Pete mutters to self..."remember to enable scripts on wife's computer before typing blog entrys
Ok, must figure out how to move first entry in this blog into the series…after pounding the keyboard for an hour last night to vent my frustration on my week-old, week-behind shop remodel, I find that it didn't post as a series because I didn't click on the teeny, tiny window banner that popped up when I selected "start new series" at the beginning of my electronic tirade.
But, not to worry, will figure it out later…must type now, caffeine levels are high, as is frustration level.
The first part laid the groundwork for this series…a garage/shop so full of tools and stuff that I can't even walk into it without a guide dog. And so was spawned the greatest of all American adventures.
In this entry I'll recap the last weeks work.
Oh, but first, today's progress….
hmmm, NO PROGRESS!!!!!
It's been raining here in Chesapeake, all day. The crazy guy across the street is collecting animals two by two. Soooo, since I have to roll stuff out of the shop into the driveway to work in the shop I couldn't do anything.
Well, not completely true. I carried some empty DVD cases out and set them on the router table because I couldn't put them in the storage bin where we keep all the empty CD/DVD/software boxes. (Actually it's storage bin NUMBER NINE full of empty CD boxes…just in case we sell one of them we can dig through the unsorted bins until we find the box the music/video/program came in so the new owner will feel like they got something for their $5.) So, while I was reaching way over to put the cases on the router table I looked at what I got done last week, and wished I could re-live my life (knowing everything I know now of course.)
But I digress, this was to be the recap of last weeks work. To the task at hand!
I took a weeks leave (Military talk for vacation). That's 5 days off, Monday through Friday. But the Navy says if you take off 5 days they will charge you for 7. But I digress.
Took the leave because Deb was getting shoulder surgery (torn rotator cuff). So bright and early Monday morning (3 freaking 30 in the morning early) we hopped in the Toyota and headed off to the O.R.
The surgery went well, and by 1300 (military for 1 p.m.) she was medicated in the bedroom and I walked out into THE SHOP, my veritible man-cave of testoserone fueled activities. About an hour later I had moved some stuff, organized some stuff, thought a lot, gone to the bathroom a few times, drunk a quart of Diet Dr Pepper, and decided that I'd take the upper parts of the kitchen cabinets my friend Mike gave me and hang them over the general workbench on the back right side of the shop.
Somewhere I have a google drawing of the garage, useful for virtual remodeling, and visualizing where to put things…I'm not using it for this major project because I can't remember where I filed it (that's an entirely separate blog series on filing things between 7 computers, a dozen plus external hard drives, dozens and dozens of DVD/RW and CD/RWs, and a pocket full of thumbdrives…all cleverly controled by a victim of Attention Deficit Disorder severe enough to make a 3 year old full of surgar and caffeine look comatose.
But I digress.
So in an hour I got nothing visible done, but I was just getting into my groove. I went to check on Deb. Pulse and respiration still evident, and I wandered into the office for just a minute to do something….I don't know what, I'd forgotten by the time I got there. But I popped right back out a couple of hours later and remembered I had stuff all over the driveway, remember the garage, this blog is about me redoing the garage.
So I wandered out to the garage. Oh look, a squirrel. But I digress.
I decided I would hang the cabinets (from Mike, remember) using French cleats. Do you capitalize french in french cleats. We have some stuff at work hung with them and I thought the first time I saw them that they were way cool to hang heavy stuff with. I wonder if a F(f)rench guy invented them? So I dug around in the scrap bin, found some 3/4 cabinet plywood (I think there is something poetic in using cabinet plywood to make the cleats to hang cabinets, don't you) to hang the particle board cabinets with. I got ready to use the brand new RIDGID TS3650 cast iron top (and wings) table saw Deb let me buy off Craig's List after my new LJ buddy Bowtietruck told me about it when I realized it had a little rust on it. I got it from a fella in Kill Devil Hill in North Carolina, and he had it in a shed in his back yard. His house was about a half mile from the ocean, and I don't think he'd waxed it recently. So, of course, before I could use it I had to wax the top. But first I had to knock the light film of rust off.
600 grit emory cloth on a 1/2 sheet BnD orbital sander is GREAT for cleaning up light rust. I had great fun sanding the top. Then a little 10 year old turtlewax to bring out the luster of the grain in the cast iron. Oh yeah, an old sheet under the BnD orbital sander with the 600 grit emory cloth on it is a great way to wax on/wax off on your RIDGID TS3650 table saw.
Sooo, I got the saw waxed, ....hmmm it 6 p.m. (1800 military time). Where ever did the day go.
I quickly did some calculations and determined that 22.5 degrees would be the perfect angle for the french cleats. I wacked out a couple of cleats, had fun moving the miter setting back and forth and using the fence and miter guide (no, not at the same time). Then I made a couple more, and had more fun moving the miter setting back and forth and using the fence and miter guide. By this time I had a vicious loop going of making them a couple at a time so I could move all the parts of the saw back and forth.
Oh yeah, I forgot, the fence wasn't adjusted for zero on the attached measuring tape so I quickly adjusted it so zero is zero (It was off 3/4 of an inch to start, so it wasn't a matter of adjusting the indicator on top.)
And it's 2220 (10:20 p.m. civilian time) and I have to go to bed.
