So please if you get a chance follow the link and scroll down to the Flatonia Volunteer Fire Department.

Really appreciate any help my fellow lumberjocks can give!

Thanks James….

http://www.ksaeng.com/vfd_nom.html

I’m not sure if Steven is a member here or not but he has some amazing things he’s created, this is just one of them.

He’s got a very nice website also WWW.StevenWhiteWoodworking.com

Enjoy.

Even if you can’t donate, you can help out with this just by sharing his amazing story, so please take time to check out his website and do whatever you can in whatever way you can.

He’s just one man, taking one step at a time to achieve a GREAT Goal.

DRUMHIKE

He’s currently walking through Texas heading east, so who know’s you might get the chance to meet him on his way. Please spread the word!

Let’s make 2011 the year we ALL get home safely. Thanks

DON'T TEXT and DRIVE

SFFD Ladder Shop Video

Yesterday I received an amazing “Thank You” card from a lady who had come into my workshop with a small tricycle planter that was missing the planter portion. At the time I felt bad about charging her for repairing it, so I said whatever you have on hand is fine, and I would call her when it was finished. She explained that it was for an up coming family reunion.

Well I started the project, and as with everything we take on, one thing leads to another and before you knew it I had replaced all the wood on the little tricycle and applied a new coat of varnish.

Come to find out this family always has an auction at their reunions to help fund a “rainy day” fund for whenever and whoever needs it for health reasons. I thought is was a pretty good idea. The little project brought in $100 for the fund and put a smile on the little lady’s face.

She has Parkinson’s and she can no longer do the handicrafts that she once enjoyed, and that’s what brought her into my workshop. She ends her thank you note, ”Thanks so much, God blessed me when he sent me to you”

You can’t ask for any better payment! I feel the very same about this wonderful Lady, and I am writing her back this evening to let her know.

I’m sorry I didn’t snap a photo, but it didn’t stay in my workshop long enough for me to take one.

They started today on the Lyric Theater building which I use main for storage at the moment. It was interesting to see what they uncovered when they pealed back the old roof, which has been in place since 1980. We discovered two old Coke a Cola can’s from 1980 with the LA Olympics logo and a real pull tab.

Going back with R panel galvalum roofing, will be installing 4” purlins over the old roof deck to avoid replacing all the rotten decking. The purlins will be lagged into the rafters. Opting to install the steel purlins so that the screws won’t tend to back out with the expansion and contraction and will give me more insulation space also.

I’ll be posting photos as I progress.

I’ll also prepping the workshop for the project also. Getting plastic ready to cover the machinery and wood rack just in case of an unexpected rain event.

I’m also thinking about running some PEX tubing as they put down the R panels and using it as a solar heater for the shop and water, still doing some research on that aspect.

My question for everyone is how do you do the following task:

I”m getting ready to put together a number of solid wooden doors, 3/4” stock and varying widths, some of the doors might only be 12 ” wide, others could be as much as 25” wide.

I’ve already run the material through the thickness planer and cut it into random widths from 2 1/4” up to a max of 3” now its time to do the glue ups.

In the past I’ve just glued the sides and clamped them up, working them as I go to get the surface as flat and true as possible. Then scraping and sanding to finish them.

I’ve also used a biscuit joiner to try to speed up the process of keeping the faces all in the same plane so there’s less scraping and sanding.

I’ve used a spline to achieve this also.

My shop does not have a drum/panel sander so its just me and my ROS and 1/2 sheet sander. I also have a limited amount of clamps so I’ve been forced to do the doors a few at a time and work on other jobs while the glue-ups dry.

So basically what I’m interested in is your tips and techniques for achieving nice flat doors when you do your glue-ups. FIRE AWAY!

I always play a little game when I’m checking out the workshops, “where in the world is the extinguisher” sorta like that “Where’s Waldo” I give bonus points when I spot em.

I also am on the look out for those “hidden” and not so hidden “GOTCHA’s” you know those things we know we shouldn’t do, but heck its only a minute, what could it hurt. Then we move on and forget about it, only for it to come back when we least expect it and bite us.

When I worked building houses, and also when I was doing demo work, I always talked to my helpers about making sure if you didn’t back the nails out, MAKE SURE to turn em down, but there’s always that one time, someone forgets are gets in a hurry and in a snap, “OUCH”

So what has caught my eye lately, is spotting hazards next to gas water heaters, whether is cardboard boxes stored right up against em, or flammable contains in very close proximity to them.

One of the reasons I’m posting this tonight is I’m a volunteer firefighter in my little town, so I see and hear about fires from all over the place. If shining a little light here on Lumberjocks saves just one workshop, I’ve done my duty. I don’t want to read about one of us losing our workshops to fire, we have way too much fun in em to have something happen to them.

So a couple of simple things we all can check next time we’re out in the shops:

Keep things stored away from your water heater and breaker boxes.

Check your fire extinguisher, and give it a shake to keep the powder inside it loose, twice a year is good.

Check that smoke detector, and replace its battery. If you don’t have one in the workshop at least have one inside the door leading into your workshop.

Check those dust collectors at the end of the day, never know when you might have sucked up a piece of metal and sparked a smoldering fire.

If you’re not using it unplug it, battery charges, sanders, saws, etc.

Feel free to add on any of your safety tips too, I’m always on the look out for new ones in my shop too, one can never have enough eyes to watch everything.

Oh yeah I learned this at the Shell Refinery I worked at, when someone points out a safety concern to you, and you don’t know how to respond …. “Thank you for considering my Safety”

Snap pics of your fire extinguishers, your first aid kits, your Safety glass storage, or your hearing protection, respirators?

Let’s get creative and build a Safety Center.

Maybe we could make it a contest. This way EVERYONE wins by bringing more attention to our Safety Gear.

I think I’ll start my Safety Center first thing in the morning.

James