Creeker's Weekend Accomplishments.....

[Dennis Peacock]

2 July 2012

Good Morning Everyone,
First of all, my heart and my prayers go out to all those who have been affected by the wild fires. I am truly saddened by this in anyone's life. My hope and prayer is that it will rain very soon....for all of us.

Got the shop a bit more cleaned up and I'm really liking the way it's improving. After all the family issues, family deaths, and spending MANY hours on the road travelling for family over the past 3 years has really taken its toll on my and my family.....financially, physically, and emotionally. It's just taken me so long to pull out of all this for me to even have a desire to get back in the shop again. Do you ever feel that way? I know I do and I have been. Now, as time has passed, by desire is returning to the point where I want to get out there again, but I know I can't until the seasonal temps start cooling off again. It stays almost 118º F in my shop and that's just too hot to work in, so I will be taking care of work and other things until I can get the time and welcome cooler temps to get back in the shop again and make some sawdust.

Well, it's back to the day job today and since we are still needing rain...I don't have to cut my grass because it's dead. If you have any extra rain? Please send it my way.

What did YOU do this past weekend?

Best of weeks to you all.

[Matt Meiser]

Dennis, I know I've felt that way for a variety of reasons at times. Its a hobby so I just let it go where it wants to go. If my interest is fixing up a machine I found on Craigslist, then that's what I do. If its making something for a shop, so be it. If I don't feel like doing anything out there, I don't.

Friday evening I cut the drywall for a few holes in the laundry room walls. where we'd cut to access electrical and plumbing and got them taped and the first coat of mud on.

I spent Saturday afternoon in a friends shop. He bought a Sawstop ICS at a killer price on Craigslist a few weeks ago, got it home, and found out why...no SS electronics. :eek: Sawstop worked with him to replace them and also upgrade a bunch of the mechanicals to current specs. A group of us helped replace everything. We got everything together and I suggested we test before reinstalling the top which was a good call since it wouldn't run. After a bunch of checks and tests we couldn't find everything wrong. We finally worked through everything we could test with no issues found and put it all back together and sure enough it just worked. Must have been a loose connection somewhere. We finished up with a burgers on the grill and relaxing on the patio.

Saturday evening I did the second coat of mud in the laundry room but couldn't go further as LOML needed the washer on Sunday.

Sunday I spent several hours in the shop cutting all the panels for doors and end panels for the cabinetry, cut all the joinery, and glued up all the doors. I'm hoping that between this evening and the 4th I can complete all the cabinets (there's only 4 boxes, though one is pretty complicated) and be ready to start the finishing process. I have drawers and pullouts to build too, but can work on those while starting to finish the hardwood parts.

[David Hostetler]

I wanted to address Dennis' point about grieving, stress, and the workshop.

To me, artistic creation, whether it be at the easel, in the workshop, or on my Bass Guitar are outlets for all sorts of stress and emotion, both positive and negative. Honestly, when I am grieving, I tend to play more music, LOUDLY, and paint... When I am more or less stressed, or happy is when I tend to get out to the shop more.

The specific outlet isn't as important as having one available for you to work out your stuff. I have a friend that buys and restores construction and agricultural equipment as an emotional vent, when he's overworked by the day job where he strains his brain all day, using a DA sander, or welder at night is good therapy. So if woodworking is the therapy you go to when you grieve, don't neglect it, but if it's your normal outlet for fun, happiness etc... try something different for a while...

I spent some very high quality time in the shop this weekend cleaning up, discarding things that don't belong, or at least toting them up and shoving them up in the attic, at least where I could. Aside from having a clean shop, I needed to make room for an upcoming project. This next weekend I am going to start building a 72" wide x 36" deep x 34.75" tall set of cabinets set up to work as a miter saw / mortiser / storage bench. The height was chosen to coincide with the outfeed height of my table saw, the width to accomodate putting our upright freezer that currently lives in the kitchen, into the shop (A trade off I had to make to get power into my shop). I have designed in a dust hood to the new bench / cabinet for the miter saw, but am not sure how to build it. I want a curved back to direct sawdust to a port in the bottom for the 4" hose, but I also want to collect from the 1.25" port as well. I think I need to get some 1.25" hose, and a reducer to go to a wye, and how do I make that curved back? The thoughts are hardboard as it is thin, but how do I get it to make a radius like that?

