trips to get it all. My trailer is ******* with another project and I just couldn't get it out by myself and everyone is out of town/busy/etc. One trip was just for the pile of 6" pipe and fittings. I crammed it all in my car and couldn't have fit anything more. I did a bit of searching and it looks like I paid retail for the fittings and got the dust collector for free. It's a Bill Pentz design and it looks like it was well done. I tried it out before we dis-assembled it and it seemed to work very well. Spent the last couple of days moving nearly everything in the shop to make this work. I was planning on a Left Hand cyclone for my space, right from the start. Of course, this is a Right Hand. There was only one place I could put it. I still need to buy some more 6" pipe and then futz with some grounding tape. I hate getting zapped. This is about as far as I can go without more pipe.

Hoping that in a few weeks I can spend less time digging and more time working.

I got a few other things done. Got the lumber rack up. The offcuts from the bench sort of screamed "glue me together"....so I did. The whole rack was basically narrow strips that I edge glued and then face glued to essentially make Beech 2x4's for the vertical members and 2x6's for the brackets. I had just enough scrap plywood to mount the brackets.

The weather has turned here and I got tired of finding a place to put my jacket. I dug a bunch of old broken micrometers out of the garbage about 5 years ago and finally found a use for a couple of them. A very precise coat rack.

I had found some really cool (I thought) handles and bought a set to use as masters to cast a couple more out of pewter for our bathroom. My wife thinks they're creepy. So I threw them back on my roll around. I might make a couple more for around the shop, but they definitely aren't welcome in bathroom.

 

[metalhead140]

Cool hooks and handles! The shop is coming along nicely.

 

[jbmatth]

Great job on finding the dust collector, and the coat rack is great to see something like that. Keep it up and keep us posted.
JB

 

[xtremek]

I'm not a wood worker, so I can't comment on the dust collector. But your coat hook is arguably the coolest thing I've ever seen. I'm going to have to set my procurement dept. (my old man) on that one.

 

[fergus]

Hey man. I enjoyed your posts so far. Somehow I've never seen it before last night. Enjoyed the wit, snark and cool collection of machines and bikes/bike trips.

 

[sublime68charger]

nice place you have there,

was just through Spring Green on Sunday,

made a stop at Rumble Seats for a ice cream shake.


enjoy your thread keep all the great progress going!!

 

[Gizmosity]

Hey man. I enjoyed your posts so far. Somehow I've never seen it before last night. Enjoyed the wit, snark and cool collection of machines and bikes/bike trips.

Glad to hear it. An uncle of mine who has since passed away joked once that I was raised by a herd of assholes ( self deprecating as I spent quite a bit of time living with extended family during the summers as a kid, him especially) It's as close to a joke as it is to the truth.

I didn't post any bike photos but did about 1200 miles starting in Missoula, then headed West near McCall Idaho across Oregon to Florance and then North up 101 to Astoria. One heck of an awesome ride. My solo 'honeymoon' adventure, as I left about 2 weeks after our wedding. I have some epic photos.

 

[Gizmosity]

nice place you have there,

was just through Spring Green on Sunday,

made a stop at Rumble Seats for a ice cream shake.


enjoy your thread keep all the great progress going!!

Good stuff! If you're ever in the area again, check out Freddy Valentines. More upscale for sure, but their chicken wings are amazing.

 

[fergus]

Glad to hear it. An uncle of mine who has since passed away joked once that I was raised by a herd of assholes...

LOL. Bout spit my drink out on this one...I can relate a little...the typical family dinner was usually an sarcasm/insult contest, seeing who could out-do who. My wife was mortified the first time she came over!

 

[jbmatth]

You have to love your own personal dysfunctional family, I know mine is great and takes a little getting used to when people come over who don't know us very well. I have 5 brothers and a father who was a Marine, to say we get a little rowdy is an understatement. Keep it up and I'll patently wait for future progress reports.
JB

 

[Gizmosity]

Got a bit done over this last week. Most of the work was on the "other" side. I seem to have collected a number of benches. So many, that I don't have room for all of them. My steel table got drug over there, along with a contractor saw. My trailer is loaded with another bench that's so heavy that I can't get out by myself. I did a bit of cleaning and kept having to move a pile of OSB. Got tired of it, did some measuring and ultimately just hung the damn stuff on the unsheeted/insulated wall.

