Hi there John and all! This has not been my best week in the shop, with many other distractions and then some of those nasty brain freeze type errors. Some of them might even be funny, but will let you decide.
First, John, You have a
beautiful wine rack as shown, Made me thirsty!! I'll bet your new one will also look as good. Dowels 1/2" deep (2 per cross piece) should work very well! You could also use a large biscuit on each end, if you have that capability.
Because of life, time in the shop has been limited to the "free time" between chores and events. When there is part of a project that I really want to do, it is sometimes difficult to put priorities in the right place. ---Come on, Chuck! remember -- woodworking is a hobby - it is not your job!! You won't get fired, no one will die if you don't get this done tomorrow!
This past week, I made two different designs for dovetails for the drawers of my tables. My wife and I chose the one with the smallest pins, one in the center and the two half pins on the edges. The sample joints fit fairly nicely and I was looking forward to whipping out the real things. The tails were all cut at the same time on the OPR. Maybe did this in an unconventional way, but it worked good for me. Clamped the 4 drawer sides, face to face on top of each other on the OPR table in the horizontal position, and raised the table (with all 4 pieces) up through the dovetail bit.
Set up the OPR to do the pins and then realized I first needed to trim the drawer fronts to the proper length. O.K. -- time to break down the OPR and set up the saw. This makes a good case for either having two machines, or -- engaging the brain earlier.
After cutting the length of the fronts, I just had to try their fit in the drawer openings. JUST RIGHT!! But Whoops! - dropped one of the fronts and really dented the corner on the concrete floor. Didn't think a dented half pin (with crushed fibers) would work very well, so substituted this front for the better looking (color and grain) back piece. Luckily, I hadn't yet trimmed them to length either. As the new (dented) back piece will eventually be 1/2" shorter than the fronts, this will work.
Here's for the funny brain freeze! When planing the sides to 1/2" thick, I hooked up the DC3300 to the planer, but forgot to turn it on. Since I had also left the opposite side side hole on the manifold open - the planning chips went right through the manifold of the 3300 and flocked one entire side of the shop a reddish brown. Boy! that DeWalt fan sure blows chips!
Thinking this better get cleaned up quickly, I got to work with the 3300. When vacuuming up the accessory bench, I sucked up the SPT coupler. Thinking fast, I pulled on the hose to make a sharp bend that would prevent the coupler from getting into the fan. It worked!!! That is until I moved over to disconnect the hose from the 3300. The sharp bend grew slack and BANG, no more coupler. As this had happened to me once before (about 8 years ago) I hoped this coupler came through the experience as good as the last one. (retrieved the first one from the bag with no more than a little nick on the SPT side) No such luck! This coupler is in shattered pieces. It's a good thing I ordered a second coupler, shortly after the first wreck. Now is time for another! Still can't figure out why a little piece of wood 3/4 by 3/4 by 1/2 will break a fan blade, but a 6" coupler won't.
One more thing I wanted to say in this blog. I think 8iowa maybe said it best, when he noted this forum is more than just a forum - it is a community!
Sometimes, it even becomes like a huge family at a Thanksgiving Dinner! Complete, with all of the conversations that can/do happen there! Personally, I love it!!
Octogenarian's have an earned right to be a curmudgeon.
Chuck in Lancaster, CA
I enjoy the time here.
