Creeker's Weekend Accomplishments...

[Dennis Peacock]

Good Morning Everyone,

I hope each of you had a nice weekend and that you managed to get time for shop work as well as family time.

Well let's see now.....Friday night I was working on the legs for the computer desk and I got one of the pieces turned the wrong way....I bet you can see where this is going don't you? :rolleyes: Needless to say, I cut a profile on the wrong side of the top section of the C shaped leg. Well, I was upset about it since I already had several hours in just getting this far :mad: . In case I haven't told you yet, it's an "L" shaped computer desk with legs made up of Black Walnut, Ash, Black Walnut. The legs are 4" wide and 2-1/4" thick. Can you say "heavy"? The top will be made from Birch plywood, and finished with a Black Lacquer finish. One things for sure about making custom pieces with no real plans? It takes a LONG time to figure out the process and sizes of each piece.!!!!! Oh well....:confused:

Moving on to another topic. I spent some time with my 11 year old son, Joseph, this weekend on the lathe:D . He had already roughed out a few bowls and had built up some confidence in his roughing out skills. Now that the bowls were dry, he wanted to finish turn one. I did most of the 1st bowl showing him how I do things and he helped me on the 1st one. The 2nd one, he did a lot of it and I only stepped in the help him from time to time. I'm proud of him and he's already asking for more time on the lathe:eek: . You can see him and his handy work here. (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=37631)

Saturday was more glueup work on the legs for the desk as well as time with my son on the lathe. He's also helping me in the shop on the glueups and is already talking about doing woodworking for his vocation when he gets older. All I can say is I sure hope he stays away from the IT industry as his living. He already see's what all it does to his daddy and he doesn't like it one bit.

Sunday was church, bass playing at church and then it was an afternoon of laying around on the couch with the LOML and napping for about an hour while we all "watched tv". After supper, Joseph and I went out to the shop and worked some more on another glueup. You may ask why it's taking me FOREVER to do all the leg section glueups? I run out of CLAMPS. I borrowed 4 from Mark Cothren and 10 from Joe Meazle to give me and additional 14 clamps but I keep running out. I really need about 50 Bessey's to glueup one entire leg section (times 6 legs equals 300 clamps!). Of course...IF I had only bought that vacuum bag from Tod Evans a while back, I could be using a vacuum bag setup....but No-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o....I'm too cheap to spend the money on THAT setup. Live and learn.<a href='http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb008_ZNxmk311BBUS' target='_blank'><img src='http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/4/4_13_13.gif' border=0></a>

So.!! What did YOU do this weekend?

Best of weeks to you all.

[David Wilson]

Got the two internal seams done on the kayak project and started the prep work to do the external seams. This thing is really looking like a boat. Hope it floats.

[Jeff Horton]

Finished theh Uniwas restoration. Went to power it up and found something happened to the motor. So out she comes and off the the motor shop.

[Tyler Howell]

My weekend started on May 26. Did the long weekend thing with family and kept on going.
Did a lot of house remuttling and work in the yard.
Settled some papers on my mom's estate
Boat work in Superior Wi.
Creeker visit with Rick Schubert was great.
More boat work in Bayfield Wi
Back to work over the weekend for a major system cut over and then the rest of the weekend at home.
Gotta go back to work to get some rest.
Have a safe week.

[Charles Bruno]

This weekend we went to Pheonix Az for my Nices graduation and graduation party. It was good to be reminded how old you are getting. Kids shure have thier own way of talking today.

I also brought my mother her birthday gift (birthday was in march) a black walnut and birch jewlery box. It went over well and now everyone wants one of them.

IWe also brought our 2 year old Caviler King Charles Spaniel and interduced him two her two Border Collies all went well and it was a great week end.

It was a 114deg at my sisters house, she has a very nice pool.

[Byron Trantham]

I finished reapiring one of the corners on my house with Azek, a man made material that comes in most trim board sizes. The stuff is amazing and the fix is permanent. Only four more to go!:o

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Friday night.....turned a little box that wasn't meant to be.

Saturday cleaned the shop mainly of Bomb collateral damage. Was going to take my wife to the movies when I had another of my vertigo attacks.

Sunday, feeling a little punky from the vertigo attack. Did a little mudding on the ceiling of my shop.

[Greg Narozniak]

Finally moved the shop this weekend. Rented a 24' box truck with a lift gate and overall it went really well. The only damage I saw while Unloading was a small chip on the lower face of my Biesemeyer fence, no big deal but of course it was on the blade side. :(

The new garage is PACKED beyond belief. Waiting on the shed permit to go through and once the shed is delivered I can get all the outdoor stuff into the shed and then begin to put the shop back together.

I was able to keep room along the wall where the subpanel is going, so I can install that and run all the outlets in conduit and start installing the lights.

Did I mention I HATE moving :)

[Chip Charnley]

Well I spent the weekend milling wood. The SE MI WW group put together a sawmill 'demo' which turned in to 4 of us with logs with a few helpers. Milled what I would estimate as about 1800-2000BF of Cherry, Walnut, Ash, Oak and some misc on Sat and moved, stacked and stickered my half on Sunday. Boy am I sore. :eek:

[Ed Lang]

Friday I told the folks at work I would be leaving in two weeks. Yes, June 19th I'll find myself fulltime in the shop. Keep me in your prayers.

Saturday was spent with family doing fun stuff as my youngest son turned 11 on Friday. We all had a blast!

Sunday afternoon I spend some time at the lathe and finish turned two bowls.

Now it is back to work for this week and next, then on my own.

[Jim Becker]

Congratulations, Ed!!
------

Typical weekend...family dinner out on Friday night at a delicious Mexican restaurant. (delicious at least for the adults...) Saturday, I spent most of the day disassembling and "de-rusting" the back blade I recently bought used for the tractor (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=37469). Watched Castles in the Sky that night with the girls. Sunday was more work on the back blade and mowing the lawn. 'Cooked a nice London Broil on the grill for dinner. No woodworking this week, but I may get back on the curly maple candle stand next weekend if I'm lucky!

[Larry Fox]

Sprayed second shellac seal coat on drawer fronts for kitchen cabinet project. Done with seal coats on most everything (except rails and stiles) at this point. Started massive shop cleanup so that I can spray WB finish inside.

[Jeff Fritzson]

I spent Friday night relaxing on our balcony. There are some barn swallows that decided the corner under our roof on the baclony would make a nice home. Relaxed and let my wife pick out some door panel designs for the painted bookshelves we will be building.

Saturday ran some errands and got the wife some fatigue mats at Woodcraft for her shop and then worked on the pool. I might have picked up a thing or two for myself. Pretty wild walking in there and seeing a shiny new SawStop on their floor (and no the wife did not give me the OK to pick that up.)

Sunday got to finish an ambrosia maple bowl and a black walnut stand for a stained glass piece (pics to come later.) Went swimming and relaxed with some HBO on Sunday night.

[Ned Bulken]

my 'big accomplishment' (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=37611) this weekend, was that... lol


seriously, I got my scrollsaw back in action, now I just need some ply, or to glue up a few panels and I'll be srolling away happily. Oh, and we got the invitations printed for the wedding. (priorities after all)

[Jim Becker]

"Sharp" project, Ned!! :D :D :D

[Maurice Metzger]

I had read an article about sharpening in Popular Woodworking by Harrelson Stanley where he advocates "jointing" the blade in between changing grits by running it on edge across a 16,000 grit waterstone while holding the blade upright. If you are like me, and don't have a 16,000 grit stone, I can tell you right now that it doesn't work too well with a 8,000 grit stone - I spent a lot of time resharpening after trying that...

Did manage to get a little bit of time in doing some more of this:

40195

Maurice

[Scott Coffelt]

Well, I spent the week in Honolulu, Hawaii. Total blast, did look at lots of things for sale over there made from Curly Koa. Found a store that had all kinds of boxes and bowls, anything from Curly Koa to Birdseye Maple, etc. Extremely pricey though.

Wife totally likes the Koa, I may have to place an order for some of that after my wallet quits smarting from the trip. The wife had to go over for work, so i got to tag along. It was kind of neat being there over Memorial weekend, though we decided to catch Peral Harbor the day after. Still very chilling and somber.

Anyways, other than looking no woodworking for me.

[Ned Bulken]

"Sharp" project, Ned!! :D :D :D

that was 'to the point' Jim ;) :D

[Matt Meiser]

Didn't feel to well most of the weekend so mostly I laid around. Did get up early Saturday morning since I couldn't sleep and sprayed Roundup on the driveway and several other places stuff isn't supposed to be growing. My spray wand broke so that turned into a couple hour project. Got the grass mowed, and that's about it. Oh, and I changed out the speed control pot on my VFD for a 5-turn one that gives me more control.

[Bryan Somers]

Took a long weekend and went to the beach. Finished up the bathroom painting, and the bar top projects at the beach house. It sure does open up the kitchen and living area with that partition gone.

Even got in some fishin. :D :D :D

[Paul Canaris]

Sanding old finish off work bench, about seven hours of standing (my feet are killing me). Applied first coat of varnish.
Opened swimming pool for season, had to fix a siezed circulating pump.

[Alan DuBoff]

Spent most of my weekend trying to get a cutting list together for a workbench I'm building. Got 20 boards cut for the legs (5 boards per leg...it's only 4/4 stock...:-(), and another 24 or so cut for the top. That was quite a bit of wood to joint and rip. I still need another 10-12 boards for the top, I think, want to make it 30" wide.

