The Return of 5:30

What a wonderful morning this has been so far. The holidays derailed my schedule; I found myself getting to bed and getting up late. But as of today I am back to my regular routine. I got up at 5:30 and had the world to myself.

I think things reached a crescendo on Saturday. Sunday was coming up, and I was not going to let myself spend that day in the garage, working on my own projects. And I was trying to get the extension for my woodworking megaplex put together. So I kept working, and I got to bed at something like 1 a.m., which is four and a half hours before my preferred rising time. Unacceptable. But that’s all behind me now.

Help me out with VFD questions.

A VFD is a doodad that allows you to run an electrical motor at a speed you like. Readers have been mentioning them. One of the fun applications is running a big, cheap 3-phase motor on single-phase current. You can buy a big ol’ industrial tool cheap and then use it in your garage with single-phase power. Some of these things accept 120 in. You can also get them in 220.

If you stick one of these on a drill press, it can make your life easier. I think. Drill presses with 3-phase motors are not too hard to find. I have read about people using VFDs on their home drill presses.

My questions:

1. Do you lose a lot of power if you slow a 1750-RPM motor down by half, to get a bit speed of around 250 RPM? I don’t know a whole lot about electric motors. I assume there must be some sort of torque band, even if it’s not as peaky as a gasoline engine’s.

2. Do you lose any power running at normal speed? I don’t see why you would. Current is current.

3. Is there something out there that will convert 1-phase 220 to 3-phase 220 without affecting the speed? I might land a nice variable-speed drill press that needs 3-phase but no speed control.

I checked into the place that has the used Powermatics for sale, and their prices are out of control. They want $850 for fairly beat-up machines. I think that’s about twice what a used Powermatic 1150 should cost.

I found a 14″ Walker Turner band saw for sale right here in Miami. Dang it. Too small.

What Would Aslan Eat?

I just got back from church. My sister really likes late services, and we had lunch on the way home.

Interesting experience today. A preacher named Darrell Hines was speaking at Rich Wilkerson’s church, and my sister wanted to hear him. But soon after we got there, she started feeling the presence of God, and she was pretty much inert for the remainder of the sermon. Kept asking me if I felt it. When we got up at the end, she was barely coherent, and she kept talking about it all the way home. She kept asking why people were interested in the things of this world, when they could have God’s presence instead. That’s exactly how I always feel when it hits me.

I felt it today, too, but not to the same extent. At one point while she was in this state, she bumped my arm, and for a time after that, I felt pretty wobbly. Very strange.

She said she didn’t hear much of anything Darrell Hines said.

This is what I like about this church. The music is too loud, and the sermons are good, but not mind-blowing, but God sits on this place like smog on Los Angeles.

We stopped at an Arab restaurant and grocery on the way home. I made some buys. I got some mamoul cookies. These are butter cookies filled with dates. Made in Saudi Arabia. I did not realize I could buy a single cookie, so I got a box. They’re not bad at all. I also picked up some Turkish coffee. This is what they drink in Israel. It’s very finely ground, and the Israelis dump it in hot water like instant coffee. It leaves a layer of mud on the bottom of the cup. I bought it for nostalgic reasons. I also bought a box of Turkish delight. I had to try it. When I was in the first grade, my teacher Mrs. Schabacher read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to my class, and ever since then, I have wondered what Turkish delight tasted like. It’s very good. I was surprised.

Some pastries somehow ended up in my shopping bag. Funny how that happens.

I think the presence of God is the missing ingredient that has caused American churches to become so weak, perverted, and worldly. A typical church is not much better than a Moose lodge or a YMCA. It’s no wonder no one wants to go. The supernatural is what fills pews. Without it, what is Christianity? Unrewarding self-denial, plus prayer and study that accomplish absolutely nothing. Wouldn’t you go to church if you knew you would sense God there? That’s a pretty big draw.

He’s still with us, if you’re willing to look for him.

Give it Your Sunday Best

I want to make sure everyone sees something that was posted in a comment.

