Stand-alone shop build


-MattK-

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9 hours ago, Chet K. said:

Thats going to be a great space when you get it finished.  Are you planning anything for the floor like epoxy or just going with the concrete look?

I'm just going with the sealed concrete.  Don't have the patience to wait for the concrete to cure and everything to stay out of the shop.  I'm considering a drive up to Tractor Supply for some of their rubber "horse stall" mats - those have had good reviews from folks.

 

 

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The only big drawback to horse stall mats is the smell. It takes weeks for the fairly strong rubber odor to dissipate. They are fairly cheap and cover a decent amount of space. They aren't very cushioned but that lets you roll carts over them without sinking in. They stay put wherever you put them, the thinner mats slide around pretty easily.

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52 minutes ago, wdwerker said:

The only big drawback to horse stall mats is the smell. It takes weeks for the fairly strong rubber odor to dissipate. They are fairly cheap and cover a decent amount of space. They aren't very cushioned but that lets you roll carts over them without sinking in. They stay put wherever you put them, the thinner mats slide around pretty easily.

And, they are easy as hell to trip over, don't ask how I know!

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17 hours ago, K Cooper said:

Matt, if I can come work in your shop, I'll keep it spotless for Ya and I can sleep outside, in a tent, and promise to stay out of your way?. Great looking place you've got there dude!

C'mon up, Coop!  Not too far outside NYC, we can have some fun nights out on the town!

 

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Solid surface mats are great for most areas of the shop however at my sliding miter saw the dust collection is not that great and the floor gets dust on it and it gets slippery.  To solve that problem I purchased a Grease Resistant 36 in. x 60 in. Commercial Rubber Drain Mat from my local Home Depot.  The sawdust falls through the mat and it's very easy to vacuum it up from time to time.

 

mat.jpg

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14 minutes ago, shaneymack said:

Wow a hammer a3 41! That's quite the beast. What made you go with a combo machine with all that space you have there?

I wanted wide jointing capacity because I get some decently wide boards and I hate ripping them so I can joint them... and wide jointers are either stupidly expensive or you have to find some old thing, refurbish it, get 3-phase...  and I'm not going to do that.

So I'm already into stupid money territory, I thought maybe I can save a bit by using the same cutting head for planing.  And you get the added benefit of saving floor space.

Worst case, if the change-over is just a huge PITA, I'll dedicate the J/P to jointing and get a dedicated planer.  I doubt this'll happen, but I'll have that option.

 

1 minute ago, Llama said:

Looking forward to your thoughts on the A3. I'm looking at the same unit.

Nice shop! I know you're happy!

 

Happy to share my thoughts when I get wood moving through the tool.  Comparison will be a 6" Jet that I added a Byrd head to and a snipe-y Ridgid 2 blade planer that I bought by turning amex points into home depot gift cards.  So not like I can compare it to a Powermatic jointer or planer, but I'll share my thoughts.

So far, the instructions are awful.  They either give you a diagram of how it looks when it's all finished, or they give you a ridiculous exploded diagram.  And there's very little in the way of English assembly instructions - most frustrating is all the part lists and descriptions are in German, so there's a lot of googling to translate.  Assembling the table extension, I'm looking at this tiny 1 1/2" square image trying to figure out where the thin nut, the thick nut, and the lock nut each go and then how that assembly connects to the extension table. 

I installed and removed the aluminum rails 2-3 times each because it's almost impossible to understand how it goes together the first time ( these are for the extended table and the fence support to ride on)... 

They did send me some videos of Harry the Austrian Tool Expert putting the thing together - that wasn't much help except to notice they send me the wrong mobility kit.

(ok, now I'm getting close to venting territory, I'm going to sleep on it and wrestle the Austrian behemoth in the morning)

 

:-)

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24 minutes ago, Llama said:

Looking forward to your thoughts on the A3

Me too!  I am nowhere close to being able to buy one, but I really like the idea of the combo machine and this one looks awesome.  Looking forward to your review.  Bummer on the German instructions, sounds like a nightmare. Scheize!

4 minutes ago, -MattK- said:

They did send me some videos of Harry the Austrian Tool Expert

Is this the same guy from this vid?

