LumberJocks Woodworking Forum banner

Workshop Ramblings

13K views 48 replies 26 participants last post by  brianinpa 
#1 ·
What Happened to the Warm Weather?

The past few years Mother Nature has spoiled me rotten. Winters here in Pennsylvania have been mild with warmer than normal temperatures and little or no snow to speak of. I was always able to keep my garage heated with nothing only a small kerosene heater, but not this winter.

I would use this time of year to do most of my wood working because when it is warm and there isn't ice on the water, I'd rather be fishing. When it is hot, my MS won't allow me to stay in the heat for very long - saw blades and health issues do not mix! This winter cold temperatures have forced me to stay in the house and watch my "honey do list" grow, and grown, and grow. Temperatures are staying in the single digits or in the teens. One day we had a heat wave in the high 30's, but that wasn't warm enough to get me out of the house. This winter has me considering ripping out the walls in the garage and adding some insulation and installing a new door that would keep the cold outside where it belongs.

My lathe and chisels long to be used and the saw blades are hungry for some wood. I have picked up several "new" tools that need (and want) to be restored but the weather just won't cooperate. I keep checking out all the projects here on LJ's and long for the sound of the saw doing it's job in my shop - if only it were to warm up…

Someday soon winter's cold will head south for the summer and warmth will once again reign. I just hope it hurries up!
 
See less See more
#3 ·
Here in Maine mornings have been -14 to about 7 degrees for a long period of time. It hits about 20 or so during the day. I have a non vented gas heater that i turn on about a half hour before I go out to the shop. It gets as warm as I want but costs a little to heat. shop is fully insulated 25×25 feet garrison on top of the garage.

Good luck getting back in! It won't be far off.
 
#4 ·
I'm not a fan of winter, either. If my shop was temperature controlled, I'd say "bring it on." But, it's not… so until it gets warm enough to heat reasonably with a wood stove, I'm inside too.
 
#5 ·
Lew,
I was out in the shop a few weeks ago and the wind from the blade on my table saw only made me colder… If I see my breath, I don't bother anymore. I find that the older I get, the smarter I become.

Dan,
I was stationed in Brunswick from 91 to 94 and loved it while I was there: my wife and I even celebrated our anniversary at Cook's Lobster house this past summer. The other day I watched a home video of our sons playing in the snow after the storm in 93 (36 + inches in less than 24 hours): I like the snow, but you can keep the cold.

Steve,
Glad to see that I am not the only person suffering!
 
#6 ·
It has been the samr for me in Michigan. I pruchased a small woodstove for the shop and this year it has not been able to keep up. It takes three hours to heat the shop up and by then it is getting late to get much work done. I can't wait for spring.
 
#7 ·
Mario I know what you mean. If my wife didn't have to park her car in the middle of my shop, I could keep the door closed and keep it heated, but she always opens the door and lets all the heat out: I lose all the time!
 
#8 ·
Hang in there Brian, this too shall pass. The current snow forcast keeps getting downgraded, we're down to 2" in the last prediction I saw. Plus with this global warming, spring will be here soon enough and we'll have to fire up the mowers. Take care.
 
#11 ·
Today we got 4 -6 inches even though Kenn said they dropped it to 2… On top of that there was about 1/4" of ice. You can keep it all! Grass is so much easier to take care of…
 
#12 ·
Brian, I lived in Lebanon for about 27 years, (actually Cornwall) now we live in State College and if you think it is cold there , it is allot colder up here. I have not been in my shop all winter. The temp outside right now is 24 deg. and the wind is really blowing. Feels like 10deg.
We used to live right next door to the Blue Bird Inn, I went past there a few weeks ago and the property has gone downhill.
I also have my shop in our two car garage and it seems as soon as I do get it heated up my wife does the same thing , comes home and opens the door.
 
#13 ·
Is that Spring in the Air

Two days in a row that the temps have been in the 40's or higher! Yesterday was opening day of the Eastern Sports & Outdoor Show so not much time was spent in the shop, but today I was agle to get into the shop and see what I had to do to get ready for warmer weather. I spent a little time cleaning the shop and then began the restoration of my newest basket-case: an early 1940's Dunlap (Craftsman) 4" belt sander.

I wanted to spend the whole day in the shop, but since I did "me" things all day yesterday I spent some time with the wife this afternoon and we went to watch the Canadian Snow Geese at a local wildlife refuge.

If the temps stay in the 40's/50's, it will soon be time to start making some saw dust!
 
#17 ·
Time Well Spent in the "Toy Box"

I woke up this morning and saw there was a new dusting of snow on the ground, so it appears winter is not giving up just yet. I flipped on the weather channel to see what the temperature was and saw 29 degree f. That wasn't going to deter me from my plans. I started a fire in the fire place (the back side of the fire place and chimney are inside my garage/shop so the fire heats the house and the shop) so I could get rid of all the small scraps and cut-offs I had pilling up.

