BarryW's Blog at LumberJocks.com

Lumberjocks: what a bargain!!! DONATE!

BarryW — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 21:53:28 GMT

All my life I wanted to work with wood. But no, I did other work to please people who had other ideas for me.
There was even a time I had a great start on a shop complete with 16 inch jointer…20 plus year ago. Not until the last 3 years have I realized what I’ve wanted to do…what I’ve always enjoyed all my life…making useful and beautiful things from wood.
My education prepared me for a career in radio. A B.A. from a respected university with a solid broadcasting program…Washington State University where Edward R. Murrow graduated from many years earlier. And yet, from the time I was in high school I’ve enjoy working with my hands…making things of one kind or another.
Nope, says my Dad…nope, says my Mom…gotta do this or that to make a living. Torn between two people and a few dozen others. Now don’t get me wrong. I learned alot about people and life in the other things I did over the years. And that knowledge has been important.
But… I never went to trade school or spent time learning much about what I thought I deep, down would enjoy doing for a living.
Years ago, I picked up a great book at the library that just screamed at me from the shelves. A Cabinetmaker’s Notebook by James Krenov. I can’t tell you how many times I went to the library to check it out. Dozens. Or I’d have it extended. Today I own a copy and a number of other books on woodworking by this or that woodworker. Nothing pleases me more than to go through a book…like last night I was reading a book on shop jigs…planning another phase of jig making. But I also spent time looking around the Internet…primarily here at Lumberjocks for a jig to saw lumber from logs on my bandsaw.
Now what would it have cost me to travel to snowdog or Bob #2’s places to see what they were doing
with log sawing jigs for bandsaws. Or what would it have cost me to travel to see all the crosscut sleds I’ve looked at on this website to help me build mine. Gas, motel or camping, food, etc…provided I had the time…and thousands of dollars.
But how would I have met them in the first place? I wouldn’t have. I’d have asked from town to town about people who were working in wood. I’d have become a vagabond with no money…not able to care for my family…like I am now caring for my elderly mother. Lumberjocks has saved me thousands of dollars on books I might have purchased to learn something or see something. Lumberjocks has also given me a greater sense of confidence. Oh sure, I built the interior of a retail store and all the fixtures in the late 70’s…but I enjoyed that more than running the retail store I had. I went broke in retail. I hated it and went back into broadcasting for a number of years. Being a member of Lumberjocks in the last few months has given me something I just haven’t quite been able to put my finger on…a sense of self-worth? Maybe. So when the other Bob asked me to make a donation…well…it was obvious. A few bucks not spent on something else for a month were better spent going to Lumberjocks. So I donated last night. And surprise, I feel much better even today.
The world is changing today…very rapidly. Gone are the times when we could thumb our way around the country gleaning knowledge from the local artisan. The price of energy…the price of food…all contributing to changing the way we live completely. Communications have changed. Radio is is a world of hurt, in my opinion. Newspapers are suffering a huge loss in revenue now. But with the Internet…and the people I can meet here and other places…though this is a pretty good spot for me right now….I can create my own education even at this time in my life.
So, here’s my plea…donate to Lumberjocks like I have. Fewer than 100 of the members…or so it was earlier today…out of over 4000 have given a few bucks. The value of this knowledge is priceless. And yes, I wish I could have given more…and maybe I will one day…but I did donate. I gave $25 bucks. Could you give $25 a year? What a bargain for the pictures…the information…the advice…the friendship. I spent $25 at the hardware store last Wednesday on things I won’t use for two months…how crazy is that? So, give a few bucks if you can. I’m giving up my breakfast at a restaurant on Wednesdays, my only day out a week, to do this…and it’s such a bargain…and I don’t need the chicken fried steak, if you took a look at my gut.
A man is advertising once said to me that if you can’t say it in 30 seconds it can’t be said. Well, this took a little longer for you to read and me to write. The short version? Donate to Lumberjocks...it’ll save you from making the wrong cut, the wrong finish, the wrong decision somewhere down the line…and save you thousands of dollars in travel to glean the information. Give.

