Rob McCune's Blog at LumberJocks.com http://lumberjocks.com/rtwpsom2/blog Wed, 06 Feb 2008 22:35:24 GMT Ruminations on the hobby http://lumberjocks.com/rtwpsom2/blog/3415 I was reading Teri’s Charlie Brown post and trying to think back on what influenced me towards wood working. I have come to realize that the decision to woodwork really came from no outside influences. My dad never woodworked. The only thing I can think of him working on was a model train table. I can’t remember my step dad doing anything in wood besides maybe a ramshackle doghouse. I really don’t know why I was drawn to wood. I always enjoyed “This Old House” and “New Yankee Workshop” growing up, but I didn’t do anything about it until my first marriage in 2001. One of the first things I did was to get a miter saw and a cheapo table saw and build myself a workbench. Those tools went the way of my first marriage, but when I entered my second to a woman who actually supported my hobbies, I was able to replace them fairly easily. I’ll tell you one thing, my wife hesitated ever so slightly when I told her I wanted a $400 jointer, but she hasn’t batted an eyelash since I built a raised panel door for the staircase storage area. She has seen what I can do with a bunch of cheapo tools and now she wants to know what I can build with some high quality ones. Thats what enabled me to spend $800 on my new router table. Sure we have to plan these things out in advance, but it is a whole lot easier now. I told her I wanted to get a $1600 table saw a couple of months ago, and she didn’t even hesitate. She just said, “Okay, let’s figure out a budget for it for summer of ‘08.” So I think the biggest influence to get me started in woodworking was inside me, but the best influence to keep it going was my wife. Thanks for reading.

Rob

]]> Wed, 06 Feb 2008 22:35:24 GMT http://lumberjocks.com/rtwpsom2/blog/3415 Rob McCune Rob McCune Wiki-crap and the Wood Whisperer http://lumberjocks.com/rtwpsom2/blog/586 Apparently Wikipedia doesn’t feel our whisperer deserves their attention. It would appear that because Marc is not known to them, he is not wiki-worthy. You guys can go to the page on him and try to argue with the wiki-lords but I don’t know if it would help. I feel pretty let down, they accused me of just being his advertiser.

]]> Wed, 21 Mar 2007 06:07:40 GMT http://lumberjocks.com/rtwpsom2/blog/586 Rob McCune Rob McCune 'nuther new toy http://lumberjocks.com/rtwpsom2/blog/535 I got the last new toy I will get for a while. I bought Ryobi’s 13” planer for the shop tonight. All I need now is some wood.

It looks and feel kind of cheap. Set up was ptting the crank handle on and putting it on a convenient bench. I’ll add more when I have time to try it out.

]]> Wed, 14 Mar 2007 05:00:43 GMT http://lumberjocks.com/rtwpsom2/blog/535 Rob McCune Rob McCune Cheap tools http://lumberjocks.com/rtwpsom2/blog/515 Okay, I am kinda tired of just how cheap my cheap tools can really be. I have always had trouble with my $179 compound slide miter saw. I was never able to get it to make an exact 45° degree miter. I have always kind of assumed this was lack of talent or skill. I kept working hard to get it lined up exactly right and it always ended up just slightly off. Not a lot, but maybe 1/2°. It really hasn’t affected me since I have mostly done crown molding and chair rails with it. Coping a mitered edge has always taken some finessing the edge anyway so no biggie. Well now I am doing some trim “frames” for my walls. Look above the tv cabinet in my project to see what I mean. These take accuracy and accuracy takes skill, so I sat down and busted butt to get my miter saw set up EXACTLY right. Now my miter saw has wings on each side of the turn table. When you turn the saw one direction or the other, these wings are the stops against which the turntable ends it’s movement. The more I worked with it, the more I tried to line the saw up to 45°, the more frustrated I got, until I finally realized these wings were actually limiting the turntable travel to about 44.5°! Here I have been thinking it was me and the dumb machine just isn’t capable of making a 45° cut!!! Well let me tell you, I got out my grinder and my mini-mill and it will d*mn well make a 45° cut now! What kind of miter saw can’t make a 45° cut? Isn’t that about the most common cut after 90°? Are the engineers who designed this machine so dumb that they couldn’t figure out how to make a machine that could travel an extra degree or two past 45? Anyway now that it is done, I did most of the trim pieces and they all came out perfect. I wish I would have done that a year ago.

Okay you have heard mine so tell me your cheap tool horror stories now.

]]> Mon, 12 Mar 2007 03:23:34 GMT http://lumberjocks.com/rtwpsom2/blog/515 Rob McCune Rob McCune new Jet jointer http://lumberjocks.com/rtwpsom2/blog/512 Okay I went to Ideal Saw Works on Saturday and picked up the new jointer. It’s a Jet JJ-6CSDX with the 56” long bed and quick setting knife head. I have to say, that cast iron bed is heavy. It was something like 165 lbs and I could barely pick it up! It took me about an hour to set it up. Most every one who has reviewed a Jet jointer has said theirs was ready to go out of the box, but I had a couple little issues. One of the blades must have shifted after it was set, because it was about .015” on the high side. Also the 90° stop for the fence was off slightly. And I do mean slightly. Probably not even half a degree, but I prefer more accuracy than 1/2° tolerance.

The funny thing is, I waited a month after SWMBO greenlighted it to get this thing and haven’t even turned it on yet. I spent so much time making room for it and cleaning the shop that I don’t want to get the floor dirty now. :D

Jet’s url – http://www.wmhtoolgroup.com/shop/index.cfm?navPage=4&iid=6054785&tab=Details

]]> Sun, 11 Mar 2007 18:08:18 GMT http://lumberjocks.com/rtwpsom2/blog/512 Rob McCune Rob McCune First post http://lumberjocks.com/rtwpsom2/blog/475 Okay, so I am somewhat new to the hobby, though not really a newbie. I have built a china cabinet for my ex, done plenty of trim work, and had plenty of little projects, none of which were finished (as in painted or stained). I did a custom cabinet door for the stairway storage area which I will try to post some pics of. My main focus right now is getting a planer and a jointer. I have the money for a JET 6” longbed jointer with the quick set blades. There is a big sale at Ideal Saw Works in Fresno on friday and I will be picking one up then. I might also get prices on planers then. Home Depot has a Ryobi 13” planer for $200 and I am wondering if it is worth it. Have to go, I am adopting my step-son today.

]]> Wed, 07 Mar 2007 18:07:42 GMT http://lumberjocks.com/rtwpsom2/blog/475 Rob McCune Rob McCune