Actually a pretty cool video (nothing to do with jointer/planers).  The dude's accent always makes me smile

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8 hours ago, cjtboy said:

Actually a pretty cool video (nothing to do with jointer/planers).  The dude's accent always makes me smile

Yeah, the intro guy, not the male model woodworker.  I love that video - I had the N4400 and the FB510 on my short list before I ordered the PM1500.

 

7 hours ago, Llama said:

I like that guy :)  Has a nice rhythm. 

 

Yeah, I think his enthusiasm is infectious - he gets so excited about the tools!  And he has great plaid shirts!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Lots of machine assembly at the beginning of April: jointer/planer, table saw, bandsaw, drill press, router table, and clearvue dust collector.  I was missing the hardware kit for the DC and I wasn't sure if I misplaced it or they didn't send it - but they were awesome about it and sent it out that day without even asking a question.  I then got a few more steps into the assembly and noticed the curved plastic bits for the transition to the filters were missing - and again, Cathy from Clearvue popped 'em in the FedEx box right away.  I can't say enough about how well they treated me. 

I also got the workbench and the lathe moved over.  I had to add the wheel kit to my lathe (a Robust Sweet 16) before moving it - that was my first experience tapping a threaded hole - I was pretty worried about it but it turned out ok and I'm glad to have it in its new home. 

I've had some problems with rust in the garage this winter and I'm glad I have the stainless ways on the lathe, but I've had a bit of trouble with rust on the non-stainless parts on the lathe.  I sent in photos to Robust and got a reply from the founder, Brent English, who suggested some WD-40 and scotchbrite - so that'll be a project for later this week.  Another company with great customer service.

After a week of camping with the kids in a RV for Spring Break, I'm glad to be back in the shop!

The focus is currently the ductwork for the dust collection.  I went with Nordfab - mostly because I've never had a shop this big and I'm pretty sure I'm setting it up all wrong and will want to move everything around.  This stuff is expensive but a dream to work with.  Here's a view of what I was able to finish in about 4 hours today:

 

DC network.jpg

 

And here's a little trick I mentioned on the wood whisperer guild group on facebook... I got one of those hydraulic carts from Grizzly (HF also sells them, I'm told) and it's been a life saver in getting the shop set-up, especially with tool assembly (like getting the wings on the table saw).  Today I stacked a whole buncha systainers on it and used it to support the ductwork while I made connections and strapped it to the wall or ceiling:

cart and systainers.jpg

 

Going across the shop I used screw in J-hooks, 3/16" wire cable, and wire cable clamps to hold the ductwork up (please ignore the spot we forgot to paint above the garage door) - I'm really happy with how that worked out.

across the shop.jpg

 

I think I'm going to need a few more pieces for the dust collection - most importantly I have to figure out how I want to connect the DC to the ducting (see below).  I think you want 5' of straight run before the DC - so I'm trying to figure out the best way to make the transition here.  I wasn't sure how this was all going to play out when I worked with the design service, so it's something I've gotta figure out now - thoughts welcome!

 

DC to ducting.jpg

 

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3 minutes ago, Chestnut said:

I enjoy this build it always seems like the gift that keeps on giving. I hope that it ends someday and your get to start making things in your awesome shop.

I cannot wait to be building things - I never expected it to take this long!

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14 minutes ago, shaneymack said:

 What is in the black systainers?

Supercool secret stuff, man!  I can't believe you're not in the black systainer club yet!

 

Ok actually just a few woodpecker one time tools - accessories for the domino and the track saw.  I'm a sucker for red aluminum like you are for neon green ;-)

the tracksaw parallel guide system is ok, I don't usually need that much precision on the track saw so isn't as useful as I thought it might be.  I haven't had a chance to use the domino offset jig yet.  This is where I'm just a sucker for manufactured scarcity.  Admitting it is the first step, right?

 

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 What is in the black systainers?

Supercool secret stuff, man!  I can't believe you're not in the black systainer club yet!

 

Ok actually just a few woodpecker one time tools - accessories for the domino and the track saw.  I'm a sucker for red aluminum like you are for neon green ;-)

the tracksaw parallel guide system is ok, I don't usually need that much precision on the track saw so isn't as useful as I thought it might be.  I haven't had a chance to use the domino offset jig yet.  This is where I'm just a sucker for manufactured scarcity.  Admitting it is the first step, right?

 

Haha nice ! What is the domino offset jig? Like the seneca adapters?

Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk

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