Basically I inherited an entire wood shop. My father in law died years ago before I even met my wife and she got all his stuff, now that we are married its all mine too and im trying to learn how to use the stuff. I was a carpenter for 8 years before I moved on to another profession so I am not exactly completely new to carpentry, etc.
I have a shopsmith Mark V model 510 with the upgrade pro fence, a lathe duplicator, speed increaser, grinder, dust collector, mortising stuff, various blades, sanding discs, grinding stones, router bits, shaper bits and a whole slew of other things I don't really know how to use.
I also have a separate jointer and planer, as well as various sanders, biscuit cutters, belt sanders, scroll saw, band saw, separate drill press, router tables, and many other accessories.
Basically My wife wants a book shelf and I want to build it. My father in law had a lot of left over raw oak that I want to use, but I don't exaclty know what im doing when it comes to working with rough lumber. If its pre finished I could build a book shelf in a few days, but as it is I don't exactly understand how to use the jointer and plainer to make rough 1x4 boards straight for gluing into bigger panels for the book shelf. I only need it to be 6" wide, actually its a dvd case, but either way, book shelf.
To my understanding you use the jointer to make the edge flat for joining and gluing, which i experimented with yesterday. I also understand that to get the board parallel on the other side you simply use the table saw and feather boards(correct me if im wrong) to make sure it stays pressed up against the fence for a straight cut. (im only working with boards 22-44" in length.
My question is. . . how do i get the rough stock thats uneven to be flat?? This is where im confused. I tried using the jointer as its wide enough to do 6" stock, but the results werent too good, and it just seemed a little dangerous to me. Doesn't the board have to be flat and straight on one edge for the planer to property get the board down to a uniform thickness?
If im way off let me know as i have a LOT of stuff to work with. I have enough tools to start my own 1 man cabinet factory I think. I know some of it needs adjusting and aligning im sure. I spent a few hours doing maintenance and aligning my shopsmith last night so i know everything on it will work propertly now, im just not too sure about the jointer and plainer.
new to wood working, have some basic questions.
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I work primarily with my lumber in the rough. I prefer it to finished stock as I can mill it up myself to whatever dimensions I want. First, check the depth of cut on your jointer. I've got an 8" and I keep my depth of cut at no more than 1/32". With such a shallow depth of cut, it takes me a while to joint stock, but it's safer and the machine doesn't have to work as hard as, say, trying to plow through a 1/4" depth of cut.
First, you have to face joint your stock. That's the stock on the flat. You should always face joint the bowed or cupped side. If you've got stock with a twist along the length, then you need to try to keep the stock as level as you can on the two points of the stock that rest on the table. It can be tricky as hell until you get the hang of it. Once the face of the stock is nice and flat, then you edge joint one side. Place the jointed face against the fence, ensuring it stays flat against the fence throughout the cut. Pass the stock over the cutterhead until you have an edge square to the jointed face. No matter how many times I ensure that my fence is square to the table, I always check the jointed face and edge for square, just to be sure.
Then, take your stock to your table saw. With the jointed face on the table and then jointed edge against the fence, run the stock through the saw so you get a parallel edge. I then take the fresh sawn edge and, with the jointed face against the fence, I run the stock on the sawn edge through the jointer to clean it up. Now, the only thing still screwy will be the opposite face that has had nothing done to it. Run it through your planer, with the jointed face away from the cutterhead, so the opposing surface will be made parallel to the jointed face. Even though the thickness scale on my planer is accurate, I always check the thickness of the stock with a caliper, just to be on the safe side. I never, ever, take a cut more than a sixteenth of inch deep on my planer. I could, as mine is an industrial machine and could handle it easily, but with a 16th of inch depth of cut, I experience little tearout.
And then, when all is said and done, you have a piece of stock dimensioned to the exact specs you want. It can take a lot of work, but it's worth the extra effort. Plus, rough lumber is a LOT cheaper than finished stock!! I use a lot of cherry and walnut. Walnut alone is about $9 a board foot finished. I get it in the rough at $2 a board foot. BIG difference and the time spent milling it up is well worth it.
