"Weekend Doin's"

[Karl Laustrup]

Friday March 13, 2007

GOOD MORNING "CREEKERS"!

Here it is. One month later and it's FRIDAY the 13th again. I haven't looked, but hopefully this will be the last Friday the 13th for this year.

We've been unseasonably cold here, but that's supposed to change starting today. Temps in the 40's for the weekend and 50's for the beginning of the week. And mostly sunny too. I just might put some shorts :eek: on and soak up the sun. :) And dust off the golf clubs.:D

I just might be able to get out to the shop and get something done this weekend. I've got a lot of cleaning to do before any sawdust flies. Whoa is me, so much to do and so little time. Of course I'll have to catch the races this weekend at the "BULL RING" of Bristol. That always makes for good racing.

So what's up in your neck of the woods? A busy weekend? Or just slack off and relax? There's something to be said for relaxing also. Have a great weekend and please be SAFE.

Karl

[Alan Greene]

I am going to finish rearranging the shop while we have some semi-cool temps this weekend. I had been waiting for a sale on the Triton lumber racks and picked up 3 so I can get the wood organized which will go a long way to getting the garage, I mean shop done. Supposed to get up to 89 next week, to early to turn on the AC but may not have a choice. Have a wonderful and safe weekend.

Alan:)

[Greg Pavlov]

Tonight I have to put one more coat of paint on the Brio/Thomas train table I finished last week, so I can put some stickers on in the morning, so everything's ready when the grandchildren arrive tomorrow afternoon.

[Rod Sheridan]

Tonight I have to put one more coat of paint on the Brio/Thomas train table I finished last week, so I can put some stickers on in the morning, so everything's ready when the grandchildren arrive tomorrow afternoon.

Now that will be a rewarding project, nothing better than trains and grand-children........Regards, Rod.

[Jim Becker]

Equestrian things on both Saturday and Sunday mornings, and some yard/garden work that must be done with the (hopefully) warming weather. I will once again endeavor to get into the shop and back on my buffet project, but no promises. So much going on!

[Fred Voorhees]

Different kind of weekend this weekend. Me and the better half get to play grandparents from tonight (Fri) until Sunday night. First time that our grandson will be away from his parents and our daughter in law has already called to check on things. This should be different, but wonderful!

[Jack Wilson50]

Putting zone control in the HVAC system for my house. I installed the dampers last night, so I have to pull the thermastat wire to the second floor, install the control panel and wire the dampers. I hope this will finally make the house comfortable. Wish me luck.

Jack

[Matt Meiser]

We were supposed to be visiting my brother and his girlfriend out of town but he's sick so instead I'll be working on my daughter's bathroom and on my planer restoration project.

[Dewey Torres]

Back to work on the Morris chair and a few turnings in between:D It is high time I get going on those pesky TAXES too!

[Louis Rucci]

Well I was going to clean my shop and check the alignment on my planer. Maybe go downtown and watch my daughter run the Jacksonville Gate River Run.
After discovering I forgot to check my dental insurance until after my checkup. New company as of this year and had to pay for the procedure. Thankfully a claim can be submitted for the cost. On my way home my battery light came on and on opening my hood found my alternator belt shredded. Now I have to figure out how to install a replacement. Itr's good I have a motorcycle, otherwise I coudn't go to work. I have 1 hour and 17 min still waiting for the 3rd catatrophe to hit before midnight.


Friday March 13, 2007

GOOD MORNING "CREEKERS"!

Here it is. One month later and it's FRIDAY the 13th again. I haven't looked, but hopefully this will be the last Friday the 13th for this year.

We've been unseasonably cold here, but that's supposed to change starting today. Temps in the 40's for the weekend and 50's for the beginning of the week. And mostly sunny too. I just might put some shorts :eek: on and soak up the sun. :) And dust off the golf clubs.:D

I just might be able to get out to the shop and get something done this weekend. I've got a lot of cleaning to do before any sawdust flies. Whoa is me, so much to do and so little time. Of course I'll have to catch the races this weekend at the "BULL RING" of Bristol. That always makes for good racing.

