Creeker's Past Week's Accomplishments

[Dennis Peacock]

16 Aug 2021

Greetings,
It's been a busy week here with me finally getting back to a normal diet of solid food and I was able to get some work done on the cabinet cubby project. It's hard to do cabinet work when you aren't setup shop-wise to do cabinets. My hope is to push through this week at the day job and work in the shop to get this project done. I'm at a point currently to not take any more custom work until this winter. I just can't work in this heat.

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

Best of weeks to you all.

[Brian Tymchak]

In the past, I've milled scraps into wood blocks for a local nonprofit called Craftsmen for Kids. The blocks go to the central Ohio Head Start who distributes them to less fortunate children.

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I've been collecting some 1" thick offcuts from some milling I've been doing for a client this year, not sure what to do with them, but thinking they must have a good use. I had quite a pile built up and, having a small shop, it was getting to the point that they would have to go, one way or another.

Finally had that Ah-Ha! moment and realized the offcuts would be perfect for the blocks. So, after a few weeks of milling, I have bins and bins of blocks, about 5000 or so as a rough guess. Those are 64 qt bins.

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Now, comes the tedious part. Each of those blocks need sanding on cut ends and edges.

This is going to take a while...

[George Yetka]

Could they maybe be vibratory tumbled in a media that would do it for you? Or perhaps a cement mixer?

As for me. All I did was label some bins and trays for shop storage

[Jim Becker]

Dennis, 'hope you can find a solution to the heat! Shop time is important for the soul... :) :D That said, I kinda understand things although I'm not dealing with quite the same level of heat-hurt as you. The temporary shop has no HVAC currently and it was "very warm" out there this week, even with using a box fan to blow cooler air in from the house. The garage door is very well insulated and I did manage to keep it from going over 87ºF, but it was still hotter than I'd like to work. The fan's not a good long term solution for me...

My week was busy as the shop is up and running after a little bit of rearrangement earlier in the week after picking up a cabinet saw from another 'Creeker to use in the temporary shop. It's actually much better setup now and there's even a little extra space to use for the "roll out" tools like the drum sander as well as for assembly work. I did need to deal with a different power source for the bandsaw, but that's was just a matter of mounting a box below the subpanel, sticking a breaker in there, connecting a few wires and then changing the terminations on a store bought 12 gauge extension cord to match the required twist locks. As to the business, a had a bunch of things to cut on the CNC for a client that's been waiting very patiently for months....churned that all out over a couple of days. The big, hollow "cookie" will be a mirror this time around. The last batch of them he made into small "river" tables.

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I'm about to get back on the table project as well as get the neck cut for my bass guitar project. And then a couple of nightstands for the guest room...and...and...

[Bruce Wrenn]

Spent last week tearing carpet out of hall, then adding a layer of 1/4" under layment. Because new base board is about 1/4" lower than old, had to cut out old caulking, and then skim (three coats), sand and prime.This week installing engineered hardwood flooring in hall. Would have started on hardwood last week, but Amazon's next day delivery turned into a third day delivery.

[Eugene Dixon]

Turning pecan into bowls for a friend. I've sworn off hickory and pecan except for sentimental reasons. This pecan has history for the family.

[Paul F Franklin]

Another week with not much shop time. My wife had a short break between summer session and fall, so we spent 5 days in Columbus/Dayton area of Ohio. Saw the Air Force Museum near Wright Pat, the Ohio Caverns, Piatt castle, played putt putt, hit the casino for a bit, and stopped at IKEA. Crammed a lot of fun into a few days. Thought I might have time for a trip to Wood Werks supply on the East side of Columbus but no dice.

Last week I had put in the post for a new mailbox. The old post and mailbox was an unsightly mess that we have tolerated since moving here 12 years ago or so. Before I put the new post in, I contacted the local postmaster and asked permission to move it to the near (east) side of the street, as the street often has a lot of traffic, especially trucks from the nearby UPS and Fedex depots, and it would be a lot nicer to not have to cross the street to get the mail. Well, she blew me off without any consideration and just said no. (I should mention that on our street, all the mailboxes are on the west side, but on nearby streets, there are boxes on both sides of the street.) So I put the new post in on the west side, intending to actually mount the mailbox after the concrete set for a couple of days. The next day I got a note from our letter carrier saying if it's not too late, I could put the mailbox on the east side of the street, it didn't matter to him as his route takes him both up and down the street.

I figure if the guy who has to deliver the mail doesn't care, then I'm going to put the mailbox on the east side. It's just a couple more hours and another bag of concrete and gravel.

<rant on> As an aside, when I was researching mailbox placement online, the USPS site, and all the mailbox supplier websites, just say to put the mailbox on the "right" side of the street. (Meaning right as in the direction, not right as in correct). Now....on a two way street, which side is the right side? How does the instruction to put it on the "right" side convey any useful information? <rant off>

I did find out that my kitchen cabinets should be here the last week of October, which is right in line with the 12-14 week estimate I got when I placed the order. I was hoping for sooner but at least I have a date that I can plan around. Wife and I plan to do a lot of cooking and freezing over the next few weeks to minimize needing to cook when the kitchen's torn apart. And I'll set up temporary shelves in the dining room so we can move the "stuff" we will likely need to use from the kitchen to the shelves. Fortunately we have a good sized laundry room with a big sink and a fair amount of counter space; we'll move the microwave and Ninja countertop oven in there as our temporary kitchen. The fridge can fit in the dining room. We'll have to do without the dishwasher.

[Rod Sheridan]

I’m building a book box slowly as I’m still down to pretty much right hand only.

I have LED strip lighting installed, and have cedar shingled the roof and walls.

The shingling was slow as shingles are scaled for a house not a box, so I had to cut the Center from the shingle and use that after ripping it narrower.

Next week when Diann is home I’m going to make the trim and doors, I can’t lift and carry the shaper hood with one arm.

Regards, Rod.
P.S. Hot here, although certainly not like some of you are experiencing, please stay safe in the heat.