Crosscutus Sledi: specious genius

BarryW — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 07:16:39 GMT

Ye of little faith. How is it possible to create a crosscut sled for a Craftman “professional” portable tablesaw?
First, I’m not liking the fact Craftman called it a “professional” model since one has so many things to tighten and adjust to make it comfortably accurate. And then the two grooves are on just one side of the blade where on most “professional” models there is a machined groove on either side of the blade. So one has to put two runners for a crosscut sled on the one side and possibly, just possibly put a runner (where there’s no place for a runner) on the other side…but this picture doesn’t show that…partly because I’m still thinking about adding that runner. The $499 table saw has become a huge headache in the accuracy department…but perhaps this sled will work to make it so.
Yeah, I wish I had a pocket full of cash and the space for a large table saw…a table saw worth somewhere between $1600 and $2500? say. Oh, that I could saw…er…say. But one makes due on limited budgets when one’s cash has run out. So anyway, the challenge of making an accurate sled for such a table saw. I might add that the grooves are not machined…they are stamped. Ugh. So one has to sand the runners and wax the grooves to make the sled slide smoothly. So far so good. It’s a work in progress. (If you’ve seen one sled you’ve seen them all?) Lord, let my crosscut sled not be boring. The picture will provide the next 1,000 words:

Creating Router Support: first use of D4R Leigh jig with VRS

BarryW — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 08:29:33 GMT

Here’s my first use of my D4R Leigh Dovetail Jig with VRS router support and vacuum connection. I must say it’s a little more complicated than I thought it would be at first and I’m not certain how I’ll adjust for other thicknesses of wood other than 3/4 at the moment…but I suspect that as I use it I’ll test and try to do things in a new way. I still have some adjusting since I had trouble with the VRS router support/vacuum connection. It wasn’t as smooth as I thought it would be and it also gave me a bit of trouble with light. It shades the work area and makes it tougher to see where I was routing. I may have to add more light to my project area…or at least different sources of light so that I can see what I’m doing a little better. I kept forgetting to turn on the vac so in one spot on the video you can see wood chips blowing around. I did learn some things about this jig…and how the pins and tails are created…mine were long on both accounts. That’s an adjustment of the depth of cut. I need to make certain that the router blade just touches my pencil mark or is a little above it….rather than splitting the pencil mark as suggested in Leigh’s DVD movie. There’s some serious trial and error here. At one point making the pins, I believe, I had to adjust for the second set and they came out a bit shorter than the first set…much better.

Piano Key Box...huh? #1: Disassembly of piano and idea

BarryW — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 23:14:55 GMT

When I picked up the old upright piano from a lady up in Deadwood some months back I promised her I’d make something out of the old thing for her. Sheesh….months of disassembling an old piano whose soundboard is cracked…the tuning pegs can’t hold a tune….most folks would toss the old piano out at the dump. Not BarryW….I have to disassemble this piano piece by piece. Some time ago I blogged about using the bottom half of the piano for a workbench support. I’m not there yet…but getting there. Yesterday and today, I have been disassembling the keys. Aren’t they just wood? No…there’s some lead weights…alot actually. I removed all of them from the individual keys to make a little container full of lead. They’ll come in handy casting balls for my .50 caliber black powder rifle and my .44 caliber 1858 New Army pistol. Okay, the keys…so they’re not more than an inch and a quarter wide. After bandsawing the curved ends…and removing the pin supports, I’m going to glue these “slats” together to make sides of a box. Alot of work for not much…and then I’m going to cover the box in either the white and black key tops or…or…the birdseye maple veneer found on the inside of the piano. Recycling it. That sounds pretty, too.
Yeah, way too much work for a simple box…but I’m a glutton for punishment. Pictures coming up in part two. I will mention that I have alot of nice screws, hinges, pins, etc from disassembling the piano. Gazillions of pieces of this and that. I’ll make use of them someplace.

D4R Leigh Jig assembly and shop pictures as requested

BarryW — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 07:08:11 GMT

Well you asked for pictures…of my shop and the assembly of my Leigh D4R jig today. I used the Dewalt planer and the Grizzly jointer for the first time today to create the 6×37 x 3/4 board to mount the D4R.
The next photo is showing Leigh D4R jig clamped to rolling work bench/assembly table. The Dewalt planer is also bolted to the table. When in use this table DOES NOT vibrate at all. Very heavy table…and there is wood and tool storage below.

