Creeker's Weekend Accomplishments.....

26 Mar 2012

Good Morning Everyone,
Well, this weekend has been really nice, but I ended up spending a lot of it working for the day job. I guess one could say that I'm a frustrated woodworker because I can't seem to make the time to get in the shop. However, I did spend some time in Alabama last week helping my mother for a bit and also helping my mother-in-law as well. It's difficult helping family that is 400 miles one way and 600 miles one way. The good thing is that they both live only 3 hours apart and that makes it easier to deal with to some degree.

Been working in the yard as time permits....just because it's time for mowing the lawn and working in the garden. I know that we get to choose what we want to do most of the time, but the lawn demands attention if you happen to care if you home looks respectable or not. :)

Well, I'm in training all week this week and here's to hoping for the best.

That's it for me, so what did YOU do this past weekend?

Best of weeks to you all.

The weather was wonderful this weekend. I spent most of the weekend putzing in my shop. My sympathies to the residents of North Carolina. KU pulled out a squeaker with NCS and beat up on Roy's boys. So all around it was a very good weekend for the Jayhawk fans.

Went on shopping spree Friday so the weekend was spent wiring another 220 outlet for the new Laguna 2hp cyclone. Part of sunday was spent on assembly of my new Jet 22-44 drum sander. Did manage to make some sawdust late sunday by milling 200 bf of maple.
The main reason for sharing this is because when I tell my friends I got a new cyclone and drum sander I get the "a what" look, figured at least a few people here would understand :)
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Yep, great weather this weekend, which beat the snot out of last weekend... I had a tree blow down in the storm last weekend, so this weekend I got my little electric chain saw going again, and cut up the dead and down tree, and carted it all off to the curb so that the waste management people can ignore it until the HOA complains and I fuss back at the HOA that the garbage people keep ignoring heavy trash pickup, but that's the way this game is played I guess...

Spent a little bit of time and effort pulling switch plates, and outlet covers, and painting behind them so the spots on the walls where we missed with the paint are done. One BIG wall done, many more to go... Started masking the trim off so that we can repaint the trim, doors, and even the A/C return air vents...

We did spend some down time this weekend at the Theater watching "The Hunger Games". I enjoyed it, but I was a bit annoyed at all the young children I saw in the movies. While it wasn't too gory, it was a somewhat violent movie, and it had a lot of symbolism that I expect most people, particularly young kids to miss. I understand this movie was based off of a book, and I rarely want to read the books I see movies of, but this is a trilogy, and it seems to me to be a bit of Shakespeare, and Heinlein mixed into the writing style. I think I want to read the books...

I caused myself a problem on my computer last week upgrading from Scientific Linux 6.0 to CentOS 6.2 (going back to CentOS), where the boot loader wouldn't find my Windows 7 partition... Got that figured out and fixed so I am out of the dog house with my wife... Not sure why she needs Windows 7 on a quad core 8 GB RAM machine just to play Farmville and email her sisters.. but that's not for me to ponder too long...

My weeks plan are to spend some quality time working on what I didn't get finished this weekend. I pick up a ladder from a friend tonight (a 10' to reach my ceilings, mine is only 6' and leaves me a bit, short...) so that we can finish cutting in the ceiling paint, and dropping the 2 remaining trees. I have a virtual environment I am working on to help me study for my RHCE, I have 2 more virtual machines to build, and then on to the next lab excersizes... And of course more sanding of sheet rock... I will be extremely happy when all of this home improvement / repair stuff is done... My back can't handle much more of this...

Well I spent the weekend first helping a guy I met on Craigslist clean out his business as he was closing the doors. I had bought every clamp he had which were mostly Wolfcraft and Irwin with some assorted aluminum bar clamps for $60 which was a huge score because I didn't have really any clamps. I also got an ROS that he just bought, a couple of ceiling mounted retractable extension cords, and a few other misc. things all for free. Plus I fixed the back of a Grandfather clock that he was trying to finish up for a client. Then I went home and continued working on my Plansnow.com router table build. It is really coming out quite nice for my first really intricate build. I am taking my time and making sure everything is perfectly measured and laid out and it is paying big dividends. I am really loving this and finally doing something I have always wanted to do which is build stuff from scratch using plans and wood. It is so relaxing and the time just flies when I am in the garage. Just isn't enough time in the day for me lately.


Here is a pic of the left tower and middle drawer cabinet all bolted together. I made one minor miscue on the tower sides. The plans call for shelf pin holes every 2" which I got right but somehow they didn't line up when I screwed the thing together. Not the worst mistake in the world and I can fix it without too much grief. I made all of the Oak drawer parts yesterday so they are ready for rabbets and assembly tonight.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7136/6...b0469aa8_b.jpg

LOML, my son and I travelled to the midwest to visit with our parents and my elderly grandmother. They were quite surprised. Great weather and low key good times. My only woodworking was brousing through my father's tools that he had inherited. Found a no-name #5 jack plane and a keen kutter low angle, adjustable mouth block plane. I will clean them up for sale.

Earlier in the week I was left at home unsupervised for several hours so I snuck out to the garage workshop area and finished the last 6 drawers of the 18 drawer workbench that I am building from Tom Clark's book on Practical Shop Cabinets. This weekend I ripped out the poor excuse for a workbench that was there, slid the new workbench into position, leveled it out, and then glued and screwed on a layer of 3/4" ply for the first layer of the top. That's as far as I got before my father-in-law and his brother offered to swing by in a small dump truck and add my growing pile of remodeling/construction debris to theirs which is going to be taken for recycling later. Shortly after that I stopped by to help my father-in-law with his remodeling project which I am more than happy to do considering the many hours he has spent helping me with mine.

The workbench is nearly done and just needs a second layer of 3/4" ply on the top and false fronts for the drawers. I'm contemplating holding the second layer of plywood on with screws only from the underside so it could be replaced some day if needed, and I may wrap the edges of the plywood top with hardwood.

No time in the shop...horse show weekend. But I did get to deliver my latest tack trunk commission to the trunk's new owner and she was very pleased. What's not to like about that?

Alesya, Elvis and Moi on Sunday...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...es-me-show.jpg

Still no shop time. Helped my contractor friend prep the area and set my parent's generator and finished the electrical connections and then helped him finish installing rebuilt doors on their outside cellar entrance (1860's house.) It was late afternoon by the time we finished up and got my tractor back to my place. Sunday was pretty well shot due to early dinner at my parents and a late afternoon appointment.

Really hoping to get some time to design our bed which may be my next woodworking project, that or redoing our laundry room. Really itching to do some WWing but its also about time to start spring cleanup which is a major activity when you have 10 acres and the grass needs mowing already.