Seb Palmer
Established Member
Hello folks.
Just joined your community today. Thought I'd introduce myself.
I've recently part refurbished a very delapidated shed in our garden. It's my home/DIY workshop, and I have plans to gradually equip it and fit it out for all sorts of projects. Just to make it a workable space I had to instal a new door - previous one was so rotten it fell to pieces the first time I tried to open it! - and make and fit new windows, as the original ones were long gone.
Now that it's more or less weatherproof I've reconditioned some old tools that were left in there, rusting, using the old vinegar soak trick, including an old vice my wife's 'bruncle' (brother/uncle!) gave me. Turning a solid lump of rust into a working vice was very satisfying! Two cruddy old tables, one that was there already, and one I build from scrap wood (for my styrene model-making hobby) are my current 'benches'. So a decent heavy bench is an urgent requirement (I built one at a previous house, but left it there when we moved... more fool me!).
I've inherited, begged, borrowed, bought and been given a number of tools, amongst which are: a cheap Clarke pillar drill, several budget jigsaws (all pretty rubbish), a cheap chop-saw, two sanders (both no longer working, alas), a Bosch electric hand-planer and cordless drill, a corded hammer-drill, three workmate style collapsible benches, an angle grinder, a number of saws and hacksaws, and a couple of boxes of stuff like screwdrivers, hammers, chisels, and whatnot.
What I really want next are some tools for preparing wood: a bandsaw with not just a good horizontal throat-depth, but also a decent vertical cutting depth (what's the technical term for this measurement?), and a planer thicknesser. As I'm totally broke all the time I'm looking to buy old machines cheap, and - if need be - restore them. This said, I have little to no experience of such work! One of my reasons for registering here is for advice on these issues.
Projects I've already done, since we moved to our new home, include: numerous shelving units, for books and models; a little table for by the Mrs couch; flooring in our attic, for storage-space; making and fitting windows and hanging a new door in the woodwork shed; hanging three reclaimed solid wood internal doors upstairs in our home (all upstairs doors had been removed when the interior layout was changed by a previous owner, and all the door frames are out of alignment!); laying reclaimed pine floorboars in our upstairs hallway; laying old reclaimed oak-parquet in our spare/box room; building a sentry-box type shed for gardening tools (to free up some space in the woodwork shed!); replacing fencing blown down during gales (two lots now!); duck-boards for the walk between the back door and the woodworking shed, where water pools when it rains; palette-wood composting frames.
Some future projects I'm intending to pursue are, as follows: custom made drums and guitars (I'm a musician); refitting our old and very unergonomic kitchen; building a music/art studio in the garden; a green-room (a sort of über trellis/gazebo thing); a greenhouse; a rear door porch; new front door; a pond with a nice little Monet style bridge; refurbishing a wood/cast iron garden bench; a Hobbit hole hideaway, at the end of the garden.
Anyway, that's a pretty long hello. So I'll leave it there for now. I look forward to learning from all you woodworking workshop ninjas.
Warm regards
Sebastian
Just joined your community today. Thought I'd introduce myself.
I've recently part refurbished a very delapidated shed in our garden. It's my home/DIY workshop, and I have plans to gradually equip it and fit it out for all sorts of projects. Just to make it a workable space I had to instal a new door - previous one was so rotten it fell to pieces the first time I tried to open it! - and make and fit new windows, as the original ones were long gone.
Now that it's more or less weatherproof I've reconditioned some old tools that were left in there, rusting, using the old vinegar soak trick, including an old vice my wife's 'bruncle' (brother/uncle!) gave me. Turning a solid lump of rust into a working vice was very satisfying! Two cruddy old tables, one that was there already, and one I build from scrap wood (for my styrene model-making hobby) are my current 'benches'. So a decent heavy bench is an urgent requirement (I built one at a previous house, but left it there when we moved... more fool me!).
I've inherited, begged, borrowed, bought and been given a number of tools, amongst which are: a cheap Clarke pillar drill, several budget jigsaws (all pretty rubbish), a cheap chop-saw, two sanders (both no longer working, alas), a Bosch electric hand-planer and cordless drill, a corded hammer-drill, three workmate style collapsible benches, an angle grinder, a number of saws and hacksaws, and a couple of boxes of stuff like screwdrivers, hammers, chisels, and whatnot.
What I really want next are some tools for preparing wood: a bandsaw with not just a good horizontal throat-depth, but also a decent vertical cutting depth (what's the technical term for this measurement?), and a planer thicknesser. As I'm totally broke all the time I'm looking to buy old machines cheap, and - if need be - restore them. This said, I have little to no experience of such work! One of my reasons for registering here is for advice on these issues.
Projects I've already done, since we moved to our new home, include: numerous shelving units, for books and models; a little table for by the Mrs couch; flooring in our attic, for storage-space; making and fitting windows and hanging a new door in the woodwork shed; hanging three reclaimed solid wood internal doors upstairs in our home (all upstairs doors had been removed when the interior layout was changed by a previous owner, and all the door frames are out of alignment!); laying reclaimed pine floorboars in our upstairs hallway; laying old reclaimed oak-parquet in our spare/box room; building a sentry-box type shed for gardening tools (to free up some space in the woodwork shed!); replacing fencing blown down during gales (two lots now!); duck-boards for the walk between the back door and the woodworking shed, where water pools when it rains; palette-wood composting frames.
Some future projects I'm intending to pursue are, as follows: custom made drums and guitars (I'm a musician); refitting our old and very unergonomic kitchen; building a music/art studio in the garden; a green-room (a sort of über trellis/gazebo thing); a greenhouse; a rear door porch; new front door; a pond with a nice little Monet style bridge; refurbishing a wood/cast iron garden bench; a Hobbit hole hideaway, at the end of the garden.
Anyway, that's a pretty long hello. So I'll leave it there for now. I look forward to learning from all you woodworking workshop ninjas.
Warm regards
Sebastian