My shop and tools have been neglected for the past several weeks, so I wanted to spend some time fine tuning the adjustments on the DeWalt and blow the dust off of the surfaces of the rest of the tools. I also wanted to start the next project: a valet/charging station. I picked up some really nice wood (no idea what kind as of yet) from some pallets at work that looked too good to be used as a pallet and wanted to start working the wood to get rid of all the rough surfaces.

I wound up cleaning the shop and using all of my big tools except the scroll saw (which reminds me I need to get a new belt.) In the process I filled the trash can with wood shavings I had just made: I love the smell of saw dust in the morning, afternoon, and evening!
 
#18 ·
At least you dedicated a day to do PM. I usually think of it right in the middle of a project. Although, recently, I did use the excuse of needing a faster way to set my jointer blades, to buy a Magna-Set jig. So when it came I took the rest of the day to install a new set of knives in my jointer. I took the knives out of the planer and honed them and reset them (using the jig that came with the machine, not the Magna-Set). Blew the dust out of all of the other machinery in the shop, and lubed all of the appropriate places. Took a look at my saw blades and decided one of them would either have to be re-tipped or replaced. Seems in our throw away culture, it's cheaper to buy a new Forrest blade than have it re-tipped, by about $20. So I guess I'll get one on order shortly. I did decide to order some more shelving, since I have a trip to the lumber yard scheduled and will have a couple of projects worth stacked up. The current racks are full of the wrong flavor of lumber.
So, like you, I'm ready to start a new week with everything reset to peak performance. Guess the only thing left to do is clean the coffee pot.
 
#21 ·
Too Many Hobbies!

Finally Spring has sprung! The air is getting warm and the shop isn't too dang cold to work in any more, but what is keeping me out of the shop? Hobbies!

I have been working my tail off at a local park cleaning up after the long winter and years of growth. Add to that that Trout season is now open, and my wife wants me to clean the yard to get ready for my son's graduation party, and finally I have to get the boat ready for warmer water and Bass season. When am I ever going to get into the shop to finish all the on-going projects?

I guess it is time to re-think what matters most.
 
#27 ·
Life Happens and Emotions Get In the Way

May has been a busy, busy month and no time was spent in the shop. Two days ago our youngest son graduated from high school. His graduation was the culmination of a senior year that included numerous band and choral events and concerts including local, county, district, regional, and State festivals. A graduation is a humbling event to watch as your youngest son walks across the stage and accepts his diploma. A lot of anxiety and awe were present during this event, but most of this was coming from his mother and I.

Our oldest son graduated High School last year and went away to college but his younger brother was still at home. Tomorrow he will turn 18 and in a few months he will be going away to a College that is several hours away. His absence will make our house seem very empty. His musical talents (singing, piano, and flute) kept the house noisy and busy all year long: practices both at home and away, all the events he participated in kept us busy and hopping, and his friends were here adding to the "beautiful noise."

For the past 20 years a child has been in our house. I use the word child figuratively because both of our sons stopped being children years ago and I am very proud of all they have become, but old habits die hard. It will be very strange for my wife and I to sit in a house that has been so busy for so long. I look forward to it, but I am still apprehensive. This empty nest will give us the opportunity to spend more time together and do the things we used to do, and it will also give me more time to spend in the shop. I know that this phenomenon is nothing new and parents are experiencing it every day, but it is still hard to handle when life happens.

Now how do I convince my wife I need a new band saw?
 
#28 ·
Maybe you could buy it for your wife. Maybe you could talk her into thinking she needed one very badly. Maybe she does but just hasn't discovered that part of herself yet. Children leaving the nest sometimes cause a vacuum that you can help fill with a little guided companionship. go very easy. Ive been here before more than once.
 
#39 ·
Ain't this fun?

I spent some time in the shop tonight and sadly it was the first time in a long time: too many things happening at the same time.

It didn't take me long to once again figure out that woodworking is fun! The sound of the blade on the radial arm saw sang its familiar song and the whine of the shop vac added to the symphony. The planer and the jointer had chips flying through the air. Saw dust fell to the floor and over at the lathe wood shavings just peeled off of a leg as I touched it with my skew chisel. I have got to spend more time in the shop.

Working with wood is COOL!
 
#45 ·
What a year!

Been gone for a while and haven't been too busy in the "wood" shop. Too much time spent on a new old hobby of mine.

Before:


After:


When I was diagnosed with MS I decided that I had to do the responsible thing and sell my motorcycle: boy what a mistake. This Spring I decided it was time to get back in the saddle. I had a deal that was too good to pass up fall into my lap so I bought a 1981 Goldwing that needed very little work. I have been enjoying it so much that very little else has been done. The grass got too long far too many times. The fishing rods and boat haven't left the house in months. The wood working tools are sitting in the shop collect dust and it isn't saw dust.

I have done all the work myself and between working on the bike and everything else going on in life, I have managed to put 10,000 miles on it since buying it the end of March. I once again find myself having too many hobbies. Now that the summer is coming to an end and the hot days are hopefully behind us, maybe I can get back into the shop and use the wood working tools. I have so many thing that need to me made for myself, friends, and family memebers.

All I need to do is stay away from "The Money Pit," but it is too much fin!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top