WOODWORKING (Woodworking, Turning, Carving Etc.)

[Clipper]

Your brother in law obviously was much more talented than you and I, lol. I would love to have bought the pro model table saw for $1199 on sale, with a biesemeyer fence and such, but I could never justify the purchase and I NEVER would have the talent and the patience to do the kind of work you describe.

I think I mentioned in a post recently that I had met a fellow at sears one night that was contemplating purchasing that saw. He was a retired cabinet maker and contractor, and he did miniatures and doll houses. He described making 1/32 inch finger joints. Hell I would have all I could do to SEE them, much less cut them, haha.

If I need to cut anything that precision in nature, I would have to cut it with a scroll saw or by hand with a fine tooth hand saw, and fine tune it with sandpaper or a fine file.

I want a newer and larger planer, but I don't really do that much planing and can't afford to spend the $500 right now. I have some black walnut limb wood and blocks in the garage from a tree I took down. I would love to cut and plane some stock from that to make some small projects with, such as jewelry boxes and picture frames.

I am working on my excuse for keeping three table saws and justifying them to my better half that thinks I have too many tools now. I figure I can put a ripping blade on one, my dado set on another, and my new 80 tooth blade on the new one. That should be reason enough for having 3 table saws shouldn't it???LOL

Yes Dave. Auctions here are much as you describe. Mostly estate sales and held in and around the house. Normally the auctioneer opens the house for preinspection and then his employees bring the stuff outside to sell it, depending on the weather. I usually attend mainly estate sales, although I have gone to bank sales and sales where people did not pay the fees for self storage, and their goods were auctioned off. We also have "auction houses" where you can take your own goods in small quantities to be sold on commission. I seldom go to those, although you can get some real bargains there. I used to go to them and buy boxes of junk with a little treasure hidden amongst the trash, haha. I have bought boxes of "junk" that had snap on tools and craftsman wrenches in them for a buck or two, taken the tools back and got replacements for free, and took the rest of the junk back the following week to sell for a buck or so. I have lost interest in playing that game though, haha.

[dgriffin]

A friend has gone to auctions of contents of those little U-Store garages. You can peek in the garage, but not inspect, before bidding. He takes most stuff to the dump, but often comes up lucky.

[Clipper]

I love auctions. I wish I had the money to invest to buy some of the stuff I see, and resell it. I recently was at an estate auction where a Thomasville diningroom set with a large glass doored hutch, 6 side chairs, and two arm chairs, and a table with 3 leaves, without a scratch anywhere went for only $1200. I would bet that it was worth about $4k new, and probably was still worth about $2500 or more, but it is only worth what it sells for when it is sold at auction.

In summer, I often grab a lawn chair on a saturday morning and off to a sale I go. Sometimes simply for relaxation and to look for a few bargains. Me and my checkbook set up camp near the auctioneers podium, register as a bidder, and take my number paddle and sit down.

One can be at the right place at the right time and make some money if he knows what he can resell. I bought an older model Shopsmith a couple of years ago for $250. I sold it for $600, and never even took it into my shop or plugged it in. I had a shopsmith years ago, and the changeover time from tool to tool, make separate tools more efficient and preferable. I unloaded the foolish thing in the carport, threw a tarp over it, and put a classified ad in the paper. Two days later I had it sold.

Has anyone seen the new power carving tool that they are advertising on tv? It has 10 different chisels and gouges and has some sort of pulsating motor in it that makes the chisel vibrate and work it's way through the wood. It really looked like it worked well. I will have to get one of those one of these days. LOL. If it is a new toy, I have to have one. Kathy says she hasn't seen me carve anything since I failed at carving an eagle's head on the handle of a hickory cane I tried to make. My answer to her?? Buy me this new tool and I will START carving, haha.

[Ralph]

Clipper, keep one of the small table saws and use it to make drawers.

I mention this to answer your and Dave's problem.
There isn't much soft plywood out there that is useful for making drawers without going into higher priced cabinet grade plywood.

We used to use 1/2" 5-ply birch plywood for making drawers with 1/4" lauan for the bottoms.

We had a smaller one of the old style table saws in the shop set up with a 1/4" dado blade set up for a 1/4" cut depth, and set back from the little fence 1/4".

You cut the L & R insides of the drawer flat on the table with the ends against the fence. The front & back were cut the same way but with a 1/4" piece of plexi-glass between the side & the fence. Gave ya a nice 1/4" slot & tongue to work with.
You then ran all the sides with the inside down across the blade to cut the slots for the drawer bottom.

When set up just right it provides a very strong interlocking join with max glue surface and a minimum of fuss when making drawers.
Remember that I made them commercially, and when we had to make drawers we made a bunch!!
Joint looks something like this

[Clipper]

Excellent idea Ralph. I don't actually have a "small" table saw as in a smaller blade size. All 3 of my saws are 10inch. I would use the antique craftsman for that purpose, seeing as how the fence locking device is worn and I have to back it up with clamps to keep it from moving. I measure front and back from the blade and put a couple of pistol grip bar clamps on the fence to hold it tightly. That would be great for the purpose you mention, because I would not have to be moving the fence and could put two steel c-clamps on there and leave them.

Thanks for showing me that joint. I will use it when I make my drawers for the benches in the garage. Looks quite strong and as you say, it has maximum glueing area as well.

Have you seen the power carving tool that I was talking about in the post above this? We have a cable channel that is running a weekend marathon of a program called "cool tools" with a guy showing all the latest and greatest in tools and gadgets. I thought the power chisel was great. I just pulsates and the chisels move through the wood. It is not like an air chisel or impact chisel. It is very fine movement and quiet. I had not seen one before, and thought it was really pretty cool. I would love to have one just to play with. I am far from an artist, but I would love to try and carve. It would be great for making signs and stuff also, rather than routing.

[Ralph]

Never got into wood carving, just didn't do anything for me for some reason, though I did a lot of glass engraving on my old show truck.

We used an old heavy 6 or 7 inch saw (belt driven), one of those antique little things that only had a table about a foot square? Ya know, the kind you can drop from a 3rd story window onto the sidewalk and still have a perfectly working saw left.........but no sidewalk!

It is a great setup, a little tedious when first getting it going as it requires a bit of finesse so that all the joints interlock, but once done you can just leave it. The only drawback is that you have to use 1/2" cabinet grade plywood for your drawers. But then we made all our drawers out of the same stuff and the only thing ever different was the faces.

[Clipper]

My old craftsman saw is belt driven, but the two new ones both have the arbor directly on the end of the motor shaft. I guess that is the price I pay for not being able to afford $500 and up for a higher quality saw, or justify it for hobby use. I really don't have the time to really make more expense a justifiable item in the budget. Kathy bitches now about the money I spend on tools and equipment for the time I get to spend out there. I probably should go on line and see if there are arbors or arbor bearings or bushing available for the old saw, and a new fence or locking device. I would love to refurbish that old saw. It just has that really neat "whistle" when it gets wound up to speed. I just can't part with it, haha. Packrat syndrome I guess.

I have benches with 2x6 tops and 4x4 legs. I also have a steel legged bench with a plywood top. I want to put masonite on all the bench tops, and build drawers for underneath them all. I will probably use 1x8 pine for the drawers though, as I want them deeper and heavier than the average kitchen drawers.

I also want to build a cabinet to hold 30 small drawers for screws and fasteners. I bought 30 little hardwood, finger jointed boxes at a yard sale a year or so ago, for 12 bucks. They are about the size of a cigar box, and I have no idea what they were originally used for. they were all in a cardboard box and they wanted 20 bucks. I bought them cheap, and now all I have to do is figure out WHAT I BOUGHT THEM FOR, HAHA!

[dgriffin]

Ralph, the 1/2 inch sides with luan bottom is a good idea. I really wanted 1/4 inch for the fly tying cabinets project, because the drawers were so small. However, in future projects, I'd make them larger and your idea would work well. Thanks a lot!
PS: I can make that join and have before for another project. On my table saw, it's a tad imprecise, but it worked well. The problem was the rabbet on the end, of course, but I bolted an vertical extension to my rather primitive fence to do it.
As far as dovetails, I've never attempted them, and probably won't since I don't built furniture.

[Ralph]

You can use the same concept for any size wood thickness so long as you keep the cut/dado/fence relief exactly half of the thickness of whatever stock you are using.

As far as deeper, heavier drawers go Clipper, stay away from the solid pine and go with a cabinet grade plywood. I know Home Depot sells smaller sheets of it.

Pine has gotten to be more expensive than some hardwoods for anything close to clear. Strength wise you will get more out of the plywood as it won't be so apt to split (or warp).
Look at the defects with most old dressers. 98% of them are fine until you try to open a drawer! The solid wood just can't stand the test of time and warps or swells into all sorts of neat shapes. Plywood is much more stable after the drawers are built and sealed.

[dgriffin]

Someone once said the old craftsmen used solid boards only because there was no plywood!

[Clipper]

Thanks for the tip Ralph. With the shop being in the garage and the heat and humidity varying so much, the pine might very well warp.
I will go with the plywood. No sense investing all that work and having the damn drawers warp and stick. I have some birch plywood left, probably over a half sheet. I wasn't thinking about the warp factor. I was thinking about the "cheaper than cabinet grade factor" and thicker and heavier duty.

[JGRobinson]

Wives just don't understand, one just can't have enough tools! Unless you are independently wealthy, they are worth every dime we pay for them (Cheaper than hiring a cabinet maker). My shop keeps shrinking! All my saws, mills and such have to be on wheels (not so good for precision cuts).

Ralph, I have never done that drawer join but Ive done OK with a semi cheepo Craftsman Dovetail Jig and a router and a new super sharp bit. Porter Cable makes a bigger jig for bigger drawers, much more expensive! Had to practice a couple times b4 I figured it out but its not that bad. Just do it, follow the instructions to the letter and they work well!

Ive had better luck with solid lumber than Plywood on Dovetails but you have to glue them up pretty quick b4 things start twisting.

Love woodworking, much better than electronics Tech which is my primary trade. Wood is pretty cheap and if you screw it up, at least you can still light it with a match and warm your hands!