How I Spent My Summer Vacation Part 1

OK so I didn't use all of my vacation from last year and lost a couple of days (I had 7 days roll over, but it reduces to 5 after the last day in January). This year I decided to use those days - thus far I've only taken a couple of days off and it's already halfway through the year. That was enough justification to take off the week of July 4th (so 4 vacation days) which brings me a straight 9 days off! So with all good intention, I started with a list of things to accomplish - of course I didn't get very far. The good news, is that one of those things on the list was to finally build a workbench top for the two metal Craftsman units I started on way back in December of 2010!

To bring you up to speed:

1. I have a short end-wall on one end of my workshop - the cyclone is in the right corner and there's a door on the left wall close to the corner. There's just enough room for a workbench.
2. I found two rusty Craftsman metal bench cabinets full of drawers (they were $10 each, found at an estate sale in my neighborhood), which I lightly sanded and repainted in red/black. These made up the base.
3. I leveled these up along that end-wall and then built a frame using pocket screws, with countersunk bolts to hold a bench top.
4. At some point I had salvaged some maple flooring that had been drug to the curb - I've been kicking over that stack for over a year and was ready for it to be gone.
5. I then contemplated using the stack as the top but would have to build a frame to hold everything together - this would mean ripping a tongue alone each end after trimming to length so the flooring would all interlock. The project then became home to all the pieces of my Unisaw build (also still in pieces). It was time to get some of these projects done!

Stack of Salvaged Maple Flooring

That brings us up to this week. I got out my sketchpad and worked out a few measurements. First a note - this is one of those projects where you want to create something utilitarian so it doesn't have to be perfect. That being said, I went a bit overboard. The problem was that I could have made a narrow skirt for the top using a single maple board I salvaged - the original length was about 8 feet so it was long enough for the long parts of the frame, but to make the board work the top would have looked a bit "skimpy" - last year I was given a fat piece of maple and inspiration hit - I'll rip that in two and use it for the ends, so the frame/skirt would have better proportions. So these were the quick measurements I made:

Sketch - the numbers are inside measurements - note I calculated it twice using different methods.

I figured on 1/8" of wiggle room - I actually just barely had enough length to fit the skirt on the bench, based on the lengths of the longest boards - they were 91" long. Oh, and did I mention that I decided to handcut the dovetails? This is where things got a bit overly complicated. I could have just done a mortise and tenon but had recently viewed a video by Paul Sellers (great blog by the way) regarding the hand-cut dovetail and decided to go for it. That was also why I needed so much of the long boards since they needed to be full lenght to allow for the dovetail.

So I got out some trusty tools like by Lie-Nielson dovetail saw.

I bought this saw with the leather holster from someone on Woodnet - it was so cheap it was hard to pass up - it's a bit dirty from the previous user - when I originally purchased it a few years ago I just used it for a few test cuts and put it away. This is the first practical use.

I won't bore you with all the initial steps, other than to say that I ripped the boards on my table saw and then edge-jointed by hand to flatten out the imperfections and burns (maple doesn't smell very good when it burns, by the way) using my trusty Stanley 5 1/4 - one of my favorite planes.

I then adjusted my fence and did a couple of passes on the table saw to cut the rabbets for the tongues on the flooring.

This is the test fit:

That's as far as I got on day one, Tuesday (July 3). Invited a few friends over for the 4th - typical cookout, etc, so I didn't get back into the shop until Thursday (July 5th). I took the above photos before continuing.

After carefully marking the dovetail, I started cutting (yup, no practice or anything). Note to self, before hand-cutting dovetails cut a few scraps to get back into the swing of things. Needless to say my first attempt was pretty bad:

The hardest part about these were the rip cuts - the boards are so long I couldn't put them in a vise, I cut these straddling the boards (no saw bench yet either).

So my first dovetail was pretty yucky - also fairly loose fitting, good thing I started in the back. Fortunately, my second dovetail was 100% better and I continued to tweek things as I moved around the frame. Here's the assembled skirt:

About that time I decided to take a break and change out the blade and cord on my Dewalt 708 12" Sliding Compound Miter Saw (this is a Type 4 with the extra amperage). I got this guy for $50 at an estate sale due to the dry-rotted cord. It's got new brushes and a new belt. I already had an unused blade. The cord was $24 at the Dewalt/Delta center up on Jimmy Carter Blvd.

