Another project I’ve been working on is organizing my side bench better. In the last blog post I added the shelving above the bench to make room for the new carousels that I’ve been building. I’m trying to make more room in my toolbox and also have quicker access to most of the bits I need regularly. I’ve looked at countless drill bit organizers, indexes, cabinets, etc, but none quite fit the bill for my work area. So this is what I’ve come up with!

The two carousels took about a week to build, paint and drill all 315 holes! They are mounted on 9” lazy susan turntables and are quite sturdy and very heavy.

The only thing I’m not happy with is the labeling on the drill bit carousel. It’s hard to read for this ol’ man, but I may repaint the numbers in white or something, to make them stand out more…not sure yet…but both work well and will definitely help me out in the shop!!

First off is finally getting the lumber pile sorted, so that I can tell if I have a piece that will work or not. I started with this.

And after several days of sorting and donating to my brother-in-law’s firewood pile, I ended up with this.

I can now go straight to the shelf, check stock, find the right piece and grab it!

Next up was my side workbench. It was getting very crowded and I have some new additions for it, that I had no room for. Here’s the before shot.

And here’s the after shot..

There will be more posted soon on this bench and the new additions.

Finally I got to redo the dust collection for my tablesaw. It was not clearing the sawdust well and was even spewing it back in my face and out the front of the saw. I also wanted wheels on it, so I didn’t have to drag it around. Here’s a pic of the old setup with saw removed.

And here’s the new cabinet I built to replace it.

Of course Jade(dog) wanted in on the action! BTW..before folks ask..nothing wrong with her eye…Aussies can have multi-colored spots in their eyes like that..totally normal. In fact that’s how she got her name Jade. When she was a puppy the spot was green and looked like a jade tear sitting in her eye. Later it turned brown, but by then the name had stuck..LOL! Wife is in the chair in the background…she was a big help on this project!!

I’ll be ordering a 4” coupler to properly connect the DC hose, but this will work for now. I built in a rear hatch so that I can access inside if need be, without having to remove the saw. It’s a rather large cabinet, but so long as all the sawdust falls to the bottom, the DC should be able to get it. I also plan to attach hooks and hangers on the sides for various jigs and blades. I originally planned to build a side cabinet, to house tools and such, but decided against it for space savings. The cabinet itself is 28”x30”x24” with 2” wheels.

That’s it for now, but more to come in the next week or so.

It’s rock solid and the new hold down clamps are working great too!

I can scratch this project off my to-do list finally! I’m gettin’ there!

Since I’m trying to pinch pennies and save for the bigger needs, I’m trying to make as many jigs and items as possible, rather than buy every little thing. I saw these cool little shop-made hold downs from a fellow LJ’er and thought I’d try and make myself a set. Here the link to them. Thx Dodeka..these are awesome!! I didn’t paint mine, but here they are. I’ll be getting the hardware once I know what else I need for the table.

Now that I had these done, I could kind of figure how big to make the drill press table. So I started measuring and such and found out the reason the kerf circles I made for some wheels were turning out deeper on one side than the other. My drill press plate is not level.

I plan to go ahead and make the table, but I’ll definitely probably have to shim it, so it will level up. Dunno if this is normal for drill presses, but I know I need it dead flat or it throws off my wheels. More to come on this. I also have to design the table to have a larger sacrificial drill board, due to making as large as 4” circles with the cutter. I’m planning on a panel setup I think. I saw how one was done online. I’ll post more as I start working on it tomorrow.

Here is my new HF 8×12 mini-lathe already covered in shavings!

And here is where I quit last night, after trying desperately to get just a straight cylinder,

I was almost there, when I got a big catch. I decided to walk away for the night and went back in the house and rewatched the Richard Raffan DVD for the 3rd time. I could actually focus more this time having had my hands and brain on the lathe by then. I also figured out what I was doing wrong on the sharpening.

