Around the same time I begain the planning for my new shop, I started using “igoogle” for my browser homepage. I also discovered a couple cool “craigslist” widgets for igoogle that display search results for preconfigured searches on your homepage. So, for example, if I’m considering the purchase of, say, a new dust collector, I’ll add a craigslist “dust collector” search widget to my igoogle homepage. Since I basically live online weekdays it’s unlikely I wouldn’t catch a new relevant post within, say, the first hour of it being posted. This is how I got my rather old but very competent 3HP 2100CFM dust collector for $225.
This is also how I found my latest workshop addition: A Grizzly G1066 24″ Dual Drum Sander for $400. Brand new these machines run about $1,500 delivered. Now the machine I got is not even remotely new — the copyright on the original manual (yeah, the seller had the original manual) is dated 1992 and the “Grizzly” logo is an older variety — but the insides were all there and it runs beautifully. Included with the machine were 2 new 150 grit rolls and 1 new/1 half used 100 grit roll of sandpaper. Considering these cost >$40 each, I figure I actually paid less than $300 for the actual machine. I consider this a very good deal, indeed.
Heavyweight
Finding the machine was the easy part. Since this machine weighs in at over 400lbs., getting it home and in place was a bigger challenge. I was lucky that the seller had a couple pretty big guys pickup up some other equipment a the same time as I. The 4 of us (seller, two “big guys” and me) basically muscled the thing into the back of my minivan. I nearly passed out on the last push and am fairly certain that, were anyone looking, they’d have seen my eyes bulging out of their sockets. I’m not kidding. Fortunately, lowering it out of the van, with the help of my brother-in-law and a couple of his football-player sons turned out to be a bit easier than I’d feared…and my load-in ramp for the shop easily supported the weight. It was in!
Power
When designing the shop, I saw fit to have a total of (4) 240V circuits installed. Two 15A and two 20A. One is for the dust collector, a second for my Grizzly 17″ bandsaw. This leaves one 15 and one 20A circuit available. The 5HP motor on this monster demands 240V @25A minimum. This meant installing a new dedicated 240V/30A circuit in the shop. Since I already had the 10ga. wire on hand, the expense was minimal (some 1/2 conduit and a breaker) and in about 2 hours yesterday afternoon I installed the new line.
Test Run
Much of the comments I’ve read on drum sanders dealt with frustrations over either burning wood like cherry, or tracking issues. These left me a bit apprehensive about what I would encounter when using this tool. I decided to track down a current owner if I could and solicit some advice. Based on some of his prior posts, it appeared that a fellow “Lumberjock” (Todd A. Clippinger) who’s work I’ve admired (and partially ripped off) had at one time owned this exact model. Todd took the time to provide me with a weath of information that I was able to put to immediate use. (Thanks!) So, after loading up the drums, per Todd, with some new 100 (front roller) and 150 (rear roller) grit, I picked up the first >9″ (minimum length per docs) piece of scrap I had at hand — a ~6″W x ~10″ long piece of cherry. I fired up the dust collector (a must) and then the machine and ran this piece through, cranking up the table until the piece just made contact with the drums. It was a beautiful sound and after multiple passes without any burn or apparent strain on the machine, I eyed the cherry and walnut side panels I’d recently completed for my current project.
Beautiful! A few passes and the joints were dead flush and looking gorgeous. I’m hooked!
Did I mention how I love craigslist?
UPDATE: Todd responds here with some additional helpful information and photos.
If you read my last post you might recall how I decided to purchase an X10 “Powerflash Interface” to test out as a controller for my dust collector. My skepticism about how the unit worked turned out to be well-founded. The Powerflash device sends an X10 “on” signal when 6-18VDC is applied to the contacts — but once the voltage is removed, the unit immediately sends an “off” signal. What I was looking for was a way to use a single momentary switch to toggle the collector on and off…so that won’t do. In fact, the plan was to mount multiple doorbell-style pushbuttons around the shop and have it wired so that I didn’t have to turn the unit off at the same station where I turned it on. Since the Powerflash unit didn’t support this, I set out to basically build my own.
I’m not an electrical engineer and couldn’t design a circuit to do what I wanted, but I had no trouble finding a few options online. As a kid I used to quite literally spend hours loitering at my local Radio Shack store and would frequently spend what money I had on their “Engineer’s Notebooks” and specialty ICs to tinker with. So while I don’t fully understand the specifics of the circuits, it wasn’t much trouble reading the schematics or assembling the circuit. Of the three circuits I found online, my local Radio Shack store only stocked all of the required parts for one of them. This was, naturally, the most complicated one. It is succinctly if not aptly named Alternating ON-OFF Switch, #2.
