Best three easy improvements to my shop. How about yours?

On Sun, 08 Feb 2004 13:37:44 -0600, Lawrence A. Ramsey
<[email protected]> wrote:

>The number 1 best thing I ever did for my shop was to buy ($90) a 96
>drawer card file catalog from a university. Unbelievably useful and
>handy. Can put bolts/screws in drawes per size;blades for hand
>plane/planer/jointer/hand jointer in drawers per tool, etc.

Those things really are handy. I check the local used office
furniture warehouse on a regular basis for something similar. One
day, I'll have one too!

Barry

In article <[email protected]>, UnisawA100
@wi.rr.com says...
> Luigi Zanasi wrote:
> >1. A pee bucket. A plastic bucket filled with sawdust. I no longer
> >need to walk out to the garden beds (during the winter) or the compost
> >heap (during the summer). The stuff just gets dumped on the compost in
> >the spring: a good combination of nitrogen and carbon. No smell. Thank
> >you, Doug Stowe.
>
>
> Can you explain this further? Can you post a picture on
> abpw?
>

Please don't. Keeter, what are you thinkin'? :-)



> UA100
>

Luigi Zanasi wrote:
>1. A pee bucket. A plastic bucket filled with sawdust. I no longer
>need to walk out to the garden beds (during the winter) or the compost
>heap (during the summer). The stuff just gets dumped on the compost in
>the spring: a good combination of nitrogen and carbon. No smell. Thank
>you, Doug Stowe.


Can you explain this further? Can you post a picture on
abpw?

UA100

I'd really, really, like to reorganize my shop for better efficency. Its
the basement, divided into 3 areas currently. One corner was a
darkroom/laundry area. No darkroom now, and I plan to make the laundry
area smaller to enclosed the washer/dryer/tub acessible by bifold doors.
There is a dividing wall along the middle of the basement, running
alongside furnace and hot water heater. On my "shop" side (dirty side),
I cram a workbench, a tool cabinet, table saw, band saw, drill press,
and soon, a jointer. The table saw is on wheels. The Band saw and drill
press will soon be. The jointer will be too. On the floor under
shelving, I have my planer, drill doctor case, plate joiner case, a
small electric heater, shop vac, a model plane in progress, and a couple
of small rubbermaid tubs. On the other side of the shop around the
furnace, I have 3 rubber maid "wrap and store" containers for my model
airplane cover, a 6' high wheeled rack for model airplane wood sheets, a
roll around upright rack for model airplane wood sticks, a couple of
boxes of stuff, some rolls a of naughahyde, and lots of wood leaning
against the water heater. Plus a rolling toobox and air compressor.

The other half of the basement (which has the laundry corner), I have a
4x8 table intended for building parts of my full size plane when I get
to it. One wall holds model airplanes. Another wall is taken up by steel
shelving, the 3rd wall has shelving, my reloading bench, a gun safe, and
a plastic desk holding my miscellanous hunting stuff (clothes, cases,
etc). Next to the laundry corner are 2 plastic shelving units, a half
size metal shelf, basement dehumidifier, and miscellanous stuff.

So yeah, things are tight.

And no, I don't have a garage!

I need storage! agh!

John

In article <[email protected]>,
"Bill" <bill<spam>@theeverettes.com> wrote:

> Since when is urine good for compost and/or vegetation?

Nitrogen in the urea. Wood-decomposing organisms use lots of nitrogen
as they eat the cellulose. Once the cellulose is eaten, all of the
nitrogen is available for plants again. You need to add nitrogen to a
compost heap if you put in lots of woody material. Urine is readily
available.

Urine is, unless you have a bladder infection, sterile. Feces contain
lots of nutrients also, but are a public health hazard. Cholera, anyone?
Livestock manure must be composted in order to cook any pathogens which
may be present.

What goes around, comes around.
--
"Keep your ass behind you."

flip up disk/belt sander and osilating sander, when down it is just the
miter station extension

heat and AC

lots of cabinets, a specific place for everything... well eventually, I
need 2 more cabinets.

my next 3; utility sink, real workbench, overhead air reel in the shop
and another in the garage.

BRuce

Rich Stern wrote:
> I just finished a project and was cleaning up the shop, moving stuff around to
> get at all the sawdust, putting tools back, etc. I was musing about changes
> I've made to my workshop over the years, thinking about the successes and the
> failures. Here's what I came up with for my best three:
>
> 1) Compressed air from an overhead, retractable reel. How the heck did I get
> through the early years without this? I leave my portable compressor hooked up
> via quick disconnect to a feed line for the overhead reel. I can disconnect
> and roll out quickly if I need the compressor in the yard, garage, or at a
> neighbor's. The reel also has a quick disconnect, stuffed with a blowgun when
> not using any other air tools. This setup is great for woodworking, but the
> air gets used for all kinds of other tasks, too.
>
> 2) Stopped overcrowding the shop with machines. For years, my semi-portable
> power tools were set up and ready to work. Visions of moving from station to
> station with effortless efficiency. I thought it made projects go faster. The
> opposite is true. As I run low on space, the shop gets messy and projects
> begin to crawl. Now I take out the miter saw, belt/disk sander, scroll saw,
> etc. only when needed. The rest of the time, I enjoy the free space around the
> bigger machines. The shop stays much cleaner.
>
> 3) Rolling tool chest. You know, the mechanic's type. Just a low end,
> stacking unit from Lowes. Measuring tools, wrenches, sockets, screwdrivers,
> drill bits, etc, stay organized and dust free, and I can wheel the thing around
> if needed. My pegboarding of all this stuff never stayed organized. Somehow,
> I manage to keep it neat in the rolling cabinet.
>
> What are your best three easy imrpovements?

yep, I used some leftover 4" light guage PVC leftovers, cut in 6" long
pieces and screwed to the joists ~24" apart. any little diameter "good
stuff" that will span 2 or more gets saved there.

BRuce

Unisaw A100 wrote:
> Weegie wrote:
>
>>1. One day I got pissed off at all the extensions and blowing
>>breakers, and installed two new circuits with outlets on the ceiling
>>every 6' or so. Wired like a (Canadian?) kitchen so the two plugs in
>>each duplex outlet are on separate circuits. It helps that the ceiling
>>is only a little over 7' high.
>
>
> So far I have the one outlet above the assembly area bench
> but I'm leaning towards another in a spot where the jointer,
> planer, band saw and An Ultimate Router Table have decided
> were a good spot to call their home. None get used
> simultaneously so one circuit should/would work out with a
> 4-way box.
>
>
>>2. Put wheels on my Makita 2040 planer.
>
>
> sigh... I found a nicely constructed roll around rack mount
> (for A/V devices) for free and it recently began it's new
> life as a roll around for the Delta lunch box planer.
>
>
>>3. Put in 4 low temperature 8'fluorescent fixtures. They start up even
>>when the shop is at 20 below (-4F, Keith).
>
>
> Sweater weather, right?
>
>
>>4. Got me a cheap Crappy Tire rolling mechanic's tool box. I keep my
>>measuring tools, sandpaper, drill bits and accessories, ratchet set in
>>separate drawers.
>
>
> Not gone there yet as I have entirely too much/many foot
> prints already. Maybe I'll have me something once I've
> eBay'd a few things more. In the mean time, my next big
> project are some cabinets along two walls with shallow
> drawers. I calc'd out that two 8'ish cabinets would mean
> making 60ish drawer/trays. I'm figuring this would be
> tantamount to going from dirt roads to an 8-lane Interstate
> (highway Luigi).
>
>
>>5. Put in a cheap IKEA-style termite-puke bookcase that we had around
>>to keep all my fasteners.
>
>
> Something similar/the same, I made shallow (3" deep)
> cabinets (from scrap/you don't really even need a back for
> these) that are sprinkled about the shoppe for
> infrastructure items. On the up side, I've not had to go
> digging for anything in the last three years.
>
>
>>6. Screwed a few 1X3s to the ceiling joists. Great for storing planes,
>>pipe clamps, etc..
>
>
> Similar but different, we have 3" diameter cardboard tubes
> left over from our plotter at work. Some of these have
> ended up in between the joists for holding "better
> rippings", dowels and anything else that's long and skinny.
>
>
>>Ok, it's more than three but, as you all know, there are three kinds
>>of people, those who can count and those who can't.
>
>
> The math works for me.
>
> UA100

--
---

BRuce

On Sat, 07 Feb 2004 23:00:55 -0800, Luigi Zanasi <[email protected]>
scribbled:

>On 06 Feb 2004 04:38:59 GMT, [email protected] (Rich Stern) scribbled:
>
>>What are your best three easy imrpovements?
>
<snip of my previous six improvements>

How could I forget improvement No. 7 (actually should be #1),
especially considering Silvan's vulgar hijacking of another thread to
the topic I am about to bring up.

1. A pee bucket. A plastic bucket filled with sawdust. I no longer
need to walk out to the garden beds (during the winter) or the compost
heap (during the summer). The stuff just gets dumped on the compost in
the spring: a good combination of nitrogen and carbon. No smell. Thank
you, Doug Stowe.

Luigi
Note the new email address.
Please adjust your krillfiles (tmAD) accordingly
Replace "nonet" with "yukonomics" for real email address

On Mon, 09 Feb 2004 10:17:43 GMT, Unisaw A100 <[email protected]>
brought forth from the murky depths:

>Larry Jaques wrote:
>>I was thinking a rolling sled storage slot might be handy there.
>
>
>Ah yes. In my case, above the outfeed table, to the right
>and against the wall. 13"ish deep, 42" high and 32" front
>to back. Maybe some dividers to keep the larger sleds from
>banging into each other.
>
>Also, somewhere to park the saw fence when it's not
>needed/being used. I'm thinking under the right hand
>extension, 'tween the saw cabinet and cabinet under the saw
>extension.
>
>And then, a place to park/store blades.

You have more than one blade?


>And then, somewhere for the push stick/feeder blocks.

I have one peg for the blade wrench/earmuffs and a couple
of brass eyelets hanging from the right extension table
but I think a drawer will be more handy some day. It could
handle height and angle gauges, too.


>And then, some place for the zero tolerance inserts.

Or Dina's cast-arn 3/8-inch-gaper insert.


>And then... Sheesh! We ain't even stepped away from the
>saw table and I'm already at five.

Never ending, wot?


--
REMEMBER: First you pillage, then you burn.
---
http://diversify.com Full Service Website Development

On 06 Feb 2004 15:08:56 EST, Mark and Kim Smith
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Yikes! I just spent $1500 on mine. Then again, it is a Snap-on unit.

Mine honestly aren't anywhere near Snap-On quality, but I think
they're plenty adequate.

Barry

Rich Stern wrote:

> What are your best three easy imrpovements?

Just one. Getting the rest of the family to call it "the shop" instead of
"the garage" ie, the place to toss everything that isn't wanted somewhere
else. <g> "The shop" is just a one car garage and I've grudgingly allowed
a treadmill, freezer and stepper to also occupy the space. ANYTHING else
not related to shop work is assumed to have been misplaced in the shop
instead of the trashcan.

I had to be pretty ruthless. Boxes of useful stuff, roller blades, etc.
went in the trash & were hauled away. ;-)

But then, I've been to any number of US Army "charm schools." Why not put
to use what I've learned? <g>

-- Mark

On Sun, 08 Feb 2004 06:42:08 GMT, Bay Area Dave <[email protected]> wrote:

>wood is the preferred floor for several reasons:
>
>1. drop a chisel, tip down,

Do they ever land any other way? <G>

Barry

1. A space-saving tool cabinet that opens up. This organizes my hand
tools where I need them. Maybe not easy, but it was fun to build.

2. Installed 7 electical circuits (one circuit is 220v) with lots of
outlets. I put an outlet every 4 feet, plus a few about waist high
and overhead. Like clamps, you can't have too many outlets. No more
sanding and pulling the plug out!

3. Finishing the walls (drywall). I finished my walls just like it
was a living space, except I installed beefier baseboards to take the
abuse. Painted the trim and walls white. Makes cleanup easy and adds
needed light.

On Sun, 08 Feb 2004 04:06:18 GMT, "Rob V" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Tim,
>
>Can you give more details and pics on #2?
Rob -
See my reply to Larry Jacques (I accidentally sent this post twice, so
it's a prior thread). . Also, I will post a pic on ABPW.

>
>Also - where did you get that shroud you mentioned in #1?
I made it out of freezer curtain material. It's flexible vinyl, about
1/8" thick. It comes in 3' wide rolls. They sell it by the
foot at Multi-Craft plastics in Portland, I suspect any plastic
supplier would have it. I'll post a pic of this on ABPW too.

>
>Thanks
>-Rob
>
>"Tim Carver" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> On 06 Feb 2004 04:38:59 GMT, [email protected] (Rich Stern) wrote:
>>
>> >What are your best three easy imrpovements?
>>
>> 1) I tried for years to come up with an effective dust collection
>> solution for my SCMS. I've tried using a box behind the saw,
>> etcetera. Every solution either compromised the cuts the saw could
>> make, or didn't do a great job collecting the dust. Well,
>> I finally tried making a shroud out of that flexible plastic that's
>> used for freezer curtains. A couple of hours of fiddling around, and
>> Voila! It works! I now have a dust free miter station. It's a
>> flexible shroud that attaches to the saw and moves with it, and it
>> doesn't restrict any cut (extreme left miter+bevel, etc) that the saw
>> is capable of making. Very low effort for a large environmental
>> improvement, IMO.
>>
>> 2) Mounted my outfeed table top on 28" drawer slides. The table is
>> 28" deep,so when it's pushed in, it doesn't get in my way. When I
>> push it out, it extends out to 56" behind the saw (60" past the blade)
>> which is just long enough to handle 8' stock, and I can move it in and
>> out without even walking around to the back of the saw. After
>> suffering for years with temp supports and and later a large fixed
>> table that took too much room, I'm really happy with this solution.
>>
>> 3) Replaced shelves under my bench with simple shallow
>> pullouts. This was so easy to do it isn't funny, and it improved the
>> cleanliness of my shop a ton, because I can now get a lot more stuff
>> neatly arranged on the pullouts than I ever could on the shelves.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Tim Carver
>> [email protected]
>

Tim Carver
[email protected]

On 06 Feb 2004 04:38:59 GMT, [email protected] (Rich Stern) wrote:

>3) Rolling tool chest. You know, the mechanic's type. Just a low end,
>stacking unit from Lowes.

I'm with ya' brother!

Every once and a while, I pick up bottom sections with wheels from
Sears. Add a rubber or wood mat on top, and you have a great shop
assistant. The chests can roll righ to the tools and provide easy
access to router bits, saw jigs, measuring and marking tools, etc...

The most I've ever paid was $175, on sale, for an 8 drawer unit. I'm
up to 4 of them, with one top unit.

Barry

On Mon, 09 Feb 2004 15:34:43 GMT, "Bill" <bill<spam>@theeverettes.com>
scribbled:

>Since when is urine good for compost and/or vegetation?

Since forever. It's one of things that make horse manure a good
fertiliser. According to an article in a Canadian gardening magazine a
few years back, urine is actually a 10-1-1 fertiliser very high in
nitrogen. Like other fertilisers, undiluted, it will "burn" plants,
but diluted 10 to one, it works very well. East Asian farmers have
been using human wastes as fertiliser for thousands of years.

In a compost bin, an important consideration is the ratio of nitrogen
to carbon. If you use sawdust in your compost, you need to add a high
nitrogen component like urine or grass clippings, otherwise it will
take forever to rot.

Luigi
Replace "nonet" with "yukonomics" for real email address

This is initially going to sound crazy but here goes.

Grade school kids
brooms
"huge vacuum cleaner" (their term for "dust collector").

Now the words - kids, cleaning, dusting - and the phrase
"tidying" up don't normally go together - when they're
at home. But in a SHOP...

Maybe it's ALL THAT POWER - dust collector's muted roar,
the sound of a large volume of air being sucked into
a four inch hose, the way things magically disappear
as the end of the hose approaches them or the sound of
small pieces of all sorts of things rattling their way
through the pipes on their way to who knows where.

All of my "stationary" tools are on wheels and normally
reside against a wall. They get pulled out when used
and push back when done - leaving wood residue behind
them. Out of sight, out of mind. But, after a kid, or
a team of kids have sucked everything that they can
reach into that four inch hose, they start looking
UNDER and BEHIND things.