Eric
Rock Creek Designs
First, you have to face joint your stock. That's the stock on the flat. You should always face joint the bowed or cupped side. If you've got stock with a twist along the length, then you need to try to keep the stock as level as you can on the two points of the stock that rest on the table. It can be tricky as hell until you get the hang of it. Once the face of the stock is nice and flat, then you edge joint one side. Place the jointed face against the fence, ensuring it stays flat against the fence throughout the cut. Pass the stock over the cutterhead until you have an edge square to the jointed face. No matter how many times I ensure that my fence is square to the table, I always check the jointed face and edge for square, just to be sure.
Then, take your stock to your table saw. With the jointed face on the table and then jointed edge against the fence, run the stock through the saw so you get a parallel edge. I then take the fresh sawn edge and, with the jointed face against the fence, I run the stock on the sawn edge through the jointer to clean it up. Now, the only thing still screwy will be the opposite face that has had nothing done to it. Run it through your planer, with the jointed face away from the cutterhead, so the opposing surface will be made parallel to the jointed face. Even though the thickness scale on my planer is accurate, I always check the thickness of the stock with a caliper, just to be on the safe side. I never, ever, take a cut more than a sixteenth of inch deep on my planer. I could, as mine is an industrial machine and could handle it easily, but with a 16th of inch depth of cut, I experience little tearout.
And then, when all is said and done, you have a piece of stock dimensioned to the exact specs you want. It can take a lot of work, but it's worth the extra effort. Plus, rough lumber is a LOT cheaper than finished stock!! I use a lot of cherry and walnut. Walnut alone is about $9 a board foot finished. I get it in the rough at $2 a board foot. BIG difference and the time spent milling it up is well worth it.
Eric
Rock Creek Designs
that helps a LOT. Is it safe to use the jointer on the face if its only 1" thick? im just worried about jointing my fingers. I have some shopsmith push tools, is it safe to use them on the jointer? Thanks ofr your info, ill definately check my depths of everything when I get home tonight. Im pretty sure the jointer is taking off more than 1/32nd, more like 1/16th to 1/8th. thanks for the advice.
It's safe, just use push sticks or push blocks and ALWAYS be aware of where your fingers/hands are at any given time. If I have narrow stock I need to face joint, I'll keep a thumb and forefinger on the leading end and use a push stick on the trail end. The thumb and forefinger are just there to keep the stock down at the front, the pushstick does all of the work.
I re-read my post and I want to be very clear on this: DO NOT run a piece of stock over the cutter head without getting your fingers/thumb out of the way! Just as my forefinger/thumb (or hand, for a wide piece of stock) get close to the cutterhead, I'll lift my forefinger up and out of the way, pass over the cutterhead, lift my thumb (with forefinger now on the stock), pass over the cutterhead, then replace the thumb. In other words, at NO TIME do I allow my thumb, forefinger, hand, whatever, to pass over the cutter head itself. One slip and game over!
I re-read my post and I want to be very clear on this: DO NOT run a piece of stock over the cutter head without getting your fingers/thumb out of the way! Just as my forefinger/thumb (or hand, for a wide piece of stock) get close to the cutterhead, I'll lift my forefinger up and out of the way, pass over the cutterhead, lift my thumb (with forefinger now on the stock), pass over the cutterhead, then replace the thumb. In other words, at NO TIME do I allow my thumb, forefinger, hand, whatever, to pass over the cutter head itself. One slip and game over!
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chiroindixon
- Gold Member
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- Joined: Thu Jul 20, 2006 1:42 pm
- Location: QCA Iowa
Look for PTWFE.....
Nice to know that even a carpenter can get lost here. I started woodworking knowing nothing as a retired soldier...
Since your inherited shop is basically focused around ShopSmith and attachments. dig around to find his copy of Power Tool Woodworking for Everyone by DeCristoforo. It is the "bible" for starting with power tools but it focuses almost exclusively on the use of ShopSmith. Should it not turn up, I suggest checking SS to see if they have it for sale, or check eBay. This is a "Must Have" for a Shopsmith owner.
Yes, the big owners manual is great.....But this was sure a better way for me to read and figure out my setup. I went "whole hog" and bought just about everything at once.....so this book proved invaluable.
Before I really got started, I spent many hours pouring over this text, marking key points and highlighting the tips. Much of what your fellow owners post here as advise, can be found within those covers.
