Humm, Friday the 13th and you are wondering should you go into the shop or not! Some have found that the caps on cans get swapped and no one knows who did it. But we as woodworkers know it is safe to go into the shop on Friday the 13th, just watch your back!

 

Hey on another note, I hope all of you have bought your Valentine gifts and cards. If you wait much longer they store will be out and then you won't get that new tool in the shop you where hoping for.

 

I could hardly wait to get home from work yesterday and start putting together the new Grizzly Jointer. If I don't remember to tell you later, let me tell you know, that thing is heavy!!!

 

It came on one pallet and two boxes. The pallet was all to pieces by the time it was unloaded.

 

 

I managed to get the base out of the top box by my self and flip it over to start the assembly. First the wheels on the bottom and they sure make it easy to move that monster around.

 

Then it was time to flip it back over and put the jointer bed assemble on the stand. My son can out and we managed to lift it and get in on there. I am sure glad we didn't have to take but a few steps before we could sit it down.

 

 

I must say there are a few things that really get me about the instructions and the installation. There are three bolts that hold the bed assembly to the stand. On one end they are spread out to either side. On the end with the dust collector the bold has to go down in the middle, right under the handle to adjust the bed and there is no way my big hand could get in the cabinet and between the dust chute to put the washers and nut on that bolt. What were they thinking???

 

Anyway I got it all together and now it is sitting at the end of the table saw and did I say this thing was heave and long?

 

 

That six foot bed is like real long.

 

 

So I am happy to have it in place and look forward to getting it running tonight. I already had a plug, but of course this one came with a different end for the 220 than was on the Grizzly Planner. So I got to run by and pick up a new plug for the outlet and add this one and I should get to hear the spiral cutter head run and take a board across it.

 

So what is on your Patriot Woodworker Agenda this weekend? You know all of us here at TPW love to see and hear about the projects you are working on. Picture, Pictures Pictures sure make it nice to see what you are building.

 

So share with us you Valentine weekend projects...

 

You know I am waiting....

 

 

Glad that you got the beast put together. Now get back to work and stop day dreaming at your desk about running wood over that jointer.   

Got a few things to do for Tami's classroom today and over the weekend. She has been off for the past week and will go back to work on Tuesday. Most of the other school districts take 3 weeks off for the Christmas/Winter break, but her school district takes off only 2 weeks. The 3rd week  in her district they take off in February which they call "President's Week" as they do the Washington and Lincoln birthdays. I ain't  complaining as it really works out great for Tami and I to spend time together and since all the kids from the other districts are still in school places are very uncrowded for us to enjoy. This past week we got to spend a lot of time together and went to Disneyland for the day on Tuesday and then had a hotel by the park. Then on Wednesday we spent the day at the beach (for those of you outside of California, the temps were in the low 80's at Disneyland and in the mid 70's at the beach) and the beach was beautiful and without crowds. We got to hang out enjoying the sand and surf and had lunch at the Ruby's Diner at the end of the pier before heading home.

 

Tami and I getting our toes in the sand.

 

Hardly anyone on the beach. The Huntington Beach Pier in the background with Ruby's Diner on the end.

Had quite a few surfers in the water on both sides of the pier. The waves were pretty small for the most part but there would be some good sized waves coming in every 4-5 minutes.

 

Sitting by the window at Ruby's Diner watching the surf and eating some very good and unhealthy food. :-)

New toys and the beach- just doesn't get any better than this!

 

Slowly progressing on the lectern/podium, here. The compound angles on the top of the column really slowed me down. I couldn't find any "calculators" to use, on the Internet, that would do what I needed. My math skills don't extend much beyond addition and subtraction. I ended up making a trial and error model to get what I needed. The materials are maple ply and walnut trim pieces. Still need to make two shelves for the inside and finish out the trim. I think I'll put maple splines on the corners of the top trim pieces. Lots of careful sanding. The maple veneer on this plywood makes tissue paper look thick.

 

 

 

New toys and the beach- just doesn't get any better than this!

 

Slowly progressing on the lectern/podium, here. The compound angles on the top of the column really slowed me down. I couldn't find any "calculators" to use, on the Internet, that would do what I needed. My math skills don't extend much beyond addition and subtraction. I ended up making a trial and error model to get what I needed. The materials are maple ply and walnut trim pieces. Still need to make two shelves for the inside and finish out the trim. I think I'll put maple splines on the corners of the top trim pieces. Lots of careful sanding. The maple veneer on this plywood makes tissue paper look thick.

 

pulpit front.JPG

 

pulpit rear.JPG

 

pulpit top.JPG

 

 

 

I am loving this project Lew. That is really awesome. I know what you are talking about with the math skills. It gets me pretty quick too.

 

 

I love the contrast of the Walnut and Maple. Really going to pop with a finish.

 

Great Craftsmanship!

Glad that you got the beast put together. Now get back to work and stop day dreaming at your desk about running wood over that jointer.   

