I had recently moved to a larger place, with a larger garage that is currently dedicated for a shop – and can actually fit a couple of tools, and a decent work area (once I have everything organized and cleared… will take a while as we have more important matters to draw our attention at the moment – our daughter) but I have finally was able to get my wish bandsaw! YAY!

I did a lot of research, and for my needs I think a 14” will be more than I’ll ever need. that being said – I did want to get as much resaw capacity as I could, and as much power as possible, while still making it reasonable on my pockets – the choice was a Rikon 14” Deluxe bandsaw. at 1 1/2 HP it is more powerful than most bandsaws, it is a steel construction which I personally prefer over the cast iron construction. it is capable of resawing up to 13” out of the box (although I didn’t get it in a box – it still has the same feature), comes with an easy to use Resaw fence+bar, cast-iron wheels, large cast-iron table – how can you go wrong?!? – oh, and it’s spanking beautiful… lol – yes it does matter.

Here it is… arriving in the trunk+back seat of the car. at first I wasn’t sure I’d be able to transport it by myself, and even if I could, I didnt know if it would fit in the car -but after measuring, and calculating, and checking to see that it CAN be transported on it’s back – I was able to fit it in the car. A bit heavy, but with some creative thinking and leverage from the straps I was able to lower it down into it’s awaiting mobile base (got it from woodcraft- it works smoothly and easily)

And here it is still without the cast-iron table after being wheeled into the garage:

And with the Cast-Iron Table mounted on… all ready to cut some wood:

I WILL write a full-on review once I have set it up, and get some work done with it to get a feel for how it performs, and how we interact with one another. So far – So good! tonight I sleep a happy camper :)

I’ve had this cordless dewalt set for several years, and in the last year It has been stored most of the time. I have 3 18v batteries that would rotate between the tools, so I would always have a fresh battery to swap with… until recently – all 3 batteries died, don’t hold a charge – and in the last week won’t even charge at all … AAARRRGGGGHHH….

so now I have a collection (9) of pretty yellow tools that are just worthless….

as much as cordless is convenient for some scenarios (I used to be a low voltage contractor – so on the job site cordless WAS the way to go), other scenarios (woodworking shop where you are close to power outlets and need the constant power) might not suit these so well.

I think it’s time I “downgrade” to corded circular saw…

not even sure what to do with all these cordless tools, I don’t have much use for them anymore, except for the drill.

oh well… had to vent, while I’m waiting for 2 batteries to hopefully half charge each so that I can cross cut a freaking 10×2…. frustrating.

I have my Incra 1000SE miter gauge setup with the stop block to cut the side pieces to length, and I’m all done with that.

Time to cut the box joints.

So I swap the blade on the table saw with my new (only used once before) Dado blade, I attach my homemade high fence for making box joints onto the Incra 1000 fence, and I’m ready to start cutting.

If you’ve followed the details up to this point – you might have noticed a problem… I didn’t.

I am always very wary as to where my hands are, and where my fingers are when working with the table saw, and it’s a good thing – the one thing I wasn’t aware of, and didn’t even think about was the fact that my miter gauge fence is setup for minimal distance from my 1/8” saw blade, but I now have a full width dado blade in the arbor…

as I cut through the side of the box and through the auxiliary high fence I feel unusual hot pieces hitting my arm… first thought that came through my head was that there is some burn-in in the wood, and it’s heating the sawdust up… second thought that came through my mind was – “um… holy crap, I just dadoed my miter fence…

good thing this was only a light aluminum fence and not some cast iron that my blade went through or the outcome might have been more significant. as it turns out – I no longer have an Incra 1000SE, but instead am missing some of the metal, and am left with an Incra 998SE – still functional, just slightly cosmetically annoying.

here you can see the first cut the dado made through the 1/4”bolt and into the aluminum fence, and next to it the “should have been” cut after I repositioned the fence to be further from the blade

And here is the patient: :(

This is my miter gauge, there are many like it, but this one is mine…(If you know the movie, you’d understand…lol)

Cheers, and Keep your fingers where you can see them – but also pay attention to everything else that’s going on.

Lately I was eyeing some Delta AP400 machines that float on craigslist once in a while for very attractive prices (sub $70) but wasn’t sure if that would quite hit the spot as I would like to have ductwork and a more permanent solution rather than plugging/unplugging and moving the DC from one machine to another.

I decided to pass on some good Delta AP400 offers, and wait for another opportunity. That opportunity came last week in the form of a Jet 1100DC unit (1.5HP) for a reasonable price off of craigslist (again). Apparently this unit has been getting rave reviews from Fine Woodworking, as well as Bill Pentz, both are reputable sources. So I know have the 1100DC in my garage, and the next step would be to setup a minimal length of ductwork that will cause the list reduction in performance while still providing me with ample access to the dust makers.

