Woodworking 101--Tools and Tips

[jimreed2160]

Chris--Great job on the Dutchman.

 

[IMStuner]

Tonights workout. Hand tools except a small router for hogging out the bowtie



About 48x18 intended for bench in the mudroom.

What kinda of legs are you going to make?

 

[R_einan]

After struggling most of the afternoon yesterday trying to close up the gap on the second breadboard end, it was ~1/32, I threw in the towel because I was getting frustrated. So I jumped back in first this this morning with a fresh mind and eyes. Got it down to ~1/64 in about 20 minutes and I’m satisfied. Once it is draw bored and finished I’m sure the gap will be nearly unnoticeable.

 

[jimreed2160]

R--Good job on the other breadboard. I like how you gave up and came back later. Whenever I do that things always seem to turn around in a good way. I guess fresh eyes and fresh enthusiasm really do help. Looks good now.

 

[jimreed2160]

Remember the old grinder room?

Well, it got cleaned out today. Here is the mess.

And here is the fresh start.

Lowes had these boxes on sale for $249 so I pulled the trigger. I also reclaimed my old anvil stand from the junk pile.

I plan to mount a vise on it for metalcutting. The 20 yo Olympia (?) box store vise is getting a heave ho and will be replaced with vintage USA muscle. I have a herd of Parker, Reed, Morgan and others to pick from. Somebody gets to go back to work.

I also plan to do a little fireproofing while I am at it. Wondering about putting Hardieboard or gyprock on the bare studs. Is that juice worth the squeeze?

 

[rrich1]

Finally have the gaming table in the finish stage. I put on 1 coat of dewaxed shellac and 2 coats of armor seal so far. Sanding with 400 grit between coats. Hoping to sand and put the last coat of armor seal after work tonight. The finish has been coming out great so far. I love the grain pop of cherry.

I actually read the directions for armor seal and it says to not buff out the last coat. I buffed out shellac and it turned out nice. I'm assuming nothing really bad would happen if i did buff it out. Thoughts? Would use #0000 steel wool and paste wax.

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[jimreed2160]

rrich--Great shine! The beautiful grain looks outstanding.

 

[chrislehr]

What kinda of legs are you going to make?

More of a base then legs. This is a sitting bench for the mudroom area. Mostly accommodating shoe changes.

 

[Slednut]

Tonights workout. Hand tools except a small router for hogging out the bowtie

My SIL did a 3.5 x 11' slab table. Sounds like he did the same as you on the split. I'll see if I can get some pics when it was finished.

 

[R_einan]

Thanks Jim! Grinding area is coming along nicely.

Rich: That cherry really did come alive with the shellac, I love shellac, looking really nice!

 

[ztorres]

Two wine displays I just finished. If anyone has some suggestions about cutting acrylic and drilling holes that would be appreciated


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[ez-duzit]

z--best is a fine tooth carbide table saw blade. There is a specific grind available for acrylic, but a triple chip or alternating bevel works well enough.

A sharp Forstner bit works on large holes.

 

[ztorres]

z--best is a fine tooth carbide table saw blade. There is a specific grind available for acrylic, but a triple chip or alternating bevel works well enough.

A sharp Forstner bit works on large holes.

My issues with the holes are the waste pieces “gluing” back to the piece and worried that it’ll chip.


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[ez-duzit]

A Forstner turns the waste into shavings. Back up with scrap of plywood. Don't spin too fast.

 

[scarrylarry]

Not sure if this has been mentioned but Lee Valley Tools is a great place for woodworking tools . They have their own line of tools as well , it's called Veritas .
scarrylarry

 

[jimreed2160]

Zach--I have absolutely no experience with acrylic but do have a few ideas. My guess is that you are concerned about keeping the finish pristine during drilling. Much polycarbonate is shipped with a protective vinyl type skin that is peeled off before use. Seems like you could cover it with blue painters tape and achieve the same result.

