Leaderboard

Okay, the last day started off by attaching the figure 8's to the base. Then center punching for the screw hole in the top. Then drilling and pre-threading the holes in the top. A final vacuuming of the parts before finishing. This next step is were she really left me impressed. I thought this is were she would have some struggles but after practicing the spray process on some spare plywood. I was real amazed at the job she did on the actual top. She was just a little nervous and asked me to spray the base. Spraying the bottom of the top. And the top side. A couple of final pictures. And one with the newly minted woodwork.

Cody's looking good. Good on ya Ross. I added to the family today. 2 month old Great Pyrenees little girl.

Finally received a saw I ordered in April from Japan, covid slowed its delivery Also received some Brusso hardware I purchased off a Woodwhisper FB member , $130 for over $300 in product. I look forward to using a couple new pieces but most were things I use often.

Today she started off by adding a small chamfer to the bottom edge of the table top. First some practice with a piece of scrap. Then on to the actual top. Then it was a lot of sanding. She started out using my ETS 150/5 but was a lot more comfortable using the smaller 125. Practiced drilling the holes for the figure 8's. Then getting it done on the actual aprons. She tried doing a chamfer on the bottom of a scrap leg and she was doing fairly well but she said that she kept losing the grip of the plane and her hand was always sliding so I ended up doing the legs themselves for her. One thing I have learned with this project is that we as adults take all the tools we use for granted but for a little one like her it is totally different. Then we glued up the base. No action shots here, it took both of us spreading glue to get it done, it was pretty warm in the shopped I didn't want the glue setting up on us. But I do have to say she has a real aptitude for spreading glue with a brush. I guess the art time back in kindergarten paid off.

Well she cut a bunch of curves today. First up the legs. She did a curved reverse taper on the two outside faces of the legs. I cleaned up those cuts at the router table with a pattern bit so this makes two machines in the process that she didn't want to use, first the jointer and now the router table. I think she has made some good choices in not doing anything she is not comfortable with. Here she is cutting the curves on the leg. This is the second cut with the waste from the first cut taped back on. It looks like her back hand is in a bad place but I posed most of the pictures with the saws off. I failed to get any pictures of her cutting the curves on the apron pieces but here she is at the spindle sander cleaning up the cuts, first on the long aprons... ...then on the shorter aprons. She did have a mistake at the band saw cutting the curve on one of the small aprons. She lost sight of the line because it sort of blended with the grain. It would have been easy to just mill another one up but I told her that there are ways to fix small mistakes. I told her I could show her how or we could make a new piece all over. She wanted to see me fix it. I took a chisel and shaved a thin piece off the off cut, supper glued it in the kerf and to the under side of the curve so when she sanded the curve again after the fix it would flake of. Here, in the close up you can see it just to the left of the high point of the curve. But from a normal distance it is pretty hard to see. I told her to keep it a secret, don't point it out to people. Couple of pictures of the dry fit. Next up is to chamfer the bottom edge of the top, some sanding and a glue up.

I was out clipping the pastures until dark last night, and this Sunset was pretty spectacular. I wish I'd had a good camera with me, but this is a phone picture. I guess I need to upgrade my phone. The house is in that grove of trees on the other side of the barn.

Made an offer on our first home. Sign says “Sold” but offer hasn’t been accepted yet, but builder’s agent seems to think it will be. Have lived in 7 different homes in the last 13 years with the military and are hoping we can finish my last 5 years of service in this one. Really excited to have a home that is our own.

So, this happened today... Boy has been begging to go fishing for a while, so I finally took a vacation day, and we went to a quiet lake in the Natchez Trace state park. Caught several red-eared sunfish, one largemouth bass, 3 striped somethings I don't recognize, and one blue catfish. Any day a fish is caught is a good day of fishing. And any day fishing is better than a day at work.

I married up too. I think it's the only way to go (if you can manage it). My wife is so much better at so many things than I am that it is a humbling experience and lessons learned every day. She's away for a few days, camping with her son and g-daughter, and it's all I can do to hold the place together until she gets back and takes care of me again.

Enjoy it.

