Category: Articles

The Woodworking Shows and Tool Gloat!

Published on by Mike  (Leave a comment)

As you may or may not have noticed, but I am attempting to do more posts, and doing one at least weekly.  This week, there are two posts!  This past weekend, I attended The Woodworking Shows in Columbus Ohio.  I must say, I had a blast!  This was the first time I attended one of these shows.  This show is mainly about the vendor booths, but there were also some excellent presentations as well.  I watched presentations by Paul Moore, also known as The Crazy Woodworking Canadian.  He showed off some techniques and products, but was popping jokes left and right and had the audience rolling.  I see the same theme coming up at this show as I do at other shows, which is the growth in hand tools.  I watched a presentation by Paul Sellers, who is a very talented woodworking.  What he did with hand tools in a very short period of team puts most of us to shame when using power tools.  Andy Chidwick and Chuck Bender also put on a great presentation as well.

Something that was great about both days I went to the show was meeting up with people.  The first day, I brought my Dad up with me.  While he has an appreciation of the craft and the tools that go in to them, he isn’t into woodworking to the degree I am.  Still, we both really enjoyed the time together.  The next day, I met up with Kevin and ran into Sean, both of whom I have had some conversations with online.  It is always great to put a real face on those we talk to online!

2013-03-04 20.27.54Finally the tool gloat.  🙂  There were a lot of good deals at the show.  After walking around the show a bit, I started making me purchase strategy, which includes the okay from the boss (aka the wife!).  Some of my smaller purchases came from the far back corner of the show where there was a tool closeout area.  There was a lot of junk there, but a few gems with in2013-03-04 20.03.34 the junk.  It was priced so cheaply it was worth the risk on some of it.  First off, I bought 4 calipers for the lathe, at $3 a piece.  I also got 3 boxes of sand paper for my random orbit sander, also at $3 each.  Finally, I bought a file for $2.  For my big purchase I bought more clamps.  I ended up going with four 18″ Bessey Revos, for under $140!

All-in-all it was a great weekend!!

 

Technology in the Shop – Part 2 – Streaming Video

Published on by Mike  (Leave a comment)

2012-09-10 18.34.04So one of the most popular functions of the Internet is to stream video. With having a computer in the shop there are several ways we can take advantage of this function.  First, streaming how-to videos while learning techniques can be very beneficial.  It is one thing to watch a video sitting in a La-Z-Boy, where you can learn the basic concepts.  However, with having the ability to view a video in the shop, you can work along side the video.  The advantage of this is that it is much more likely small details of the technique are caught that may have otherwise been lost.

One of the online communities I am active in is the one at TheWoodWhisperer.com.  There is a live video and chat room on this site.  The live video is primarily for the live events that is often put on by Marc.  However, something else he has setup is the ability for anyone to add their own streams.  All that is needed is a free account with ustream.tv.

I typically stream when I am in the shop.  You can see it on the live page here.  I do try to send out a tweet when I am streaming.

Part 1

Get Woodworking Week Post – Box Challenge Build

Published on by Mike  (Leave a comment)

2013-01-30 22.44.46 Since my shop is in a garage, and in Ohio, I am don’t know that I will get much if any woodworking done this week.  Much of it depends if my kerosene heater can compensate for cold air outside.  However, I think it is worth talking about my current project, which is part of a box challenge that a group of us are participating in.  The idea of the challenge is to build a box that pushes your skills.

2013-01-19 18.22.49The first skill challenge for me was hand cut dovetails.  I took a class a couple years ago, and made several practice bookends, but never actually did a project with DTs on all four corners.  The answer to the top question is tails first.  🙂  I spent a lot of time being extra careful, with both the DT saw and chisels to get the joints as clean as possible.  The only area that I consistently had issues with were the half pins on the ends.  This is where I had the worse gaps.  The rest of the DTs ended up reasonably tight.  I haven’t glued the box up yet, so I have decided yet how I will close up those gaps.