Reader Pbird says:

Sigh. Now its me asking for prayer. I just found out my elderly aunt who raised ten children and babysat their children and their grandchildren and even some greatgrandchildren and worked hard and faithfully for eighty years has badly metasticised breast cancer. Of course its not fair is it? Life on earth is not for sissies.
She wanted to make Christmas for all the kids so she did what she wanted and didn’t mention the cancer which she must have known she had. Her name is Clara. I don’t know what the Lord wants for her now, but she has a huge family of terrified people and they certainly need prayer. I think she is a Christian in a sort of sedate way.

Join me on this one, if you will.

I note the part about her aunt being a Christian “in a sort of sedate way.” These days, I never pray for anyone without including a prayer that they will turn to God and learn to walk in faith and obedience. You have to give, to get.

She Has Been Superseded

Check THIS out.

Not at all what I expected. I pictured a pallid vegan in dumpy fatigues.

There is apparently something in the food in Israel that makes the women gorgeous. Go there and see for yourself, if you don’t believe me. It will make you want to convert.

Look Upon his Chins and Despair

This is truly magnificent. Even better than “Obamalot.”

And no Ruptured Disks

Just when you thought I could not possibly be more impressed with myself, I prove you wrong. Today I finished my amazing table saw/router table project. And it WORKS!

I nearly killed myself doing this. I kept running into things I didn’t anticipate. For example, tee nuts don’t stick to softwood end grain very well, which makes your shiny new casters fall out of the legs of your table saw extension, causing it to fall on the floor while you’re trying to screw it to the rails. But the resulting table is very good. It looks hideous because I used that old computer desk for the top, but the fence slides over the joint just fine.

I think the moment of greatest joy was when I grabbed my router and lift, which had been sitting on top of a case of Gatorade, and put them back in the table. Now I have 91 1/2 inches of woodworking room.

I got some Stanley plastic sawhorses. Criticize me for not making my own if you want; there is no way they would have compared to these. You can adjust the height in one-inch increments, and each one has a platform between the legs where you can put tools. And you can stand on the platform. I did it in the store. When you’re done, they fold up in a small space.

I picked up some little Irwin clamps. They’re wonderful. They have pistol grips, and you can tighten them by squeezing. They exert surprising pressure, and they don’t mar your work. As soon as I got them out of the package, I found I couldn’t do without them. Right now you can get a package of four for twenty bucks. That’s a bargain.

My little 10″ miter saw (sitting on Og’s favorite tool, the Workmate) came into play over and over. That thing is a jewel. It’s precise. It’s fast. It’s easy to use. I’m going to miss it when I get the big sliding saw set up. I cut the struts that support the extension legs with that saw, and then I clamped them in place with the little clamps, drilled holes with my cordless Bosch, and used my impact driver to drive the 3″ screws home. If that tool was a woman, I’d marry it.

The extension has two-by-three legs supported in both directions by struts angled at 45 degrees. There are two big casters with brakes on the end, but the table saw is so heavy, that end barely touches the ground. The casters are threaded, and I put jam nuts on the threads so I can adjust them for floor problems. The only other thing I might do would be to screw a power strip to the extension so I can plug the router into it and keep the cord from dragging.

Man, I feel like I accomplished something. The garage seems huge now, and I have some really nice tools arranged for convenience. And these days, I can actually do things with them. I’m no Norm Abrams, but this extension is surprisingly nice. And it somehow worked out so that when I get sick of the computer desk top, I can remove and replace it pretty easily. Provide I can come up with something else exactly 1 1/4″ thick.

I have to shower the sawdust out of my hair and ears now. And it’s past my bedtime. But it was worth it.

There is no Such Thing as Scrap

It amazes me, how the garage gets bigger every time I rearrange it. Yesterday it was crowded. Today I feel like buying more big tools to fill the empty space.

I was upset because I couldn’t put the table saw against the left wall; it kept my car door from opening. I had to put the saw either on the right side of the garage (inconvenient) or in the middle (in the way). By rearranging stuff, I created so much room on the right side, I can keep the saw in the middle of the garage and have room around it to work. I just back the car out, plug the saw in, and cut.

