Workshop – Modern Anachronist

Free Lathe

There’s tons of old tools sitting in people’s basements & garages. Tools that granddad or dad used to use, but that the current generation doesn’t have time or space for. Once people learn that you enjoy restoring and using old tools, they start being offered to you, as most people would rather see their tools being used than collecting dust & turning to rust.

A buddy of mine is retiring and moving into a condo. Last week at a party he asked me if I wanted his grandfather’s lathe.

Band saw cabinet electrical

The band saw project was almost as much electrical work as wood work. I replaced the power cord & switch for the saw and added lighting .

Glamour shots of the drill press & band saw.

I realized that there aren’t any good photos of the complete tools on the site, so here we go.

Box joint jig for the table saw

I’ve gotten to the point where new projects don’t always* require purchasing** new tools. But as I work on more ambitious projects, I am building more tools & jigs.

When I built the drawer for the drill press cabinet, I was very dissatisfied with my results, so I started looking for something better.

Enter the box joint or finger joint jig.

Band saw cabinet design

When I bought the bandsaw a few years ago, it was on this angle iron base. Perfectly functional, and purely functional. It works, but it looks like a bunch of angle iron off cuts (which is what it is).

Once I built the base for the drill press, I decided that the band saw needed a matching base.

Let’s take a little tour of my mental processes when designing a project like this.

How do I safely drill an end cap?

For the bandsaw cabinet I plan to add a work light. I found a light fixture I think will be great, but it’s a bit too short.

I’m going to make it taller by building a base from 3/4” pipe, but I’ve got to attach the fixture to the pipe & get the cord into the cabinet.

I need to drill a hole through the pipe cap, without injuring myself. One hand operating the quill of the drill press, and the other operating the oil can.

Sometimes it’s just your fear holding you back.

I’ve often considered making nicer projects in the wood shop, but up till now, I’ve pretty much limited myself to camping equipment.

Mostly it’s been fear that I can’t make something perfect. Add in the fact that I’m good at sourcing things that are pretty close to what I really want and then modifying them.

And it really kills me when people ask me if I built the cabinets in the dining room.

But it’s been itching at me. I keep kicking around ideas for custom cases for some older tools that don’t have them. And I keep coming up with excuses why I can’t do it.

It’s called finish for a reason.

Where’s my soapbox?….

I’ve come to the decision recently that applying finish is the difference between a project and something I just slapped together.

CAD (Cardboard Aided Design)

I know that I’m not the first one to come up with the idea, but much like graph paper is cheaper than lumber, cardboard is cheaper than any other building materials; especially when you keep your empty cereal boxes.

I’ve got this metal parts organizer in the garage. The biggest problem with it is that stuff gets lost in the back. I decided to make bins so I could easily get everything out. The perfect material would be sheet metal, but I’ve never worked with sheet metal before. Enter CAD.

I’ve made three prototypes, and finally got my design where I want it. My out of pocket expense is, some blue tape, three empty cereal boxes and a utility knife blade, so zero dollars. Now it’s time to get some metal and start making bins.

In the past, I’ve used cereal boxes & tape to dummy up lots of projects. The original camp kitchen idea was done in cardboard. This exercise proved that the vision I came up with while high was not something I could achieve and led to the simpler version that I originally built from wood.

I always keep a few empty boxes in the shop, you never know when you’re going to mock something up.

The Royal has no clothes.

Made some more progress on the Model 10.

Got the front panel and rear top panels off. Got the carriage out. It appears that the sides & rear are one piece of iron, so I don’t think there are any more covers to remove.

I got the type bars to travel the full stroke!

Once I removed the carriage, I confirmed that the far end of the draw band is missing, so I’m adding that to the list of parts I need to source.