2013-01-30 22.45.05After completing the four sides, I started working on top and bottom pieces.  The top I ended up doing a square turning to make it domed shape.  The I started working on the bottom.  I couldn’t bring myself to just making it from plywood.  It had to be solid wood.  I started out just rabbeting the bottom piece to fit in the dados in the sides.  I didn’t like how it looked.  So I grabbed my #3 and started working away at it.  I marked some guidelines, and next thing I know, I had a raised panel for the bottom!

2013-01-19 23.04.08I still have some work to do on the box, and any more work I do on it this week, I will update as another GWW post.

A few updates and tool gloats

Published on by Mike  (2 Comments)

Hey All, I know its been a long time since I have put an update to the blog.  The good news is things have been happening, I just haven’t been very proactive at updating the blog.  I do have part 2 of the Technology in the Shop article nearly complete, just needs some final touches.  If you would like to see more articles like that from me, please leave feedback on what you would like to see.

2012-12-06 20.48.432012-12-15 19.31.48Despite the lack of updates, I have been busy in the shop, largely spending time at the lathe turning Christmas ornaments for family and friends.  This year I tried turning miniature acorn bird houses.  These were a lot of fun to turn!  I am also participating in another challenge from the chatroom on The Woodwhisperer.com website.  This time it is a box.  I will update the blog once it has been completed.  The hand tool cabinet hasn’t changed much since its last post, that may have to wait till Spring before I work on it again.

2012-11-08 18.17.16Finally, a couple tool gloats.  First back in November, I went to the Woodworking in America show near Cincinnati.  While I took advantage of a number of good deals, my main purchase was a Veritas Router Plane.  I must say, it is a very well made hand plane, and I will likely be buying the smaller blades for it as well.

 

2012-12-25 18.14.47The second gloat, is for Christmas my family got me the Ridgid Oscillating Sander.  This thing is great is at doubles both a spindle and belt sander, and really excels at smoothing cuts from the bandsaw, both inside and outside curves.

I will try to do a bit better with getting blog posts up.  One thing that helps motivate me to do more blog posts is feedback!  Let me know what you think!

Technology in the Shop – Part 1 – Intro and Project Plans

Published on by Mike  (5 Comments)

So I recently wrote about setting up a dedicated computer in the shop, but I really glanced over why I set one up.  Why is there a need for a weekend warrior hobbyist to have a dedicated computer in his shop?  There isn’t any one answer.

I would imagine in many pro shops, especially larger ones, there is already a large presence of computers and technology in the shops.  From running CNC machines, to looking up project specs, to logging into the company’s ERP system, there are countless needs for computers in the pro shops.  However, in a hobbyist shop, most of the needs are simply not there.  So why a computer in the shop?

My day job is working in IT.  While on the surface, woodworking and IT may be an odd combination.  However, the number of IT workers who pick up some element of woodworking as a hobby is surprisingly big.  So, with having a computer in the shop, when there is already multiple computers running in the house doesn’t seem like a big deal, just another computer geek move.  🙂  That said, I do believe their are non-geek (arguably) legitimate reasons to have a computer  in the shop.

The first use for having a computer in the shop is for digital project plans.  I personally use SketchUp, because it is both free and very easy to use.  I know there are many who have access to other CAD software such as AutoCad or even Solidworks.  Sometimes it could be just as simple as viewing a scanned in project plan in a PDF file.  The benefits over having a paper plan are numerous.  All formats allow you to zoom in to look at a detail closer.  The  3D and CAD software also allow you to rotate the project from just about any angle you can think of.  It also gives you the ability to hide parts, or even a highlight a single complex part.  Also if a measurement is displayed, using the software getting that measurement is a snap.  I will admit, there are times that a paper copy of something is beneficial, especially when standing at the table saw.  This is why my shop computer is also tied to the house network printer. 🙂

In the next week or so, I will post the second part of this article, so keep your eye out for it!

 Part 2