I still have the lower section to the left of the door to finish. I came up about 4 sheets short and need to throw in a few bats of insulation in a couple stud bays.

I realized that I had no dust port on my tablesaw. There's a clean-out hatch, but it's on the wrong side. Also, the fiber drums I want to use to for the cyclone need a hole. So, 6" wrist twister to the rescue.

The drum lid was a piece of cake.

The tablesaw was a bit more of an issue. I've used my old Milwaukee Hole Shooter for over 20 years, but I've never gotten it that hot before. Crouching under the saw and spinning a 6" hole saw through that steel base wasn't my favorite. I got transition pieces mounted to both new holes and sealed them up.

Late last night I also put a floor in the bottom of the tablesaw. The base is open at the bottom. So, I threw a 2 piece floor in and sealed it up. That should help with dust collection. I also sealed off as many other leaks I could Still need to fab up a motor cover.

I had been thinking of how to mount the 6" PVC pipe to the wall. My initial thought was down and dirty: perforated strapping. I sat down for about 10 minutes early this morning and came up with a bracket that should work. MDF for the bracket itself and some of the drops of Beech for the mount. I put a hole in it thinking maybe I'll run black pipe air lines through them too. Might use them, might not but they'll be there.

I think I have enough MDF scraps around here to make all I'll need. I have access to a CNC gantry mill that will knock them out pretty quickly. I need those before I can finish the dust collector piping.

The shop is a disaster. Everything is partially done and waiting for something or other. Small bites....small bites.

 

[Gizmosity]

A couple of weeks ago I got a message from a good friend that they had a couple of benches they needed to get rid of and asked if I wanted one or all of them. Stopped by and took a quick look and thought I could make use of one of them, grabbed my trailer, we struggled to get one on, drug it home and just dropped the trailer in the shop with the bench in it.

The thing is a tank. Fought with it yesterday afternoon and got it out and into the shop.

I like to work on a low assembly table when I'm building furniture or cabinets and I don't currently have one that's mobile. I also use a low table on casters to cycle sheet material through the tablesaw. Based on my 20 second inspection of this table (literally), I figured I'd rip the top off, cut a certain amount off the legs, flip it over, throw some supports onto the new "bottom", box in for casters and be done. Shouldn't even need to buy any new material, it's all right there.

So, I started deconstruction:

It was over 4'x8' and the inner frame was exactly the size I wanted, about 3'x7'. Took out at least a pound of screws.

And........I just kept taking it apart trying to get to a point where I could start rebuilding. Went in for the night with some sketches and ideas in my head.

Got up this morning and hit the shop with a cup of coffee. An hour later and I had this:

I know when to cut my losses. Wasted an hour getting it and half a day carefully taking it apart (until I cried uncle and took a BFH to it).

In the end, I gained a sheet of AC plywood and a bunch of screws and I'm now enjoying the heat provided by an old bench.

 

[Gizmosity]

After abandoning, and burning all evidence, of the 'Let's turn this bench into a different bench' fiasco, I brought my old steel table back into the shop and started fabricating something to mount casters to without increasing the height. I was initially thinking steel angle but after I priced it out it just wasn't worth it. I was hoping to find some drops cheap, but they didn't have anything I could use.

A little morning coffee and left over pizza to fuel the design.

I was able to use the dust collector finally although it was still haphazzardly connected. But I didn't have to sweep one time.

It turned out clunky but I ended up just using Beech drops from the bench build (which still isn't done) and the casters from my toolbox that I decided I didn't need anymore. It only raised the table about 1/4" which was what I was after. I attached a top that overhangs quite a bit so they don't stick out quite as far from the top.....but enough that I've whacked myself a good one once or twice. I may knock the corners off them a bit.

Got my router table insert done, level and flat. Still need to make a fence for it and get dust collection over to where it lives.

I spent some time on the hangers for the dust collector/cyclone. I ended up having to make 2 different brackets for different distances from the wall. The cyclone intake is a set distance so I had to make some for just one wall and then for the other brackets on different walls I was able to keep the pipe closer, which required a second bracket.

I still need to design something to hold the vertical drops securely to the wall. I also still need to finish running the pipe to all the places I want drops. I ran out of steam. I'm in the process of taking apart what I've already hung and am grounding them with aluminum tape inside the pipe. That should cut down on the static charge in the pipe and I'll be done getting zapped soon.

