Help and Advice for a New Neander

[Lloyd Parker]

I have been lurking on the forum for about a month now. I love working with wood, but have very little training in it. I opted to take metal shop instead of wood shop. My most successful projects have been turned pens to date.

For hand tools I currently have a good selection of old Stanley planes in good condition (3-#4s, 3-#5s, 1-#9 1/4, and 2-#6s). I have an old miter box and saw (22" - needs sharpening badly) both pre WWII. I have the bridge city scratch awl, marking knife set, and a DS-5 Dozuki (all gifts from my Father-in-Law who does fine woodworking). I also have a norton combination water stone 1000/4000. A set of four HD chisels.

On the non-neander side I have a table saw, router, jet mini-lathe, random orbital sander, Jet Slow Speed Water Sharpener (mainly used for lathe tools, and plane blades), Craftsman Standing Drill Press (15in.).

I use a black and decker workmate as a bench (not a good one). Currently my shop is half of a two car garage I share with my wife's car. She lets me take over the whole thing for short projects.

I feel like my current short comings in the shop are from a lack of a good bench (chasing the workmate around while practicing planing is not fun and frustrating) and possibly some more quality handsaws.

I am seeking your advice and help over what should my next purchases be to round out my shop and make it the most usable. This could include DVDs and/or books. I am currently reading Hack's handtool book. Also advice on a good neader projects that won't overly challenge my current skill level would be great.

Also any ideas on how to heat a garage in winter safely would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[Ken Werner]

Hi Lloyd and welcome. As far as reading, I'd empty the library of everything you can find about the Shakers. Both craft and attitude. Tage Frid, Frank Klausz are also sources of inspiration.

Given your situation, I'd say your next item should be to build, buy or find a bench. Doesn't have to be anything fancy, just big and steady enough to become your friend. A quick but not very safe heat source is a Kero-sun portable heater. If you start it and shut it down outdoors it won't stink too much, and it will throw off alot of heat when running.

Good luck.
Ken

[Don Bullock]

...I use a black and decker workmate as a bench (not a good one). Currently my shop is half of a two car garage I share with my wife's car. She lets me take over the whole thing for short projects.

I feel like my current short comings in the shop are from a lack of a good bench (chasing the workmate around while practicing planing is not fun and frustrating) and possibly some more quality handsaws.

I am seeking your advice and help over what should my next purchases be to round out my shop and make it the most usable. This could include DVDs and/or books. I am currently reading Hack's handtool book. Also advice on a good neader projects that won't overly challenge my current skill level would be great.

Also any ideas on how to heat a garage in winter safely would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

I can identify using the B & D Workmate. I have an original one that I'm using. :( I built several projects with it years ago, but I've always longed for a good work bench. That would my best suggestion for you. Here's a link to a very impressive bench that was made with minimal tools:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=48755

Rilf did a fantastic job.

Reg posted a picture of his bench at:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=48759

Good luck. Let us know what you decide.

[Mike Holbrook]

I have an old Workmate I inherited that I still use. I do projects in several different buildings and ,like you, I appreciate/need compact mobile tools. There are a couple more refined portable tables out there that may not be "real" work benches but perform many or posibly even more of the functions of more traditional massive workbenches.

Check out the EZ-Smart table on Dinos website on this Forum. There are even threads on the table there. Te EZtable is great for assembly and cutting sheet goods. You can buy one assembled or save some money and make your own from parts from Dino's site.

If you want something that is not quite as portable but functions much more like a "real" wood working bench check out Bob Marino's Festool site. I just got my 1080 Festool table and love it. The Festool table is part of an entire system of very portable, safe, almost dustless, easy clamping, well engineered tools, all of which work with the table. You can also buy parts and build your own Festool table. Festool tables have side rails that hold fences, guides and many other very well thought out attachments that are very handy. There is even at least one professional who has sold all his "real" work benches and replaced them with Festool tables.

A word of warning on Festools, they call them a slippery road for a good reason. They are so easy to use and work so well together you just can't seem to get enough. I was getting covered up in dust (inside & out I imagine) from my many projects. I took the $2000 that it would have taken to get a decent air cleaning set up and invested it in Festool: table, saw, router, dust collector and a bunch of parts. I got a much better dust collection system, grabs the dust before it ever has a chance to get into the air, and all those fantastic tools free in the bargain. Festools would be very hard to beat for compactness, safety and versatility in an environment like yours.

Not sure if I am suppose to post direct links to commercial web sites, but Bob Mariino, Sawmill Creek member, is a dealer and regular poster here. You can find the link under his name. Bob is a great guy, very knowledgable, who has helped many a Creeker feed their habit.

[Michael Fross]

Welcome to the creek Lloyd. The Neander forum is the best I've seen and really enjoy learning from all the talented folks out there.

Michael

[Mike Holbrook]

I neglected to say welcome to the Creek,

You mentioned hand saws: I have grown to love japanese saws, there are many great ones out there. I like my folding saws from Silky, they are the only saws I can cut: straight, fast and efortlessly with. Check out: silkysaws.com they have a section for woodworking saws, although my Silky prunning saw is frequently pressed into woodworking duties as well.

There is a thread working on the General site about heaters for the shop:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=48373

I think you are already at the best place to read about woodworking. Pick a subject and choose the appropriate Forum or do a search. Tage Frid's books and Hoadley's "Understanding Wood" are good places to get basic information. Danny Proulx has written many excellent woodworking books. I like "Building Cabinet Doors & Drawers" by Danny for different cabinet making techniques. I am in the process of redoing my shop and "Building Woodshop Workstations" also by Danny has a couple projects I am working on.

[Roger Bell]

You are really limited with just a work-mutt. A decent-enough bench can be as simple as a solid core door (available cheap from building salvage places) mounted on a pair of sawhorses. You can cut down the door if it is too large for your space. Add a vise to that and you have a place from which to proceed with everything else you wish to do. I wouldn't wait to get some sort of temporary bench set up and functional.

Later on, you can take this top and add stouter legs, shelves, drawers, or other features. A nicer bench can come later after you figure out what the kind of work you do really demands in a bench.

[Zahid Naqvi]

Welcome to the creek Lloyd, its a nice place to hang around.

I agree with Ken Werner your next project should be a workbench. You already have a lot of tools, learn to use them well and acquire new tools as your projects require them. What I am trying to say is your tool acquisition strategy should be based on needs and not wants.

A work bench is the most used tool in your shop and building one provides a good learning exercise. If you go the cheap and fast route, like many of us (including mysellf) did, you can build one from construction grade lumber for a less than reasonable price. It will serve you well for many years, by them you will be knowledgeable enough to decide what your permanent workbench should look like.

[Lloyd Parker]

Well I got a small propane heater for the garage. It works well and keeps the place warm.

Thanks, for all the advice. I guess I am going to have to build a workbench.

Now the question becomes what to make it out of. I can get Western Maple at a little over $2/bf. Hard Maple is a bit more since it is from the East, about $4/bf. I notice a lot of Southern Yellow Pine benchs. I don't have that but do have Douglas Fir at the Box Stores.

My hardwood supplier is jensens hardwoods in Walla Walla. Google them for the webpage and an slightly outdated price list.

Also any suggestions on what type of bench I should try to build. It should be fairly easy to construct.

Thanks,