wnaziri Posted March 21, 2015 Report Share Posted March 21, 2015 It is about high time I introduce myself. I discovered Wood Talk late last year. I have come to love the content and have learned much from it. I am a "hobbyist" woodworker. I love woodworking. About 18 years ago, I put my woodworking interest into partial hibernation when my wife and I began to spend our energies and time raising our 4 kids. Nearly 2 decades later, our last child is about to graduate from HS and I have decided to pick up where I left off. I love to make fine furniture and cabinets. Over the past two decades, I have tackled a few projects here and there, usually using hand tools. The hand tool choice was based on the fact that our new house had no place to set up a workshop. Well, my woodworking fortune is about to change for the better. I have decided to build a dedicated workshop which will be 26' X 35'. I have actually been planning this workshop project for the past 2 years. When I initially started my plans, I went to the Grizzly website and chose the tools that I wanted. Based on my past experience, I knew exactly what tools I wanted. I set my budget for power tools based on Grizzly prices. As you are all probably aware, plans are made only to be changed. With significant research, I came to the conclusion that I would rather buy "vintage", high quality power tools than modern day tools. So, I have now completed my power tool purchases, spending far less than I had planned to spend on new Grizzly tools. All my power tools are made by Northfield (#4 table saw, 20" band saw, 12"HD jointer, and shaper. I have also bought a 4 HP Coral dust collector. The only big-ticket item I still need to acquire is a planer. Just to stay consistent, I will hope I can find a nice Northfield #2 planer. I plan to ask lot of questions and hope to learn from everyone's experience, especially in designing and setting up my dream workshop. Please be patient with me as I will be posting many questions over the next few months. I welcome any and all suggestions and advice. Thanks. Wade N. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted March 21, 2015 Report Share Posted March 21, 2015 Thanks for joining in, Wade! I can't help you with the search for Northfield tools, but it sounds like you are just about ready to rock and roll. I look forward to seeing some of your work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cochese Posted March 21, 2015 Report Share Posted March 21, 2015 Greetings. What part of NC? East vs West is like two different countries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted March 21, 2015 Report Share Posted March 21, 2015 Hey, I lived in Western NC (Rutherford County) for a few years! Beautiful country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted March 21, 2015 Report Share Posted March 21, 2015 Welcome to the Forum ! Lots of different levels of experience and methods of work here. Please post pictures of your Northfeild iron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FtrPilot Posted March 21, 2015 Report Share Posted March 21, 2015 Welcome to the Forum. Sounds like you are building a first class workshop. You mentioned a lot of your equipment, but you left out a very important item...a workbench. If you need a workbench, might I suggest that you build a Roubo. There is a section in the forum dedicated to the Roubo. A lot of the folks in the forum have built a Roubo. I am in the process of building mine. A Roubo would go well in a "Vintage" workshop. I look forward to seeing pictures of your workshop! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wnaziri Posted March 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2015 Thank you for the warm welcome. I am located in Eastern NC. It is beautiful here. We love life in NC. Here are some pics of my tools. My shaper and jointer are ready to use. My table saw could be used but I plan on re-finishing it to nearly new specs with the help of Northfield. The bandsaw is in pieces as I have decided to refurbish from ground up, taking it down to bare metal. I have to say that Northfield is an amazing company with their support of any product they have ever produced. This is my jointer after I refinished the surface and got rid of some superficial rust. This is my shaper and ready to go. Here is my new-to-me table saw. It was delivered about 2 weeks ago. It is an amazing machine. I plan to refinish it to new specs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wnaziri Posted March 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2015 Welcome to the Forum. Sounds like you are building a first class workshop. You mentioned a lot of your equipment, but you left out a very important item...a workbench. If you need a workbench, might I suggest that you build a Roubo. There is a section in the forum dedicated to the Roubo. A lot of the folks in the forum have built a Roubo. I am in the process of building mine. A Roubo would go well in a "Vintage" workshop. I look forward to seeing pictures of your workshop! I have done lots of research and after reading a book on workbenches, I have decided to build an Ruobo bench, using plans from Benchcrafted. In fact, I hope to have my bench done and ready to go before my workshop is finished. I will do the final assembly in the new workshop. Tangent: FtrPilot? What do you fly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FtrPilot Posted March 21, 2015 Report Share Posted March 21, 2015 Tangent: FtrPilot? What do you fly? I flew the F-4 Phantom for 19 years, all makes and models including the C, D, E, G, and RF. A total of 3000 hours. In fact, several hundred of those hours were flown out of Seymour Johnson AFB, Goldsboro. I was stationed there in the early 80s. I have a couple hundred hours in Piper Cubs, Super Cubs, Cessnas, and twin Beeches. However, it has be over 20 years since I have flown as a pilot. It is a very expensive hobby. I look forward to seeing pics of your Roubo and your workshop. Regards, FtrPilot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted March 22, 2015 Report Share Posted March 22, 2015 Wade, your progress will be really cool to follow. Oh, and welcome to the forum. How did you come about choosing Northfield and where did you find the machines? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wnaziri Posted March 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2015 How did you come about choosing Northfield and where did you find the machines? I went to visit a furniture maker who had a used saw for sale, which I did not buy. But he did teach me a lot about his tools and I learned that Northfield was the tool of choice for many pros. I realized quickly that I would never be able to afford new Northfields but I also learned that the company is still going strong (northfieldwoodworking.com) and supports any and all tools that have rolled out of their factory. So, I had an power tool budget to work with and decided to spend my allotted amount on used Northfields. I bought most of my Northfields through auctions. I am convinced that modern devices can not match the precision of Northfield. They are amazing machines. I think I will have shop that will last me a good while. I now have all these wonderful tools in storage units along with my collection of lumber, awaiting the construction of the workshop. I am hoping to have the shop completed this summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wnaziri Posted March 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2015 I flew the F-4 Phantom for 19 years, all makes and models including the C, D, E, G, and RF. A total of 3000 hours. In fact, several hundred of those hours were flown out of Seymour Johnson AFB, Goldsboro. I was stationed there in the early 80s. I have a couple hundred hours in Piper Cubs, Super Cubs, Cessnas, and twin Beeches. However, it has be over 20 years since I have flown as a pilot. It is a very expensive hobby. I look forward to seeing pics of your Roubo and your workshop. Regards, FtrPilot Very nice. Very little turbine time for me. I am based at PGV, not far from GSB. All my time is in GA, approaching 1000 hours, mostly Beechcraft. I drive a B36TC. It is a great traveling machine. Please share any advice you might have on building the Roubo. What lumber did you choose for building yours? I am going to go with hard maple. Wade N. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FtrPilot Posted March 22, 2015 Report Share Posted March 22, 2015 Very nice. Very little turbine time for me. I am based at PGV, not far from GSB. All my time is in GA, approaching 1000 hours, mostly Beechcraft. I drive a B36TC. It is a great traveling machine. Please share any advice you might have on building the Roubo. What lumber did you choose for building yours? I am going to go with hard maple. Wade N. Wade, I am sure I have flown by PGV enroute to Dare County ranges. 1000 hours is a huge milestone...congrats! I looked up the specs on the B36TC and it sure looks like a great travelling machine. My advice on building the Roubo: 1. There is a separate sub-forum specifically for the Benchcrafted Split-Top Roubo. It is located under Guild Builds. I have a thread there titled "I too am building a Roubo." You can read all about my build there. Feel free to add comments...comments are always welcome. I recommend reading all of the threads in the Roubo sub-forum. Lots of good info. 2. Buy the Benchcrafted hardware, if you haven't already. Benchcrafted often have a backlog. When I ordered mine, they estimated it would take 3 weeks to ship. It shipped in about a week. Buying the hardware locked in my decision to build the Roubo. 3. The Benchcrafted web site has a download page. Download the instruction guides for the vises and the STR Construction guide. Read, re-read, re-read..... 4. The download page also has a 3-d model of the bench. Download it. They have a link for a free 3-d viewer. Download the 3-d viewer. If you have a background in 3-d graphics, then you should find the 3-d viewer easy to use. I have a background in 3-d and can help you via PMs. 5. Consider joining The Wood Whisperer Guild. They have a separate plan package, lots of videos, and a 3-d model, which uses "Sketchup." There is a separate sub-forum on "Sketchup." 6. Re-read the instruction guides. 7. Start your own journal (thread) to document your build. With regard to lumber choice...You have much more woodworking experience than I have. However, since you asked the question, I will certainly give my opinion. You can't go wrong with hard maple. If you are buying the lumber locally, then get the plans, or use the 3-d model and put together a cut plan. Then carefully select every piece. If you are buying on-line from Bell Forrest, then read through the Roubo sub-forum for comments on Bell Forrest. You could start a thread on Bell Forrest and ask for comments. I bought locally, so I can't comment on Bell Forrest, however, all of the comments I saw were positive. If you really want to know what lumber I picked, you will have to read my thread. Some of the lumber has a connection to North Carolina. Hope this helps. Regards, Randy DBA FtrPilot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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