Creeker's Weekend Accomplishments.....

[Dennis Peacock]

4 Jan 2009

Good Morning and yes, it is snowing in Arkansas.
It's kinda funny to see how many people here in the south that love the snow and wish/hope/pray for snow most every winter while our northern folks could "do without" the snow. I guess it's all about where you live and what you don't get a lot of that drives the choices of what we want into our lives.

Well, no woodworking for me this past week. Was oncall for the day job this past week and I'm just glad that it's over with. Keeping a fire in the woodstove, playing games with the family as time permits and learning how to work a new software program that I bought with some stock money, "Band In A Box 2010". Awesome program and this will allow me and my kids to learn and create music of most any genre and have a "band" to accompany them (or us) in the learning process. This should be a really good tool for all of us.....and to help me advance further into the Blues/Jazz realm of bass playing than I have ever been before.

Well, the temps aren't supposed to be above freezing until the weekend (as they forecast), so I guess it will be a time to really keep the stove warm.

Oh, and I want to give my Congratualtions to Derek Cothren and his new bride...as they were married on 2 Jan 2010.

That's it for me, so what did YOU do this past weekend?
Best of weeks to you all.

[Gary Redden]

Well, I working in the shop yet again but I would not really call it woodworking. The shop has never had a ceiling in it, always just open rafters. This weekend I finished hanging 30 sheets of OSB on the ceiling. I still need to trim it out, caulk the joints, and put the finish paint on but the ceiling is up. That was not a fun project do accomplish by yourself and no, I did not have a panel lift. It was just me, a ladder, a T jack and some improvised brackets. It really went alot better than I thought it would. I will not be insulating it myself as I have a quote to have someone blown installation in cheaper than I can buy the insulation.

Gary

[Cliff Holmes]

I built some more refined shop-built blast gates and finagled a remote start system so my cyclone comes on when any blast gate is opened. See this other thread over in Workshops (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=128895) for photos.

[Matt Meiser]

Very productive holiday weekend here. Friday I finished my router table and cleaned up the shop. Saturday morning, creeker Steve Sawyer came down and we welded up a pair of frames for his pantry. Can't wait to see his final result. Before he got there, and while he was grinding down the welds, I installed the Byrd head in my jointer, then got it all tuned up after he left, including fixing an alignment issue I previously hadn't been able to find but was causing me some problems. When I was done with that, I started tearing down my Unisaw to replace the top (the original top had been ground nice and flat, but that resulted in undersized miter slots that proved to be a pain.) I got as far as getting the new top installed shimmed, and dialed in. Sunday I finished reinstalling the fence, tables, etc and getting everything perfectly dialed in. I think I've spent 1/2 the year in the shop (ha ha!) Unfortunatly, I'm not sure how much more shop time I'll get this month due to work and personal activities.

[Dale Osowski]

Over the last couple of weekends I have painted my studio, added new lighting and started work on a second blog: http://djofurnituremaker.blogspot.com/ I'll be trying to locate old photos for awhile as well as photographing pieces I didn't photograph or the photos didn't turn out well. This will be a blog that will take some time to complete. Lesson learned, photograph piece you build large or small simple or complicated. When you leave photos with clients or possible clients make sure you get them back. If you photo a piece make sure the photo turned out well while you still have a chance to take more photos, not so much an issue now that we have digital cameras. I took many bad film photos that I didn't realize where bad until months later when I took the film in.

[Dave Wagner]

A little cold in the garage (it been single digits here in WNY) , i still haven't finished the insulation on the ceiling...but...
Finished another pantry cabinet for my mothering law, frame, face frame and door frames, all set for stain. will do in the basement wheres its warm!!

Started on renovating the upstairs OLD bathroom, $500 later from lowes, (tub, faucets, fan, etc). got all the old moulding off, hooked up some new electrical for a new fan/light and main light. Off until Jan 11, so I should make some good progress.

[Fred Voorhees]

Haven't made a creeker visit in quite a long time, but I solved that Saturday morning when I took a small ride into Pennsylvania and visited the shop of Curt Harms. I needed to get a hands on look at his Jet 12" jointer/planer combo machine in preparation for ordering my own. Wrapping up all of the investigation details as far as accessories, it's "fit" into where I would like to station it in my shop and a big question......how the heck I'm going to get it to my second floor wood shop.

Other than that, I finished up some small music boxes that I had been working on for a week or so. My Mom's birthday is coming up (1/18) one day after mine - and my wife mentioned that it might be nice to make her something personal and I thought it was a good idea. So.....the music boxes. I made a matching one for the better half so that they both have one.

[Derek Gilmer]

Not much physically accomplished here. My wife and I were off most of the week so we could spend time together (been hectic the last few months because of work and non-work commitments). I did spend a bit of time playing with sketchup to plan how to convert my side of the garage into a full time work shop and time planning a dehumidifier kiln to dry lumber at home.

And now it is back to the grind. Definitely not fun being back in the cubicle after 2 weeks around the house :)

[Mitchell Andrus]

and no, I did not have a panel lift. It was just me, a ladder, a T jack and some improvised brackets.
Gary

Yikes, Gary. I did 28 sheets with a panel lift and it was a PITA!!! You must be young.
.

[Jim Becker]

Finished up (literally) and delivered a tack trunk (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=128678) that was the final payment for a wonderful French dressage saddle I recently purchased from another party at the barn. It was nice being in the shop so much over the holidays and it's likely I'll be building more of these over time.

[Scott Vigder]

Finished up (literally) and delivered a tack trunk (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=128678) that was the final payment for a wonderful French dressage saddle I recently purchased from another party at the barn. It was nice being in the shop so much over the holidays and it's likely I'll be building more of these over time.

Jim, that's gorgeous! My 8-year old daughter controls a horse like Annie Oakley, and the wife wants me to build her a tack trunk. Now I'll have to keep the wife off this website or put yet another project on the board!

[Jim Becker]

Jim, that's gorgeous! My 8-year old daughter controls a horse like Annie Oakley, and the wife wants me to build her a tack trunk. Now I'll have to keep the wife off this website or put yet another project on the board!

Scott, tack trunks are actually a pretty rewarding project, especially since so much of what is available for purchase really bites from the woodworking perspective. I will say that the molded plastic units are a better choice for those who travel for shows due to weight and durability, but for stationary use, building something like this isn't difficult and will look so much better than what is in the stores. And it sure beats a 'borg Rubbermaid bin for both size and looks! You'll get very nice kudos from both your wife and your daughter for such a project, too...

[Chuck Saunders]

Finished another of the kitchen counters and half way on the wall-of-entertainment cabinet.