Wookshop Additions

[Steve McI]

Well thanks to Rich yet again I have extended my capabilities in the workshop.

First I now have a band saw, which although a little damaged during transportation, is now up and running and has been used to make blanks for some of my latest bowls.

And I also have a dust extraction unit, which makes a vast difference especially when sanding. (Still use a dust mask though).

Work bench stll needs a little improvement, but this works for now.

Having gathered together this equipment I have also had some fun using it to turn bowls from various types of wood and from small 41/2 “ x 2” to a little larger 12” x 4”. All great fun and different, so expanding my learning and experience.

The large bowl with a knot on one side was particularly fun as the knot throw the bowl out of balance and had the Union Graduate moving around !

It also flew of the chuck a couple o time whilst turning the inside, whih kept me on my toes.


This little bur was also fun to do as the bur was very deep and hence the shape evolved.

 

[Blister]

Hi , looking good , you have some nice kit now :wink:

and a nice selection of bowls in different woods

:lol:

 

[SVB]

Steve,

Good news - new toys are always welcome although not sure what a wookshop is - do you sell wookies as pets?

Not wishing to be a harbinger of doom but you may wish to check the top filter bag is rated for fine dust or even better whether a fine filter cartridge is available for your dust extractor. The top bag types have two issues - firstly the material the bag is made from as supplied is usually only designed to collect chips not fine dust so the fine stuff (that is bad for your lungs etc) will pass through rather than be trapped and still get to you. Also the second issue is that the collapsed bag will sag and dust will settle on it ready to be propelled back into the air as it refills when you turn the unit on.

The fine cartridges solve both these issues - they are fine enough to stop the bad stuff and retain their shape so do not act as a dust springboard. Downside - not cheap I am afraid!

Fine Filter bag (still has the springboard issue

http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-awede2-fine-filter-bag-prod818492/

cartridge type:

http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-awede2-filter-cartridge-prod781186/

BRgds
Simon

 

[Steve McI]

Thanks Simon :

Will look into the dust filter !

And spend more time typing these postings up !!!


Cheers


Steve

 

[CHJ]

Good to see the machines being put to work, next tasks? Tool and consumables storage, and a grinding station maybe, makes a lot of difference to the overall pleasure of hunting a clear work surface.
Might need to brush up on you flatwork skills before long though so that you have somewhere to put all the bowls.

 

[Steve McI]

Thanks CHJ,

I have also invested in a bench grinder but this is on the tidy side of the workshop, so no photo of this (well I live in hope)

As to where to store these, most have already been grabbed by the wife and daughters, they seem to be useful on the dressing table for storage, well the small/medium ones anyway. Had to recover them for the Photo !

Work in progress but the good news is I can use the equipment and am having fun doing so, it sure beats watch tv of an evening.

Getting a little cool now in the evening though, so next project maybe some form of heating in the workshop. any suggestions ?

Thanks again for the comments

 

[CHJ]

....evening.

Getting a little cool now in the evening though, so next project maybe some form of heating in the workshop. any suggestions ?
...

Work faster Seriously though that's always a dilemma, because of the dusty environment i would say beware of fan heaters etc. that can get clogged with dust and be a fire risk, Oil filled rads, good on a safety front and can hold shop at a steady temp if it's well insulated but expensive to run if needed in higher powers.

I run low wattage (9-11 watts) long life bulbs in my tool cabinets 24/7/365 this keeps things rust free and warm to the touch when handling in the winter.

And against all the principles of not generating moisture in the shop I use a portable gas heater on very cold days, moisture not a problem for me as I have a high air exchange going on with outside dust extraction and by careful positioning of heater and fresh air source it works well and reasonably cost effective for me, but I do have a very high proportion of south facing glass in the workshop so winter temps are not too low by the time I'm awake enough to be in the shop.

 

[Steve McI]

Again CHJ thanks for the advice.

Think I might go for an infrared lamp over the area I work/play and see how that goes.

Failing that the oil rad sounds the best option but it is 5m x 4m area so will take some heating up,

As you say cheapest option is to work faster/harder ! but can't see this one taking off !

Thanks again

steve

 

[loz]

Nice collection of bowls, what wood is the top left large bowl ?

 

[Steve McI]

Loz,

To be honest I am not sure what this wood is, maybe Rich Burrow can answer as he supplied it !

Cheers

Steve,

 

[guyandzoe]

May I make few suggestions/critique?

I'm very jealous of anyones new workshop and your looks particularly nice and bright.

As a bowl turner I am a little uneasy about the positioning of the lathe. It appears there is little or no room to work from behind the workpiece. Indeed there seems to be a shavings collector thingy in the way as well as a wall. As your technique progresses you will find a need to sometimes place yourself behind the lathe/workpiece i.e when using the gouge to sheer scrape or when levelling off the top of a nasty bit of wood or when saving a centre or when cutting in from the top of a natural edge.

The outside shapes of most of the bowls (dont like that burr!) are good - not the usual lumpy beginner stuff but I can see some drastic changes of direction on the insides of some - that going round the corner thing can also be helped by having plenty of room to move around the headstock to keep you behind the gouge and the gouge hand right over to the left as you traverse the corner and across the bottom. You will also find that there is no real need to have such deep recesses. A good chuck will hang on remarkably well in just a couple of mil (although I do note you had a problem of at least one flying bowl)

As you progress you may also find you use longer handles and you need room also for them round the back and sides.

 

[CHJ]

Welcome to the forum guyandzoe, perhaps you can give us a rundown on your setup and some of your work in a new thread.

Very Valid Points by the way.

 

[Steve McI]

Thanks GuyandZoe for the useful comments !

The lathe is not fixed down at present as I have already moved it to this location from further along the wall.

You are right the dust extractor does get in the way sometime, but fortunately it is on wheels and I can just push it out if I need to.

Will keep experimenting with the best location before the Graduate is fixed down finally.

Pity you did not like the burr, it was a interesting thing to turn, the cracks in the burr were very deep and this seemed a good why to keep some of the burr while keeping some volume in the piece. It is very tactile to hold and liked by my family as it is different to the others.

As CHJ said look forwards to seeing some of your work on the forum.

Cheers,

Steve

 

[Paul.J]

Looks like the shop is coming along nicely Steve,it all takes time
Nice selection of bowls on display
Is that light by your lathe one of those that show up the scratches/marks on the wood :?:

 

[richburrow]

Just seen this, good progress Steve.
Glad you fixed the bandsaw (I broke it lifting it up some steps )
Not sure what that timber is, strange that because someone at work used the same stuff last week, I don't know, looks nice though
Speak soon
You better start worrying about our next game of badminton.....
I am going to kick your ass
:lol: :lol: