What did you do in your shop today?

I walked through it a couple times - once on the way out to the back patio to put the burgers on the grill and again to go back in the house to eat dinner. Mid-40's, sunny, with no wind - nice weather for grilling.

Oh, and was in there for a few minutes earlier dropping off the contents of a package that arrived today - brackets that I will use to mount PVC pipes for dust collection to the walls and ceiling.
 
Finished the walnut bowl up today.
After hollowing it out I reversed it again and mounted it in the cole jaws to remove the mortice on the bottom.
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Mortice gone, lol.
View attachment 185862 Finished size is approximately 12" across and 2 1/2" tall. Had one little knot I filled with ca to to strengthen it.
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One nice spot of figure.
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Added a little detail to the bottom.
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Side view edge detail.
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Superb finish Greg. The little details on the bottom are a proper finish to a well done piece. :good2:
 
@Tony yes from Wendy. Usually wait until Sunday morning. Can get some good deals. Not a lot of selection by then, but I’ve come back with some pretty good wood.
 
Came into my shop this morning and got a couple blanks ready to put in vacuum chamber, turned the pump on...nothin!
GFCI...check.
This is my Harbor Freight pump I’ve had for 8-9 yrs.
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Plugged in securely...check.
Pulled pump out of cubby and checked rotor was free to move...check.
Ruhroh!
Pulled electrical cover off and pulled stuff out. Not sure about capacitors...never have been, but disconnected and discharged with a 50 kohm resistor. I think it was @woodtickgreg recently commented that bulging not always present if failed. Checked no voltage across terminals then proceeded to see what else to check.
Pulled some little device out, determining it was a thermal overload device, and seemed ok with continuity across its terminals.
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I’m starting to think switch is culprit.
Popped it out and saw heat evidence on two connectors.
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Marked and disconnected all 4 wires. Tested continuity on switch across all combinations switch on and off...a dud, pretty much nothing conductive to passing electrons, I’m positive. There’s a joke there somewhere.
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I then proceeded to disassemble the switch. Used two small screwdrivers to release the small pivot catch on each side...here’s where you have to be careful.
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Without being inside this switch before, didn’t know what manner of spring might come flying out. This one was tame. I opened it up and sure enough the contacts were all dirty with some sort of electrical grime...not sure what else to call it.
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Down inside the switch body is tough to get to, I just stuck a small drill bit in to hand scrape the contact till some shiny appeared.
Did same on the contact springs , then CAd a piece of 180 grit on a tapered popsicle stick to clean the spade terminals on the switch.
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Tested continuity and both poles tested fine.
Put some Nyogel grease on terminals before putting everything back together.
Pump started right up...woohoo!
Oh..good thing I pulled it from it’s cubby because I was able to see the oil was down on the min mark! Fixed that one!
 
Oh, I did locate the same switch on eBay but ships from China. 3 of them for $6...so next time I’ll just swap out the switch and be done with it!
 
Nice fix, Tim. I had to do a similar fix on my spindle sander a while ago when it turned out that the switch was packed with sanding dust. Except the cheapest I found, even on eBay, for an exact replacement was $12 + shipping. Cleaned out the switch and it's been working since.
 
Great job on the troubleshooting and diagnostic. Glad to hear you got it all sorted out and up and running again.
 
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Got the majority of my shop set up. Started the build on my major missing fixture. I have yet to have a good stout flat bench. I decided that now is as good a time as any to build one. It's just dimensional lumber but will serve its purpose. Got the top boards all jointed, planed and ripped to size and glued up. Feels soooo good to be building stuff again. Even if it's just a bench for the shop......can't go into the shop with out some company either... She insists lol.

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I have made many a bench out of dimensional lumber, it will serve you well. I've also glued many a floor just like you did, lol. :taunt: Cute pooch, how could you say no to that face. Hope she didnt walk through the glue, lol.
 
Not much of anything. Cleaned, well straightened up and sorted some blanks. Also finished a couple of goose calls. The one with the clear insert is Circasian walnut. The black insert is with elm burl.

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Got the majority of my shop set up. Started the build on my major missing fixture. I have yet to have a good stout flat bench. I decided that now is as good a time as any to build one. It's just dimensional lumber but will serve its purpose. Got the top boards all jointed, planed and ripped to size and glued up. Feels soooo good to be building stuff again. Even if it's just a bench for the shop......can't go into the shop with out some company either... She insists lol.

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Got the old #8 out from the estate sale score. Sharpened the blade and away we go. This is a heck of a good upper body workout lol. I'm having a blast.

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This is more of a will be doing than did do, got the shipping notification that my lumber order is heading my way. Ordered 100bf of hard maple,cherry, walnut, and Ambrosia maple. Yay! I better get my butt in gear and get the bench done lol.
 
Finished a run of some styluses, styli? Dunno. All using various parts because I didn't like any off the shelf kits. Wanted something more permanent sized.

Also spent the weekend getting an e-commerce website up and running so I can try to keep working with all my summer art shows cancelled....

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Had the time and scraps. Made some Ruth Niles bottle openers over the last couple days. Sold all I had last year at the only craft fair I do. Ran out of stoppers but was on a roll so have to order some more. Thought I’d better get going, after all Christmas is just around the corner.

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