It’s funny how little loose ends in my life are tying themselves up. When I got my welder, I bought a 50-amp RV cord because I thought I would have to run it to the 220-volt dryer socket. I cut off the female end of the cord and spliced in a big NEMA plug. Then I installed a circuit for the welder, and I didn’t need the cord. So I had fifty feet of cord with a dryer plug on it, just sitting around. It’s heavy, and it takes up a lot of room.

Now I have a situation where I could use a few more feet of cord for the saw. So I’m thinking I may just cannibalize the RV cord! I can have as much length as I need. The cord is a little thinner than the saw cord, but I know it’s ample. There is no way this thing will ever draw anything close to 50 amps. I believe it sucks about 24. That’s plenty of leeway.

I can’t figure out why the saw starts so much more smoothly than the compressor. I assume both starters have a soft-start feature. The saw simply starts running; the compressor goes “BANG” when it starts. Maybe I should double-check the wiring.

Al Gore Would Not be Pleased

Here is something interesting. I found a local company that sells used tools, and they have FIVE Powermatic 1150As for sale.

I had to use the YELLOW PAGES to find a company that has a website. How primitive.

Good Test Result

Here is what Christians refer to as a “praise report.” It came last night from Heather, whose mother had a test in connection with her treatment for cervical cancer:

I want to update everyone about today’s appointment.
Mom had her PET scan, her lungs are clear as are the other organs. Dr. Cottrill told us that there was just a small amount of involvement with some of the lymph nodes in the stomach area, however she feels fully confident that it will be taken care of by the raditation treatments.
We will get the schedule for those on Monday.
I know the Lord answers prayers. He answered mine today.
I thank you all for lifting us up in prayer. I wish I could give each and every one of you a great big hug!
I am eternally grateful for your prayers and for God’s Blessing.
God Bless,

Hard to top that. Thanks, everyone who joined in prayer.

I continue trying to locate a decent drill press that will give me good service for a very long time. It looks like used ones are just too hard to find and check out. There are two new ones that look good. One is the Steel City 20520, and the other is the Delta 20-950, which costs a lot more. The Delta has a lot going for it, but it does not have a split head design, so it probably can’t be fixed once it gets sloppy. The Steel City is smaller and less fancy, and the table isn’t as good, but it has a split head. I may just give up and get one.

Another alternative is to find a $50 Craigslist special and make do until a nice used one comes along.

Today I plan to finish my router insert/table saw extension. That will be fun. I may also make a planer sled. I’m wondering if I can use MDF. Seems like it should be more accurate than plywood.

Smart Packaging Can Save Your Back

I just got my planer unloaded from the box. It arrived today. I have to give DeWalt credit; I know of no other company that packs heavy objects in boxes with side packing that can be removed before the items are unboxed.

When I got my sliding compound miter saw home, it was totally surrounded by two pieces of styrofoam, and styrofoam generates lots of friction when pressed against cardboard, and it also seals pretty well so air can’t get past it. Lift the whole mess straight up, and the box comes with it, because there is a vacuum between the box and the styrofoam. Lift one end while pressing down on the styrofoam and it comes up, but how do you lift the other end without dropping the first end? Get a friend to lift the other end, and what happens? You’re lifting the whole thing again, so the box goes up at the same time.

I used a hoist to get it out of the box. Seriously. The saw probably weighs 70 pounds, which is not all that much, but when the box is determined to stick to it, it seems like 700.

With the planer, I pulled out the stuff between the machine’s sides and the cardboard, grabbed the machine’s handles, and lifted. POOF. Out. With free space around the machine, it came right out.

I would have waited around and looked for a used planer, but I got this recon cheaper than a Ridgid, and it’s supposed to be very, very good. I decided to take a chance on it because the recon router I bought was perfect and appeared to be new. This thing has some scuffs on one of the ramp deals, but I’m not sure they’re from wood. It could be from rubbing against cardboard in the box. It may be totally unused. A lot of recons are.

In the box, it seemed to weigh maybe 175 pounds. That would have been my guess. I could not handle it or carry it safely. I used a handtruck to put it in the garage. Out of the box, it feels like less than a hundred. Funny how that works.

