Creeker's Weekend Accomplishments

[Dennis Peacock]

19 Feb 2018

Greetings,
It's been a grey and dreary weekend with rain (not complaining about the rain becase we really need the rain) and I took that chance to work with the LOML on an upholstery project that she's been putting off. As of last night, we finished up 3 boat seats for a friend of mine's bass boat. This was our first shot at boat upholstery and the seats came out ok but not factory perfect. My buddy was happy with his new seats and he even helped us a bit on putting on the new covers. Other than that, The LOML and I sat and watched some of the recorded olympics and spent some time helping the daughter and son-in-law refine a set of house plans that I helped them put together in design and function. That's all I did this weekend.

I've given great consideration on retiring the "Weekend Accomplishments". Why? I started posting many years ago, on Monday to see what everybody actually "did" over the weekend. I still do woodworking but not as much as I used to. I'm almost 60 years old now and it's harder for me to work my day job, with all the hours it takes, and keep focus on family and friends when I'm not working the day job. I'm not sure I'm ready to make this decision final, so I'll just leave it here for now.

That's it for me, so what did YOU do this past weekend?

Best of weeks to you all.

[Jim Becker]

Dennis, I, for one, have always appreciated this thread to share weekend/weekly accomplishments and hope it continues. But if it comes to pass that's not the case, it's not a problem at all! It's far better for you to enjoy life and have the time to do things that bring joy to you as well as "deal" with the realities that exist, too.

This weekend was somewhat typical...food shopping Saturday morning at Wegmans to start things off. The remainder of the day I worked on the initial cut of my website for the new business and then made a tasty meal of marinated beef sous vide with oven frites.

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Sunday I was back in the shop. I started out trying to pull a communications cable in the existing 4" conduit between the house and the shop, but unfortunately, it's collapsed enough somewhere in the middle to preclude using that route. (Dennis, your suggestion of the 100' fish tape was spot on...it will do the job once I can actually get it between point A and point B :) ) So I'll be re-purposing an old water line to accomplish that after I remove an old hydrant and make a non-restrictive splice. The big orange power tool will assist with that task.

I then moved on to assembling new upper kitchen cabinets from the stock I prepared on Friday. Assembly of the boxes goes quickly and since I used pre-finished ply for the interiors, it speeds things up even more. I have two more to assemble today and then will get to work on the face frames and doors. I also picked up some additional commission work from the friend whom I created the "kitchen continent" top for not long ago. It was wonderful seeing things with all the other work by others completed when we stopped by there yesterday to check it out and so I could do some measuring for the additional work.

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[Keith Hankins]

I did take the opportunity to finally get around to installing my Igaging 12” DRO on the planer.

First it took some figuring on how I would even attach it. First thought was to replace existing one that is pretty much crap and a 1/16” off anyway, but it just for general use anyway.
I’d considered the wexley one, but to be honest i had one on my router table lift and was not impressed. plastic mostly and just could not make it work.

I did a lot of research and this model had features I liked. It has a origin setting that is easy to set. It does not lose it when the batt dies. I has an incremental feature i can use to start at any point and just measure the incremental change.

The body is hardened stainless steel, and all metal. It’s industrial grade. Even one guy tried to shorten it a bit, and could not cut with a hacksaw, had to use cuttoff wheel.
I also like it has mm,inch, and fractions to 1/64

I was lucky that there were existing options to bolt a piece of ply to the right side out of the way and then attach to the table for movement. All in all out of the way. I just need to do some cable management.

The Digital Read Out (DRO) is magnetic in the back so I just put a piece of metal on the wall and slapped it up.
Finally its got an automatic off so I don’t kill the cr2032 (2) batteries. Hated that on the wixely.

https://flic.kr/s/aHsktok9UP

If I had it to do over, would buy it in a heartbeat.
Cheers!

[John K Jordan]

...
I've given great consideration on retiring the "Weekend Accomplishments". Why? I started posting many years ago, on Monday to see what everybody actually "did" over the weekend. I still do woodworking but not as much as I used to. I'm almost 60 years old now ...
That's it for me, so what did YOU do this past weekend?

Best of weeks to you all.


I love to read these threads - a glimpse of what they are doing makes people more "real" and personal. I like to read about the cooking and upholstery just as much as the woodworking projects.

The problem with "Weekend Accomplishments" will be when you retire. Then you face the dilemma of the definition of a "weekend". For those working all week it is pretty clear but for those retired life is one long weekend. What to write about, just things done Fri evening through Sun night or I stretch it to Thursday or ... I think a transition to a Monday "Creeker Accomplishments Last Week" might be appropriate. That would cover the weekend and evenings for those poor souls still working a real job and any time for those retired. I'll bet it would still be very interesting to read! (I retired about 12 years ago.)

My weekend? I spent time (and continue) preparing for a woodturning demo next week in Crossville. To keep from putting the audience asleep with my slow turning I'm making four partially completed pieces ahead of time so I can show the how and why of each major step then switch to a piece with that step completed. I'm also writing and refining a multi-page handout with text and diagrams. It's good fun organizing, turning, and collecting tools and materials to take.

I'll be demonstrating how I make these:

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Also, lots of small things since we are in the middle of a major remodeling project. My Lovely Bride has decided we will add a new brick porch at the laundry room entrance, add a sun room, a screened-in porch on the other end of the house, rip out and replace the deck, rip out the old garage doors and replace with one 18' door, remodel a downstairs bath, build larger shower upstairs, and move one wall to expand the space where I sit and type this. Oh, and probably concrete the driveway. Fortunately I don't have to do all the work myself - I might be getting too old for that! I am playing architect, assistant interior and exterior designer, backhoe operator, contractor, and go-fer.

JKJ

[Alex Tonin]

Dennis,

I for one enjoy the weekend accomplishments thread as well, for whatever it's worth. :)

[Matt Schrum]

I do make a point to read this thread every Monday too-- so I suppose I should probably chime in for a change.

The weather was nice this weekend (windy, but near 60-65F), so I tried to open up the garage/shop as much as I could to warm it up even more before the cold snap (low of -6F or so) comes tomorrow. I finally cleaned out my dust filters. The overhead air scrubber was a bit dusty-- but the two cartridge filters on my dust collector? Holy cow, I need to make a note to clean those more often. I bet I got about half a gallon of fine dust out of them-- seemed to have a bit more air flow once I got them cleaned and fired things back up.

Otherwise I finished up the structural work on a shed (still needs some cosmetic touching up) that shares a wall with the garage. Moving all of our gardening supplies into there freed up a bit of room in the garage/shop.

Lastly, with the garage cleaned up, I freed up enough space for my wife's truck to park in there (at least when it snows). I wanted to hang a parking aid down for her to use, but I also hate running into them all of the time when the truck is in the driveway-- so I attached a string to the door and ran it through a pulley so that the tennis ball only lowers when the garage is open-- works great. I did have to zip tie a stop to the string as it hit the right height before the garage is fully opened (it needed to lower about 6 feet from the ceiling, but the garage door is 8 feet tall)-- but that was pretty easy to do.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi, it's still the weekend here:D

Family Day is a provincial holiday in Ontario, however I'm a federal employee so I don't get it off.

This time I decided to take a day off as Diann has it off. I also took Friday off, I could get accustomed to 4 day weekends.

Saturday we went to the Royal Ontario Museum to see the Vikings display, very interesting.

Sunday I drove out to a wood working forum members house and bought a 24 inch Leigh dovetail jig, a Porter Cable router and 2 shaper cutters, one a Roman Ogee and the other a 1/2" grooving cutter. Not bad for $540.

Today I installed my dust bin level sensor in my Oneida cyclone dust bin, hopefully I won't have another plugged filter episode. I'm also making Vindaloo in the crock pot for tonight, the house smells wonderful... Regards, Rod.

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[Bryan Lisowski]

Dennis, although I don't always contribute, it is one of the first things I read on Monday morning. As for this weekend no woodworking for me. I was at my son's hockey tournament. The results were not what we wanted, but the kids had fun and the parents did as well.

[Jeff Heath]

I started my restoration on my 1936 Yates American Y30 snowflake bandsaw, and tore it all apart to nuts and bolts.....

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[John K Jordan]

I started my restoration on my 1936 Yates American Y30 snowflake bandsaw, and tore it all apart to nuts and bolts.....

Land sakes alive what a bandsaw!

[Keith Hankins]

Dennis,

I for one enjoy the weekend accomplishments thread as well, for whatever it's worth. :)

Me too...when I can actually add a line :)

[Jim Becker]

I started my restoration on my 1936 Yates American Y30 snowflake bandsaw, and tore it all apart to nuts and bolts.....

Wow, Jeff...that's going to be a magnificent tool when you are done restoring it!

-----

Dennis, I like John's idea about broadening the accomplishments discussion beyond just the weekend...for exactly the reason he stated. There mare a lot of folks who have different schedules for one reason or another, but the general premise is really enjoyable to read each week.

[Jeff Heath]

Thanks guys. I'm at the tedious phase of cleaning 80 years of gunk and rust off everything right now, and I just finished needle scaling all the old (3 layers) paint and filler off. Always a lot more fun when it starts going back together. My entire shop is vintage machinery.

[Jeff Ramsey]

Dennis, I too have enjoyed your weekend accomplishments threads. Thank you!