So what's up in your neck of the woods? A busy weekend? Or just slack off and relax? There's something to be said for relaxing also. Have a great weekend and please be SAFE.

Karl

[Steve Rozmiarek]

I'm going to go get this from a fellow Creeker! Gotta love new tools...:D

Dewey, you have time on those taxes yet, do something fun!

[george wilson]

Steve,I have the same Oliver lathe. Mine might be a little newer because mine has sheetmetal legs. I'm guessing it is from the 50's or 60's,but can't be sure.

About doins: I am sick of making shelves!!!. I must have made over 500 feet,or more by now. Started with the shop,and just finished with the room (last one we are developing in this 1949 house) that will eventually be my den. I hate to call it a den,but it's where my stuff is.

First,I made a whole wall of built in book cases,then filled 2 closets with shelving.

Also gave metal lathe lessons to my student.Trying to get back to playing guitar. I have carpal tunnel in both wrists.Had 2 surgeries on 1 hand ,and need it again on the other,because the doctor failed to completely cut through the band of tendons. Had another one redo one wrist. The arrogant first doctor doesn't believe he failed. Worst bother with my hands is a big bone spur on my picking thumb which really kills me when it gets going. That's from 55 years of finger style playing. I will eventually have to decide on which course of surgery to fix the joint.

Anyway,thank heavens I can stop working on shelves,at least for a while.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

George, I'm new to lathes, well minus a junky old Shop Smith. What do you think of that model Oliver? I bought it because I think it looks good, I like the brand, and its sized right for what I may end up doing. Any issues that you could save me the trouble of learning first hand?

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

Looking to finish up a bluetooth installation in my vehicle - just need to run the wire for the control pad. Then it's about time to drain the water frfom the skating rink so I can take it all down tomorrow. the kids want to use the basketball court again (I tell them "it's good to want", but that doesn't seem to have the same effect as when my father said it to me when I was their age...)

[Rick Lucrezi]

Sanding and staing my hard wood floors today. Well half any way, about 800 feet. Will post before and after pics.;)

[Greg Pavlov]

Now that will be a rewarding project, nothing better than trains and grand-children........Regards, Rod.

Thanks, that's one of the good things about having grandchildren: you can play with toys you wouldn't want to be seen with otherwise!

[george wilson]

Steve,I've used this particular lathe since 1970,and was recently able to purchase it. I like the lathe very much,but as with all of the mechanically variable speed lathes,I wish it could run slower. The minimum speed is pretty high for turning large diameter objects. If it were a 3 phase motor,I'd put a variable frequency drive on it. Other than the low speed problem,it is a fine,heavy duty lathe.Much better than anything short of a General or Oneway. We replaced the Oliver with a 20" General VFD. Since the general is an excellent quality lathe,and can be made to run slow,I'd rather have the General. For quality and rigidity,though,the Oliver is as good a lathe as you'll likely find. The General was not cheap.Several years ago it was something like $3000.00. I had a bunch of large diameter patterns to make for 18th.C. kettles,Dutch ovens,and other kitchen ware.If I need to turn something really large,now that I am retired,I can do it on my 16" metal lathe with a gap bed that will swing 25".Actually,I did just that last month,making a hammering form for a silversmith. Just BARELY got it into the gap.I'm not crazy about wood lathe work due to the dust,etc. Over the top of my Oliver,I have a cylindrical wood lathe guard of plexiglass. Can't recall the brand. Probably came out of a school shop.Got it used. It covers the whole bed. Coming up from behind the lathe,I have 2 -4" dia.Flexible dust collection hoses. I can slide them back and forth as needed. This sort of makes a wind tunnel effect,so I get very little dust floating about,even if it doesn't get all the chips. I can turn on a wall mounted 18" shuttered fan to draw any remaining fly stuff out of the wood working area. I am always careful to draw dust away from my larger 30'X40' shop,where my metal working machinery is. I don't want to have to clean that room. I keep all my woodworking machinery,save the bandsaw,in an original 16'X22' garage that I had the larger building added on to.It has an Oneida dust collector with 6" main pipes,and the shutter fan is right beside the pleated filter,to suck out anything that might get through the filter. Works quite well.