More tomorrow if I can remember my LJ password.
Ok, must figure out how to move first entry in this blog into the series…after pounding the keyboard for an hour last night to vent my frustration on my week-old, week-behind shop remodel, I find that it didn't post as a series because I didn't click on the teeny, tiny window banner that popped up when I selected "start new series" at the beginning of my electronic tirade.
But, not to worry, will figure it out later…must type now, caffeine levels are high, as is frustration level.
The first part laid the groundwork for this series…a garage/shop so full of tools and stuff that I can't even walk into it without a guide dog. And so was spawned the greatest of all American adventures.
In this entry I'll recap the last weeks work.
Oh, but first, today's progress….
hmmm, NO PROGRESS!!!!!
It's been raining here in Chesapeake, all day. The crazy guy across the street is collecting animals two by two. Soooo, since I have to roll stuff out of the shop into the driveway to work in the shop I couldn't do anything.
Well, not completely true. I carried some empty DVD cases out and set them on the router table because I couldn't put them in the storage bin where we keep all the empty CD/DVD/software boxes. (Actually it's storage bin NUMBER NINE full of empty CD boxes…just in case we sell one of them we can dig through the unsorted bins until we find the box the music/video/program came in so the new owner will feel like they got something for their $5.) So, while I was reaching way over to put the cases on the router table I looked at what I got done last week, and wished I could re-live my life (knowing everything I know now of course.)
But I digress, this was to be the recap of last weeks work. To the task at hand!
I took a weeks leave (Military talk for vacation). That's 5 days off, Monday through Friday. But the Navy says if you take off 5 days they will charge you for 7. But I digress.
Took the leave because Deb was getting shoulder surgery (torn rotator cuff). So bright and early Monday morning (3 freaking 30 in the morning early) we hopped in the Toyota and headed off to the O.R.
The surgery went well, and by 1300 (military for 1 p.m.) she was medicated in the bedroom and I walked out into THE SHOP, my veritible man-cave of testoserone fueled activities. About an hour later I had moved some stuff, organized some stuff, thought a lot, gone to the bathroom a few times, drunk a quart of Diet Dr Pepper, and decided that I'd take the upper parts of the kitchen cabinets my friend Mike gave me and hang them over the general workbench on the back right side of the shop.
Somewhere I have a google drawing of the garage, useful for virtual remodeling, and visualizing where to put things…I'm not using it for this major project because I can't remember where I filed it (that's an entirely separate blog series on filing things between 7 computers, a dozen plus external hard drives, dozens and dozens of DVD/RW and CD/RWs, and a pocket full of thumbdrives…all cleverly controled by a victim of Attention Deficit Disorder severe enough to make a 3 year old full of surgar and caffeine look comatose.
But I digress.
So in an hour I got nothing visible done, but I was just getting into my groove. I went to check on Deb. Pulse and respiration still evident, and I wandered into the office for just a minute to do something….I don't know what, I'd forgotten by the time I got there. But I popped right back out a couple of hours later and remembered I had stuff all over the driveway, remember the garage, this blog is about me redoing the garage.
So I wandered out to the garage. Oh look, a squirrel. But I digress.
I decided I would hang the cabinets (from Mike, remember) using French cleats. Do you capitalize french in french cleats. We have some stuff at work hung with them and I thought the first time I saw them that they were way cool to hang heavy stuff with. I wonder if a F(f)rench guy invented them? So I dug around in the scrap bin, found some 3/4 cabinet plywood (I think there is something poetic in using cabinet plywood to make the cleats to hang cabinets, don't you) to hang the particle board cabinets with. I got ready to use the brand new RIDGID TS3650 cast iron top (and wings) table saw Deb let me buy off Craig's List after my new LJ buddy Bowtietruck told me about it when I realized it had a little rust on it. I got it from a fella in Kill Devil Hill in North Carolina, and he had it in a shed in his back yard. His house was about a half mile from the ocean, and I don't think he'd waxed it recently. So, of course, before I could use it I had to wax the top. But first I had to knock the light film of rust off.
600 grit emory cloth on a 1/2 sheet BnD orbital sander is GREAT for cleaning up light rust. I had great fun sanding the top. Then a little 10 year old turtlewax to bring out the luster of the grain in the cast iron. Oh yeah, an old sheet under the BnD orbital sander with the 600 grit emory cloth on it is a great way to wax on/wax off on your RIDGID TS3650 table saw.
Sooo, I got the saw waxed, ....hmmm it 6 p.m. (1800 military time). Where ever did the day go.
I quickly did some calculations and determined that 22.5 degrees would be the perfect angle for the french cleats. I wacked out a couple of cleats, had fun moving the miter setting back and forth and using the fence and miter guide (no, not at the same time). Then I made a couple more, and had more fun moving the miter setting back and forth and using the fence and miter guide. By this time I had a vicious loop going of making them a couple at a time so I could move all the parts of the saw back and forth.
Oh yeah, I forgot, the fence wasn't adjusted for zero on the attached measuring tape so I quickly adjusted it so zero is zero (It was off 3/4 of an inch to start, so it wasn't a matter of adjusting the indicator on top.)
And it's 2220 (10:20 p.m. civilian time) and I have to go to bed.
More tomorrow if I can remember my LJ password.