A journey into the workshop.

dbhost said:

A journey into the workshop #1. Starting over, getting organized.

After spending the time, money, and effort to get the equipment I need to get moving in earnest in woodworking, I am doing so. But a little background might help you dear readers to understand where I am coming from…

I hated junior high, and high school. Passionately hated that entire experience with 3 major exceptions.

#1. The social interactions. Some of the best friends I have ever had, I made in Junior High, and High School. I try to maintain many of those friendships even today…

#2. Art class, for the same reasons I also enjoyed…
#3. Shop classes, specifically Wood Shop, and Welding Shop. I was encouraged to create and express myself through those classes.

While I thoroughly enjoyed college, by the time I entered college, I was in a long term, bad domestic situation that kept me away from woodworking for many years…

Fast forward 21 years, a new marriage (I am VERY blessed this time!) to a wonderful woman that actually encourages me to express and explore these things… This also coincided with my career taking off in the direction I was working toward, with sufficient income to at least indulge woodworking with a bang for the buck point of view…

I started building up my workshop from a basic circular saw, cheap router table, sanding block, and old hand me down hack saw to what it is today in January 2008.

So now it's time for me to get organized, in both the workshop and the blog… I am hopefully making progress with both.

In case you haven't seen it, my workshop tour page is renewed pretty frequently. I try to keep it up to date with the changes I am making in the shop.

Today was a day of throwing away. Of chucking cut offs from old 2×4s that had bent nails driven into them. The only uses I could think of for keeping these cutoffs are as kindling, and I have plenty of that… So in the trash can they went…

Next came hooking the long hose to the Thien cyclone, and sucking up as much sawdust as I could put a hose to… I have some leftover issues but nothing serious.

Lastly, I had to un bury my planer, and table saw. (Long story, workshop garage not just used as workshop quite yet…).

Since the long hose was out, drug the planer over to the hose, hooked it up, and planed my 4×4 cedar to, well… 3.5"x3.5" +/- .001" (The gauge on the Ryobi isn't super accurate, but this is wood after all, and not cast iron…).

I then cut all of my replacement workbench legs to length. I guess for the guys with more years experience, or even with the same years but more time out in the shop my mistakes border on the sheer stupid, but I am going at this with the motto of "safety first"... My accuracy is improving for sure, but I am still prone to mistakes, which is why I am making new legs…

As I work my way through the projects, one of my key pieces to success I fear is going to be keeping the value of what I do in the workshop relevant to what LOML wants done in and around the house, The following projects are on the TOP of my list…

#1. Finish workbench. (Progress made this weekend).
#2. Finish kitty condo. (progress made this weekend.)
#3. Finish Replacing bad insulation and decking the attic. (Ongoing project, just started). Workbench project is relevant due to need for outfeed support from table saw for safety sake.
#4. Build plywood and 2×4 shelving in attic to make tote access easier. Again workbench relevant for outfeed support.
#5. Build Thien pre separator / trash can cyclone. Safety is relevant all the time…
#6. Finish table saw extension wing. Router table insert will be moving to end of wing, with miter slot to allow use of stacked feather boards. This will be critical when routing profiles for mitered frame raised panel doors that she wants in the kitchen and bathrooms.
#7. Workshop cabinets with mitered frame raised panel doors. Practice and skill builder for kitchen and bathroom projects…. I am planning on using as clear as possible of Cedar for this project. Going to get lots of resawing and milling practice with this!

So while the organization continues, there also remains so much more to do…

Click to expand...

dbhost said:

Benchop legs, and free mulch... Sort of.

After my screwup with the pine legs, and the fact that pine 4×4s are a royal pain in the butt to find in Houston, I opted for a trip to Lowes to grab a couple of Aromatic red cedar 4×4s. Their so called "select" which I guess is supposedly select grade, but knottier than I would expect.

So I get home with the 4×4s and notice that they are, well actually 4×4, and my plans call for nominal size lumber (3.5×3.5), so it was off to the jointer, and planer to mill this stuff square, and parallel, and 3.5" thick in both dimensions (minus the 1.5" of snipe at each end, but that is what I get for having a cheap planer…)

Now mind you, I have the Thien baffle out of the HF DC, and the trash can cyclone for the DC is not yet done, I have yet to fire up my HF DC without some sort of separator, and I am not about to start now, so it was back to the Ridgid vac and Thien trash can cyclone… Through 15' of hose, while it kept up with the chips, it did NOT keep up with the dust. Respirator time! I should have put it on to begin with, but I like sneezing Cedar dust, reminds me of my pet hampster when I was a kid… (just joking.)

For those of you that do not know what a Thien cyclone, or the Thien baffle is, here is a link to P.hil Thien's cyclone site
.
Now this was only 2 4×4x8 pieces of lumber I was milling down mind you… Not exactly like I was jointing and planing hundreds of BF of lumber right? Well… Mind you the dust bin wasn't empty, but rather about 1/4 full from previous sanding, sawing, dadoing, etc… operations

About 3/4 of the way through planing I heard it through the muffs, Tttttthhhhwunk! The motor on the vac got MUCH louder and suction stopped… Turn the vac off and look…

The vac was full. Go figure. So I empty the vac, and look in the dust bin (trash can). Full, I mean over the baffle, overflowing, what was I thinking full…

Now I have had a Thien Cyclone for almost a year now, and this is the first time I have done this. Note to self, check dust bin OFTEN…

As quickly as this filled up, I WAS working on a Thien cyclone for a 30 gallon trash can, Now I think I am going to have to change those plans and try to find a 55 gallon barrel to convert to a Thien Cyclone… 30 gallons fills up too fast, I bet 55 gallons will fill up quick. And with shavings / dust it is awfully light, might as well get as much in it as I can at once…

So with the milling done, and the dust bin empty it was time to do some drilling. I still need to rig up some some sort of dust collection for this… Open the garage door, set up the filterless box fan and blow chips and dusty air out of the shop… I measured, marked, remeasured, verified and then verified again before the bit started cutting. EXACTLY where I want it to be… No worries… Counter bores right where I want them, holes drilled perfectly straight where I want them, and then verified with the all thread through all 4, and then they get set square to each other. The through holes are 1/16" oversize, so no worries about minor miscalculations in hole location. Enough slack that when the all thread pulls it together, I can convince it to go straight and square…

Tomorrow, weather permitting will bring another trip to Lowes. I am REALLY liking the look of the Cedar, and want to replace the rails / stretchers with cedar, so I need some cedar 2×4s… If these are rough cut like the 4×4s, I guess I am getting more free mulch for LOMLs flowerbeds to boot!

I still need to find the S-clips for mounting the bench top. I believe Kilgore's Lumber Company in League City Texas should have them…

The poor bench top is sitting there being all lonely right now. The mounting pad for the vise is mounted up, the holes drilled for the lag bolts, The vise faces mounted up and dog holes drilled. I just need to mount it to the base, drill the bench dog holes, and either buy, or better yet, make some bench dogs, and a planing stop. I have some 3/8" ply scrap just aching for use…

I did deviate from the plan that I got from Fine Woodworking as their bench top is 24" x 62". I am using a larger vise than they are so my dog holes will be wider spaced, and my bench top is 24" x 72". This was as big as I wanted to go in my shop. I had initially considered edge banding the bench top, but an LOML induced slip with the router when flush trimming changed that plan… I have done some testing on the oil / beeswax finish on exposed edge birch ply, and to be honest, I like the look… I am going with it and just using the edge as a feature instead of a drawback…

Well the lights are out, the timer for the air cleaner has tripped off, and the shower has been taken. Looks like the shop is closed for now. If I am granted the honor by my creator to still be here, there will be more to come…

Click to expand...

dbhost said:

Benchop legs, and free mulch... Sort of.

After my screwup with the pine legs, and the fact that pine 4×4s are a royal pain in the butt to find in Houston, I opted for a trip to Lowes to grab a couple of Aromatic red cedar 4×4s. Their so called "select" which I guess is supposedly select grade, but knottier than I would expect.

So I get home with the 4×4s and notice that they are, well actually 4×4, and my plans call for nominal size lumber (3.5×3.5), so it was off to the jointer, and planer to mill this stuff square, and parallel, and 3.5" thick in both dimensions (minus the 1.5" of snipe at each end, but that is what I get for having a cheap planer…)

Now mind you, I have the Thien baffle out of the HF DC, and the trash can cyclone for the DC is not yet done, I have yet to fire up my HF DC without some sort of separator, and I am not about to start now, so it was back to the Ridgid vac and Thien trash can cyclone… Through 15' of hose, while it kept up with the chips, it did NOT keep up with the dust. Respirator time! I should have put it on to begin with, but I like sneezing Cedar dust, reminds me of my pet hampster when I was a kid… (just joking.)

