A couple of weeks ago I was searching the Craigslist ads for a wood lathe, and found one in my neighbourhood, so I phoned the man and went over to see it. He had 3 lathes in his small workshop and he told me that this one had to go, as he needed the room to put in a dust collector. This one is a Craftex model B2198. It’s a 12” x 33 1/2” between centers. There is a local tool dealer that sells the ‘Craftex’ brand of machines, and parts and accessories for this lathe are readily available. The gentleman that had this lathe for sale is a very nice older gentleman, we had a good visit, and he sold me the lathe and some accessories for $75, and he even delivered it to my shop for me with his pickup truck. So, this week, I made a trip to Home Depot to buy some lumber and hardware to build a bench for it as you see in the photo. I just completed the bench yesterday. I purchased a set of woodturning chisels, a face plate, a face shield and now I’m anxious to begin some turnings (bowls, etc.). I haven’t done any wood turning since I was in high school, but I used to love working on the lathe back then. Thanks for looking.

A friend of mine arranged to meet me for coffee this morning at our usual coffee meet location. When I arrived in the parking lot and pulled up beside his pickup, he said “Open your trunk” and he loaded a couple of armfulls of wood into my car. The two bottom pieces are 8/4×4” solid walnut about 32” in length. The other pieces are 1/2” x 3” slats, also walnut. He said he was doing a cleanup in his shop to make room for his new motorcycle that will be arriving in a couple of days. He came across this wood and knew exactly who could make use of it. You can guess who had to buy the coffee this morning.

Today while browsing the ‘Materials’ section of Craigslist, I responded to an ad for burls of birds eye maple and curly maple. I phoned the guy and he said he has 100’s of burls, selling them cheap. He is a guitar maker, and any wood that has a slight imperfection such as a small knot is a ‘reject’ for him. I went over to his place and sure enough, one wall of his garage was 100’s of burls of beautiful birds eye and curly maple piled about 6 ft. high along the wall. He says that the wood (burls) just keep coming and he has to get rid of what he can’t use for guitars. Today, I bought 3 pieces for $20 each, a photo of one of them is attached here. He said anytime that I wanted more, to just come back, and even if he wasn’t home to just take what I want and slip an envelope through his mail slot.. no problem. Most of the burls are still wet, so I have to paint the edges to prevent cracking and let them dry for a period of time, but it is beautiful wood at what I consider a great price for some future projects. My wife even liked what I brought home, so I don’t have to feel guilty now about going back for more.

I just scored a free solid teak coffee table this morning on Craigslist, which I have just disassembled after bringing it home. The guy that had it lives just 3 blocks from my place. The table top measures 44”x33”x 5/8” thick. He acquired it years ago from his parents. He said he no longer had room for it, but he just wanted it to go to a good home. I assured him that it was indeed going to a good place. Future jewelry boxes and keepsake boxes coming up.

I went out window shopping today for table saws. Any table saw would be better than the old clunker that I bought last summer, shortly after I decided to take up woodworking. It has served me until now, but I just wanted something better. After looking at a few makes and models at one retailer, not liking what I saw, I went to my local Canadian Tire store and discovered that they had a table saw which is on sale for this week only. It was a lot better built than some of the other brands that I had seen in the other store. It is a 10” laser line, 15 amp saw with left and right side table extensions as well as an extendable rear table outfeed support. The price tag was $149.99, including the stand. When I asked the sales associate if he had one in stock, he replied “Sorry, we’re all sold out” but he said he could give me a rain check and guarantee the price. He said he already had given a couple of other rain checks on the same saw, and he would be expecting a shipment within 10 days. So, I got a rain check and am anxiously waiting now to receive it. The ratings on the saw is 4.7 stars out of 5, so I think it is a very good saw for the money. It regularly retails for $299.99 Canadian.