A big box of parts…
After a couple after-work evenings, the “DustBunny 3000″ was born…
Hooked up to the “Powerflash” for testing…
Labeled and plugged into the volt meter showing ~4.74vdc on the output
And here’s the video demonstration of the system in action:
OK, so maybe not exactly a “monster,” but the old Woodtek 3HP double-bag dust collector I bought sure does sound like one…and appears to live up to its 2100CFM (free-air) rating.
I’ve finally finished the main duct work runs and over the weekend I cut the hole from the shop into the external “dust collection closet” and ran the 6″ main through. As I had feared, the dust collector argued mightily against being confined in such cramped quarters. The closet is <30" deep and ~60" wide with a standard 36"x80" door. The two-bag collector simply wouldn't make the tight turn through the doorway. Fortunately I'd half suspected this would be the case and was already mentally prepared for the situation...which likely saved my neighbors an earful.
The solution: disassembly.
I removed the upper-half, post-fan section that holds the bags to the blower and then removed the lower half, including the motor from the base. I’d already purchased a length of 6″ flexible hose that I’d planned to use to join the collector to the 6″ S&D piping…figuring that it would likely be a rather convoluted angle and possibly too tight a fit for a hard plastic 90-degree elbow. By mounting the base directly to the floor of the closet, I also gained an additional couple inches - making it now possible to use rigid fittings. Ultimately the hookup turned out to be “do-able” using rigid piping as well, eliminating the need for the rather pricey 6″ flexible hose. Anybody need any 6″ hose.
Though I don’t have any tools for measuring CFM or static pressure, my quick test sweeping some sawdust piles into the floor sweep at the very furthest end of the longest/narrowest run and hearing the swooooosh as the debris found its way swiftly into the waiting collection bags was enough to convince me that the system should do just fine. I’m hoping to do a test using the planer tonight — if it can keep up with the 13″ planer, it should have no trouble with the other tools.
My one real disappointment is with the on/off mechanism. I outfitted the 240v 20A circuit with an X10-controllable outlet and programmed the “D” button (for “Dust collection” of course) to send the appropriate on/off commands. It worked the first couple times I tried it, turning the collector on and off as expected. However, the third time I tried using the second keypad (linked to the first) and this time…nothing. I went back to the first and tried it a few more times. Again, nothing. I recall reading some forum posts (don’t recall where) by some unhappy woodworkers/X10 enthusiasts complaining about the poor reliability of X10 — specifically in the context of dust collection systems. I was planning on purchasing a “Long Ranger” or similar system and using a combination of manual switches and blast-gate mounted microswitches in the future…apparently this will need to happen a bit sooner than I’d anticipated.
As usual, the entire installation process — well, the indoor portions at least — was covered by my trusty D-Link wireless cameras. Here’s the finished video:
UPDATE: Last night I completed the “planer†test as planned. I hooked up my Rigid 13†planer to a port at the end of the run and took some fairly decent passes on a 9†piece of poplar. The dust shroud was empty. I opened a couple other blast gates and repeated the test. Still clear. Looks like this “monster†will do the job!
I’m not what you would call a “neat freak.” However, I do try to keep things generally organized and find it near impossible to work in a cluttered shop. Not only do I find it technically difficult to work in an unorganized mess - I find it hopelessly depressing as well. Consequently, when the shop is cluttered I will typically avoid doing any woodworking until the mess is resolved.Keeping the shop organized is especially difficult when the thing you’re working on is the shop itself. For the past couple months our garage and the new shop space has been a jumble of scraps of lumber and sheet goods, plastic bins of random hand tools, power tools, hardware, etc. somewhat haphazardly-arrange throughout. Need a hammer? Time to go routing through the bins. Double-stick tape? I just knowit’s here somewhere. Not fun. Coupled with the scarcity of available “shop time” and basically nothing hasbeen done since Thanksgiving.