The next picture shows the attachment bolts…there are four of them.
This next picture is of what can only be described as a very funky nut tightener provided by Leigh….sigh.
The two left assembly bolts attached.
The right bolt assemblies for the Leigh D4R jig.

The last right bolt….also showing the clamp on the rolling assembly table.

Both right bolts installed ready for the bar assemblies…

work table with Dewalt planer and assembly continuing of Leigh jig….the jig with the bars attached…

D4R ready for final assembly…

final assembly completed of Leigh D4R jig….great instructions from them I might add. They were very simple to follow and I have alot of attachments for it as well….looking forward to using it in the next several days to make a simple box.

final assembly…ready for use…

And that’s it for now….much progress in the last week on my shop. My bandsaw is working, the jointer, the planer, my router, my Leigh jig…the drill press…and all the other little tools here and there. Everything ready for some good wood. I’m going to be building a couple of boxes soon….and some toy boxes for my grandkids…which should be fun to make. I think I’m ready. My projects column to be filled soon.

I'm a lumberjock, and I'm okay....shop progress

BarryW — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 01:32:55 GMT

Oh, it’s nothing much…but after a long time just sitting there, I’ve used my 8 inch Grizzly jointer and 13 inch Dewalt thickness planer for the first time today…to create a base for my D4R Leigh Dovetail Jig. Which means I’ll be putting it together tonight. I had some thick pine in the garage for 2 – 3 years…1 1/2 or so 8” x 80”...it had bowed a bit…and I only needed a 6” x 37” x 3/4” piece according to the Leigh directions. So I cut it down to around 40 inches by 6 1/2…jointed a flat face and side…then into the thickness planer to take it to 3/4 inch….then to the table saw for final dimensions…as everyone does…however, this was a big step for me today since I’ve been putting my shop together. The equipment worked to spec just perfectly…I did get a bit of snipe…but gradually learned how to control that on the jointer. And yes, I read everything on safety, etc. It’s great progress for me. I expect to be putting up a small project or two within several weeks after I learn more about the Leigh. So the only piece of major equipment not yet working in the used lathe I have to spend some time cleaning up. The bandsaw, the jointer, the thickness planer…and various smaller electric tools…the Dewalt router, etc….all ready for magic. I have some maple, elm, and apple drying out back…much of it not ready for some time…perhaps I’ll seek out some walnut or maple shorts for a few small projects at the local yard.
The follow with apologies to Monty Python and their Lumberjack song.:

BARRYW:
I’m a lumberjock, and I’m okay.
I sleep all night and I work all day.
MOUNTIES:
He’s a lumberjock, and he’s okay.
He sleeps all night and he works all day.
BARRYW:
I cut down trees. I eat my lunch.
I joint my wood by three
And then I plane it thinner
making projects just for me.
etc….etc.

Big Bear's first shop video or shop progress in living color and sound

BarryW — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 05:54:45 GMT

First video…isn’t techology amazing. My shop progress.

Sharpening Center? or Steroids for Steel

BarryW — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 04:13:37 GMT

My new sharpening center that’s not particularly new since I didn’t build the stand…only utilized something my mother had and wasn’t using. In fact, it was gathering dust. So I’ve been working on cleaning up my shop and this center for the last several days. I did add casters, a few extra holes and some larger holes for cords, etc. It contains a Tormek sharpening system, a cheap Chicago chainsaw chain sharpener, a triad of stones, and I’ll add a Dremel close-by for some odd sharpening needs if necessary.
I’ve spent the last several days going over the DVD from Tormek and I’ll get some turning tools, knives, and chisels shipshape in the next few days. I think this will work…and with it’s movable and lockable platform I’ll be able to keep it out of the way until I need it. It also has some storage I’ve added…which really helps since I’m low on storage in my shop.