In BIG VACUUM CLEANER mode, kids become prospectors
searching for the Mother Load. Discovering all the
sawdust that collects under a cabinet saw is a cause
for squeeling rejoicing. That will prompt a search
through my "sticks and dowel" storage tubes for an
arm extender to get to the otherwise inaccessible
sawdust. And like gold miners, they'll stick with
"the gold vein" until it's all gone.

When they discover more "treasures" behind the tools
on wheels they'll hound you until you move them out
of the way so they can continue their prospecting.

After finding and taking care of everything the dust
collector can handle, they find brooms and start
sweeping small to medium cut offs into two or three
piles - to be gone through for later "glue stuff
together, use your imagination, sculpture/projects"
The rejects go in a scrap box for kindling and "the
good stuff" goes into each one's large zip lock
stash bag.

When "the room full of heavy stuff that generates
sawdust" has been picked clean they move on to the
"quiet gluing and bug spitting room" (bug spit to
them is shellac to the rest of us - but bug spit
sounds cooler). Here they can't use the HUGE
VACUUM CLEANER - they know curlies will clog it
up (earlier learning experience) - so it's brooms
and brushes. The interesting curlies get saved
for a future creative project and the rest get
stuffed in a "fireplace fire starter stuff" bag.
All those little pieces that dovetails and tenons
create are each examined carefully for some
wonderful use, the rejects going in a kindling
box.

As a bonus for me, they also find every nut, bolt,
screw and anything else I'd dropped and couldn't
find. Those go in the "stuff that was found and
will be sorted out and put away later" can. One
of these discoveries will prompt a "what's this
and what's it for" question and one of my "too
much information" lectures. I've learned to pay
attention, so when their eyes start to glaze over
I let them get back to The Hunt.

In less than an hour the cleaning tornado moves
on, other games to play. I'm left with a nice
clean shop (it's still cluttered but relatively
clean) bags of kids project parts, a bag
of fire lighting curlies and a box of kindling.
I'm also exhausted and inspired.

Exhausted because I've had to mediate at least a
dozen "he got to vacuum for 10 minutes and I only
got to vacuum for a minute", "I found that first
and she took it", "why can't I use the push broom
this time?", "she says this is from a pin socket
and I say it's from a tail socket" disputes.

Exhausted because I've had to watch them like
a hawk to keep them from bumping their heads
while crawling under power equiptment searching
for treasure, trying to move a wheeled cart
supporting a disk and spindle sander away from
the wall to get to who knows what behind it ...

The inspiration comes from listening to all
the wonderful ideas they have for a piece of
scrap they found and saved.

Inspired because they got me to look for useful
stuff in what would otherwise be "just scrap".

For those who'e had their teeth on edge, worrying
about kids in the shop:

The sharp handtools are in wall hanging tool
cabinets behind a SCMS station and are out of
reach of kids and, with the doors closed - out
site, out of mind.

All power tools are unplugged, and those that can
be "locked down" are locked down BEFORE the human
tornadoes get started.

I've got one of those powerful magnates on a stick
things and use it when emptying the cyclone garbage
can - finding the iron bearing parts that shouldn't
have been vacuumed up in the first place.

To date there's been only one injury. While
crawling around under the sliding table of my
combination machine (a Robland X31 for the curious)
looking for more sawdust to vacuum up, and despite
my repeated "watch your head" warnings, one girl
tried to get up while under the sliding table and
dinged her eyebrow.

That prompted a "que tip and peroxide - neopsorene
- big gauze eyepatch with four big pieces of tape to
hold it in place - just for dramatic effect - medical
emergency production with an audience enjoying every
act of the three act drama, The star of this production,
with her "eye make up" was in all her glory, basking in
the attention of her fans - "Does it really hurt
bad?" - "You gonna have to get stitches?" - "Think
you'll lose your eye?"

Of course the tape and the gauze came off before she
went home and her "gaping wound" lost some of it's
shock value - a shiny neosporened eyebrow just isn't
all that noteworthy.

Maybe, in addition to eye protection, ear muffs rubber
gloves and safety glasses, I should add a helmet or
two.

Nothing to buy, no slick jig or fixture, no new use
for an existing tool- a single, free in terms of
dollars, shop improvement. Clean shop and another
one of those priceless experiences.

charlie b

Rich Stern <[email protected]> wrote:

: What are your best three easy imrpovements?

Very few of my improvement shave been easy because of the nature of
my "basement". It's not really a basement - the foundation was built
on rock ledge. I've had to build a platform over the highly sloping
rock ledge, and that platform is the floor of my shop.

So my best improvements are:

1) (an "easy") 1" x 12" x 30" pine tool holders held up with French
Cleats.

2) doubling then tripling the floor space by building more platform.

3) Adding high quality flourescent lights.



--- Gregg

My woodworking projects:


Replicas of 15th-19th century nautical navigational instruments:

http://home.comcast.net/~saville/backstaffhome.html

Restoration of my 82 year old Herreshoff S-Boat sailboat:

http://home.comcast.net/~saville/SBOATrestore.htm

Steambending FAQ with photos:

http://home.comcast.net/~saville/Steambend.htm



"Improvise, adapt, overcome."
[email protected]
Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Phone: (617) 496-1558

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Do a google search on what type of pipe to use for all the info (not
PVC!). As to the effect on your compressor, it just acts like your
compressor has a larger tank. Since it will probably be on the
downstream side of your pressure regulator the total amount of available
air will be slightly less that if it was on the upstream side. Because
of this I like to run my piping at full compressor tank pressure and
regulate it down at the end where I plug in the air tools.

-Bruce


Jeff wrote:
> [email protected] (Larry Bud) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
>>
>>I piped my compressor which is in the garage into the basement. ran
>>it across one wall with quick disconnect fittings. Love it! Would
>>like to run it across the adjecent wall.
>
>
>
> That is a really good idea. Does it matter what type of pipe you use?
> Would having about 40 feet of pipe added between a pancake compressor
> and the nail gun affect the operation, that is, would there still be
> enough power to drive the nails?



-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
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wood is the preferred floor for several reasons:

1. drop a chisel, tip down, onto a concrete floor. what do you get? a
damaged tool. drop it on wood instead. what do you get? satisfaction!

2. easier on the feet and legs.

3. a bit warmer than a concrete slab.

That's all that comes to mind at the moment. I'm sure others will chime in.

dave

Puff Griffis wrote:

> Why the wood floor Dave and is this in preference to concrete ? I am about to set up a new shop and wondered what was better.
> Puff
>
> "Bay Area Dave" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
>
>>I installed a retractable reel about a week ago but will be relocating
>>it from near the compressor to nearly the center of the shop, because
>>there is only about 21' feet of hose which gets caught up on the TS and
>>other equipment when I drag it over to the workbench on the wall
>>opposite the reel.
>>
>>Five wall cabinets to hold and hide lots of stuff! Plus keep most of
>>the dust off those items.
>>
>>An overhead retractable 110V cord with a 3-outlet molded plug.
>>
>>Can I give more than three? Here goes:
>>
>>painted the walls semi-gloss white.
>>
>>Lot's of light: 11 4 foot fluorescents in a two car "studio" <g>
>>
>>Weather striped the door to stop drafts; the shop is much warmer in the
>>winter because of that one improvement.
>>
>>Just added a TV last week to supplement the CD player, cassette
>>player/radio.
>>
>>
>>What I'd like to have but won't (do to one thing or another)
>>
>>1. Utility basin
>>2. A John
>>3. more R-O-O-M
>>4. higher ceiling
>>5. wood floor
>>
>>
>>
>>dave
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>Rich Stern wrote:
>>
>>
>>>I just finished a project and was cleaning up the shop, moving stuff around to
>>>get at all the sawdust, putting tools back, etc. I was musing about changes
>>>I've made to my workshop over the years, thinking about the successes and the
>>>failures. Here's what I came up with for my best three:
>>>
>>>1) Compressed air from an overhead, retractable reel. How the heck did I get
>>>through the early years without this? I leave my portable compressor hooked up
>>>via quick disconnect to a feed line for the overhead reel. I can disconnect
>>>and roll out quickly if I need the compressor in the yard, garage, or at a
>>>neighbor's. The reel also has a quick disconnect, stuffed with a blowgun when
>>>not using any other air tools. This setup is great for woodworking, but the
>>>air gets used for all kinds of other tasks, too.
>>>
>>>2) Stopped overcrowding the shop with machines. For years, my semi-portable
>>>power tools were set up and ready to work. Visions of moving from station to
>>>station with effortless efficiency. I thought it made projects go faster. The
>>>opposite is true. As I run low on space, the shop gets messy and projects
>>>begin to crawl. Now I take out the miter saw, belt/disk sander, scroll saw,
>>>etc. only when needed. The rest of the time, I enjoy the free space around the
>>>bigger machines. The shop stays much cleaner.
>>>
>>>3) Rolling tool chest. You know, the mechanic's type. Just a low end,
>>>stacking unit from Lowes. Measuring tools, wrenches, sockets, screwdrivers,
>>>drill bits, etc, stay organized and dust free, and I can wheel the thing around
>>>if needed. My pegboarding of all this stuff never stayed organized. Somehow,
>>>I manage to keep it neat in the rolling cabinet.
>>>
>>>What are your best three easy imrpovements?
>>
>

1) Rearranging my shop so the tablesaw was at the end and not in the middle
(gave me way more room).

2) Hung power cords across the ceiling and dropped down to tool areas (keeps
cables off the floor) -- I know, I know against code, but I have to build a
shed to put my outdoor crap in and then I can make my shop permanent -- I'll
run conduit at that point

3) Snagged a heavy duty table/cabinet with shelves underneath for free and
use it as my assembly table.

3a) Keep my shop clean. Now when I have 30-60 min to spare instead of
looking at a pile of tools everywhere and thinking "That'll take 30-40min
just to clean up and give me space to work" I just start working. Ahh...I
love it -- thanks for the advice Tom Plamman!

Mike

"Rich Stern" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> What are your best three easy imrpovements?

My "shop" is my two-car garage, so every square inch is precious.

Best four improvements:

1. Wall-mounted lumber rack
2. Retractable power cord (overhead installation)
3. Putting bench saw, power mitre saw and router table on
moveable bases.
4. Built large shelf unit (half of one wall) using 1" x 12"s.
(Holds lots of stuff)

> 3a) Keep my shop clean. Now when I have 30-60 min to spare instead of
> looking at a pile of tools everywhere and thinking "That'll take 30-40min
> just to clean up and give me space to work" I just start working. Ahh...I
> love it -- thanks for the advice Tom Plamman!

Forget where I read it, perhaps Fine Woodworking, but someone gave a
tip that every time you enter your shop, put away 10 items. Takes
only a minute, and your shop becomes less cluttered very quickly. In
fact, sometimes it gets hard to find 10 items which are out of place.

[email protected] (Rich Stern) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> I just finished a project and was cleaning up the shop, moving stuff around to
> get at all the sawdust, putting tools back, etc. I was musing about changes
> I've made to my workshop over the years, thinking about the successes and the
> failures. Here's what I came up with for my best three:
>
> 1) Compressed air from an overhead,

I piped my compressor which is in the garage into the basement. ran
it across one wall with quick disconnect fittings. Love it! Would
like to run it across the adjecent wall.

On Mon, 09 Feb 2004 02:42:47 GMT, Tim Carver <[email protected]>
brought forth from the murky depths:

>Larry, I used 2 54" pieces of 3/8" by 3" cold finish steel bar, bolted
>to the sides of the saw, parallel to the miter slots, with the edge
>dropped just slightly (.01") below the tablesaw surface.
>
>You could do the same thing with wood, of course; 1x4 maple or 3/4" x
>4" ply would be about right. These pieces are the sole support for
>the top, so the area under the top behind the saw is totally free for
>storage. The table top itself is 1.25" Fnnform with a .5" UHMW top
>screwed to it. Te drawer slides are just screwed to the edges of the
>Finnform. I made it a very tight fit on purpose, and I've never had
>the table move as work slides over it, not that it would really matter
>if it did, the support would be moving with the work, which would be
>fine.
>
>I have a cab saw, and I've never seen any indication of tipping when

Dina's a 1920's model on wheels and is a bit busty (top heavy).
I was planning on putting a caster on the bottom of the extension.
The existing table is made from waxed 1/2" Baltic birch ply and would
take a pair of glides on the bottom without any problem. Glued blocks
would handle the transition from wood to metal.


>the table is extended with material on it, but perhaps this wouldn't
>work as well with a contractor saw. Just to be sure, I bolted my saw
>down for safety. I certainly wouldn't let the total go much more
>than 27" behind the saw without a leg to support it. There is no
>reason really that you couldn't have a support leg on a caster if you
>wanted, though. In my case, I want that space, I have a tool cabinet
>under there.

I was thinking a rolling sled storage slot might be handy there.
Thanks for the reply.


--
REMEMBER: First you pillage, then you burn.
---
http://diversify.com Full Service Website Development

Larry Jaques wrote:
>I was thinking a rolling sled storage slot might be handy there.


Ah yes. In my case, above the outfeed table, to the right
and against the wall. 13"ish deep, 42" high and 32" front
to back. Maybe some dividers to keep the larger sleds from
banging into each other.

Also, somewhere to park the saw fence when it's not
needed/being used. I'm thinking under the right hand
extension, 'tween the saw cabinet and cabinet under the saw
extension.

And then, a place to park/store blades.

And then, somewhere for the push stick/feeder blocks.

And then, some place for the zero tolerance inserts.

And then... Sheesh! We ain't even stepped away from the
saw table and I'm already at five.

UA100

On 06 Feb 2004 04:38:59 GMT, [email protected] (Rich Stern) wrote:

>What are your best three easy imrpovements?

1) More lighting. Including lolw-voltage halogens over work areas.

2) Painted the concrete floor to keep dust down. Painted the walls
flat white at the same time.

3) Cabinets with doors. Can't believe the amount of dust I was
always chasing off tools and supplies.

Ongoing project that looks liek a good bet:

Getting *everything* off the floor. Wall mount as much as possible,
no storage on the floor under shelves or benches. I want at least a
foot of clearance above the floor wall to wall, the ease of cleaning
up makes it worth the lost space.

Jeff

In article <EjrWb.461965$JQ1.128826@pd7tw1no>,
Specter <[email protected]> wrote:
>You can also access the photos posted to ABPW through a website:
>http://www.delorie.com/wood/abpw/
>
>Some internet service providers don't allow access to ABPW (I have no idea
>why).

Frequently, alt.* newsgroups are added _only_ when a customer specifically
requests it -- too many 'prank' groups in the hierarchy. If it isn't on
your server, contact your provider and _ask_ for it.

> And, for some reason, I'm only able to view something like half the
>photos posted on ABPW through my ISP.

This is a functionality of the software you use to read USENET.

There are _multiple_methods_ used for 'encoding' non-text stuff.

The 'classical'/traditional method for USENET is called "uuencode"
These messages have a line with the word 'begin', followed by a 3 or 4
digit number, followed by the file-name.

With the advent of MIME, which by definition is for _mail_, some people
started using MIME's 'base64' encoding in USENET news articles as well.

These messages have 'standard' MIME sub-headers, and a block of base64
encoded data


Then, some *idiots* decided to invent 'yet another method', which they
called 'yenc'. They just built the software and uploaded it to various
free distribution points. It's supposed advantage over the standard
methods is that the actual "messages" transmitted are smaller -- both
uuencode and base64 require 4 bytes of 'text' in the message to represent
3 bytes of the actual binary file. Yenc uses 8-bit data, and 'escapes'
a few characters that are 'known' to be dangerous -- with the result
that if the message passes through a server that it *not* '8-bit clean'
(and _many_ news-servers are *not*, even to this day), the message is
irreparably corrupted. But, robustness of design was -not- a consideration
for yenc's designers. If some part of the 'rest of the world' doesn't
behave in accordance with their 'expectations', then "obviously" that
part of the rest of the world is 'in error', and it is *their* problem
to fix it. People that use 'yenc' encoding are: stupid, ignorant,
inconsiderate, uncaring, or some combination thereof -- probably "most of
the above". :)


Anyway, depending on what software you use to read news, it may, or may *not*,
automatically recognize some/most/all of the above-mentioned encoding methods.

*IF* it recognizes the encoding, then it can 'decode' things to get back the
original file . Which it then has to hand off to some form of 'viewer' to
display the content. 'pictures' come in a _whole_slew_ of file formats:
'.GIF` developed by CompuServe, some compression, limited colors
'.PNG' "picture, the next generation" (I'm *NOT* kidding!" a GIF
replacement to sidestep some legal (patent) issues with the
methodology of creating GIF images.
'.JPG' "photo-realistic" (i.e. 16million color) images, 'lossy compression',
but compresses to much smaller than GIF files. designed for
'efficient' storage of actual photographic images
'.BMP' Microsoft's "windows bitmap" format -- "who cares about file size?
it's quick and simple, and doesn't take much processing" can
easily be _hundreds_ of times larger than an equivalent JPG
'.TIFF' a portable specification for high-resolution computer-generated work.
not so good for reproducing actual photographic images
'.PS` and '.EPS' the infamous "PostScript", designed for computer-generated
technical graphics.
'.PDF' Adobe's 'portable document format', which can (obviously) include
images -- needs "acrobat reader", or a functional equivalent, to
view the content.

and probably at least 50 other varieties.

Not to mention that some people are posting images in "MacroMedia ShockWave
Flash" (enhanced web-page add-in) format.

Practically all image rendering s/w knows what to do with GIF and JPG,
and almost everything written in the last 5+ years knows what to do with
PNG images. For broader coverage, you may have to employ multiple viewers,
and/or specialized 'helpers' for specific file formats.

if your newsreader understands the 'encoding', and can recover the actual
'binary', it _still_ has to "know what to do" with that stream of bits.
If it's in a file format it doesn't know how to display..... well you won't
be able to see the picture. ;)

On 06 Feb 2004 04:38:59 GMT, [email protected] (Rich Stern) scribbled:

>What are your best three easy imrpovements?

1. One day I got pissed off at all the extensions and blowing
breakers, and installed two new circuits with outlets on the ceiling
every 6' or so. Wired like a (Canadian?) kitchen so the two plugs in
each duplex outlet are on separate circuits. It helps that the ceiling
is only a little over 7' high.

2. Put wheels on my Makita 2040 planer.

3. Put in 4 low temperature 8'fluorescent fixtures. They start up even
when the shop is at 20 below (-4F, Keith).

4. Got me a cheap Crappy Tire rolling mechanic's tool box. I keep my
measuring tools, sandpaper, drill bits and accessories, ratchet set in
separate drawers.

5. Put in a cheap IKEA-style termite-puke bookcase that we had around
to keep all my fasteners.

6. Screwed a few 1X3s to the ceiling joists. Great for storing planes,
pipe clamps, etc..

Ok, it's more than three but, as you all know, there are three kinds
of people, those who can count and those who can't.

Luigi
Note the new email address.
Please adjust your krillfiles (tmAD) accordingly
Replace "nonet" with "yukonomics" for real email address

On Mon, 09 Feb 2004 15:34:43 GMT, "Bill" <bill<spam>@theeverettes.com>
wrote:

>Since when is urine good for compost and/or vegetation?


since the beginning.

there is such a thing as too much, of course, but that's quite a bit.







>>
>> >Luigi Zanasi wrote:
>> >>1. A pee bucket. A plastic bucket filled with sawdust. I no longer
>> >>need to walk out to the garden beds (during the winter) or the compost
>> >>heap (during the summer). The stuff just gets dumped on the compost in
>> >>the spring: a good combination of nitrogen and carbon. No smell. Thank
>> >>you, Doug Stowe.

sears, for $29.95 on sale. same exact model that a favorite mail order
company of the Wreckers sells for $54.50.

Hint: it's a Canadian company

Hint number 2: The item is on page 222 of the 2003-2004 catalog.

dave

dave

jev wrote:

> On Fri, 06 Feb 2004 06:07:04 GMT, Bay Area Dave <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> <SNIP>
>
>>An overhead retractable 110V cord with a 3-outlet molded plug.
>>
>
> <SNIP>
>
> Where did you find retractable reel at what cost?

> What are your best three easy imrpovements?

I'm excluding tools because I'm just starting out...

1. Cabinets. Images available: http://www.geocities.com/jkreusc/

My shop is a 30" wide strip on the back wall of the garage. I live in
hail country (Dallas) with no usable backyard for a carport or shed,
so the cars have to go indoors. So, this was my first project. I made
them with BC plywood for the box, Lowes whitewood for the face frames
and doors, a router, and a circular saw. Dadoes, finishing nails, and
glue. Every other base unit wheels around (Router table, Dewalt
Jobsite Table Saw) The cabinets look amazing and work great, but after
reading the wreck I know the finish work is destined to fall apart,
especially the doors. (They were mitred and glued with screen stapled
into a rabet as the panel. No splines or bisquits. The face frames are
butt joint and glue, no M&T, but they have enough finish nails into
the box that they should be okay.) Oh well, my skills will be better
when they do fall apart.

2. 2 Ceiling fans. Once again, I live in Dallas and work in a garage
without HVAC. The ceiling fans at least keep the air moving and add
extra incandescent light.

3. Pegboard. How did I live without it?

Top three I'd like to make?

1. Skeeter vac, I'm sick of slathering on OFF during the spring.

2. More electricity. Another couple of 20 amp circuits would be handy.
Right now I have 2 separate 20 amps that are shared with the house.
Vac on one, in-use tool on the other.

3. A fence and shed for the backyard. For wood storage and lawn
equipment.

Jay

P.S. Please don't tell me the DW744 was a mistake. It works great for
now and when I get a bigger house and a cabinet saw, it will still be
able to be thrown in the back of the truck when I go to the in-laws.
Besides, I got it new for $400 at Lowes and it had a mail in for the
18 guage brad nailer.

(Pictures at http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/interest.html)

[1] Moved my shop from an 11' x 18' space to a 50' x 50' space.
Now I have to drive 15 miles to the shop; but it's like getting a
new lease on life to have the space.

[2] Added a ShopBot PRT-96 (with 5 HP, 0-24,000 RPM Colombo
spindle) to the tool set and learned to speak its language (not
necessary because its software will work from DXF files; but my
programs are interactive, much faster, and considerably more
flexible). Now I can work to ±0.0015" tolerances (in 3D!) and
know that parts will always fit as intended.

[3] Built a dust collection system using the inexpensive HF dust
collector, two recycled plastic drums, a pair of cyclone
separator lids, and 30' of 4" hose. There's no more haze in the
shop and cleanup is a *lot* easier.

[4] Replaced the original Delta fence and miter gauge on my TS
with Incra's fence and miter gauge. My old Unisaur suddenly
became much easier to use and the accuracy of my work is better
than ever before.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto, Iowa USA

BTW, the burst pressure of L is MORE than 2,600 PSI. I couldn't find
the exact figure, but it's MORE than that. also, the 175 PSI figure I
mentioned was for a 2 stage, 3 phase compressor I had for the auto shop...

dave

Mark and Kim Smith wrote:

> Hmmmm, a couple of questions. What pressure are you running your air
> system at and does anyone know the pressure rating of "L" copper??
>
> Bay Area Dave wrote:
>
>> just got done moving the air hose reel from the wall opposite my work
>> bench, to overhead, near the bench. Why didn't I install one years
>> ago??? Used 1/2" "L" copper pipe. Was a breeze to install except for
>> getting to one of the mounting screws behind the reel. Attacked it
>> with a quarter inch ratchet and ultra short phillips bit.
>>
>> dave
>>
>> Rich Stern wrote:
>>
>>> I just finished a project and was cleaning up the shop, moving stuff
>>> around to
>>> get at all the sawdust, putting tools back, etc. I was musing about
>>> changes
>>> I've made to my workshop over the years, thinking about the successes
>>> and the
>>> failures. Here's what I came up with for my best three:
>>>
>>> 1) Compressed air from an overhead, retractable reel. How the heck
>>> did I get
>>> through the early years without this? I leave my portable compressor
>>> hooked up
>>> via quick disconnect to a feed line for the overhead reel. I can
>>> disconnect
>>> and roll out quickly if I need the compressor in the yard, garage, or
>>> at a
>>> neighbor's. The reel also has a quick disconnect, stuffed with a
>>> blowgun when
>>> not using any other air tools. This setup is great for woodworking,
>>> but the
>>> air gets used for all kinds of other tasks, too.
>>>
>>> 2) Stopped overcrowding the shop with machines. For years, my
>>> semi-portable
>>> power tools were set up and ready to work. Visions of moving from
>>> station to
>>> station with effortless efficiency. I thought it made projects go
>>> faster. The
>>> opposite is true. As I run low on space, the shop gets messy and
>>> projects
>>> begin to crawl. Now I take out the miter saw, belt/disk sander,
>>> scroll saw,
>>> etc. only when needed. The rest of the time, I enjoy the free space
>>> around the
>>> bigger machines. The shop stays much cleaner.
>>>
>>> 3) Rolling tool chest. You know, the mechanic's type. Just a low end,
>>> stacking unit from Lowes. Measuring tools, wrenches, sockets,
>>> screwdrivers,
>>> drill bits, etc, stay organized and dust free, and I can wheel the
>>> thing around
>>> if needed. My pegboarding of all this stuff never stayed organized.
>>> Somehow,
>>> I manage to keep it neat in the rolling cabinet.
>>>
>>> What are your best three easy imrpovements?
>>
>>
>>
>

"Rich Stern" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I just finished a project and was cleaning up the shop, moving stuff
around to
> get at all the sawdust, putting tools back, etc. I was musing about
changes
> I've made to my workshop over the years, thinking about the successes and
the
> failures. Here's what I came up with for my best three:
>
> 1) Compressed air from an overhead, retractable reel. How the heck did I
get
> through the early years without this? I leave my portable compressor
hooked up
> via quick disconnect to a feed line for the overhead reel. I can
disconnect
> and roll out quickly if I need the compressor in the yard, garage, or at a
> neighbor's. The reel also has a quick disconnect, stuffed with a blowgun
when
> not using any other air tools. This setup is great for woodworking, but
the
> air gets used for all kinds of other tasks, too.
>
> 2) Stopped overcrowding the shop with machines. For years, my
semi-portable
> power tools were set up and ready to work. Visions of moving from station
to
> station with effortless efficiency. I thought it made projects go faster.
The
> opposite is true. As I run low on space, the shop gets messy and projects
> begin to crawl. Now I take out the miter saw, belt/disk sander, scroll
saw,
> etc. only when needed. The rest of the time, I enjoy the free space
around the
> bigger machines. The shop stays much cleaner.
>
> 3) Rolling tool chest. You know, the mechanic's type. Just a low end,
> stacking unit from Lowes. Measuring tools, wrenches, sockets,
screwdrivers,
> drill bits, etc, stay organized and dust free, and I can wheel the thing
around
> if needed. My pegboarding of all this stuff never stayed organized.
Somehow,
> I manage to keep it neat in the rolling cabinet.
>
> What are your best three easy imrpovements?


1) Put the less used machinery on wheels - made room for more machines!

2) Cleaned it right to the corners! (4 yrs late)

3) Moved clamps/finishing/sanding supplies and equipment directly adjacent
to the assembly area, rather than the "efficient use of space" place that
they previously occupied.

4:) Moved most of my remodeling equipment/tools to a shed... who needs two
portable tablesaws (in addition to the 3 hp cabinet saw) in their shop
anyway???

You can also access the photos posted to ABPW through a website:
http://www.delorie.com/wood/abpw/

Some internet service providers don't allow access to ABPW (I have no idea
why). And, for some reason, I'm only able to view something like half the
photos posted on ABPW through my ISP. For those reasons, it's handy to have
web based access as a back-up. Keep in mind, the website does not list any
of the text enties, for those, you have to view the newsgroup, itself.

I hope that helps some folks here.

Rob

The pressure of the system is between 100 and 125. the L will take
everything a 175 psi system will give! I used to have an auto shop
where I installed an extensive air system with L copper. It is WAY
overrated for that. Not to worry!

dave

Mark and Kim Smith wrote:

> Hmmmm, a couple of questions. What pressure are you running your air
> system at and does anyone know the pressure rating of "L" copper??
>
> Bay Area Dave wrote:
>
>> just got done moving the air hose reel from the wall opposite my work
>> bench, to overhead, near the bench. Why didn't I install one years
>> ago??? Used 1/2" "L" copper pipe. Was a breeze to install except for
>> getting to one of the mounting screws behind the reel. Attacked it
>> with a quarter inch ratchet and ultra short phillips bit.
>>
>> dave
>>
>> Rich Stern wrote:
>>
>>> I just finished a project and was cleaning up the shop, moving stuff
>>> around to
>>> get at all the sawdust, putting tools back, etc. I was musing about
>>> changes
>>> I've made to my workshop over the years, thinking about the successes
>>> and the
>>> failures. Here's what I came up with for my best three:
>>>
>>> 1) Compressed air from an overhead, retractable reel. How the heck
>>> did I get
>>> through the early years without this? I leave my portable compressor
>>> hooked up
>>> via quick disconnect to a feed line for the overhead reel. I can
>>> disconnect
>>> and roll out quickly if I need the compressor in the yard, garage, or
>>> at a
>>> neighbor's. The reel also has a quick disconnect, stuffed with a
>>> blowgun when
>>> not using any other air tools. This setup is great for woodworking,
>>> but the
>>> air gets used for all kinds of other tasks, too.
>>>
>>> 2) Stopped overcrowding the shop with machines. For years, my
>>> semi-portable
>>> power tools were set up and ready to work. Visions of moving from
>>> station to
>>> station with effortless efficiency. I thought it made projects go
>>> faster. The
>>> opposite is true. As I run low on space, the shop gets messy and
>>> projects
>>> begin to crawl. Now I take out the miter saw, belt/disk sander,
>>> scroll saw,
>>> etc. only when needed. The rest of the time, I enjoy the free space
>>> around the
>>> bigger machines. The shop stays much cleaner.
>>>
>>> 3) Rolling tool chest. You know, the mechanic's type. Just a low end,
>>> stacking unit from Lowes. Measuring tools, wrenches, sockets,
>>> screwdrivers,
>>> drill bits, etc, stay organized and dust free, and I can wheel the
>>> thing around
>>> if needed. My pegboarding of all this stuff never stayed organized.
>>> Somehow,
>>> I manage to keep it neat in the rolling cabinet.
>>>
>>> What are your best three easy imrpovements?
>>
>>
>>
>

I have been following this thread with some interest and note that no one
has listed a dust collector or dust collection system among the top 3. I
have been considering adding one to my shop and now I wonder if it is really
a significant improvement.

