Sunday, July 29, 2012

The Dust Has Settled

Light up my LIFE.
These candle holders are made from railing balusters & from a bed headboard. I drilled a hole in the top for a brass ferrell that I purchased out of a catalog ( cherry tree ). COLOR  !!!  I normally am a plain type of guy. It just so happens that a while back the local hardware store was going to join forces with the lumber yard so they were cleaning up stock. There were about 2 dozen spray cans in a box. The deal was take all at $2.00 ea. What a steal,  but what I failed to see was the funky colors so beware ??? ( drip less candles work great ) 



 I been given liberty to return to my shop? ( medical reasons, a story for another time ) I was informed of how important small things such as dust particles could be to my recovery and every day health. I have a dust collection system that was mostly designed to collect chips and shavings. ( show me a woodworker that wants to spend time cleaning the shop. (not)  Most of the times I wore a cloth mask for finer dust. But now I have a respirator w/ dual filters that's fits much better than the other. One day as the sun was beaming through the window I could see all the fine dust particles still air born long after I had stopped cutting and removed my respirator. So out came the tool magazines. The systems they showed were awesome !!! ( pretty much take my shop ring it inside out and vacuum the floor LOL) The price tag almost put me into cardiac arrest. So a while later the D.F.D. room filtering system was designed. No patterns pending at this time lol.



As you can see it hangs from the ceiling. the fan came from ?? you guessed it, it had a plastic housing that was all cracked and had a switch with 3 settings low/ high & off. ( sweet ) So i took a chance not knowing if it would run and headed for the shop. I wasn't to worried they have a good return policy ??? Then off to the local hardware store ( that is still liquidating for the big merger) and purchased some furnace filters ( 12" x 20" @ .50 ea )
That was a determining factor in the size of the unit. 

The design stage had started, conclusion was. Build a box for the fan that would fit the size of 12" x 20" filters. ( dah)
I made it that 2 filters are used on both ends. WELL I had a good idea of the airborne dust but would never have thought I could catch this much!!! Take a close look at the filter. the edges L/R that are hidden behind the frame and are the original color ( blue ) well u know whats in the center. I feel better already, because of all that MONEY I saved.  LOL  

W S T  (weekly shop tip)

ORGANIZATION. 
Such a big word around most woodworking shops. Over time u just get tired of looking for that item. You know right where it was but yet u can't find it ???
So with a few scraps of wood  ( mahogany no less ) I made some racks to store some router and counter sink bits. Again keep in mind not my idea originally just passing along. This is my version.

Keep those wheels a turning, drop me a note, always looking for new ideas ????

For now. Keep those blades sharp and have fun !!! 

Sunday, July 22, 2012

HELLO !!  all  I,m back. I was hopping to have posted sooner but got carried away in the shop, family camping trip, and of course a road trip. NO this is not me really although at times I feel that old !!!!  (lol) I came across this gentleman along my way. Very friendly guy ???  Knowing what I do for a past time a really good friend  of mine thought of me when she came across some various pieces of lumber, & some items made of wood. 

Christmas in July   :)
Prior to taking this pic there were a few items on top. Got excited could not wait to unload.
The wood varied in size and length.    Perfect!!    It's interesting how things come around in life. In the past at my former job we would save our scraps of wood from jobs we were doing, box them up and gave them away for kindling. Well you guessed it. The pieces are short but they will be great for smaller projects. ( bird houses ??? )

I wish I could say that my shop looked this organized and clean. Small picture lol.
In one of my previous post I had mentioned about leaving a shop tip. I can not take credit for all of these and yes I know ( I'm old ) you may have already seen or have done these. Just thought I would share. Dowels  at times are difficult to store as well as know what sizes you have. So I took some small lengths of  PVC pipe and drilled some holes. I started with the size of a drywall screw and drilled straight through. Then using a larger bit, I used one the would except my driver extension and drilled the front.  I hung them to not only store full lenght dowels but some short pieces. For real small pieces I cut the top of a plastic container and use that.

Well thats all for now. Keep those blades sharp and have a good time.  Dave.