Woodworking 101--Tools and Tips

[drivesitfar]

Jim: what's floor space? stay tuned and i'll let you know if i find any here. nice looking box and sorry to hear you had to return one cause of a defect.

ALL: I sort of thought this was a thread on Computers this week and happy to see some of you got your tech stuff figured out. Just an FYI I just posted these 6 large pictures all at once so GJ's tech crew got that issue fixed where I (and maybe we) could only load one or two pictures at a time.

I hope it's ok to show my prototype which is actually a nice oak book cabinet that I cut to size to see how it looks before i maybe build one to house these old wood bins and my stuff.

with the garage railing on my side of the garage at 82 and the cabinet at 83.75 and pretty close the right 30 inch width I picked this oak cabinet up and did a little modifying. I didn't have to bring out my bigger saws and my Ryobi 18v did the job trimming 1.875 off the bottom and we'll see how it looks filled up now that it fits the spot I have. since i'm encroaching in my bride's side of the garage I needed to move the metal cabinets that I liked so she doesn't hit them with her car door any more. Oak is a little more forgiving and doesn't chip the paint.

 

[Bob Heine]

Jim, you might want to save that expensive storage box for more valuable stuff and just put wheels on a plywood scrap. Then, with the buckets on the plywood, you can roll them out of the way just like the tool box.

 

[CRSINMICH]

Bob: That's a good tip. I'd use it except my shop is so small I barely have room to change my mind let alone roll buckets of scrap around. Honestly though, there is a benefit to a tiny shop. It forces me to clean up after every shop session or I'd be knee deep in shavings and cutoffs in a week - or less.

 

[rrich1]

Been a while since my last post. I managed to get the doors made and dry fit today. During the dry fit, I snapped off a section of the middle rail of one of the doors. I managed to get it glued back together. Blends in very well with the grain and no one would ever notice.

I routed in two holes for hold fasts in the left of my work bench and have used them a decent amount since then. I was able to clamp in the doors pieces for sanding and planing. I just need to bite the bullet and do it to the top of the bench.

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[ez-duzit]

...Since I already have a few of these Kobalt tool boxes, I decided to take advantage of Lowes clearance and get another...As for the drawers, they may turn into cutoff storage...

Buying new tool boxes to store cutoffs doesn't seem very practical. My saved cutoffs (mostly teak and mahogany) are stored in open, used, cardboard boxes or old milk crates (under table saw and RA saw). Some others are stored on open shelves.

 

[jimreed2160]

rrich--I am loving the door. Sorry to see the piece pop off, but that is what happens sometimes when you cut wood. The good news is that pieces like that usually fit well and glue back together without a fight.

Didn't mean to start a firestorm about cutoffs in the new bench. I was just frustrated with the tight quarters. What I really need to do is use the top of that bench to spread out the cutoffs, cull out the trash, and keep a FEW nuggets. During this reorganization, space is much more valuable than wood scraps.

And FedEx delivered my new Gladiator wall cabinet today. I guess I should call it "Bob, Jr" because of his Heine origin. I slapped it up on the wall and like the location but not the height. The other cabinets are 30" tall and this little one is 24". It bottom levels with the other cabinets and I think it would look better if it top leveled with them. Moving it will be a pain but not as much pain as looking at it all the time and not being happy.

And Drives, thanks for the note on pictures.

 

[jimreed2160]

I snuck back into the shop last night and raised the cabinet. Now it is top level with the others on the wall and I feel better.

 

[jimreed2160]

Clock project

The works for the antique gothic steeple clock arrived a few weeks ago but I have been too busy to work on that project. Today's task was general cleanup and I worked down to the clock level on my workbench.

The works mounted perfectly to the vintage dial and the mockup looks great. Next task is to build a box that will interface the dial to the back of the case.

 

[tymbo]

I snuck back into the shop last night and raised the cabinet. Now it is top level with the others on the wall and I feel better.

But now the bottoms don't line up!

 

[Autonomous]

But now the bottoms don't line up![emoji38]_hitti

OCD can be debilitating!