John

Why the wood floor Dave and is this in preference to concrete ? I am =
about to set up a new shop and wondered what was better.
Puff

"Bay Area Dave" <[email protected]> wrote in message =
news:[email protected]...
> I installed a retractable reel about a week ago but will be relocating =

> it from near the compressor to nearly the center of the shop, because=20
> there is only about 21' feet of hose which gets caught up on the TS =
and=20
> other equipment when I drag it over to the workbench on the wall=20
> opposite the reel.
>=20
> Five wall cabinets to hold and hide lots of stuff! Plus keep most of=20
> the dust off those items.
>=20
> An overhead retractable 110V cord with a 3-outlet molded plug.
>=20
> Can I give more than three? Here goes:
>=20
> painted the walls semi-gloss white.
>=20
> Lot's of light: 11 4 foot fluorescents in a two car "studio" <g>
>=20
> Weather striped the door to stop drafts; the shop is much warmer in =
the=20
> winter because of that one improvement.
>=20
> Just added a TV last week to supplement the CD player, cassette=20
> player/radio.
>=20
>=20
> What I'd like to have but won't (do to one thing or another)
>=20
> 1. Utility basin
> 2. A John
> 3. more R-O-O-M
> 4. higher ceiling
> 5. wood floor
>=20
>=20
>=20
> dave
>=20
>=20
>=20
>=20
>=20
> Rich Stern wrote:
>=20
> > I just finished a project and was cleaning up the shop, moving stuff =
around to
> > get at all the sawdust, putting tools back, etc. I was musing about =
changes
> > I've made to my workshop over the years, thinking about the =
successes and the
> > failures. Here's what I came up with for my best three:
> >=20
> > 1) Compressed air from an overhead, retractable reel. How the heck =
did I get
> > through the early years without this? I leave my portable =
compressor hooked up
> > via quick disconnect to a feed line for the overhead reel. I can =
disconnect
> > and roll out quickly if I need the compressor in the yard, garage, =
or at a
> > neighbor's. The reel also has a quick disconnect, stuffed with a =
blowgun when
> > not using any other air tools. This setup is great for woodworking, =
but the
> > air gets used for all kinds of other tasks, too.
> >=20
> > 2) Stopped overcrowding the shop with machines. For years, my =
semi-portable
> > power tools were set up and ready to work. Visions of moving from =
station to
> > station with effortless efficiency. I thought it made projects go =
faster. The
> > opposite is true. As I run low on space, the shop gets messy and =
projects
> > begin to crawl. Now I take out the miter saw, belt/disk sander, =
scroll saw,
> > etc. only when needed. The rest of the time, I enjoy the free space =
around the
> > bigger machines. The shop stays much cleaner.
> >=20
> > 3) Rolling tool chest. You know, the mechanic's type. Just a low =
end,
> > stacking unit from Lowes. Measuring tools, wrenches, sockets, =
screwdrivers,
> > drill bits, etc, stay organized and dust free, and I can wheel the =
thing around
> > if needed. My pegboarding of all this stuff never stayed organized. =
Somehow,
> > I manage to keep it neat in the rolling cabinet.
> >=20
> > What are your best three easy imrpovements?
>

Puff Griffis wrote:
> Why the wood floor Dave and is this in preference to concrete ? I am
> about to set up a new shop and wondered what was better.
> Puff
>

Wood floors are easier on the feet and legs. It does not seem like much,
but there is a big difference. New floors are not always practilal, but
rubber mats whee yo stand the ost are a big help. Two or thee are a "must"
in a good shop. In front of the bench, in front of the sander, the band
saw, the table saw. --
Ed
[email protected]
http://pages.cthome.net/edhome

Harbor Freight has one that normally sells for $80 on sale for $40.
Includes 25 feet of 3/8" hose. Seems like a pretty nice setup. Check back
in a couple of months for my review.

Dave



"JAW" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> jev wrote:
> > On Fri, 06 Feb 2004 06:07:04 GMT, Bay Area Dave <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > <SNIP>
> >
> >>An overhead retractable 110V cord with a 3-outlet molded plug.
> >>
> >
> > <SNIP>
> >
> > Where did you find retractable reel at what cost?
> I can concur with the retractabel reel. Just do not let the cord
> whiplash back into the reel. The Sears version will eventually break.
> Mine did after about 1 year of use. Had to buy another one.
>

Tim,

Can you give more details and pics on #2?

Also - where did you get that shroud you mentioned in #1?

Thanks
-Rob

"Tim Carver" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On 06 Feb 2004 04:38:59 GMT, [email protected] (Rich Stern) wrote:
>
> >What are your best three easy imrpovements?
>
> 1) I tried for years to come up with an effective dust collection
> solution for my SCMS. I've tried using a box behind the saw,
> etcetera. Every solution either compromised the cuts the saw could
> make, or didn't do a great job collecting the dust. Well,
> I finally tried making a shroud out of that flexible plastic that's
> used for freezer curtains. A couple of hours of fiddling around, and
> Voila! It works! I now have a dust free miter station. It's a
> flexible shroud that attaches to the saw and moves with it, and it
> doesn't restrict any cut (extreme left miter+bevel, etc) that the saw
> is capable of making. Very low effort for a large environmental
> improvement, IMO.
>
> 2) Mounted my outfeed table top on 28" drawer slides. The table is
> 28" deep,so when it's pushed in, it doesn't get in my way. When I
> push it out, it extends out to 56" behind the saw (60" past the blade)
> which is just long enough to handle 8' stock, and I can move it in and
> out without even walking around to the back of the saw. After
> suffering for years with temp supports and and later a large fixed
> table that took too much room, I'm really happy with this solution.
>
> 3) Replaced shelves under my bench with simple shallow
> pullouts. This was so easy to do it isn't funny, and it improved the
> cleanliness of my shop a ton, because I can now get a lot more stuff
> neatly arranged on the pullouts than I ever could on the shelves.
>
>
>
>
> Tim Carver
> [email protected]

On Mon, 09 Feb 2004 10:11:53 GMT, Unisaw A100 <[email protected]>
scribbled:

>Luigi Zanasi wrote:
>>1. A pee bucket. A plastic bucket filled with sawdust. I no longer
>>need to walk out to the garden beds (during the winter) or the compost
>>heap (during the summer). The stuff just gets dumped on the compost in
>>the spring: a good combination of nitrogen and carbon. No smell. Thank
>>you, Doug Stowe.
>
>
>Can you explain this further? Can you post a picture on
>abpw?

Can't post the pitcher 'cause I ain't got one, and I ain't got a
digital camera, and it would take too long to take a pitcher, get it
developed, scan it and post it. But hopefully, verbal instructions
will suffice.

1. First, you need to find a bucket. Best are the taller 23-litre (6
gallons Keith, 5 gallons Jeff) plastic ones, but the 19 or 16 litre
ones also work in a pinch. The tall ones can be found in any Italian
grocery store in September or at your local home-brewing shop.

2. Take the lid off the bucket. This is by no means obvious or easy.
Those lids are stuck on permanently. Your best bet is to use a
retractable Olfa knife with a fresh blade to cut open the top. But be
careful not to let the knife slip or you might cut a gash in your
thigh (not to speak of other parts of your anatomy close to your
thigh), and end up having to go to the hospital to get stitched up.
DAMHIKT. You may then use the knife to hijack a plane.

3. Follow the instructions on the 23-litre pail. i.e. transfer the
grape juice to a fermenter and add yeast. After it has stopped
fermenting, rack off the young wine into a carboy and add sulfite. You
may continue with the winemaking process in other containers, but the
bucket is now ready to use.

4. If you're tall and don't have a home brew shop or an Italian
grocery store nearby, you might consider first investing in penis
enlargement pills to improve your aim to the shorter buckets. Penis
enlargement pills are available everywhere on the internet. Coming to
think of it, they would be useful even with the taller buckets, unless
you're really short.

5. If you don't have an Italian grocery store or U-Brew near you, you
could go to your local airstrip and talk to the bush plane mechanics.
They get their lubricating oil in 19-litre (5 gallons, Keith) pails.
Once you have the bucket, you will need to dump the remaining oil down
the sewer and thoroughly wash the pail with detergent and TSP.

6. Put in a bit of dirt or compost at the bottom of the pail.

7. Get a shovel or dust pan, go under your table saw and fill the pail
with sawdust. Do not use cedar, walnut, redwood or any tropical
hardwood sawdust. Those are bad for your plants and don't compost very
well. Maple, birch & poplar are best. Oak & resinous conifers are OK.

8. When the urge takes you, step to the bucket, take careful aim and
let go.

9. You may use a stick to mix the compost every once in while.

10. Use the wine you made in #4 as salad dressing. Or get your SO to
put it in fancy bottles and add herbs and sell it at the craft fair
alongside your pukey ducks. Do not put the wine in the compost, the
acetic acid had a deleterious effect.

11. Every once in while, when you've accumulated enough sawdust under
your table saw to fill up a bucket, empty the pee bucket in the
compost and go back to #6.

Luigi
Replace "nonet" with "yukonomics" for real email address

[email protected] (Larry Bud) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> [email protected] (Rich Stern) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> > I just finished a project and was cleaning up the shop, moving stuff around to
> > get at all the sawdust, putting tools back, etc. I was musing about changes
> > I've made to my workshop over the years, thinking about the successes and the
> > failures. Here's what I came up with for my best three:
> >
> > 1) Compressed air from an overhead,
>
> I piped my compressor which is in the garage into the basement. ran
> it across one wall with quick disconnect fittings. Love it! Would
> like to run it across the adjecent wall.


That is a really good idea. Does it matter what type of pipe you use?
Would having about 40 feet of pipe added between a pancake compressor
and the nail gun affect the operation, that is, would there still be
enough power to drive the nails?

[email protected] (Jay) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> > What are your best three easy imrpovements?
>
> I'm excluding tools because I'm just starting out...
>
So far my best improvements to my basement shop are:

1. Adding 2 circuits of outlets around the walls for a total of 11
outlets. Also one dedicated 220V 30 amp circuit was just rolled next
to the HVAC unit (perhaps it went to an older HVAC the prior owners
had or something) so I wired it to a plug for my backordered Grizzly
TS.

2. Adding 6 flour. light sets to replace the 4 60w bulbs that were
there. Wow, I can see all the way to the wall now.

3. I need to build a proper bench to use as an outfeed table for the
TS and also for an assembly table.

In article <[email protected]>,
Chip <[email protected]> wrote:
>Not long ago, I "discovered" rec.woodworking. I've been using it a ton
>as reference since then. I've seen several referals to pics being
>posted at "ABPW". Would someone please explain what this is and how I
>access it? Thanks.

It's another newsgroup. "alt.binaries.pictures.woodworking". Access is
just like any other newsgroup. assuming your provider carries the group,
that is.

"non-text" stuff is verboten in most "non-binaries" newsgroups, because
the files are usually _big_. by convention, almost all the 'binaries allowed'
groups are grouped under the 'alt.binaries' hierarchy.

there's also alt.binaries.pictures.furniture.

>
>Tim Carver <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:<[email protected]>...
>> On Sun, 08 Feb 2004 15:29:23 GMT, Larry Jaques
>> <novalidaddress@di\/ersify.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> >Great! I've been trying to come up with something similar on wheels
>> >for Dina and you found it for me. Do you have part of the sliding
>> >section as a flat area with a stop to make it work? Slots in the
>> >immovable part for the larger sled? Thanks for the ideas!
>>
>> I posted a couple of pics to ABPW.
>>
>> Tim Carver
>> [email protected]

On Thu, 12 Feb 2004 04:09:13 GMT, "John Broadway"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>I have been following this thread with some interest and note that no one
>has listed a dust collector or dust collection system among the top 3. I
>have been considering adding one to my shop and now I wonder if it is really
>a significant improvement.

It's a big improvement, but for many of us it wasn't easy. Doing my
DC installl was a long slog for me. So I didn't think installing a
DC really fit the question posed by the OP.






Tim Carver
[email protected]

The number 1 best thing I ever did for my shop was to buy ($90) a 96
drawer card file catalog from a university. Unbelievably useful and
handy. Can put bolts/screws in drawes per size;blades for hand
plane/planer/jointer/hand jointer in drawers per tool, etc.



On Sun, 08 Feb 2004 01:36:20 GMT, "Rob V" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Now thats a drive by gloat if I ever heard one!
>
>great read!
>
>Thanks
>_Rob
>"charlie b" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> This is initially going to sound crazy but here goes.
>>
>> Grade school kids
>> brooms
>> "huge vacuum cleaner" (their term for "dust collector").
>>
>> Now the words - kids, cleaning, dusting - and the phrase
>> "tidying" up don't normally go together - when they're
>> at home. But in a SHOP...
>>
>> Maybe it's ALL THAT POWER - dust collector's muted roar,
>> the sound of a large volume of air being sucked into
>> a four inch hose, the way things magically disappear
>> as the end of the hose approaches them or the sound of
>> small pieces of all sorts of things rattling their way
>> through the pipes on their way to who knows where.
>>
>> All of my "stationary" tools are on wheels and normally
>> reside against a wall. They get pulled out when used
>> and push back when done - leaving wood residue behind
>> them. Out of sight, out of mind. But, after a kid, or
>> a team of kids have sucked everything that they can
>> reach into that four inch hose, they start looking
>> UNDER and BEHIND things.
>>
>> In BIG VACUUM CLEANER mode, kids become prospectors
>> searching for the Mother Load. Discovering all the
>> sawdust that collects under a cabinet saw is a cause
>> for squeeling rejoicing. That will prompt a search
>> through my "sticks and dowel" storage tubes for an
>> arm extender to get to the otherwise inaccessible
>> sawdust. And like gold miners, they'll stick with
>> "the gold vein" until it's all gone.
>>
>> When they discover more "treasures" behind the tools
>> on wheels they'll hound you until you move them out
>> of the way so they can continue their prospecting.
>>
>> After finding and taking care of everything the dust
>> collector can handle, they find brooms and start
>> sweeping small to medium cut offs into two or three
>> piles - to be gone through for later "glue stuff
>> together, use your imagination, sculpture/projects"
>> The rejects go in a scrap box for kindling and "the
>> good stuff" goes into each one's large zip lock
>> stash bag.
>>
>> When "the room full of heavy stuff that generates
>> sawdust" has been picked clean they move on to the
>> "quiet gluing and bug spitting room" (bug spit to
>> them is shellac to the rest of us - but bug spit
>> sounds cooler). Here they can't use the HUGE
>> VACUUM CLEANER - they know curlies will clog it
>> up (earlier learning experience) - so it's brooms
>> and brushes. The interesting curlies get saved
>> for a future creative project and the rest get
>> stuffed in a "fireplace fire starter stuff" bag.
>> All those little pieces that dovetails and tenons
>> create are each examined carefully for some
>> wonderful use, the rejects going in a kindling
>> box.
>>
>> As a bonus for me, they also find every nut, bolt,
>> screw and anything else I'd dropped and couldn't
>> find. Those go in the "stuff that was found and
>> will be sorted out and put away later" can. One
>> of these discoveries will prompt a "what's this
>> and what's it for" question and one of my "too
>> much information" lectures. I've learned to pay
>> attention, so when their eyes start to glaze over
>> I let them get back to The Hunt.
>>
>> In less than an hour the cleaning tornado moves
>> on, other games to play. I'm left with a nice
>> clean shop (it's still cluttered but relatively
>> clean) bags of kids project parts, a bag
>> of fire lighting curlies and a box of kindling.
>> I'm also exhausted and inspired.
>>
>> Exhausted because I've had to mediate at least a
>> dozen "he got to vacuum for 10 minutes and I only
>> got to vacuum for a minute", "I found that first
>> and she took it", "why can't I use the push broom
>> this time?", "she says this is from a pin socket
>> and I say it's from a tail socket" disputes.
>>
>> Exhausted because I've had to watch them like
>> a hawk to keep them from bumping their heads
>> while crawling under power equiptment searching
>> for treasure, trying to move a wheeled cart
>> supporting a disk and spindle sander away from
>> the wall to get to who knows what behind it ...
>>
>> The inspiration comes from listening to all
>> the wonderful ideas they have for a piece of
>> scrap they found and saved.
>>
>> Inspired because they got me to look for useful
>> stuff in what would otherwise be "just scrap".
>>
>> For those who'e had their teeth on edge, worrying
>> about kids in the shop:
>>
>> The sharp handtools are in wall hanging tool
>> cabinets behind a SCMS station and are out of
>> reach of kids and, with the doors closed - out
>> site, out of mind.
>>
>> All power tools are unplugged, and those that can
>> be "locked down" are locked down BEFORE the human
>> tornadoes get started.
>>
>> I've got one of those powerful magnates on a stick
>> things and use it when emptying the cyclone garbage
>> can - finding the iron bearing parts that shouldn't
>> have been vacuumed up in the first place.
>>
>> To date there's been only one injury. While
>> crawling around under the sliding table of my
>> combination machine (a Robland X31 for the curious)
>> looking for more sawdust to vacuum up, and despite
>> my repeated "watch your head" warnings, one girl
>> tried to get up while under the sliding table and
>> dinged her eyebrow.
>>
>> That prompted a "que tip and peroxide - neopsorene
>> - big gauze eyepatch with four big pieces of tape to
>> hold it in place - just for dramatic effect - medical
>> emergency production with an audience enjoying every
>> act of the three act drama, The star of this production,
>> with her "eye make up" was in all her glory, basking in
>> the attention of her fans - "Does it really hurt
>> bad?" - "You gonna have to get stitches?" - "Think
>> you'll lose your eye?"
>>
>> Of course the tape and the gauze came off before she
>> went home and her "gaping wound" lost some of it's
>> shock value - a shiny neosporened eyebrow just isn't
>> all that noteworthy.
>>
>> Maybe, in addition to eye protection, ear muffs rubber
>> gloves and safety glasses, I should add a helmet or
>> two.
>>
>> Nothing to buy, no slick jig or fixture, no new use
>> for an existing tool- a single, free in terms of
>> dollars, shop improvement. Clean shop and another
>> one of those priceless experiences.
>>
>> charlie b
>

On 06 Feb 2004 04:38:59 GMT, [email protected] (Rich Stern) wrote:

>What are your best three easy imrpovements?

