Ben Griffith's Workshop

The workday is stretching on forever today so I figured I’d post a couple pictures I have of my tools, to break up the day a little.

First is my Craftsman hybrid table saw, model 22124. I got it used off of Craigslist in April ‘08. The original owner had upgraded to an Incra fence, and sold the original Biesemeyer that it came with, and then kept the Incra to put on the 1950’s Unisaw he replaced the Craftsman with. So this saw came with no fence (also no miter gauge, but I made a crosscut sled which I prefer over a miter gauge anyway). A few days later I picked up a Vega U26 fence, also via Craigslist. This replaced a portable Craftsman table saw which I had had for about 3 years. It worked well but I had really outgrown it.
Having only ever used the Craftsman style fences that grab both sides of the table, I am just amazed at how easy the Vega fence is to use. I just set it to the width I want using the tape on the front bar, and that is it. No need to double check with a ruler and measure multiple spots along the fence to make sure it’s parallel to the blade… it just works.

Second is my jointer. I also got it from Craigslist a few years ago. It’s a 6” jointer made by Duro in 1937. (Boshco was a place that sold used and new tools in the 50’s I think.) It wouldn’t turn on so I got it for $50. I got it home and cleaned all the sawdust out of the switch box and it ran just fine.
I identified it with help from some folks at owwm.org. There’s actually a scan on that site of the 1937 Duro catalog that has this jointer in it.
I’ve added an oak board to the fence, as the actual fence isn’t as straight as it could be. Other than that everything is flat and true.

In the background of the jointer picture you can see my Craftsman bandsaw, also from Craigslist for $50 because it wouldn’t turn on. Again, I got it home and cleaned out the sawdust (from inside the motor this time) and it fired right up. That sawdust is worth it’s weight in gold :-). It did have one other problem though. One of the bearings for the lower wheel had gotten sticky and had actually milled away some of the axle. I think the replacement axle was maybe $16 from Sears and the bearings were only a couple $ each.

In the background of the TS picture you can see my Delta benchtop drill press, which sits on top of a 2-drawer metal filing cabinet. I got it and the Jet dust collector at the same time off of (...can you guess?) Craigslist. The dust collector is a pretty small (3/4hp) model, but I replaced the upper 30 micron bag with a shaker felt one from Rockler, and lined the lower bag with a plastic garbage bag. The felt bag lets more air and much less dust through than the two stock 30 micron bags, so it sucks more and blows less dust everywhere now. At the same time that I swapped in the new bag I also set up a 40 gallon cardboard shipping container with a homemade cyclone lid to catch most of the big stuff so the DC bag doesn’t fill up so quickly.

I also have a Craftsman 6” molder/planer which I got off of Craigslist. It was made by Foley-Belsaw for Craftsman in the late 80’s. It’s one of the ones that’s open on one side so you could supposedly plane a 12” wide board by passing it through twice. I haven’t had the need to try that yet. After doing some adjustments on it (and taking it most of the way apart to do so) it works pretty well though.

I have a Jet AFS-1000B shop air filter mounted to the ceiling. I got that one off of ebay. It was new but had previously been damaged in shipping… the damage was a slightly bent corner which has no effect on how well it works. It does a nice job of clearing the dust out of the air and keeping it from settling all over everything.

I also have the Hitachi KM12VC router which I did not purchase through Craigslist. I got it from Rockler, but they apparently don’t sell it anymore, at least not online. I built a router table for it out of a couple pieces of melamine sandwiched together and placed on top of the vanity I removed from the bathroom I’m remodeling.

All of these tools live in the basement, which has no dividing walls so far. Eventually I do plan to wall that area of the basement off to stop the storage clutter from invading my workshop space!