I'd rather have the tops lined up so you can store long items across the gap temporarily. They'd warp over time, but getting something long out of your way for a couple of days can be invaluable. Or make a stout shelf that spans the gap.

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[Bob Heine]

OCD can be debilitating!

I'd rather have the tops lined up so you can store long items across the gap temporarily. They'd warp over time, but getting something long out of your way for a couple of days can be invaluable. Or make a stout shelf that spans the gap.

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If you stack lots of long items up there, they won't warp as much.

 

[jimreed2160]

But now the bottoms don't line up!

Exactly. The cure for that is to build a small shelf that lines up with the bottom. I have plenty of scraps to knock it together and I picked up some hammered finish black paint so it will kinda match the cabinets.

 

[jimreed2160]

Air, wonderful air

Had to take The Queen to a check up this morning so she was in a happy mood when I told her I needed to zip over to Lowes and pick up an AC. She has watched me sweat for the last few weeks and is in total agreement with this necessary upgrade.

I ran into a few minor issues and ended up spending over three hours getting this thing installed. Good news is that it is working great so far. The garage is about 22x24 and I put in an 8k unit. I would have upgraded to 12k but my circuit is only a 15 amp and I didn't want to overload it.

It sits a bit lower than the workbench but airflow is good. I moved two vises and an anvil to provide space in front. Lucky for me that I never attach vises permanently. Auto guys need a sturdily mounted vise for pounding but my bench vises on that table are only used for light work and a stout C clamp can hold my special mount in place.

So I turned off the dehumidifier, set the AC for 75, and quit for the afternoon. Hope to have a nice shop session tonight and tomorrow morning. Ahhhh.....

 

[rrich1]

Second door panel is glued and drying. I was hoping the sunlight would give me some better pics but I was wrong. I really like how these came out. Somehow I did make an error and not sure how but the panels on the right in the first pic were glued upside down. It wasn't my ideal layout but it works just fine.

Second error was prefinishing them. I wanted to make glue clean up easier and finishing some what easier. I forgot that the stiles and rails are not completely flush so I will need to plane/sand them down a little bit. I'm using shellac so I don't think it will be much of an issue getting everything to look good again.

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[jimreed2160]

rrich--Those bookmatched doors are just stunning.

 

[rrich1]

Jim: thanks.

After work tonight I got the first door panel glued and in clamps to the rest of the door. Another example of how you cannot have enough clamps.

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[CRSINMICH]

rrich: Those doors are BEE-YOO-TEE-FUL!!! Don't tell anyone else about the mistake you think you made and they'll never notice. Just beautiful! Well done!

p.s. Could you tell my wife that thing about never having enough clamps? She really doesn't seem to mind but I do get that look from time to time.

 

[BobLon]

rrich - those doors really did come out nice. Love the grain.
BobL.

 

[jimreed2160]

p.s. Could you tell my wife that thing about never having enough clamps? She really doesn't seem to mind but I do get that look from time to time.

PSA

Now is a good time for a clamp PSA. Father's Day is just around the corner. Let your family know that clamps come in pairs and they make outstanding gifts. If you have a dad, talk him out of a pair. If you are a dad, put the touch on the rugrats if they are grown. If neither, buy them for yourself in honor of all the dads out there.

 

[southpier]

never met a clamp I didn't like!

 

[jimreed2160]

Prototypes

I love to go into the shop and hack out quick and dirty projects. It is fun to design on the run. But quality projects need some front end work and that is how I spent my shop time today. My shop organization project (that seems to have no end!) started by identifying trouble spots and fixing them. There is one area that has escaped the wrecking ball so far and that is the shelving area. I was so frustrated and overwhelmed when I moved into the garage 10+ years ago I bought some inexpensive plastic shelves from HD and just loaded them with stuff. So far I have removed three of them and now I am down to the last three. As you can see, the area is pretty sloppy.

The Plan
I have two Gladiator storage cabinets on order as well as another 30" wall hanger. My plan is to remove the final three plastic shelves and replace them with the new tool mobile toolbox and surround it with the Gladiator cabinets--one roller on each end with the wall box on top.

