Shopsmith Forums

The weather has finally turned the corner and the snow is melting. I can now see all of my compost bins and most of the BBQ. As little as two weeks ago only the top surfaces of these items were visible. It was kind of weird bending way over to lift the lid of the compost bin.

As to woodworking, I put the cutting boards aside for now and moved on to the wine rack. I had to plane a bit more wood as I was a bit short and took a look at the planer. I found some sap like substance on the interior table under the rollers and blades. Since it was on the same side as my problem snipe, I am hoping that was the cause of my problem. Not really sure as I wanted to get on with working so I stayed away from that side planing the new wood.

I will try something new on this version of the wine rack. (picture of previous one below).The plans call for the cross pieces that hold the bottles to be screwed on from the ends. I hope to try to use dowels to hold these ones on but since the ends are only 3/4" thick, the dowels will only be inserted about 1/2". I hope that will be enough for a solid connection. If any one has any comments on this feel free to do so before I get to that stage.

The plans call for the ends to be cut out of a panel but on the last one, I cut oak boards slightly wider than required, dry fitted them with dowel connections, drew the pattern for the corners, then cut them on the band saw before final assembly. I plan to do the same this time if I can remember all the steps. Actually I had thought of using mortise and tenons this time but forgot to cut the pieces long enough.

Hopefully this project will go better than the last.

On another note, I can hardly wait until Thursday for the NHL playoffs to start as Montreal, VERY unexpectedly, finished in first place in their division and meet Boston in the first round.

Have a Fun and Safe week!

John

Hey John,

That is a nice looking counter top wine rack!

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!!

That was quite a story Chuck!, and I agree with you; To me this forum IS like a family or at the very least, a community. I enjoy the time here.

Yep, you all kinda grow on a fella.

John that is a great looking wine rack and I like the choice of oak. Many wines are fermented in oak barrels so it is kind of appropriate.

Chuck, You'll have to let us see those dovetails!

Do likable folks buy Shopsmiths or does owning a Shopsmith cause them to be likable? This forum sure seems to have a fair share of likable folks.
ldh

Just another idea for a wine bottle rack. The plan started a a bird house, but I was given this great wood from wine crates. 3/4 inch pine was used for the front and back. So far they have made a hit as Christmas gifts. I need to take a trip up to wine country to get more crates. Problem is, most wineries now want to sell their scrapes.
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Charlese,

I am only now getting started with my Shopsmith, but I know myself well enough to read all these cautionary tales and try to learn from them. Tha's why I recently picked up the remote switch for my DC3300. I know that sooner or later, well let's forget the later part, I will find myself sucking up something that doesn''t belong in there. I hope I have the presence of mind to kink the hose like you did, then I can shut it down with the remote.

Chuck:

As Tim said that's quite a story. One of the first things I did when I acquired the SS was to buy a spare coupler, "just in case". I can't remember the incident, but sometime last year I did something that caused the coupler to shatter. I keep reminding myself to buy a new one but of course have not done so. Your story is yet another reminder to do so. I don't know what I would do without the SS for a week or so while waiting for a new one. Then again, maybe I could spend the time cleaning and organizing, maintenace, etc, etc.

Gary:

I like your wine rack. I have several wine boxes hanging around that I haven't yet figured out what to do with. Maybe I can work some of the parts into something similar to yours.

As to the forum. Yep, it's a great place to learn and meet.

Have fun.

John

To: kalynzoo

Hi Gary,
Great "birdhouse". Good idea for those crates!