I’m setting up a recurring work party in the woodshop, Wednesday evenings.
What is this?
This event is to bring woodworkers together to organize/maintain/improve the woodshop. This will also be a good time for impromptu teaching, and picking each other’s brains on woodworking related topics.
When is it?
Recurring Wednesday nights from 6:30pm to 10pm. These times aren’t strict or mandatory. Show up whenever you have time, and leave whenever you need to. I’ll be bottom lining these events for the next few months, I should be able to make most days, and hopefully another keyholder can cover for me if I’m not available.
Can members still use the Woodshop Wednesday’s nights?
Absolutely! Though some tools may be down for servicing/maintenance.
How can you help?
There’s many different things that can be done to help improve the shop.
Cleanup. Did someone leave something out, or was something put back incorrectly? If it looks out place, grab it and figure out where it belongs! Or simple things like sweeping, and vacuuming up dust/dirt. Obviously people should be cleaning up after themselves, but occasionally things get missed, so we should strive to leave the shop tidier when we leave than it was when we arrived.
Organization. Not everything has a forever home yet. We need all our tools to have a home that is clear and accessible. Figuring out where everything should live is an on-going process.
Tool maintenance. Several of our key tools are in need of maintenance and championing, to get them into great working shape. If you don’t know how to maintain/fix something, that’s okay, we’re all here to learn. Ask around or check on Talk, someone is likely to have the information you require. More info about what needs doing here here Woodshop Improvements
Big projects. There are bigger projects that will need some hefty amount of effort put into them, such as dust extraction or building new benches/storage.
There’s a lot to do, but with enough hands we can get the shop in great shape!
Feel free to reply when you’ll be in and what you plan to work on, and if you need help! I’m going to be tackling the jointer problems initially, and will help out wherever else I can!
Just a reminder that Woodworking guild meetings are also on Wednesdays but only once a month. If you are working in the shop during a guild meeting please keep the noise down so we can hear. So please - no loud saws etc. Workshops/events at VHS take priority over loud shop work.
(Actually on guild wednesdays you should hang out with us and see all the cool things guild members make.)
Yup, I think it’ll be helpful for VHS woodworkers to check out the PWG meetings too! They usually end reasonably early, so there should be time before/after to do work in the shop too.
I’d love to help
This Wednesday there’s a screen printing demo
But the one after ? Let’s take that sled and maybe tablesaw blade sharpening ?
I have a 300 1000 grit diamond Whetstone and a Norton 4000 8000
Im pretty good with knives but I’ve never done a saw balde.
Is that not expert enough ?
Sweet - this week it’s the guild meeting - c’mon down and hang out for the meeting. Maybe we could sharpen stuff up before/afger/during? The screen demo is the 27th (the week after)
Tim - awesome to hear you also have knife experience. Would be fun to have a sharpening night at some point if you’re up for it. No pressure.
Hey, This wednesday, i will drop by and lets talk about if metal shop and wood shop can share a common pegboard tool wall, where to put it and what tools to put on it. Also I would not mind getting a feel for needs of the wood working shop.
Ok an update I’ll show up tomorrow and bring my sharpening gear, but I’ve done some research on saw blade sharpening and it seems pretty complex.
It depends on the angles of the teeth on the top
We may need to build.a.jig for it.
What brand is our saw blade ? Anybody know off hand ?
For saw blades I think someone mentioned a local sharpening service. Yeah they do seem tricky. The guild members will have some good thoughts. I’d ask John Hammond (guild prez). He’ll be around at the meeting on Wed.
I’m pretty sure the default one we’ve been using (one of the mixed crosscut and ripping blades) is a Freud blade. From what I’ve heard, and my own experience sharpening chainsaws, perhaps best to have it done by a professional.
Sure that works I’ll take it in if you guys can get me a suggestion for a place. Seems like it would be smart to collect a few dull blades before going to pros then
I am happy to help out with this when I can. I have a fair bit of carpentry experience and have worked in a number of wood shops (some very well set up, others not so much!). One thing that stands out to me as a need in the VHS is a very obvious place the storage of safety gear (eye protection, ear protection, etc). In many other shops and maker spaces I have worked in, wearing eye protection is a requirement. In these spaces, there is generally a rack just before or after you enter the shop that has an array of safety gear at easy reach. Nobody wants to take a piece of wood to the eye, I can speak from experience.
I’m a little late to reply now, but I wanted to thank @Reuben@TimothyKonrad and @3bien for helping out last week! We made some progress on organization and tidying up. Still lots to do obviously, but we’ll keep trucking.
I managed to make some rudimentary feet for the jointer, so it’ll be less likely to roll around the floor when using the machine. The floor being so uneven makes that still a bit unstable, and the machine stand is missing a foot so it’s somewhat prone to wobbling still. I’m going to make some wedges I’ll tie to the stand, so you can make it stable once the machine has been rolled into place.
I also tuned up the fence, so it should be square now. Well, square within hack space tolerances