Another one of those Monday mornings where I woke up and said, "darn I'm sore today...", but at least I have a pile of dimensioned wood to show for it! :)

[Scott D Johnson]

I spent my second weekend, cleaning my sister-in-laws pool. Pump problems, "overwhelming algae and leaf decay". Finally got it swimmable... Need to work on getting it crystal clear.

[Roger Los]

Saturday, lots of mowing and a tire swap where I believe I got to memorize every brand and size of tire at the local shop while they worked.

Sunday, delivered another rescued old car to its new owner, sold at a loss--but part of the deal was acquiring the Delta 14" bandsaw, so it wan't all bad in the end.

[Larry Cooke]

Worked on my mobile base for my new table saw. Still working on it - not finished! Won't be finished for months to come. Mean while my new saw sits in it's box crying to me...

Has anyone ever drilled square holes in 5/16" thick steel before? If so, what's the secret? If I ever decide to build my own mobile base again for a table saw would someone just shoot me please? In fact don't wait just shoot me now!

Larry

[Vaughn McMillan]

Most of Saturday was spent with LOML at a local arts and crafts street fair. It was WAY too hot, and I really didn't see anything that I hadn't seen before. (We were at a similar A&C fair in Oxnard a few weekends ago, and many of the vendors were at both shows. By the time I got home, the heat had sapped any energy I might have had.

Sunday was still unseasonably hot, but I did get in some shop time (with periodic breaks to go into the air conditioned house). I played a bit more with a couple tulip wood wine bottle stoppers I've been working on, then decided to scrap them and start over. (My multiple attempts to ruin them were finally successful.) I also set up my new PSI chisel sharpening jig (it's a Wolverine knock-off) and discovered the difference sharp turning tools can make. I also turned a pen out of some type of blonde burl wood...the CA glue in the voids is curing now, but I should be applying finish later this evening. In the flatwork department, I got some sapelle veneer soaked in water and glycerine, and into a press to flatten it. The veneer is destined for the bottom of a box that's in progress (and already sold).

- Vaughn

[Doug Shepard]

Just waiting for the epoxy paint to cure on the 2nd half of the garage so I can move all the tools back where they belong. Working on the weekends it ended up taking 3-1/2 weeks, factoring in concrete patching, waiting for cure-up, doing one half the garage at a time, etc. But it came out good and is nice to have it almost all behind me.

[Fred Voorhees]

Friday after work, I trudged out into the yard to plant four zebra grass plants that I purchased recently. With the terrible humidity that had been prevalent for a few days there, that was all I cared to do that night - well, outside anyway. That night I began to new research project. I have been heavily involved in the local dirt track racing scene and I have done a couple of projects where I had to go back a great many years to compile the complete racing history of certain drivers. Well, another racing historian caught me in a good and gratious mood recently and Friday night I began another of those projects. I will be needing to track down between 450 and 600 individual feature event wins of a driver who is winding down his very successful career.

Saturday I managed to get out into the shop and wrap up the pre-finishing work on the long winded bar room window shutter project. A few more hours on the racing research project occurred, mainly due to some horrendous rain in the area and Sunday morning, it was puttering around the house and shop with some small tasks before "The guys" came over for the days NASCAR race at Dover Speedway. Sunday night was spent in front of the telly watching the season finale's of both The Soprano's and Big Love.

[Frank Chaffee]

Worked on my mobile base for my new table saw. Still working on it - not finished! Won't be finished for months to come. Mean while my new saw sits in it's box crying to me...

Has anyone ever drilled square holes in 5/16" thick steel before? If so, what's the secret? If I ever decide to build my own mobile base again for a table saw would someone just shoot me please? In fact don't wait just shoot me now!

Larry
Larry,
First lay out the square with a scribe and plan to use a drill bit whose diameter is equal to the side length of the square. Calculate the diameter of circles that are tangent to two sides of the square and the included circle, then reduce this dimension to the next smaller drill bit size you have available. Drill the four corner holes tangent to the square sides.

Drill the center hole.

File the remaining metal away. I only have triangular files for this, but possibly square are also available, I don’t know.

Files cut on the push stroke and dull on a pull stroke, so retract file gently after each cutting stroke. Remove swarf from the file very frequently on your pant leg, and clean embedded chips with a file card often.

In metal working, the file is equivalent to the hand plane in woodworking; i.e., a precision surfacing tool.

Another solution is to buy a Unipunch or other brand of unitized punch tooling, equipped with a 5/16” punch and a die with required clearance for 5/16” steel, and build a wooden or metal enclosure into which you can place both the punch and an hydraulic jack.

BTW Larry, I’ll be moving back to Catalina later this year (well that is my plan), and I hope to meet you sometime.

Frank