Episode 10 - What I Learned This Week - 2008.07.08
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Episode 10 - What I Learned This Week - 2008.07.08
There's no clock in my shop
There's no clock in my shop, and there's several reasons for that. I'd like to say that the only reason is because when I'm in the shop, I WANT to lose track of time. I WANT to be relaxed and not live by the clock. The majority of the time I spend in the shop is after work and on weekends. If I'm in there after work, I don't want to know that it's 11pm and I have to wake up in 4 1/2 hours to get ready for work again. On the weekends, I don't want to know, on Sunday, that my weekend is almost over.
The shop, I guess like in a casino, no one wants to live by the clock. We, or at least I, spend almost my whole week governed by the clock - even on weekends. I just want to keep that time in my life free from the stress of timelines.
Sure, glue-ups and finishing are time sensitive, but a simple oven timer, or wall socket timer connected to a lamp could alert you when the next step in your process is ready. At least that way there's no visible clock in the room.
I guess this only really applies to those of us who are hobbiests. Those of you who are making a living doing this, well, I can't speak for you. How do you deal with time?
Dust, dust, everywhere; but nary a speck collected
Very anticlimactically, I am actually listening to MBW episode "Dust Collection Advice for Tablesaws" while I write this, hmmm, about 24 hrs too late. In fact, when I woke up yesterday morning to design and build a dust collection system for my tablesaw, I didn't even know Matt had an episode on this exact topic.
So, to let you know my thinking/planning/building process yesterday... I sat down at the kitchen table and drew out some plans for an upside-down pyramidal chute from the base of my contrator table saw to a hinged door that I could dump sawdust into a plastic bag when needed. I also was going to cut a hole in the side of the chute to connect the shop-vac to.
I measured everything out, made up a parts list and went to Lowes. I was able to find everything I needed, except a 3" to 2" hose reducer (for the jointer), and a dust collection bag that I was going to use to catch all of the dusty air that the shop-vac blows out.
So, I get everything home and I start cutting the pieces to form a pyramid. The only thing is that the base of the table saw is not square, it's rectangular. For once my geometry failed me. I failed to realize that a non-square-based pyramid will have a different bevel angle than a square one. I just bevelled the edges of the triangles at 45 degrees and noticed that the pieces never fit - at all.
So Plan B was to take the small amount of 1/2" plywood I had left and enclose the bottom of the table saw in a box with a slanted bottom and a hose hole cut-out. So, I cut out a few pieces that will fit the stand that the saw sits on, but at that point I was out of time to play around with it for the day.
So, this morning while looking for more MBW episodes to listen to, I see the one I mentioned above that is right up my alley. I started listening and Matt says he has pictures of his solution. I take a look and it's almost exactly what I had already started to build. Just that his is much more compact and looks a lot better...
Kickback Rounds 2, 3 and 4
OK, when I had said before that I had experienced kickback, I had no idea what I was talking about. So, for one of the biggest things I learned this week, kickback is dangerous. Very dangerous.
Didn't I know this? Of course I knew. Didn't I try to prevent it then? Of course I did - when I remembered to. Believe me, I'll remember everytime now.
So, what happened? Well, while I was cutting plywood for the dust collection bin for the tablesaw, I was having trouble feeding the wood, keeping it flat on the table, keeping it up against the fence, and standing on the left side of the blade. Well, I was ripping a 2'x4' piece of plywood down the middle and the right half got caught on the splitter. So instead of backing off the blade, I tried to push it against the splitter and force it to back off the table.
Big mistake! The board lifted, spun and flew across the garage. It caught my index finger and shaved a lot of skin off it before it hit me in the upper thigh - a little too close to home if you know what I mean.
I was pissed! Especially when it happened 2 more times that day. I don't know what was wrong with me on Sunday, but I just couldn't cut anything right that day. Eventually I just threw all the wood on the garage floor and gave up for the day. So, there everything still sits and my wife can't be too happy. But, I think sometimes you just gotta take your lumps and give up for the day. That's what I did.
Now I understand all of the things I was doing wrong:
1) I wasn't using my push sticks.
2) The splitter wasn't aligned properly - something I'd been meaning to fix
3) I wasn't paying as close attention as I should have been
4) I was saying "Fingers and thumbs don't be dumb" but I wasn't heeding that warning.
Listen for Notes on Class and my take on Furnitology's interview with Wendell Castle (part 1).
Is there a way you can make your podcast louder? I listen to it on my BlackBerry and can barely hear some of the episodes.
Jason
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Jason,
You are absolutely, 100% correct! I know the podcasts are coming out with the volume all over the place, or the sound quality is way off, or you just can't hear them - even with the volume maxed out. That's something that I'm trying to work on as much as possible. Please bear with me, I think I've got it all figured out now.
Thanks for sticking with me, even if you can't hear me
-Rick
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Rick,
I concur with Jason. I really enjoy listening to your podcast; when I can hear it. I download it onto my ipod and listen on my commute. I've tried up-ing the volume on the get info tab, but I still need to turn up the volume on the ipod and radio all the way up. Great content. I enjoy listening to someone else say that things that I've thought about before. And in regards to the table you talk about: Even though you somewhat downtalk the simple designs that the others in your class have, I think you need to get the basics down first before you jump into something as complex as your design. I applaud you for trying something so bold, but you need to work on your skills. (Actually, I always need work on my skills too) You'll get the hang of joinery techniques and bold designs after you get the basics down. I've been in your situation, not that long ago, and the best thing is just to start making simple useful stuff. Your skills will progress with practice. Just like sports while you were growing up, perfect practice makes perfect. You have to do it over and over again and strive to do it correctly each and every time; and you'll be surprised how quickly you become an admired woodworker by your family and friends. Don't get discouraged by your overzealous attempt at a complex designed table. Change it to something more manageable and go at it again.
Thanks,
Tim
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As usual, I'm going to have to agree with everything you just put out there.
If I came across as putting down other students' projects, I'd like to go ahead and apologize right now. I've never been the kind of arrogant person that it would take to do something like that, especially when I have so little actual experience.
I agree that my project may be too complex for a first project. But, the way I see it, failures - though it may seem to get me down in the short term - actually help me to realize my deficiencies. I've always been the type of person to take on the biggest challenge first, and then recognize my lack of preparedness, and then work ceaselessly to overcome the short-comings I had in the process. Not to toot my own horn, but staring down a seemingly impossible task is not foreign to me. It's just that now I'm dealing with a skill that I do not have as much time to devote to as all of my other activities in the past.
I absolutely agree that I should focus on the basics. I will be starting a couple of simple projects very soon (after this ww class is over) that utilize basic skills and techniques.
The table has definitely changed! Watch in the coming weeks for an update.
Yes, I will be fixing the audio volume too.
Thanks for the comments!
Rick
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Hey Rick:......THANKS!!!
I love this statement you make:
"I agree that my project may be too complex for a first project. But, the way I see it, failures - though it may seem to get me down in the short term - actually help me to realize my deficiencies."
Here's the beauty of creativity as Tim (above) goes one way and I'll take a different tack: we know your table has alot of design life in it. Your just in phase 1 and that just happens to be figuring out how to make your own design. You mentioned (a crap piece..
Rick...phase 3 and phase 4 is where it at.
Push-it man.....Neil
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Neil,
It's taken me a while to comment on this, not because I overlooked it, but because I thought it didn't need an answer. However, now that I've read it about 4 times, I agree with you - the design process for this particular piece is really in it's infancy.
I don't know how long it takes for people to create a piece, prove out it's funtionality, make improvements and optimizations... All that jazz...before it makes it to it's final destination. But what I do know is that you are right - this table has a lot to say. I need to bring that out of the piece.
Also, making a full scale drawing is an excellent idea that I think I'll have to start implementing on all projects - glad to get this idea during my very first real project!!! It's things like this that get me excited about watching Furnitology, Rough Cut and TWW. You guys have the best proven tips and tricks that can save the little guys like us a lot of time and heartache! Just look at Dave Noftz over there - reinventing the Hammer!
(Dave, if you're reading this, ummm, I reinvented the circle jig too. I threw it out a few weeks ago while cleaning the garage though. Sad thing is, even after I knew I could buy one, I still kept mine around for months! LOL!)
Rick
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Rick -
you said: "..the design process for this particular piece is really in it's infancy."
Rick you are right-on there...... now it's about shop time, whether a classroom setting or your "clockless" shop (I got one of those Sears Saw Blade Clocks
You are in the perfect mind-set, to push the design.. Bravo!!!! I've been scouring the internet the past few weeks concentrating on where design is and how its approached by the internet ww community, on forums and those blogs not building from plans and out right testing personal design skills, your Xleg Table is important. I find it wonderful to see.
Rick you don't have to answer....I'm bad about answering myself, unless somebody has touched on someting important to follow-up. My approach is to try to acknowledge during a podcast.
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