 

[jbmatth]

Either I missed it or have forgotten, but what is the board beside the garage door with the two toggle clamps? The dust collection pipe supports are very nice and obviously made by a craftsman, not some hack with a saw and hammer.
JB

 

[Gizmosity]

Either I missed it or have forgotten, but what is the board beside the garage door with the two toggle clamps? The dust collection pipe supports are very nice and obviously made by a craftsman, not some hack with a saw and hammer.
JB

My jointer is a short bed so edge jointing long boards that have a big bow in them is next to impossible. I slap a board in that jig, clamp it down with the two clamps and run it through the tablesaw to get an initial straight edge that I can joint easily.

Craftsman? More draftsman. I just drew it, pushed some buttons and hit cycle start. But thanks!

 

[jbmatth]

Ok, thank you for the explanation, I'd forgotten about that, but seem to remember you using it now. That is a great idea and I'm sure works wonders. I need to find a nice used jointer at some point.
JB

 

[fergus]

Did I miss the part where a cnc router table showed up in your shop?

 

[Gizmosity]

Did I miss the part where a cnc router table showed up in your shop?

The joys of maintaining labs...using the equipment. I actually used the profile .dxf file as an "Intro to CAM" in one of my classes so they all toolpathed it in one of our CAM packages and then we 'virtually' machined it in class. So, you didn't miss anything, it's not mine.

But, I will say that I am in the very, very beginning stages of building a 11'x5' CNC gantry mill.

www.mechmate.com

 

[jbmatth]

That would be very cool, I work with a gentleman who along with some friends built a 4'x8'x3" router table from scratch. It was/is very impressive and very time consuming for them. Their next project was going to be a homemade plasma cutter before he was transferred. I wish you the best and please share your experiences along the way when you build the table.
JB

 

[Gizmosity]

That would be very cool, I work with a gentleman who along with some friends built a 4'x8'x3" router table from scratch. It was/is very impressive and very time consuming for them. Their next project was going to be a homemade plasma cutter before he was transferred. I wish you the best and please share your experiences along the way when you build the table.
JB

There's not going to be much to show for quite some time. I'm in the planning stages and determining components. I've picked up a couple odds and ends that I know I need simply because they were nearly free (control box enclosure and a couple 32 bit PC's running Windows XP). Most every sub assembly requires spending at least $1,000 in components, which I just can't justify right now. I might be able to source the steel needed reasonably since steel scrap prices are so low.

If I can source the steel needed for under $500 (doubtful) I may start rehabbing the Kaiser/Johnson Model J bandsaw I picked up a couple years ago so I can start cutting/welding in the spring.

I'm trying to stay within a $6k budget, which translates to about a 3-4 year project.

 

[fergus]

But, I will say that I am in the very, very beginning stages of building a 11'x5' CNC gantry mill.

www.mechmate.com

SWEET! Keep us posted...home CNC is a long term goal of mine.

 

[Gizmosity]

Spent a fair amount of time taking down much of the PVC dust collection lines, grounding them and then putting them back up. I'd read some forum posts elsewhere about using aluminum tape inside the duct and thought I'd try that. Just need to use some jumpers around the blast gates. I also still need to finish running duct on one wall and to an adjacent wall and putting in two drops, then grounding those.

The whole CNC mill idea is still in as full of a swing as I can afford. Steel scrap prices are low and I grabbed some C-channel near Milwaukee for a good price. It's all pallet racking, but with the ends cut off the only way to tell it's not stock C-channel is the series of holes drilled and that doesn't bother me at all.

After I got home I started modeling the base to determine actual sizing using the profiles I bought.

That's where I'm at for another couple of weeks. Hoping to get some steel cut and welded later this month and into January.

 

[Gizmosity]

Winter didn’t hit until late this year, but it eventually got cold enough that I just ducked out of the shop and started working on other things, namely the house. I’ve said that the shop has seen better days. They house is in worse shape. We’re just living in it as is and determining what exactly we WANT to do before I start ripping the whole place apart. Decided for sure on the master bath remodel and am taking over part of the den to add a shower to the master bath. In order to do any structural changes on the main floor, I need to deal with some issues in the basement. So, I’ve been working on a plan of attack and drawing some things out.

Then I volunteered to assemble this 3D printer………….and I’ve been distracted for a while…..and still am actually.

Happy New Year !

 

[Gizmosity]

I've gotten my master bath and basement plan pretty much figured out and made the mistake of re-thinking layout in the shop.....but it's not just layout.

