Woodworking

[HemiEd]

I don't recall seeing anything on here about the hobby. Do you do it? Have any interest? Tools? Have you made anything? Do you want to learn?

With the recent developments on the Planet, it got me thinking, what can I do to contribute and support the new effort?

I had no problem with any of the old guard and want to support the effort to make Chiefs Planet great again with the regime.


They aren't teaching vocational training in high school anymore, but maybe we can provide a venue here to learn woodworking?

There is a handyman mega thread, but this deserves it's own thread if we are going to accomplish something.

When I went to Junior high school we had woodworking class and I have always loved it. Finally, upon retirement, I have been able to set up a nice woodwork shop. I can go from station to station and perform the particular task, planing, jointer, sander, router table, radial arm, table and band saw.

I am currently on my fifth cedar chest this winter. Each one has gotten much easier as I have learned.

We have a cedar mill about ten miles away so it has been very instrumental in the effort as raw material is the main ingredient. It is dirt cheap at the mill and I have been buying 1.1 inch thick by 52 long by 4.25 wide boards and gluing them together.

What are you working on?

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

Hmmm, that is interesting information, and food for thought, thanks. Last year I stopped at a church sale that had this HUGE industrial shop vacuum dust collection system for $100 and I just thought it was too big for the space I have allocated for my woodwork shop.

Probably a bad decision.

That Grizzly that KC has above is a perfect jumping off point; a simple 1-stage unit. The problem is that rig puts the big pieces in the same bag as the little stuff and the 'sock' on top clogs quickly. So if air can't get out, air can't go in and the suction drops in a hurry. There's a little bit of a separation in there but really not that much. It's better than nothing but a 2 stage is a MASSIVE improvement, especially with hard plumbing and a proper filter cartridge.

You can take that same motor and plum it into a Cyclone chip separator. It will pull the material into that separator, spin it for a second and the heavy stuff will fall out the bottom. I ran a static free tube into a sump sleeve with a hole cut into the top of the lid since the top would be air-tight and keep the pressure up.

The light stuff then gets sucked out the top of the separator, through another tube and blasted through a corrugated filter cartridge. The cartridge, as opposed to the sock, has FAR greater surface area. Now since it only has the small stuff in it, it gets very little work and with the significant surface area improvement, air has a lot of room to escape. It also has finer filtration so it captures a lot more; it has something like .5 micron filtration vs. the 5 micron on your average filter sock. It's just better at everything.

So your vacuum pressure stays at peak capacity. I think I have some photos of my rig in here somewhere.

I used the HF model to keep the cost down since all I really cared about was the motor and the impeller looked plenty strong. Some people suggest replacing or even reversing the impeller but I've never done it and mine will suck large shavings from about an inch away all around the plate on my table saw.

It will be a miracle worker if you plum your jointer into it. A clogged jointer pretty much won't do a damn thing. By having a constant source of suction on the bottom for those massive shavings that come off, you'll fly through mill-work.

It's a headache and it seems like money wasted because it's not a tool or any work product, but it makes all your tools run better.

[kccrow]

Here's a pick of a small 2 stage from Grizzly ($900 or so):


They make some little units that fit on a trash can for super cheap if you can't afford a separator right away. A shop air filtration unit should be installed as well at some point.

Fine dust from kiln dried or even air dried woods is highly combustible, so getting as much of it out of the air and off the floor as possible is a good thing. Also be sure to keep the vaccuum tubes clean. If a line gets plugged up, you're basically ramrodding gunpowder into a tube and hoping a spark or static doesn't ignite it.

[kccrow]

here's a vid of a kid doing the trash can mod...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBWjA7_ytic

I do recommend giving Harbor Freight a look for entry level stuff.

[duncan_idaho]

Finished product. Pretty pleased with it. Kreg joined was amazing for crafting the new top.

Before pic/closeup.

[MahiMike]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

Finished product. Pretty pleased with it. Kreg joined was amazing for crafting the new top.

Before pic/closeup.

Nice

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by kccrow

here's a vid of a kid doing the trash can mod...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBWjA7_ytic

I do recommend giving Harbor Freight a look for entry level stuff.

