Woodshop

Ryobi Jobsite Table Saw

Posted on May 28, 2022 by akadventurer

In other news, we’re finally far enough into trim and finish work at work that the table saw he bought isn’t needed.

And since he has a big cabinet saw in his shop, he asked if I wanted the job saw, unless he gets another flip house, he won’t need it.

My cabinet saw is in my basement, and too hard to get sheet goods to, so I’ve thought of a jobsite saw in the garage before. I said yes fast!

(ironically since I’ve given away 3 free found or scrounged jobsite or small bench saws in the last 15 years… all too big or too heavy for my uses. Last one this size was solid cast iron.. great tool but I couldn’t more it around. )

This is the cheapest saw he could get 3 years ago. Ryobi tools are definitely low end entry level these days. But this sucker has been an amazingly precise saw, very little run out, and a surprisingly precise fence. I’m not sure I’d want to do fine cabinetry or exotic trim work with it, but it’s a great all around saw, especially for it’s class/price.

Categories: Construction, New Gear, New Work Tools, Remodeling, Reviews, Saws, Usage Reviews, Woodshop, Woodwork, Work Tools, Work/Job

The W Box.

Posted on November 4, 2019 by akadventurer

An older project. I started this in the summer of 2018, for a friend’s birthday. His name starts with a W, thus our title above. 🙂

He does electronics work, so when I found this old amp meter, in DC milliamperes, in some stuff that had been my Dads, it seemed perfect for a gift.

But i couldn’t just give a bare gauge…

Ok, I could have, but where’s the fun in that? 😉

I missed the birthday.

And Christmas.

Managed to get it done and give it in the spring of 2019. Ha!

But anyway, here it is. Only the 3rd box I’ve ever built in my life. (So don’t judge me too harsly!)

Its white oak, and curly maple. It was entertaining to get it how I wanted it, rabbeted construction, a place to store the leads (plugs and leads stolen from an old multi meter I took apart), but still compact. Engineered and re-engineered seveeal times, but I got it!

I don’t really have all of the pics I could, no step by step.And no steps of progress like I’d like… Hust a mishmash of what I managed to take, and the final product.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Categories: Christmas, Custom, Customized, Electronics/Media, Fabrication, Good Friends, Just Plain Fun, MacGyver, Modifications, old tools, Recycle, Scrounging, Sentimental, Woodshop, Woodwork

When you buy the wrong nails; A.I.O. #467

Posted on March 31, 2018 by akadventurer

And you don’t have time to get more before you have to deliver a product, you improvise.

When i got nails for my brad nailer, I needed 5/8″ and at least about 1.25″. The 2″ was cheaper, and the length wouldn’t hurt the project, so thats what I got.

Forgot to check if thd long ones would fit the nailer.

Whoops!

But these fit;

Wondered if i could score a line on a stick, and snap them off shorter with the stick intact… Couldn’t hurt to try!

And voila! Shorter nails that fit!

They work flawlessly too, the now one sided bevel on the tip doesn’t seem to effect a thing.

A.I.O. Simple. 🙂

(Adapt, Improvise, Overcome)

Categories: A.I.O., Improviser, MacGyver, MacGyverism, Materials, Modifications, tool mods, Woodshop, Woodwork

An Axe Man’s Bucksaw Part 3

Posted on March 22, 2018 by akadventurer

The entire build, in order, more or less; 🙂

I could go through everything I did here in long descriptions, and pictures, but it’s not really necessary, and probably not that interesting either. But here is a general run through. 🙂