We had my wifes celebration of life yesterday. Several people there. The plant from the forum is really nice. I really appreciate it. I'm not the greatest with house plants, but I'm going to do my best to keep it going.

OK. Dinner is done. Country fried steak with homemade white gravy. Yumm! Step 1 was to build a new cabinet to hold my sharpening equipment, bandsaw stuff and drill press supplies like bits, etc. I needed it to be smaller than the old cabinet so it would fit in the space between my workbench and bandsaw, with the dust collection gear behind it. I had 34 inches of width to work with, and about 18" of depth. I needed to incorporate an 8" grinder, a 6" buffer and my Worksharp 3000, which one of my son's gave me for Christmas and I have found great for working out bad nicks and prepping new chisels. I even use it for the final honing on my beater chisels. I also wanted to incorporate a Wolverine sharpening jig that I have had around for a bunch of years, but never got around to mounting it. The lathe tool sharpening holder presented a problem because it is over two feet long. The grinder and buffer would barely fit in the 34", so I had to figure something out there. There was no way I could get the buffer, grinder and Worksharp in a straight line. After thinking about it for awhile I came up with an answer. (Ever wake up in the middle of the night with an "Ah, ha!" moment?) I decided to go vertical with some of the mounting. First, I built a lower cabinet with drawers sized to fit the stuff that was to go in it, especially one drawer that would hold my Forstner bit set that I got from Woodcraft - good set by the way. It is just a standard cabinet made with gray melamine sides, top and fronts. I used plywood for the bottom as it was going to hold quite a bit of weight. Dado joints on the vertical sides transfer the weight from the cabinet to the bottom and thus the casters. Here is a picture of the bottom: It is just a basic cabinet with ball bearing drawer slides. I used strips of oak I had laying around to trim the edges. The drawer pulls are from a batch my wife bought me for Christmas - They are one one fancy thing in my shop - matching drawer pulls. All of the drawer are just butt joints with glue and brads. The fronts are screwed on. Nothing fancy, very utilitarian. Then I added a top on it to hold the equipment. I mounted the grinder and Worksharp on the top of the bottom section and the buffer on the upright I added. Hidden behind the Worksharp is a Wen drill sharpener I inherited from my father. Here is the finished product: I did have one problem. I originally used some light duty casters from Grizzley. They were rated at 75 lbs each. If you look carefully, the front left caster had failed. I replaced them with this caster from Home Depot. I have gotten to really like these. They hold a lot of weight without flattening or failing. So that is the story of the first step. I am happy with the cabinet and its functions.

I meant to post this, I kept track of her time on this - including time at the lumber yard and clean up at the end of each day she was right at 45 hours.

I've been there 3 times now and plan to return soon. Doesn't look like there will be any in-person classes this fall semester, so I'll have some time to do a few trips. It's a beautiful drive from here - through Georgia O'Keefe country and southern CO. I got stuck in construction traffic last time I went up. Not a bad place to get stuck. s I ordered a small lathe today, a Rikon 70-220VSR, mainly to make a couple of urns. One for me and one for Alison's son.

As a matter of fact, today I did. I actually vacuumed, getting ready to spray the finish.

There is a special thing going on here.It is a very rare moment when very young children can create something that must count as economic production. Creating something of economic value. And offer it to the family. When it is delivered I think it would add to the event to put a cash value to the table. It will let the child realize her productivity. Play it up when finished and delivered. A typical and easier way of accomplishing awareness of productivity is vegetable gardening. On the first occasion when Johnny puts carrots on the table, that first experience of being a provider, adding to the family will never be forgotten. Easier with vegetables than wood but creates the same wonderful magic. And the bonding. And there is a legacy that will last as long as the table. Sign it together. As time goes on, each time she sees the signatures it will bring back these wonderful moments forever. She will have a story to tell from now until forever. Well done Chet!

I think you're misunderstanding that "Snapped up" remark. I think she saw how trainable you were and took control without you even realizing it.

For me a personal milestone today, as I did a dry fit of parts, then measured the drawer cavity - and the dimensions 100% matched the Sketchup drawing I did. I've never managed that level of accuracy. I'm super pumped.