Thanks, I am going to be doing something like this soon.

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

Finished product. Pretty pleased with it. Kreg joined was amazing for crafting the new top.

Before pic/closeup.

Looks great! I bet the Mrs. is happy with it also

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by kccrow

Hemi, thought I'd add something... popped into my brain...

Have you thought about making a crosscut sled for a table saw? Might save you alot of time and headache with the circular.

kccrow, thanks, I finally got around to making that cross cut sled for my craftsman table saw yesterday. Thank you!

The challenge was my table saw had tabs sticking out over the slide slot. I found a you tube that addressed that very issue. Lots of hand work making the the slides out of oak, but it works nice!

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Ever look into the ol' Harbor Freight 2 stage conversion?

You'll be about $500 into it when all is said and done, but with the 2 horse HF collector, a dust deputy cyclone (the full sized one), a Winn Environmental Cartridge filter and some sewer pipe, you'll have all the parts you need to engineer a rig that will run with the $1,500 JET models. We tested the static pressure and draw through several ports and it was comparable.

Get a couple of hanging air filters with the HEPA filters for about $300 total if you're willing to go with a WEN instead of a JET (mine are fine) and for $800-$900 and a weekend worth of labor, you'll notice a massive difference.

You'll still need to do some sweeping here and there and may need to redesign the shop layout to prioritize draw over workflow, but it's light years better.

Holy crap, I now understand all of the hate directed at Harbor Freight!

I just bought a couple major items from them and each had problems. The issues weren't apparent until the major assembly was complete and their answer was to send it back instead of sending me the replacement parts/items that were defective and missing.

[kccrow]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

Holy crap, I now understand all of the hate directed at Harbor Freight!

I just bought a couple major items from them and each had problems. The issues weren't apparent until the major assembly was complete and their answer was to send it back instead of sending me the replacement parts/items that were defective and missing.

I was under the impression you had a store near you. I never order from them, always missing parts. A boss of mine one time ordered a retractable trailer cover and it arrived in a box open at both ends missing more than 50% of the installation parts. Walk into the store, verify the contents of the box, walk out knowing I have everything. Don't do too much business with them except for simple stuff during big sales.

[kccrow]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

kccrow, thanks, I finally got around to making that cross cut sled for my craftsman table saw yesterday. Thank you!

The challenge was my table saw had tabs sticking out over the slide slot. I found a you tube that addressed that very issue. Lots of hand work making the the slides out of oak, but it works nice!

Happy to hear that this worked out. Would like to know what you think several months later.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by kccrow

I was under the impression you had a store near you. I never order from them, always missing parts. A boss of mine one time ordered a retractable trailer cover and it arrived in a box open at both ends missing more than 50% of the installation parts. Walk into the store, verify the contents of the box, walk out knowing I have everything. Don't do too much business with them except for simple stuff during big sales.

I think there is a store in Springfield (50 miles), probably could have bought the items for less also.

Live and learn, I always seem to have to learn everything the hard way.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Anyone in here into making canes? Specifically crook-necked canes?

[Red Beans]

While I dabble (the wife and I are finishing up restoring an old Hoosier cabinet), you all might like what my Dad does as his retirement gig.
http://harrisoncreekcreations.com/

[ChiefGator]

Originally Posted by Red Beans

While I dabble (the wife and I are finishing up restoring an old Hoosier cabinet), you all might like what my Dad does as his retirement gig.
http://harrisoncreekcreations.com/

Nice.. I like the raw look.

[ChiefGator]

I'm building in a small garage currently, but I am finishing sanding and I am about to stain a table for my printer.

http://oldbellamy.farm/content/AA/00...1/IMG_1640.jpg

It's the first time I used a router to cut into table legs like this.. made a template and then it was fairly easy.

http://oldbellamy.farm/content/AA/00...1/IMG_1636.jpg

http://oldbellamy.farm/content/AA/00...1/IMG_1638.jpg

Building a new garage/workshop on my farm property this year though.. which will have 25' x 30' dedicated workship and have enough other storage that my workshop shouldn't be too crowded.

Looking forward to doing more woodworking there.