bradleyheathhays

Hey there once again. My daytime job finds me at my buddy's 'cabinet shop' where no actual woodworking is done. We're a cabinet supplier with a little warehouse space to hold contractors' and clients' orders. We can order cabinets either built or flat pack unassembled. Over the last couple years working there I've asked a few contractors how much different the pricing would be if they got their cabinets unassembled instead of assembled...and most of them said they'd save about 50%. 100% of our contractors order them built btw. Building them is crazy easy but everybody opts to pay thousands more to have us put their cabinets together. A wall cabinet takes about 10 min to assemble and an average base about 15 min. We just delivered 20k worth of kitchen and bathroom cabinets to my other buddy's contract built house; it was about 32 cabinets altogether. If we were to have put together these same cabinets it would've taken us about a full day. So you see where I'm getting to here? Why don't I advertise myself to contractors as the guy who's been building their cabinets for the last two years and see if they're willing to order unassembled, save a ton of money and pay me maybe half of what extra they would've spent? Sounds like a win win huh? So my question is...what issues aren't I seeing yet with my idea? My contractor buddy who's helping me work on developing this says he doesn't think contractors will want to get into the minutia of adding a different step to the process they've already settled into...building houses the way they do. The way he put it is that contractors want to know one 'cabinet guy' who gets it all done from design to supply to installation. Almost all the contractors we deliver to also use our company's two installers, and my idea would make things a little bumpier for them. I'm sure lots of contractors in my city of 330k population have their own installers but my contractor buddy says that good installers are few and far in between. Of course, all I see is a big chunk of change to be made, for both me and the contractors, and I think they'll be interested in hearing about my idea. Any thoughts? Thanks as always.

I'm working with a local artist to develop an idea I've had over the last year. Have you ever seen what's known as a photo collage? It's where hundreds of small pictures are put together, side by side in rows and columns so that they make a larger picture when viewed as a whole. Those photos are always made by software. We'll I'm trying to do basically the same thing except with small wood blocks. The idea is that I'm to make a lot of different small wood squares, I'll say instead of blocks, and the artist puts them together to make a larger picture. The smaller the block the higher resolution the final image will be, just like the pixels on your tv. So, with all this in mind, my goal is to find wood with unique color patterns. After thinking on it for a long time I'm sure just regularly grained wood would be suitable for this new process, and so I've just been sitting on this idea for a minute, until I went to the lumber yard for the first time after having this idea and found cedar! As it turns out cedar can have very unusual color patterns when it's milled down as compared to other wood species. So now my idea is a little more developed, thank heavens. So now I've got a couple questions. I see now how finding wood species with a sharp contrast in color between the sap and hardwoods would work well in my process. Is there any other species out there that has such sharp contrast between the sap and heart wood like cedar? Walnut, maybe, is the only other that comes to mind. Second question...how many ways are there to change the color of cedar. Staining, applying aging solutions are the only two ways I know of, and have very little experience with either, so I don't know what products are out there. So the idea is I want to be able to produce as many variations of color using cedar as possible. What ways are there to color cedar that I haven't thought of yet? Many thanks!

I have an idea for something new that I want to make and if I can find someone who sells these particular parts it would make going into production so much easier. I'll picture them below but the two parts I'm interested in is the leg of an older style chair as well as the top back brace. The leg has a good bend to it and the top brace is 'bent' as well and tapers from the bottom to the top. Any idea where I should start looking to find these parts? Thanks. PS. Sorry, I kept getting 'file size too large' when I was uploading so I had to cut out most of my pictures to get them to send. PPS. In the case these parts aren't commercially available how I would go about making them? .

Hey everybody. I'm in the heart of horse country here in Kentucky and I'm lucky enough to have some inroads to some prominent farms. Basically my buddies on these farms know I'm a woodworker and are saying 'show me what ya got.' Secret thing is...I don't really have that much (shhh). Recently I made the garden obelisk pictured below and put it on my buddy's property. What I'd really like to get into is making things, anything they might want for the farms themselves. Does anyone have pictures or ideas about what kind of ornamental structures would be appropriate for horse farms? I don't imagine I could provide anything actually functional because all that stuff is already covered (I assume) so the best place for me to aim is 'ornamental.' I brought the below pictured obelisk out to my buddy's farm but the only place it looked right was in the house yard. I'm def open to your suggestions as to what make and entertain my buddies with. Thanks a ton! PS. I think I spoke too soon because I've already had someone suggest great things I can make that actually ARE useful to daily operations. I suppose I'm thinking along the lines of something one farm owner would see and think, hey, I want that on my farm. I'm thinking something unique, but anything that would sell works for me.

