I have been working on various projects in the shop recently.
Since I am retired, I basically work on whatever I fancy to do on that particular that day.
I have several projects to share today.
I retrieved this blue medical cart out of the dumpster at work many years ago. I built the riser from scrap plywood and put my toolbox on top. The manufactured risers are ridiculously expensive! I may have to give it a coat of paint.
I recently read a review on these very fine UK-made scribers in a woodworking magazine. They were, IMO, rather expensive, so I manufactured one from scrap aluminium window casings, knobs, and Delrin cut-offs (again, obtained from dumpsters).
Perhaps not elegant, but functional.
After a bit of hard work and heavy lifting, I completed the cabinets to the second floor of my shop. All made from scrap plywood. The hard part was getting them up the steep stairway. The Formica top was from our kitchen remodel project.
I added a leather hone/strop to my lathe for touching-up chisel and plane blades as I work. If you have not done this, I can tell you it is far faster than using a conventional strop, and with improved results.
The opposite side (outboard spindle) has a cheap 80-grit diamond plate mounted in the same manner.
Finally, I have had this piece of ash drying in my shop for over twenty years. I had always envisioned making a chopping block for axe-work and hand-mortising.
I recently had to crosscut a board with my handsaw. It was too large to fit on my table saw. I found crosscutting long boards on my workbench to be very awkward.
So, I made this combination chopping block/mortising bench/saw bench. At a height of 18 inches, it sits just below my knees.
I drilled a hole in it (with a lot of effort) in order to accommodate my hold-downs, but found they did not function on a hole of that extreme depth, so I just mortised a flat to accommodate a pipe clamp. The clamp resides on spring-clamps underneath the bench when not in use. It should be handy for an improvised seat as well!
Since I am retired, I basically work on whatever I fancy to do on that particular that day.
I have several projects to share today.
I retrieved this blue medical cart out of the dumpster at work many years ago. I built the riser from scrap plywood and put my toolbox on top. The manufactured risers are ridiculously expensive! I may have to give it a coat of paint.
I recently read a review on these very fine UK-made scribers in a woodworking magazine. They were, IMO, rather expensive, so I manufactured one from scrap aluminium window casings, knobs, and Delrin cut-offs (again, obtained from dumpsters).
Perhaps not elegant, but functional.
After a bit of hard work and heavy lifting, I completed the cabinets to the second floor of my shop. All made from scrap plywood. The hard part was getting them up the steep stairway. The Formica top was from our kitchen remodel project.
I added a leather hone/strop to my lathe for touching-up chisel and plane blades as I work. If you have not done this, I can tell you it is far faster than using a conventional strop, and with improved results.
The opposite side (outboard spindle) has a cheap 80-grit diamond plate mounted in the same manner.
Finally, I have had this piece of ash drying in my shop for over twenty years. I had always envisioned making a chopping block for axe-work and hand-mortising.
I recently had to crosscut a board with my handsaw. It was too large to fit on my table saw. I found crosscutting long boards on my workbench to be very awkward.
So, I made this combination chopping block/mortising bench/saw bench. At a height of 18 inches, it sits just below my knees.
I drilled a hole in it (with a lot of effort) in order to accommodate my hold-downs, but found they did not function on a hole of that extreme depth, so I just mortised a flat to accommodate a pipe clamp. The clamp resides on spring-clamps underneath the bench when not in use. It should be handy for an improvised seat as well!
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