Workshop upgrade

Workshop update

I have been working in my Workshop all day i dont know where the time goes.Workbench is now finished and a wide shelf created by my Graduate Lathe.New Toy delivered

It is a pleasure to have a Workbench big enough to get a decent sized sheet on

 The new toy delivered

 And unpacked not tried it yet

 New wide shelf my Graduate Lathe cabinet above for PPE and first aid kit

Disappointed with Axminster tools

Disappointed with Axminster Tools I compared there price for a Makita LS1216 Sliding Mitre Saw they wanted £599 00 https://www.alanwadkinstoolstore.co.uk/ were doing it for £549 a difference of £50 00 As I have always recommended Axminster and spent many thousands of pounds with them I asked them if they would price match They said they do not price match so I have ordered it from https://www.alanwadkinstoolstore.co.uk/ In future I will not be so quick to order from Axminster they have got very expensive such a shame

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Workshop upgrade

What I found with my last two Projects is that I do not have enough workbench length and some of my Machinery is difficult to move .Because my Workshop is quite small 24' x 12'  most of my Machinery is on wheels I have improved the mobility of three of my Machines by fitting larger better quality casters.My workbench will be lengthened from about 8' to about 13'.
It is a bit of a struggle turning heavy Machinery on their side if a bit too much for one person normally I would get my Son Mark to help me but due to Lock down that is not possible so it has been a struggle.
I am also considering changing my Radial Arm saw for a big sliding Mitre Saw the Makita LS1216 is favourite .
The Workshop has not really been upgraded since it was built about 12 years ago.
When I have finished the upgrade I plan to do a video walk around the Workshop

If anybody is interested I will have a very good Radial Arm saw for sale I will also be selling my Bandsaw .

Looks untidy now but it was worse this morning

 Radial Arm Saw

 Bandsaw

New Project Bench Seat completed

Finished all the work on my Bench sat today and I am father pleased with it 3 coats of teak oil and it will have a few more when the first lot has soaked in well .

 I think it looks rather nice there and it is quite comfortable

New Project Bench seat Restoration 4

I have been quietly making progress on my Bench seat but a lot of it was probably not suitable for pictures and description.There are a lot of Mortise and Tenon joints and some of these I made by hand a couple of days ago.I have really ever done much hand joinery so it was something new and I actually enjoyed it.I was also surprised that I was not too bad at it.
I picked up some Gorilla Glue from Screwfix and never realised it was foaming Glue.As I had it I thought I might as well use it and was surprised and pleased with it.One thing I liked was the cleaning up of the foam that had oozed out from the joints was easy to remove with a sharp chisel.

Even though the joints are quite tight some of the glue squeezes out .

 Once again I had to raid my Ash stash it is stunning beautiful wood

All set up for processing the wood

 Starting to come together the back rest is glued onto the rear legs the sides are placed into the Mortises and Tenons dry for a trial fit.

 One thing I have found doing these couple of projects is that i need more workbench space that will be my next project I think.

 Put a bit of a radius on the seat supports with Bandsaw and Bobbin sander

 The sides and seat slats placed together dry ready for gluing.

New Project Bench Seat restoration.3

Started off today by creating a Bevel on all the edges of the wood that has been prepared there will more to do later.It only takes a short time on the Router Table with the bevel cutter very simple to use you just set the height and run the wood along the bearing.

 Not very clear in this picture but all the edges now have a small Bevel makes it look nicer

 This is all put together with Biscuit joints and Gorilla Glue and will be very strong.

 As you can see the Biscuit slots are almost the full width of the wood creating a very good joint.

 All Glued and clamped Router table covered with Cling film to protect from the glue.

 That is the Mortices completed on the ends I had to concentrate here because it is very easy to mark it out wrong.Plenty left to do and i will be doing it a bit at a time making sure I dont make mistakes.

New Project Bench Seat restoration.2

With the old seat dismantled my plan today was to prepare all the wood ready to assemble but there was a big change of plan as you will see.

Raided my stash of Ash really this wood is too good for this but I dont have anything else suitable because as soon as I get wood I cut it into Bowl Blanks.

 Took measurements and worked out what I needed for the project.

 Wood sawn and ready for assembly at this stage it has been sawn planed and thicknessed as it is for rough old outside seat I have not bothered sanding the finish is good enough.

 Using the top of the old frame as a pattern to get the curve right

 Refined the curve on the Belt sander

 This is where the change came this is not glued up just put together dry to make sure of the fit.

 I looked at this and decided it was much too nice to stick those cheap old cast iron ends on and dade the decision to make a complete seat from scratch.This will be a lot more work but a much nicer project.This means that I am now going to aim for a much better finish.The parts are now all sanded and my next job is to put a small chamfer on all the edges it gives it a much nicer look that will be tomorrow.

 These are the two end back legs and back support quite a lot of work to be done on these yet.
Tomorrow I have to go to Screwfix to get some suitable glue because this will be an outside seat.