tugnut1

Oh no, these are just sitting on some old cookie sheets. I use the cookie sheets to keep them off of the assembly surface.

Cool. I'll try it.

I should look into buying a few more as well. I do have one clamp that won't tighten when it hits a certain area of the bar. For some reason, it will advance when it is squeezed and then when you release, it goes right back to the starting spot. It is annoying.

Thanks foneguy. I still need to make another chair and then finish them.

I have a friend at work that asked me to make him something to hold up some dominos and cards for games that his parents and other relatives like to play. I've made him 4 or 5 sets now, so they are pretty quick to make. His dad especially likes the spalted maple wood that I use on these. He has actually asked me to make him some gun stocks out of this wood. I am afraid this is over my skill level. The boards are simple 3/4" thick by 5" deep by 12" long pieces of wood. This project requires 6 boards. I cut a grove at 3/8" thick and just over half way through the board. I set my fence about 3/4" away from the blade and cut one grove, flip the board and cut another groove. Now the two outside grooves are cut. Then I move the fence over so the spaces between the grooves are the same and repeat the previous step. I don't remember what this measurement is or I would list it. Then I round the edges on the router table and then sand to 220 grit. After that, I add some danish oil and I am finished.

I got some much needed shop time this weekend and I was able to finish my Adirondack Chair. It seemed like the majority of this project was sanding....probably because that takes the most time. Assembly only took a couple of hours and it only took that long because the plans left some important information out and I had to figure it out myself. After connecting the lower section, it was time to add the front legs. The plans were pretty good for this part and they went on really easily. I clamped both back sections to the assembly table to make sure they stayed the same distance from the ground (no twisting of the frame). Spring clamps keep the legs in place while you are drilling. Next it was time for the back legs and upper cradle. There was no information to tell you what angle you should cut the tops of the back legs....just total height. After a few minutes of cussing, I figured this angle had to be the same as the angle found at the lower cradle. I was able to find this angle by taking a piece of scrap and cutting it until it was the same as where the lower cradle rests (25 degrees). It doesn't seem like the type of information you should leave out of a plan. The arm rests are pretty simple to put on, but there is no mention as to where the arm rests should sit on the front legs. I tried to position the arm rests with about 1.5" of over hang to the inside of the front legs. The next chair I will make will most likely only have a half of an inch overhang. For my fat butt, it is a little bit of a tight squeeze right now. Next the addition of the back slats. This part was fun, but the plans fell short a little here as well. When cutting the slats out, the curve is constructed by adding a 1/4" wedge between the bottom parts of the slats and a 3/8" wedge near the middle. When attaching the back slats, the plans say to install the middle slat and then the two outside slats and then space the others out evenly. I don't like just eyeballing these spaces so I followed the same spacer setup for cutting the arch. Worked like a dream. Here is the final product before adding my exterior oil type coating to it. It is extremely light weight and my wife just loves it. She is calling it her "drinking margaritas and reading a book by the pool chair". It seems like a mouthful, but what the hell do I care.

Here is my 2 cents on the subject. Porter Cable was bought by Stanley/Black N Decker in October 2004. That is basically when production ceased in the USA. There is kind of a pecking order or price points in the Stanley / Black N Decker line. From what I can see, they go from top to bottom beginning with DeWalt, Bostitch, Stanley, Porter Cable, and then Black N Decker. They are priced to compete with Ridgid and Kobalt, but I think they are more equal to Ryobi if you ask me. The routers used to be excellent and I love my Tiger Saw and my Porter cable 557 biscuit jointer, but they were both bought before 2004. I also own the Porter Cable pocket hole jig that I really like. I had a porter cable 18 volt lithium ion drill, but it lacked any real 18 volt power, so I gave it away. I tend to stay away from Porter cable if I am looking at tools now.

I've seen setups where the vac is in a different room, or on a different level. I've also seen them where they are in the shop, but someone builds walls around it to keep the noise down. I know a lot of the older vacs are very very loud, but the newer ones seem to work at much more tolerable decibel levels.

I did not know that you had so many planes. These must be fairly recent purchases. I still have not used any planes. I need to buy a book, "Planes for dummies" in the near future.