I am not saying this because she is my grand daughter but she is a very focused person. She has more focus on going after something she wants to do then a lot of adults I know.

Things are finally falling into place to I can redo my shop. I have healed my body enough to handle the work and gotten enthusiasm back up, so time to charge into the work. There are a bunch of things that need to be done to get this in progress. Here is a list: 1. Build a new cabinet/work surface to replace my old one. It was built on a rotating top and just never worked out, Plus, I need some of the space back 2. Add storage for storing odd and ends. I have a power tool cabinet that I built several years ago that was supposed to have drawers for this, but they never got built. 3. Build a new cart for my planer. The old one, while it worked well, was too short and lacked storage for my planer stuff 4. Make a stand for a Super Dust Deputy I bought years ago and reconfigure my dust collection system around it. All of this will reduce some of the clutter in my shop to allow me to do the next steps: 5. Physically rearrange the shop, putting things in their new place. 6. Route new ductwork to the tools in their new location. The new layout makes this pretty easy. All of the ducts will be on the floor. I use ABS drain pipe for my ducts and it has worked very well. I added a Wynn filter to my dust collector, but it plugs really quickly. Once I get the cyclone in the system to remove most of the waste before the filter stage, this should be as much of a problem. It has kind of bothered me that I have five times the filter area, but half the suction because it clogs so easily. Hopefully, this fixes the issue. I still have the old 1 micron bad just in case. 7. Build a new workbench. Since I am getting up in age (in two years I will be 70 and retiring from my "real" job), this will probably be the last workbench I will make, at least for me. It is going to be a mix of styles, with a trestle base and a Roubo style top. I am planning on using the bracing provided by the rails in my current workbench as it has worked very well. I am thinking about shortening it a bit so it will better fit in my shop. I rarely have anything longer than 6 feet, so that is my criterial. I purchased a Lie-Nielsen tail vise after trying one at their tool event that was held near me. I really liked it and it doesn't look too hard to install. No need for Condor tails or such For the face vise, I am still undecided. I really like my Record 9 inch cast iron vise I have had for years. But I want something better for dovetailing and working the ends of boards, so I am also considering a leg vise. Either way, I am going to make a Moxen vise for much of my joinery. Time will tell. The bench is going to be completely of hard maple. I have already started collecting boards for it. I am going to keep my old bench so I have a flat surface to collect crap on that isn't my really workbench. 8. Finally, I am going to build a new tool cabinet. I am thinking kind of a cross between the Mike Pekovich and Matt Cremona, with a dash of my own tossed in. I am going to do some marquetry on the front to memorialize some of the big events in my life. Should be fun and something to stretch my skills a bit. I have already finished steps 1, 2 and 3 and am working on 4 the next few weekends. I will post the results after dinner My wife says it is getting cold. I look forward to your comments and ideas on this ride.

The very best part of this thread is that the young lady, stayed with the project, rather than giving it up to go play Nintendo or something like it. Bravo on going start to finish. Bravo!