 

[rrich1]

Ztorres love the box. Good job.



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[jimreed2160]

Not sure if this has been mentioned but Lee Valley Tools is a great place for woodworking tools . They have their own line of tools as well , it's called Veritas .
scarrylarry

Correct. I have shown Lee Valley tools in my posts. No only do they make quality tools, they have an extensive collection of vintage ww tools to draw inspiration from. LV has demonstrated much innovation in their ww tool line.

 

[txvwnut]

Zach--I have absolutely no experience with acrylic but do have a few ideas. My guess is that you are concerned about keeping the finish pristine during drilling. Much polycarbonate is shipped with a protective vinyl type skin that is peeled off before use. Seems like you could cover it with blue painters tape and achieve the same result.

I cut acrylic with my router and a pattern bit, it’s a little(actually a lot) messy but it does a great job, better than a table saw ever will. Just lay a straight edge to run the bit along and cut. You can then take a propane or butane torch or even a heat gun and run it along the cut and smooth the cut edges, this will turn the cut from white back to a clear edge. For drilling the hole use Fostner bits and slow speed and follow up with the heat method and you will have a nice looking piece.

 

[jimreed2160]

Glue blocks

I had to knock the spacer blocks off the anvil stand so I can mount a vise. They were glued pretty well. I started beating the pry bar with my hammer and quickly moved over to the newly refurbed hickory faced hammer.

Wow! What a difference. More surface space on the hammer head. None of that ear shattering metal to metal. And LOTS more force. In fact, the last block got scared and just jumped off by itself.

 

[jimreed2160]

Grinding bench

I spent all morning in the shop and got the grinding bench set up--phase I. I lined the drawers with cardboard from the packing box. At least it will protect the paint.

These jumbo drawers are a treat. My Tormek fits right in the small one on the right.

I can keep the wheel dressers and the other accessories close by in the top drawers. Grinding wheels are in the lower drawers, along with extra wheels for the angle grinders. This thing rocks!

Lining the drawers and making the top took a lot of time but at least I am now back in business.

I had not been happy with my pink wheel of late. Turns out the Veritas rest was not squared to the grinder and the wheel was dressed out of square. I squared up the rest and trued the wheel. The new 8" just hums and is pretty much vibration free. I am happy with that. I still need to true the new wheels.

So this is phase I. Everything is in place for work. I need to make a base for the new 8" so I can mount the Wolverine jig. Until then I will use the provided tool rests. I am also concerned about all the raw wood around so I plan to make some spark shields. And I need to select a new (vintage) vise and mount it on the stand.

The rest of the shop is still a disaster so the remainder of the weekend is shop clean up time. But I am excited. Every time I tackle a problem area in my workshop, I am able to rework the tangled mess into an efficient workspace. This place is coming along nicely.

 

[rrich1]

Vise screw is here! Hard maple screw and nut. My father in law turned it on a lathe and router at his work. Came out awesome. Turns pretty smooth now. Will get even better when I put some wax on it. Would you put danish oil on the threads before wax or would you leave it unfinished and then put wax on?

I laminated the hub with hickory and he cut it to a nice shape to mimick the Acer ferrous screw. I still need to drill a hole for the handle, make a garter for it, and finish it. I still have the gaming table curing the last coat of finish in the garage right now so no making saw dust at the moment. Maybe next week. We shall see.

I mocked it up to see how it all looks. Can't wait to get some oil on the chop and hub. Going to look so good.

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[jimreed2160]

rrich--That screw came out nice. Kudos to FIL.

 

[drivesitfar]

RRich: nice looking wood screw for your cool wood bench vise. I'd like to hear what is the best solution for keeping it in good shape too. i'd think a little BLO or linseed oil with some beeswax, thinner and Japan dryer might be ok, but not sure.

Z: nice looking box. let us know which bit ends up working better on getting you a clean cut in you acrylic when you try them out.

