The Shop

A planer does not take the place of a hand plane - unless you are doing rough work.

The metal planes are pushed and the wooden "Korean Style" planes are pulled. A pulled plane generally gives more control -- or that's the theory anyway. The old Stanley Plane (10" smoothing plane) has been repaired with carved handles from Lee Valley, and the blade has been honed on the "belt grinder". It can now deliver "whisper thin" shavings. The wooden planes are nice -- but in the dry winter climate they shrink. The plane mouths had to be widened recently. the special brass hammer is the "wooden plane adjuster" - it can be faster to adjust a wooden plane than a mechanical plane once you get "the hang of it".

The carving tools are Flex-cut - from Chipping Away www.chippingaway.com and Thompson Carving www.woodcarve.netfirms.com -- both are great companies to deal with as other carvers and chip carvers can tell you.

The file folder is handy. All the workshop manuals are available in one place for quick reference. And yes -- we really do read them

Table Saw

The RYOBI BT3000SX table saw has a sliding miter table and a built-in router table. The router is not currently mounted. You can see the home-built miter slot table made of hard maple. We use it for feather boards, and a mortise and tenon jig built by General.

You can see a front view of the saw here showing the miter slot add-on.

There is also an end-view photograph of the saw taken during the set up of the 45 degree blade tilt.

Further views showing Table Brackets, back view, the foot and joint construction etc. -- for those who want to duplicate the out-feed table.

If you meet a woodworker with a Ryobi BT3000 (BT3K) table saw -- ask them about the Ryobi Cult and its associated rituals -- I dare you! Details can be found here at BT3Central.

The King Router shown in its Ryobi Table saw mounting bracket. Now I just have to get around to making a real router table.

There are better routers for bench use but at $110 CDN?

The plunging action can be a little stiff, and adjusting in the table it can catch when you turn the adjust wheel. However, it is smooth and relatively quiet.

A second view of the router -- showing just how much abuse the mounting plate can handle..

Click on images to see a larger version.

Lathe

The midi lathe from King Canada is a new addition. It's been a few years since we added turned elements to our work.

A second view of the lathe on its new stand

A third view of the lathe showing the first cylinder turned on the lathe. Turning a cylinder is harder than it appears -- since we all know what a cylinder looks like, it is easy to judge.

A fourth view showing the setup with the grinding station right next to the lathe . This is not the best as the grinder dust mucks up the table. However space is limited at the moment.

Lathe Drawers: The top drawer is plywood with finger joints (box joints) and an Oak false front. The remaining Lathe drawers are birch hardwood, plywood bottom panel and dovetail construction. A front view of the drawers showing the lathe with the bed extension providing a 39" spindle-making capacity.

We purchased the lathe from Home Hardware in Cookstown Ontario -- another supplier that stocks a wonderful array of tools for the serious craftsman. Cookstown is worth a visit in its own right as it is full of antique and curio shops. One example is the Cookstown Antique Market...

Dum Sander

We got a surface sander kit from Nicks and made a few modifications. The 220 grade paper will polish up flat boards nicely. You can use it as a jointer if you use 60, 80 and 100 grade paper in sequence to flatten smooth boards.

Refinishing work is handled with 60 grade paper.

We modified the original design to use a link belt, repositioned some of the fittings etc. We also made a fence with 45 and 90 degree angles.

Click on images to see a larger version.

Lathe Stand

This table was made to be sturdy -- since it supports the lathe. It incorporates half lapped dovetails on the legs, and full dovetails on the table top support frame. The top support for the legs are simple glued half -lap joints - as they will mostly be under compression. The angled half lap supports the leg and counters and twisting motion.

The bottom cross-member is not glued -- but has a mortise and tenon joint with a peg to tighten the joint. It will shortly (eventually) be the support for the "drawer box" which will house the tools and parts for the lathe.

The table is large enough to accommodate the bed extension for the lathe.

See here for more information on the table construction.

The Baltic birch for the top was obtained from Century Mill Lumber.

The belt Sander/grinder is useful for honing and lapping carving and turning tools as well as honing and lapping plane knives.

The sander was supplied by Lee Valley Tools. It was manufactured by Viel Tools of L'isle Verte Quebec. The book has some fascinating jigs. They do not appear to have a web site. (Phone 418-898-2601.)

Band Saw

The King Industrial band saw with six inch riser block is used to re-saw wood, produce rounded stool seats etc. The blades supplied are by Tufftooth as we have gotten consistently good service from the supplier -- including tips on getting better use out of the saw.

That is duct tape on the outlet port. The port is a tad shy (Note 1) of fitting the Shop Vac hose. Thanks to famed Canadian Handyman Red Green for the tip.

I am working on a deal with 3M and the Red Green show to get some advertising kick-back. So don't even think of co-opting the deal.

Note 1: Just to clarify -- A Tad is not to be confused with any of the precise measurements used in wood working - like smidgen, tick, "ittsy bittsy teensy bit more", "itty bitty" or "a little mark more (or less)" or such like -- it more akin to the word "somewhat" or "kinda" when used with the word shy in the sense of being smaller.

Scroll Saw

The Delta 2000 series scroll saw has been used for fretwork on Jewel Boxes, dovetail joints on shop jigs, dovetails on tools boxes, adjusting trim etc. Supplied by Welbeck Sawmills - another supplier that believes in quality service. The web site does not do justice to the store and the location. This is a "must see" supplier in a picturesque location -- especially in the fall when the leaves are in their fall colours -- red, gold and orange. The saw mill beside the store is worth the trip in itself.

The Planer from King Canada has been an enormous time saver. The ability to rough cut on the band saw and smooth on the planer has reduced wood costs tremendously. This is the consumer planer and you do get a bit of snipe on the end of the boards - but nothing the drum sander cannot fix in a few minutes.

There is nothing sweeter than the sound of a well tuned hand plane -- but now they are used in trying to achieve perfection -- not in a sweaty exercise to "hog off" wood.

A drill press is handy for installing blind pin hinges, cutting holes for shelf adjustment pegs and any number of other important tasks.

It is useful for stirring coffee only on the lowest setting. Not recommended unless you have to have a morning latté -- completely frothed.