1) I tried for years to come up with an effective dust collection
solution for my SCMS. I've tried using a box behind the saw,
etcetera. Every solution either compromised the cuts the saw could
make, or didn't do a great job collecting the dust. Well,
I finally tried making a shroud out of that flexible plastic that's
used for freezer curtains. A couple of hours of fiddling around, and
Voila! It works! I now have a dust free miter station. It's a
flexible shroud that attaches to the saw and moves with it, and it
doesn't restrict any cut (extreme left miter+bevel, etc) that the saw
is capable of making. Very low effort for a large environmental
improvement, IMO.

2) Mounted my outfeed table top on 28" drawer slides. The table is
28" deep,so when it's pushed in, it doesn't get in my way. When I
push it out, it extends out to 56" behind the saw (60" past the blade)
which is just long enough to handle 8' stock, and I can move it in and
out without even walking around to the back of the saw. After
suffering for years with temp supports and and later a large fixed
table that took too much room, I'm really happy with this solution.

3) Replaced shelves under my bench with simple shallow
pullouts. This was so easy to do it isn't funny, and it improved the
cleanliness of my shop a ton, because I can now get a lot more stuff
neatly arranged on the pullouts than I ever could on the shelves.




Tim Carver
[email protected]

On Sun, 08 Feb 2004 11:04:28 -0500, BRuce <BRuce> scribbled:

>yep, I used some leftover 4" light guage PVC leftovers, cut in 6" long
>pieces and screwed to the joists ~24" apart. any little diameter "good
>stuff" that will span 2 or more gets saved there.
>
>BRuce

Good thinkin', 99! I got this length of 4" PVC I no longer need. I'll
do that as soon as the snow melts and I can find the damn thing.

Luigi
Replace "nonet" with "yukonomics" for real email address

Yikes! I just spent $1500 on mine. Then again, it is a Snap-on unit.

B a r r y B u r k e J r . wrote:

>On 06 Feb 2004 04:38:59 GMT, [email protected] (Rich Stern) wrote:
>
>
>
>>3) Rolling tool chest. You know, the mechanic's type. Just a low end,
>>stacking unit from Lowes.
>>
>>
>
>I'm with ya' brother!
>
>Every once and a while, I pick up bottom sections with wheels from
>Sears. Add a rubber or wood mat on top, and you have a great shop
>assistant. The chests can roll righ to the tools and provide easy
>access to router bits, saw jigs, measuring and marking tools, etc...
>
>The most I've ever paid was $175, on sale, for an 8 drawer unit. I'm
>up to 4 of them, with one top unit.
>
>Barry
>
>

The kids are at an age to where they need less of my attention and I can
get back to woodworking, so:

1) Move the bike hobby off to one corner of the shop. www.bunchobikes.com

2) Buy two tool boxes. ( Actually, one was a gift. ) A Snap-on for the
"mechanical" type of tools and a Craftsman for wood working tools
exclusively.

3) Addition of some new items. Mostly a Delta 6" jointer. Also a
sliding mill table to modify and improve the "drill press attachment"
Delta mortiser.

Lights, outlets, benches and storage were the first things I created
years ago. I make my living as a mechanic and one thing I can't stand
is working with a drop light. So there are more flourescents than
anyone should be allowed to have!

Rich Stern wrote:

>I just finished a project and was cleaning up the shop, moving stuff around to
>get at all the sawdust, putting tools back, etc. I was musing about changes
>I've made to my workshop over the years, thinking about the successes and the
>failures. Here's what I came up with for my best three:
>
>1) Compressed air from an overhead, retractable reel. How the heck did I get
>through the early years without this? I leave my portable compressor hooked up
>via quick disconnect to a feed line for the overhead reel. I can disconnect
>and roll out quickly if I need the compressor in the yard, garage, or at a
>neighbor's. The reel also has a quick disconnect, stuffed with a blowgun when
>not using any other air tools. This setup is great for woodworking, but the
>air gets used for all kinds of other tasks, too.
>
>2) Stopped overcrowding the shop with machines. For years, my semi-portable
>power tools were set up and ready to work. Visions of moving from station to
>station with effortless efficiency. I thought it made projects go faster. The
>opposite is true. As I run low on space, the shop gets messy and projects
>begin to crawl. Now I take out the miter saw, belt/disk sander, scroll saw,
>etc. only when needed. The rest of the time, I enjoy the free space around the
>bigger machines. The shop stays much cleaner.
>
>3) Rolling tool chest. You know, the mechanic's type. Just a low end,
>stacking unit from Lowes. Measuring tools, wrenches, sockets, screwdrivers,
>drill bits, etc, stay organized and dust free, and I can wheel the thing around
>if needed. My pegboarding of all this stuff never stayed organized. Somehow,
>I manage to keep it neat in the rolling cabinet.
>
>What are your best three easy imrpovements?
>
>

B a r r y B u r k e J r . wrote:

>On 06 Feb 2004 15:08:56 EST, Mark and Kim Smith
><[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>
>>Yikes! I just spent $1500 on mine. Then again, it is a Snap-on unit.
>>
>>
>
>Mine honestly aren't anywhere near Snap-On quality, but I think
>they're plenty adequate.
>
>Barry
>

Hi Barry,

I hope you don't think I was knocking your tool boxes, as I certainly
wasn't! I was just bragging a bit. The important part is that the box
holds what it's supposed to and you are satisfied with it! Besides,
that Snap-on I have is a baby compared to my "train"!
www.bunchobikes.com/mac5.jpg Throw in a couple of cheapie Craftsman
for other uses and I'll have more boxes than I'll know what to do with
when I retire!!

Hmmmm, a couple of questions. What pressure are you running your air
system at and does anyone know the pressure rating of "L" copper??

Bay Area Dave wrote:

> just got done moving the air hose reel from the wall opposite my work
> bench, to overhead, near the bench. Why didn't I install one years
> ago??? Used 1/2" "L" copper pipe. Was a breeze to install except for
> getting to one of the mounting screws behind the reel. Attacked it
> with a quarter inch ratchet and ultra short phillips bit.
>
> dave
>
> Rich Stern wrote:
>
>> I just finished a project and was cleaning up the shop, moving stuff
>> around to
>> get at all the sawdust, putting tools back, etc. I was musing about
>> changes
>> I've made to my workshop over the years, thinking about the successes
>> and the
>> failures. Here's what I came up with for my best three:
>>
>> 1) Compressed air from an overhead, retractable reel. How the heck
>> did I get
>> through the early years without this? I leave my portable compressor
>> hooked up
>> via quick disconnect to a feed line for the overhead reel. I can
>> disconnect
>> and roll out quickly if I need the compressor in the yard, garage, or
>> at a
>> neighbor's. The reel also has a quick disconnect, stuffed with a
>> blowgun when
>> not using any other air tools. This setup is great for woodworking,
>> but the
>> air gets used for all kinds of other tasks, too.
>>
>> 2) Stopped overcrowding the shop with machines. For years, my
>> semi-portable
>> power tools were set up and ready to work. Visions of moving from
>> station to
>> station with effortless efficiency. I thought it made projects go
>> faster. The
>> opposite is true. As I run low on space, the shop gets messy and
>> projects
>> begin to crawl. Now I take out the miter saw, belt/disk sander,
>> scroll saw,
>> etc. only when needed. The rest of the time, I enjoy the free space
>> around the
>> bigger machines. The shop stays much cleaner.
>>
>> 3) Rolling tool chest. You know, the mechanic's type. Just a low end,
>> stacking unit from Lowes. Measuring tools, wrenches, sockets,
>> screwdrivers,
>> drill bits, etc, stay organized and dust free, and I can wheel the
>> thing around
>> if needed. My pegboarding of all this stuff never stayed organized.
>> Somehow,
>> I manage to keep it neat in the rolling cabinet.
>>
>> What are your best three easy imrpovements?
>
>

Keith Carlson wrote:

>"Mark and Kim Smith" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>
>
>
>>1) Move the bike hobby off to one corner of the shop.
>>
>>
>www.bunchobikes.com
>
>OOH OOH OOH. A Schwinn Stingray!
>Man, I saved my paper route money for a long time to buy mine! Mine was red,
>though. How I wish I would have tucked that away somewhere instead of
>selling it when I started riding dirtbikes.
>
>Mark, how much are those things worth these days?
>
>
>

A Fastback, like I have, in decent condition will hit $300. The earlier
the Stingrays, the more they will bring. An early 63-64 with a first
year only paint job brought $4000 on eBay recently. Krates will
regularly bring $800- $2000. These are averages.

I've been reading the threads on using plastic pipe of various material
and problems with them either shrapneling or blowing. Shops I work in
use the systems built back in the 50's, 60's and 70's consisting of
galvanized pipe. Tried and true systems. So why not use the tried and
true ways I tend to ask myself?? The ol' "Pay me now or pay me later"
If you treat them right ( bleed moisture nightly, etc ) they'll last
forever. Or, you can keep patching your plastic pipe over and over.
Even if you saved money up front, you'll probably lose that in materials
for repair and labor to do it. Don't know as I have no experience with
plastic. Just the concerns I read from others.

As for "L" copper, sounds like it has the proper rating so it'll work
just fine. Same way to assemble?? By soldering joints, etc? As for 2
stage, 3 phase etc, type of compressor, that doesn't mean anything.
What counts the most is the setting of your relief valve or "popoff"
valve in your system. Most are set at 150 psi. Most systems run at 120
psi or so. Most all "bought" compressors have the relief valve built
in, no need to add it to the system. A nice thing to add would be an
automatic spitter to bleed off moisture and scare folks that aren't used
to hearing such a thing!

Along the automotive lines, if you need something flexible in a
permanent air line, hydraulic one-wire hose would work. It'll get you
around corners pretty easy and last forever. Too tough to use at the
tool end though. It has a working pressure of 2500 ( for 3/8" if I
remember correctly. Should increase for larger sizes. Largest size I
have worked with was about 2" on a 35 ton rough terrain crane. ) With a
burst much higher than that. We're talking Parker or Aeroquip stuff.
And no need to press fittings as both manufacturers make reusable fittings.

Bay Area Dave wrote:

> BTW, the burst pressure of L is MORE than 2,600 PSI. I couldn't find
> the exact figure, but it's MORE than that. also, the 175 PSI figure I
> mentioned was for a 2 stage, 3 phase compressor I had for the auto
> shop...
>
> dave
>
> Mark and Kim Smith wrote:
>
>> Hmmmm, a couple of questions. What pressure are you running your
>> air system at and does anyone know the pressure rating of "L" copper??
>>
>> Bay Area Dave wrote:
>>
>>> just got done moving the air hose reel from the wall opposite my
>>> work bench, to overhead, near the bench. Why didn't I install one
>>> years ago??? Used 1/2" "L" copper pipe. Was a breeze to install
>>> except for getting to one of the mounting screws behind the reel.
>>> Attacked it with a quarter inch ratchet and ultra short phillips bit.
>>>
>>> dave
>>>
>>> Rich Stern wrote:
>>>
>>>> I just finished a project and was cleaning up the shop, moving
>>>> stuff around to
>>>> get at all the sawdust, putting tools back, etc. I was musing
>>>> about changes
>>>> I've made to my workshop over the years, thinking about the
>>>> successes and the
>>>> failures. Here's what I came up with for my best three:
>>>>
>>>> 1) Compressed air from an overhead, retractable reel. How the heck
>>>> did I get
>>>> through the early years without this? I leave my portable
>>>> compressor hooked up
>>>> via quick disconnect to a feed line for the overhead reel. I can
>>>> disconnect
>>>> and roll out quickly if I need the compressor in the yard, garage,
>>>> or at a
>>>> neighbor's. The reel also has a quick disconnect, stuffed with a
>>>> blowgun when
>>>> not using any other air tools. This setup is great for
>>>> woodworking, but the
>>>> air gets used for all kinds of other tasks, too.
>>>>
>>>> 2) Stopped overcrowding the shop with machines. For years, my
>>>> semi-portable
>>>> power tools were set up and ready to work. Visions of moving from
>>>> station to
>>>> station with effortless efficiency. I thought it made projects go
>>>> faster. The
>>>> opposite is true. As I run low on space, the shop gets messy and
>>>> projects
>>>> begin to crawl. Now I take out the miter saw, belt/disk sander,
>>>> scroll saw,
>>>> etc. only when needed. The rest of the time, I enjoy the free
>>>> space around the
>>>> bigger machines. The shop stays much cleaner.
>>>>
>>>> 3) Rolling tool chest. You know, the mechanic's type. Just a low
>>>> end,
>>>> stacking unit from Lowes. Measuring tools, wrenches, sockets,
>>>> screwdrivers,
>>>> drill bits, etc, stay organized and dust free, and I can wheel the
>>>> thing around
>>>> if needed. My pegboarding of all this stuff never stayed
>>>> organized. Somehow,
>>>> I manage to keep it neat in the rolling cabinet.
>>>>
>>>> What are your best three easy imrpovements?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>

Edwin Pawlowski wrote:

>Mark and Kim Smith wrote:
>
>
>>As for "L" copper, sounds like it has the proper rating so it'll work
>>just fine. Same way to assemble?? By soldering joints, etc?
>>
>>
>
>Many indusrial applications are being done with copper. One advantave oer
>pipe is ease of change. Want to add another branch? With pipe, you may
>have to break 10 joints from the new spot to the nearest union. With
>copper, you just cut and put in a "T" where needed. --
>Ed
>[email protected]
>http://pages.cthome.net/edhome
>
>
>
Sounds like the way to go these days!!

I'll offer one.

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.asp?page=47161&category=1,42401&ccurrency=2&SID=

I picked up a 12' sho-vac hose + wands for my shopvac at Lee Valley. Now, I
don't have to drag my sho vac all over the shop to tidy up. From unther the
outfeed table (where my shopvac usually lives) I can just about reach
everything.

It's more narrow than a notmal shopvac hose, so it's more flexible, but
since it's designed with a smooth interior, it does not take much of a
suction hit.

I vac *much* more fequently, now that it's less fuss to get it done.

My only beef with this product is that it could really use a 20" extension
so that I don't have to bend over so much to get to the floor.

<<<<< are you listening Robin? >>>>>

-Steve

>What are your best three easy imrpovements?

I put these in order of how much they added to my enjoyment of using my shop.

1. Proper bench.

2. Proper lighting/electrical work.

3. Acquiring adequate space.


David

This is one of the things I like most about this group. So much
valuable information for us newbies! Piss in a bucket and my
woodworking improves. Awesome! lol What's next, drinking beer while
using the table saw?


Luigi Zanasi <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> On Sat, 07 Feb 2004 23:00:55 -0800, Luigi Zanasi <[email protected]>
> scribbled:
>
> >On 06 Feb 2004 04:38:59 GMT, [email protected] (Rich Stern) scribbled:
> >
> >>What are your best three easy imrpovements?
> >
> <snip of my previous six improvements>
>
> How could I forget improvement No. 7 (actually should be #1),
> especially considering Silvan's vulgar hijacking of another thread to
> the topic I am about to bring up.
>
> 1. A pee bucket. A plastic bucket filled with sawdust. I no longer
> need to walk out to the garden beds (during the winter) or the compost
> heap (during the summer). The stuff just gets dumped on the compost in
> the spring: a good combination of nitrogen and carbon. No smell. Thank
> you, Doug Stowe.
>
> Luigi
> Note the new email address.
> Please adjust your krillfiles (tmAD) accordingly
> Replace "nonet" with "yukonomics" for real email address

Not long ago, I "discovered" rec.woodworking. I've been using it a ton
as reference since then. I've seen several referals to pics being
posted at "ABPW". Would someone please explain what this is and how I
access it? Thanks.

Tim Carver <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> On Sun, 08 Feb 2004 15:29:23 GMT, Larry Jaques
> <novalidaddress@di\/ersify.com> wrote:
>
>
> >Great! I've been trying to come up with something similar on wheels
> >for Dina and you found it for me. Do you have part of the sliding
> >section as a flat area with a stop to make it work? Slots in the
> >immovable part for the larger sled? Thanks for the ideas!
>
> I posted a couple of pics to ABPW.
>
> Tim Carver
> [email protected]

I installed a retractable reel about a week ago but will be relocating
it from near the compressor to nearly the center of the shop, because
there is only about 21' feet of hose which gets caught up on the TS and
other equipment when I drag it over to the workbench on the wall
opposite the reel.