I've been assembling a shop based on previous shops I've had, similar equipment I had and using the same methods of construction I used. Trouble is, most everything I've had previously was a hodge-podge of junk I've made work. While there's nothing wrong with that, and I actually LIKE cobbling together junk (no big news there) I spent a good part of mid-January completely reconceptualizing how I work, why I work that way and looking at other tools/methods that will net the same result, not require stationary equipment and not be prohibitively slow.

I also spent quite a few late nights going over processes and work flow in my space. It just doesn't work. My plans for line boring, a multi-router, big bandsaw and that giant jointer just won't fit in the space and allow work to flow.

I'm going to be moving quite a bit of stuff around, hacking my tablesaw up and addressing processing some sheet stock differently. My tool placement was based on 10' clearances but clogs the flow of work up. I'm shifting to 8' infeed/out feed clearances and that will allow me to better utilize the space.

The CNC project is still in the works but I'm going to shrink it a bit in the X axis. It will still live on the other side of the shop, along with a finishing room and still allow tractor/good junk storage. I'm actually glad I hadn't gotten around to cutting the steel.

I'm hoping to get started sooner rather than later and it looks like the weather here is starting to get back above single digits so that'll be nice.

In a brief period of insanity, I agreed to a 50-100 (I can't remember what I agreed to and I'm afraid to look) mile gravel bike ride in April that I need to get ready for. I didn't finish it last year and I don't plan on a repeat of that. So, that's going to take a priority and there's some boring nights on a bike trainer in my basement coming up and hopefully if this snow melts, some cold road riding.

 

[jbmatth]

Sometimes it is worth while to sit back and take stock in your equipment, needs, and available space. In the end you need something that will be a joy to work in and not hinder your work but enhance it.

Your bike ride coming up reminds me of a European I met in college. I was waiting tables at a Pizza Hut when this rider comes in and parks his bike beside the door. It was a road bike similar to what I'd take on a 50-100 mile ride, no saddlebags or anything out of the ordinary. I asked where he was going and his reply was New York. Curious I asked more questions and discovered he was riding across the US solo with just what he was wearing. He told me he had taken a drunken bar bet to ride from California to New York like that. Eating out every meal and hotels every night. So just think it could always be worse.
JB

 

[Gizmosity]

This ride can be an absolute joy or complete misery depending on the weather. Last year it was clear skies and warm for April. I just bonked. I felt great at the halfway mark but didn't eat/drink enough, just had a few bites, chugged a Coke, refilled my water bottles and relied on snacks I carried with me while in the saddle. 10 miles down the road and I was cramping in the ditch on the side of some steep hill. I took a shortcut and made it to the finish eventually, but not along the actual route. I used to laugh that the mid-west was flat until I started riding a bike. SW Wisconsin is a brutal hill-beast.

The shop is going to be a much more efficient place to work than what I had planned for it. Most of the equipment placement was dictated because of doors, windows and the placement of a frost free water hydrant while maintaining 10' infeed/outfeed clearances. I also am STILL trying to be able to pull a vehicle in the shop if I absolutely have to. Switching to 8' clearances, switch how I do things, drop a wad of cash and it should work.

 

[Gizmosity]

The weather this weekend was amazing. I think it hit 53 degrees. I tore into the space and got my tablesaw fence cut as well as the side support table. Moved that and started leveling it, still dialing that in. I ended up with about 63" of rip capacity

In this configuration I netted about 150sf of open space that before couldn't be used for anything. In its new configuration I'm using space better that HAS to stay open......garage door and man-door. The jointer and planer are offset slightly. The planer uses the space that has to stay open for the man door as its outfeed.

Still monkeying around with the tablesaw but it's close to done. Need a day of futzing with dust collection re-routing still.

I've got some other financial priorities and time constraints so most of what I'm doing is laying the groundwork for a pile of new equipment to be purchased. That may be a while......but eventually I'm taking giant gulps of Festool Kool-Aid.
MFT/3
TS-55
CT-36
OF-1400
Domino
Plus a couple other doo-dads and I have been designing a 12' boom arm to get the hose from the CT-36 to two separate workstations.

I should have it all put back together in a couple evenings. Then I am most likely getting my bench finished and mounting the vise. By that time I hope the roads are clear enough to ride on OR so much snow that I can ride my fat bike without getting drenched.

 

[joe--h]

Can you tell me what the rods sticking out the bottom of the planer do? Looks like for table extensions but I've never seen whatever goes on them. Looked at Grizzley,

Same planer, same rods, but for what?
Thanks, Joe H

 

[Gizmosity]

Can you tell me what the rods sticking out the bottom of the planer do? Looks like for table extensions but I've never seen whatever goes on them. Looked at Grizzley,
Same planer, same rods, but for what?
Thanks, Joe H

Hey Joe....

Those are handles so you and a pal can pick it up.
They slide out to get a grip on them and slide in to be out of the way the other 99.99999% of the time.

 

[joe--h]

Thanks. I have a similar planer, a Woodtek. Same holes but different set up. No rods, just holes. The table is fixed & the head moved up/down. Just bought a Shelix head for it so take it apart is on the to do list.
Joe H

 

[Gizmosity]

Thanks. I have a similar planer, a Woodtek. Same holes but different set up. No rods, just holes. The table is fixed & the head moved up/down. Just bought a Shelix head for it so take it apart is on the to do list.
Joe H

I prefer the style you have with a fixed table. You can actually set up a perminant outfeed on them without having to adjust its height every time you change the height setting.

 

[Gizmosity]

Good weather again for this weekend. Scrapped my plan to set off my burn pile when I realized that snow wasn't going ALL the way around it and my garden hose doesn't reach that far. More snow is in the forecast so maybe next weekend.

Got a bit of time invested in hooking up dust collection to equipment that was recently moved.

I drug my compressor back into this side of the shop and tucked it against the wall near the electrical panel. It's a dead space anyway with the water hydrant where it is. Still need to go through it. I don't really use that much air and get by with a tiny one I got for my birthday about 10 years ago.

Moving the saw against the wall between the doors really opened the space up.

Most likely spending my time over the next couple weeks on addressing the filter plenum on the dust collector. It's fine for how little I use it now, but truck air cleaners aren't really going to cut it long term. An order from Wynn Environmental is planned once tax returns become real in-hand cash instead of digital promises. While I'm at it, I may buy a third filter and dig around for a 750CFM-ish furnace blower to build an ambient air filter system to hang on a wall near the ceiling to filter out the fine dust.

It's probably high time I deal with the destroyed bottom seal on my garage door too.

 

[Gizmosity]

The weather here WAS fantastic for riding. Got three consecutive 40 mile days in before winter came back for another round.

Got a few things done around the shop in the evenings.

I started milling stock and getting a cut list together for a motor cover for the tablesaw. It turned into a disaster in terms of clearances, especially doing it after the saw has all the feed tables mounted (and I made my bracing for the side feed tables about 1/2" lower than I had planned). I drew up a sheet metal one that I was happy with but the shear and brake I have access to aren't big enough. Scoured the web to see what I could find that I could make work. Found a couple but they were already sold and eBay wasn't much help. Found one for a Unisaw that I made work. It's a little wonky as it's actually too big (everything I found was too big). Made a plywood spacer to give me something to mount to and just called it done.

The dust collector is great but the switch is ALL the way across the shop. Looked at some remotes, did a little digging and put this together. Works fantastic and I'm in it about $50, plus some odds and ends I had floating around.

When we moved into our house, the previous owners were STILL moving out. Found this box in the back yard along with a bunch of junk they left. (2 years later and they finally paid me the promised storage fee and grabbed the last of their ****).

Finally got around to taking it apart. The signs are still in pretty decent shape. Something to hang on the wall anyway.

I was hoping to get 200-250 miles in this week but with the weather turning I grabbed a couple Amazon deals to keep me busy in the shop when I'm not working on work stuff. Should see a brown truck here shortly.

 

[Gizmosity]

Most of last night was spent working on getting a few projects wrapped up.

I cut about 36" off the right table on the tablesaw a month or so ago. That piece has been leaning against a wall and I've been staring at it thinking of what to do with it instead of just throwing it in the burn pile and getting it out of the way.

Short version.....I built a twin router table.

Long version.....

I bought a Freud FT 2200 plunge router....ahem...20+ years ago. I abused that thing. I still do. I'd much rather have gotten a Porter Cable 7539 but even 20 years ago those were spendy. The Freud had pretty much the same features for half the price. I took a gamble on one. Maybe 10-12 years ago I saw a close out deal somewhere and picked up another one as they moved to a newer model making the FT2200 obsolete. So now I have an old beat up blue one and a 10 year old shiny red new one. Here we are together after a ride a few days ago.

Over the years I've bought and installed 4 Bench Dog router lifts. I've recommended them for years, basically since they came out. We bought one for our Woods lab a few years ago. They're owned by Rockler now. The lift is still a great piece of equipment but they stopped selling machined inserts for them and now only sell these crappy plastic ones. I hate, I mean....I HATE them. Anyway.....

My old router table is the same thing I've used for the last 10 years. It's a piece of plywood with a hole in it. That's it. I figured it was time to actually MAKE a router table that's a bit more usable and convenient. So, I started looking at router plates (not going with a lift when I have these two Freud plunge routers kicking around). I ended up getting a Bench Dog plate on Amazon. I was surprised they even still made them for the Freud. Same crappy plastic insert.....I HATE them.......also, for crying out loud, the hole pattern (the only reason I dropped $70 for it) was off...seriously off. I threw a quick router table together 6 months or so ago with it. I'm on Amazon the other day and they have a blem for half price. I grabbed it. Might as well, who knows how long they'll even be available?

So, I'm sitting on two plates, two Freud plunge routers and there's that hunk of tablesaw feed table leaning against the wall.....

The plates still piss me off. Both of them the hole pattern is off and there's those inserts that I HATE.....also, one is .252" thick and the other is .236".

I'm also probably one of maybe 10 people in the world who have 2 Freud FT 2200 plunge routers and Bench Dog plates, so whatever.

I ended up routing them deeper than 'Flush' and threaded the plywood for 10x32 leveler screws so either one could live in either recess with just a bit of futzing.

[

Because I was doing two this time, I figured it was worth making a jig to route it out. In doing so I also discovered the bearings on my saw aren't 'quite' as good as I thought......a project for another day.

A good friend bought some T-track he didn't like and I gave him 10 bucks for half a dozen 30" pieces I thought I could use for jigs and fixtures. They are supposed to be friction fit but I decided to drill and countersink them with 10x32 flathead screws. My counter sinks are too big to fit so I had to use a 23/64 drill bit for the flat heads to sit flush enough. All my center drills are either too big or too small. Worked well enough. I also remembered that I screwed the top on prior to putting P-lam on and needed to find the screws. These work perfect for that and it saved a $40 bit because I was going to route the groove 3" in from each edge.

Ok, the top is figured out. It needs to go on something.

My neighbor took down a bunch of trees on the hillside behind his house after one of them fell on his garage. He then had a portable sawmill guy come out and mill them up. The milled lumber paid for the tree feller fees. This huge Aspen nobody wanted. It had sat for a while and he thought he saw a little spalt on it so we stacked it in the other side of my shop as an experiment. That was 18 months ago. It was partially dry when it was milled. I don't have a moisture meter at the house but figured it was worth a shot. Aspen is pretty soft. Spalted Aspen is super soft. It's free anyway.

Live edge on both sides so I had to snap a chalk line and cut it with a circular saw.

My Sawboss isn't big enough so I had to cut one side, flip and repeat.

And my 10" saw won't quite cut through, but close enough where I could just snap it apart by hand.

Jointed a face and edge and now I'm just letting them 'relax' for a bit. Then I can use this for the base. I have a bunch of 1/2" plywood crating material that'll be perfect to close it in and then I can hook it up to the dust collector.

I need two fences. I have 1/3 sheet of Baltic birch that should do the trick and when I go back to work next week, I can run into a big box store that sells ugly P-lam in partial sheets cheap. Need to go online and grab some 1/4x20 knobs, most likely Lee Valley but I'll check Amazon too.

When it's done I can set up matched rail and stile bits and have them set up perfect and just leave them until the job is done. That's the idea anyway and something I wished for when I was doing kitchens. I've still got my eyes peeled for a local deal on a shaper.

That's where I sit in router table land today.

 

[jbmatth]

I'm interested in seeing how this router table turns out. Also nice to see a PBR floating around your place too.
JB

 

[Gizmosity]

PBR = Post Bike Recovery.

I should have that base knocked out in a week. Ordered some knobs and doo-dads from Lee Valley last night. Realized this morning that I need some blast gates and they will determine spacing on the fence supports....so I'm waiting on the fences.

