Delta Bandsaw

This past week the motor went out on my 14" bandsaw. I started with a few quick phone calls to only be passed on to Black-n-decker then porter cable only for all them to point the finger back at each other for who could help me track down a new one. Once this did not lead to anything useful I also attempted to call Woodworkers depot where I purchased my saw. Lets just say they gave me the same useless phone numbers I had called. Even if they could have landed me a part I was told the motor would have been over $600.

This is when I turned to a few small businesses here in Appleton. I was so happy with the responses I received from many of the small companies and how they referred me to similar small businesses who could help. I finally found my motor at Electric Motor Supply in Kaukanua.

Rainy lake house boat

We vacation this past summer in International Falls, MN.  While in International falls we enjoys 7 wonderful days on a houseboat on Rainy Lake.  We were outfitted from Rainy Lake Houseboats and the service was nothing short of exceptional.

http://rainylakehouseboats.com/

Entertainment Center: Speaker Fabric Installation

Also completed tonight were the finishing touches on the entertainment center.  I completed the installation of all the door hinges and speaker fabric.  The speaker fabric went in like a dream using the window spline and the 1/8' dado to accept it.  It is getting late but I did manage to post a few more pictures of the detailed steps on the entertainment center page.

Today I updated the page on my deck project for a few friends who are going to attempt a project of their own.  Enjoy the pictures and let me know what questions you have.

I had the day off today and got a jump start on the finishing.  After a couple hours prepping the shop I got the spray booth all setup to begin spraying.  The temp and humidity were perfect today and i was able to get two full coals applied.  As you can see from the photos below the finish turned out like glass. I used one full gallon of coating which was twice as much as thought it would take.

i had the day off oday

The finishing touches have now been completed on the downdraft table.  You will now see the handle which I installed for the filter caddy which comes out very easily for cleaning and access of any loose hardware that may have been dropped through the holes.  Depending on how much left over lacquer I have from the entertainment center I might apply a few coats to this cabinet as well.

Tonight I finished up the final sanding on the entertainment center.  I thought I would also include a picture of the PVC tube which I installed to help with cable management to each of the shelf areas.  I am now expecting to begin applying the finish over the next couple days or weeks as the work schedule permits.  I will be using a lacquer applied with my HVLP gun from Turbinaire  http://turbinaire.com/turbinaire_compguns.html.  For this project I will need to characterize a new material so it should be fun to get all the new pressures and gun settings dialed in.

Entertainment Center

The entertainment center was something that I started designing well over 2 years ago after I finished remodeling my basement.  Now that the basement has been done for over 5yrs I figured it might be time to get the A/V equipment up off of the floor.  Up until very recent the entertainment center was not but a pile of wood in my garage.  Before I start to share the details of this project I must first tell you quick and simple Google Sketch Up was to create a 3D model to visualize how this would look.  I started with just wanting to create a wire frame drawing for reference in the shop but I quickly got lost in the computer program and began adding all the details.

Working from the left to the right I am going to be stacking my surround sound receiver and cable box.  Just to the right of the cable box I have created some slide out drawers to hold the Wii and video games.  In the middle I made room to hold the center channel speaker with a fully extenable drawer beneath for some blankets or more of the kids stuff.  To the right of this I created a few more small pull out drawers for movies and remotes.  On the far right I created another location for electronics such as blu-ray, DVD, Laser Disc, etc.

If you visit entertainment center page you can see some other details on how I integrated a PVP tube for some conduit from end to end to help with the cable management.

Downdraft Table / Table Saw Outfeed Table

The following posting is a project I started midstream of building an entertainment center for my basement.  While assembling the entertainment and cleaning the shop I was reminded of how the dust just seems to find its way to every part of the shop.  I then turned to the internet for a few ideas .... and quickly came to conclusion that converting my existing hard maple table saw outfeed table into a multipurpose work station would be ideal.  I quickly disappeared to the Home Depot for a few supplies and began crafting this project based off of a few pictures I saw on the internet.  I must credit the idea for this project from http://www.fineboxes.com/DowndraftTable.htm.  The outfeed table has now been converted into a fully functional downdraft table, outfeed table and storage cabinet.  The base of this cabinet consists of 1/2" plywood construction and 2"x2"s with Hard Maple for top.

If you want to attempt this project here is a list of supplies:

(3) 1/2" X 4' X 8' plywood

(9) 2" X 4" X 8'

(1) 60min timer switch

(1) 120VAC outlet

(10) Power cord 10-2AWG

(2) Box of Screws

(1) Door gasket / weather stripping (to seal the removable fan side)

(4) 20" X 20" furnace filters

(2) 1" X 1" steel angle iron to improve surface rigidity

(6) 1.25" Pan Head screws

(1) Hard Wood Top (Size to vary based on your shop)
(1) Old Furnace fan or blower

The finished dimensions for the base of my downdraft table are 39" X 43".  The height of my downdraft table was customized to match the height of my table saw and thickness of the hard maple top.  Since the downdraft table in my shop is a permanent fixture I finished the base with a hardwood trim to ensure it remains level with the floor and table saw.