Pick out a piece of 1″x8″ x 5′ oak
cut out the pattern

trace it on the wood
Jig saw one upright
Sand the contour
Trace #1 to get #2 the same
Cut, sand #2
Measure and mark for the mortises
Round the edges with a router
Cut pilot groove on blade end to guide cutting the blade slots
Locate blade mount holes, drill
Cut blade slots
Cut the mortise on #1
Rip the cross bar from the board
Square and measure it all for proper cross bar length vs blade length mounted (crucial for proper end angles when blade under tension, and good looks)
Cut and fit the tenon on #1 end
Cut #2 mortise and tenon
Test assemble
Find cord for windlass(I was out of 550! Finally found some heavy clothes line cord..)
Trim scrap to use as temporary windlass bar
Tighten it all up and do a test cut(worked!)
Cut thinning profile on cross bar
Sand cross bar, and route edges
Re-assemble
Discover binding in tenon joints, trim
Re-trim/fine tune joints
Assemble and do a test cut again
Find that I over trimmed the joints, it will now start to slip from a H to a parallelogram-ed H under tension. (Rounded the wrong corners too much; you need the Top corners of the bar end and tenon tips rounded for slip, but the bottom corners left square for rigid support, so the can only pivot in at the top, but not out at the top!)
Discover that if it slips, the windlass slips down the bars, loses tension and it falls apart.
Discover, by clamping the cord in place under tension, that, thankfully, If the windlass doesn’t slip down when it flexes out of H shape, it doesn’t collapse!
Locate for windlass cord supports
Cut pins from 1/4″ copper rod,
Drill and press fit copper as cord supports.
Re-assemble, tighten, test cut 7″ birch log.
Success! (With one about 1/8″ of flex at the joints out of square- good enough)
Decide the scrap your using as a windlass bar works great, no use to make another one
Trim, round, sand the windlass bar.
Disassemble, wood burn the saws name, and my product line name on the side.(not selling it, but figured, meh, why not? )
Also burn in witness marks to identify/match mortise and tenon joints in their matched pairs for proper future assembly.
2 day break to get stain and oil finish.
Counterbore for recessed T nuts
Install T nuts, pin in place with tiny Brad nails
Install keeper ring on windlass bar
Turn down bolt heads, and threads to fit in wingnuts, making wing bolts.
Test the stain, find it won’t penetrate the oak dark enough, skip using it.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Part 4 coming soo. 🙂

Categories: Adventure Metal Works, Backcountry, custom-made-tools, Field gear, New Gear, Outdoors, Saws, wood processing, Woods tools, Woodshop, Woodwork

An Axe Man’s Bucksaw part 2

Posted on March 21, 2018 by akadventurer

I’m proud of two big things on this project;

One being design and execution. The basic mechanics of the saws are really, well, basic. Two uprights, a center cross bar, blade at the bottom, and a Spanish windlass at the top.

And the cross bar being mortise and tenon jointed to the uprights, to provide up/down pivot so that the windlass can tension the blade, but have no twist of pivot in any other plane or axis.

Simple.
I looked around the Web for ideas, since there are a LOT of these out there, for sale, and home built designs.

But I basically still had to design, engineer and build it from scratch.

Lots of time with measuring, squaring, offseting, re-squaring, and making sure both ends matched.. Etc.

The other thing I’m really proud of, is the fact that I’d Never, Ever cut a mortise and tenon joint before. I did one test mortise on scrap(which sucked!) before I cut on the first saw bar I’d just spent 3 hours making. Yeah, fun. 😉

Cut by hand, chisel and saw. Turned out exceptionally well, if I do say so myself!

The second one even press fit at first cuttings, no trimming needed!! (The first one took 10 minutes of fit/test/shave/test/carve/test/whittle, to get to work, then it was a touch loose…)

Now I know why my Dad hated doing them, and always wanted a power tool for it! I was never taught to cut these, not that I remember. He never got the tool till late in life– he just avoided the joint style.

I actually got him one that attaches to a drill press a couple years before he passed away. It didn’t exactly fit his drill, and he never got to use it before he went. I have them both here, but ironically, I preferred to learn to hand cut them. I’ll get the tool setup at some point soon, but so far, I like doing them by hand!

I Was a bit ambitious in part of my joint design; I copied ones I saw a guy on YouTube do, where the end of the bar is rounded, and the face of the mortise is curved to match. So that when it tensions, and the end bars angle, it simply rotates the two curves on each other. A cleaner look than with straight bars, where the angling would leave gaps.

THAT was fun to figure out the geometry on, and then cut in… Oi.

I didn’t get them perfect, but they’re pretty dang good, if I do say so myself.

Categories: Adventure Metal Works, Axes, Backcountry, Camping gear, custom-made-tools, Field gear, GetOutdoors, New Gear, Outdoors, Saws, wood processing, Woods tools, Woodshop, Woodwork

An Axe Man’s Bucksaw Part 1

Posted on March 20, 2018 by akadventurer

This obe is otherwise known as The Moon Saw. That name to be explained later though. 🙂

I’ve been wanting to do this project for a couple months now. Took a while to get other things out of the way… Pressing household maintenance like broken water tanks, and no running water kept cropping up! (Among other little things that Eat time).

