No Rest For The Weary

It seems that the idea of starting my business this year might just become a reality.  While my weekly hours at Lee Valley hover around 40, my shop hours are probably over 20.  On days where I work at Lee Valley, I spend little time in the shop as I am often too tired to work (safely).  On my “days off”, I work as long in the shop as possible.  Not because I feel I need to, but because that’s what I do.  Besides, there is so much to be done.

One of my objectives to be completed before starting my business is to have the shop cleaned up and organized.  Anyone who has a shop (or a living space, for that matter) knows how hard that is!  I am proud to say that I am winning the war.  I have purged much of the accumulated junk in my shop and found a home for what is useful (or will be somewhere down the line).

A few major shop projects remain.  I need to build a cabinet to store tools and supplies.  The shelves I have currently held up by metal brackets just don’t cut it.  The don’t have the same weight capacity with a given depth.  I also need to build a base cabinet and table extensions for my miter saw.  Right now it’s sitting on a Workmate with a small extension I cobbled together.  I suppose I should put the doors on the cabinets which I built two years ago.

The last project is also the most anticipated – a new workbench.  Right now I have some massive pieces of crotch cherry in the garage which will become the legs.  I’ll laminate up a top and drop it onto the legs.  I would really like a set of drawers below the bench, like a shaker style workbench, but the shape of the crotch doesn’t permit that.  I may make a fine table with the cherry and use something else for the bench.

I currently have one commision in progress – an Arts and Crafts Pedestal.  It’s being built of solid Red Oak.  Another, a dart board cabinet, is on hold pending the completion of the pedestal an my learning how to use my new Leigh Dovetail jig which I have yet to test.  It comes with an extensive manual which I just finished reading.

I am now in the market for a new router (or two!).  Somewhere down the road, I would like to build a bowl turning lathe, which has no bed.  This allows a very large bowl to be turned, but more importantly, has no bed or tailstock to be in the way of the ideal position.  I will likely use a 2HP-2-3/4HP motor and a pair of stepped pulleys to turn the spindle.