John's Blog

Here’s what I’ve been working on.

I added several lights, they’re temporarily wired in. The shelves below the benches are done and loaded with stuff. Not organized, just there.

The ‘Electronic Radial Saw’ (ERS) in the forefront is now up and running. That saw is fifty years old and still going strong. Cuts wood like a big dog. The saw carriage on that thing is sorely in need of an alignment which takes about an hour of careful fiddling. I’ve been using it for rough work which is fine without the alignment. It tosses sawdust every which way so I will soon build a shroud around the back of it to help get that under control.

The end goal is to plumb dust collection tubing from the pastel blue dust collector on the left side of the picture behind the orange chair, across the ceiling to the ERS. At the same time I’ll run dust collection tubing across the back of those two benches all the way over to the window.

Standing in the middle of the open space shows the board that holds measuring and leveling stuff, made from scrap wood. Also in that corner is a board for safety equipment. I’ll add a small shelf to that, right above the shop vac. On that shelf will go earplugs and face masks. The end goal is get the dust collector going so I can get rid of the shop vac or at least move it somewhere else.

Continuing with the second picture. The large gray three drawer cabinet is only half full. I’m gonna empty that and move it somewhere else or get rid of it. I’ll build a small sit-down workbench in that space.

This last picture is a pile of parts that assemble into a table saw. It’s forty-plus years old and wicked heavy, all cast iron and stuff. Old school. I’m putting that on wheels, looking it over and cleaning it up as I go. Small steps. Cheers.