Chris: great looking slab and I always like those bow tie fixes

Jim: i'd probably do something to protect your open wall and wood studs. not sure the effort to put up Hardie lap siding is worth it, but even sheet rock might keep sparks from sitting on the wood. do you have any REASONABLE places to pick up some galvanized roofing or tin sheets cause that might not only look good, but protect you from a fire?

ALL: i'm going to pick up my cedar from a local mill for my decking and fencing and here's some of the 2x6's and the long ones are 16 footers. look ok to you woodies?

I also picked up this 24x24x48 wood cabinet that i'm going to try to find a spot for cause i think that size might come in handy. i just need to do a small repair on one of the drawer fronts and not sure if i'll bother trying to stain them all to match or just leave them as they are.

hope you are all having a great weekend!

 

[cheechi]

I like that cabinet quite a lot drives. Reminds me of an end table sized one my grandfather had to display preserved insect specimens, before he got them laminated in a giant poster sized vinyl sheet. I never saw the cabinet used in that capacity, it had always been a printer stand or night stand in my lifetime.

Jim if I can give you a suggestion with your shiny new box. Take a thick sheet (5 mil at least) and cover the front so you don't get grinding dust in the drawers. Stick the sheet to the front four corners or around the side edges with magnets. Even then you will get some dust somehow, but it's not nearly as bad.

 

[CRSINMICH]

DAD'S TRICK About 60 years ago my father taught me the trick of mixing sawdust and wood glue to make a paste filler for cracks in a project. This morning I refined that a bit. I had a need for some filler and I didn't want to wait until the hardware store opened. I also didn't want to have another container of partially used something banging around the shop. I used Dad's trick but collecting enough fine dust was taking more time than I wanted. I grabbed a scrap of wood and sawed several shallow kerfs across one edge. When I sanded that edge with 180 grit paper the kerfs filled with dust. I just had to push the dust out of the kerfs and grab the glue.

 

[jimreed2160]

CRS--Great trick! I will have to remember your "kerf capture" method.

 

[jimreed2160]

Workshop

So the workshop is slowly getting back to normal. At least the bench is clean.

I found some oven liners at Publix and fashioned a simple spark guard by hot gluing a few of them to a piece of 1/4" plywood.

It is not industrial strength, but the kind of grinding I do these days does not throw many sparks.

I hope to find some sheet alum for the table top and plan to put the cords through a conduit of some sort. If nothing else, my shielding will contain all of the dust and swarf.

 

[jimreed2160]

Vise

My grinding room now has a vintage Parker vise and a small anvil.

This one is probably the oldest I have. It has an 1854 patent date stamped on the jaws.

The room is much better now.

I use the vise almost exclusively to hold flat steel for cutting so it gets light duty. It will be more pleasing to use this one. I got it cheap because it was missing its collar and was not marked on the casting. I was pretty sure it was a Parker with a very early collar style. The current collar is one I made from walnut. Works OK. Time will tell about how durable it is.

 

[CRSINMICH]

jim: A dedicated grinding area. What a luxury! Here's a suggestion in case your foil spark guards aren't durable enough. I am lucky to have a restaurant supply store nearby. I was going to go soon to get a full baking sheet to use as a catch tray under the table of my bench top drill press. Sweep all the chips and dust onto the tray and dump it into the trash. Quick and easy clean up. Half sheets would be about the same size as your foil trays.

 

[scarrylarry]

Correct. I have shown Lee Valley tools in my posts. No only do they make quality tools, they have an extensive collection of vintage ww tools to draw inspiration from. LV has demonstrated much innovation in their ww tool line.

Did you know they also make medical equipment, retractors for surgery !

scarryalrry

 

[jimreed2160]

Did you know they also make medical equipment, retractors for surgery !

scarryalrry

I think it was Robin Lee's dad who made the first items for a surgeon buddy of his.