I knew I wanted to do a 24″ saw, so I went and picked up a blade early last month. I actually got a whole swede saw. A blade was $8. A Fiskars saw with the blade was $11. Yeah, might as well buy the $3 saw with it, and have it!

Then it took a month for me to get time, and some shop space made to do it.

I neded some large paper for patterning another project, so I sat down and started drawing designs. I could have gone with dead simple straight side/handle bars, and been a LOT simpler and easier…

Bug I figured if I was going to do it, I might as well do what I liked.

The one I built is actually the second design I had drawn, and while the other was thought out over 3 days, this one I drew and finalized in 10 minutes. And liked it more!

(Original design on left, axe style on right)

You can see where the name comes from, if you notice the fawns foot handle ends, and “S” shapes. I had my hatchet handle on the bench at the time, and was holding it, such a nice grip; So I traced it, reversed it, traced again, and blended the contours some.

Simple!

More to be seen soon.

Categories: Adventure Metal Works, Axes, Backcountry, Camping gear, Field gear, GetOutdoors, Hunting, New Gear, Outdoors, wood processing, Woods tools, Woodshop, Woodwork

Shelf Track Bench Dogs

Posted on February 12, 2018 by akadventurer

“Shelf what??” Your saying, right? 😉

Bench dogs are pins, or flat jaws, that slip into dog holes– holes in the top of a work bench, for holding thing on the bench top.

You clamp the work piece between the dog and the vice at the edge of the bench, or a bar clamp/C clamp or two. With a large grid of holes, you can hold just about anything in any position.

I like the concept but hate the idea of having all the holes in the bench. Seems a great way to ruin a layout surface, and a place to lose hardware.

Then I saw this trick/tip that a fellow sent in to this month’s issue of Woodsmith magazine;

It uses cabinet shelf support rails and clip brackets as simple in line dogs for the vise; GENIUS!

After pricing the track and clips, $3 for 6′ of track, and about $3 for 12 clips… Yeah, no brainer dude! 😉

15 minutes with my router, and I have bench dogs! Was a little fiddly to do, only have a 1/2″ straight cut bit, but the tracks are 5/8″ so I had to cut each channel twice for width. Track is 3/16″ thick, wanted it at least flush, I cut about 7/32″ deep to garantee it can’t catch on anything when not in use.

Clips in place;

Then I just made the old front jaw front the vise into the cammed over jaw insert needed. Great to use that vise to make things for the vise! (Really have no idea how I survived so long without that vise!)

It works!

A few strategically placed screws makes a storage spot for the vice jaw under the end of the bench.

And the left over ~11″ of track made a clip storage rack.

Can’t beat simple, cheap and easy, especially if it works!

Categories: Custom, custom-made-tools, Customized, Fabrication, Modifications, Repurpose, Shop Tools, Woodshop, Woodwork

Walnut Mystery Cube

Posted on February 12, 2018 by akadventurer

One of last night’s little projects, something I’ve been wanting to try. A fidget cube, fidget toy, mystery cube, cube in a cube, puzzle like brain teaser made from walnut.

Really simple to make once you know a few tricks, I saw it on YouTube and had to try it!

Yes, its all from one piece, the inner cube started in there!

Managed to cut the same thumb twice in 15 minutes, in the same way, while rounding/carving off the corners.. lol slow learner.

The walnut wood is a chunk a friend gave me about a decade ago, from a tree his dad cut down some 50 years ago.. Cube is headed to being a gift for one of the friends grandkids, great grandkids of the tree cutter. Seemed a fitting piece of wood to use. 😎👍

Here it’s soaking up its first coat of Watco butcher block oil a first time use for me, for a food safe/kid safe/they can chew on it all they want, safe finish 😉😆

Categories: carving, Sentimental, Woodshop, Woodwork

Woodshop

Share:

Like this:

Share:

Like this:

Share:

Like this:

Share:

Like this:

Share:

Like this:

Share:

Like this:

Share:

Like this:

Share:

Like this: