J.R. Rutter
07-03-2006, 7:14 PM
It has been about 6 months since I’ve done any regular posting, ever since I signed a lease on a commercial space and began planning, moving, setting up, and finally catching up on orders last week! It has been a long haul with lots of long days and nights. I’ve got a great employee helping full-time now, so I’m taking the 4th as vacation – a rarity in years past. I’ve gotten a real kick out of taking woodworking from a hobby to a full-time occupation over the past 6 years, so I thought I would share a little shop tour now that I have a few minutes. This shop is set up for solid wood cabinet door production.
I’ve got a 2550 SF footprint, with about 500 ft of loft office space that I’m just using for personal storage so far. Actual shop floor space is about 1900 sf. Here’s a view from the stairs going up to the loft, looking over the main production area. You can’t see the overhead door up front, or the lumber receiving/storage and rough crosscut station. I bought a shop's worth of used Nordfab ductwork, which has allowed this temporary setup using my old 10 HP blower and cyclone. We ran the duct over a weekend after moving the equipment in on a Friday. The Jatoba board sticking up in the picture in not an unusual dimension. This one got set aside for future use because it was flat and straight, which is somewhat unusual.
<img src="http://www.nas.com/~harmonic/NewShop/overhead shop.jpg">
Unless the lumber is poor quality, I rough rip on an old beater of a PowerMatic 66 with a 4-wheel feeder I got at the Grizzly tent sale. The saw has a 3 HP motor, and I definitely wish for more with the feeder. I have an HVAC fitting screwed to the fence side of the feeder with 4” pickup, and a 5” hose to the saw base. There is still some dust escaping to the table, but I’m not breathing it.
<img src="http://www.nas.com/~harmonic/NewShop/rip saw.jpg">
Then the strips get crosscut a bit overlength before going to the face jointer. I’ve removed the fence and built a guard that covers the infeed side of the cutterhead. The part that bolts to the table acts as a guide so that boards don’t get an accidental rabbet on the back edge of the table. The feeder is in the way, but There wasn’t a good place to mount to the back side, since belts run up from the motor the the cutterhead along that side. The original swing-away guard slips underneath the new guard to get full protection. The router underneath is used to sharpen the blades in place.
<img src="http://www.nas.com/~harmonic/NewShop/face joint.jpg">
The planer is positioned so that the parts coming off the facer, get piled so they are ready to get picked up and go directly to the planer. I put a Byrd Shelix head in the planer last summer, and it does a great job. Anyone can feed the planer without looking at grain direction. I mounted a Wixey gauge on the planer as well (next to the mag switch), which simplifies repeatable thicknessing, and makes for easy standardization of parts. The plywood top cap is used for stacking parts for multiple passes. The planer has a 5 HP 1 PH motor, and I am considering replacing it with a 7.5 HP 3 PH motor to allow full depth cuts on wider Jatoba boards.
<img src="http://www.nas.com/~harmonic/NewShop/sf planer.jpg">
Parts get carried a few feet to the edge jointer. I got this discontinued Grizzly from their showroom floor this past spring. It is nice in that it has a 4” cutterhead with index pin for setting knives with an indicator. The fence is much better than the newer jointers, IMHO. It keeps adjustments pretty well. I slide it out every few jobs to get wear across the entire cutterhead before sharpening. It needs a bigger DC pickup – 4” is not enough. The 1/4 HP feeder works pretty well for edging, but the hardware for tightening adjustments is lousy. I’ve broken one handle and stripped the threads on another.
<img src="http://www.nas.com/~harmonic/NewShop/edge joint.jpg">
After edging, parts are ripped on the G350, which finally got new bearings last month. The overarm guard has a 3” DC hose, and the base has a 4”. I’m thinking about reconfiguring this finish rip station with a power feeder so that you stand at the end to feed and catch parts. I use it for panel ripping though, so I may ultimately need another dedicated saw for ripping.
For finish crosscuts, I use a 10” slider with Chopmaster blade. I built the integrated table to raise the stock to get 15” crosscut capability. The fence is a Scotsman and is made os steel with 1/16” spaced teeth on the back side. The stop engages the teeth for repeatability. It is really nice compared to a cursor type, since I rarely have to cut anything other than 1/16” increments. They make an accessory that allows 1/64” adjustments. The portion of the table under the blade is replaceable to maintain zero clearance. I smeared it with super glue at the kerf to try to keep a crisp edge on the MDF.
<img src="http://www.nas.com/~harmonic/NewShop/crosscut.jpg">
I use a pair of #27 shapers for cope and sticking, as well as edge shaping stock for mitered frames. The spindles are loaded with the 3 most common cutters and adjusted vertically to change profiles. A digital gauge for each is planned for when I eventually go to insert tooling. The cope sled looks a bit rough, but it is actually quite tight and cuts square joints. The backer board cane be replaced quickly as needed for clean exits. I run an outboard fence for the sticking shaper, with spacers to ease setups. Eventually, this will get an integrated fence, but for now a straight board and some C-clamps work well enough. I’ve got a HolzHer 1117 feeder that I’m rebuilding with tractor feed to use on the sticking shaper.
<img src="http://www.nas.com/~harmonic/NewShop/cope + stick.jpg">
<img src="http://www.nas.com/~harmonic/NewShop/sticking spacer.jpg">
I’ve got a 2550 SF footprint, with about 500 ft of loft office space that I’m just using for personal storage so far. Actual shop floor space is about 1900 sf. Here’s a view from the stairs going up to the loft, looking over the main production area. You can’t see the overhead door up front, or the lumber receiving/storage and rough crosscut station. I bought a shop's worth of used Nordfab ductwork, which has allowed this temporary setup using my old 10 HP blower and cyclone. We ran the duct over a weekend after moving the equipment in on a Friday. The Jatoba board sticking up in the picture in not an unusual dimension. This one got set aside for future use because it was flat and straight, which is somewhat unusual.
<img src="http://www.nas.com/~harmonic/NewShop/overhead shop.jpg">
Unless the lumber is poor quality, I rough rip on an old beater of a PowerMatic 66 with a 4-wheel feeder I got at the Grizzly tent sale. The saw has a 3 HP motor, and I definitely wish for more with the feeder. I have an HVAC fitting screwed to the fence side of the feeder with 4” pickup, and a 5” hose to the saw base. There is still some dust escaping to the table, but I’m not breathing it.
<img src="http://www.nas.com/~harmonic/NewShop/rip saw.jpg">
Then the strips get crosscut a bit overlength before going to the face jointer. I’ve removed the fence and built a guard that covers the infeed side of the cutterhead. The part that bolts to the table acts as a guide so that boards don’t get an accidental rabbet on the back edge of the table. The feeder is in the way, but There wasn’t a good place to mount to the back side, since belts run up from the motor the the cutterhead along that side. The original swing-away guard slips underneath the new guard to get full protection. The router underneath is used to sharpen the blades in place.
<img src="http://www.nas.com/~harmonic/NewShop/face joint.jpg">
The planer is positioned so that the parts coming off the facer, get piled so they are ready to get picked up and go directly to the planer. I put a Byrd Shelix head in the planer last summer, and it does a great job. Anyone can feed the planer without looking at grain direction. I mounted a Wixey gauge on the planer as well (next to the mag switch), which simplifies repeatable thicknessing, and makes for easy standardization of parts. The plywood top cap is used for stacking parts for multiple passes. The planer has a 5 HP 1 PH motor, and I am considering replacing it with a 7.5 HP 3 PH motor to allow full depth cuts on wider Jatoba boards.
<img src="http://www.nas.com/~harmonic/NewShop/sf planer.jpg">
Parts get carried a few feet to the edge jointer. I got this discontinued Grizzly from their showroom floor this past spring. It is nice in that it has a 4” cutterhead with index pin for setting knives with an indicator. The fence is much better than the newer jointers, IMHO. It keeps adjustments pretty well. I slide it out every few jobs to get wear across the entire cutterhead before sharpening. It needs a bigger DC pickup – 4” is not enough. The 1/4 HP feeder works pretty well for edging, but the hardware for tightening adjustments is lousy. I’ve broken one handle and stripped the threads on another.
<img src="http://www.nas.com/~harmonic/NewShop/edge joint.jpg">
After edging, parts are ripped on the G350, which finally got new bearings last month. The overarm guard has a 3” DC hose, and the base has a 4”. I’m thinking about reconfiguring this finish rip station with a power feeder so that you stand at the end to feed and catch parts. I use it for panel ripping though, so I may ultimately need another dedicated saw for ripping.
For finish crosscuts, I use a 10” slider with Chopmaster blade. I built the integrated table to raise the stock to get 15” crosscut capability. The fence is a Scotsman and is made os steel with 1/16” spaced teeth on the back side. The stop engages the teeth for repeatability. It is really nice compared to a cursor type, since I rarely have to cut anything other than 1/16” increments. They make an accessory that allows 1/64” adjustments. The portion of the table under the blade is replaceable to maintain zero clearance. I smeared it with super glue at the kerf to try to keep a crisp edge on the MDF.
<img src="http://www.nas.com/~harmonic/NewShop/crosscut.jpg">
I use a pair of #27 shapers for cope and sticking, as well as edge shaping stock for mitered frames. The spindles are loaded with the 3 most common cutters and adjusted vertically to change profiles. A digital gauge for each is planned for when I eventually go to insert tooling. The cope sled looks a bit rough, but it is actually quite tight and cuts square joints. The backer board cane be replaced quickly as needed for clean exits. I run an outboard fence for the sticking shaper, with spacers to ease setups. Eventually, this will get an integrated fence, but for now a straight board and some C-clamps work well enough. I’ve got a HolzHer 1117 feeder that I’m rebuilding with tractor feed to use on the sticking shaper.
<img src="http://www.nas.com/~harmonic/NewShop/cope + stick.jpg">
<img src="http://www.nas.com/~harmonic/NewShop/sticking spacer.jpg">