Free Table Saw - gone

I have an old Craftsman table saw in need of some restoration/TLC. It’s free to any member of the club who wants it. I have most, if not all of the parts. Anyone with questions can email me. 

Woodworking in America - Day 3

The third day of Woodworking in America was much shorter and not as well attended. The Marketplace was closed and most of the presenters were heading home. The presenters for the day were mainly the staff of Popular Woodworking, plus Christopher Schwarz and Ron Herman. 

The first presentation I went to for the day was Christopher Schwarz discussing 12 rules for Traditional Tool Chests. It was an informative lesson giving reasons behind his design choices for The Anarchist's Tool Chest. It went a little over an hour. 

Then there was Bob Lang's Sketchup Goldmine. I don't even remember what was different about this class from the first, but I learned enough about Sketchup over the weekend to get started working on something right away when I got home. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, but I had a book on my desk  "Shop Drawings of Shaker Furniture and Woodenware."  In in I found a sketch of a Sewing Table. The drawings in the book barely give half of the measurements of the piece and only show a front and side view. Nothing about the internal framing. So if I decide to build anything out of it, I'm definitely going to have to make a Sketchup model first. 

Woodworking in America 2011 - Day 2

The second day went a little more smoothly for me, driving in wasn't such a hassle because I didn't have to worry about rush hour traffic.

My first class of the morning was another presentation on Secret Compartments, this one was also plagued at the start by AV issues. However it was a shorter presentation and just seemed better organized than the one taught by Chuck Bender.

My second class was the most fun of the day, taught by Peter Follansbee. The Best Oak Money Can't Buy was a tutorial on splitting, riving and hewing Oak to get quartersawn lumber.

The third class of the day was another taught by Jay Van Arsdale, this one on Shoji Basics. While I did pick up a few tips on Shoji screens and how they go together, the class as typical for the weekend had a few AV/lighting issues to deal with before starting. Jay was easily sidetracked and spent a large portion actually showing examples of Shoji Screens and other japanese style furniture and buildings that he had worked on over the years.

The next class was Chisels Through Ancient Eyes by Adam Cherubini.

Adam is a very good presenter who is used to dealing with onlookers and managed to have a well thought out presentation. I caught the end of an class of his the day before while I was waiting on another class to start. Made me wish I had taken more of his classes.

The final class of the day was supposed to be on unlocking Japanese Planes, Chisels & Saws by Jay Van Arsdale. I had a bit of time before the class started to walk a few blocks and find an ATM. I was thinking of buying Jay's book on Shoji. When I came back, the class seemed like a reiteration of the Japanese Joinery 101 that I took the day before so I skipped out and hit the Marketplace.

For the most part, I managed to keep my wallet in my pocket. I did buy The Anarchist's Tool Chest at the Lost Art Press booth.

The highlight of the day however was the Annual Meeting of the Roubo Society. Roy Underhill, wearing a suit proceeded to tell the crowd all about his damaging the cherry slab Roubo bench built by Christopher Schwarz. In French. Couldn't really understand what he was saying, could pick up on a few words here and there that have similar English words but Roy is such a storyteller that people got laughs just out of his gestures and annunciation.

Then came a presentation by Don Williams on the translation of the Roubo text. Final manuscript should be off to Chris Schwarz soon. No clue how long the Schwarz's part will take but I look forward to it coming out.

Woodworking in America 2011

At my first Woodworking in America conference. Check-in was a breeze.

The first day was a blast. The first class/seminar was about using Google Sketchup for woodworking. I definitely got a better understanding of how the program works and how to use it efficiently. Sunday I am trying a more advanced Sketchup class.

My second class was all about secret compartments in furniture. It would have been better had it not been plagued with issues in trying to get the AV system to work.

By far the most fun class for me was all about Japanese joinery. Very intriguing how different and intricate the joints are and that the Japanese don't use glue in their woodworking.

