Belt Sander from a Treadmill?? YEP
Check this out guys. Found this on Youtube today. What a brilliant idea…..you could set this up in so many different ways….enjoy if video isnt working…here is the youtube link
Sanding Blocks
I’ve had a kind of crappy blue plastic borg sanding block for some time, and I’ve been lazy and switched out the paper. I don’t use it too often, but its finally given up the ghost and won’t really stay closed any more. I decided to make myself some proper ones with a nice cork backing. Here’s the original borg crappy one.. The one thing I do like about it is that it is sized such that you can quarter a regular sized sheet, and they fit the sanding bl...
Gil-bilt Belt sander
A couple of weeks ago someone posted some info on the Gil-Bilt home made tools. Here and here. Gil-Bilt is an old company in St. Charles Mo. I used to live in Florissant Mo about 20 miles away and I went to their office and bought a 6 X 48” Belt sander kit. I don’t remember the price. I’m guessing that is was around 1970 that this occurred. I built the sander and used it for over 20 years. The sander didn’t have a disc sander attachment and so I bought a new one...
Cedar Gate Handle #1: Cedar Gate handle - Start to Finish
So, I recently built a new cedar gate & needed some handles. I didn’t want to go out & buy some, so decided to make my own. Inspired by “http://lumberjocks.com/projects/48854” CaptainAhab’s handles, I ended up with:Here’s how I built them:Starting with a lamination of 3 pieces of clear Cedar which I planed down to about 2 1/8” thick:Obviously, I made a little template for the top curves out of 1/4” plywood & cut the top curve with the ban...
Grasshopper Pull Toy
Back in May our daughter came to visit with us for a few days. We like to work together in the shop so that is what we did. We each knew a young child that we wanted to make a toy for, so I inquired here about good toy books. I bought a couple of them and we made these grasshoppers from the plans and instructions in the book Making Heirloom Toys by Jim Makowicki.I had lots of scrap walnut and cherry left over from the two harp-making projects, so we used that for our bodies. We made the legs ...
My Tools #3: More of my new JET JSG-96CS 6"x48" belt/9" disk sander
First, some good news. The dust blowing all over last time was not indicative of poor dust collection in this machine. After closing up shop for the day, it bugged me all night, and I figured there must have been something I missed. There was. Under the belt on the back of the machine is a blast gate. D’oh. Opening that, the dust collection becomes quite good. No more dust spewing in all directions, but this thing sands very aggressively, so hard sanding does result in a little bit kick...
Lamp Mounting Plates Day 2: Progress
Got a hold of some free time today during naps and continued work on Jim’s aspen mounting plates for his new garage lights. I took the two blanks of wood that I had sketched the design on from last time—-here’s the picture from the last entry to refresh your memory (Thanksgiving and vacation right before that really but a damper on my shop time): As you can see I had cut the first plate with the coping saw (that took a while and wasn’t that easy to control, but I...
Great Tool Buys #2: Belt Sander Bargain
I found another Pawn Shop bargain. I came across a DeWalt belt sander tagged for $39. I took y’alls advice and asked for a better price. She sold it to me for $32. And once again, the tool appears to have very minimal use—almost new condition. I have read the reviews on the DeWalt DW431, they aren’t glowing reviews. But for $32 and how much I will use it, its a good buy.
My Tools #2: My Christmas present from mom finally arrived!
It’s the JET – JSG-96CS: 6’’ x 48’’ Belt / 9’’ Disc Sander w/ Closed Stand, 3/4HP 1Ph, 115V. It arrived by pallet in two boxes: Right away the 3/4HP motor and belt seemed bigger than I’d imagined this past year or two (this has been on my wishlist for awhile now). I had even scaled up my mental image, but it was still bigger than I thought: The closed stand is a very thick sheet metal, and heavier than I expected. It was a...
Krokskaft....or, how Mjolnir died.
For the pictures, please click here. Ah, it’s good to be back in the shop. Took a break there for a while to go on a trip to the Bahamas with the family. We had a blast but the only woodworking I did was reading about it and sawing some “Z”s by the pool. To get back in the swing of things (projects and ideas are starting to pile up) I decided to knock out something that’s been on the list since the beginning: the mallet. Poor, sad, Mjolnir, assembled crooked...
