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Every year, in recent history, a local oranization has been putting on a "guy" swap meet in a nearby town. People come from far and wide to sell their items just as others come from long distances to purchase items offered for sale. The items as a varied as you can imagine and what shows up one year may not the next. It's a cornicopia of people and things and a whole lot of fun. This year I put out and offer ... anyone who wanted to join me on a walkabout, we would meet up at 9am at the entrance and go through together from there. Three local woodworkers showed up, 2 immediately ventured off on their own and another an myself got to wander the grounds looking at tools and other items to see if there was anything that interested us. As it turned out, 2 of the guys got a couple of great buys on some tools and I just spent the time taking pictures that were used to assemble this brief slide show of the event.
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Just like any swap meet, it's a buyer beware scenario. Some years I have purchased a good item or 2, other years I have purchased items that ended up in the electronics recycdling bin of scrap metal, but I don't talk about my lost deals. In the end, I always have a great time and it was even better this year to share the experience with subscribers and friends ... can wait until next year ...
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I believe that most woodworkers are very in-tune with where their wood comes from and all of them that I know of, will go to great lengths to use their lumber sparingly to make sure there is a little waste as possible. Many, like me, will also take advantage of obtaining used lumber, also called salvage or re-claimed lumber. There is often a bit more work in using this wood but there is also a bit of satisfaction knowing that it wasn't just simply sent to the landfill or burned, and that it could be re-used for other things. I don't go out of my way looking for this wood, but I never pass up an opportunity when I see it.
In this case I was lucky to get quite a few sheets of 1/8 plywood paneling that had been removed from the interior of a house. I have been using it for cabinet back and jisgs for many many years. When I decided to make this finishing products storage cabinet I immediately though of using my re-claimed lumber stash.
Watch this and other similar videos on YouTube - https://youtu.be/Hzd3cTgv1eY
Because I was using 1/8" plywood for the structure, in order to make the cabinet sturdy, I ended up using 2" x 3/4" as the shell to glue the plywood to. This made a very strong but surprisingly light cabinet. Much lighter that say using 3/4" plywood or a similar structural component, and for something that is only holding storage items, this was more than adequate.
I was fortunate to even find used hardware for this project, even the wheels, door pulls and hinges were re-claimed from some other project somewhere and I purchased them from the the Habitat for Humanity Store that I frequently visit and am happy to help contribute to ... they do good work.
Of course the main purpose of this cabinet for me, is to get all my wood finishing products in one location. I have, on occasion, made trips to the hardware store to purchase product, like varnish, to finish one of my projects, then after I have opened and used it and put it away, I discover I already had a can of this in a place I had forgot to look, so hopefully this cabinet will help me be a bit more diligent in using what I have first .... hopefully.
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Working with cash and making change, especially for people who don't work with cast daily, it can be a stressful time ... making sure you give the correct change and not keeping people waiting. One of the things that can be be done is just making your cash more accessible and easier to see and count, just the same way retail clerks give change from their cash registers ... with a cash tray.
These are easy to make, but they do take a bit of time because there are a number of components, and you don't want to make they too big. The best way to start off is to determine how many slots for cash bills you want, and what the size of your money is. The size of your money and how many bays you want will determine the size of your tray and keeping in mind you may also want some change bins in case you are dealing with coinage.
Watch this and other similar videos on YouTube - https://youtu.be/2eUhWhZWg8g
I mad mine 2-3/4 inches high and that was plenty, I think 2 inches would be a better height if I ever had to do it again. I decided on 4 bays for paper money which also meant 4 bins for coins as these were used for the spacing with of the box.
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I don't think there is wooden article that is more diversified than doors. There are thousands upon thousands of different doors in all shapes and sizes, with and without window, highly decorative and exotic to plain and funtional. For this project I am building a door for my outdoor storage and garden shed. I built the shed a couple of years ago and the only door I had that fit at the time was interior door which is not really suitable for putting a good solid lock on, so the goal here is to make a sturdy, functional door that also happens to look nice that can be used to replace that interior door.
For the wood, I will be using a reclaimed Douglas Fir beam about 10 feet look that should contain enough wood to make the entire door if I cut it properly. The beam has been planed flat on one side but otherwise is rough. Three of the sides have also been stained. I do not want to run any of the stained sides through my jointer or planer if I can avoid it. Almost all stains contain some form of dirt that is used for the coloring of the stain and this dirt can be very hard on blades and contribute quickly to their dulling.
Watch this and other similar videos on YouTube - https://youtu.be/Y9sLByuKXrU
The first order of business is to cut the beam to a rough length to make it manageable to handle. The door size is 76 inches by 28 inches so with that in mind I began by cutting the beam to lenght, then in order to cut some widths, it needed to be run through the joint to make at least one edge flat and straight ...