Opinions Please

[kmcleod]

Hi all,

need to get some views, opinions etc on couple fo things;

Router Table,,,,

Now in my limited space of Garage / workshop I dont have room for a dedicated router table.

the Dakota portable unit from Rutlands looks like a good idea, but no stock till July earliest....do I wait, or,
do I cut out part of my bench/worktable and insert a plate in there and use that ??
Any / all ideas, thoughts, opinions gratefully received...

Now the other problem,,,,Doors,,,,I have to repaint the internal doors in the house,,,and there are a lot, (17 last time I counted) and using a brush / roller is going to be a bugger....so options I've come up with are;
- buy a sprayer (HVLP) - but which one, the Earlex from Argos ??
- get someone else to do it,,,(thinking this will cost mucho dosh,,,,)
- take my time and use a brush,,,,(yuk.....)

Any ideas, thoughts ?

 

[Tusses]

I always use a brush to paint doors. Never tried spraying tho.

As for the router table. My 1st one was in a tight garage, so I made it fit under the bench, and my bench bandsaw and bench thicknesser lived inside the router table when they weren't being used, I got alot of tools in a small space.

 

[kmcleod]

Hmm,,ok,,,to give everyone an idea of the space,,,or lack of it,,,

The garage is a single garage, part of the house,,,it has some racking holding tools, saws etc at one end and the rest if taken up by the wife's VW Golf when I'm not using the space,,,otherwise the saws on are stands and I have a workbench including vice which breaks down when not in use,,,,so got to be very careful of space required....

now if I could persuade her to leave the car outside all the time it would be a lot easier but that isnt going to happen.....

 

[9fingers]

Have you seen the Normite solution where he fitted a router into and hinge up section of bench when needed?
This looked quite a good idea as the fence etc could stay in situ unlike using a section of permanent bench where it would get in the way.

The design was shown in the two part programme called something like the garage workshop.

Details here http://www.newyankee.com/getproduct.php?0001

hth

Bob

 

[Paul Chapman]

Now the other problem,,,,Doors,,,,I have to repaint the internal doors in the house,,,and there are a lot, (17 last time I counted) and using a brush / roller is going to be a bugger....so options I've come up with are;
- buy a sprayer (HVLP) - but which one, the Earlex from Argos ??
- get someone else to do it,,,(thinking this will cost mucho dosh,,,,)
- take my time and use a brush,,,,(yuk.....)

Any ideas, thoughts ?

That reminds me of my late Father-in-Law (who didn't do decorating). I was decorating his hall-way, which was on three floors so it was big, and all the walls and woodwork needed painting. He walked in from work one day looking all bewildered and said to me "Can't you use a spray gun :? ".

I reckon that, given you will still need to prepare the doors and generally faff around removing them and finding somewhere to do the spraying (and getting the spray gun to work properly), that it would be better and quicker to do them by hand, using a brush.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[George_N]

For the router table I think it depends on the type of project you want tackle. If you will only do small scale stuff, then a little bench-top router table will work just fine. If you want to do larger projects you need a table with a big surface area. Have a trawl through some of Niki's old posts. He has a router table that is supported by a Workmate-type folding bench; it might be just the sort of thing you are looking for.

As for painting 17 doors :shock: If they are flat panel doors then you could apply the paint with a small roller. You can get 4" foam rollers that are designed for use with gloss paint, though I still finish with a good quality brush. I think spraying would be more bother than it's worth. As already said, you need to take the door off its hinges, then you need to have somewhere to do the spraying and leave the door until it is dry. If you try to do more than one at a time, where will you put them? If you tried to do them in situ you would still be masking everything else off by the time you could have painted it by hand and solvent based paints wouldn't be an option either because of the fumes/fire hazard.

 

[9fingers]

Some years back I had to do 16 sides of internal doors that were all smooth surface. We did them in situ with me applying the gloss with a foam roller and my wife following up laying it off with a brush. The doors were firmly wedge half open to access both sides and the outside edge
Did the lot in a long afternoon with good results. Frames were done later in the normal way. Quick way of smartening up a scruffy house we had just bought. Threw the roller away after - would have cost more in white spirit than it was worth to clean it.
Doors with mouldings would take longer naturally.

HTH

Bob

 

[Digit]

My router is permanently installed into my work bench which is then fixed to the shop wall.
Tables on top of work benches are usually too high, they also move!

Roy.

 

[WellsWood]

With regard to the painting part of the problem: basically everything everybody else has said about it being more trouble than it's worth.

Plus this: you'd probably need 4 or 5 coats from a spray gun to equal the level of cover one good brushed on coat would give. Add in the drying time for all those coats and unless you've got the space to do all the doors at once (and can live with them missing from the house all at the same time - since spraying in-situ is out of the question) and you'll be at it till Christmas.

 

[johnnyb]

as far as the painting goes my only time saver (and quality improver) has been to spray the primer(zinnnser BIN) this allows you to spray all the doors in one go(well maybe not all of them!!) and the first will be ready for topcoat after say 20 minutes, this weather and then a good de nib. another time saver would be a good ROSander and some 240 grit sheets and some flexible pads and a vac brush plus tack rags. BIN gives a beautiful smooth finish after nibbing for the top coat. top coat just brush as normal.... 2 coats.

 

[big soft moose]

if the doors are wood panels or boards it might be worth looking at getting them dip stripped (arround a tenner a door) then dpoing them with wax polish instead - lots less hassle to maintain and adds character to the home.

if they are the nasty plywood type i'd rip them out and replace with some salvaged doors - dip stripped etc as above.

assuming you dont want to be that radical - just paint them with a brush - spraying will be more hassle than its worth.

 

[kmcleod]

Thanks to all for the views,,and it looks like I got a lot of doors to paint by hand - yuk,,,,still - beats painting the exterior of the windows,,,,(you too can be up a ladder, balance paint tin and brush,,,now wheres those extra two hands...)

Moose - interesting point and a good one, however I'm very very wary of dipping any kind of furniture for stripping, my folks ran a furniture renovation business and lost count of how many pieces they got in that had been dipped only for the glue to fall apart shortly thereafter, so they then had to taken apart and glued back to together.

If its stripping doors,,,then its going to be plastic the garage, install a fan to push the fumes out and set about them with Nitromors or similar, followed by water...

But it's worth considering,,,,

 

[bugbear]

if the doors are wood panels or boards it might be worth looking at getting them dip stripped (arround a tenner a door)

On older doors, dipping can bugger up the glue in the joints, which (of course buggers up the joints.

BugBear