 

[jimreed2160]

jim: A dedicated grinding area. What a luxury! Here's a suggestion in case your foil spark guards aren't durable enough. I am lucky to have a restaurant supply store nearby. I was going to go soon to get a full baking sheet to use as a catch tray under the table of my bench top drill press. Sweep all the chips and dust onto the tray and dump it into the trash. Quick and easy clean up. Half sheets would be about the same size as your foil trays.

Good idea. Actually I have a bunch of those trays that I got at Costco. Some are now surplus and just might find their way out to the shop.

 

[R_einan]

Found a listing on CL tonight for a Grizzly G1028z2, 1.5 hp upgraded with the 1 micron canister filter and the trash can top separator, talked to the guy and he will hold it for me until I can get over there after work tomorrow. Super excited because a decent dust collector has been on my radar since I started getting more serious about my wood working. Hopefully it runs and checks out because it’s a good deal at $200. Wish me luck!

 

[ez-duzit]

R--that sounds like a good buy.

 

[chrislehr]

I'm sub'd.

Jim that is a fantastic bench and kudos to your dad for having you there in those walnut shavings. I have a few hand planes and scrapers, but I mostly use power tools.

Drive. I saw your pergola before it looks great.

Ztorres that is a very nice bench and you can appreciate it more because you built it. You understand a good workbench.

I will share my bench and some of my projects.

This is my main bench and I have rebuilt it 3 times to the current state. The top is two 3/4" layers of MDF. The bottom is mortise in Tenon joints using plywood layers to make the tenons and mortises. The bottom is filled with a 100lbs. of sand. My dad and I could hardly lift it off the ground.

20161109_191352 by bjohnson388, on Flickr

My lathe workbench. It has 100lbs of sand in the bottom and its bolted to the wall.

20161109_191421 by bjohnson388, on Flickr

Automotive side of the garage just a set of cabinets with standard benchtop.

20161109_191448 by bjohnson388, on Flickr

Mitersaw workbench. It has been added on so many times I can't remember. It is functional but it is a mess. I plan to completely redo this entire workbench when I get time. The biggest problem is the saw is only has 6 feet of cutoff space on the right. Need to put it more in the center. And the drawer has all my router bits in it and the router is on the other side of the garage. In my old garage this was right across from my router table.

20161109_191514 by bjohnson388, on Flickr


Last but not least some of my wooden toys and scale models I have built. I also obviously enjoy building cabinets.

20161109_191533 by bjohnson388, on Flickr


Almost forgot have a bench in the shed. Nothing special exact same my automotive one in the garage. They are modular cabinets made from plans in Shopnotes.

20161009_185431 by bjohnson388, on Flickr

I am really excited about this thread and hope it gains some momentum. As Drive has said there are a lot of woodies on here.

I have that same lathe. Envious of your compound rest however. Love that thing, it got me hooked on turning.

Great cabinets, I am envious for sure, but aspire.

My miter saw cabinets are still just the bottom, and drawers are hung, but still hung up on faces and pulls, so it has taken me a bit to get back to it.

20171025_172633293_iOS by Chris Lehr, on Flickr

I hope to wrap it up in the next few months before it gets too cold out there. The fence/stop blocks are next, then I am going to pause for a bit to work on my outfeed/router/table saw area, which has quickly become one of the messiest spots in the shop because there isn't storage near enough to it. If I kick my fence ONCE more while moving around out there....

 

[CoachR_9426]

Some fine workbenches in here gentlemen.

 

[jimreed2160]

Chris--Nice shop shot. I esp like the dust collection.

 

[scarrylarry]

I think it was Robin Lee's dad who made the first items for a surgeon buddy of his.

That's right !
scarrylarry

 

[jimreed2160]

Memo to: Procurement Dept
From: The Chief
RE: Woodworking Vises

Effective immediately the open order for woodworking vises is rescinded. Under no circumstances should ww vises be purchased, even if said vise is accompanied by a letter of transit signed by General De Gaulle himself.