This weekend was supposed to see good progress on the design of a Tompion-style mantle clock. I was deep in thought at the drawing table and decided I wanted something from the fridge in the basement. I walked down the stairs and thought it was a little mousey in the air. So I started the search. Then I heard the dreaded drip coming from the corner of the basement where the main soil line exits to our septic system. This is the second time it's backed up into the basement. The first time was during monsoon-like rains in SE PA one year. That's when I learned the septic installer cut foot-long slots in the outlet pipe of both tanks (why is a mystery), and water backed up filling both tanks before finding its way to our basement floor. This time, the pump failed. And what else failed? The warning horn which is triggered by a high-water float in the pump tank. I wonder if sensors fail more often than the systems they monitor.

Anyway, after cleaning up the mess I decided to put off more design until my head cleared. Good news is the elm burl veneer arrived so I'm set with the clock face. Maybe tomorrow I can take a shower and get back to making this clock!

[Jason Lester]

I've been working on a kitchen hutch build for a couple of weeks. I got the side panels finished and glued up last week and then got everything married together yesterday. It was a very stressful glue-up, but everything went well and I (barely) came in under the TB3 assembly time limit. It's white oak with reclaimed barn wood (planed and prettied up) for the structural pieces and quarter sawn for all the panels, doors, etc. This is my first piece with a frame and panel back and bottom. It's coming together really nicely so far.

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I built the bottom tonight, but I guess that doesn't count as a weekend accomplishment, huh?

[Frederick Skelly]

I started my restoration on my 1936 Yates American Y30 snowflake bandsaw, and tore it all apart to nuts and bolts.....

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I hear Crocodile Dundee in the background, saying
"That ain't a bandsaw. THIS is a Bandsaw!"

Wow! Just wow!

[Wayne Lomman]

Dennis, your work is appreciated with this thread. I get to read it when the weekend is well and truly over (after lunch Tuesday here). Like you, I don't get the time to do as much woodworking as I would like to due to other pressures.

This weekend I managed to finish re-polishing the kitchen cabinet doors for friends in the next town, so the car in exchange is officially mine now. The Wattyl Stylwood precatalysed lacquer was good to use and so simple after so many years of 2-pack coatings. Other than that, I spent a bit of time looking somewhat despondently at the tomato bushes, wondering if they are going to ripen. The Russian varieties are looking a bit more useful than the others. Cheers

[Gregory King]

A good read every Monday for me too Dennis. I keep checking if it's not up early. No wood working on the week-ends for me lately. That's reserved for the three grand kids. Had a skate party for the oldest one on Saturday. I skated for the full two hours and really enjoyed the time spent with him. He is into hockey big time this year and boy has his skating improved from last year.
I've been framing walls in my daughter's basement since the New Year. Rec Room, Bath and Exercise room . Waiting for Electrical rough in now

[Chris Farmer]

I know it's now Tuesday... but this past weekend I spent some time working on my first (edge grain) cutting board that's a very late Christmas gift to a good friend of mine:

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[Al Launier]

Something I've been wanting to do for a while is to build a paint booth for use in my work shop, especially during the winter season & for potentially larger projects. The LOML just came up with a project, a small basket weave hamper for our daughter that needs repainting. Sure didn't take her long to drop a project on me!

I picked up some 3/4" sched 40 PVC pipe & some 3-way pipe fittings (side outlet elbow) to construct a 5' cube that lays on a tarp & is wrapped with plastic sheeting. I also made a turntable that'll support & rotate the work piece so i can paint from one place. The cube's top is left partially open & is set under the air filtration system to draw off the fumes & airborne particles. The front opening will be closed off after painting with a drop sheet of plastic.

I have it so the pipe assembly can be taken down & brought to the garage, or outside, during the warmer seasons.

[Jacob Mac]

I got a new grizzly 690 in December. I finally got around to setting it up and calibrating it. Not terribly impressed with it. But hopefully I can make it work.

[Carl Baker]

My entire shop is vintage machinery.

That is bandsaw is awesome! When you have time, I would absolutely LOVE to see the rest.

[Jay Larson]

Man, when you think about taking something away, people come out of the woodwork... :^) At least they are doing it now and not in a couple of months. "You remember that weekend accomplishments thread? What happened..."

Anyway back to the topic on hand. This weekend I finished my cabinet for the table saw. It is made out of some ash leftovers, with box elder for the secondary wood. The handles are leftovers from my nail cabinet handles. They are milled up from walnut. The finish is shellac buffed with wax.
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Sunday I bowled in a 9-pin tournament. Personally, I did okay, but not sure how we did as a team. It was fun, hadn't bowled there in quite a while.

[Jeff Heath]

That is bandsaw is awesome! When you have time, I would absolutely LOVE to see the rest.

Carl, thanks. If you'd like, you can take the tour. I have my own YouTube channel on woodworking and vintage machinery restoration.

I'm techy challenged, but I think this is the link


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gop375IZa9M

[Mike Ontko]

Dennis,

However things turn out, this has been a good thread to follow and post to. I've only been here for a couple of years, but it's probably the only one that I post to repeatedly.

My younger daughter was married this weekend and we spent related time on Thursday and Saturday at the rehearsal dinner and the wedding/reception. Both locations were about a 3-1/2 hour drive away from our place near the US-Canada border, so it made for a long weekend overall. And now that the young couple is officially married, I'm officially behind schedule in completing their bed project. I'm making good progress though, and have already begun gluing up the long sections that will make up the posts and rails for the head and foot boards (I'm using lapped-miters to create 4x4" posts out of 3/4" stock). The lower thrust bearing froze up on my G513X2BF (Grizzly 17" bandsaw with foot brake). I could have ordered a replacement through Grizzly, but I was able to find an improved after-market replacement that has rubber seals. I hope to have that dropped in before I fire it up again when I need to rough cut the bed rails out of two seven-foot lengths of 8/4 x 8" red oak.

[Shawn Pixley]

Dennis, this thread is one I look forward to every week.

LOML and I celebrated our 31st anniversary last week and we added an additional date night on Friday. Saturday was mostly filled with household projects and the weekly chores. I received a replacement thermostatic controller for my smoker after the previous one died after 20 years. The newer controller is slightly larger (but better made and closer control) so I needed to slightly modify the back slightly. I took the opportunity to perform a deep clean and am planning to re-paint the outside after de-rusting. It is kept covered but salt air is insidious. Fixed a rod tip on a fishing rod after the eyelet let go. I cut protective pieces for a crate to send an amp cabinet across the country. Then I removed the bench and turned the shop back into the garage again after my earlier prototyping. Looking back on this, I got more accomplished than I thought.

Back to the weekly grind.

[Frank Necaise]

I restored and installed a W.C. Toles quick release vise on my work bench.
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[Bill Adamsen]

LOML was out of town so I spent a few hours "checking the box" next to one of those "kitchen enhancement" ideas on the long list – a drawer divider. The wood used is something my sawyer called Ironwood, but I'm sure it is American hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana). It is the only time I've ever seen it milled into a board. It had been gathering dust in a bin at this sawyer's barn for what looked like a decade and when I asked what it was, he used the opportunity to foist the gnarly boards upon me (very generously) just to clear out the bin. It has then sat on the racks in my shop for several years. It is extremely hard, even brittle but feels so nice when planed and scraped or sanded. It has a mix of light and dark (heart) and the wood is really just suitable for short pieces as each board has so many folds and inclusions that it takes a bit of laying out.

I made the drawer insert corners with the box cutting jig and the intersectional joints with the mortiser. My mortiser is an "old arn" machine (no CNC) which actually made it a real PIA to cut the mortises. Hence the visible 'scribe marks" on the cross pieces. Flush bottom is a piece of 1/2" prefinished maple captive via a 1/4" groove milled on the perimeter with a 1/4" tongue milled on the bottom. It is not glued, but rather held together by the "slide in tight fit" on the drawer inside. Could have done a better job on the layout but it was one of those "design as you build" projects. It was built in between the dough-mixing and baking sessions for the bread which is a sourdough white/wholewheat, rye country loaf.

[Jim Becker]

Bill, both the drawer dividers and the bread look absolutely wonderful! (I'm sure the latter tastes better, however. :) :D )

[Justin Foley]

Spent the weekend trying to get the shop (read: 1/2 of a two car garage) organized. Built a cabinet for my finishing supplies, did a little more work on a pet bed I designed for a family friend, installed more french cleats and cut my very first rabbet! It's horrible, but it does the job. Guess investing in box joint blades or dado set is in my near future.

[Carl Baker]

Carl, thanks. If you'd like, you can take the tour. I have my own YouTube channel on woodworking and vintage machinery restoration.

I'm techy challenged, but I think this is the link


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gop375IZa9M

Just one of the machines you have is impressive... the entire collection is jaw dropping! The space is incredible as well just to house all of it. Envious doesn't begin to describe me....

[Jeff Heath]

Thanks, Carl. It's a lifetime of work, and I spend 10 to 12 hours a day in my shop working, so I like to be comfortable.

[Charlie Hinton]

I checked my profile and it says the account was created about 1 1/2 years ago but I have only recently started looking at the forum on a regular basis.
Today was the first time I have seen this thread.
What a wonderful undertaking.