Five wall cabinets to hold and hide lots of stuff! Plus keep most of
the dust off those items.

An overhead retractable 110V cord with a 3-outlet molded plug.

Can I give more than three? Here goes:

painted the walls semi-gloss white.

Lot's of light: 11 4 foot fluorescents in a two car "studio" <g>

Weather striped the door to stop drafts; the shop is much warmer in the
winter because of that one improvement.

Just added a TV last week to supplement the CD player, cassette
player/radio.


What I'd like to have but won't (do to one thing or another)

1. Utility basin
2. A John
3. more R-O-O-M
4. higher ceiling
5. wood floor



dave





Rich Stern wrote:

> I just finished a project and was cleaning up the shop, moving stuff around to
> get at all the sawdust, putting tools back, etc. I was musing about changes
> I've made to my workshop over the years, thinking about the successes and the
> failures. Here's what I came up with for my best three:
>
> 1) Compressed air from an overhead, retractable reel. How the heck did I get
> through the early years without this? I leave my portable compressor hooked up
> via quick disconnect to a feed line for the overhead reel. I can disconnect
> and roll out quickly if I need the compressor in the yard, garage, or at a
> neighbor's. The reel also has a quick disconnect, stuffed with a blowgun when
> not using any other air tools. This setup is great for woodworking, but the
> air gets used for all kinds of other tasks, too.
>
> 2) Stopped overcrowding the shop with machines. For years, my semi-portable
> power tools were set up and ready to work. Visions of moving from station to
> station with effortless efficiency. I thought it made projects go faster. The
> opposite is true. As I run low on space, the shop gets messy and projects
> begin to crawl. Now I take out the miter saw, belt/disk sander, scroll saw,
> etc. only when needed. The rest of the time, I enjoy the free space around the
> bigger machines. The shop stays much cleaner.
>
> 3) Rolling tool chest. You know, the mechanic's type. Just a low end,
> stacking unit from Lowes. Measuring tools, wrenches, sockets, screwdrivers,
> drill bits, etc, stay organized and dust free, and I can wheel the thing around
> if needed. My pegboarding of all this stuff never stayed organized. Somehow,
> I manage to keep it neat in the rolling cabinet.
>
> What are your best three easy imrpovements?

On Sun, 08 Feb 2004 12:27:57 GMT, B a r r y B u r k e J r . wrote:
>
> On Sun, 08 Feb 2004 06:42:08 GMT, Bay Area Dave <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>wood is the preferred floor for several reasons:
>>
>>1. drop a chisel, tip down,
>
> Do they ever land any other way? <G>

If you wrap a piece of buttered toast around the handle, butter
pointing outwards, then it will land on the handle ;)

--

Frank

http://www.freebsd.org/

Sure - love to see a pic.


"Tim Carver" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Sun, 08 Feb 2004 15:29:23 GMT, Larry Jaques
> <novalidaddress@di\/ersify.com> wrote:
>
> >On Sun, 08 Feb 2004 03:36:56 GMT, Tim Carver <[email protected]>
> >brought forth from the murky depths:
> >
> >> 2) Mounted my outfeed table top on 28" drawer slides. The table is
> >>28" deep,so when it's pushed in, it doesn't get in my way. When I
> >>push it out, it extends out to 56" behind the saw (60" past the blade)
> >>which is just long enough to handle 8' stock, and I can move it in and
> >>out without even walking around to the back of the saw. After
> >>suffering for years with temp supports and and later a large fixed
> >>table that took too much room, I'm really happy with this solution.
> >
> >Great! I've been trying to come up with something similar on wheels
> >for Dina and you found it for me. Do you have part of the sliding
> >section as a flat area with a stop to make it work? Slots in the
> >immovable part for the larger sled? Thanks for the ideas!
>
> Larry, I used 2 54" pieces of 3/8" by 3" cold finish steel bar, bolted
> to the sides of the saw, parallel to the miter slots, with the edge
> dropped just slightly (.01") below the tablesaw surface.
>
> You could do the same thing with wood, of course; 1x4 maple or 3/4" x
> 4" ply would be about right. These pieces are the sole support for
> the top, so the area under the top behind the saw is totally free for
> storage. The table top itself is 1.25" Fnnform with a .5" UHMW top
> screwed to it. Te drawer slides are just screwed to the edges of the
> Finnform. I made it a very tight fit on purpose, and I've never had
> the table move as work slides over it, not that it would really matter
> if it did, the support would be moving with the work, which would be
> fine.
>
> I have a cab saw, and I've never seen any indication of tipping when
> the table is extended with material on it, but perhaps this wouldn't
> work as well with a contractor saw. Just to be sure, I bolted my saw
> down for safety. I certainly wouldn't let the total go much more
> than 27" behind the saw without a leg to support it. There is no
> reason really that you couldn't have a support leg on a caster if you
> wanted, though. In my case, I want that space, I have a tool cabinet
> under there.
>
> The drawer slides are screwed to the insides of the bars, with the top
> of the slides flush with the top of the bar (remember,.01 down from
> the saw top). There are no stops, the table travel stops when the
> drawer slides reach the end of their travel. Remember, that far edge
> is 60" out from the back of the blade, long enough for 8' stock. If I
> need more (e.g, if I'm ripping a 12 footer) I have to use a temporary
> support.
>
> One bar is bolted to the left side of the saw, the other is bolted to
> the right side of the right wing (I happen not to be using a left
> wing, because I have a sliding table).I bolted the left side bar to
> the saw thru the holes where the left wing would normally attach. On
> the right side, I drilled the right side of the wing in 3 places and
> bolted the bar to the outside of the right wing.
>
> The following detail is confusing, and it doesn't really have much to
> do with the sliding table idea, but it does explain why I chose to
> support the sliding table with steel instead of wood. Remember, I had
> an extra wing. I used it behind the right wing. It is supported on
> the right by the right steel bar, giving me an 8" by 54" right hand
> side wing. This is why I chose steel for the support bar. Wood would
> be fine for the support bars if you weren't doing this.
>
> If anybody's interested in this, I'll post a pic. I've kind got a lot
> of stuff going on here which complicates things, but the sliding
> outfeed is really pretty easy and simple.
>
>
>
>
>
> >
> >------------- -----------
> >T===========| | slider ||stop
> >S===========| | ||
> >------------- -----------
> >
> >
> >> 3) Replaced shelves under my bench with simple shallow
> >>pullouts. This was so easy to do it isn't funny, and it improved the
> >>cleanliness of my shop a ton, because I can now get a lot more stuff
> >>neatly arranged on the pullouts than I ever could on the shelves.
> >
> >In visualizing what you did, I decided that my smaller tailed tools
> >would benefit by being placed on a shallow sliding drawer under the
> >assembly table. I think I'll add one to the mechanics vise bench, too.
> >Now to find an Accuride set that slides both ways for the pair on
> >the assembly bench and devise a simple center detent to keep it in
> >place when I roll the bench around. A spring-loaded inline skate
> >wheel in a rounded V-groove ought to do the trick.
> If you ever find such slides, please let me know! I want to add some
> 2 way drawers under the right side of my saw, to store panels under
> construction.
> >
> >-
> >The only reason I would take up exercising is || http://diversify.com
> > so that I could hear heavy breathing again. || Programmed Websites
>
> Tim Carver
> [email protected]

On Fri, 06 Feb 2004 06:07:04 GMT, Bay Area Dave <[email protected]> wrote:

<SNIP>
>An overhead retractable 110V cord with a 3-outlet molded plug.
>
<SNIP>

Where did you find retractable reel at what cost?

As long as the pipe is not really small, it would actually act as a
extra resevoir and should NOT reduce the power nor the functionality

John

On 11 Feb 2004 13:14:24 -0800, [email protected] (Jeff) wrote:

>[email protected] (Larry Bud) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
>> [email protected] (Rich Stern) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
>> > I just finished a project and was cleaning up the shop, moving stuff around to
>> > get at all the sawdust, putting tools back, etc. I was musing about changes
>> > I've made to my workshop over the years, thinking about the successes and the
>> > failures. Here's what I came up with for my best three:
>> >
>> > 1) Compressed air from an overhead,
>>
>> I piped my compressor which is in the garage into the basement. ran
>> it across one wall with quick disconnect fittings. Love it! Would
>> like to run it across the adjecent wall.
>
>
>That is a really good idea. Does it matter what type of pipe you use?
> Would having about 40 feet of pipe added between a pancake compressor
>and the nail gun affect the operation, that is, would there still be
>enough power to drive the nails?

Humm, I have to go with 38 wheels and 125 drawers!






On 06 Feb 2004 04:38:59 GMT, [email protected] (Rich Stern) wrote:

>I just finished a project and was cleaning up the shop, moving stuff around to
>get at all the sawdust, putting tools back, etc. I was musing about changes
>I've made to my workshop over the years, thinking about the successes and the
>failures. Here's what I came up with for my best three:
>
>1) Compressed air from an overhead, retractable reel. How the heck did I get
>through the early years without this? I leave my portable compressor hooked up
>via quick disconnect to a feed line for the overhead reel. I can disconnect
>and roll out quickly if I need the compressor in the yard, garage, or at a
>neighbor's. The reel also has a quick disconnect, stuffed with a blowgun when
>not using any other air tools. This setup is great for woodworking, but the
>air gets used for all kinds of other tasks, too.
>
>2) Stopped overcrowding the shop with machines. For years, my semi-portable
>power tools were set up and ready to work. Visions of moving from station to
>station with effortless efficiency. I thought it made projects go faster. The
>opposite is true. As I run low on space, the shop gets messy and projects
>begin to crawl. Now I take out the miter saw, belt/disk sander, scroll saw,
>etc. only when needed. The rest of the time, I enjoy the free space around the
>bigger machines. The shop stays much cleaner.
>
>3) Rolling tool chest. You know, the mechanic's type. Just a low end,
>stacking unit from Lowes. Measuring tools, wrenches, sockets, screwdrivers,
>drill bits, etc, stay organized and dust free, and I can wheel the thing around
>if needed. My pegboarding of all this stuff never stayed organized. Somehow,
>I manage to keep it neat in the rolling cabinet.
>
>What are your best three easy imrpovements?

>Why the wood floor Dave and is this in preference to concrete ? I am about to set up a new shop and wondered what was better.

You are asking this is a wood news group?
Seriously, concrete is hard on the bones & cold. Got mats from CostCo.
Really like them but hard to sweep up; so's I don't. Except
Mama.....never mind.
If you afford it, go with wood floors.

On Mon, 09 Feb 2004 10:11:53 GMT, Unisaw A100 <[email protected]>
wrote:

>Luigi Zanasi wrote:
>>1. A pee bucket. A plastic bucket filled with sawdust. I no longer
>>need to walk out to the garden beds (during the winter) or the compost
>>heap (during the summer). The stuff just gets dumped on the compost in
>>the spring: a good combination of nitrogen and carbon. No smell. Thank
>>you, Doug Stowe.
>
>
>Can you explain this further? Can you post a picture on
>abpw?
>
>UA100






NOOOOOO......

On Sun, 08 Feb 2004 15:29:23 GMT, Larry Jaques
<novalidaddress@di\/ersify.com> wrote:

>Now to find an Accuride set that slides both ways for the pair on
>the assembly bench and devise a simple center detent to keep it in
>place when I roll the bench around. A spring-loaded inline skate
>wheel in a rounded V-groove ought to do the trick.

Larry -

Couldn't you just use 2 sets of box slides for this? One pair would
be attached to the pullout. The outer pair would pull out from the
opposite side; when you pull out from that side, the inner pair and
the pullout would move as a unit. You would have full extension in
both directions, and I think there would be a pretty good detent in
the center position, since the standard accuride slides have detents
to help keep them closed. You would have to drill the slide
component of the outer pair to match the mounting holes in the box of
the inner pair. And you would need to keep the profile of the
fasteners that attach the box of the inner pair to the slide of the
outer pair to a minimum - pop rivets would probably work nicely. Or
you could use 1/4" masonite or something similar
as an adapter between the outer and inner pairs if you want to avoid
drilling and riveting the slides.

If you do know of a slide actually designed to open both ways, please
let me know, as this solution obviously has some drawbacks (cost,
double slide thickness, reduced load capacity).


Tim Carver
[email protected]

On 9 Feb 2004 12:09:39 -0800, [email protected] (Chip) scribbled:

>This is one of the things I like most about this group. So much
>valuable information for us newbies! Piss in a bucket and my
>woodworking improves. Awesome! lol What's next, drinking beer while
>using the table saw?

By peeing in a bucket, you end up spending more time in the shop and
less time walking to and fro to your usual urine depository, not to
speak of more time walking to and fro trying to decide whether you can
hold it in a while longer, more time in the shop means you spend more
time learning and thereby improve your wooddorking . What's so hard to
unnerstand?

Luigi
Replace "nonet" with "yukonomics" for real email address

just got done moving the air hose reel from the wall opposite my work
bench, to overhead, near the bench. Why didn't I install one years
ago??? Used 1/2" "L" copper pipe. Was a breeze to install except for
getting to one of the mounting screws behind the reel. Attacked it with
a quarter inch ratchet and ultra short phillips bit.

dave

Rich Stern wrote:

> I just finished a project and was cleaning up the shop, moving stuff around to
> get at all the sawdust, putting tools back, etc. I was musing about changes
> I've made to my workshop over the years, thinking about the successes and the
> failures. Here's what I came up with for my best three:
>
> 1) Compressed air from an overhead, retractable reel. How the heck did I get
> through the early years without this? I leave my portable compressor hooked up
> via quick disconnect to a feed line for the overhead reel. I can disconnect
> and roll out quickly if I need the compressor in the yard, garage, or at a
> neighbor's. The reel also has a quick disconnect, stuffed with a blowgun when
> not using any other air tools. This setup is great for woodworking, but the
> air gets used for all kinds of other tasks, too.
>
> 2) Stopped overcrowding the shop with machines. For years, my semi-portable
> power tools were set up and ready to work. Visions of moving from station to
> station with effortless efficiency. I thought it made projects go faster. The
> opposite is true. As I run low on space, the shop gets messy and projects
> begin to crawl. Now I take out the miter saw, belt/disk sander, scroll saw,
> etc. only when needed. The rest of the time, I enjoy the free space around the
> bigger machines. The shop stays much cleaner.
>
> 3) Rolling tool chest. You know, the mechanic's type. Just a low end,
> stacking unit from Lowes. Measuring tools, wrenches, sockets, screwdrivers,
> drill bits, etc, stay organized and dust free, and I can wheel the thing around
> if needed. My pegboarding of all this stuff never stayed organized. Somehow,
> I manage to keep it neat in the rolling cabinet.
>
> What are your best three easy imrpovements?

On Wed, 11 Feb 2004 02:52:56 -0500, Silvan
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Luigi Zanasi wrote:
>
>> grocery store nearby, you might consider first investing in penis
>> enlargement pills to improve your aim to the shorter buckets. Penis
>> enlargement pills are available everywhere on the internet. Coming to
>> think of it, they would be useful even with the taller buckets, unless
>> you're really short.
>
>Another aspect that I'm sure must affect others here... It helps if you go
>on a diet and exercise regimen so you can shrink your gut far enough to
>actually *see* your penis. Aim is a real problem otherwise.


nah.... you just need enough of those enlargement pills that you can
hang the end of it over the rim of the bucket while you get back to
work.





> DAMHIKT.
>Maybe I need some of Luigi's penis enlargement pills.
>
>> 7. Get a shovel or dust pan, go under your table saw and fill the pail
>> with sawdust. Do not use cedar, walnut, redwood or any tropical
>
>What about lathe shavings? My ye olde pisse buckete is filled with green
>maple streamers and chippings. I'm short on sawdust these days, since I
>retired my boat anchor, and am waiting on my tax refund to replace it.

shavings are fine. probably better than saw dust, and better for sure
than sander dust- that stuff just cakes up into a lump. getting oxygen
to it is part of the chemistry....