For those of you that do not know what a Thien cyclone, or the Thien baffle is, here is a link to P.hil Thien's cyclone site
.
Now this was only 2 4×4x8 pieces of lumber I was milling down mind you… Not exactly like I was jointing and planing hundreds of BF of lumber right? Well… Mind you the dust bin wasn't empty, but rather about 1/4 full from previous sanding, sawing, dadoing, etc… operations

About 3/4 of the way through planing I heard it through the muffs, Tttttthhhhwunk! The motor on the vac got MUCH louder and suction stopped… Turn the vac off and look…

The vac was full. Go figure. So I empty the vac, and look in the dust bin (trash can). Full, I mean over the baffle, overflowing, what was I thinking full…

Now I have had a Thien Cyclone for almost a year now, and this is the first time I have done this. Note to self, check dust bin OFTEN…

As quickly as this filled up, I WAS working on a Thien cyclone for a 30 gallon trash can, Now I think I am going to have to change those plans and try to find a 55 gallon barrel to convert to a Thien Cyclone… 30 gallons fills up too fast, I bet 55 gallons will fill up quick. And with shavings / dust it is awfully light, might as well get as much in it as I can at once…

So with the milling done, and the dust bin empty it was time to do some drilling. I still need to rig up some some sort of dust collection for this… Open the garage door, set up the filterless box fan and blow chips and dusty air out of the shop… I measured, marked, remeasured, verified and then verified again before the bit started cutting. EXACTLY where I want it to be… No worries… Counter bores right where I want them, holes drilled perfectly straight where I want them, and then verified with the all thread through all 4, and then they get set square to each other. The through holes are 1/16" oversize, so no worries about minor miscalculations in hole location. Enough slack that when the all thread pulls it together, I can convince it to go straight and square…

Tomorrow, weather permitting will bring another trip to Lowes. I am REALLY liking the look of the Cedar, and want to replace the rails / stretchers with cedar, so I need some cedar 2×4s… If these are rough cut like the 4×4s, I guess I am getting more free mulch for LOMLs flowerbeds to boot!

I still need to find the S-clips for mounting the bench top. I believe Kilgore's Lumber Company in League City Texas should have them…

The poor bench top is sitting there being all lonely right now. The mounting pad for the vise is mounted up, the holes drilled for the lag bolts, The vise faces mounted up and dog holes drilled. I just need to mount it to the base, drill the bench dog holes, and either buy, or better yet, make some bench dogs, and a planing stop. I have some 3/8" ply scrap just aching for use…

I did deviate from the plan that I got from Fine Woodworking as their bench top is 24" x 62". I am using a larger vise than they are so my dog holes will be wider spaced, and my bench top is 24" x 72". This was as big as I wanted to go in my shop. I had initially considered edge banding the bench top, but an LOML induced slip with the router when flush trimming changed that plan… I have done some testing on the oil / beeswax finish on exposed edge birch ply, and to be honest, I like the look… I am going with it and just using the edge as a feature instead of a drawback…

Well the lights are out, the timer for the air cleaner has tripped off, and the shower has been taken. Looks like the shop is closed for now. If I am granted the honor by my creator to still be here, there will be more to come…

Click to expand...

dbhost said:

Knocking down the project list one by one...

It happened so quickly I was actually kind of stunned when I was done.

All of the materials were in one place, and just BEGGING to be used. The DC has been pretty much ignored since February as I have a bad habit of sucking nails and washers into my DC hose and hearing that awful noise when they hit the impeller… So a Thien Cyclone was in order. Honestly I was just being too lazy to get it done.

I made a quick decision tonight that sped the process along. Instead of making a new lid, simply modify the OE plastic lid, give it a little reinforcement with some fender washers, and keep the baffle out of light weight hardboard.

Quick as a flash I had it measured, then remeasured. Knocked out a crude beam compass to lay out the cut lines, cut the baffle out with the jig saw and sand it down to the lines, and test fit. Sand a shave more.

The holes in the plastic top for the PVC pieces were almost easier. Cut with the jigsaw just inside the scratched lines, and dress the hole to fit with a rasp. Hot melt glue the PVC in, Line the baffle up, drill some holes and bolt it all together. Real quick and simple… And even though my hole alignment between lid and baffle is off a little bit, putting the large part of the baffle off by about an inch past the elbow, it all works exactly as it should…

30 gallons of Cedar shavings and dust later, I can report complete success with this separator, and I shouldn't have to worry so much about keeping the dust bin empty..

I am not particularly happy with Ryobi tonight though. I submitted a support request through their web site last night and still no reply…

I can't get away with not responding to my customer requests in that time period. Why do they?

If you don't recall, I managed to break the square drive female piece of my elevation handle on my Ryobi AP1301 planer last night, doing nothing more than raising the cutter head. I am still under warranty, and do NOT want to have to take my plaer in to the official service center just for a stupid crank handle…

I have boxed up a bit of the old 2.5" hose that will no longer be used. Not sure what to do with it… Might give some of it to a friend of mine that just has a shop vac for dust collection… My Shop Vac Sawdust Collection system is a thing of the past for me now. I am much happier with the full fledged DC, and with the separator working now, I will be migrating away from the shop vac setup entirely…

Click to expand...

dbhost said:

Knocking down the project list one by one...

It happened so quickly I was actually kind of stunned when I was done.

All of the materials were in one place, and just BEGGING to be used. The DC has been pretty much ignored since February as I have a bad habit of sucking nails and washers into my DC hose and hearing that awful noise when they hit the impeller… So a Thien Cyclone was in order. Honestly I was just being too lazy to get it done.

I made a quick decision tonight that sped the process along. Instead of making a new lid, simply modify the OE plastic lid, give it a little reinforcement with some fender washers, and keep the baffle out of light weight hardboard.

Quick as a flash I had it measured, then remeasured. Knocked out a crude beam compass to lay out the cut lines, cut the baffle out with the jig saw and sand it down to the lines, and test fit. Sand a shave more.

The holes in the plastic top for the PVC pieces were almost easier. Cut with the jigsaw just inside the scratched lines, and dress the hole to fit with a rasp. Hot melt glue the PVC in, Line the baffle up, drill some holes and bolt it all together. Real quick and simple… And even though my hole alignment between lid and baffle is off a little bit, putting the large part of the baffle off by about an inch past the elbow, it all works exactly as it should…

30 gallons of Cedar shavings and dust later, I can report complete success with this separator, and I shouldn't have to worry so much about keeping the dust bin empty..

I am not particularly happy with Ryobi tonight though. I submitted a support request through their web site last night and still no reply…

I can't get away with not responding to my customer requests in that time period. Why do they?

If you don't recall, I managed to break the square drive female piece of my elevation handle on my Ryobi AP1301 planer last night, doing nothing more than raising the cutter head. I am still under warranty, and do NOT want to have to take my plaer in to the official service center just for a stupid crank handle…

I have boxed up a bit of the old 2.5" hose that will no longer be used. Not sure what to do with it… Might give some of it to a friend of mine that just has a shop vac for dust collection… My Shop Vac Sawdust Collection system is a thing of the past for me now. I am much happier with the full fledged DC, and with the separator working now, I will be migrating away from the shop vac setup entirely…

Click to expand...

dbhost said:

Improvements, mistakes, and where did that blood come from?

I can't say enough good about how well the Thien separator on my dust collector is working. I tried avoiding building a pre separator to keep from taking up precious shop space. I can honestly say I am glad I finally opted to do it. I tired quickly from constantly emptying the lower bag from my DC with the Thien Baffle, so although my filter was staying clean, I was every other day, and sometimes once an hour pulling the lower bag from this thing, which can be a real chore!

I continued work on the base for my workbench, and it is coming along really nicely. However that nice smooth grain from the Cedar I milled this weekend is raising quite dramatically on some pieces. I expected that, but not to the extend I am getting it. I guess contrary to advertising, this stuff has never seen a kiln, and I do not have a moisture meter to be able to tell for sure…

So my mistake, and this was a dumb one, putting the upper spreader on backwards with the slot for the S clips out. I only did it to one, and I have some extra stock to fix this with, but boy was that dumb…

While assembling the front leg assembly for the base, I noticed blood on the stock, like maybe I had cut my hands somehow. But I didn't feel anything. I look, and nothing… Come to find out after I get back into the house that I had managed to cut my forearm on something in the shop and not even notice. Nothing deep, just a scrape enough to draw blood… The scary part is I never felt it.

The work stopper for the night was when LOML came out to the shop to ask me a question. Now this is NOT her fault, just coincidental, and she got to witness this… I managed to fumble my drill, complete with my 3/8" Ti coated twist drill bit, as it tumbled toward the floor I kept trying to catch it, but no joy… It landed, at an angle, just barely on the tip of the bit… Now I have broken drill bits before. Little teeny tiny 1/8" or smaller bits… But never anything this big… And of course I am drilling holes for my 3/8" dowels, so I kind of needed that bit… I will be off to Ace Hardware at lunch to grab a single bit as I am unsure if Home Depot carries drill bits singularly.

Hopefully tonight I can recover from my stupid mistake, and get the base together… We will see…

Click to expand...

dbhost said:

Improvements, mistakes, and where did that blood come from?

