I was into my shop on Saturday for the first time in 2020. Naturally, the thing that needed to be done first was to clear away and clean up the tools and wood chips from our recent wood carving experience. This last time I let my grandson down tools and walk away, usually we are more professional and clean up when we are done. He has very good workshop safety habits, not quite as good clean up habits. Well...safety first.
Once I got going on the clean up I used the new year momentum to carry me into the back of the shop,(the part never shown in photos) where I spent some time with the shop vac and the garbage bin. I have all my large tools on wheels and there is room for everything, just not enough room for everything to be out at once and so it can get chaotic and dusty in no time.
My latest project was a simple task.
When a project is taken on I make a budget decision, what am I willing to spend on that project? How much Money, Time and Energy.
Money, Time and Energy are in finite supply. Not in limited supply but definitely in finite supply. While at university I wrote an essay exploring the reality of M,T,&E. As a younger person I often chose to spent time and energy to save money. Now that I am retired I can spend time to save money, and as a retired person my time is pretty flexible. Alas, as a retired person with ongoing back pain issues energy is the limiting factor in all my shop now.
The project, I needed to make a frame to fit inside a large light fixture. The wooden frame will be fastened to the ceiling, the metal light fixture will be screwed to the wooden frame.
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| 16 by 62 inches, and weighs a tonne. |
Had I chosen to spend a few dollars and buy two 2 x 4 x 8 this would have been a twenty minute job, even with the half lap joints in the corners.
What did I do? I went to the garage, dragged out a reclaimed rough 4 x 4 that I picked up off the side of the road last spring.
The beam was twelve feet long so I still have a fair bit left because I decided to rip it into 2 x 4 size anyway.
This was a case of spending time and energy to save money. In reality I wasn't worried about saving money, I just wanted to make some saw dust and play with my toys and use a piece of wood that was hanging around the garage.
I ripped the beam on my band saw after using the jointer to get a square corner by jointing adjacent sides. The piece was a bit long for the size of my band saw table so I needed to dig out my roll stand. (seem in above photo). The stand was not tall enough so I had to find a box large enough for the stand to stand on, all for one cut.
After I ripped the 4 x 4 I cut it to length on my sliding mitre saw and opted to use half lap joints, mostly for the heck of it, partly for the inherent strength.
Have you ever looked for half lap videos on You Tube. "How to Make a Half-lap Joint".."Half Lap joints three way". etc. If you have a quiet evening there are videos that are a half hour long or more. I picked a couple of short ones to share.
I cut my joints on the band saw and by hand. The short pieces were cut on the band saw the 62 inch ends where cut by hand. I used a combination of hand saws, planes and chisels to get the joints aligned and fit together.
All together I spent the entire morning fiddling around in my shop. What a great start to the new year.
Cheers Ianw
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