| Workshop by brianinpa | posted 616 days ago | 802 reads | 0 times favorited | 12 comments |  |
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My shop is my family’s two car garage. It doubles as both a wood shop a mechanics shop. For 20 years I was an aircraft mechanic in the US Navy, and no matter how much I try, the tinkering mechanic rises to the surface. It could be the garden tractor, or any of my cars or a family member’s car that I work on.
Because of the fact that my shop serves two purposes, most of my wood working equipment is mobile. I have a Craftsman 113.29991 table saw that I acquired from my father-in-law who got it from his father. I have used several different saws in both high school and at numerous military base hobby shops and do not long for anything when it comes to the way this saw performs.: it is a saw that I plan to pass on to one of my sons when I am no longer able to use it. I have enlarged the table surface to 3’ X 4’ by building a router table onto the right wing of the saw table. At the time that I took ownership of this saw it came without a rip fence that did not function correctly. I could not afford a Beismeyer or other equivalent rip fence so I turned to the library where I found a book that provided instructions on building a rip fence from plywood. This rip fence is more than I expected from plywood.
In addition to the table saw, I have a DeWalt Power Shop 925. I would put this saw up against ANY power miter saw. There are critics out there that talk down on a radial arm saw and claim that a power miter saw if far superior: I disagree. This saw came to me by way of my father who had bought it for $100.00 at a local yard sale: his loss, my gain. Most of my other tools are all some type of an older model Craftsman or Delta/Rockwell. I guess the most impressive part of my shop is that I have only spent approximately $200.00 for all of my tools.
The final piece to my woodshop that means the most to me would have to be my work bench. It is a 200 pound behemoth that was started with a bunch of 1½” X 2½” pine boards laid out so that they are stacked horizontally into a somewhat butcher board design. The base is made from simple 2×4’s with a diagonal brace to help support the top. When I hit a chisel with a mallet, I know that I am working on a solid surface and when I move it, I wish I had designed wheels into it.
If you notice, most of my tools have a certain age to them. That describes one of my other wood working hobbies: old woodworking machines. Just because it is old, doesn’t mean it has to be replaced. I have started the restoration of most of my Craftsman tools and that is documented in my blog. At some point I will be finished working ON the tools and begin working WITH the tools, but for now, this is just as fun. It isn’t much, but it is all I need. I guess the only real problem I have is that I have to allow my wife to park her car in it.
-- Brian, Lebanon PA, If you aren’t having fun doing it, find something else to do.
12 comments so far
Scott Bryan
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20603 posts in 715 days
posted 615 days ago
Thanks for the description, Brian. I am looking forward to seeing your pictures.
I will be honest with you if I asked my wife to park her truck out in the weather so I could work in the upper garage I will guarantee you that I would be out in the weather before her truck is. :)
Thanks for sharing.
-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.
GaryK
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9521 posts in 882 days
posted 615 days ago
Looking forward to seeing some pictures.
-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.
Roz
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461 posts in 680 days
posted 605 days ago
Looks like your off to a good start on that shop. No one is better suited to fit all those activities into a limited space than a swaby. I look forward to seeing your projects and shop organization as it evolves. Welcome aboard.
-- Terry Roswell, L.A. (Lower Alabama) "Life is what happens to you when you are making other plans."
Scott Bryan
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20603 posts in 715 days
posted 594 days ago
Brian,
Thanks for the pictures. You have a nice shop space and some vintage but nice tools to work with. I really like your customization of the table saw. Building your own fence was an innovative solution to its lack of a proper fence.
Thanks for the shop tour. I really appreciate it.
-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.
Beginningwoodworker
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4142 posts in 566 days
posted 528 days ago
Thats a nice shop.
-- CJIII Future cabinetmaker
Kipster
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1072 posts in 646 days
posted 526 days ago
Nice pic’a and shop.
-- Kip Northern Illinois ( If you don't know where your goin any road will take you there) George Harrison
woodspyder
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59 posts in 523 days
posted 371 days ago
Great post Brian.
My tools are all vintage or almost vintage.
If you still know the title of the book you got the plans for the rip fence I could use it. I need a fence for my saw and can’t afford to by one, I am not opposed to building my own.
-- Measure three times, cut twice.
EEngineer
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275 posts in 507 days
posted 371 days ago
I don’t know how I missed this one!
I like older tools, too, especially Craftsman table saws. I have two. A 10-incher that I recently restored (you commented on my project for that one, brian, I should have come here then) and an 8-incher that I was going to pass on to my brother. The only reason my brother doesn’t have it yet is that the fence is in bad shape.
The fence has been a real problem on most of these old Craftsman saws. I would also be interested in the book where you got the inspiration for this fence design. I would consider making this a winter project, fixing up my old saw for my brother and doing a detailed blog on the construction for any other old Craftsman saws out there.
-- "Find out what you cannot do and then go do it!"
brianinpa
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1365 posts in 616 days
posted 370 days ago
I thought I had the cover of the book but saddly I only copied certain pages of the book. I am pretty certain that the title is “Shop Tested Woodworking Tools You Can Make.” It is a book from the editors of Wood Magazine. Good luck!
-- Brian, Lebanon PA, If you aren’t having fun doing it, find something else to do.
EEngineer
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275 posts in 507 days
posted 370 days ago
Thanks! I got most of what I needed from your pictures. Always one to tinker, I rarely follow the plans exactly anyway :) I see how the adjustment screws work to adjust how square the fence is to table. This looks like a good, solid design, inherently self-squaring, unlike other homemade fence designs I have seen.
What I can’t see is how the clamping mechanism works. It looks to me like the clamp works in the center of the “T” that keeps the fence square on the inside (closest to the saw table) of the square wooden rail that the fence rides on. How does that work? Is there a small push rod that causes the clamp to rotate around a pivot point? I don’t see any obvious pivot point like a bolt or screw through the fence.
I’ll think on this a while. If all else fails, I’ll order the book, Amazon has it used.
-- "Find out what you cannot do and then go do it!"
brianinpa
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1365 posts in 616 days
posted 370 days ago
You got it! The clamp lever is actully cut with a cam that as you press the lever down it moves an internal push rod in the T that forces the locking lever to pinch the fence to the wood that is attached to the angle iron. The pivot point is cut into the cennter piece of the T. The only harware that goes through the fence is the bolt that attaches the lever to the fence. Hope this helps.
-- Brian, Lebanon PA, If you aren’t having fun doing it, find something else to do.
EEngineer
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275 posts in 507 days
posted 370 days ago
Sure does! I see how it all fits together now. Watch for this in the future. Tonight I’ll go out and dig through the scrap bin. Damn! the saw still needs new arbor bearings (a new arbor for that matter), etc, etc. Ahh, the things we do for family. I might have this done for Christmas!
-- "Find out what you cannot do and then go do it!"