and is going to set up a (I use the term loosely) Pro workshop here in the UK. After leaving school with very few qualifications I went stright into an on site apprentiship with my step dad. After 20years ish of sitework doing everything from Kitchen, bedroom and bathroom installations, to building outbuildings and doing all 1st and 2nd fix carpentry I have finally decided I dont want to work outside in the winter any longer. After losing my dad last year to a nasty battle with cancer, I have decided lifes to short to be miserable at work and with the help of a small inheritance (thanks dad), I am in the position to take fulfill a dream and take on the rental of a 1500sq ft workshop for a minimum term of 3years. Lease was signed beginning of this week and I am just awaiting the completion date and picking up the keys............... My legal representative is hopeful this will be within the next week/10 days Its over two levels as it has a mezernine floor over half the ground floor. Upstairs are two large (hopefully) dust free offices which will be used for doing upholstery work, finishing and the designing. I have registered the new business name as 'Against The Grain Carpentry & Joinery', im mid way though the 4th revision of my logo/social media design with a graphic designer and have MOST of my power tools, hand tools and machinery on order, awaiting delivery or are on the way in the US/UK/Canadian postal services somewhere. So far the main equipment I have purchased which are awaiting delivery: Sedgwick 308PT Planer Thicknesser http://sedgwick-machinery.co.uk/?page_id=81 Sedgwick SM210 Spindle Moulder, Power feed, Router spindle shaft (1/2") and sliding carriage http://sedgwick-machinery.co.uk/?page_id=53 Sedgwick TA 314 Table Saw with sliding carriage http://sedgwick-machinery.co.uk/?page_id=159 Axminster Trade 5HP AT639E Dust Extractor https://www.axminstertools.com/axminster-industrial-series-ub-805ckh-extractor-102237 I am also contemplating getting a SCM large (900mm) belt panel sander and maybe a Sedgwick floor standing morticer.................. however I will wait until I am settled into the workshop and see what the budget looks like at this point as I still have so much to buy to get me set up. I have a fixed budget and want to stick to that if possible. I wont talk numbers in this post as I dont want to be seen as showing off/bragging or whatever, however if you are genuinely interested in what it has/is going to cost me to set up from scratch here in the UK to compare to where you are in the world, then just say as I have kept a running documented list of literally everything purchased so far to date and will keep updating the list until after I have moved in, no doubt! I will keep updating this thread as and when it all starts to happen, and hopefully you guys and girls will find it of some interest and maybe can add your 2 cents worth to help me get set up like a pro. I am sure I will have a load of questions for you all in good time with regards to set up and layout of a shop, extraction system, jigs etc etc It is almost 3am now, so I am going to finish up and get to bed, but I will leave you a few pics of the new 'shop'

My alt process endeavors are progressing. I built a work area in front of the darkroom that I can control the lighting in, and put a nine foot workbench along the wall. That let me resurrect an old platemaking vacuum contact frame I can use for my prints. I moved my uv led bars to a thin sheet of plywood hinged to the wall so I can drop it over the vacuum frame to expose the print. Just got a few prints done today.

Congratulate her on a job well done, Chet! She has not only produced a lovely piece of furniture, but brightened the day for a bunch of grumpy old men! And me, too.

This is the most awesome woodworking thread I've ever seen!!!!

I finally did some “woodworking” today, for the first time in a while due to the move. This was just cutting out a piece to mount our new mailbox, but it was nice inhaling some sawdust again. One rip on the table saw and a couple cuts on my new miter saw, then drive a few screws. I have all of my lumber and tools in my new temporary workshop- my unfinished basement- but I haven’t started laying it out yet. I currently have a mountain of cardboard in the middle of it that I need to deal with.

Hello Fellow Woodworkers! My name is Luke, I’m 28 and about a year ago my father got me hooked on this amazing little hobby. Since then I’ve built a few picture frames, some boxes, and a living room set consisting of a TV stand, end table, and coffee table. The most recent project under my belt was refinishing the hardwood floors in my new home. I know this forum is going to be inspirational and easily the first place I’ll be heading to for advice in my future woodworking adventures. So thank you in advance for all your knowledge and advice! Cheers! Luke

A couple of months ago I cut one of these out of Beech and Red Heart but the Hebrew wasn't exactly right. So I reached out to a few people and now have the Hebrew correct (I think!). Well, I finally had the opportunity to get the CAD/CAM work done and cut four of these in Pine and they came out good. They're not as clean as the Beech but that was to be expected. It's a different look than the Beech but still appealing. These are 10" wide by 11" tall, finished in semi-gloss Nitrocellulose lacquer - David

Dead Horse Point State Park. Hitting Arches on the way home from spending time with my dad. Cannot believe how long it is taking him to receive death certs and ashes. It was good to spend a week with him and do nothing but sit close. Now it is good to stop somewhere to expand the experience of my kids. This is one reason we drive these cross continent trips.

Is that for working morning wood?

I split some pieces roughly in half trying to get rid of the pith. Most of these ended up having a limb or something. I took one piece and threw it in the lathe just to see what would happen. I made a little cup. It'll be one of those warped and cracked pieces because i just turned out this shape and want to see what will happen. Now my shop is a complete mess....

A low quality photo, but a good moment.

Who do you think I am, Tom King?

My daughter is in town. We went up to the nearest DQ for my now 13-year-old pup's birthday. Maggie got her own burger and her own ice cream cone! Then we headed home for ribs and margaritas. The weather was perfect.

It is, was hoping for a full 3 car garage, but this turned out to be our favorite home and 2.5 should work (~540sq ft). Haven’t ever had a full garage to myself before, so I’m excited to get it all set up

Last month I finished my desk build. In a way it was only half the job, because I wanted to minimize the work so I wasn't stuck on another 8-10 month project. So I designed the desk in a way that I could build a cabinet to slide underneath it. I had a major challenge - my desk was not flat. I was never able to get it flat without dropping under 1 3/8" thick and rather than go buy new stock or bring more in from my drying pile (air dried so it would take probably a few weeks to get to the shop equilibrium) I just rolled with it. Because if the top of it isn't flat, but I can't notice it while it's in my office, then who cares? Desk pic, if you don't recall/care: This is the sketchup drawing I did. I ended up reducing the depth from 26.5" to be even with desk to about 25" so that you won't be able to see how uneven the gap is going to be between the bottom of the desk an the top of the cabinet. I figured it was either that or build some sort of trim to cover it up, or even worse, build the desk to be out of square. I wasn't willing to deliberately build it out of square because trying to get things square has been such a difficult path for me. All of my stock was a MINIMUM of 16" wide, and 5/4. The 8/4 boards, I "resawed" by using a track saw to put a clean edge, then the track saw again to bring the width to about 7 7/8" (so it would fit jointer) then ran on edge on the table saw on each side. My bandsaw needs tuned up and I was too lazy to do it so this is how I decided to resaw. I tried to do a grain match with a sort of bookmatch where possible on the sides, as they would be the only real visible components in the carcass. Marked for dominos. I'm going to admit something that will make me look stupid. I have serious troubles getting flush panels with the domino. I literally do better without it. If I have 4 glue joints in a panel, 3 out of 4 will be dead flush and 1 with a small lip - without the domino for alignment. With it - usually one or two glue joints looks like this: That irritates me. Anyway, I sanded flush then marked the center points for my two horizontal dividers. Then loaded up a Whiteside dovetail bit - forgot what size. And seeing this picture makes me realize why I love Festool so much, as there was almost zero dust. Here is when I hit my first mistake. I had jointed one side of the panel and then used a track saw to square a side. And look where my saw went through Luckily I only used Dominos on one panel. Since each side of the cabinet is sort of a mirror image, and I wanted the cathedrals pointed in a particular direction - I could not make this the bottom. Good thing it will be covered with a desk top. Front: Dry fit, but without a back or anything so everything is a little skewed. It was here that I was pleased that my guaranteed mistake had already come with the cutting through Dominos. I measured and saw that the case was dead nuts square and my measurements of the internal drawer area perfectly matched the Sketchup drawing. I laid out the center line for the vertical divider. Yes, I really love that little Milwaukee M12 portable light. The lumen power is amazing.

Been doing more tool fitting over the weekend in order to accommodate my dividers and a few more tools:

I found the center of my dovetail bit on the router table. After I had found it and marked it, I noticed the plate has a zero mark. It did not match my center line. But as far as I could tell, mine is right. So I stuck with that. Then I cut my vertical divider grooves. Followed by making the matching dovetails on the divider. This is what my side pieces look like with all the cuts made. I couldn't believe this all worked out so smoothly. Test fit of vertical divider. I don't have microadjust on my router table, not sure you can do any sort of microadjust with the setup I have (as in woodpeckers/Incra setup.) Because of that I left the dovetails oversized. Then I sanded my fingers raw to get them to fit. I dry fit the entire thing, then glued one horizontal piece, and the dovetailed top board. Came back the next day and glued in the other horizontal piece. First horizontal piece I put glue in the groove. Second one I put the glue on the tails. Guess which one seized up and required hammering as hard as I could (with a pine piece to protect the walnut) until my arm fell off? It's the next day and my arm is still in massive pain. I also fixed a gaps and added wood filler. Also while looking at this I realized my back panel has to be trimmed. It needs to be 5" from the top to fit under the legs. So that will be up next.

