Monday, Monday, Monday, Again

Yesterday the kids helped me move stuff out of the shop. They took a truckload of stuff to Value Village and then a truckload to the dump. It made a major dent in the opening pathways in the shop. The spaces are gradually opening up and I feel more hopeful at every turn. 

The good part is that after I leave there I see, in my mind, how the next part could go and what that will mean to the whole project. It's not fast but it is grinding forward steadily and I hope inexorably.

I have long been mourning the pointless loss of my drill press. I sold it to Bill back when I felt that my woodworking days were over and I would be mired in kids and work and struggling to keep afloat. In fact it was probably a good idea to have it out of the way for the last 20 years but now I think I'll be needing something for some the projects I want to do.

I like the old Jet drill press because it was a rock solid knock-off of the Delta for a could hundred less. It was more machine than I needed, but that was part of the allure. I bought a few attachments and accessories that I had little use for, but it increased the effect. I had a mortising attachment that drilled square holes for mortise and tenon joints. I tried it a few times. like I tried everything else, and in the end I learned that it was easier, safer, and faster to cut mortises by hand using heavy chisels. It was also more fun and you hear the music. 

In general, I prefer working with handtools whenever possible. When I say that I don't include ripping or crosscuts and I'm not skilled enough to make miters by hand but most joinery is OK. I don't have a decent upright vice to hold work while I make pins or box joints. I suppose I should make one as a project. I've been that route before and I have a couple jigs already made from the past, but none of them are very solid.

Anyway, I've decided that if I need another drill press I'll probably get a 10" bench mounted press. That will cover the vast majority of what I would need it for and it would give me more possibilities for mounting and lighting.

Lighting will be much more important this time around because my eyesight is much worse than it was. 

More later,

Photo by Jay Mantri