Easter Break

While the kids are away I will play! I finally got a chance to get back in the shop after the baby arrived. I pumped out projects left and right.

First I worked out a new sander bit for the drill press completely shop made with a long carriage bolt and some cicle cuts. A little spray adhesive and it was ready to roll.Second i got to work on finishing the paint job on the walls of the shop it was too dark and dirty. The floor is the next on my list but we will see when I have time.

The maintenance department here at work was selling off some old plywood they used after the tornado. I got a deal at $5 per sheet, so i got 5. I built two large garden planters so that my vegetables would have room to grow. It seems that every seed i stick in the ground here in Kentucky grows like crazy.
After that I had been wanting some sort of planning table in my shop so I built a quick one with a cabinet above and a flip up drawing surface. This is before the door had been placed on it.

Classic Woodworking Bench

So, I went to Lowes and ran across a twist, bend and warp sale. I got about 2 truckloads worth of 2x4s and such for around $20. I loaded it all into the shop which was quite a mess but managed (after some cutting) to fit everything in.
After all of this made it into the shop I tore apart my old shop table in order to begin work on a new bench. I did a fair amount of research and looked at well over 25 different options and decided on a simple but effective bench. I constructed the whole thing out of the 2x4s that I had gotten by ripping off both sides to make a square 2x3. I planked the top with a 2x8 and 2x3 pieces. It is heavy duty and cost me less than $10. In fact the $25 wood vise that is on one end was far more expensive than the bench itself. I also drilled bench dog holes every 6 inches as to hold larger projects. I think this thing has to be just about perfect for me. Below is the finished product.

Wall Bins and shop clean-up

I decided to mount my screw bins up on the wall today as part of my shop clean-up. i also decided to throw together a drill press stand as well in hopes that I can work my way around the shop to replace all my fixtures with more workable ones. I will be putting a door on the front of it later and adding a shelf.

Glue-up Caddy

I got tired of reaching around while I was gluing up projects and saw a similar design in a WOOD magazine article. I came up with this guy which holds the following: Glue, Glue Brushes (I use stencil brushes), sandpaper, a scraper/ putty knife, a pencil, putty, and a moist sponge.