Woodworking Projects and Plans: new

I put the new Craftsman router table together yesterday and it was much, much easier than the Ryobi. Each leg is held on by 4 bolts. The vertical ones just screw in and have washers and lock washers. The horizontal ones have lock washers, washers, and nuts. I found a diagram in the manual for installing the model of my router and it screwed right in with 3 bolts and the height adjustment hole lined right up. I installed the fence and featherboards in a couple of minutes and the table is now ready for testing.

I couldnt get the Ryobi router to fit in the new table so I returned it and bought this Craftsman router

on sale for $50.99. I checked the router table manual before I went shopping for compatible
routers and this one was on the list.

Here is the fully assembled table. It went together much faster then the Ryobi table.

I cant remember what this is called but it is used for routing end grain and smaller pieces. This one is made out of metal whereas the Ryobi one was made out of plastic.

It came with 5 insert plates. The Ryobi also came with 5 but they all had holes. Im not sure what the solid one would be good for.

The included wrench has a wider handle built into the bottom which makes it a little more comfortable to use.

The router has a small push button to hold the shaft while you tighten or loosen the router bit. There is a small plastic shield behind it that you have to remove to reach the button.

The table has a hole in the top for adjusting the height of the router. I am using an allen wrench for now but would like to buy a t-handle wrench for it. Sears had a t-handle kit for $39.95 but I dont want to spend that much money. I just want to get the one to fit the router.

This is the allen wrench coming through the table top and into the router.

The plastic handles on the sides are a nice touch. They make the table comfortable to pick up.

Selasa, 05 April 2016

I found a new woodworker on YouTube

This guy is my new woodworking hero! I cant wait until I have some free time to just sit there and watch all of his videos. http://www.youtube.com/user/lgosseuxdbois

Kamis, 31 Maret 2016

New stain and poly testing

As I mentioned in my previous post I bought some new stain so I tried it out last night. I bought a couple of little cans of polyurethane when I did my first ever stain and poly job on my sons step stool. I have a little can of Minwax Oil-Modified poly that I used on the step stool and a Varathane water based poly. Since I am using a water based stain I figured that I would try the water based poly too.
The seat and shelves really warped when I cut down the 1x10 to size so now the dividers dont fit correctly. They are sitting on the crown in the middle and dont touch at the front or back so I decided to glue and tack in some supports on the sides. I am using the dividers since they are sanded down to 120 grit like everything else. I am going to sand one more of them to 220 grit to test more staining. When I stained the step stool it was only sanded to 120 and I was really happy with the choice it turned out.

I put supports in for the shelves just to play it safe. I apllied glue and then just tacked them in with 1.25" brads in my nail gun.

I flooded the sample with stain and let it sit for 10 minutes.

The piece on the left is the one I flooded with a brush and let sit for 10 minutes. The one on the right I apllied the stain with a rag and just worked it in for a few seconds and then wiped right off again. It is a little liighter and less blotchy.

This is with 1 light coat of the Varathane water based poly. The directions on the can of stain said that I could apply poly after 1 hour. I waited 1.25 hours and put it on at 11:45 PM.

I lightly sanded the pieces down with 220 and then wiped them down with a clean towel and then a tack cloth.

Second coat of poly apllied at 8:20 am.

Throwing Axes At Unisaws With Roy Underhill

This episode was too good not to re-post.Modern Woodworkers Association Podcast 40.

My new dado set

I installed my new 8" dado set into my Skilsaw 3410 contractor table saw today. It turns out that the arbor will only accommodate 1/2" of the 13/16" set. I guess that I will be making a few more passes than I planned. It will still beat the heck out of making them with a single blade!

Rabu, 30 Maret 2016

Hall Tree assembly part 1

I started assembly on the Hall Tree last night. I ran into some unexpected problems so I didnt get as much done as I had hoped to.

I started with the rear backsplash for the shelf at the top. This one went pretty well. I used my

Rockler Clampit and it did a good job.

This is the bottom with the apron in the front. Since the pocket holes are on the inside I put the Clampit on the outside. In hindsight I should have put the clamps all the choice to the inside of the Clampit. I had put them further out to allow me to get the drill to the pocket hole but I think putting the clamps all the choice inside would have worked better. The wood ended up drifting and one of the screws split the edge of the front corner.

I forced some glue into the split and clamped it and you can barely tell now. I just need to do some sanding and after I paint it you will never know.

I got the top shelf mounted, glued and screwed in and I was very happy with the result.

Only the top shelf, backsplash, and bottom front apron are actually attached. I dry fit the rest to see how it looks. I hope to get the rest of it assembled tonight.

3rd coat of poly and sanding mishaps

?I lightly sanded the hall tree with 220 last night and applied a 3rd coat of poly. Even with being careful I managed to sand through the poly and some of the stain in a few spots. I have been trying to be careful to not make the coats of poly too thick and I think I have been making them a little too thin. I am leaving the light parts there for now as I think it gives it a little character. I was planning on putting a 4th coat on just the top shelf and seat but I think I am going to put an extra coat on the whole thing.

I am going to oversand some of my test pieces down to bare wood and see if I can put some brown stain on it and make it look weathered. If that turns out well I may redo some of the hall tree at a later date.

Selasa, 29 Maret 2016

New Yankee Workshop Workbench update cutting the plywood benchtop

The plans called for making the benchtop out of 3/4" plywood. Ive had this sheet of 1/2" plywood in my garage forever. I planned out all my cuts and I was able to make the bench top and bottom shelf with 2 layers of the 1/2" plywood. I made the tray bottom out of 1 piece.

I set up the 4x8 sheet on my 2 sawhorses with 2x4s running the length for support. I also set up a straight edge to run my cordless saw along. This end will be cut off here and then cut into two matching pieces to make the bottom shelf.

I also set up two scrap pieces of 2x4 to support the wood when I cross cut it.

I checked the far corner and it is pretty square so I clamped a 1x3 down to use to cut the piece for the tray bottom. I gave it a couple of extra inches and will cut it down to size on the table saw. This will make sure that the side cut with the 1x3 ends up being square.

My table saw came with a 28 tooth blade. I bought a 40 tooth blade a couple of weeks back and I am finally getting a chance to try it out.

Here is the tray bottom and shelf top cut to size.

The 2 pieces for the benchtop have been cut to size.

I cut the hardboard to width using the same settings that I used on the plywood.

I didnt want to have to deal with the leftovers of a full sheet of hardboard so I bought 2 smaller pieces that fit in my car. I bought 2 because they were not long enough to cover the length of the benchtop.

All cut to size.

I cut the hardboard so that the seem would be located where I need to cut the top out for the moving dog block.

Heres the first dry fit.

Senin, 28 Maret 2016

New Yankee Workshop Workbench update cutting the inserts out of the top

I cut the slot out of the benchtop for the dogs and tailstock. What a giant pain in the rear? Norm does it in the video in like 30 seconds and it took me nearly an hour.

I attached the 2 pieces of plywood together with 1" drywall screws and some of them ended up poking through so I had to cut off all the tips with my dremel before running the piece through the tablesaw.