I did get to see a bit of a class with Roy Underhill. Host of the Woodwright's Shop on PBS. It was pretty neat getting to interact with someone who I've been seeing on TV for so long.

I went down to the marketplace and got to chat for half an hour with Tommy Macdonald who hosts Rough Cut on PBS. His show starts it's second season tomorrow.

The night came to a fun filled end with dinner at the Hofbrauhaus. Food was ok, but there was a panel discussion after the meal on how to save woodworking.

Glass work.

Being on medical leave from work is a mixed bag. It is like having an extended vacation in that I don't have any worries about work. I can stay up as late and sleep as late as I wish. I can take a nap in the middle of the afternoon and basically do whatever the hell I want.

However, there are the restrictions. I'm not able to lift anything heavy. Basically anything that causes me to contract the abdominal muscles is a no no. So I can't do much work in the shop except on really small projects like pens and maybe a small box. I wanted to be making a Roubo workbench, but that is out for another month or two.

To help combat the boredom, I've started taking a stained glass making class at Kaleidoscope Stained Glass in Covington. It isn't a formal class with structure, rather it is an open shop time with an instructor present to guide you and answer questions. For the class we do one round window and one 10x16 window. I also hope to take the lessons from the class and make a couple clocks and cabinets with stained glass in them.

This is my first project after about three hours worth of work. It is really turning out nice and is surprisingly easy to do. I got the copper foil applied to the edges of all the pieces before class ended Tuesday. Next Tuesday I'll begin soldering it all together. I don't know how long that will take, but hopefully, I can have it completed by the end of the session.

Working with stained glass is a lot easier than I expected. I didn't know what to expect for cutting curves in glass but even breaking the glass along the scored curve isn't difficult unless it is a very small or sharp curve. With the advent of modern glass grinders, it has become even easier since breaks off the line don't need to be filed down by hand.

Another attempt at making pens.

My first foray into pen making was guided at the local Woodcraft store. Its easier to not screw it up when you have someone over your shoulder telling you the steps. I was not so lucky when I tried at home. I didn't take any pictures of my failures but luckily they only cost me a couple slimline pen kits. The wood was all scrap.

My first solo attempt was with a scrap of cedar. it turned fairly nicely, but I screwed up on the assembly portion and basically destroyed the pen.

My second attempt was turning a pen from white oak. it isn't an easy wood to turn and it blew apart on the lathe while I was turning it. After this happened, I went and bought some extra pen tubes just so I could practice.

My third attempt also from white oak went better, it came apart when I was trying to assemble the pen.

The fourth (white oak) and fifth (cherry) pens are shown above. I still have some work to do. I was using Hut Crystal Coat to finish the white oak pen and didn't wait long enough for it to dry before trying to assemble the pen. Basically corrupted the finish, which is OK, because it has plenty of other imperfections. After blowing out two pens, I was probably a little reluctant to turn it as thin as I needed. I did a lot better on the pen of Cherry. Not only did I remember to wait before assembly, but I managed to turn it a lot smaller so that it is almost as thin as it needs to be.

Hopefully with a little more practice I'll be making pens on a regular basis. I have plenty of scrap cherry cutoffs that I will be making into slimlines and selling as a fundraiser for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America.

New Toys!!

Its been a while since I last posted and I've made some more acquisitions since my last posting. My first was a Grizzly Polar Bear G0715P Hybrid Table Saw. I got it at just about half price. I'm super stoked and can't wait to get it up and running.

My second acquisition was a Delta 18-900L 18-Inch Laser Drill Press. I can use it now as I have a spot for it and an electrical outlet. The tablesaw is still waiting on a 220V outlet to be installed in the garage. I thought I had sold the Dodge and was going to have room, but the deal sort of fell through. Now I'm a little cramped for space.

I had tried making a few more pens before I got the DP and lets just say I was less than satisfied. I only had a hand drill and no matter how I tried, I couldn't quite keep it straight when drilling the hole in the pen blank.