Weekly Blog - February 3rd.

john · Post by **john** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 5:33 pm

I wasn't expecting to be doing this this week, but bad weather forecasts kept us from making the trip to Ontario as planned. The forecasts were for a mixture of snow, ice pellets and freezing rain accompanied by high winds for the whole 400 miles of our route. As it was, my daughter who lives much closer, took four hours for a normal two hour trip. Instead we stayed home and got our own 8 - 10" fall on Friday and are still shovelling. Fortunately much of it was in the form of ice pellets instead of snow which would have made for a lot more volume.

I took advantage of staying home to do some maintenance on the SS including trying to adjust the tension on the quill. This is something I have tried to avoid as I seem not to be too lucky when trying to correct things but I have found the quill to be sticky when fully extending it in the drill press mode for some time now.

Everything seemed to be going OK except for the fact that the manual says to turn the quill lever clockwise three times after releasing the tension on the spring. At two turns, I felt it was getting hard to turn so I left it at that. The quill seemed to spring back quite easily in the horizontal position so I thought I was OK . When in drill press mode, there seemed to be no tension and then the quill stuck completely. I started over and found that the quill did not move easily even when the tension was released but have it in what seems like working order for now. I will have another go at it this week but if anyone has advice, I am all ears.

On the project side, I started working on a potato/vegetable bin that is a bit complex but my dear wife has been at me to build for about three years. It sure will be one heavy sucker as it uses hardwood for the interior frame (I used poplar) and 1/2" plywood for the sides, back, and drawers. The front frames that show are in pine, as is the top. The plans call for joining the frames with biscuits or dowels, but I am cheating by using pocket screws where they don't show.

It looks like this will keep me busy for a while.

Have fun!

John

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 2:14 am

We had what we call bad weather here the past week, but nothing like yours. Glad you elected to stay put and avoid what may have become worse. Hope the happenings & folks in Ontario got by all right without you.

Funny you mentioned a veggie bin. Although my shop weed was limited by weather, I had a chance to repair the front (cain)of our laundry bin. Thought I'd attach a couple of pix it it will give you an idea if you aren't working from plans. The simple stops I designed consist of hard faucet washers attached to the case side and shortened 1/4" bolts to hit on the washers. My bin is made from 3/4" melomine board case with 1/2" hardboard bin sides and peg board back and bottom.. There is an open back on the case, except for braces to allow for air circulation.

Sorry I can't help with your quill conundrum. Although I've had my quill out several times to clean it - I never loosened the spring. Nick's instructions on the Sawdust Sessions seem pretty straight forward. I'd follow them to the letter.

When I referred to the weather holding me up - was referring to the humidity. My shop has been up to 65% to 75% RH all week. I am waiting for maple boards to dry out to less than 14% moisture content. They have been dried only a very small amount - from 16 down to 14% in the last two weeks. At 12%, It's a go for gluing up. Maybe a bit cautious, but worth it.

greitz · Post by **greitz** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 11:15 am

Chuck- nice laundry bin- great design and I like the color combination too! Do you weave the cane as well or is it commercially available?

John- are you using a Kreg jig or some other jig for the pocket screws, or just tilting the table and using the SS in drill press mode? Rick showed us how to do those in a Traveling Academy class but I forget the details. Maybe Nick could do a video refresher on the procedure?

Gary

john · Post by **john** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 5:15 pm

Chuck:

That's a nice piece for a laundry bin, ours is just a plastic pail. I'm surprised the wife hasn't asked for a more deluxe model so I wil NOT show her this picture.

The "veggie" bin is about 35"h x 18"w x 13"d with three drawers. I have made some simpler ones from a Winfield pattern but this one is more complex. I'd like to post a picture but can't due to copyright restictions.

Anyone reading my post knows that I cannot complete a project without making mistakes and this one is no different. My wife was suggesting methods to try and eliminate them but as I told her, "I know what to do, I just don't do it".

Gary:

I used a Kreg jig that I had bought with a gift certificate from LV several years ago. I really like it so have not tried the SS way. Of course I fooled myself when substituting the pocket hole srews for biscuits on the four interior frames. When I went to drill holes in the sides to attach them to the frame I found that the screws would hit the pocket srews so I had to adjust their position. Since I will cover them with plugs, and the sides are designed to be painted, I don't think it will affect appearance.

Have fun

John

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 7:26 pm

greitz wrote:Chuck- nice laundry bin- great design and I like the color combination too! Do you weave the cane as well or is it commercially available?..."
Gary

Hi Gary - Thanks for your comment. I didn't think this is anything special, it's just a box without a solid back and a tilting bin. (I think the cute part is the opening stops) However it is pretty functional.

My wife wanted a larger bin than the old store bought one. The colors had to reasonably match the rest of the bathroom. I chose poplar for the front and mixed a little cherry stain with maple to get a color that was pretty close to the 'apple' colored wood in the room. At least 'apple' is what the manufacturer of the cabinetry calls it.

The cane was purchased from Rockler in an 18" wide roll. My wife OKed this. The bin door was made to accommodate the 18" cane mat. My original design failed in about a year. I had made the bin front like a window with 3/8" by 3/8" rabbet to hold the cane. - Made quarter round to nail down and secure the cane. Eventually the cane pulled out from quarter round in several areas and made the thing look real sloppy. The reason it came loose was most of the brads didn't pass trough the cane

The new fix (last week) was to make a frame to fit the rabbets. This frame has mortise/tenon joints and is 1 1/4" wide. Then after steam ironing the cane, and flat drying it - I glued the cane to the full diameter of the frame and when glue cured, sanded off any cane that protruded from the edges of the frame. Then nailed in the frame using a pneumatic brad gun. Now the one in this house that counts is happy! There's no elation from my bride about fixing something that I poorly designed in the first place. Just "it's about time!" However, I can take pride in being able to figure out a fix.

greitz · Post by **greitz** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 9:50 pm

Thanks for the details, Chuck! Your bin looks a lot classier than the Rubbermaid ones we use. I guess I'm lucky in that my wife doesn't care how the hamper looks as long as I manage to get the clothes in there.

But I don't think using cane is in my future- steam ironing it? I think if I used the iron on anything other than fabric, my wife might show me a different definition of "caning"!

Gary

a1gutterman · Post by **a1gutterman** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 10:41 pm

Hi Gary,

You can always get an old iron at the thrift store for your own use:) . I find that they come in handy once in awhile. How about for glue-on edging?

reible · Post by **reible** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 11:20 pm

Every well equipped shop needs an iron. I have had and used one for years and years. FYI if you print an inverted image on to a laser printed page you can refix the toner on to a smooth piece of wood using an iron... handy. If you happen to get an old one like mine that is heavy it works well to hold things down... the iron and a spray bottle of water makes a usable steam iron... works well to raise dented wood areas... the list goes on.

greitz · Post by **greitz** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 12:31 pm

You guys are full of good ideas! I've been doing mostly turning lately, but I see I need to expand my horizons....

Gary

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 11:18 pm

greitz wrote:...But I don't think using cane is in my future- steam ironing it? I think if I used the iron on anything other than fabric, my wife might show me a different definition of "caning"!

Gary

My wife ironed it for me! I'm not allowed to touch her iron! (:eek:disaster!) - and don't want to! It is one of those irons that has a tube connected to it that runs up to a one gallon container of water hanging from the ceiling.

However ED the Knight has spoken the truth. Used to have an iron in my shop in Montana. That was an old flat iron that was heated up on the wood stove. Glad I didn't move it across the U.S., but have to get another. Probably a more modern one.