>
>> 9. You may use a stick to mix the compost every once in while.
>
>Will it ever fill up, or is it a bottomless pit? It seems like I must have
>discharged at least five gallone of ye olde pisse into ye olde pisse
>buckete by now.
>
>Another bonus, I don't lose heat by opening the doors to my shop or to my
>house every time I need to free Willy.
>

On Sun, 08 Feb 2004 15:29:23 GMT, Larry Jaques
<novalidaddress@di\/ersify.com> wrote:


>Great! I've been trying to come up with something similar on wheels
>for Dina and you found it for me. Do you have part of the sliding
>section as a flat area with a stop to make it work? Slots in the
>immovable part for the larger sled? Thanks for the ideas!

I posted a couple of pics to ABPW.

Tim Carver
[email protected]

On Wed, 11 Feb 2004 01:58:01 GMT, Larry Jaques
<novalidaddress@di\/ersify.com> wrote:

>
>Whilst perusing the Accuride catalog today I came upon
>the 2002 slide which is used in pass-thru applications


Larry -

Thanks for the info, I had no idea they made 2 way slides.
Unfortunately, I need something a lot stronger, suitable for very wide
and long pull-through shelves. I tried searching the AccuRide site
for "pass-through", "two way" and "double sided". I got a couple of
hits showing the 2002, nothing else. But anyway, I really
appreciate the reply.

(BTW - those guys obviously spent a lot on their site, great info
there, but they really don't have it organized very hell. What's with
making you choose an industry before you search? you just wind up
doing the same search 3 times. Yuk!)


Tim Carver
[email protected]

On Sun, 08 Feb 2004 04:06:18 GMT, "Rob V" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Tim,
>
>Can you give more details and pics on #2?

I posted a couple of pics to ABPW.

Tim Carver
[email protected]

On Mon, 09 Feb 2004 10:11:53 GMT, Unisaw A100 <[email protected]>
brought forth from the murky depths:

>Luigi Zanasi wrote:
>>1. A pee bucket. A plastic bucket filled with sawdust. I no longer
>>need to walk out to the garden beds (during the winter) or the compost
>>heap (during the summer). The stuff just gets dumped on the compost in
>>the spring: a good combination of nitrogen and carbon. No smell. Thank
>>you, Doug Stowe.
>
>Can you explain this further? Can you post a picture on
>abpw?

Maybe he could send you a couple bites so you could smell
and taste it, too? (You midwesterners are a strange lot.)


--
REMEMBER: First you pillage, then you burn.
---
http://diversify.com Full Service Website Development

On Sun, 08 Feb 2004 06:42:08 GMT, Bay Area Dave <[email protected]> wrote:

>wood is the preferred floor for several reasons:
>
>1. drop a chisel, tip down, onto a concrete floor. what do you get? a
>damaged tool. drop it on wood instead. what do you get? satisfaction!
>
>2. easier on the feet and legs.
>
>3. a bit warmer than a concrete slab.

Would you still recommend wood in a commercial shop environment? What
about one with radiant heating? Anyone here ever use removeable wood
flooring "panels", a la the Boston Garden?

JP

Stop letting the kids play jump rope with it!

dave

JAW wrote:

> jev wrote:
>
>> On Fri, 06 Feb 2004 06:07:04 GMT, Bay Area Dave <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> <SNIP>
>>
>>> An overhead retractable 110V cord with a 3-outlet molded plug.
>>>
>>
>> <SNIP>
>>
>> Where did you find retractable reel at what cost?
>
> I can concur with the retractabel reel. Just do not let the cord
> whiplash back into the reel. The Sears version will eventually break.
> Mine did after about 1 year of use. Had to buy another one.
>

On Sat, 07 Feb 2004 11:33:42 -0800, charlie b <[email protected]>
wrote:

>This is initially going to sound crazy but here goes.
>
>Grade school kids
>brooms
>"huge vacuum cleaner" (their term for "dust collector").
>
>Now the words - kids, cleaning, dusting - and the phrase
>"tidying" up don't normally go together - when they're
>at home. But in a SHOP...
>
>Maybe it's ALL THAT POWER - dust collector's muted roar,
>the sound of a large volume of air being sucked into
>a four inch hose, the way things magically disappear
>as the end of the hose approaches them or the sound of
>small pieces of all sorts of things rattling their way
>through the pipes on their way to who knows where.
>
>All of my "stationary" tools are on wheels and normally
>reside against a wall. They get pulled out when used
>and push back when done - leaving wood residue behind
>them. Out of sight, out of mind. But, after a kid, or
>a team of kids have sucked everything that they can
>reach into that four inch hose, they start looking
>UNDER and BEHIND things.
>
>In BIG VACUUM CLEANER mode, kids become prospectors
>searching for the Mother Load. Discovering all the
>sawdust that collects under a cabinet saw is a cause
>for squeeling rejoicing. That will prompt a search
>through my "sticks and dowel" storage tubes for an
>arm extender to get to the otherwise inaccessible
>sawdust. And like gold miners, they'll stick with
>"the gold vein" until it's all gone.
>
>When they discover more "treasures" behind the tools
>on wheels they'll hound you until you move them out
>of the way so they can continue their prospecting.
>
>After finding and taking care of everything the dust
>collector can handle, they find brooms and start
>sweeping small to medium cut offs into two or three
>piles - to be gone through for later "glue stuff
>together, use your imagination, sculpture/projects"
>The rejects go in a scrap box for kindling and "the
>good stuff" goes into each one's large zip lock
>stash bag.
>
>When "the room full of heavy stuff that generates
>sawdust" has been picked clean they move on to the
>"quiet gluing and bug spitting room" (bug spit to
>them is shellac to the rest of us - but bug spit
>sounds cooler). Here they can't use the HUGE
>VACUUM CLEANER - they know curlies will clog it
>up (earlier learning experience) - so it's brooms
>and brushes. The interesting curlies get saved
>for a future creative project and the rest get
>stuffed in a "fireplace fire starter stuff" bag.
>All those little pieces that dovetails and tenons
>create are each examined carefully for some
>wonderful use, the rejects going in a kindling
>box.
>
>As a bonus for me, they also find every nut, bolt,
>screw and anything else I'd dropped and couldn't
>find. Those go in the "stuff that was found and
>will be sorted out and put away later" can. One
>of these discoveries will prompt a "what's this
>and what's it for" question and one of my "too
>much information" lectures. I've learned to pay
>attention, so when their eyes start to glaze over
>I let them get back to The Hunt.
>
>In less than an hour the cleaning tornado moves
>on, other games to play. I'm left with a nice
>clean shop (it's still cluttered but relatively
>clean) bags of kids project parts, a bag
>of fire lighting curlies and a box of kindling.
>I'm also exhausted and inspired.
>
>Exhausted because I've had to mediate at least a
>dozen "he got to vacuum for 10 minutes and I only
>got to vacuum for a minute", "I found that first
>and she took it", "why can't I use the push broom
>this time?", "she says this is from a pin socket
>and I say it's from a tail socket" disputes.
>
>Exhausted because I've had to watch them like
>a hawk to keep them from bumping their heads
>while crawling under power equiptment searching
>for treasure, trying to move a wheeled cart
>supporting a disk and spindle sander away from
>the wall to get to who knows what behind it ...
>
>The inspiration comes from listening to all
>the wonderful ideas they have for a piece of
>scrap they found and saved.
>
>Inspired because they got me to look for useful
>stuff in what would otherwise be "just scrap".
>
>For those who'e had their teeth on edge, worrying
>about kids in the shop:
>
>The sharp handtools are in wall hanging tool
>cabinets behind a SCMS station and are out of
>reach of kids and, with the doors closed - out
>site, out of mind.
>
>All power tools are unplugged, and those that can
>be "locked down" are locked down BEFORE the human
>tornadoes get started.
>
>I've got one of those powerful magnates on a stick
>things and use it when emptying the cyclone garbage
>can - finding the iron bearing parts that shouldn't
>have been vacuumed up in the first place.
>
>To date there's been only one injury. While
>crawling around under the sliding table of my
>combination machine (a Robland X31 for the curious)
>looking for more sawdust to vacuum up, and despite
>my repeated "watch your head" warnings, one girl
>tried to get up while under the sliding table and
>dinged her eyebrow.
>
>That prompted a "que tip and peroxide - neopsorene
>- big gauze eyepatch with four big pieces of tape to
>hold it in place - just for dramatic effect - medical
>emergency production with an audience enjoying every
>act of the three act drama, The star of this production,
>with her "eye make up" was in all her glory, basking in
>the attention of her fans - "Does it really hurt
>bad?" - "You gonna have to get stitches?" - "Think
>you'll lose your eye?"
>
>Of course the tape and the gauze came off before she
>went home and her "gaping wound" lost some of it's
>shock value - a shiny neosporened eyebrow just isn't
>all that noteworthy.
>
>Maybe, in addition to eye protection, ear muffs rubber
>gloves and safety glasses, I should add a helmet or
>two.
>
>Nothing to buy, no slick jig or fixture, no new use
>for an existing tool- a single, free in terms of
>dollars, shop improvement. Clean shop and another
>one of those priceless experiences.
>
>charlie b

Excellent reading.
You're a hard act to follow.

Joe

Mark and Kim Smith wrote:
>
> As for "L" copper, sounds like it has the proper rating so it'll work
> just fine. Same way to assemble?? By soldering joints, etc?

Many indusrial applications are being done with copper. One advantave oer
pipe is ease of change. Want to add another branch? With pipe, you may
have to break 10 joints from the new spot to the nearest union. With
copper, you just cut and put in a "T" where needed. --
Ed
[email protected]
http://pages.cthome.net/edhome

>> What are your best three easy imrpovements?

1. Getting all the bicycles and crap out of the shed, and making it
officially a "shop."

2. De-rusting at last (not exactly easy, but cheap) that old Morgan front
vise, then flattening my benchtop and grafting a flat hardwood top onto it,
then drilling a grid of dog holes.

I can't come up with a #3 because I bought a lathe for Christmas, and I've
been too busy covering every surface in my shop with ribbons of wood to use
or take care of any of the rest of it. It's a real mess, actually.
Turning blanks on my table saw, turning blanks on my workbench, scraps of
too-short wood all over the floor. Moved the belt sander onto a stand in
front of the workbench so it's close to the lathe... Used all my Scary
Sharp(tm) paper to sand spindles and bowls...

It was the best thing and the worst thing I've done in years. :)

--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/

On Sun, 08 Feb 2004 15:29:23 GMT, Larry Jaques
<novalidaddress@di\/ersify.com> wrote:

>On Sun, 08 Feb 2004 03:36:56 GMT, Tim Carver <[email protected]>
>brought forth from the murky depths:
>
>> 2) Mounted my outfeed table top on 28" drawer slides. The table is
>>28" deep,so when it's pushed in, it doesn't get in my way. When I
>>push it out, it extends out to 56" behind the saw (60" past the blade)
>>which is just long enough to handle 8' stock, and I can move it in and
>>out without even walking around to the back of the saw. After
>>suffering for years with temp supports and and later a large fixed
>>table that took too much room, I'm really happy with this solution.
>
>Great! I've been trying to come up with something similar on wheels
>for Dina and you found it for me. Do you have part of the sliding
>section as a flat area with a stop to make it work? Slots in the
>immovable part for the larger sled? Thanks for the ideas!

Larry, I used 2 54" pieces of 3/8" by 3" cold finish steel bar, bolted
to the sides of the saw, parallel to the miter slots, with the edge
dropped just slightly (.01") below the tablesaw surface.

You could do the same thing with wood, of course; 1x4 maple or 3/4" x
4" ply would be about right. These pieces are the sole support for
the top, so the area under the top behind the saw is totally free for
storage. The table top itself is 1.25" Fnnform with a .5" UHMW top
screwed to it. Te drawer slides are just screwed to the edges of the
Finnform. I made it a very tight fit on purpose, and I've never had
the table move as work slides over it, not that it would really matter
if it did, the support would be moving with the work, which would be
fine.

I have a cab saw, and I've never seen any indication of tipping when
the table is extended with material on it, but perhaps this wouldn't
work as well with a contractor saw. Just to be sure, I bolted my saw
down for safety. I certainly wouldn't let the total go much more
than 27" behind the saw without a leg to support it. There is no
reason really that you couldn't have a support leg on a caster if you
wanted, though. In my case, I want that space, I have a tool cabinet
under there.

The drawer slides are screwed to the insides of the bars, with the top
of the slides flush with the top of the bar (remember,.01 down from
the saw top). There are no stops, the table travel stops when the
drawer slides reach the end of their travel. Remember, that far edge
is 60" out from the back of the blade, long enough for 8' stock. If I
need more (e.g, if I'm ripping a 12 footer) I have to use a temporary
support.

One bar is bolted to the left side of the saw, the other is bolted to
the right side of the right wing (I happen not to be using a left
wing, because I have a sliding table).I bolted the left side bar to
the saw thru the holes where the left wing would normally attach. On
the right side, I drilled the right side of the wing in 3 places and
bolted the bar to the outside of the right wing.

The following detail is confusing, and it doesn't really have much to
do with the sliding table idea, but it does explain why I chose to
support the sliding table with steel instead of wood. Remember, I had
an extra wing. I used it behind the right wing. It is supported on
the right by the right steel bar, giving me an 8" by 54" right hand
side wing. This is why I chose steel for the support bar. Wood would
be fine for the support bars if you weren't doing this.

If anybody's interested in this, I'll post a pic. I've kind got a lot
of stuff going on here which complicates things, but the sliding
outfeed is really pretty easy and simple.





>
>------------- -----------
>T===========| | slider ||stop
>S===========| | ||
>------------- -----------
>
>
>> 3) Replaced shelves under my bench with simple shallow
>>pullouts. This was so easy to do it isn't funny, and it improved the
>>cleanliness of my shop a ton, because I can now get a lot more stuff
>>neatly arranged on the pullouts than I ever could on the shelves.
>
>In visualizing what you did, I decided that my smaller tailed tools
>would benefit by being placed on a shallow sliding drawer under the
>assembly table. I think I'll add one to the mechanics vise bench, too.
>Now to find an Accuride set that slides both ways for the pair on
>the assembly bench and devise a simple center detent to keep it in
>place when I roll the bench around. A spring-loaded inline skate
>wheel in a rounded V-groove ought to do the trick.
If you ever find such slides, please let me know! I want to add some
2 way drawers under the right side of my saw, to store panels under
construction.
>
>-
>The only reason I would take up exercising is || http://diversify.com
> so that I could hear heavy breathing again. || Programmed Websites

Tim Carver
[email protected]

On 6 Feb 2004 08:19:05 -0600, jev <[email protected]>
wrote:

>On Fri, 06 Feb 2004 06:07:04 GMT, Bay Area Dave <[email protected]> wrote:
>
><SNIP>
>>An overhead retractable 110V cord with a 3-outlet molded plug.
>>
><SNIP>
>
>Where did you find retractable reel at what cost?

I got mine at Auto Zone and I think it was about $29. If you dont
have Auto Zone in your area, check whatever passes for auto parts
store.

The pic is on the way to your email box.

On Fri, 06 Feb 2004 22:42:30 GMT, "Rob V" <[email protected]> wrote:

>
>> 3) Lumber rack with integrated chopsaw (miter saw) station.
>
>^^^^^
>Would love to see a pic of this.
>
>

On 06 Feb 2004 04:38:59 GMT, [email protected] (Rich Stern) wrote:

>What are your best three easy imrpovements?

1) I tried for years to come up with an effective dust collection
solution for my SCMS. I've tried using a box behind the saw,
etcetera. Every solution either compromised the cuts the saw could
make, or didn't do a great job collecting the dust. Well,
I finally tried making a shroud out of that flexible plastic that's
used for freezer curtains. A couple of hours of fiddling around, and
Voila! It works! I now have a dust free miter station. It's a
flexible shroud that attaches to the saw and moves with it, and it
doesn't restrict any cut (extreme left miter+bevel, etc) that the saw
is capable of making. Very low effort for a large environmental
improvement, IMO.

2) Mounted my outfeed table top on 28" drawer slides. The table is
28" deep,so when it's pushed in, it doesn't get in my way. When I
push it out, it extends out to 56" behind the saw (60" past the blade)
which is just long enough to handle 8' stock, and I can move it in and
out without even walking around to the back of the saw. After
suffering for years with temp supports and and later a large fixed
table that took too much room, I'm really happy with this solution.