To turn this untenable situation around I took a week-long vacation from my real job beginning January 7th. As luck would have it, this happened to coincide with a major “January thaw” with temperatures soaring into the 50’s and 60’s early in the week. After spending a day cleaning out the garage and setting up a temporary table to somewhat organize my tools/supplies, I set out to complete the job. First priority was the cabinetry. I had completed the carcasses and counter tops in November but hadn’t even planned the drawers. Drawers. After spending way too much time agonizing over their arrangement (do I make 3 or 4 drawers in this bay? One very deep or 2 shallower?) I settled on a design and slapped together some boxes out of 3/4″ ply and pocket screws. Not very “fine” I know, but I’d prefer to just get the shop done and get down to business on pieces bound for the house! Ply banded with 3/16″ maple bullnose serve as drawer fronts. After that I installed the ceiling-mounted speakers, running the wire through the 2″ PVC I ran before the walls were finished. I also ran RG-6 and Cat 5e cable to the 4 boxes placed around the shop, patching the works together, neatly, in the crawl space before hooking up a home run back to my communications panel in the main basement.
While I frequently use Google SketchUp to design my projects, I find that working things out on a whiteboard can be extremely helpful in the shop. I frequently use a whiteboard for my cut-list — writing large enough to be visible across the room. The one from the old shop is roughly 18″ x 36″. For the new shop, I wanted something a bit bigger, but “real” dry erase boards can be rather pricey. A quick google search turned up this page http://wiki.xtronics.com/index.php/Shower_Board_as_a_white_Board. For $10 plus some scrap pine I was able to build my own custom board for the shop. I installed a 4′x4′ sheet in the middle of the back wall and still have 1/2 sheet left for future uses. Lastly, I installed the TV on a wall-mount (for NYW and Woodworks, natch!) and moved the metal paint cabinet into place beside the slop sink.
As usual the process was covered by a couple web cams and I’ve edited together a brief time lapse…I only wish I could have completed the actual work in only 5 minutes.
Note: The angle of the cameras, properties of the lighting and advanced image compression may make it appear to the untrained observer that my hair is a bit thinner at the top. I assure you this is merely an optical illusion.
Over the years I’ve made many bone-headed mistakes.
Cut a piece too short because I “knew” the measure and didn’t feel the need to consult the drawings I spent hours preparing. Put a dado at the wrong height, the wrong length, or worse, the wrong side! Glue a part on backwards. I’m not quite old enough to say “I’ve made them all,” but by now I’ve definitely made my fair share of them. And while I tend to make fewer and fewer mistakes as time goes by…and thankfully don’t typically make the same mistake more than once (OK…maybe a couple times)…there’s usually at least something that requires special attention (repair, “design-around” or re-do) in just about every project.
This one’s unfortunately no exception.
A few months back, while visiting my folks in Florida, I read a magazine review for something I just had to have. I was so concerned I’d forget about this miracle device that I immediately went online and surrendered $40. It’s called the Wixey Digital Angle Gauge. This is incredibly cool - due to both it’s utility and utter simplicity. Place it on the tool’s table, zero out the measure and then place it on the blade to verify/adjust the angle. Quick, easy, AWESOME! That is, when you actually use it.
This past Saturday I began my day in the shop (after helping my wife with the kids’ breakfast, of course) by cutting out the various parts for the new 22′ long cabinets/work bench/miter saw fence for the shop. After lunch, it was time for assembly. I had cut dadoes for the cabinet bottoms and tops and was looking forward to the satisfaction of dry-assembling the pieces and lightly “banging them home” with a mallet. Things were going swimmingly until I went to attach the top supports. The top was nearly 1″ wider than the bottom!
How could this be???
After some choice words and a bit of grumbling I decided to have a closer look at my tools…and noticed the blade on the table saw read some 2-3 degrees off 90…which led to cabinet bottoms angling the walls a bit beyond their intended target. With the glue already curing and available time short, I decided to basically force the sides square and call it a bench. Truthfully, as mistakes go this one’s not too awful — there’s enough play in the dadoes to allow for the readjustment — but hopefully this will serve as a reminder to verify the dang blade angle before starting a new project; even when it looks 90 degrees.
Oh, and by the way…I also managed to assemble the right-most cabinet mirror-image to the design with the wider drawer compartment closest to the right-hand wall. No matter…I’ll just tell people I planned it that way.
This weekend marked the beginning of the “load in” process. With Grandma and Grandpa in for the weekend, the kids were well occupied and I had the time to finally start to finish the shop addition.
On Friday evening I finished the loft underside — and did my typical lousy job of taping/plastering the seams. “Hat’s off” to the pros who do drywall for a living…someday I hope to get it right.