I have a LOT more to do here, many more shop projects, but this gets me going in the right direction for sure! The whole deal here for now anyway, is that with the bench shortened I can get the freezer in the Kitchen out, and into the shop. A space trade off. Once that freezer is in the shop, the electrician shows up and pulls a sub panel and circuits to power my shop. Since the drywall is off, the walls get insulated, and the 30 year old, beat to snot drywall gets redone.

My 2 clamshell cabinets have been totally reorganized to take advantage of almost every single square inch of pegboard space. You can see I use almost every single inch of available space above the clamshell cabinets. All, or at least almost all of my handheld power tools are, at least for now, stashed up here. I have an awful lot of wall space open there, and tons of storage problems. I will probably rearrange these such that I can have a single 8' long shelf above, and connecting both of them together, to stow hand held tools on. The new storage bench will house the Hitachi routers, so that loss of space will be recaptured elswhere. The gap between the two cabinets can be made up with another cab, this one just french cleat hung shelves to hold painting and finishing supplies. Actually I would prefer a flamables cabinet outside, in the back yard, away from anything combustible, but none have made themselves available to me. Chances are the lathe will move left, and the band saw will move right such that the band saw will not interfere with the clamshell cabinets once the right most cab gets moved to the left... Jigs and sleds will probably be mounted on the wall behind that, the band saw that is...
http://inlinethumb19.webshots.com/50322/2197404080103915817S600x600Q85.jpg

Back in the corner, it's hard to make out I know, but the HF 2HP dust collector is sitting on a shop built stand. Nothing fancy at all, literally scrap wood from Hurricane Ike, but it keeps the inlet of the DC just above the outlet of my 55 gallon Thien rig. Under that shelf I have my small 2HP 8 gallon HF air compressor, my floor jack, and for the time being, my HF mortiser. I am in the process of building a mortiser tool holder to attach to the new cabinet. Just a simple cleat with holes for the chisels, extra MT shaft and chuck, and chuck key to fit in nicely.
http://inlinethumb09.webshots.com/48712/2419187960103915817S600x600Q85.jpg

The white cabinet on the wall is my "Workshop Library". It's staying put. That Strong Tie workbench is going away this week as soon as a friend comes and picks it up. The library is 6' long and it will be immediately over the new bench / cabinet. The actual back of the cabinet will be 24" deep, with the last 12" to allow for room to duct dust collection. I will be building a series of drawers under it.
http://inlinethumb64.webshots.com/51071/2322004430103915817S600x600Q85.jpg

My clamp rack got a little less tangled this weekend. Not much has changed here in 4 years other than the addition of a few HF quick clamps. I couldn't help myself.
http://inlinethumb11.webshots.com/49162/2155246450103915817S600x600Q85.jpg

My workbench. It's amazing how ugly these get, and how fast. Too many finishing and gluing drips on there! The planer and scroll saw are housed there temporarily. I am planning long term for a better bench. There are things about this design that bother me.
http://inlinethumb05.webshots.com/48068/2267686790103915817S600x600Q85.jpg

My table saw, the wide table has been used as a junk collector for too long!
http://inlinethumb53.webshots.com/49268/2059577610103915817S600x600Q85.jpg

My drill press and miter saw. That B&D stand is WAY too flexy to be useful with a slider!
http://inlinethumb63.webshots.com/49598/2405216980103915817S600x600Q85.jpg

My new as of last week HF 29 gallon 2HP air compressor. I compared a LOT of 20 - 30 gallon 110V compressors, this is the only one in my price range (under $600.00) that met my requirements. It drives my HVLP gun just fine!
http://inlinethumb24.webshots.com/51415/2630120040103915817S600x600Q85.jpg

The reason my planer is on the workbench base, I ran out of room on my lumber rack length wise for some 10' pecan stock. I allowed 8' 6" for the rack... Ooops...
http://inlinethumb52.webshots.com/50547/2600945760103915817S600x600Q85.jpg

[Ryan Hellmer]

Dennis, I know what you mean. My daughter's first birthday would be next Wednesday. Her crib is still in pieces out in the shop (although I have made some progress on it). When she passed away last November I wasn't sure I'd ever get back to work on it, but lately I've felt a really strong desire to finish up a long list of unfinished projects. The therapeutic value of hobbies is undeniable so let it run the course. Sometimes I just go out and shuffle things around for an hour, other times I'm pretty productive.

As a corrolary to the above and in response to the original topic I worked this weekend on cleaning and organizing my shed. It's been a dumping ground for scraps and piles since we moved (almost 3 years ago) and I finally got in and got some lumber racks installed. Lots of stuff for the burn pile some for craigslist. Part of my issue is that I've found myself completely overwhelmed by the clutter.

Since it was super hot around here, we decided to do some more cleanup of the garage and basement storage. My wife is pleased to have the guest room finally decorated and we spent a couple hours saturday afternoon at the pool (wife and daughter and I). I could really use more weekends like this one.

Ryan

[Shawn Pixley]

I worked in the garage (cough) / shop all weekend. I really wanted to see some progress as I had prepared components for the last four weeks. I was diligent then as I tend to become impatient and rush things. The carcass went together smoothly. Clamped and drying. I have a few things to do before it moves out of the way to make room for the next component.

235865235866

Lousy iPhone photos but whatta gonna do? The little shop dog kept me company. Though when I use the plane, he chases and tries to eat the shavings. Here is the puppy sleeping on his toy pig.

235864

[David Hostetler]

Cool shop pup! What is that cabinet carcass going to be?


I worked in the garage (cough) / shop all weekend. I really wanted to see some progress as I had prepared components for the last four weeks. I was diligent then as I tend to become impatient and rush things. The carcass went together smoothly. Clamped and drying. I have a few things to do before it moves out of the way to make room for the next component.

235865235866

Lousy iPhone photos but whatta gonna do? The little shop dog kept me company. Though when I use the plane, he chases and tries to eat the shavings. Here is the puppy sleeping on his toy pig.

235864

[Shawn Pixley]

Thanks! I am building a guitar storage / display cabinet. This carcass sits on a base and there will be a glass display cabinet on top. The bottom two drawers will each hold a guitar. I will post more details in my blog later.

[Kathy Marshall]

2 July 2012

Good Morning Everyone,
First of all, my heart and my prayers go out to all those who have been affected by the wild fires. I am truly saddened by this in anyone's life. My hope and prayer is that it will rain very soon....for all of us.

Got the shop a bit more cleaned up and I'm really liking the way it's improving. After all the family issues, family deaths, and spending MANY hours on the road travelling for family over the past 3 years has really taken its toll on my and my family.....financially, physically, and emotionally. It's just taken me so long to pull out of all this for me to even have a desire to get back in the shop again. Do you ever feel that way? I know I do and I have been. Now, as time has passed, by desire is returning to the point where I want to get out there again, but I know I can't until the seasonal temps start cooling off again. It stays almost 118º F in my shop and that's just too hot to work in, so I will be taking care of work and other things until I can get the time and welcome cooler temps to get back in the shop again and make some sawdust.

Well, it's back to the day job today and since we are still needing rain...I don't have to cut my grass because it's dead. If you have any extra rain? Please send it my way.

What did YOU do this past weekend?

Best of weeks to you all.

I spent about 6 hours on saturday and 8 hours on sunday turning in the shop. You got me beat, my shop only hit 115 :eek:, but it's a dry heat. I really need to do a little cleanup, ok A Lot of cleanup but with those temps, it's too much like work. Forecast says temps will come down a little this week, and there's a chance for rain, so I may just have to get out the shovel and see if I can find my floor.