Other easy tutors....find Norm Abrams (New Yankee Workshop) and watch a season or so. Then you can bump up to David J Marks (DIY) Both will regularly demonstrate the steps starting with raw lumber. Once you see it a time or two, the mystery disappears....then you watch out for "Murphy".
Good luck and enjoy.....Doc
Since your inherited shop is basically focused around ShopSmith and attachments. dig around to find his copy of Power Tool Woodworking for Everyone by DeCristoforo. It is the "bible" for starting with power tools but it focuses almost exclusively on the use of ShopSmith. Should it not turn up, I suggest checking SS to see if they have it for sale, or check eBay. This is a "Must Have" for a Shopsmith owner.
Yes, the big owners manual is great.....But this was sure a better way for me to read and figure out my setup. I went "whole hog" and bought just about everything at once.....so this book proved invaluable.
Before I really got started, I spent many hours pouring over this text, marking key points and highlighting the tips. Much of what your fellow owners post here as advise, can be found within those covers.
Other easy tutors....find Norm Abrams (New Yankee Workshop) and watch a season or so. Then you can bump up to David J Marks (DIY) Both will regularly demonstrate the steps starting with raw lumber. Once you see it a time or two, the mystery disappears....then you watch out for "Murphy".
Good luck and enjoy.....Doc
The book you talk about from SS is probably in a collection either at home or at her mother's house back in Iowa. I'll look through his reciepts in the owners manual, as he kept reciepts on everything he bought and put them in this book for record keeping purposes. I know I have 7 shop smith video tapes at home, one of them is the maintenance and alignment video that i watched last night 3 or 4 times so i could get everything squared out on our shop smith. God knows when it was done last. Ill look in the filing cabinet for other shopsmith books/manuals as I know my wife brought pretty much all of his literature from shopsmith with us when we moved, becuase we brought it with us when we moved to kansas 2 years ago. im just now recently getting interested in using it.
As for the yankee workshop stuff, we were in the basement at her mom's doing more organization of the old shop, as her mom has slowly took over the old wood shop with rubber stamping crafts, and packed up more of his old stuff. We found a box full of old VHS tapes that were recorded off tv, and most of them were the yankee woodshop shows. He even labled them as to what each episode was about on the box.
Ill keep what you said in mind, so hopefully I can find it.
As for the yankee workshop stuff, we were in the basement at her mom's doing more organization of the old shop, as her mom has slowly took over the old wood shop with rubber stamping crafts, and packed up more of his old stuff. We found a box full of old VHS tapes that were recorded off tv, and most of them were the yankee woodshop shows. He even labled them as to what each episode was about on the box.
Ill keep what you said in mind, so hopefully I can find it.
Just to let you know, I just bought a Powertool Woodworking for Everyone (1955 edition) off of Barnes and Noble used books link for $17. I wanted a '55 edition because that's closer to my era of machine (1960-61) than the one I have now ('80's edition). There were cheaper copies, but I was being picky and wanted a dust jacket.
Eric
Rock Creek Designs
"Als Ik Kan."
-Gustav Stickley
Eric
Rock Creek Designs
"Als Ik Kan."
-Gustav Stickley
Ahh, im guessing the shopsmiths have changed a lot throughout the years. Well the one I have was bought new in 89 I think is the year on the reciept. 87 or 89, i forget and i just looked at it last night. It is for sure the 510 model and i found the pro fence upgrade kit new in the box, unopened, a while back and put that on. Sat in a box for 4 years and never was put on. Hell the lathe duplicator has never been opened, and the speed increaser was opened and put together by me, as well as the two tenon master jigs and chisle sharpening jig.
Ill look for that book
Ill look for that book
Boy you're lucky to get all that good stuff.
Before you use your shopsmith make sure you do the maintenance. Especially oiling. You need to oil every month whether or not you use the machine. Or so Shopsmith told me. The machines can last forever so go maintenance is very worthwhile.
Then make sure everthing is set up correctly. Enjoy!
Before you use your shopsmith make sure you do the maintenance. Especially oiling. You need to oil every month whether or not you use the machine. Or so Shopsmith told me. The machines can last forever so go maintenance is very worthwhile.
Then make sure everthing is set up correctly. Enjoy!
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paulmcohen
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