Thinking about placing the Miter Saw on the bench instead of a RAS

To get it to fit I'd need to do a sliding table so there's room enough for the guides to extend to the rear when the saw is retracted from the cut. I'll have to think about this a bit.

Core replacement was super easy - love working on Dewalt tools.

I then test fitted a few boards and called it a day:

These are the shorter boards that won't be used - just for a test fit.

Here's a close-up of those dovetails (the better ones):

Still a little sloppy but it is for the shop.

I thought that was enough to do on one day. More when I get back this evening.

-- John

Some tools I acquired on 9/12

Figured I should do an update - I picked up a few items on 9/12:

There was a gentlemen down in Florida that posted looking for a home for a Dewalt RAS - he was looking for someone who would appreciate it as he didn't have it in him to restore or even use it - the price was "free." When I saw the post I PMed him and told him if he couldn't find a new home for it, I had a friend that didn't live to far from Vero Beach (where he lived) and I thought he wouldn't mind picking it up for me. I was contacted a while later as no one else offered to take the saw - he also pitched an old Drill Press he wanted $50 for - a Champion Blower and Forge 50E (there's a couple of images on OWWM.com) - I thought it was interesting and hey - anything that looks kinda like a sewing machine couldn't be all bad. My friend Joe Black picked up the tools some time ago and came to visit during that weekend - how's that for a Rucker from someone who doesn't know what that means?

Dewalt MMB-23 - complete/working with wrench. Has some rust but nothing a little electrolysis can't fix I don't think:


Champion Blower and Forge 50E - interesting old DP - has an old working GE motor, probably from the same era:

Second set of tools came from an Atlanta CL ad - it showed a blurry picture of a mess of tools on a table - I could make out a small Delta Jointer and figured I couldn't go wrong for $50.

Included were:

• Dayton 14" DP Model 3Z305
• Delta Rockwell Homecraft 4" Jointer with an old Serial Number tag F-4768 working w/motor
• Craftsman Lathe 103.23881 with rests, original CMan Motor and turning tools
• Couple of cheapie grinders, oak mallet and an old metal hand drill:
  

-- John

So what's modern about this?

OK - so the title is a bit misleading. It reflects my interest in modern furniture - my interest in tools is just the opposite - the older the better. I like old iron (or Arn) powered tools that were built from the turn of the century up to the 60's. Those heavier, cast-iron tools just run so smoothly that they are a wonder to use. I also like hand tools - old planes, spoke shaves, chisels and saws. There's something about the tactile sensation of using hand tools that are a decided break for me. I'm not sure where that's from (probably got it from my dad).

In any case, I'm still working on moving my shop around so I haven't been good about restoring the Unisaw - I have been busy acquiring new arn, however:

Rockwell Motorized Miter Box Model 34-010

The base and lower swing arm are painted iron, with an aluminum fence and motor housing. Looks almost like they took an aluminum 10" circular saw and changed the housing to fit the swing (could be wrong - I used to work with a vintage circular saw and the handle was more in a top position). It runs great - currently has the blade it came with mounted and needs a thorough cleaning. Pics below:

I got this from a Danish guy who worked for House of Denmark and Dansk for many years. He would bring home the broken floor pieces that were headed for the trash and fix them up in his shop - nice double-viced handtool bench in there (that he was keeping or it would have come home with me). Most of the wood he had was some type of discolored white oak - almost looked like reclaimed lumber or possibly barn wood so I passed - (however I did end up going back for it and picked up an old Bang and Olufsen stereo as well).

Dewalt RAS MBC Rel. 22 Serial #140358

This one comes with the original paint in pretty decent condition and it appears complete and runs sweet. The guy who had it was given it by an old neighbor whose husband had passed away - seems he was the original owner and bought the saw new. I walked away with it for $75 (his asking price).

After I loaded up I asked if he had any of the dirty paper or the arbor wrench - he said no and I about drove off when he said "I do have a Dado set that was given to me with saw" - he threw it in for free. Thought it might be of interest - I've never seen a box that had to be renailed shut like this one - still has the original oil paper:


Delta 6-in. Dado Head No. 33




No idea where I'm gonna put this saw yet - it joins my 790 and 7730. I really don't have room or need for 3 saws - man the slope is slippery indeed.

-- John