I can't say enough good about how well the Thien separator on my dust collector is working. I tried avoiding building a pre separator to keep from taking up precious shop space. I can honestly say I am glad I finally opted to do it. I tired quickly from constantly emptying the lower bag from my DC with the Thien Baffle, so although my filter was staying clean, I was every other day, and sometimes once an hour pulling the lower bag from this thing, which can be a real chore!

I continued work on the base for my workbench, and it is coming along really nicely. However that nice smooth grain from the Cedar I milled this weekend is raising quite dramatically on some pieces. I expected that, but not to the extend I am getting it. I guess contrary to advertising, this stuff has never seen a kiln, and I do not have a moisture meter to be able to tell for sure…

So my mistake, and this was a dumb one, putting the upper spreader on backwards with the slot for the S clips out. I only did it to one, and I have some extra stock to fix this with, but boy was that dumb…

While assembling the front leg assembly for the base, I noticed blood on the stock, like maybe I had cut my hands somehow. But I didn't feel anything. I look, and nothing… Come to find out after I get back into the house that I had managed to cut my forearm on something in the shop and not even notice. Nothing deep, just a scrape enough to draw blood… The scary part is I never felt it.

The work stopper for the night was when LOML came out to the shop to ask me a question. Now this is NOT her fault, just coincidental, and she got to witness this… I managed to fumble my drill, complete with my 3/8" Ti coated twist drill bit, as it tumbled toward the floor I kept trying to catch it, but no joy… It landed, at an angle, just barely on the tip of the bit… Now I have broken drill bits before. Little teeny tiny 1/8" or smaller bits… But never anything this big… And of course I am drilling holes for my 3/8" dowels, so I kind of needed that bit… I will be off to Ace Hardware at lunch to grab a single bit as I am unsure if Home Depot carries drill bits singularly.

Hopefully tonight I can recover from my stupid mistake, and get the base together… We will see…

Click to expand...

dbhost said:

Improvements, mistakes, and where did that blood come from?

I can't say enough good about how well the Thien separator on my dust collector is working. I tried avoiding building a pre separator to keep from taking up precious shop space. I can honestly say I am glad I finally opted to do it. I tired quickly from constantly emptying the lower bag from my DC with the Thien Baffle, so although my filter was staying clean, I was every other day, and sometimes once an hour pulling the lower bag from this thing, which can be a real chore!

I continued work on the base for my workbench, and it is coming along really nicely. However that nice smooth grain from the Cedar I milled this weekend is raising quite dramatically on some pieces. I expected that, but not to the extend I am getting it. I guess contrary to advertising, this stuff has never seen a kiln, and I do not have a moisture meter to be able to tell for sure…

So my mistake, and this was a dumb one, putting the upper spreader on backwards with the slot for the S clips out. I only did it to one, and I have some extra stock to fix this with, but boy was that dumb…

While assembling the front leg assembly for the base, I noticed blood on the stock, like maybe I had cut my hands somehow. But I didn't feel anything. I look, and nothing… Come to find out after I get back into the house that I had managed to cut my forearm on something in the shop and not even notice. Nothing deep, just a scrape enough to draw blood… The scary part is I never felt it.

The work stopper for the night was when LOML came out to the shop to ask me a question. Now this is NOT her fault, just coincidental, and she got to witness this… I managed to fumble my drill, complete with my 3/8" Ti coated twist drill bit, as it tumbled toward the floor I kept trying to catch it, but no joy… It landed, at an angle, just barely on the tip of the bit… Now I have broken drill bits before. Little teeny tiny 1/8" or smaller bits… But never anything this big… And of course I am drilling holes for my 3/8" dowels, so I kind of needed that bit… I will be off to Ace Hardware at lunch to grab a single bit as I am unsure if Home Depot carries drill bits singularly.

Hopefully tonight I can recover from my stupid mistake, and get the base together… We will see…

Click to expand...

dbhost said:

The workbench is almost complete.

There it sits, proudly in nearing completion glory. And it is almost usable! The dog holes, lower shelf, sanding, and finishing are all that is left to complete this project.

I wasn't sure I should post this one. The twist you see is an optical illusion. I have checked it with straight edges, levels, you name it. This thing is dead flat…

My Central Forge 9" quick release vise fitted with wooden faces, and bench dog holes. Yes the back face of the vise is uneven. I am considering taking it back to Harbor Freight. Looks like a screwy casting to me. I guess I will see if it impacts anything.

The quick release works very well. Making me wonder if I really should take the thing back or just deal with it…

As you can see, the lower stretchers did not get the slots cut into them that the uppers did. I REALLY wanted to flush mount the lower shelf…

That's it for now. More to come soon!

Click to expand...