I continue looking for drill presses. I have come to realize that there is no perfect choice. The old ones with long strokes seem to be limited to a 17″ swing, and many of them have 3-phase motors, and it seems like it’s impossible to get the dealers to answer questions. Delta makes a new one with a 6″ stroke and a 20″ swing, but I get the impression that it does not have a split head, and if this is the case, it may be badly engineered. A split head allows you to fix runout problems that arise in long-stroke machines as they age. Steel City makes one with a long stroke and a split head, but it only has a 17″ swing.

This seems to be the hardest machine to choose and buy. There were several planers I liked. There are a lot of band saws that would make me happy. Table saws are a dime a dozen. But drill presses are just plain vexing.

I know that if I compromise on any feature, it will immediately become essential. That’s how life is. If I get a 4″ stroke, ten minutes after I start using it, I will need 6″. Don’t even question it. This is why I bought a compressor fit for a body shop. People laughed at me. Well, now I want to sand things, and guess what you need for that? Pneumatic sanders that suck tons of air. Who’s laughing now? Okay, I guess the same people are laughing, but at least I can sand things.

I am seriously considering building a spruce box with the tools I have right now. I can make a planer sled and try it. I can then plane the wood. I can do most of the cutting on the table saw. Hey, it would give me something to do.

Accident or Intervention?

Because of a clerical error, I received a document that should have gone to someone else. It was a court’s notice of filing deficiency. The plaintiff was a prison inmate. They like to sue the authorities.

Nothing in my life seems to happen accidentally these days. I was going to shove this thing in an envelope and mail it to him with a Post-It saying it had come to me by mistake, but I decided instead to include a short note saying I would offer a prayer for this guy.

Maybe you will join me. I just ask that God lead him to turn his life around and give faith and obedience a chance. His name is Charles Jones.

Case in Point

Here’s something I don’t need. But I wish I did. Check out the price.

CLICK.

Look at that. Gorgeous. But I don’t think a radial arm saw would be of any use to me. I have the table saw for ripping and crosscutting, and I have a huge sliding miter saw for just about anything else a rotating saw blade can do.

Journalism

Today people are talking about Joe Wurzelbacher’s new assignment as roving Mideast correspondent for Pajamas Media. Needless to say, many people have low expectations, and it seems like a bad idea. The liberal media managed to convince the public that Sarah Palin was stupid, and the smell has rubbed off on other conservatives. We really don’t need to give them another weapon with which to club us.

Nonetheless, the deed is done, so I suppose the correct thing is to pray for his safety and that he surprises us.

I don’t blame him for taking the assignment. It probably seemed like a great idea, and from his perspective, maybe it’s a real opportunity. Fame has monetary value, and while PJTV is obscure, it is possible that some of the few people have the power to help Joe move on to bigger things, and maybe one of them will come up with a gig for him.

It probably beats laying pipe in Ohio in the winter. And Joe deserves a little success, after the vicious treatment he received from the press.

I’m already rethinking my router insert/table saw extension. I really enjoyed using the Mag-Switch featherboard, and it would be nice to be able to use it while routing. That means cast iron is required. I have to see if anyone makes an insert that is exactly 28″ wide. Peachtree Woodworking makes one with a 27″ width, which seems crazy. How would you fit that between my rails? You would have to fill the missing inch somehow.

My readers are bad influences on me, and now I have returned the favor. Reader Ed complained that he had not been able to lay his hands on his late father’s table saw. Inspired by my shopping, he got on the web and found a saw just like his dad’s, and he bought it! Pretty cool. It would be better if he had received his dad’s saw, but this is a pretty good substitute. It’s funny how often things that should be handed down to certain people in families go to the wrong people, and then to the dump. I’ll bet this happens more often in families that are away from God. This phenomenon has an Old Testament smell to it.

Speaking of the Old Testament, Elisson has a post concerning his relationship with pork. Elisson believes in God and belongs to a synagogue, but when it comes to bacon, he might as well be a Baptist. He even eats whale bacon.

Finally, Pam Anderson says you can send food to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Is this true? I would think brownies would ship pretty well in winter.

More Testing

I can’t believe I forgot to blog this. I was tired and preoccupied, but that’s a poor excuse.

