Author: Joe Hohenfels

Elgin Shop – Contract Signed!

Well it has been over 3 months here at the new place and we are bursting at the seams from our down sizing. We decided to bite the bullet and get started on the new shop. YEA! Contract is signed and it will be built by mid December. I went with a 30′ x 40′ metal building by Ark-La-Tex

Here is a quick sketch of the floor:

The Circles are floor plugs. I will post as more happens over the next month or so.

Moving on

Well the reason I have not been posting anything lately is that we have moved. A lot more work than I thought it was going to be! Both mentally and physically. I am sure that the new owners will enjoy it as much as we did.
We are down sizing quite a bit and decided to go with PODS for the stuff that wont fit right away. Mostly shop and brewery, you really realize what you have when you pack it all up.
Shot of the nearly empty shop

Here is a shot of the new backyard.

Cant wait to get started on the new shop!

Out Feed Table – Final Touches..

Well, I am in the middle of something and don’t want to start any big projects until I know how it is going to turn out. So while I wait, I decided to do some “clean-up” work on the out feed table. I flush mounted the light switch I am going to use to power the router table.
It is just a simple light switch box with standard male and female plugs at the ends. Plug power into one end and the router into the other. Used an old extension cord for the cable.
Also move one of the roll around cabinets to the router side and put pulls on the drawers. It will house the routers and all the router gear.
Lastly, went ahead and put drawer pulls on the front roll around cabinet. Among other stuff, it will hold the table saw gear.

Out Feed Tables Drawers

I built my Biesemeyer fence rails and my out feed table not too long ago. I am trying to increase the capability of my Porter Cable PCB270TS Table Saw and not wanting to waste space. So, I built 2 roll out sets of drawers. One for the front under the right side extension table and one for the gap I left on the right of the out feed table. I hind sight, I think I will move the one on the right to the other side, closer to the router table.
All ¾ Ply with rabbits for the carcass with 2 ½ inch locking castersfrom WoodCraft in the front and non locking in the back. Approxmitate dimentions are: 37W x 23D x 34H

The drawers are also ¾ ply with rabbits and dado joints glued and brads holding it all together.

All finished up and tucked away:

This Cyclone Sucks! — Really (Update)

This is an update to my This Cyclone Sucks! post on 3-11-13.

I have to say that I am impressed with this thing! Not only did I get to build it, it is working very well. I have emptied out the trash can of my Thein Cyclone Separator Lid 3 times and I only have about a foot of very fine dust in the bag of my Harbor Freight dust collector bag.

Here is a couple shots of the full can.

And one of the bag.

Miter Saw Station – Cutting it up!

Here is my Miter Saw Station. When I built this counter top I installed T-Track most of the way down. I use it to hold down lots of things, today it is my miter saw.
Here is one of the three stands I made. They are the same height as the miter saw and have the bolts and tighteners to secure them to the T-Track.
I made 3 backs that fit in the T-Track on the stands, 2 of them have T-Track
Get them lined up and secured to the T-Track in the Counter
Pull out the saw.
Secure it to the T-Track in the counter top and hook up the dust collection:
Make sure everything is lined up.
All setup and ready to make repeatable cuts.

Work Sharp Kool-Aid

I drunk the Work Sharp Kool-Aid and now want a place to store everything. I wanted 1 cabinet to hold it all. Here is what I ended up with, made from scraps I had laying around. It is not the prettiest, but it works.
And with the doors:
Now I need to find a place to put it.
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