Can we start a competition for the messiest workshop? I think I've got a winner. I have no dust collection system yet and too many power tools making dust. Someone commented on another thread about how much dust and pieces of scrap wood there were in my picture. What he didn't know is that I had actually cleaned up before I took that picture.
Can my floor spontaneously combust?
I bought one of those 4 Piece Anti-Fatigue Foam Mat Sets from Harbor Freight. It's on sale at the store for $10. You get four of those pads. Each pad is 2 ft x 2 ft. You can interlock them if you want. I put one in front of my table saw, another in front of my miter saw, another in front of my router table, and one in front of my workbench. I love it. My 120 year old brick floor is not all that comfortable. These mats make the workshop much easier to work in and less back bother.
Losing Hardware and Magnets
i keep losing hardware. I lost table saw insert plate screws several times. When I went to HF I also bought a big magnet and was able to find some of the missing hardware. Well worth the couple of dollars.
Because I keep losing hardware, I've started marking things like the throat plate with p-touch labels showing what size screw is needed.
Now I lost the screws which hold the threaded plate to my router. Time to get the magnet out…
Hi Doug. it looks like your shop is progressing nicely and your getting your tools set up well.
I always feel shops evolve with time. For me the main motivator is what I call 'the irritation factor'. Productivity isn't important to me (well, not as important as it is to my wife anyway), and that is a good thing because the irritation technique requires more time to get any positive results as compared to intelligent planning and implementation which can be taxing on the brain.
You only have to wait for the disadvantages of the current system to show up while you are working. After this happens a few times, you will automatically make some changes to reduce the 'irritation factor'. Simple, and effective. It has only taken me about 15 years to iron out most of the kinks in my own shop using this method, all without having to think.
Whichever way you choose, I wish you success and lots of fun with your newly outfitted shop. BTW, I love your child storage unit. Well done!
Yes, We can start a competition for the Messiest shop, but yours would be exempt due to yours being the inspiration for the competition. LOL
Mike's irritation factor works quite well till you move into a different shop, it then becomes the How The Heck Am I Going To Do This Factor . LOL I have found that a general shop clean up break generally softens the irritation factor a couple of degrees.
Now that you mention losing things in the shop, I can advise you from experience not to put your waste container near to any work surfaces where you might have hand tools lying about. I can't prove it, but I think I have lost a few valuable tools that got knocked off into the container.
I have a Ford Model T frame and running gear somewhere in my shop. I noticed the other day that I have been hanging about 8-10 "F" clamps on the frame rail, and I think that the hood is doubling as one end of a makeshift lumber storage rack. The running boards make great shelves!
Made one of the Cyclone Dust Collectors based on a couple of designs here and here plus a couple of other places. Took the best of breed into account and did my own twists on it.
Posted it as a project a couple of times and it was removed. I guess it didn't have enough "wood" component to be a project made of wood. It does have wooden doughnuts at the top and bottom. There are several others already here on LJ so maybe that's why it got removed. Not sure.
Mine isn't drastically different than the other ones. I used the same 8" x 2' duct tubing that others used. I found a cardboard drum with locking ring for the lid that holds the 5 gallon bucket inside to make it easier to empty the dust. Found it at a garage sale for $2 which was pretty cool.
I did a sketchup of the cut for the duct to get the cone design.
I used Elmer's Polyurethane glue at the spots where air might sneak in. To me that's the weak spot of all of the other designs.
The thing works great. Didn't take too much time - probably a couple of hours. Cost was around $50 not including the shop vac.
Using a fairly underpowered shop vac, but it still has good suction power (once all of the cracks/holes are plugged).
I really don't need the 2" union and some of the adapter stuff at the top since I just ended up sticking the hose to the vacuum right into the pipe anyway. Maybe just a single reducer?
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