Monthly Archives: March 2013

After a busy weekend in so-cal visiting the Gamble house, looking at furniture in museums and touring Sam Maloof’s house I’m back home chomping at the bit to get my new wood shop operational.  And to get some time in on some of my hot rod projects.

After work today I conned my son into helping me start assembling my new dust collector.  I actually thought it would be bigger (should I have bought a bigger one?).  We got it “mostly” assembled.  Hopefully by the end of this week I’ll have it all assembled and wired.

Kolya Helping

More progress on the new shop space this weekend, but it’s slow going.

I tore out more of the old cabinets, and have yet another pile of junk to haul to the dump.  Unbelievable.  This is my pile from today.  (edit: this is my SEVENTH such pile, and that is AFTER the person that bought the chopper parts business took all of the inventory and packing supplies out of this garage)  I have no idea how this much stuff could fit in there, although to be fair some of this is debris from the shipping crate from my gigantic new jointer.

Dump Run Waiting to Happen

Here is the new jointer getting acquainted with the planer I picked up on auction with the table saw.  When I look at this picture I just see more work to do to get the shop set up.  Old plastic air lined to take out, another cabinet to tear out, window trim to replace, walls to paint, and more junk to find a new home for.

Jointer and Planer

Kolya and I mostly focused on this back corner today.  There were two cabinets that we tore out.  I have to find a new home for most of they contents, I threw away what I could.  Once we had the space cleared out we bolted a piece of 2×12 and 2×6 to the wall to support the dust collector.

Dust Collector Mounts

Once the dust collector is mounted it will be tough to paint behind it, so we painted the area first using an old can of paint that I discovered in one of the cabinets.  I’m going to move the forge, anvil and power hammer into the other shop so all my metal work stuff is in one place.  I’ll make a doghouse for the generator outside, next to the garage.  That will help a bunch.

Looking Better

I have the supplies to run the electrical outlets for the tools (something I never had to worry about with my hand tools), but I probably won’t have a chance to get out there for two weeks.  Next weekend my buddy Ron and I are going to LA for a “joinery” tour of the Gamble House.  We’re also going to stop at the Huntington and probably at the Peterson automotive museum.  Definitely a man-cation.

This is what I’m doing next weekend

So I haven’t posted any updates in a week or two, but I’ve been keeping busy.

I’ve been spending a fair amount of time making dump runs to clear out my two-car garage so I can have a dedicated place for woodworking, away from my metal work shop.  This has a number of advantages, chief among them is that I’ll have a lot more space for both activities.  I’ve now taken six pickup truck loads of junk to the local recycle yard.  The previous owner had made some cabinets that I’ve demolished and hauled away.  I still have another load or two to go.  I’ve collected all sorts of metal odds-and-ends over they years.  I’m going to recycle a lot of it, but I have so much metal stock on hand I doubt I’ll miss it.

I’ve bought a couple of power tools.  There, I said it.  I love working with hand tools, but honestly dimensioning rough stock for any sizable project is just too time consuming.  I want to make new kitchen cabinets, furniture, and lots of other things and at the rate I’m able to make progress it’s not going to happen without a little power assist.  Not to mention that the thought of cutting plywood for cabinets square with a hand saw leaves me cold.  I have a lot of work to do to finish off this space, including wiring some 220 volt outlets, dust collection and more organization and debris removal.  And maybe a coat of paint.

I got a really good deal on the tools, I found a table saw and planer, both new, on an auction for about 1/3 the cost new.  I spent a few hours assembling and adjusting everything so that that rip fence and sliding table were true.  I’m eager to make some test cuts, but until I get some outlets installed I’m stuck.  Hopefully next weekend I’ll get power in place.

Table Saw

I also need to make a few birthday presents.  I made a pepper mill for my brother.  I need to rub in a few more coats of finish and fill it with pepper corns and it will be done.  I have a few more presents to make, maybe I can get some time in one night this week.

Walnut Pepper Grinder