On Saturday, I needed to pay a visit to my local Woodcraft store in Woodridge. They were having a “tent sale” this weekend. I’ve been eying a cast iron router table extension for some time now. I was aware of two — one from Bench Dog and another from Peachtree Woodworking Supply. While the Peachtree version was significantly cheaper ($219 vs. $325), I was a bit hesitant about it as I was unable to actually see it and there were no online reviews available. From photos online it was clearly a different product from the Bench Dog version, though I’m guessing that they’re both imported from Chinese factories. In any event, Woodcraft had the Bench Dog ProMax listed as “no longer carried” on their website, so deep down I was hopeful that they might have a floor model or clearance package at the store that I might get at a good price.
After trolling the aisles for nearly an hour, picking up ~$30 worth of small accessories, I made a second swing past their closeout table and noticed something I hadn’t seen earlier — on the floor behind and underneath the closeout table — a Bench Dog ProMax wrapped in cellophane! Awesome. Apparently this was the floor model detached from a demo saw that was sold the previous day. After some brief discussion with the manager and then the “boss” (aka my wife Suzy), it was mine for $255!
The best part is how easy it was to install.
Not being a metal worker, nor having cut any metal denser than aluminum in many many years, I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to properly drill holes in the cast iron top if needed. Turns out that a) I only needed to drill one hole through the front to attach the fence and b) it was not an issue. The holes in the table lined up perfectly with the saw top and it took almost no effort (even alone) to get the top flushed and tightened. Beautiful. While they say you don’t have to attach the front edge to the fence rail, I figured it couldn’t hurt. So I drilled a hole for the bolt - first 1/4″ starter, then a 5/16″ to finish size.
I then removed the wooden wing from the other side of the table and drilled 5 holes in the cast iron so that I could mount the old left wing in its place. I now have a full 60″ of cast iron top and no sagging melamine extension. I’m sure the extra weight won’t hurt either.
I then installed the track lighting and extension cord reels under the loft and got about as organized as possible to prepare for the construction of the cabinetry that will act as both storage and a shared miter saw/radial arm saw counter top and fence. Since I was getting no where visualizing the cabinetry required for these saws — even using SketchUp — I decided the only thing to do was to simply move them into the shop, test and fine tune their locations as best as possible, and take measurements from there. With some help from my neighbor Wilson (seriously) I was able to load in the jointer, miter and radial arm saw. I now have them positioned where (I think/hope) they’ll best be used and have begun the process of creating the detailed construction drawings for the cabinets/counter top.
Considering my available free time, I’m hopeful I’ll be ready to build/install drawers within two weeks!
OK, so the inspections went well — though it took 3 visits from the inspector. Mostly little stuff — but Jay promptly dealt with all of the issues and we finally made it.I’m now working on getting the shop “in shape” before moving all of the tools in. This includes building a 4′ x 14′ loft 7′ 6″ from the floor at the far end. I ran conduit and wiring for (2) ceiling mounted cord reels and a track light. I still need to tape and plaster the seams and screws before I can paint it and mount the extension cords and lights.
A couple weeks ago I picked up a used (circa ‘89) WoodTek 2100CFM dust collector from a guy in Indiana for $200 (Craiglist is very cool). The first thing I did was replace the power cord — which is a good thing as the ground wire had apparently become disconnected.
Last weekend I extended some of the “old shop” (a.k.a - the garage) power into the addition. I ran (1) 20A 120v, (1) 240v 15A and (1) 240v 20A circuit into the room. The 240/15 is for the tablesaw and/or bandsaw. The 240v/20A is temporarily being used with the dust collector — I plan to keep it in the shop while I build the cabinetry and fixtures. After the cabinets are complete I will be running duct work so that I can move it to its permanent home in the street-facing “closet” in the front of the shop. I’ve also installed a smoke/CO detector in the shop as well…should make it a bit easier to sleep at night after a late night in the shop.
Today I’ve decided to build an overarm blade guard/dust collector for the table saw as well. So the next steps are - complete the loft “ceiling,” build the overarm collector, build the cabinetry and workbenches.
Considering my limited amount of “free” time, I suspect this will take me through the end of the year and a bit into 2008 before I move the rest of the stationary tools in. Then there’s the shelving/upper cabinets, drawers, etc to do before the small power and hand tools are organized. This could take a while!
Tomorrow is the final electrical/plumbing inspection. Provided everything passes, I plan to begin work on the interior on Sunday. (My wife’s birthday is Saturday so I’m taking the kids while she has a “spa day”.)
