What came in the mail today?

[Von]

Early birthday present from the wife. We've enjoyed watching Cremona's home renovation videos together and she has grown enamored of the track saws watching them in use. Not sure why she had "Homer" engraved on it :-)

 

 

[JohnG]

I have used my track saw more than I imagined I would. I just made a set of wraparound shelves in our closet where one of the corners has a short (definitely not) 45* wall section and the track saw made fitting those odd miters a breeze. 

[Von]

On 7/8/2023 at 12:27 PM, Von said:

Found a business nearby that is selling their birch plywood remnants (finished on one or two faces.) They make camping trailers and the cutouts are from doors and windows, about 30"x40" or 3"x4". I bought a bunch to make myself a shop cabinet with much needed storage.

A lesson learned working with this plywood: the pre-finished sides require extra care in cutting. The finish produces a strong odor when cut and with a cheap blade (like the plywood blade in my circular saw) the odor was quite strong. Good blades, ventilation, and PPE are a must.

[Von]

Loaned our old cheap plastic saw horses to my brother and then, figuring there is a good chance I'll never see those again :-), bought some new Bora's which are much more solid. My sheet good cutting set up moved over fine:

And, inspired by all the plywood cutting I'm doing right now and in the "should have bought years ago" category, a couple board buddies. Incredibly helpful as they just take "keeping the plywood against the fence" off the worry list. I'm going to call this Version 1 of how I'm attaching them - would like to get them lower (they are OK for 3/4", but don't work well for 1/2" or certainly 1/4"), further apart (the front one is good at holding wood in place before I even start the saw and I think would be even better 2-3" forward), and ideally I'd love to figure out how to attach them while keeping my fence ruler accurate but am not sure how to do that without seriously and permanently modifying my fence.

[BillyJack]

I keep looking at the Bora sawhorse, I just haven’t decided if it’s worth it at this time in my career.

[Chet]

I have been wanting to try this for a while. I needed to finish up a can of GF Enduro Var first.  This will get a test on the next project.

[Coop]

Chet, I’m not familiar with the GF Enduro. What’s the application? I could Google it but maybe you could enlighten others as well. 

[Chet]

On 8/9/2023 at 7:51 PM, Coop said:

Chet, I’m not familiar with the GF Enduro. What’s the application? I could Google it but maybe you could enlighten others as well. 

It's pretty much like High Performance except it gives the wood a bit of amber tone to the wood instead of just the clear look you get from HP.

[Mark J]

While we're asking questions, what is a "conversion varnish"?

[BillyJack]

On 8/10/2023 at 7:15 AM, Mark J said:

While we're asking questions, what is a "conversion varnish"?

internet  if this helps…

Pre-cat, Post-cat or Conversion Varnish
Which Product is Best For Me?
Precatalyzed (pre-cat) Lacquers are blends of nitrocellulose resin, plasticizers and thermosetting resins dissolved in solvent. After drying, nitrocellulose resin can be easily re-dissolved in common solvent, but thermosetting resins react to form films that cannot be re-dissolved. The reaction of these thermosetting resins is accelerated by addition of a weak catalyst by the coating manufacturer; the weak catalyst ensures a longer shelf life (usually 90 - 365 days). Pre-cat lacquers will yellow with age and light exposure. These are fast-drying medium performance products.

Postcatalyzed (post-cat) Lacquers are similar in basic composition to pre-cat lacquers, but tend to have a slightly higher content of resins solids so they may develop a slightly thicker dry film for the same wet film thickness application. As the name suggests these coatings are catalyzed by the user just before application and yield a pot life (time after catalyst addition when the coating is fit for use) in the range of 8 hours to a few days. The catalyst used also causes the thermosetting resins to react faster and more completely creating a film that can be tougher, more scratch resistant and more resistant to solvent attack. Post-cat lacquers will yellow with age and light exposure. These are fast-drying medium to high performance products.

Conversion Varnishes contain a greater amount of thermosetting resin and less (or no) nitrocellulose resin. They generally have a higher resin solids content and develop a greater dry film thickness for the same wet film thickness, but tend to dry slower than lacquers. Due to the higher thermosetting resin content conversion varnishes have good solvent resistance and can be more durable than medium performance lacquers, but usually yield a pot life of 8 – 16 hours. These are medium-fast drying high performance products.

 

[BillyJack]

On 8/10/2023 at 7:15 AM, Mark J said:

While we're asking questions, what is a "conversion varnish"?

Do you spray?

[Chet]

On 8/10/2023 at 7:15 AM, BillyJack said:

Do you spray?

Yes, most of the time.

[BillyJack]

On 8/10/2023 at 9:56 AM, Chet said:

Yes, most of the time.

Are you speaking for MarkJ or?

[Mark J]

22 hours ago, BillyJack said:

Do you spray?

I have never sprayed.  Truth be told I don't ever brush on finishes either.  I have a couple of wipe on products that I stick to using.  But I'd never heard of conversion varnish.

[BillyJack]

On 8/11/2023 at 8:01 AM, Mark J said:

I have never sprayed.  Truth be told I don't ever brush on finishes either.  I have a couple of wipe on products that I stick to using.  But I'd never heard of conversion varnish.

Conversion varnish is considered a Cadillac finish, but I’ve seen people fight with it in person with booths, so I’ll stick with my S&W T-77. I was paying $26 a gallon years ago and I think it’s up to under $40 now. I love the stuff..

[soonerdg]

Tongue and Grove router bits.  About to start making flooring for the house.

[BillyJack]

On 8/16/2023 at 11:09 AM, soonerdg said:

Tongue and Grove router bits.  About to start making flooring for the house.

You have a power feed?

 

Is there a reason your making this yourself?

[Chestnut]

I've been wanting to make a Nakashima inspired slab bench and decided it was a good excuse to buy this portable drill guide from rockler. I think it's going to be great for drilling back slats at angles to make a bench.

So far I've only unboxed it and fiddled with knobs but it feels very well built. The action is smooth but catches a bit if it's pushed down at an odd angle. I'll probably try and wax the guides.

[Von]

On 8/23/2023 at 3:49 PM, Chestnut said:

I've been wanting to make a Nakashima inspired slab bench and decided it was a good excuse to buy this portable drill guide from rockler. I think it's going to be great for drilling back slats at angles to make a bench.

So far I've only unboxed it and fiddled with knobs but it feels very well built. The action is smooth but catches a bit if it's pushed down at an odd angle. I'll probably try and wax the guides.

I'll be interested to hear how it works for you. I have the cheaper Milescraft and it binds constantly on me.

[drzaius]

18 hours ago, Chestnut said:

I've been wanting to make a Nakashima inspired slab bench and decided it was a good excuse to buy this portable drill guide from rockler. I think it's going to be great for drilling back slats at angles to make a bench.

So far I've only unboxed it and fiddled with knobs but it feels very well built. The action is smooth but catches a bit if it's pushed down at an odd angle. I'll probably try and wax the guides.

 I have one of those. You need to be really careful and have a steady hand because there is a fair bit of flex and slop in the mechanism. But it does the job.

[Chestnut]

11 hours ago, drzaius said:

 I have one of those. You need to be really careful and have a steady hand because there is a fair bit of flex and slop in the mechanism. But it does the job.

Good to know.

[JohnG]

Got a 3d printer. Somewhat woodworking related since I’ll print some jig parts and tool holders with it. 

[Coop]

@JohnG, what are your other plans for this?

What influenced you on this particular brand/model? 

[JohnG]

I’ve been on the verge of buying one for several years, but when I would be about to submit the order I’d back out, doubting what I’d use it for. 

We got a 3D printer at work for prototyping and to make other guides/jigs to improve our manufacturing processes, so I’ve gotten more experience with their utility and have seen how strong and precise the parts can be. 

I’ve also seen more uses for it around the house, and a few times recently I’ve been looking for a specialty part or item and ended up buying a 3D printed version from Etsy that’s been specifically made for my use case. 

So those are what led me to finally buy one. 

As for the model I picked, someone I trust had given high praise of Prusa a while back when I was considering purchasing one. They are open source and they even provide 3D print files to replace/repair parts of the printer itself. I didn’t do a ton of research on different brands and models because I didn’t want to get analysis paralysis (again). There are fanboys and haters of every brand, and I’ve recently lost most of my faith in online reviews, so I just went for it.

Once I get more experience with it I’ll post my opinion, but at this point I’m not giving any recommendation for/against it to anyone. 

[Von]

On 8/27/2023 at 8:29 AM, JohnG said:

I’ve been on the verge of buying one for several years, but when I would be about to submit the order I’d back out, doubting what I’d use it for. 

I'm in a similar state and welcome you sharing your experiences. Congrats on the purchase.