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Its been a while....Shop update

3K views 9 replies 7 participants last post by  TwangyOne 
#1 ·
Its been a while....Shop update

Our son, Owen, was born almost two years ago and I haven't posted much since. Here's an obligatory pic of him.


I have still been very active in the shop, but since my time nowadays is very limited and precious I haven't done any ongoing blogs or pics of in-progress projects. Well my wife and son are out of town this weekend which means I am able to do a quick update.

When Owen was born I knew I wouldn't have too much time during his first few months to do any long running projects so I did quick weekend projects to improve my jigs and tools. I also upgraded and acquired some new tools.

I replaced my POS ryobi 10" $90 saw with a Grizzly G0715P. I love this thing. Going from the Ryobi to the Hybrid was a huge improvement as expected. Much quieter, much much much more accurate, better dust collection, etc. But most importantly, it saves me a great deal of time since I don't have to measure every single cut due to a horribly innacurate fence on the Ryobi. The grizzly also has a much larger top which I expanded with a router table allowing me to do safer easier cuts as well.


I built an outfeed table for this which was a pain to attach due to the difference in depth between the base and back rail. I had to build it up slowly. I used a sliding dovetail to make the table fold down and it locks in place with a handle with two 5/8" dowels that go through both sliding pieces to lock it. (pic below with dust collection and router table fence)

I also built a new much larger crosscut sled


Then I built a router table with tons of bit storage.




I bought an Incra Mast-R-Lift II lift which I love love love. This thing is super accurate and also saves me a great deal of time with its 1/64" ticked dial I know how much I raise and lower it. Every two full turns is 1/32".

Another important shop improvement was some better dust collection from this. So I added a splitter for the table saw and router table. I also added another splitter for the router table and its fence.


One issue though was there was no air coming into the router table and I wanted to make sure I didn't overheat it, so I drilled two large holes under the router bit drawers and added pvc tube for air to flow through and into the bottom of the router cabinet. The dust collection is in the back at the top so hopefully it gets pulled across the router on its way out. I added some mesh over these tubes to hopefully keep bugs and dust from getting in through the air holes.!

Next up was the flip top table from ShopNotes No. 102(11/08) page 42. I'm all about saving space in the garage so I put my grinder and WorkSharp 3000 on one side and planer on the other. One thing it was lacking however was bracing so I added some to the base.


Finally, I purchased a drill press. I've been looking for a full size one for a while but didn't want to spend a lot on it. After doing some research I decided on this Porter Cable 15" one, which I got from Lowes for under $300.
I built a better table for it and some.


Owen is turning two in two weeks. I just finished up two identical chests, one is new toy chest for him and the other for the master bedroom that I've been slowly working on since October. I'll post the finished project sometime in the next couple of days when I get a chance.

Eric
 
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#4 ·
Congratulations on your son. Family always comes first and we all can get bogged down from time to time. When you have a family and/or job and other important things along the way your woodworking will have to go on the back burner so to speak. Think about all the wonderful things that you will be able to share with your children and wife. Take care and enjoy all the good things that come your way.

helluvawreck aka Charles
http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com
 
#6 ·
Charles, thanks a bunch. Its an adventure for sure and cherish every moment I have with them. When he's a little bit older we'll be doing shop projects together :)

Thanks Lew. Haha I'm sorry. If it makes you feel any better I've been saving up a tool fund since before we had Owen to do these upgrades.
 
#7 ·
Upgrading to better higher end equipment is always a huge plus. Great to see all of the upgrades, I can't wait to get my shop back in order for all this construction with the addition.
 
#10 ·
Glad to see you're still finding time for the shop too. Since Henry I've had to cherish the small time I have been able to spend out there. If Owen is anything like Henry, watch your tape measures. Mine all seem to go missing at the same time, and later I find a pile of them in some random spot. Your shop is looking good buddy!
 
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