A Learning Adventure in the Workshop

First "Hollow-Turned" Bowl

I put the finish on my first hollow-turned bowl last night.  I made it out of a piece of still "green" black walnut from my in-laws tree pruning, so it needed a couple of weeks to dry after turning.  I had actually done the turning a couple of weeks ago, but couldn't finish it till now.  I used standard turning tools, and they limited my reach inside the bowl a bit, but for a first effort it turned out OK.  A couple of drying cracks formed near the rim from my microwave drying.  I got a bit impatient.

Bosch Jig Saw Repair

I love my Bosch jig saw.  It is only a year old and has not seen a ton of use yet.   Having said that, I already bent the front of the saw's aluminum shoe.  I was using it to help to demolition some old boards that I replaced on our outdoor porch steps. 

Too much brute force to cut through the old boards, and bam, bent tool.

I ordered a new aluminum shoe last night...$17 dollar lesson on using the wrong tool for the job.  My jig saw is for woodworking, not demolition.

Chairs Finished

The two Adirondack chairs rolled off of the assembly line this weekend and are ready for paint.  My wife is going to take care of that part of the job...a shade of blue.

Its time to clean up the shop and get to the next project.  This week I hope to produce enough of the garden railroad trackbed in the shop that my son and I can begin laying it over the upcoming weekend in the yard.  Constuction of the track bed should go pretty fast with the jig that I made before doing the chairs.

Additionally, I am once again looking to work on my experimental "design" for a twist-milling jig for the lathe that I attempt a few months ago with limited success. The prototype that  I made had way too much wiggle in the router to make clean cuts.   I am going to disassemble the prototype #1 and try to make a second prototype that is based on John Kleinbauer's CNC design for the lathe called a "wood turtle."   I'm not sure if I am going to go the full "CNC" route as John does, or stick with the modified manual design like prototype #1 (who am I kidding, I want to play with the CNC!)  This is a low priority project that is really just for fun.  I bought John's plan over the internet and they look good.  I might not get to it for a while.

For now, the shop's main projects are:

1. garden railroad trackbed
2. two Greene & Greene desks
3. modified Wood Turtle

JDS Air Cleaner

I installed the new JDS Air Cleaner last week.  It is a great unit.  Well-made, quiet and works like a champ. Highly recommended.   It replaces a weak ShopVac unit that was a waste of money.  Once again I have proved the old saying "There is nothing more expensive than a cheap tool." The JDS is not the cheapest, but should last forever for me.

The JDS is physically a lot bigger than it looks in the pictures though!  Slight dent in the side (shipping damage), but it doesn't bother me.   The last couple of tools from Amazon.com have had minor shipping damage.  Not a good trend.

I will save the old ShopVac unit and try to use it as the guts of a home-built downdraft table someday.

Chop Saw Fixed

I fixed the chop saw.  The blade had gotten a bit out of round (not sure how) and I corrected that.  The saw is now ready for use again.

More Adirondack Chairs

I fully cut and routed the parts for two more Adirondack chairs (oak) to go with the first one that I made about eight years ago.  It is based on Norm's design and has held up like-new out in the weather all this time.  A good, basic design.  I intend to assemble them tonight, and then my wife is going to paint them to match the old one.

I had the sense to make patterns for the parts when I made the first one, so these two are only going to end up taking about 4 hours each to fully complete from lumber-to-finish.   

My wife wants me to make a forth one when these two are done.

Return to the Shop and Garden Railroad Trackbed Jig

Its been a few weeks since I have been able to spend time in the shop...vacation (rainy at the Outer Banks), sick kids, the usual.

My birthday brought me a JDS Air Cleaner for the shop from my wife. I have not installed it yet, but it looks like a great unit. I will report on how it works when I get it mounted on the ceiling.

Several projects are now ready to hit the shop at once:

* continuing the two Greene and Greene Desks
* build three more oak Adirondack chairs for our backyard
* build the new "ladder-style" roadbed for our outdoor garden railroad (another of my hobbies)

I did manage to finsh a jig for the garden railroad roadbed during my "break from the shop" over the past few weeks. The jig should make it ease to turn out the volume of roadbed that I will need much faster.

I'm also having problems with my chop saw (a ten year old Craftsman 10")...not sure yet what is wrong with it. Maybe bad motor brushes. Makes a horrible noise. I need to spend some time on it between projects.