I saw an old model of the same lathe,not in anywhere the nice condition as mine,repainted,for sale for $2900.00 in a hardware store in Richmond. Of course,I've also seen them for $500.00,but I think that is a very low price. How are you dealing with the unusual thread diameter of the spindle? Do you have the necessary faceplates? They come between 3" to 6" in diameter. It's not a problem for me,since I have a machine shop,but I am not sure offhand if appropriate threaded accessories are available. Sometimes I've rethreaded wood lathe chucks.

[Jim Mattheiss]

Hello:

I spent last night (Friday) taking apart a Fein Turbo II vacuum that I picked up from the curb during last falls Household Cleanup in a nearby town.

The power cord had been cut by the "copper snippers" that cut all wires on all appliances for the copper. It was CAKED with sheetrock dust but had a BRAND NEW Felt bag and the standard 15 or 20' hose.

At that time I spliced in a cord to see if it ran. It sounded HORRIBLE but the tools activated switch still worked. My guess was that the motor had ingested some sheetrock dust and needed cleaning. I set it aside till last night.

I took it apart and got to the motor and fan assembly. Once I got it all apart I could see the "rotors" were CAKED with sheetrock dust. I ran the motor by itself and it was QUIET - to sign of the commutator brushes having ingested and sheetrock dust.

The Fein Fan design is pretty cool. It's 2 aluminum disks that looks sort of like brake rotors be have rounded impeller blades between the disks. I got everything cleaned up last night. I assembled the motor / fan assembly and fired it up last night. It sucked really strong and was really quiet.

I assembled enough this morning to run it on the vac without the motor cover in place. It was still really quiet and still sucked strongly. I ran the HD and got a 14 guage extension cord to replace the "snipped" cord. I buttonned it all up and for $16 and a few hours of labor I have a working Fein Turbo II vacuum. The brand new felt bag that came with it still has the $68 price tag.

The only thing I have noticed is that airflow at the far end of the 15' hose is diminshed. It seems to be a factor of the relatively small hose diameter. Have other Fein owners noticed this?

I love it and need to investigate what options for flitering in the "can" exist. I have the felt bag but the vac looks like it can be setup to use a filter ala my Ridgid. I also need to find some tools that fit the hose - I'm not buying the Fein tools at Fein $$$$. I almost fainted when I saw what Fein wanted for the accessary set at Woodcraft.

Anyway, no woodworking done but a work was done on a woodworking tool.

Cheers

Jim

[george wilson]

You can,fortunately,jam the end of a 2 1/2" Sears vacuum hose into the opening where the small Fein hose plugs in. I only ever use the Fein hose in connection with sanders,electric hand planes,etc. Go get a Sears hose. It will suck just as hard as the most powerful Sears vac,but a LOT quieter.

[Jim Mattheiss]

Thanks George - I'll have to check that out. 2 1/2" is a lot bigger that 1 1/2".
Jim

[Bill Wyko]

This weekend I'll be finishing up 2 more Humidors and moving on to 3 more and a cabinet humidor (for me). I'm really enjoying building them. The detailed joinery makes it quite fun. Getting good use of all the wood and veneers I recently picked up too. :D Here's a pic of one almost done.
http://pic80.picturetrail.com/VOL2109/11908737/21576091/357928148.jpg

[Kelly C. Hanna]

We've been getting huge rain for three days....soooo....I've been OFF WORK!!

I have a ton of drawings to be done for a big job in April so I've been getting my office straightened out. Finished that today and started the 7 scale drawings on my new drafting board. Sure is fun getting back into drafting [what I went to school for long ago].

Also got a few things done for the ranch including a 32"x24"x24" nesting box for a family of raccoons. Installed it today over the lunch hour.

