Leaderboard

I've got the internal partitions installed, and the drawer slides are in. There's not a lot of extra clearance around the motor, but it fits in there just fine. The existing tools I have for the lathe fit in the smaller top drawer along with the accessories, leaving the bottom drawer for future purchases. I haven't decided if I'll put in the top drawer to the right of the motor or not. It might work just as well to have a door on it. I'm still not sure what's the best idea for the grinder. I came up with a way to have it swing up to working height, but it requires its weight to be suspended upside down on a hinge when not in use. For now I might just defer doing anything beyond the open cubby. Now I just need to figure out how to do a 3" high angled rip cut to make the drawer fronts. This is when I really wish I had a band saw. Right now I'm thinking I'll go as high as I can with the table saw and then finish with a hand saw and plane.

Apparently, there IS something more fun than driving @Spanky's log loader: Photos can't do this machine justice. Cody was like this all day! And to put a cherry on top, he got the engineer's autograph. Was it worth 8 hours on the road, and 5 hours of standing around the rail yard? Yes. Yes it was.

I used to wrap my brush and roller in several layers of plastic wrap and then place them in the freezer over night for use the next day. Frankly, now I pay a guy to clean the paint brushes... Well actually I pay him to put the paint on the brushes, then put the paint on the walls, and then clean the brushes. After that he puts everything in his truck and takes it to his house.

Ross, I too thought the engine was amazing but to see Cody’s reaction to it is incredible. I’m sure glad you two were able to make the trip together!

Well, I went ahead and took a chance on them. I’m sick right now so it’ll be a few days before I can really try them out. Initial inspection found that the tool posts are covered in that nasty goo. Hopefully I’ll be able to wash all that off my hand by the time I get out to the shop to clean them off.

Of course, now that you've seen all the mixer lift designs it's time to engineer and build your own grinder lift ! Looking at your photo, consider building an open top drawer or pull out shelf for the grinder, then placing the grinder on 3/4" board/tray with stout handles. This way you pull out the grinder to clear the bench and it's easier to lift and carry it to another location. If you don't have a handy "another location" I have and can recommend both/either the Kreg and Portamate folding workbenches. I just don't think knealing down and using the grinder is going to work for you very well, even if you were to raise it up a foot from its current position.

Thanks Kev. Someone had suggested it before so I looked into it a bit. The space I have under the lathe (about 13 1/2" high and 12" deep) is too small for any of the mixer lifts I looked up. Most of them seem to want a depth of 18", which makes sense since that matches up with the mixers. I think I looked at 3 different ones and they were all similar specs.

Looking sharp! Look into "Kitchen Aid" lift for the grinder. They're used to store Kitchen Aid mixers in a kitchen cabinet. I used one in my OF table for my spindle sander and it works great to get the sander up to a working height. I can hunt a link if you need it... I bought mine at Lowes.

I've made my own shims out of various thicknesses of plastic from lids or other packaging. You can check the thickness with your calipers and be close enough. The plastic is soft enough that if they do get into the arbor threads, they won't do any harm or have any effect on your cut.

Don't mean to Threadjack. When I align my saws my first step is to make the room for my hand as large as is workable. That is, I have the top as far to the right as I can (on a left tilt saw) and then align. I also find that reaching for the nut with my left hand (on a left tilt saw) is easier than using my right although I am right handed. We now return you to your regularly scheduled program.

Thanks, Dave! I saw this earlier, made me think of your avatar pic: Might want to think hard about growing that back!

Brass, always by hand. And that follows pre-tapping with a steel screw. Unlike most of life's lessons, I only had to learn that one once.

Mineral spirits and a comb works. For paint & finish waste, I mix it with wood shavings and let it dry, then bag it for the trash. Our local landfill will accept most any type of finish as long as it has cured.