So I went back out this morning, resharpened tools again and this what I was able to produce! This has had no sanding at all, just the tools. And yes this is just scrap 2×4 lumber, nothing fancy.

I’m pretty damn happy for an old guy trying to learn new tricks!!

Here’s the pics…

It’s a very simple design, but works very well. The wood plate on the back is loose, so it kind of floats into place when you tighten the wingnut in the front.

One of my other main problems in the shop currently is heat. I did insulate this summer and have a window A/C unit, but didn’t have any heat. So I picked up one of these today and I can say that it’s toasty warm in the shop now!!

Next up, I wanted to address my sad little bandsaw. I already tuned it up as much as possible, but what I really needed was a fence. Of course it doesn’t have one and since it’s about 20 yrs old, there’s no chance at an aftermarket, if there ever was one made. I found some plans online and below is a pic of the glue up for the fence. It will have a 3/8” all-thread rod running through it with blocks and wingnuts to tighten it down. I’ll post an update when I get it finished.

Also my honing guide came in today, along with my new HF mini-lathe. I need to build a wolverine type sharpening jig for my bench grinder and get everything set up, but I’ll be spinning some wood soon, I hope!

Many more improvements to come!!

First I fashioned a dust collection attachment to it, rather than the old canvas bag, that I had originally. I must say this design is not working as well as intended. The suction from the dust collector and the velocity of air from the blade, crash badly inside the main case and it ends up spitting half the saw dust out the front. When I rework the dust collection for the saw, the new plan will be to build a dust cabinet below the saw with locking casters and remove the steel base legs. I’ll also build the cabinet large enough to cover the whole footprint of the table top, which should give me enough room for a drawer or shelf to the side as well.

Here is a pic of the current setup with the tablesaw removed.

Next, I needed to add a featherboard, but mine is lacking a miter slot, since it has it’s own miter sled setup. I got a piece of plywood that was 3/4” and cut it to fit and then routed the bottom, to allow for some built-in mounting areas and also routed the top to accept my featherboard.

The biggest change I’ve made was to make a zero clearance insert for this saw. It was very tricky for someone as unskilled as I am.

Here’s the challenge…less than 1/8” depth on the edges.

I started with a 1/2” piece of oak and routed the edge clearance first. It’s sitting flush upside down at this point.

Next I drilled out some of the excess wood from the corners that I’d need for clearance and then carefully chiseled the corners out.

Here’s a pic of the finished piece upside down to show the details. I placed the fence over the right side of the blade when I cranked the blade up to add stability to the thin plate. I did glue the tiny split you see in this pic.

And finally a pic of it installed.

I also plan to modify my fence and add some height to it. It’s a bit short for some resawing I plan to do. More on that later.

First up is the mandatory clamp rack setup. I built all of it from scrap lumber which I have tons of! It’s convenient, yet somewhat protected since the shop door is usually open.

Also have most of my longer measuring tools hung up. The smaller stuff is in a drawer in the toolbox.

I also organized my ladders and hung my sawhorses and a few other items.

Next, I tackled all the extension cords and various hoses, etc. I had two old nasty lawn tractor rims, that I refinished and then mounted to hang all of it.

The ugly rim:

Both repainted:

The mounting blocks I made:

Attached to the wall:

Wheel hung:

And finally both loaded up:

That’s pretty much what I have on the walls at the moment. I’m sure I’ll be adding more as I go along.

Next I built a rack to hold all 10 of the boxes. I used some surplus PT 1×2 stock that I had. Here’s a pic of the end detail on the rack.

And one more showing the front view.

It works extremely well and I can just grab a box, set it on the bench and get what I need.

I’m retired and disabled, so I’m hoping like many, to make a few extra dollars eventually selling some of my work. But first I have to pay the dues to learn and practice this craft of woodworking. My main interests lie in scale modeling and box making. Both are manageable for me physically at this point and I hope to learn more about various woods and their characteristics by working with them on a small scale first.