Got a few things to do for Tami's classroom today and over the weekend. She has been off for the past week and will go back to work on Tuesday. Most of the other school districts take 3 weeks off for the Christmas/Winter break, but her school district takes off only 2 weeks. The 3rd week  in her district they take off in February which they call "President's Week" as they do the Washington and Lincoln birthdays. I ain't  complaining as it really works out great for Tami and I to spend time together and since all the kids from the other districts are still in school places are very uncrowded for us to enjoy. This past week we got to spend a lot of time together and went to Disneyland for the day on Tuesday and then had a hotel by the park. Then on Wednesday we spent the day at the beach (for those of you outside of California, the temps were in the low 80's at Disneyland and in the mid 70's at the beach) and the beach was beautiful and without crowds. We got to hang out enjoying the sand and surf and had lunch at the Ruby's Diner at the end of the pier before heading home.

 

Tami and I getting our toes in the sand.

Huntington Beach 3.jpg

 

Hardly anyone on the beach. The Huntington Beach Pier in the background with Ruby's Diner on the end.

Huntigton Beach 1.jpg

Had quite a few surfers in the water on both sides of the pier. The waves were pretty small for the most part but there would be some good sized waves coming in every 4-5 minutes.

Huntington Beach 2.jpg

 

Sitting by the window at Ruby's Diner watching the surf and eating some very good and unhealthy food. :-)

Rubys Diner.jpg

 

 

We are having a winter weather adviser here and you are playing on the beach. WOW!

 

Hope you two have fun. One day Beth and I are going to join you there.

Geez John,

 

What does a Winter Weather Advisory in Alabama consist of?

It's a whole 12° here now, with a wind chill of -4°.

It's warmer here now than the forecast high for tomorrow.

Allen,

 

Rub it in, Rub it in!

I'm going to be making door wedges (chocks) for the local volunteer fire department.  This is a quick and dirty little project that I do every so often when I have scrap lumber laying around.  And, as I happen to have some damaged 2x12's and free weekend it seems like a good plan.  

 

For safety, the fire guys never let a door close behind them,

 

and keep the wedges in their helmets so they can get to them quickly:

 

and they are fairly easy to make.  Two styles, the sprinkler wedge, and door wedge (chock):

 

I've made both versions, and the preference is for the 6" models, as they can also be used to help pop doors on car crashes and the larger size is easier to grab while wearing gloves.  Our department used up a bunch of these over the last couple of weeks with a large fire and several wrecks.  And once used, they are discarded.

 

This is a also a personal project, as that helmet belongs to my son, a firefighter with the department.  Anything that brings those guys home safely, well I'm in.  Ya'll might consider seeing if your volunteer departments, or even the paid units might need these.   I'm sure you collect scrap wood like I do!

 

Will

 

Great project, Will!

That is an awesome project Will!

I love it Lew.  I bet those compound angles on the trim are a pain though.  Cool project Will.  Allen, read my mind.  John, size really does matter doesn't it?  As for me, it has been a crazy fill filled with cold weather and funerals.  I'm still building my grandson's loft/desk/shelving ensemble so that what tomorrow brings.

Those chocks are a great project, Will.

Looks like everyone is busy this weekend.

I'll be making design changes in a couple doors. See Ron's Big Goof thread. THEN....maybe....I'll get started on those hinges.

Gotta get these last chests done and gone. Got an order for two Morris chairs and two ottomans, and a maybe on 3 French fit pistol boxes for customers of a fella in town that makes custom grips. 

Hey Will, very cool indeed man, what a neat and simple project to help our firefighters, I'll have to pass this one along as well to the local high school wood shop to create for our fire dept.

Should fire departments know about this Will? Do they know about this tool and do they expect them in their arsenal?

Okay, I got the new jointer plug changed tonight and got to fire it up. Well fire might not be a good word. I turned it on and WOW is this thing quite. It has a 3 HP motor and you could hardly hear it running.

 

So I had to give it a try and I had an eight inch curly maple board in the shop. I ran it across the jointer and you could hardly tell I was doing anything.

 

 

It came out so smooth it felt like it had been sanded with 600 grit.

 

 

The spiral cutting head is awesome. If you get a chance to put one in your jointer or get a jointer with one, I highly recommend it.

 

 

Well I am back to the shop, this is so much fun I think it is Christmas again and they are predicting snow for Sunday and Monday here.

 

Courtland,

I'd talk to your local department, but these are standard use items around here.  I cribbed the rough dimensions off of a "for profit" website doing them in plastic, but the premise is the same.  Also looked at what the NYFD uses, and the common wood wedge is part of their arsenal.

I talked with my son tonight, and he indicated that the only hangup would be a chief that would be too proud to accept free stuff.  Not that any of us have ever dealt with command staff that have cranial rectal inversion.  

 

Will

(I've been asked for at least 100+ for our department, they really like them)

 

(Oh, BTW I really like the finish that the Byrd head did on the maple John.  Nice new tool)