It was signed by both of us before she sprayed the finish. I only signed after asking her if she wanted me to. I signed Paga, which is what the grandkids call me. You can see the signatures in the first picture of her spraying. We would have to talk about the safety of using that too, like don't us it on your older brother.

Step 3 of my reorganization required me to make a new cart for my planer that has storage in it to hold the setting gauge and spare blades for the planner. My planner is a Delta 22-650 13" 2 HP cast iron planer that they sold as a "benchtop" planer, but it is a seriously heavy beast that does a very good job of planing. I bought the planer back around 1982. The choices back then were this planer, the original Makita bench top unit or big floor mount planers that cost a bundle, even for a 12" planer. So I went with this one and haven't regretted it. Someday, I am going to fit it with a helical head. My original stand for it was built out of 2x4 stock and actually was pretty good, except for two issues. One, it was too short. I had to bend down to run something through it, which got hard on my back after awhile, especially if it was heavy 8/4 stock. Two, it didn't have any storage and the way I made it, which, while really sturdy, wasn't conducive to adding drawers big enough to handle knives and such. Because this planer is so heavy, I decided to make it out of hard maple, with mortise and tenon joinery. The casters I picked up for it are 6" urethane units rated at 375 lbs each, which gives a total of 1500 lbs - serious overkill, but they would allow the stand to roll over obstacles in my shop without tipping the stand over or the wheels going flat from standing in one place over time. The only bad part is that they don't lock, so I will have to use wheel chocks, especially if I move it into my driveway. It is on a slant and more than once I have had to chase a tool when it started rolling on its own. I started with a base made from 4" wide 8/4 stock with half lap joints at the corners. With the casters clamping though the joints and plenty of glue, the joints aren't going to fail. I routed the mortises for the uprights and got a reminder which way the bit drags the router on the first one. I usually use a hollow chisel mortiser, but didn't have a big enough chisel and bit. I also drilled the holes for the casters, as one of the bolts would be under one of the uprights and needed to be installed before glue-up. I also fabricated the upper ring in a similar fashion. Next I cut the tenons on the uprights on my tablesaw and fit them to the mortises. The uprights are a bit of overkill, but I wanted to make sure they didn't rack. With the large tenons and the extra width and thickness of the uprights, they should be plenty strong. Fin Finally, I glued the base together and bolted the casters in place . The last step in fabricating the stand was to install the drawers and bottom. I chose to install two drawers (not that much to store for a planer!). I enclosed the sides and back with gray 3/4" melamine MDF to match my other cabinets and the planer. I fab'ed two drawers from 1/2" baltic birch sides and 1/4" baltic birch bottoms. Butt joints and brads were my exotic joinery for the drawers. The drawer fronts are screwed on and I added the two pulls that match the rest of my cabinets. Three coats of Sealcoat shellac sprayed from a can I wanted to get rid of finished the maple parts. That completed the stand. In this picture, you can see my planer on the old stand in the background. The last and hardest step was to get the planer bolted on top. I got my son and grandson to help me lift it on. That planer has to weight something like 250 lbs! It is a back buster. We set it on the stand. I removed the drawers and reached under to mark the bolt hole locations, then rotated the planer 45 degrees so I could drill the holes. There was no way I was going to remove and replace that beast. After twisting the planer back in place, I installed the bolts and that finished that up. The bed of the planer ended up at about 30" from the floor, which is just about where I wanted it. It is oriented the way it is so that I will be able to get into the drawers when it is in its final location. I had to clean the planer up. A couple of years of sitting behind a lumber pile, plus some visits from the resident mouse family left it covered in dust and the cast iron table with a thin film of rust. I wiped everything down with mineral spirits. I decided to try some CRC 3-36 that Fine Woodworking recommended as a rust preventative from one of their tests. Turns out that Home Depot carries it. It is also a penetrating lube, so I sprayed the table down with it and remove the rust film and spots with some Scotchbrite pads and resprayed with the CRC lube. Worked well for that part and I haven't seen any signs of rust on it since. If you look on the left side of the planer, you will see a chip collection gadget I fab'ed up. This planer didn't come with a dust scoop and by the time I had a dust collector, they no longer sold them, so I made this out of 1/2" baltic birch scraps. \When I first built it, the hose came straight out of it and, while it worked pretty well, I was always fighting with the hose. So I changed out the hose fitting with a flanged elbow and that solved the problem. It's not very pretty, but it works pretty well, only missing a tiny bit from each board. One thing that I really don't like about my current shop is that I have to unbury the jointer and planer to use them, so I tend to not use them very much. I have this good gear, but because it is such a pain to get it out, I tend to not bother. With the new shop layout, both will have a permanent place and will be connected to the dust system. Since I have an automatic starter for my DC that turns it on anytime I start a dust producing power tool, all I'll have to do is open the blast gate to use a tool. I intend to locate the gates so they are easy to get to. If anyone wants to see how the automatic start gadget is connected and how it works, check out the August, 2000 issue of Fine Woodworking, page 66. It paid for my dust collection system. Next up are some storage improvements. Thanks for following this.