I have measured the space dozens of times and have drawn countless configurations. But I wanted to see what it would look like so I built a small prototype out of cardboard. No, it is not to scale but it is close enough to visualize how things will look. Here is the key:
A & F--These items are the rolling cabinets. They are 30x18 and 66 high.
B--This is the two door 30x30 wall cabinet
C--Top for rolling toolbox (must build from 2x6 lumber)
D--Recent purchase Kobalt tool box. It is 41 wide, 18 deep, and 34 tall.
E--Shelf unit to cover the gap (must build and paint to match)

It came out pleasing as I was hoping to get another small project workbench in a quiet area. The top will be about 35" high with a 4-5" overhang. Lighting and power strip under the cabinet. Maybe some pegboard on the rear. Nice stool in front. The window behind should provide nice indirect lighting and the new AC is just a few feet away.

Now when the cabinets arrive, I can move everything in place and see now it works. The two build projects are not rush items so I may change those when I see how it all comes together. At least those dang plastic shelves will be gone.

 

[TwoBytes]

EZ, Not pathetic at all. Just when I get comfortable with a version of Windows, they come out with a new version that has a "better" idea. I call B.S. -- it's just different, not better. I liked Windows XP because I could shut it down with three taps on the keyboard: 1) Windows key, 2) U and 3) U. Windows 10 forces you to use a mouse. I can't find a way to shut it down with just the keyboard.

Bob, try this mate...

Win-X (brings up a mini start menu), U, U

or...

Win-D (show desktop), Alt-F4, Enter

 

[jimreed2160]

Woodworking
Gothic clock continued

I diverted some time from my shop refurb project to work on my long delayed clock project. I need to make a mounting board for the clock dial and works. Seemed like a good time to try out my new cordless rotozip tool.

Well, the news there is DON'T buy blades from Ebay and expect them to be problem free. The blades I got were actually burning wires. Good thing I was working on a test piece. So I used it to make four corner holes and then got out my trusty coping saw.

Even that turned out to be an ordeal. There is a reason you should use the coping saw perpendicular, not parallel, to the ground. And that reason is that you cannot see your work. My precise hole looked like it was hacked out by a pi$$ed off drunken sailor.

And the blade got stuck in my saw. Note to self: throw out those cheap bent post blades and get some with actual posts.

I squared up the cut using a flush cut saw. Time for stain.

 

[jimreed2160]

Shop bench

Years ago my co worker Barry got busy with his family and sold me the contents of his small woodshop. He also foisted off some ragged nasty maple that a buddy of his cut. I let it dry a few years and then wanted to test out my new scrub plane. Well, it would have been easier to skin rocks because that maple was tough and hard. I scrubbed on it during one hour sessions for the better part of two days and finally tamed it. During that time, the warped and twisted 6/4 board slimmed down to about 7/8". And the maple was really pretty so I made a small bench for my shop. If I were more like Shorty, I could reach everything. But my 5'9" frame has a similarly short reach. This bench is a great equalizer when I stand on it and go for the stratosphere.

It has a simple pine base and nice maple top with a convenient hand hole in the center.

 

[jimreed2160]

Tool tip

I like to browse the home stores. Like Bob, I avoid weekends because everyone with a truck (or everyone who has seen a truck) is crowding the parking lots. Online shopping is great but the stores show me helpful impulse items. It was the same when I worked for Rockler because retail is all about volume and the little bits add up.

On one of my many leisurely trips I came across these Velcro cord ties. They have been sitting around for a few weeks and today I used two of them. Darn handy little devices. I was moving equipment--a mortise machine and a long blade grinder. Both of them weigh a ton and the cords always dangle at just the wrong times. Well, both of them were tamed with these little strips.

Turns out that my impulse purchases are often some of the handiest tools in the shop. Thanks, Retail, but seriously, enough is enough. Please cut back on the flashlights.

 

[Shiftless]

I don’t post here very often at all, but I follow all the great work you guys are doing.