As you know if you follow this blog, Heather’s mother has cervical cancer. Tomorrow at 9 a.m., she is going in for tests. Here is what Heather asks:

Tonight we are going to go to Lexington to spend the night at the American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge, so she can make her 9AM PET Scan appointment and 1PM doctors appointment. That is to see if the cancer has spread. I am asking everyone to pray that the cancer is contained and has not spread and the tumor is shrinking away from the kidneys and bladder.

I didn’t know she had emailed me until this evening. Wish I had seen this earlier.

Anyway, there it is. Please take a minute and help. Prayer makes all the difference in the world at a time like this.

Table Saw Extension Built!

It may be hard to believe, but I have succeeded in turning my old computer desk into a router insert. It’s not installed yet, but the bulk of the work is done. I am astonished that I pulled it off.

I got out my new plunge router, figuring I would have to edge-joint some wood for the support braces under the table. Then I remembered I already had a jointed piece of a two-by-six. I checked it out, and sure enough, it was long enough and wide enough to turn into two long braces. So I ripped it on the table saw, using the Mag-Switch, and it came out perfect.

I got out the Sears drill guide and gave it a try, drilling the holes to attach the tabletop to the side braces. It works well enough for this job, although I would not call it a precision instrument. I wouldn’t dream of using it for fine woodworking, because there is too much play in the shafts that support the chuck.

I had some horrible sheet metal countersink-type things, so I drilled with a corded drill and the guide, I reamed out the holes with the Bosch cordless, and I used my Panasonic impact driver to drive the screws. It was beautiful.

I had no idea how sad and lame my Sears corded drill was until I used it beside the Bosch. It’s slower and weaker, by far.

I used my 10″ miter saw to trim everything to length, including the supports I put across each end of the table. I still have to put at least one more of these in place. I think I should run one across the table behind the router lift; I’m not sure if there is any point in putting one farther back. But I may do it just to be thorough.

The other day I bought sheet metal sawhorse brackets which turned out to be garbage, but they were useful today, because I pulled the two-by-fours out of them, jointed and ripped them on the table saw, and used them for the cross supports. The brackets will go in the trash; they’re not even good scrap.

I don’t want to try to install the table in the saw’s rails until I have something to hold it up. This strikes me as a good time to get some quality sawhorses. I’m not going to build them. Wooden ones are heavy and bulky, and you have to go through the grief of trying to find acceptable two-by-fours at Home Depot, which is not easy. I want something I can fold up and store in a small space.

This thing should be functioning tomorrow night. It won’t be pretty; the desk had two holes in it for mouse wires, and they’re still there, and I made big holes in it when I was planning to use it as a separate router table. But it ought to work very well. The top is very, very flat so far; the bracing worked. I can fill the holes in with epoxy or something, so it will look better than it does at present.

Once I have it done, it will serve as a platform I can use to make something better. I love the workbench I built, but as a woodworking bench, it’s useless. It’s too small, and it’s against the wall, and it has a big mechanic’s vise on it.

I suppose I could build a frame and fix it so I can attach MDF sheets to it with recessed bolts. That would be a good permanent solution. When the top gets damaged, take it off, rip a sheet of MDF, and put it on.

It’s fantastic, being able to do this stuff. Once I have a planer and a sled, I should be able to joint wood fairly well, so making a better table extension should be a cinch. I have to have jointed wood because the router needs a flat surface. I can’t just plop any old lumber on the garage floor and nail it together.

The Mag-Switch is amazing. It even works over the miter slots.

It has occurred to me that if I start making boxes, I may already have suitable lumber on hand. I bought some cheap spruce boards for shelves, and it looks like I won’t need them. Believe it or not, some of that wood is very pretty, and you can get box-sized pieces without knots. Might be a fun thing to start with. Beats splurging for walnut and then ruining it.

I think it’s spruce. I get my softwoods mixed up. Spruce is a perfectly nice wood. They make guitar tops out of it. I don’t know what violins are made of, but it sure looks like spruce.

I smell like a sawmill, and I still have to put everything away. I’m out.