We are about to take a quantum jump in the furniture bank.   When I started volunteering there 2 1/2 years ago, we were working around a 4x8 table (usually cluttered with donation and junk), one router, an old compressor (since failed), a couple of HF nail guns and bring your own drill.  They had just gotten a donation of a Kreg Foreman that was a big step from the K3 they had been using.

 

Phase 1 was getting some cordless drills.  We also took over cutting the sheet goods offsite, then packaged parts sets and had them trucked to the assembly site.

 

Last year, they acquired some needed offsite warehouse space and we got a couple hundred square feet of heated and better-lit assembly space. We organized the tools and build 6 work tables from leftover materials.  We also built a 24x2x8 shelving unit for household goods inventory (linens, kitchen items, etc.)   One of the improvements we made was also to round over the cut edges on the tables and make them a bit more friendly and get rid of the sharp edges.    Made a router table and got a trim router.

 

We investigated making dressers (another critical need).  It turned out to be too costly in terms of time and material.   So we designed and prototyped a "cubby" that can be used for clothes storage and potentially outfitted with fabric drawer boxes.

 

Recently, we got a grant for equipment and can do all the fabrication and assembly on site.   We got a great deal from a local machinery supplier.   On order is a 3hp table saw, panel saw, sliding compound miter saw, dust collector, and two air cleaners.  Next step is to get the goods in, assemble, set up, ductwork, build some fixtures and equipment and get an electrician in to do wiring.  Also coming in is a donation of a vintage 10ER Shopsmith that we'll probably use as a drill press.

 

I'll have to get some photos of the progress.

 

 

Here are some photos of the typical crowded work area when I started.  And

 

 

and after one or two of the new work tables.

 

That is good news, I know that organization does great things. That must be the Cincinnati FB?. The pics I've seen of the one in Columbus look quite a bit different.

but isn't having your help on (or knocked to) their knees a bit much???

With all that new stuff, things should go a lot easier! Congrats!!

2 hours ago, Fred W. Hargis Jr said:

That is good news, I know that organization does great things. That must be the Cincinnati FB?. The pics I've seen of the one in Columbus look quite a bit different.

Yes, the one in Columbus is quite a bit bigger.  We visited there last year.    They have 2 shifts a day of volunteers and a huge building to make dressers  and beds with lots of jigs and specialized set ups.   They also have a store like a Goodwill or St. Vincent de Paul where they sell used furniture.   They get semis full of sheet goods from Sauder Woodworking.    We are about 10 years behind them.  We get volunteers 2 or 3 times a month and about the same for us regulars.

What is the purposed of the furniture bank?

I would assume for people that cannot afford their own?

How did you get this started?  Almost every town in America needs one of these.

Did it grow from a woodworking guild?

Sorry for all the questions but I have been approached by several charities seeking beds and bedroom furniture.

 

3 hours ago, Michael Thuman said:

What is the purposed of the furniture bank?

I would assume for people that cannot afford their own?

How did you get this started?  Almost every town in America needs one of these.

Did it grow from a woodworking guild?

Sorry for all the questions but I have been approached by several charities seeking beds and bedroom furniture.

 

The furniture bank works with agencies helping people coming out of homeless for whatever reason.   Might be domestic abuse, money problems, etc.

 

I got into it because they called the woodworking club looking for some help about 3 years ago, 8 years into their life.  Since then we have cut the parts, developed some improvements and new projects and now working on a machinery set up in their site.  We built 120 tables from Oct 15, 2017 to Dec 15, 2017.

 

http://nlfurniture.org/

https://www.facebook.com/cincyfurniturebank/

https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/hamilton-county/cincinnati/furniture-bank-building-tables-collecting-plates-for-people-transitioning-out-of-homelessness

 

Keith thanks that is exactly what the groups asking me to build them furniture is from.  One a half way house for abused women. The other a well known charity.   I see all the peices are painted.  Is the wood used soft or hard wood and is it donated or reclaimed or purchased?  Should I approach my local wood working guild to get the help I need?

Sorry for all the questions and thanks again for the sources.

In my humble opinion every woodworking guild should be part of something like this.

 

Right now, everything we do is of particle board and melamine covered particle board.   While I'd like something better that is where we are.    It's better to help four families than one, even though we expect the life of these to be 5-7 years.   Part of it was decided before I got there.   The one in Columbus is about 10 years ahead of ours.   They get free semi-loads of particle board from Sauder Woodworking, a RTA furniture factory in northern Ohio. 

 

We get the sheets from a local commercial supplier, probably because the guy who cut the parts prior to our involvement uses them for his own business.   I think we could probably do with scratch and dent or seconds for a lot of the parts, though our scrap % will go up some if we have to work around defects.   Right now, we have little waste.  Out of 68 tables in a batch, we probably have less than 1 sheet's worth of scrap in 3"x8" or smaller pieces.

 

 

When the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.   Columbus makes the same tables (probably where the design came from), beds, dressers and even (rather boxy looking) chairs from their particle board.

We got our equipment order in Friday and spent the afternoon and early evening setting up.  Returned this morning and did a few leftover things and moving parts around.    We got a table saw, sliding miter saw, panel saw, dust collection system, and two air cleaners.   That will be added to some routers, a Kreg Foreman, a contractor's table saw, and a Shopsmith 10ER that will probably get used as a drill press.  Electrician is about half done and needs to make a few more drops.   We have some router tables and sheet good carts for an infeed table/carrying cart, and modify a bench to be used as an outfeed table.

 

Here's the area before, and after we cleaned up most of the trash that was in there, and another of the partially set up stuff.   More to come in a couple of weeks.

 

 

We still have a bit of work to do (dust collection, router tables, miter saw fence, etc.), but we did our first production run Saturday.   We cut out parts for 24 tables and three cubby unites in about an hour and that included some set up.  We save a lot of time having to unload and stack twice, wrap in stretch wrap plastic, etc.

 

Here are some photos of the new (and some old) equipment and space.   Now we just have to keep OPJ (other people's junk) from accumulating in the area (which is becoming a problem).   I became the panel saw operator.  It really helps with the sheet goods for us old geezers moving around 40 or so sheets through the saws in a day's work.

 

Looking like a professional shop.  

Great pictorial, Keith. The space got smaller after you moved in. Looks like you could use a couple more lights.  DO you have room to finish the projects?

 

Herb

Separate room for assembly area.   We made six work tables for that.   Grand dedication this Saturday AM.

Full story : https://www.facebook.com/cincyfurniturebank/

 

 

That's wonderful Keith