I'm learning to use this new gravity fed HVLP paint gun and I'm afraid I didn't thin my paint down enough for my first test run. You can see the cheapo paint gun I got myself from Amazon in the pic. Don't worry, the inside is cleaner than the outside. I thinned down some Killz 3 using about 5% water and load it into the cup (still about the same viscosity though), set the regulator to 22 lbs dynamic pressure (the pressure reading when the trigger is open), and start spraying. The trigger rod (as I'll call it) is dialed all the way back so the trigger goes full open and the fan adjustment knob on the side is about at half. So I go to spray the Killz and this is all I get (pic). I adjusted the fan knob through it's entire range, all the way small to all the way fanned out, same spitting pattern. Basically I try all adjustments on the gun and can't get anything other than the same spit pattern. So last thing I try is upping the pressure at the regulator, and still the exact same pattern. Does this mean my paint is simply too thick and I need to thin it down more?

Thanks yeah it's got the potential to turn out really nice.

I've just begun collaborating with a local artist who wants to make a fairly large mural out of wood. The idea we've come up with is to design impressionistic type pieces based on arranging square wood blocks into the larger image. The plan is to develop different finishing techniques for the blocks to give them different color intensities, contrasts between the grain, and overall color. The blocks will be used as 'pixels' if you will in the larger image, so the smaller the wood block the higher the resolution of the final image. I would imagine the blocks will be between 1 and 2" square. The idea is mine but I'd never be able to do this without an artist. She'll be doing the true 'art' part and I'll just be providing as wide a variety of finishes on these blocks as possible. The wider her variety of wood blocks to choose from the better the end result will be. So as an example, here's an art piece I found on Etsy. It seems the artist here has either baked or burn treated these pieces. I'm taking this idea as inspiration on how I can vary the finishes on these wood blocks. But I'd like to have as many coloring/finishing options as possible, which is the purpose of writing here. pic here What I need now are both wood species suggestions and finishing techniques. Just brainstorming so everything's on the table. I need different wood grain size options. Need both wider and narrower grained species. Would be nice to have a species where both the fast and slow growth rings take dye stain so they have the same hue. Need coloring / technique suggestions. I've used General Finishes water based dye stains before so that's one idea for generating color. Thanks for your ideas.

To make a long story short, I've got to make two Adirondack chairs out of Red Oak and have them ready, painted and presented by Christmas. I've been told by soo many people how bad Red Oak would be for soaking up water and that they'd have to be repainted almost every year, but I have no time to get a more proper species so I'll have to go with what I've got. I'm writing to ask what I can do to make these chairs weather a little better. I've been told to coat the bottom of the legs with epoxy and that would help stave off water absorption. Does anyone have specific advice on how to do this? I've worked with two part epoxies plenty before now so this isn't totally unfamiliar territory. I'm assuming thinner epoxy would be better. The chairs will be sitting on concrete so maybe that'll help. I've also been told to paint all the parts separately before putting them together, and that this would help with not absorbing water as well. Any other advice on what I can do to help these chairs weather better? Thanks

