What did you do in the 'workshop' today

[VEG]

Just bought the land so my bees will be right on it. Got a fair bit of work to do before I move any though.

 

[Erichalfbee]

So rewarding though....well done!
I am enjoying improving the wildflowers in our three acre wildflower meadow.

 

[VEG]

There is a wild flower meadow just down the road I am told and am waiting to get some pictures of it.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Hells Bells thats a lot of trees veg, hope they are all for pollinators and somewhere close to your bees

I think Craig managed to get the discounted Coed Cymru pollinator pack (part of WG's pollinator initiative launched at last year's Royal Welsh) it's a mix of pollinator beneficial trees spanning the season from spring through to the end of summer - only thing missing is Buddleja and ivy (and HB of course,but plenty of that in Veg's neck of the woods!!)

 

[VEG]

There is balsam by the bucket load in the area.

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

Only 27 months after my last extravaganza

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=12929 (although it seems to have lost its photo somewhere)

and inspired by the mysterious board thread - behold!

 

[protheroe]

made ten 7 inch cedar roofs with 1/2 inch box joints,got half way through the next roof when my router burned out.wish i could afford a table saw that would accept a stacked dado but they dont come cheap.the excalibur saws look pretty good and will take a dado but they start at around 700.i better start saving.think i will have to get another router for the time being.

 

[einsteinagogo]

built some brood frames, read for A/S, and moved four national brood boxes, two floors, and two roofs, into polytunnel, ready for A/S.

 

[Hachi]

made ten 7 inch cedar roofs with 1/2 inch box joints,got half way through the next roof when my router burned out.wish i could afford a table saw that would accept a stacked dado but they dont come cheap.the excalibur saws look pretty good and will take a dado but they start at around 700.i better start saving.think i will have to get another router for the time being.

I noticed in home base they selling a router for £40.....

 

[protheroe]

I noticed in home base they selling a router for £40.....

i think i will get the 1/2 inch erbauer,good reviews on it in screwf*x and its on offer for a little under a hundred instead of 150.this will be my fourth router in the last 3 years.had a couple of cheap ones which were 1/4inch and just not up to the job.my last was a worx 1/2inch and it was off a mate.really good router but had been used for a number of years before i had it.the problem is when making roofs and cutting lots of box joints the tool runs for long periods which routers arent meant to do.

 

[Tom Bick]

You know what they say buy cheap pay later.

 

[protheroe]

You know what they say buy cheap pay later.

how right you are tom but some of the better named brands like dew*lt are ridiculous prices.i will try the 2100watt ebauer.with that power i should be able to run it at 1/2 to 3/4 speed which should enable it to run for longer periods without putting too much strain on the motor.the trouble with router is no matter how careful i am theres always a bit of tear out now and then.

 

[oliver90owner]

I use an orange dew*lt. Was a CM, but they are the same machine and the sticker with the new armature says dew*lt! I bought it (for peanuts) at a car boot sale expecting it prolly needed serious expenditure on repairs.

Remember, if overloaded, the cooling system is reduced at lower speeds. I still use my Lidl 'thirty quid with a range of cutters' machine and the nearly worn out, but serviceable, St*nley still gets used occasionally. Are you using it fixed to a table? If so, is it fixed horizontally or under-table? Hand-held routers are designed to be used any way but upside down. That is why I made a horizontal table for the small one.

Your break-out is likely down to poor cutters, run-out of the armature, poor bearings or wrong speed. Or perhaps you need a better piece of backing timber/material, when cutting thinner sections.

Still can't beat a full-sized spindle moulder for fixed applications, mind!

RAB

 

[Erichalfbee]

Sigh...................... I wish I knew what that all meant then I wouldn't have to bribe husband to do it all and he wouldn't discover the extent of my bee empire

 

[pargyle]

Some of my stuff is nearly as old as me ... all of it is older than my kids !!

1964 ML8 Woodturning lathe ... bomb proof !
1980's Kity Bandsaw ... French but I forgive them for this one !
1972 Startrite Inca Planer thicknesser ... Swiss built .. you can see why their watches are so good.
1988 Elektra Beckum Table saw ...made in Germany like a brick outhouse.
Old probably 1980's Dewalt Radial Arm Saw .. indestructable.
Ferm Scroll saw No idea how old but heavy cast steel construction
Meddings pillar drill ... might be 1950's !! Still drills as straight as a dye .. need muscles to change the speed though !

None of the above cost more than £100 and most were about £60. Needed cleaning, some adjustments and new/sharpened blades but they all come from an era where machinery tended to be over engineered and built to last. They tend not to have some of the health & safety features found in more modern machinery so require a little more caution when using but if you have the skills to take things apart and put them back together then there's a lot to be said for these older bits of kit. The only downside is that they are heavy .. if you view that as detrimental !

Two things I still need ... a Spindle moulder and/or a router table. Looking for the right one to come up at the right price ... you need a bit of patience when you are buying older machines - some of them have been hammered and are just scrap but get the right one and it's a gem !

So ... if you are buying new then I'd agree with Tom ... but there's a lot of older stuff that has plenty of life left in it that you can pick up for very reasonable money.

 

[madasafish]

I use a router from Homebase, bought for £10 (delivered) from Ebay.. It is slow , and it requires two passes to cut anything substantial. And an Aldi router table - £30 reduced to £20..

It's only 500 watts so saves on electricity

Pargyle is extravagant....

 

[oliver90owner]

It's only 500 watts so saves on electricity

Yeah, right!

1000W one pass, 500W twice the passes (at least?)

Sometimes economy measures are taken too far and don't work!

Certainly doesn't work (for long), if time is costed in...

Mallet and chisels may come to mind on this subject... at least for box jointing.

RAB

 

[protheroe]

i get tidy cuts on the side walls with my box joint jig,its the side bars i get problems with,often getting tearout,it doesnt matter with the roofs because they can be sanded smooth but with sidebars planed to the correct thickness its a problem,gone back to cutting them on the table saw for now till i get another router and make another jig to hold them securely.oh i wish i could afford a long arboured table saw,just need to watch the fingers with a 3/4 inch wide blade.

 

[protheroe]

I use an orange dew*lt. Was a CM, but they are the same machine and the sticker with the new armature says dew*lt! I bought it (for peanuts) at a car boot sale expecting it prolly needed serious expenditure on repairs.

Remember, if overloaded, the cooling system is reduced at lower speeds. I still use my Lidl 'thirty quid with a range of cutters' machine and the nearly worn out, but serviceable, St*nley still gets used occasionally. Are you using it fixed to a table? If so, is it fixed horizontally or under-table? Hand-held routers are designed to be used any way but upside down. That is why I made a horizontal table for the small one.

Your break-out is likely down to poor cutters, run-out of the armature, poor bearings or wrong speed. Or perhaps you need a better piece of backing timber/material, when cutting thinner sections.

Still can't beat a full-sized spindle moulder for fixed applications, mind!

RAB

yes its fixed under the table which it was never meant for.

 

[ugcheleuce]

Today I cut enough planking for 2 deeps and 3 shallows, and a roof. What remains to be done is to sand them (by hand) and double-check the measurements of each piece of wood (and trim it down if necessary) and then glueing and screwing and nailing it all together.

Since I'm using partly scrap wood, there's a variety. In the boxes I cut today there is pine, spruce, merbau, imbuia and one other hardwood that I can't identify.