 

[Gizmosity]

As per usual it's a madhouse at work and I wasn't able to get much done during the week. The weather turned to winter again and without heat it's not possible to glue or paint. That'll change soon enough.

I did manage to get 150 miles in on my bike a few weeks ago. About 30 of that was a fat-bike-mud-slog-misery-fest. I'm hoping to get a few 50 miles rides in before I go on a big promoted ride. It's not officially a race but about 300 show up and ride 52 or 106 miles of hilly gravel roads. Im looking forward to it and dreading it at the same time.

Got the base finished this afternoon. I'm thinking about painting it with milk paint. That's the direction we seem to be going for the future kitchen remodel so it'll give me a chance for my wife to see if she likes it in real life as much as some photos she's seen.

I finally broke down and built a push block for the jointer. Up until now I've just been using what I call 'Spidy Grip'. I lick my fingertips before each pass. Works fine, but gets a little old after a while.

Picked up some cheap P-lam yesterday for the fences for the router table and some auxiliary fences I'm planning for the tablesaw but it's too cold to glue.

 

[code4pay]

I finally broke down and built a push block for the jointer. Up until now I've just been using what I call 'Spidy Grip'. I lick my fingertips before each pass. Works fine, but gets a little old after a while.

Nice job on the push block, I need to make one for my new to me jointer. The thought of accidentally planing my finger tips gives me the willies!

 

[Gizmosity]

Oh no......I've apparently been doing it 'wrong', although it worked. Now it doesn't. Hmmmmmm.....Until I get my Photobucket issue worked out I'm going to be scarce. I might be able to **** with it in a couple weeks.

**Edit**

So, when I posted this, ALL the photos I've linked to in Photobucket came up with an error, stating I had linked wrong.....now they work....I did nothing. Love it when a plan comes together....

 

[Gizmosity]

Small victories......some even shop related.

Most of my free time was spent in the saddle trying to get some miles on my bicycle for a ride last week. I got 200+ miles in and although I knew I wasn't as ready as I wanted, I was as ready as I was going to get. The ride was amazing. The weather finally broke and Spring hit on the day of the ride. It was pushing 75 degrees (Fahrenheit of course). And, like last year, I found myself with deep thigh cramps about 36 miles into a 50+ mile ride. Still a great ride and I'll do it again, ready or not.

Got a new water bottle holder that also holds 2 bananas printed for the ride. Sadly it just wouldn't fit on my frame right without jettisoning another water bottle so I couldn't use it. I may investment cast it anyway and throw it in another bike for kicks.

The router table is close to done. I got fences built with blast gates and just need to glue on some laminate. I wasn't really thinking about how I'd plug them in, what I'd plug them into, etc. I grabbed a couple switched outlets and just need to wire them up. When I get that whole thing done I'll have some photos.

The lions share of my time has been spent on a bathroom remodel project, adding a shower to a half bath and turning it into our master bath. Lots of 'issues' to deal with in terms of rot. The sub-floor and underlayment are done. Thankfully the floor joists are solid. Once I get the floor issues taken care of I'm framing up a 36"x48" shower and laying a mud bed for tile. Never done that before. I've made plenty of custom Corian shower pans with curbs but I don't have access to a thermoforming oven big enough to pull that off anymore. Tile will be fine. I was hoping I could find a pan and just drop it in, but the joist spacing and a fresh air return limit where the drain can go. Custom is the only way to go unless I go with a 32"x32" pan. I'm not going through all this work to take a shower in the space of a washing machine.

While I'm at it, we decided to plumb up and wire for putting our washer and dryer upstairs. They're currently in the basement and they'll stay there until we're too old and feeble to get up,and down the stairs. The only reason we go to the basement currently is to do laundry and change the furnace filter.

I picked up a sweet deal on a motor/fan combo a couple weeks ago not far from home. Didn't bother doing much research on it other than checking out the Grainger retail price on it, which was about $700. I was able to test it, it worked and worked well so I threw down $50 and loaded it up before somebody else offered him more for it. I've been planning on making an ambient air filtration system rather than buying one from Jet or JDS. They run $400+. I've got a bunch of plywood off-cuts that are perfect for it and then adding some serious filtration. Problem is, this fan puts out A LOT of air. This combo may be too much CFM for my application. I contacted some friends who run across new take off variable speed motors all the time. I'm probably going forward anyway just to see what happens. It's direct drive so I'm kind of stuck. We'll see.