While visiting Greenfield Village (adjacent to the Henry Ford museum in Detroit)
CRSINMICH and I saw this in the locomotive roundhouse.
Does anybody here want to hazard a guess as to the purpose of the wooden structure next to the steel workbench?

BTW, it was the big Parker vise that first caught my eye.

 

[BMR24]

My guess would be some sort of metal bending jig

 

[CRSINMICH]

At first I thought it might be the undercarriage for some type of railroad car but when I looked closer the joinery didn't seem right for that kind of application. Whatever it is, it's big and heavy. Those beams are probably 4x8's and about 10 feet long.

 

[Shiftless]

BMR might be on to something. That makes sense. But the jury is still out. Somebody might just have to go there and ask one of the working guys what the heck it really is! I wonder if the locomotive maintenance and repair team has an email address?

 

[hunterguy86]

I bought a DEWALT 733 planer of Craigslist a while back. After a cleanup and new blades, it runs like a champ. The only complaint was lack of dust collection. Rather than spend 60 dollars on a factory hood , which mine did not come with, I made one out of some scrap plywood and pvc I had lying around. Seems to work pretty well.





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[jimreed2160]

Hunter--Good score on your new tool. If any tool needs dust collection its gotta be a planer.

 

[ez-duzit]

Actually a planer makes mostly a lot of large waste that hangs together and doesn't become airborne, so is easy to sweep up. A drum sander really requires dust collection as the dust is fine, becomes airborne and loads up the sanding media.

 

[hunterguy86]

It’s nice to have the chips go into the bin for sure. The last big job on the planer was some syp. I had a mountain of shavings on the floor. Today I planed some scrap cedar from my deck hand rails. I’m going to use them to build a small shaker style end table for the porch.


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[jimreed2160]

Hunter--Don't forget to bless us with some pictures once you get that table built.

 

[jimreed2160]

The small stuff

Sometimes its the small stuff that makes a difference. My redneck air scrubber is working great and I use if frequently to keep down the dust. Problem is that the upside down switch has been a problem because I don't remember which way is off. The raised marks just aren't getting it. So I had a bright idea to smear them with a sharpie. OK. Lightbulb moment and the problem is solved. Now I just have to line up the marks.

 

[jimreed2160]

Wand project
The shop is a real mess--kinda normal, just more so. I am clearing out room for the Gladiator cabinets but I need the cabinets for storage.

So there is clutter everywhere and I just found out that the cabinet I really need has been delayed until Friday. This is the second delay and Friday begins a holiday weekend so I am not holding out hope for miracles. Life must go on.

One of my granddaughters is really into Harry Potter these days and I wanted to make wands for her and her sister. I found a suitable piece of walnut in the scrap bin and just happened to have some little dowels handy.

My plan is to freehand the handle and paint the rod. Now I am waiting for glue to dry.

 

[rrich1]

Well this is a thing that happened today. I got the back finally put on making the case as square as can be. I just used screws, no glue or Brad nails but I think it will be fine. Two of my hinges were lost by the mail so I have the last pair arriving tomorrow. I still have to finish the door fronts and sides with shellac. I attached the plane til and am about to start the interior doors. Pretty happy with it so far.

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[jimreed2160]

rrich--That cabinet turned out great! I predict it will be full in no time.

 

[CRSINMICH]

TWO AXIS MARKING GAGE​

Have any of you seen a marking gage like this? The mortices of the two arms overlap in the center of the main beam so that the arms will touch each other. That allows the wedge to tighten both arms at the same time. The pins appear to be made from cut nails which may or may not be significant. It also may or may not be significant that the opposite ends of the main beam are different. One end has three curved sides and the other end has four. Does anyone know what it is? I don't. Anyone have a guess?
EDIT: I should have put something in the picture for scale. The main beam is 1"x1"x7"

 

[jimreed2160]

CRS--That gauge is a nice user made tool. Someone put a lot of thought into it. It looks a little large for furniture work. Based on its size, my guess is that it was used to build wagons.