Tomorrow I get to swap out my old and soon-to-be-not-so-good radiator in the '70. Got a new 4 core from O'Reilly's for $162.50 with our club discount...life is good!

[Pete Hay]

Kerlly, if you want racoons, don't bother growing them -- just come and get mine at no charge!

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Pete...we ain't growin' 'em...but thanks for the donation thought! :D:D:D

[Rick Lucrezi]

Sanding and staing my hard wood floors today. Well half any way, about 800 feet. Will post before and after pics.;)

Boy did I underestimate this job. I worked till 11 last night and got after it at 8 this morning. Its 8 now, no break all day, stoping for dinner and back to it. I got one room done and did a couple boards in stain to make sure I like it. I do. Still sanding the other room. I bought rough cabin grade fir flooring which was really inexpensive but I am paying for it now in the sanding. some of the boards are nearly an 1/8 difference in thickness which is a devil to sand flat. I decided to go for "close enough". Also we used bondo in one room as we were told it would take stain. It does not. We had to get out the dremmel and painstakingly grind it all back out. Got some colorant and made the bondo dark brown. It looks ok. Its definately a "Rustic" floor. Goes well with everything else. No time to upload pics, will do that tommorow nite.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Steve,I've used this particular lathe since 1970,and was recently able to purchase it. I like the lathe very much,but as with all of the mechanically variable speed lathes,I wish it could run slower. The minimum speed is pretty high for turning large diameter objects. If it were a 3 phase motor,I'd put a variable frequency drive on it. Other than the low speed problem,it is a fine,heavy duty lathe.Much better than anything short of a General or Oneway. We replaced the Oliver with a 20" General VFD. Since the general is an excellent quality lathe,and can be made to run slow,I'd rather have the General. For quality and rigidity,though,the Oliver is as good a lathe as you'll likely find. The General was not cheap.Several years ago it was something like $3000.00. I had a bunch of large diameter patterns to make for 18th.C. kettles,Dutch ovens,and other kitchen ware.If I need to turn something really large,now that I am retired,I can do it on my 16" metal lathe with a gap bed that will swing 25".Actually,I did just that last month,making a hammering form for a silversmith. Just BARELY got it into the gap.I'm not crazy about wood lathe work due to the dust,etc. Over the top of my Oliver,I have a cylindrical wood lathe guard of plexiglass. Can't recall the brand. Probably came out of a school shop.Got it used. It covers the whole bed. Coming up from behind the lathe,I have 2 -4" dia.Flexible dust collection hoses. I can slide them back and forth as needed. This sort of makes a wind tunnel effect,so I get very little dust floating about,even if it doesn't get all the chips. I can turn on a wall mounted 18" shuttered fan to draw any remaining fly stuff out of the wood working area. I am always careful to draw dust away from my larger 30'X40' shop,where my metal working machinery is. I don't want to have to clean that room. I keep all my woodworking machinery,save the bandsaw,in an original 16'X22' garage that I had the larger building added on to.It has an Oneida dust collector with 6" main pipes,and the shutter fan is right beside the pleated filter,to suck out anything that might get through the filter. Works quite well.

I saw an old model of the same lathe,not in anywhere the nice condition as mine,repainted,for sale for $2900.00 in a hardware store in Richmond. Of course,I've also seen them for $500.00,but I think that is a very low price. How are you dealing with the unusual thread diameter of the spindle? Do you have the necessary faceplates? They come between 3" to 6" in diameter. It's not a problem for me,since I have a machine shop,but I am not sure offhand if appropriate threaded accessories are available. Sometimes I've rethreaded wood lathe chucks.


Thanks for the great info George. My machine came with a box of goodies, see the photos. It also came with the original 3 phase motor as well as a new single phase, and I was thinking the same think about a VFD. Honestly I doubt I will use it much, but there are times that I have wanted to turn little details, and I think it will fill that role.

Your metal lathe sounds like a monster! I'd love to tour your shop. Maybe someday if you want to post some photos?

Have a good evening,