Another important upgrade that I am about to make is to replace the bag top filter with a cartridge filter. I think I will go with the Wynn Environmental Kit as they seem to have a very good customer service, and provide with a lot of information online which I appreciate (as opposed to PSI which still doesn’t really have much info on their products- surprisingly) also their kit shows to be the most effective and filters down to 0.5 micron, and is the most cost effective (I’m still trying to keep the financial expanses to the minimal). I will continue this blog as updates progress, and put up some photos once I get the filter conversion on the go.

Does anyone here have any experience with the Wynn filters? or the PSI filters? how do you like them?

The basic Idea is to take the factory inserts and use that as a template for the router. but alas, the factory insert is just too thin at some points to be able to follow it with a trim router bit, so to tackle this issue I made an initial template out of 1/2” plywood. This first template took a bit more patience and care so that it matches the original shape perfectly. Once I got this 1/2” ply template I am set for as long as I need to make inserts as I can always use that template easily with a trim-bit.

Notice how the bottom face of the template has a groove in to allow the blade to fit in – this is merely done so that I could push the template in and check for precise sizing (the blade was slightly in the way):

Next I ripped some 1/2” MDF (I am not a big fan of working with MDF – health wise, but I do have some, and will rarely use it for jigs) to closely match the width of the ply-pattern, and cut it to length.

If you want, you can use a jigsaw and cut the MDF square to the insert size as close as you can to relieve the extra work from the router (next step).

I glued the ply-pattern on top of the MDF block, and with a trim-bit in my router table shaped the MDF to the exact insert size and shape.

Next, I used a straight-cut bit and trimmed the bottom face of the insert by 1/8” – this may vary depending on your saw,and your insert material (the saw lip – where the insert is being held – is 3/8” deep, and I was using 1/2” material). I found that raising the bit up, and holding the insert upright against the fence and protruding the bit 1/8” from the fence gave me cleaner more controlled cut (and also enabled me a deeper cut) as opposed to laying the insert flat on the table and having the bit extend 1/8” above the table.

Last step I cut a 3/4” hole in the front right side (away from the blade) to use as a finger hole to be able to pull the insert up and out of the saw (I drilled mine at a slight angle, but a straight hole would do just fine). I then placed the insert into the saw. moved the fence over the right side of the insert and locked it down. took a long board, and placed it over the left side of the insert (to the left of where the blade is) and clamped it down on both edges of the table. This will hold the insert in place. I then started the saw,and slowly raised the blade up through the insert. and Voila! – Zero-clearance inserts at almost $0 cost.

I made 3 at the same time – might as well. and labeled the bottom of the insert with the ANGLE and BLADE MODEL so that I’ll know to which setting it was made for.

hope this helps…

Since I am the weekend warrior at this point, and I do not need to resharpen my tools THAT often, nor THAT much, I figure that I can do without any expensive powertools (there are several of those on the market) to sharpen blades and I dont really have the space to store those either way. This still leaves me with several other options.

I figured I’d start with the Scary sharp method as it is the cheapest to get into, and in the future, if I end up collecting waterstones one at a time, maybe I’ll go that route, but from my present (very good) experience with the scary sharp method- I may just stick with it, as the abrasive doesn’t really get worn off as quickly as I thought it would making this a very long lasting, and very cost effective method for me to use.

To all who don’t know what the Scary Sharp method is: The idea is to stick sand papers of different grits on a piece of glass that is true and flat and run your blades over it, moving from lower grits that form the bevel, to finer grits that remove the scratches from the lower grits, to the finest grits that polish the beveled blade to a razor sharp mirror finish. This method really merely uses sand paper which is readily available almost anywhere (finest grits are available at either automotive parts stores, or woodcraft stores, or online)

What I picked up in a recent post on Fine Woodworking really helped me a lot in making this procedure easier to run, and much faster to render. the idea was to have only 1 sheet of sand paper glued to the glass, and to have the finer grits just placed on top of that glued sandpaper, resulting in the abrasive from the glued sandpaper preventing the other sand papers from moving about because of it’s friction as shown in this picture:

This makes it easier as you do not need to glue every sand paper directly to the glass, and have different plates of glass for each sand paper, or having to remove and reattach sand papers to the glass plate. you simply have 1 sheet stuck to the glass, and the rest are easily put on when needed, and put away when not.

What I have done is stuck a whole sheet of 100grit paper to the glass plate and I use that to roughly set the bevel on the blade. Every few strokes I flip the blade, and lap the back of it to make it flat and remove the burr that is formed at the edge of the blade. Once I have a uniformed scratched bevel, I put a narrow piece of 230grit paper on top of the 100grit, and the abrasive keeps it from moving as I use that to remove the scratches off of the bevel that were made from the 100grit paper. Once again, every few strokes, I flip the blade, and lap the back to clean it, and remove the burr at it’s edge. Once the bevel is uniformly smoother, I repeat the same process with a 400grit paper, after that I take it to a 600grit paper. at that point the bevel is faitly smooth and clean, but not mirror shine YET.