My step-son, who is a carpenter and fine woodworker (his full time career) phoned me this morning (Christmas day). We will be seeing him this evening for dinner at another relative’s place, so he asked me on the phone if I own a jointer yet, to which I replied “no”. He said he would bring me a Delta jointer to the dinner location this evening. I couldn’t believe my ears, but he said he has the jointer sitting in his workshop and it never gets used, so he is donating it to me, under the stipulation that if he ever does need to use it I will allow him to.. otherwise it’s mine. I am also taking him some left over clear yellow cedar lumber that I had given to me a few weeks ago. I made a workbench with some of it, and also kept a few other pieces to build a veneer press, but the rest of it is taking up valuable space in my small shop. He has also given me some nice exotic hardwoods in the past, so we help each other out whenever we can. Its great to have a step-son that accepts me and also has the same interest in working with wood.

A few weeks ago, my neighbor’s son was visiting his parents. He saw me working in my shop, and came over and introduced himself. He was admiring my shop tools and asked me if I would like some wood. He told me that he works at a sawmill in Vancouver and they often have leftover cut-offs from large orders. He said that they mill mostly cedar, so I asked him if he had some small pieces of yellow cedar (as I mostly make small projects). He said he could get me some. Well, this afternoon I was in the house, and my doorbell rang. I went to the door and there he was. He asked me if he could back his van up to my shop door. I said “What have you got?”. He replied. “Yellow cedar, like I promised you”. When he opened up the back of his van, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The photo shows what he unloaded into my shop. It is all VG ‘clear’ yellow cedar, all in 6 ft. lengths. 2×8’s, 2×6’s, 2×4’s and 2×2’s…. and not a single knot anywhere. I offered to pay him something, but he wouldn’t accept a penny. I guess I’ll have to try and make a special project for him to show my appreciation. I feel fortunate to live in such a great neighborhood with great neighbors. We always help each other doing things for each other and that’s what makes it a great community to live in. Anyways, I have to put my ‘Thinking Cap’ on now and decide what to make. By the way, that sawdust on the floor is Brazilian Cherry which I had just finished planing prior to his arrival.

I’ve been wanting to upgrade my 8” drill press to a larger model for some time now, and today I hit the jackpot. I was in my local Canadian Tire store looking at the power tools section and noticed a 12” drill press with built-in digital RPM readout, LED work light as well as a cross-hair laser beam. The box was badly ripped and the top flap had been opened. The item had been marked down from $249 to $149. I spoke to the store manager and asked him if he could discount it any further. He said that it was already marked down to their cost because of the damaged box, but he scratched his head for a few seconds and said that he would knock off another $20 for me, so I ended up bringing it home for $129. I just finished assembling it this evening.. all the pieces and parts were there, and it works like a charm.. complete with full warranty (3 years). I’m anxious to give it a workout tomorrow.

Here are the instructions for making my style of the wine bottle balancer:

1. Cut pieces to size on the table saw: 3”x12” (3/4” stock).

2. Drill angle hole at 45 degrees, 3” from one end on the drill press with a 1 3/8” forstner bit.

3. Cut rounded top on band saw, jig saw, or scroll saw.

4. Round over edges on both sides of the board with a round-over bit on router table (this is optional, but it just makes for a more decorative look and eliminates sharp edges).

5. Cut bottom bevel at 45 degress on mitre saw or table saw.

6. Sand piece as necessary on belt sander or use a sanding block.

7. Apply desired finish.

I picked up this Ryobi oscillating spindle sander yesterday on Craigslist for $30 with all the extra sanding tubes as shown in the photo. I saw this ad on Craigslist a week or so ago, and it was $45, then yesterday morning when I checked the ads, he had it down to $30, so I snatched it.

I purchased this metal work station table yesterday at Rona Hardware to have a permanent home for my belt/disc sander and my thickness planer. I also purchased a 1/2 sheet of 3/4” plywood and four casters to attach to the bottom of the table legs so that I can easily move this work station at will in my (garage) workshop. Up until now, I was lifting the heavy thickness planer on and off of another work table and storing the planer under one of my work tables when not in use. Not a good idea to be lifting heavy items and grunting at my age. Tomorrow I’m going to be installing a twin AC outlet plug underneath the table top with a 15’ cord. This way, both tools will be plugged into the table itself, and just one electrical cord to plug in my wall outlets to run either tool.