I'm just starting off on my first two commissioned pieces, two of Mr. King's very fine Adirondack chairs. I visited this particular local lumber yard this past weekend as I thought they had some Eastern Red Cedar that would've worked well, but since it was only 4/4 I ended up going with their 6/4 Red Oak as that's what the owner suggested. I haven't seen anyone make one of these chairs out of Oak yet so I hope I haven't shot myself in the foot here. These things are gonna be SO heavy, but I guess that's why they have wheels. Since I've never worked with anything this dense before I thought I'd write to ask about the ins and outs of working with this heftier wood. I've got some good machines to help get it done... table saw, router table w/ lift, thickness planer, jointer, band saw, belt sander, part templates, etc. So no excuse I can't make this happen! I've read some instances where these chairs can rack so I'm concerned using a heavier wood will make them more prone. These are both to be painted solid white (filling all screw holes with dowels) and I'm wondering if the liberal use of glue in all the joints would help any with it's rigidity. I haven't seen the idea mentioned one way or the other. I'd be glad to go through the extra effort of using glue but I'm actually thinking that it might not do a joint any good where the two surfaces weren't previously machined to meet each other exactly flat. Also, I'm wondering about the finish coats. The clients are requesting white, and because they're well traveled they're imagining the Adirondack chairs they've seen at high end country clubs and they're wanting something that resembles those... and all I know to do is ask the pimple face kid at the HD paint desk for something exterior grade. Should I just do a color coat or do some kind of clear as well? I just don't know how this is best done for exterior furniture. I'd actually like to get some kind of paint gun and give that a go since I've got a big enough compressor to push one now. Here's what I'm looking to make... All advice appreciated.

I just got this used Englander 25-PDV (or very similar) pellet stove and it worked when I picked it up and now not so much. The owner said it needed some kind of 'high or low' (he didn't know) temp sensor/switch replaced. It worked at least one time really well after I got it home so I know most everything is working in it. Now when I start the fire and hit the On button, the auger starts turning but the exhaust fan never kicks on to stoke the flame. The one time it worked well the fans didn't kick on until maybe 5 minutes after I started the fire and hit the On button. This last time I kept a fire in it for over 45 min and the fans never kicked on, although the auger kept turning the whole time, which it's supposed to. Any idea what I need to replace in this stove to get it running again? I'm hoping the part's still made. I can't get a shot of the info plate on it just right now but I believe it was made in '97. You don't see the dial settings on any of the used ones listed on marketplace or elsewhere.

I've seen these on youtube, but I haven't heard them talked about much. What are these personalized medallion coins woodworkers place in their pieces called, and where can they be found? Because I can't draw worth a crap I'm going to have a nice logo designed and I don't mind spending some cash on these little boogers. I'm sure they'll pay for themselves. I'd like to find someone who can make the coins at a level of complexity shown in this one..

I'm brand new to making templates and I'm finding out making a good one is not as simple as it looks. Luckily I've got the Ridgid oscillating edge belt/spindle sander to make it easier for me. My problem is making smooth inside arcs. After about an hour of practice my outside arcs or curves are nice and smooth, but my inside curves feel lumpy when you run your finger down the edge. What I figured out that got my outside curves smooth out was that almost all sanding passes must be made as long as possible. I zeroed in on flattening down the proud parts by doing long passes and keeping a steady speed, but then doing a gradual application of pressure at those sections. I applied this technique to my inside curves but because I have to work on the curved part of the sanding belt I'm not able to get the same effect. I'm sure it's because the flat part of the sander is more forgiving than the curved part which has a much smaller sanding 'foot,' or contact patch I'll say. I've tried to lessen this effect by keeping my approach angle as shallow as possible but this still isn't producing the smooth edge I'm after. So what am I missing? Do I just need to keep refining my sanding technique to be even lighter and sneak up on the template edge even slower doing more long and shallow passes? Or is there some kind of technique out there I haven't run up on yet? I'm using 3/4 melamine for making this piece. Paper template is on the bottom side for the pic.

2 questions Is there an alternative to the Whiteside UDC9112 Ultimate Trim Combination Bit? found here and What's this brand/model of full face respirators I see in some woodworking videos please? Might find them on turners. I've seen models with what I think are two fan vent holes on the top and I think it works by forcing filtered air into the mask. I'd imagine they're not cheap.

Big thanks for all the advice. Unfortunatly I'll be spending a bit of cash here soon and I'm having to go cheap and buy used, so probably no manual to go by. I bet a lot of my questions can be answered just by looking up the city codes. Just found this little gem of an idea on youtube about using bricks with your stove. Put a mass of bricks near the stove and they'll serve as a great heatsink for keeping the temp more consistent after the fire is out. I'll probably end up making a wall of bricks between the stove and shop wall, and probably a bunch on top after reinforcing the legs. Pic from the vid.. Edit. After reading up more on stoves and seeing how much shop space it's gonna take up (a good %) I've had the idea of how to use a wood stove at about 1/3 the scale of the smallest one. If you could manage it you could save a decent amount of room. 99% of the heat of all fire stoves goes out the flue. Simply putting a fan on the stove gets MUCH more heat into the room, meaning you can get by with a MUCH smaller stove, IF you can figure out how to tend that kind of fire. Is this what these pellet stoves are about, the ones I've been seeing advertised as used?

I'm gearing up my little 400 sq ft shop to be heated with a small wood stove this winter and thought I'd ask some advice since this will be my time first owning one. I think even a small stove would be enough for the shop, as I'll have a fan on it. I just need it to be long enough to take in unpredictable lengths of firewood. I've got a small log splitter so I can control the thickness you could say, just not the length. I've got a couple free sources of wood, just have to take it as is. I'd like the top flue pipe to turn 90 deg parallel to the floor very soon after exiting the top, and then exit through a 1/2" sheet of plywood that serves as the wall behind it. First, what kind of clearance do I need to keep away from the plywood wall it's nearest to and exiting through? Can I put the stove closer to that plywood wall if I put a sheet of say corrugated metal roofing between it and the wall? What's the cheapest way to frankenstein my exhaust pipes together, including the through wall piece? Does the pipe needs to be a certain length in order to create a good updraft? What size stove should I look for, length wise? And lastly, any and all extra advice appreciated.

Yeah I'm gonna pass on it. It looks like the conveyor system is completely gone. Any thoughts on this one? Asking price is 600. They say everything works as it should.

I'd love to have a drum sander and I'm seeing this available for $200. Should I jump on it? Any idea how pieces are fed through? I don't see any conveyor belt on it.

Is there a brand of sandpaper that's known for not clogging up? Ideally available in sheets. I'm about to be sanding a resin project up to 600 grit and I can see going through some sandpaper if it clogs up easily on this resin. I'll be chilling the piece before sanding to try to combat any heat buildup. Thanks.

I've using some regular bondo to finish something I'm working on and I'd like to mix it so that it cures as slowly as possible. Relative to the recommended ratios what's the smallest amount of hardener you can add and still have it cure?

I need to make a series of completely flat sanding blocks and I've chosen to use 1/4" acrylic sheet for my backing. Previously when I Titebond 3 glued sandpaper to sheets of 1/8" acrylic they were all curled after the glue cured. So I've switched up to 1/4" acrylic and I'm searching for an appropriate glue that doesn't shrink. I would use rubber cement but the way that application works, apply to both sides, let dry and combine, would make for unwanted little lumps. I'll be using a brayer to make everything as even as possible after the paper is laid down on the glue surface. Any suggestions for a better glue?

I need to cut this squarish hole out of this 1/8" steel plate and the best tool I've got to do it with is a 4 1/2" cut wheel. The white square in the picture is 1 sq in so you can see how my big cut wheel isn't quite nimble enough for the job. If I drilled the corners is there any kind of jig saw blade that would do it? Or maybe some kind of oscillating tool blade? I've got an oscillator but I haven't used it to cut metal yet.

I'm looking for a good paint I can put in a spray gun and sticks to polypropylene well. I've got a good number of those street signs made out of corrugated polypropylene and I'd like to cover with white and remake into new signs. I've been told the best cleaning treatment for this plastic would be to clean with 50/50 alcohol/water, sand with 80-100 grit, then wipe off again with the alcohol mixture. I'm open to more advice here if you have some. Anyone aware of a paint sold by the gallon that sticks to polypropylene well? The cheaper the better of course.

I'm seeing a good number of Maple burl caps for sale on ebay that are described as green. What's the best way to quickly dry one of these that's say 6" x 9" x 3" thick? Or is there a good way to quickly dry these things? I've see microwaving for 30 sec at a time for many times. I've also seen the idea to soak the piece in 100% alcohol for about a week, which makes it dry out much faster.

I got two of the same square shaped magnetic digital angle finders off Amazon for about $20 each and I can have them on the same surface and one measures +.25 deg and the other -.25 deg, and that's too much for my ADD a$$ to be able to handle. Where can I find a good but cheap-as-possible brand/model of these things that gives a more accurate angle measurement?

Anyone?