I promised my wife years ago that I would make her some Adirondack chairs and I am finally getting around to it. I bought some red cedar from a mill close by my house and unfortunately, I don't think that I have enough to finish two chairs, so I will need to go back sometime soon. Finding a plan that I liked was my biggest issue with starting this build. I happened across a plan found in an old edition of Fine Woodworking that I liked and luckily it is online for free, so the link is right below if you want to check it out. http://www.finewoodworking.com/assets/downloads/FW_OUTDOOR_MEM_APR2014.pdf As of now, I have all of the pieces cut out. I created the two patterns by copying the page by 400% and then attaching the paper to some 1/4" plywood and cutting them out on the bandsaw. All of the pieces excluding the back slats, have been rounded over on the router table. To create the arches, I followed the directions for creating a compass....super simple. I need to round up the hardware and then I will start assembling it next weekend. More to come.

Thanks Rich. I'm stuck at work today, so I'm not sure its going to be all that awesome of a day. I have a pretty open weekend, so I am hoping to get some shop time.

From a guy who lives just down the road from you (Bay City).....Welcome to the forum.

I second that. You've got a great idea there Eric.

Welcome to the forum

Welcome to the forum.

This is the first time I am seeing a table saw insert for storage. Great idea.

Wow! couldn't have been much suction there at all.

I added a remote start to my shop vac as well and it is awesome. I got my from Fastcap and instead of putting the remote control on the hose like they suggest, I will strap it to my wrist like a sweat band. That way, I don't ever have to go looking for the remote when I need it. I may have to do the same type thing with my Jet Remote. http://www.fastcap.com/estore/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=45290 My product review video that I did a few years ago is even listed on this fastcap link, but I suggest that you do not watch it. As a matter of fact, I request that you do not watch it. Watch someone elses' video.

Sorry for not adding the cyclone video shootout to the earlier post, but I didn't have access to a desk top at that time and I hate working off of a phone. Here is the link to the Wood Whisperer's video

From what I have heard and seen, it's okay, but doesn't perform as well. The Wood Whisperer did a review of the rockler, dust deputy, and clearvue about 4 or 5 years ago. It's a good video. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

A cyclone is connected to your shop vac or blower motor. It sits in line before you dust filter and is designed so that it allows all of the heavier materials to drop out in a bucket before going filter. That way, your filter is only seeing air with fine particulates and stays cleaner for a much longer time. In regular shop vacs, as soon as the filter becomes plugged, your suction drops out dramatically. If you run a shop vac, I would suggest getting a dust deputy from Oneida air systems. I have upgraded to the larger cyclone version....Jet 2HP cyclone dust collector I like this unit a lot, but I am finding that the bag under the filter is filling up pretty quickly which tells me that particles are being carried over from the cyclone and isn't falling out in the bucket as well as the dust deputy does. I have a theory as to why this is happening too. If you look at the size of the cylcone cone, you will notice that is is pretty stubby compared to the dust deputy and Oneida's larger unit. I think the size of the cone makes a difference as to how much material is carried over. The jet, Laguna, Baileigh Industrial and a few other dust collectors run this stubby cyclone and I think it is to keep the units under 7 feet in height. My ceilings in the basement are 7 foot and I am unable to fit the taller units in my shop.

interesting question. I would say no. The Dewalt and Bosch hepa vacs are about $500 apiece. In order to not plug up the filters (even though they are self cleaning) you would want to add a cyclone to each one. You would have to empty them more often than the larger unit plus they would take up a good deal of floor space unless you are able to store them somewhere. Plus the small vacs don't have enough suction to keep up with thickness planers, jointers or drum sanders. I ran a very similar setup for quite a long time and I eventually upgraded to the DC unit.

Hey Rich, I think I can find a way for you to buy that central dust collection system........Stop upgrading your trail blazer! bahahahahahahah.

Holy Crap Rich! I knew you had this "fast" trail blazer, but I didn't know it was that bad ass.

The Jet 2hp cyclone unit is pretty quiet. It was listed in the 75-ish dB when I was looking into it. This was one of the most important stats for me. That being said, I think it is louder than 75 dB, but it is most certainly under the 85 dB that requires hearing protection and much more quiet than a shop vac.