How I first used my bandsaw... or The Ghost Hunting Grizz Whiz

BarryW — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 09:34:01 GMT

You’ll be happy to know I used my 17 inch Grizzly Extreme Bandsaw for the first time yesterday…just to saw some sections of 2×6 into squares for plates upon which to mount casters. Nothing fancy. It was electrified in October and I hadn’t used it yet. Now I have. I know, nice saw and he doesn’t use it? Well, things happen slowly here. I read once where lots of woodworkers use their bandsaws almost all the time. I can see why. Small kerf, smooth cuts. I also turned on the Craftsman Suck-o-Lux Dust Collector for the first time at the same time as my bandsaw. Oh, the humanity! Everything worked the way I wanted it to work and I’m headed in the right direction…towards real projects. Imagine, real projects…made of wood, no less.
So I glued up these plates on the bottom of an already built table-thingy that my mom had built for her 20 plus years ago…it held electronics for the 11 foot satellite dish when that was the only TV available in this deep canyon. Now this unit will hold my sharpening systems of one sort or another. It should be done later today. A very strange thing happened by the way…while sawing the wood I heard what sounded like screaming…like someone screaming…very freaky. I looked about the shop and nothing. I checked on my mom in the living room. Nope, not her. And then I thought about it awhile…no, I’m not calling the Ghost Hunters…yeah, one of the joints on the Craftsman Suck-o-Lux tubing attached to my jointer was making this weird sound…pulling air in and sounding like a banshee. At least that’s what I think now….maybe I should call the Ghost Hunters….

Back at it... or How my back gives me permission to live...

BarryW — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 17:50:31 GMT

Setting up my shop over the last several years has been a challenge. I’m back at it finally. I hurt my back last September and now I’m able to get into the shop without any pain. There may have been some other things going on as well. They seem to have cleared themselves up as well. So in the last several days I’ve been cleaning up messes that gathered here and there. An unused “end table/electronics stand” from when my mother had an 11 foot satellite dish here at the house has now been confiscated for my purposes: a stand for my Tormek shapening system that’s been sitting in a box since I bought it last year. Additionally, I have a chain saw tool system that will fit on the same stand…only it was a static “end table/electronics stand” and I’m adding casters to it now so I can put it out of the way when I don’t need it.
These processes are very slow for me since I’ve also been trying to get some wood. Last Saturday there was an auction near Deadwood to which I wanted to go. I estimated they had 500 board feet of walnut they were selling. My 16 foot trailer unloaded and attached to my Grand Cherokee…off I go. The auction was to start at 9:30. I arrived at 9:25…and they turned me and my trailer away. No parking. Too many people wanted to go to this auction. What makes it so tough for me is whenever I want to go someplace I have to arrange for someone to watch my mother. (There’s no family around here who is willing to spell me unless it’s an absolute emergency.) And because the state, who graciously supplies some funds for respite care workers, only provides so much, well, my budget is small for usually only 4 hours a week. On a few occasions I’ve get a few extra hours, but I try not to push it. Well, no auction. I would have had to get there 2 hours earlier, it seems. So, no walnut. I don’t suppose it makes much difference since I still have so much to do in the shop…but this walnut was something that came up and I wanted it. I didn’t get a chance to bid. C’est la guerre. Hours wasted getting the trailer cleaned out and ready…driving there and back. Simplification of something has to happen…or maybe my dreams have to be cut back a touch. Yeah, and I still have my used lathe to clean up. Lots of things to do. I’m not “jocking” any wood simply because things aren’t set up fully yet and all the wood I’ve collected is still drying out back. Now, that I’m moving in the right direction perhaps I’ll get to do something soon. I have some redwood out of which I could make something…but no hardwoods are dry enough as yet. Does this sound bitchy? or frustrated? I bet it does…and you’d be right. It’s mostly one man power around here for all the cooking and cleaning and such and getting my shop in order.
And that man gets a little “owlly” every now and again. It’s time to find something for which to be grateful.
Maybe, I’ll feel better when I do…shoot, just having the Tormek for future use(the stand will be ready later tomorrow, most likely) is probably something to be grateful for…my Grizz bandsaw…my Grizz jointer…oh heck, what am I bitching for anyway? You have my permission to roll your eyes here. I’m feeling better now. Thanks for the electronic paper upon which I have vented my useless frustration. No comments please. Just spit on the floor and shake your head. I’ll get the message.