Back in the shop (finally)...

[Inor]

I was finally able to get back into the wood shop for a few hours last weekend. Mrs Inor wanted a picture frame to match the kitchen cabinets for a while, so I thought that would be a good small project to tackle for my first project after the ankle.

I am pretty pleased with how it turned out. But even more important, I was finally able to get the fence finished for my new router table and try it on a real project for the first time! It worked better than I even hoped. Being able to set the cut depth and being able to change bits from the top is a HUGE time saver and makes it much easier to set the depth accurately. All-in-all, I am very happy to be back making sawdust!

18493

Hawg: In case you were wondering how the varnish for your table is going to age... Both the frame and the cabinet it is hanging on are both Red Oak and both finished with the same General American varnish. The cabinet was finished 4 years ago (to the exact week) and the frame got the last coat this morning. Personally, I think it looks better each year.

[Sasquatch]

That is some Southwest décor if I ever saw it. It's like you never lived in Minnesota. Very nice work.

[red442joe]

Very nice!
It's good you are getting around again.

Joe

[Slippy]

Keep wood inside where it belongs!

Good to hear you're on the mend, Inor!

[hawgrider]

I was finally able to get back into the wood shop for a few hours last weekend. Mrs Inor wanted a picture frame to match the kitchen cabinets for a while, so I thought that would be a good small project to tackle for my first project after the ankle.

I am pretty pleased with how it turned out. But even more important, I was finally able to get the fence finished for my new router table and try it on a real project for the first time! It worked better than I even hoped. Being able to set the cut depth and being able to change bits from the top is a HUGE time saver and makes it much easier to set the depth accurately. All-in-all, I am very happy to be back making sawdust!

18493

Hawg: In case you were wondering how the varnish for your table is going to age... Both the frame and the cabinet it is hanging on are both Red Oak and both finished with the same General American varnish. The cabinet was finished 4 years ago (to the exact week) and the frame got the last coat this morning. Personally, I think it looks better each year.

Looks great! Yeah I can see the difference between the cabinet and the picture frame.

That varnish passed the sweating drinks and hot dinner plates test I'm happier than a pig in shit with the product.

You able to dump the crutches yet?

[Inor]

Looks great! Yeah I can see the difference between the cabinet and the picture frame.

That varnish passed the sweating drinks and hot dinner plates test I'm happier than a pig in shit with the product.

You able to dump the crutches yet?

I have been 100% off the crutches for about 3 1/2 weeks now. Still have a bit of a limp but that is getting better every week. I was even able to start putting on work boots again last weekend!

[Prepared One]

Looks great! Yeah I can see the difference between the cabinet and the picture frame.

That varnish passed the sweating drinks and hot dinner plates test I'm happier than a pig in shit with the product.

You able to dump the crutches yet?

Hey! Inor should varnish those crutches, they would look great for the next time he doesn't pay his bookie. :bigthumbup:
Naw, on second thought, they are probably made of aluminum.

[T-Man 1066]

Inor, I assume your shop floor is concrete. I just invested in some good quality anti-fatigue floor mats, one in front of the lathe, one in front of the Bridgeport. Money well spent! Mine are just 2' x 3', and I can move them to other machines if I am using them for extended periods of time. You will have more energy and less pain at the end of the day...

[red442joe]

Lathe...
Bridgeport...
Sorry, I got distracted...

Joe

[Inor]

Inor, I assume your shop floor is concrete. I just invested in some good quality anti-fatigue floor mats, one in front of the lathe, one in front of the Bridgeport. Money well spent! Mine are just 2' x 3', and I can move them to other machines if I am using them for extended periods of time. You will have more energy and less pain at the end of the day...

I do have some good quality anti-fatigue mats. You are right, those are a God-send. After the ankle, I am looking at redoing the whole floor in my shop. Right now, it is concrete with an epoxy covering. The epoxy is great for clean-up. I can just blow the sawdust off with an air hose. But the epoxy is also slippery as hell when it gets wet. That is why I wiped out in the first place.

I saw some coverings that are really popular with the car guys. They look to be about 1/2" thick rubber of some kind and snap together. They have a texture that looks like it would not be nearly as slick when wet. But they are also insanely expensive and I am not sure how my machines would roll across them. (My shop is just a 3 1/2 car garage, with no cars of course. But space is at a premium so I have all my machines on wheels so I can roll them out when I am using them and roll them back when I am not.)

[T-Man 1066]

Lathe...
Bridgeport...
Sorry, I got distracted...

Joe

Oh, there is more.

Brown & Sharpe
Hardinge
Clausing
DeVlieg
Brierley
Oliver of Adrian
Davis
Jones & Lamson
Omniturn
Cincinnati
South Bend
Herbert

[T-Man 1066]

I do have some good quality anti-fatigue mats. You are right, those are a God-send. After the ankle, I am looking at redoing the whole floor in my shop. Right now, it is concrete with an epoxy covering. The epoxy is great for clean-up. I can just blow the sawdust off with an air hose. But the epoxy is also slippery as hell when it gets wet. That is why I wiped out in the first place.

I saw some coverings that are really popular with the car guys. They look to be about 1/2" thick rubber of some kind and snap together. They have a texture that looks like it would not be nearly as slick when wet. But they are also insanely expensive and I am not sure how my machines would roll across them. (My shop is just a 3 1/2 car garage, with no cars of course. But space is at a premium so I have all my machines on wheels so I can roll them out when I am using them and roll them back when I am not.)

I slipped on an oil spill on an epoxy floor back in the early 90's. Shop torched cut plates to weld to floor beams for bench vises, got one in the back of the arm on the way down. Better than my noggin, but lots of blood.

I left my floor naked concrete when I built my shop in 05, yea it soaks in oil, but not as slippery.

And I get the premium space and wheels concept. Plan on making a dolly for my 24" throat Powermatic vertical bandsaw, don't use it a whole lot, but when I need it, it's a rockstar.