First Posting

I have been lurking for a couple of months. Thought it was time I finally speak up. First, Thanks to all those who e-mailed a welcome when I joined. Your comments on the quality of the projects and the people who keep this sight going were right on target. This is a great site! The only problem is I keep seeing projects that I want to make and know I can not come close to matching their quality—yet. They are an inspiration, as are the folks that are associated with this site.

An introduction. I live in Lafayette, Colorado about 35 miles North west of Denver. I have been making sawdust for about 7 years now. My “shop” is a concrete slab off our patio where the former owners parked their RV. When I want to play ‘Norm Abram’ I schlep my stuff out of the garage and shed setup shop and have at it. When the sun goes down I schlep it all back inside. I do have a workbench in the garage where I can do some work but my wife doesn’t like me getting sawdust all over her 1970 Datsun Roadster. Can’t say I blame her.

I started out with a Delta Shopmaster TS200 table saw and have been buying other tools as I need them (or think I need them). My first project was a lighthouse from a set of plans purchased from FurniturePlans.com. It was a good 10 foot project (it looked good if you stood 10 feet away). It lasted two winters before it fell apart.

In addition to the lighthouse I’ve made a barbecue table, garden birds, plant stand, and planter box. These are all still in use, but the birds are in for repainting right now. These were made from dimensioned stock from the lumber yard. Last year I started to get adventuresome and bought some Walnut and Maple boards from a local urban sawmill that salvages trees from the nearby area that have been cut down, or blown down. These are rough cut and vary in thickness and size. I flattened them using my router and a jig from an article in Wood magazine. They became two candle holders and two routed bowls. As soon as the snow melts from my “shop” I plan on making some more bowls. Oh, and I guess I need to make a cutting board. I’ve never made one and it looks like it may be a requirement to be a “member in good standing” <grin>

I have made two major purchases in the past few months. I visited The Woodworkers show in Denver in November and walked out with a Rikon 30-140 bench top radial drill press. It is more than I really need but I wanted a drill press that had the capacity to drill out larger bowl blanks for routed bowls. I haven’t had a chance to give it a good workout yet but so far I am very happy with it.

In mid February I was in Lowes and saw a Porter Cable 10” Job site saw – model PCB220TS. I have been looking for a replacement for my old Delta and since I have a “portable shop” I was looking for one with wheels. Seems Porter Cable just came out with this one (I can not find it on their web site yet). It had all the features I wanted: easily portable, standard sized miter slots, riving knife, and dust collection. I have other Porter Cable tools that I like so I took the plunge. Oh, and it was a lot less than all the other job site saws I had been looking at – $299.00. I will post a review soon.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading my ramblings. I have already ‘taken’ so much from you all. I will try to do my part and contribute as I can.

Lafayette Jack

-- LafayetteJack