I know Im a bit of a woodworking nerd when I get jealous of a Festool dust extraction system, if you tell me it’s as quiet as I hear they are it’s even worse, I hate listening to my shop vac screaming away when the table saw is going.
It is pretty quiet compared to the shop vac, but my main extractor is in the garage and plumbed through the wall into the shop. same with the air compressor. And yeah... I may have a sickness: All this for a guy who drives a keyboard for a living. Seriously, though, my retirement plan leaving development (where shit gets harder every year and ageism is a real thing) was to transition into woodworking where I could make cash making tables and furniture and that kind of stuff. That’s how I justify building up a quality, functioning shop. Mind you, recent work-stuff means that in a few months I can cash out with more than enough to retire in a lot of comfort, and if I stick around for another 3 years after that, I will have 4 times that after everything vests and I assume I don’t get fired.
Festool makes some nice stuff but damn is it expensive. We have a paint denibber that is a is about 1" x 1.5" of carbide and is about $80 Now that we're all old as shit, that could be an interesting thread, what our plans for retirement are and how we picture retirement to be for ourselves. Where you want to live? What do you want to do?
Yeah... it takes a fair bit for me to pull the trigger... I don't do it lightly. The first Festool tool I bought was a Domino, because nothing else does what it does as well as it does. Period. Even now, years later. Hell... more than a decade later. People will say "but dowels and biscuits!" and I'll just laugh. Nope, Dominoes, through and through. Then I bought 2 of their sanders... only because I'd worn through 4 other brands, and when I got a hold of the Rotax and ES 150s, it was a no-brainer. I've never used nicer working sanders before, never mind when you couple it with the dust extraction. Fantastic performance, and way longer lasting than any other sander I've used. Then they started having sales... and they NEVER have sales. The bastards. You start doing the math, and realize just how much you're saving, and you can't help but do it. I picked up the anniversary edition plunge router, and the jigsaw, both hugely discounted. Then I got the grinder because it was on sale. Then I got the large Domino because I'm doing larger and larger timber sized construction. I haven't bought into their track saws, mitre saws, or any of their battery-powered tools... for that I'll stick with the Dewalt as they are plenty good enough for me, what I use them for, and my skill level and how much I use them. (I do have a Triton track saw I picked up on sale that does a great job when I need a track saw). Then there was a whole stack of empty systainers on a trolly that came up for sale for super cheap, and I got that for shop storage. This recent dust extraction was the hardest part for me to buy, because I didn't really need it... but man is it sooo nice. Like ZERO sawdust. None. 60 grit sanding with an ES 150? Nothing. No regrets. Good idea... I'll try and whip something together in the next few days.
New helical cutter-head jointer showed up today. What a night and day difference to the King entry level 3-knife jointer. Blown away at the performance improvements.
I mean dominoes are just floating tenons, which can be made with standard tools. But fuck is a Festool fast and accurate when cutting them; doesn't take long for the time savings to justify it if you do a lot of that kind of thing.
Doing some work on a new light box for the home office reno... some assembly required. Needless to say it was a great night spent in the shop making sawdust. Milling down some raw dark walnut and mahogany for the structure, with some purple heart accents. It'll house a few Hue spot and strip LED lights, as well as a ceiling fan, when all is said and done. Some custom wiring and remote control action has to be figured out, but it's getting closer. Just added a nice chamfer detail to the edges of the bottom boards to help give it some accentuating details. Amazed that this is the quality of wood so far with zero sanding... just all helical cutterheads on the planer and jointer, a table saw, and a router. Yee fucking haw.
Fabbed up a new welding cart this weekend. Used what I had on hand... 2” square tubing and some rough cut pine. Welded up the basic frame and then processed the pine to make some platforms. A bit unconventional, but works for me. Next iteration has heavy duty drawers, grinder holders, etc, but for now I have something that fits both of my welders and my plasma cutter. Fronius transsteel 2200 is one of the best MIGs I’ve ever used... including aluminum. And the Everlast is a great TIG box, including pulse aluminum. Used some leftover John Deere tractor paint on the frame. Twin tanks... CO2 mix for Mig, Argon for TIG.
Your welding looks right up there with mine. I tend to use the angle grinder a bit more before painting though.
Meh. It’s a welding cart, and I’m still learning. Tried some different things on that cart, and am better now that it’s done than when I started. lol Wanted it done in a hurry so didn’t prep for paint as well as I could have. That John Deere enamel paint is pretty industrial.
Finished the tabletop for my sister's dining room table today. Pipe clamps were a freaking dream. Thanks for the idea @Nettdata Tabletop is 90" x 57". Plenty of room to fit 3 on a side and 2 on each end comfortably. Can easily make it 4 and 3, respectively, without folks eating with t-rex arms. Their hardwood floors have a framed pattern to them, so I wanted the table to tie into that and framed the outer edges with 45 cuts at the corners. Really happy with how it came out. My best work yet, I think. This was a completely bespoke job. I picked out each board with them so they could see the knots and grain. When it came time to build, they chose how each board was oriented, which side would be the top, etc. I way overbuilt the top, so I hope this is something that they can give to their kids someday. The frame is a X style on the ends. I notched 4x4's to build it and filled every seam and crack with wood filler, sanded, and filled again. I have a Wagner sprayer that I'll use to paint it white, so the whole thing will look like a single piece when it's done.
Bought the the wife a benchtop lathe for Christmas. Not a super expensive one, but a well reviewed budget/entry level lathe. Slowly getting a woodshop going in the building, still a ton of tools to buy. At least with the lathe she, err we, can immediately start producing something. Tons and tons of driftwood available to turn down into some cool stuff.
Final results after lots of hours and driving back and forth to my sister's house. Her house warming gift is complete (I just did the table, they chose the chairs).
Finished with minwax polycrylic. 5 coats, sanding with 220 grit in between each application. I'm not incredibly concerned about expansion, though only time will tell. The table I built for my house 3+ years ago using the same method hasn't had any expansion issues (yet), so I'm pretty confident theirs will be ok. I was very meticulous about clamping the boards together and I way overbuilt it. There are close to 200 kreg screws holding everything in place.
This started an avalanche of amazon orders for things like chucks, jaws and chisel sets, and other accessories. And plans for a big lathe aren't too far away. Right now going to start a line of custom driftwood shot glasses. That should be a good seller around these bunch of lake heathens. Also have an old record player console that we're converting into a bar. Expect to make some money on that project.