Morning Sunshine

Productive Fun

It was a beautiful Saturday. I started the day in the cool, foggy morning by riding my bicycle around the neighborhood to checkout the local garage sales. By nine o'clock the temperature was perfect for working in the garage/workshop with the garage door open, and it stayed perfect all day.

We hung the plate rack in the kitchen. My lovely wife had done nearly all the painting, and it looks nice.

I had been looking around for an outfeed roller stand to use with my Shopsmith table saw and my bandsaw. The tables on both of those machines are fairly high, and all the roller stands I've seen locally are too low for my use. So, I decided to do the only reasonable thing ... make one. Besides, what's the purpose of a workshop if not to make things. And what better things to make than things to help you make things with.

I drew up quick plans during a break at work last week, started cutting the boards last night, and finished the stand today. Recognize the roller? It's a $ 4.95 rolling pin from the local big box store.

Don't do crack

I always release the tension on my bandsaw at the end of a day of use. The other night I was cleaning up after a good weekend session, and when I went to release the bandsaw tension, I noticed it felt 'funny'. Closer inspection revealed severe cracking in the tensioning block. I'm glad it didn't let go while I was using it! There might have been flying parts, sparking blades and a frightened operator!

I called Grizzly Monday morning and ordered a replacement part, which should be here by the end of the week. Hope the new one lasts longer than the old one (about 6 or 7 years, I think)

Plate Rack in Progress

The simple plate rack is coming along nicely. I essentially finished the woodworking yesterday. It's really just a box with sides, top and shelf held together with nails, and with pegs for the plate rack. I realised that the two rows of pegs called for in the instructions would only support full-sized plates and not saucers, so I added a third row in the middle.

Today will be for painting.

New Project - Simple Plate Rack

My sweet wife found this plate rack in one of her books, liked it, and showed it to me. I ran across the perfect materials yesterday in a corner of the garage/shop, so I decided to go ahead a throw one together. If we like it, I can always make a more finished piece.

Here's a shot of my Shopsmith set up as a drill press to drill a double row of holes for the dowels that hold the plates. I like the picture because it shows a few other interesting items in the background.

Here are the main parts of the shelf: top, bottom and center shelf on the right; sides and dowels on the left. Not shown is the face trim. I should be able to finish the carcass tomorrow evening and it'll be ready for paint Saturday.