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Workshop and fixit stuff

Started by Dave, July 10, 2017, 07:26:50 PM

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Dark Lightning

England has all those trees! Hard to believe wood is hard to find. Or at least reasonably priced wood. I've spent hundreds of dollars at the wood boutiques like Rockler and Woodcraft. They generally get the higher quality wood. I bought some nicely figured maple at $9 for a piece 3" X 1/4" X 2'. That's $72 a board foot! :( I found equivalent quality at a local store for $3 a piece, so that's only $24 a board foot. :rolleyes: I bought all they had! Still exorbitant, though. But if I buy it and have to resaw, plane and sand it, it's worth it. A piece of mahogany like the one I asked about (looks to be about 3" X 4" in cross-section) would run about $45 at Woodcraft. I can get it for about $30 at a lumber place not too far from them, though. It's the nearest place, at ~39 miles.

My wife makes quilts. That's an even more expensive hobby. Her newest sewing machine (she has 6 or so) retails for $16k. That's more money than I have in all of my tools- carving, automotive repair, gardening implements and metal working. Crazy. Material is $20 a yard for decent stuff.

Tank

Been building boxes again  ;D
This time practical ones. My kids got me a voucher for a hardware store (B&Q) so I put it towards a new toy, a belt sander. It didn't have a case so I built one.

Built not finished.




I used the box to practice varnishing.




So having done that I had just enough plywood left to build a box for the palm sander I already had. As you can see I learned my lesson from the lid of the other box!  :snicker1: I'm not varnishing this one. It was a great exercise on my new circular saw. I made paper pattern pieces for the layout on the plywood to make sure it all fitted and to minimise the cuts. Got all the cuts millimetre accurate and square. So getting better :)


If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

Dark Lightning

Yes, definitely improving! Next you're going to need a really large cabinet on one wall to hold all the goodies.

billy rubin

when i see you do that stuff i don't know what to say.

i had all my tools jammed into a small roll away under a simple 9-drawer toolbox. no room. everything was jumbled in.

so i went and bought a big rollaway, with some 12 drawers and a big toolchest on top with some 8 more drawers.

now that and the old one still leaves me disorganized. i have concluded its a mental disability that keeps my tools filed randomly, and not a lack of space.


"I cannot understand the popularity of that kind of music, which is based on repetition. In a civilized society, things don't need to be said more than three times."

hermes2015

I have exactly the same grey plastic Vernier calipers. One day I hope to own an electronic one.
"Eventually everything connects - people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se."
― Charles Eames

Tank

Quote from: billy rubin on June 30, 2020, 10:33:16 PM
when i see you do that stuff i don't know what to say.

i had all my tools jammed into a small roll away under a simple 9-drawer toolbox. no room. everything was jumbled in.

so i went and bought a big rollaway, with some 12 drawers and a big toolchest on top with some 8 more drawers.

now that and the old one still leaves me disorganized. i have concluded its a mental disability that keeps my tools filed randomly, and not a lack of space.

I'm not naturally tidy but I get annoyed if I can't find things. Multiply that with the small area I have to work in and if I wasn't tidy I'd disappear in a pile of tools! So I have a double motivation  :grin:
If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

Tank

Quote from: hermes2015 on July 01, 2020, 05:11:44 AM
I have exactly the same grey plastic Vernier calipers. One day I hope to own an electronic one.

I have an electronic pair as well. I think I paid £18 for them, or thereabouts. They are very useful. They have a little locking mechanism so you can set them to a measurement and then directly transfer that distance to the work piece.
If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

Tank

Has anybody had any direct experience of using a stationary belt/disc sander like this?

Pros and cons?

If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

hermes2015

Quote from: Tank on July 01, 2020, 07:20:42 AM
Quote from: hermes2015 on July 01, 2020, 05:11:44 AM
I have exactly the same grey plastic Vernier calipers. One day I hope to own an electronic one.

I have an electronic pair as well. I think I paid £18 for them, or thereabouts. They are very useful. They have a little locking mechanism so you can set them to a measurement and then directly transfer that distance to the work piece.

I am considering a laser level as well, for hanging shelves on a long wall. I usually just tape a long transparent plastic tube to the wall in a wide U shape filled with water to level things over long distances.
"Eventually everything connects - people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se."
― Charles Eames

Dark Lightning

Quote from: Tank on July 01, 2020, 07:27:38 AM
Has anybody had any direct experience of using a stationary belt/disc sander like this?

Pros and cons?



I have a Delta model that is old enough to be made of cast iron. It doesn't have that nifty dust collection port. They make, as you would expect, a lot of dust. Right handy.

Icarus

That is a standard item in the woodworking shop Tank.  I have one that I use fairly often to create some dust storms from  various parts. 

The pictured item, named Fox, may be one of the better quality machines if it is from the American Shop Fox line of equipment.  The one in the picture is a small one but useful for the small shop or the hobby wood butcher. It can also be used for metals but the sanding disc and belt will not last as long.  The machines range in price from less than a hundred dollars to more than two thousand dollars for an industrial grade machine.

Tank

If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

xSilverPhinx

That's a nice box, Tank. :tellmemore: So, when are you going to get round to building your mansion? :P
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


Tank

Quote from: xSilverPhinx on July 02, 2020, 02:01:29 AM
That's a nice box, Tank. :tellmemore: So, when are you going to get round to building your mansion? :P

Now that would have to be a log cabin.

If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

Tank

A smaller project this time. A jewellery box about 90mm on a side. Made of oak with constellation (Plough, Orion, Southern Cross and the Pleiades) inlays made from 4 and 6mm brass rod. Finished with linseed oil.





If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.