Joe_M's Blog at LumberJocks.com

Lessons Learned #1: Mistake # 1 - Proper Planning

Joe_M — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 09:27:25 GMT

I’m not sure if this would qualify as a mistake or not, but I did learn a lesson. I had been building some cabinets over the last couple of months and they are all finally done. I have an upright that’s about 36w/16d/76h and three wall hanging cabinets that are about 46w/11d/33h. The upright and two of the wall hangers have doors that I put together. The carcass’ are all 3/4” red oak ply from Borg and the face frames/doors are 3/4 red oak with 1/4” red oak panels. The cabinets went together nice and I learned lots of ww stuff in the process (my first real furniture’ish type build).

Here’s the rub – I suddenly have a lot (to me) of furniture to sand, stain, sand, seal, sand, seal, sand, seal…. Oh my goodness, why on earth did I wait til they were all done to start this process? I literally spent all day Saturday sanding everything at 100, 150, and then 220. It took me most of Sunday to get all the pieces stained. The lessons I learned here are (1) sand to at least 150 as I build, i.e., pre-assembly, and (2) try not to have so many projects to finish at the same time.

I realize there is a learning curve associated with our ww passion and this is all part of it. I just wish someone would come sand and seal all that furniture in my garage. :) You can bet your bottom dollar I won’t be making this mistake again!

Does anyone use a radial arm saw?

Joe_M — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 23:43:22 GMT

I may have an opportunity to purchase a used radial arm saw soon and wanted to gather opinions on whether or not I should buy it. I have a decent table saw with a reliable sled and also a good compound miter saw. My shop is in my 3-car garage and it can be a little tight in there. The saw is a craftsman and appears to be in good condition. Pricing would be $100-150, I’m guessing. My first thought is to pass simply because I haven’t seen a real need for one yet. My concern is that maybe I’m missing something that I’ll stumble upon after this opportunity has passed.

For those of you that have a radial arm saw, do you ever use it? If so, is it set up for a special purpose that’s frequently used in your shop? Would you purchase it again?

For those of you that don’t, are you jones’n for one and, if so, for what?

In most of the larger shops I’ve seen, the radial arm saw sets in a corner collecting dust. I already have enough dust collectors in my shop! :)

Thanks everyone!

The New Yankee Workshop Gloat

Joe_M — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 13:04:33 GMT

I’m tinkering around Youtube last night watching misc woodworking videos and, of course, Norm shows up in one. I lean over to my wife sitting beside me and tell her how much I miss the NYWS and wish it still aired. She replies “I still have your tapes.” Huh, what tapes?

A decade or so ago I watched Norm every chance I got and recorded the NYWS on my DVR. Back then, DVR’s didn’t have the capacity they have now though and I was traveling extensively so my wife would burn the episodes of the NYWS onto VHS tapes for me so her ‘stories’ had room to record on the DVR. Well, she never threw the VHS tapes away! What a gold mine. I pulled out the first tape last night and started the process of burning them onto DVD’s. The quality is not the greatest thing in the world, but it’s still Norm. It looks like I know how I’ll be spending my next few days. Just wanted to share my rare stroke of good luck with the LJ community, I’m sure there’s a Norm fan or two on here.

“And remember there’s no more important safety rule than to wear these, safety glasses.”