I’ve been reading “the Workbench Book” by Scott Landis and plan to read Ron Schleining’s “The Workbench” based on recommendations on Amazon and elsewhere, and my head is swimming with ideas for finishing the interior. At this point I have a pretty decent handle on the cabinetry for the long wall - opposite the fireplace - where the radial arm and DeWalt 706 miter saw will live and share a fence/stop system.
I build a lot of case goods and am frequently drilling shelf ping holes, routing dadoes for shelving, installing hardwood drawer glides, etc in substantial plywood panels. In the past I’ve used “back-to-back” straight-edge clamps to hold these on the workbench. I also enjoy cutting my own custom veneers. Therefore, I’m also thinking about building a rolling assembly table/veneer press that will live behind the table saw, underneath a flip-up outfeed table. I’m thinking the outfeed table will hinge on the fireplace wall (actually attached to the bricks) and flip upwards to reveal the assembly table which may also be wheeled around to make more room. In my head, this table is roughly 3′ x 6′ and features two full-width end vises, one on each 3′ end, along with a row of bench dog holes on both the front and back edge for clamping the wide stock.
I’ll post the plans for those once the drawings are complete.
In the meantime, I’ve finished the time lapse video of the exterior construction…from breaking ground through landscape repair. I may make some additional edits in the future…maybe make a 3-4 minute version (this one’s ~6mins. long). But at least for now…here it is:
I spent this past weekend installing Knotty Pine tongue and groove paneling in the new woodshop. As with the floors, I cut costs on materials by purchasing the “value line” stuff (offcuts, etc.) However, unlike the flooring, this stuff was awesome! When they said that most of the pieces were 3′ - 8′ long, they weren’t lying — in fact, there were far more 8′ pieces than I expected and though I tried to stagger my usage, I ended up running out of the smaller pieces before I was done. The 1′ - 4′ pieces were simply more convenient to handle when cutting out notches for doors, outlets, ceiling peaks, etc. This is good stuff and I highly recommend these guys.
The only real downside was that FedEx freight from Michigan cost nearly 50% of the cost of the lumber itself…however it was *still* comparable in price to buying the crap T&G paneling they sell at Menards or The Home Depot. In fact, I was a bit concerned that I would run out near the end and went to HD to buy a piece or two of theirs to use in an unseen area. Not only didn’t it match, it was just plain bad stuff…full of checks and dings and just not very attractive. I wound up buying a couple 8′ pine boards and milled a bevel top and bottom to match the look. I wound up with 2 8′ pieces left over after using 3 of the “mock” T&G boards.
Did I mention that I didn’t have to discard a single piece of of the paneling…or cut around any defects? Honestly…it was all good.
It was a very busy Labor Day weekend. On Saturday I began the process of installing 300sq ft. of “utility grade” Oak hardwood flooring from Lumber Liquidators. This stuff is only $.89 sq. ft. — and for good reason. Much of it was under 10″ in length (many pieces significantly less). There were numerous pieces that were improperly milled, missing tongues, missing grooves, etc. I originally purchased 330 sq. ft of the stuff, but upon further reflection decided that I should have purchased less utility grade stuff - maybe closer to 250sq. ft. and maybe 100sq. ft. of good stuff (select Red Oak). I ultimately wound up buying around 60sq. ft. of select Red Oak so that I’d have at least a few long pieces to weave in periodically. Inserting the occasional 8′ long piece after working with tons of 6″ pieces also served as a morale boost - speeding up completion of that row significantly.
All things considered, I probably saved less than $200 in materials. However, I actually prefer the “patchwork” look for a workshop floor and it will definitely be easier to stomach the occasional inevitable incident that results in nicks, scratches and potentially gouges in the hardwood.
The next question is: How do I finish the floor? Do I apply Polyurethane? Water-based? Or should I leave it unfinished?
I’m fairly certain that at some point someone is bound to knock over a can of stain in the shop…and without *any* sealer, the wood will soak it up like a sponge. I’m also concerned about mud and water damage in the traffic areas. However, I’m also leery of a heavy - and occasionally slippery - polyurethane finish. For now I’m thinking of filling, sanding and then using a sanding sealer or possibly a light coat of water-based poly. Research continues.
There’s still a lot of work to do on the interior…but here’s a time-lapse of the weekend’s endeavors below:
The “kid” helping me in the video is “Mike” — he works for the GC who built the addition. My GC recommended him to me and my wife insisted I hire an assistant. My back thanks all three!