3) Replaced shelves under my bench with simple shallow
pullouts. This was so easy to do it isn't funny, and it improved the
cleanliness of my shop a ton, because I can now get a lot more stuff
neatly arranged on the pullouts than I ever could on the shelves.




Tim Carver
[email protected]

On Sun, 08 Feb 2004 15:29:23 GMT, Larry Jaques
<novalidaddress@di\/ersify.com> brought forth from the murky depths:

>Now to find an Accuride set that slides both ways for the pair on
>the assembly bench and devise a simple center detent to keep it in
>place when I roll the bench around. A spring-loaded inline skate
>wheel in a rounded V-groove ought to do the trick.

Whilst perusing the Accuride catalog today I came upon
the 2002 slide which is used in pass-thru applications
such as kitchen islands and medical carts where both
sides need access. It has an internal detent in the center
which should work well.

http://www.accuride.com/search/results.php?s=2_woodworking&t=2002


--
Impeach 'em ALL!
----------------------------------------------------
http://diversify.com Website Application Programming

On Wed, 11 Feb 2004 13:21:07 -0700, Bridger <[email protected]>
scribbled:

>On Wed, 11 Feb 2004 02:52:56 -0500, Silvan
><[email protected]> wrote:

>>What about lathe shavings? My ye olde pisse buckete is filled with green
>>maple streamers and chippings. I'm short on sawdust these days, since I
>>retired my boat anchor, and am waiting on my tax refund to replace it.
>
>shavings are fine. probably better than saw dust, and better for sure
>than sander dust- that stuff just cakes up into a lump. getting oxygen
>to it is part of the chemistry....

I save my shavings for mixing with lawn clippings. They turn into an
slimy smelly mat otherwise (the lawn clippings, that is) because of
anaerobic decomposition.

>>> 9. You may use a stick to mix the compost every once in while.
>>
>>Will it ever fill up, or is it a bottomless pit? It seems like I must have
>>discharged at least five gallone of ye olde pisse into ye olde pisse
>>buckete by now.

Dunno. Sawdust has an amazing water absorption capacity.

>>Another bonus, I don't lose heat by opening the doors to my shop or to my
>>house every time I need to free Willy.

And I track less sawdust into the house, thereby avoiding one source
of contention, not that there is anything wrong with sawdust on the
floors. My argument about sawdust making it easier to sweep floors
never flew, for some reason.

Luigi
Replace "nonet" with "yukonomics" for real email address

On Sun, 08 Feb 2004 03:36:56 GMT, Tim Carver <[email protected]>
brought forth from the murky depths:

> 2) Mounted my outfeed table top on 28" drawer slides. The table is
>28" deep,so when it's pushed in, it doesn't get in my way. When I
>push it out, it extends out to 56" behind the saw (60" past the blade)
>which is just long enough to handle 8' stock, and I can move it in and
>out without even walking around to the back of the saw. After
>suffering for years with temp supports and and later a large fixed
>table that took too much room, I'm really happy with this solution.

Great! I've been trying to come up with something similar on wheels
for Dina and you found it for me. Do you have part of the sliding
section as a flat area with a stop to make it work? Slots in the
immovable part for the larger sled? Thanks for the ideas!

------------- -----------
T===========| | slider ||stop
S===========| | ||
------------- -----------


> 3) Replaced shelves under my bench with simple shallow
>pullouts. This was so easy to do it isn't funny, and it improved the
>cleanliness of my shop a ton, because I can now get a lot more stuff
>neatly arranged on the pullouts than I ever could on the shelves.

In visualizing what you did, I decided that my smaller tailed tools
would benefit by being placed on a shallow sliding drawer under the
assembly table. I think I'll add one to the mechanics vise bench, too.
Now to find an Accuride set that slides both ways for the pair on
the assembly bench and devise a simple center detent to keep it in
place when I roll the bench around. A spring-loaded inline skate
wheel in a rounded V-groove ought to do the trick.

-
The only reason I would take up exercising is || http://diversify.com
so that I could hear heavy breathing again. || Programmed Websites

Since when is urine good for compost and/or vegetation?


"Bridger" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Mon, 09 Feb 2004 10:11:53 GMT, Unisaw A100 <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> >Luigi Zanasi wrote:
> >>1. A pee bucket. A plastic bucket filled with sawdust. I no longer
> >>need to walk out to the garden beds (during the winter) or the compost
> >>heap (during the summer). The stuff just gets dumped on the compost in
> >>the spring: a good combination of nitrogen and carbon. No smell. Thank
> >>you, Doug Stowe.
> >
> >
> >Can you explain this further? Can you post a picture on
> >abpw?
> >
> >UA100
>
>
>
>
>
>
> NOOOOOO......

"Chip" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Not long ago, I "discovered" rec.woodworking. I've been using it a ton
> as reference since then. I've seen several referals to pics being
> posted at "ABPW". Would someone please explain what this is and how I
> access it? Thanks.

alt.binaries.pictures.woodworking

On 06 Feb 2004 04:38:59 GMT, [email protected] (Rich Stern) wrote:

>What are your best three easy imrpovements?

1) White painted walls.

2) More circuits and outlets.

3) Lumber rack with integrated chopsaw (miter saw) station.

On Wed, 11 Feb 2004 21:27:33 -0500, Silvan
<[email protected]> wrote:

>
>> shavings are fine. probably better than saw dust, and better for sure
>> than sander dust- that stuff just cakes up into a lump. getting oxygen
>> to it is part of the chemistry....
>
>I'm wondering about the chemistry part. I stirred ye olde pisse buckete
>today, and I have a bucket full of sodden, yellowish, very stinky wood
>shavings. It doesn't seem to stink as long as I keep a fresh layer on top,
>but I'm thinking this might not be so friendly a thing to have around once
>the weather gets warmer and temperatures inside my shop climb to 120 F on a
>regular basis.

yep. in hot weather you'll probably want to empty it daily. in my
case, I'll drink enough water in hot weather that I'll fill the
bucket by the end of the day anyway.



>
>Maybe the heat will speed some chemical reaction and the stuff will start to
>compost itself in the bucket.

you don't want it to compost in the bucket. you want it to compost on
the ground, or even underground.


>
>If nothing else, this should be a great thing for patinating copper. Put ye
>olde copper ware into the pisse buckete, and watch it greenify nicely, I'd
>imagine.

Now thats a drive by gloat if I ever heard one!

great read!

Thanks
_Rob
"charlie b" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> This is initially going to sound crazy but here goes.
>
> Grade school kids
> brooms
> "huge vacuum cleaner" (their term for "dust collector").
>
> Now the words - kids, cleaning, dusting - and the phrase
> "tidying" up don't normally go together - when they're
> at home. But in a SHOP...
>
> Maybe it's ALL THAT POWER - dust collector's muted roar,
> the sound of a large volume of air being sucked into
> a four inch hose, the way things magically disappear
> as the end of the hose approaches them or the sound of
> small pieces of all sorts of things rattling their way
> through the pipes on their way to who knows where.
>
> All of my "stationary" tools are on wheels and normally
> reside against a wall. They get pulled out when used
> and push back when done - leaving wood residue behind
> them. Out of sight, out of mind. But, after a kid, or
> a team of kids have sucked everything that they can
> reach into that four inch hose, they start looking
> UNDER and BEHIND things.
>
> In BIG VACUUM CLEANER mode, kids become prospectors
> searching for the Mother Load. Discovering all the
> sawdust that collects under a cabinet saw is a cause
> for squeeling rejoicing. That will prompt a search
> through my "sticks and dowel" storage tubes for an
> arm extender to get to the otherwise inaccessible
> sawdust. And like gold miners, they'll stick with
> "the gold vein" until it's all gone.
>
> When they discover more "treasures" behind the tools
> on wheels they'll hound you until you move them out
> of the way so they can continue their prospecting.
>
> After finding and taking care of everything the dust
> collector can handle, they find brooms and start
> sweeping small to medium cut offs into two or three
> piles - to be gone through for later "glue stuff
> together, use your imagination, sculpture/projects"
> The rejects go in a scrap box for kindling and "the
> good stuff" goes into each one's large zip lock
> stash bag.
>
> When "the room full of heavy stuff that generates
> sawdust" has been picked clean they move on to the
> "quiet gluing and bug spitting room" (bug spit to
> them is shellac to the rest of us - but bug spit
> sounds cooler). Here they can't use the HUGE
> VACUUM CLEANER - they know curlies will clog it
> up (earlier learning experience) - so it's brooms
> and brushes. The interesting curlies get saved
> for a future creative project and the rest get
> stuffed in a "fireplace fire starter stuff" bag.
> All those little pieces that dovetails and tenons
> create are each examined carefully for some
> wonderful use, the rejects going in a kindling
> box.
>
> As a bonus for me, they also find every nut, bolt,
> screw and anything else I'd dropped and couldn't
> find. Those go in the "stuff that was found and
> will be sorted out and put away later" can. One
> of these discoveries will prompt a "what's this
> and what's it for" question and one of my "too
> much information" lectures. I've learned to pay
> attention, so when their eyes start to glaze over
> I let them get back to The Hunt.
>
> In less than an hour the cleaning tornado moves
> on, other games to play. I'm left with a nice
> clean shop (it's still cluttered but relatively
> clean) bags of kids project parts, a bag
> of fire lighting curlies and a box of kindling.
> I'm also exhausted and inspired.
>
> Exhausted because I've had to mediate at least a
> dozen "he got to vacuum for 10 minutes and I only
> got to vacuum for a minute", "I found that first
> and she took it", "why can't I use the push broom
> this time?", "she says this is from a pin socket
> and I say it's from a tail socket" disputes.
>
> Exhausted because I've had to watch them like
> a hawk to keep them from bumping their heads
> while crawling under power equiptment searching
> for treasure, trying to move a wheeled cart
> supporting a disk and spindle sander away from
> the wall to get to who knows what behind it ...
>
> The inspiration comes from listening to all
> the wonderful ideas they have for a piece of
> scrap they found and saved.
>
> Inspired because they got me to look for useful
> stuff in what would otherwise be "just scrap".
>
> For those who'e had their teeth on edge, worrying
> about kids in the shop:
>
> The sharp handtools are in wall hanging tool
> cabinets behind a SCMS station and are out of
> reach of kids and, with the doors closed - out
> site, out of mind.
>
> All power tools are unplugged, and those that can
> be "locked down" are locked down BEFORE the human
> tornadoes get started.
>
> I've got one of those powerful magnates on a stick
> things and use it when emptying the cyclone garbage
> can - finding the iron bearing parts that shouldn't
> have been vacuumed up in the first place.
>
> To date there's been only one injury. While
> crawling around under the sliding table of my
> combination machine (a Robland X31 for the curious)
> looking for more sawdust to vacuum up, and despite
> my repeated "watch your head" warnings, one girl
> tried to get up while under the sliding table and
> dinged her eyebrow.
>
> That prompted a "que tip and peroxide - neopsorene
> - big gauze eyepatch with four big pieces of tape to
> hold it in place - just for dramatic effect - medical
> emergency production with an audience enjoying every
> act of the three act drama, The star of this production,
> with her "eye make up" was in all her glory, basking in
> the attention of her fans - "Does it really hurt
> bad?" - "You gonna have to get stitches?" - "Think
> you'll lose your eye?"
>
> Of course the tape and the gauze came off before she
> went home and her "gaping wound" lost some of it's
> shock value - a shiny neosporened eyebrow just isn't
> all that noteworthy.
>
> Maybe, in addition to eye protection, ear muffs rubber
> gloves and safety glasses, I should add a helmet or
> two.
>
> Nothing to buy, no slick jig or fixture, no new use
> for an existing tool- a single, free in terms of
> dollars, shop improvement. Clean shop and another
> one of those priceless experiences.
>
> charlie b

Bridger wrote:

>>actually *see* your penis. Aim is a real problem otherwise.
>
> nah.... you just need enough of those enlargement pills that you can
> hang the end of it over the rim of the bucket while you get back to
> work.

I guess I'll order four bottles, and take them all. I'm sure they'll work.
Hell, I've got 2,000,000 ? coming from a lottery I just won, so I can
afford it. (All I had to do was give them my checking and savings account
numbers to prove I'm over 18, and they're going to deposit 2,000,000 ? into
my account. What a deal! I didn't even enter the lottery! So that will
be $2,600,000 in real money. Woot!)

> shavings are fine. probably better than saw dust, and better for sure
> than sander dust- that stuff just cakes up into a lump. getting oxygen
> to it is part of the chemistry....

I'm wondering about the chemistry part. I stirred ye olde pisse buckete
today, and I have a bucket full of sodden, yellowish, very stinky wood
shavings. It doesn't seem to stink as long as I keep a fresh layer on top,
but I'm thinking this might not be so friendly a thing to have around once
the weather gets warmer and temperatures inside my shop climb to 120 F on a
regular basis.

Maybe the heat will speed some chemical reaction and the stuff will start to
compost itself in the bucket.

If nothing else, this should be a great thing for patinating copper. Put ye
olde copper ware into the pisse buckete, and watch it greenify nicely, I'd
imagine.

--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/

"Mark and Kim Smith" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> 1) Move the bike hobby off to one corner of the shop.
www.bunchobikes.com

OOH OOH OOH. A Schwinn Stingray!
Man, I saved my paper route money for a long time to buy mine! Mine was red,
though. How I wish I would have tucked that away somewhere instead of
selling it when I started riding dirtbikes.

Mark, how much are those things worth these days?

> 3) Lumber rack with integrated chopsaw (miter saw) station.

^^^^^
Would love to see a pic of this.

On Sun, 08 Feb 2004 20:03:28 -0800, Luigi Zanasi <[email protected]>
wrote:

>>On 06 Feb 2004 04:38:59 GMT, [email protected] (Rich Stern) scribbled:
>>
>>>What are your best three easy imrpovements?

>1. A pee bucket. A plastic bucket filled with sawdust.

Tagging on here, as RS's original is gone...

French Cleats around the entire perimeter of the shop at 6' off the
floor.

I'm a bit suprised that no one else has mentioned these, but maybe I'm
just less definite about where I want things when I originally hang
'em. ;> Installing french cleats around the shop, ("studio"ackshully,
since 12X16's too small to be a "shop."), has been one of the best
things I've done for myself.

1.) Find the PERFECT! place to hang something.
2.) Cleat it 'n' hang it.
3.) Decide, (usually within a day or two), that the original
spot was a STUPID place to hang it.
4.) Lift it off cleat and move it in 10 seconds or less.

I forget where I read about 'em, but they've been the biggest bang for
the buck in the entire sh-- "studio."

Michael

Luigi Zanasi wrote:

> grocery store nearby, you might consider first investing in penis
> enlargement pills to improve your aim to the shorter buckets. Penis
> enlargement pills are available everywhere on the internet. Coming to
> think of it, they would be useful even with the taller buckets, unless
> you're really short.

Another aspect that I'm sure must affect others here... It helps if you go
on a diet and exercise regimen so you can shrink your gut far enough to
actually *see* your penis. Aim is a real problem otherwise. DAMHIKT.
Maybe I need some of Luigi's penis enlargement pills.

> 7. Get a shovel or dust pan, go under your table saw and fill the pail
> with sawdust. Do not use cedar, walnut, redwood or any tropical

What about lathe shavings? My ye olde pisse buckete is filled with green
maple streamers and chippings. I'm short on sawdust these days, since I
retired my boat anchor, and am waiting on my tax refund to replace it.

> 9. You may use a stick to mix the compost every once in while.

Will it ever fill up, or is it a bottomless pit? It seems like I must have
discharged at least five gallone of ye olde pisse into ye olde pisse
buckete by now.

Another bonus, I don't lose heat by opening the doors to my shop or to my
house every time I need to free Willy.

--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/

"Rich Stern" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>>
>> What are your best three easy imrpovements?

1) Better lighting through white painted walls/floor.
I can find dropped hardware and there is no concrete
dust in my lungs any more. Whew!

2) Assembly table with cabinet storage underneath.
I store all my abrasives (few), cleaners (many) and
cauls there. Te room in the middle will soon be an
additional pair of shelves. The 5" casters will roll
over a tuba fore if needed. I'll be redoing the side-
mounted clamp posts into a vertical clamp cart, also
on 5" casters. (Side mounting made the cart unstable.)

3) I'm in the process of building cabinets to store all
my tools to keep them in easy reach.



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