This might actually happen. My current space is about 17'x24', so it's actually about the same area as my last setup, but I don't have to share this one with bikes, lawn tools, etc. To the left of the shop space is another unfinished room, and to the right is a "basement garage" where the HVAC, water heater, breaker panel, and my loaner ZTR mower are. The top wall with the door and window is an exterior wall, and there's a half bath and small storage area under the stairs that go up to the main floor. I currently have all of my lumber stacked up along the exterior wall since some pieces are 10-12'. The ceiling is 8' but there are some ducts running through there that lower the clearance to just under 7'. I'll play around with the grizzly workshop planner to get a starting idea, then will start moving some things around. (Once I get all of the cardboard boxes out of there)

Treeslayer and Coop - Thanks. I hope to post the first three steps this weekend. Don't want to do it too quickly as I tend to be kind of wordy - don't want to bore everybody. I have already finished the sharpening cabinet, as you see above, the drawers for my power tool cabinet and the planer cart. I am working on the DC improvements this weekend, but probably won't finish them until next weekend. Then things will slow down as I start the rest of the work, but I hope to post a progress report every week. This is kind of a dream come true for me as I have been wanting to do this for about five years.

Well my real cool wife just bought this for me for my birthday. I have been looking at ideas for drilling in the center of small parts for some project ideas and I think this looks like it might work better then other things was looking at. Drew, my wife says Thank You, because she had no idea as to what to get me.

Watching Rockler's video, I was never really impressed with the old still that he shows in the beginning but I can picture some good uses for the Rockler model. It looks like a real quality unit. I might be putting this on the list. If they changed the blue anodized aluminum to red they could double the price.

You could try storing your hand tools in a box or closed cabinet and putting a vapor emitter rust preventative in there with them. https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/tools/workshop/tool-maintenance/59367-anti-corrosion-emitters

Mick, Allison, Freedhardwood's wife Vera and My wife, get a prayer sent at least once a day, but in truth, they go up everytime I think of one or the other, and that'a very often... It's not easy being without those you care most about, and I can't say it gets easier. For me it doesn't. But I send word up daily. Hang on young'un. Life finds a way, so I'm told.

Hi, a french youtuber had a tour of the Auriou shop: it will give you a chance to practice your french !

Don't use olive oil. It is NOT a drying oil for furniture finish. Danish oils is a blend of solvent, drying oil, and varnish. Just be sure to wipe away any excess, and let the remainder cure for a couple of days. If there are tacky spots, but no 'puddles', use rag dampened with mineral spirits to remove the tacky material. Let it dry to the touch, and evaluate. If it seems blotchy or uneven, I find that wetting the surface with more danish oil, and sanding it thoroughly with 400 grit while wet, is pretty good for blending it into a smooth layer. Remember to wipe away the excess before it starts to tack up.

I'm either crazy or stupid. It's 90 degrees and 50%humidity (70 degree dew point) and I'm running my chain saw mill.

Mac, I’ve used pocket holes successfully for a while now, mostly for cabinets and they are pretty strong. If this were mine and there are no restrictions as to why you can’t, I would make the front (not where you sit) panel/apron, extend further to the floor to help prevent racking.