Next I use 1000grit paper (got it from Woodcraft as noone else carries these finer grits … not even Rockler to my surprise!) I spray a few drops of WD40 on the edge of the 1000grit paper and let the bevel run over that (but not the honing guide itself!). Again – flip blade, and lap the back. and move to the last 2000grit. At this point the blade still is lightly oiled, just enough to lubricate it, but not too much as to mess up the work area. I run the last few (20) strokes on the 2000grit paper, flip the blade, lap the back, and clean the blade with a cloth.

At this point the bevel edge is razor sharp – slices through hair, and as a mirror shine.

If you wanted- you could go with higher grit abrasives (sand paper, water stones, etc.) but for me, for the time being – this is more then enough:

This procedure is only necessary to go through once to set the bevel on the blades, but after it is set and done, and you lose the edge on that blade, you can run a quicker procedure with only running through the 2000 grit paper which takes a few seconds. and if needed use a lower grit to clean anything that cannot be cleared with the highest grit.

EDITED: D I S C L A I M E R :
Good points have been raised as comments, and I’m glad people took the time to respond to this blog. Some suggested the use of different materials such as granite for the backing, and baby oil for the displacement of metal dust. some suggested higher quality abrasives, and these are all good points and should be considered if you are researching this subject. other good resources for sharpening and honing have been mentioned in the comments, and also some good articles are available at Fine Woodworking, and Popular Woodworking.

What I have been writing here is about my own experience using materials, and objects that I had at hand and readily available at home. This procedure as mentioned above has proved to provide me with results that are far better then I had expected and I wanted to share that with anyone that might benefit from that. This procedure is extremely fast for me to go through when needed, and requires minimal preparation and storage space – all of which suit me very well. If this technique worked so well for me – it might work that well for you too (and then again … maybe it won’t… :o) )

Now I just need to use scrap wood, and design legs to hold the workbench horizontally… I made it extra tall, cause every other bench I work on I get back pains from having to bend too much.

In the mean time, I just improvise and put something under to hold it straight just so that I can work on it as I have prioritized project that need to be done before I can spend the time constructing those legs…

This is the story of my shop.

So one thing that I wanted for a while, but never really got the chance to setup, nor the place, was a workbench. for the longest time I’ve been mostly assembling on the floor, and working on foldable plastic sawhorses that have a work surface that flips on top – these work great , they are super portable, but really lack the ability to hold anything secure enough while expressing force on the piece (sawing, planning, sanding, etc) – sure they work, but it’s that “If only I had a sturdier work surface” kind of thought.

So I’ve seen the Garrett-Wade foldable workbench that folds down to about 10” when not in use, and I was sold on the idea. I never really planned on spending $500 on a workbench, and more than that – I always wanted to build it myself, just like everything else around me. I began designing the workbench with the idea of using 2 panels of 3/4” MDF on top of one another for stability,weight, and flatness… and started putting it all together using Sketchup.

about a month ago Rockler came out with their own foldable workbench – exactly the same design, and probably from the same manufacture as the Garrett-Wade one – or it could be just me, but they look exactly the same. so apparently the concept was getting more popular. I just need to actually make it.

last week I went with my wife to a donation center where they had this 2” thick solid maple top 72”x24” – was that a special custom order for ME of what? so I quickly took it for $25 before anyone else could even say “mine”. I was planning to cut off about 12” off of it’s length to use as the faces for the vise which would give me even color, and identical material, and still keep me at 60” for length which is more then enough for what I need.

the final design is this:

The top folds down against the wall, and takes less then 4” depth which is just perfect as I can fit my cat – AND open the door to get out of it.

right now the top is all installed on the wall, and you can see that in my workshop page, all I need now is a set of legs that will support it when it’s in the horizontal position – I already used it with temporary support, and it works like a charm.

I have been reading anything I could get about bed construction (I really liked “Anatomy of a Bed” from Fine Woodworking), checking out different beds for design concepts, and construction methods, and have been mentally practicing building it for the longest time.

so I finally came up with the following design. frame is all Maple, joinery is Mortise & Tenon and headboard/footboard panels are planned to be Birdseye-Maple – either solid, or Veneered – depending on budget and availability. This is designed as a trundle bed, so there is an extra guest/friend mattress under the bed.

the main difficulty I’ve had with this was the extra length that was needed to ad to the main bed in order to accommodate for the secondary mattress and enclosing box. and since I have zero experience with building beds, it just took a bit longer for the information and ideas to settle in.

here is the planned design: