What did you do in your shop today?

I started my Adirondack chair project with my dad. I’m building two chairs and footstools based on the Jakes chair plan. It was rough cut day. Spent several hours between the radial arm saw, jointer, and tablesaw. A few more pieces to rough cut, and then it’s onto shaping, routing, and such.

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Like your cart! Have fun, project with dad is priceless!
 
Yes, it is white oak. I made it run down to Johnson’s Lumber in Charlotte last fall to pick up supply of boards. While I was there, the drum sander happen to fall in the truck as well. 😁

This is my second set of Jakes chairs that I’ve built. I did a prototype set out of pine many years ago that lasted for longer than I thought they would.
 
All done.
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This is half of them, already had enough others to make the total I need. These are all Slimline, others have a few Cigar and Big Ben mixed in.
 
Plus the fumes

George, you need to get yourself some odorless CA. I discovered odorless CA after I ended up becoming allergic to CA. I exclusively use SuperGold (thin) and SuperGold+ (medium) from BSI, along with their InstaSet. No fumes, no odor - it's great.
 
George, you need to get yourself some odorless CA. I discovered odorless CA after I ended up becoming allergic to CA. I exclusively use SuperGold (thin) and SuperGold+ (medium) from BSI, along with their InstaSet. No fumes, no odor - it's great.
The fumes were just one of the reasons.
Glad you like it.
 
Garry ( @Gdurfey ), is the bed of your sliding miter saw cabinet equal in height or taller than your work bench or another mobile bench? You'll need a secondary support if you ever cut long planks. I made this mistake when I made my mobile bench (I put my miter saw on it when I need to use it) and when I needed to cut the boards for my deck, I had to jury rig a couple saw horses with some other boards clamped on top to provide support for the long planks. Wish I would have thought of that when I built the mobile bench. I would have made it so the bed of my miter saw was higher than my table saw and then made myself a couple wooden blocks that would rest on the table saw for support for long planks. Live and learn.
 
Garry ( @Gdurfey ), is the bed of your sliding miter saw cabinet equal in height or taller than your work bench or another mobile bench? You'll need a secondary support if you ever cut long planks. I made this mistake when I made my mobile bench (I put my miter saw on it when I need to use it) and when I needed to cut the boards for my deck, I had to jury rig a couple saw horses with some other boards clamped on top to provide support for the long planks. Wish I would have thought of that when I built the mobile bench. I would have made it so the bed of my miter saw was higher than my table saw and then made myself a couple wooden blocks that would rest on the table saw for support for long planks. Live and learn.
Thanks Doug, thought of all of that. The big bench was supposed to be outfeed of my little table saw. It is just a hair high, but I can make it work. For the miter saw I ordered a couple of locking flip up supports. I am going to build tops for those that are the right height to be the extensions. I can also use one of those height adjustable rollers.

I was hoping to build a bench along one of the walls and build in the extensions and such. But with the large garage door taking up 16 feet of wall I ran out of room. That will be okay, it won’t be used a lot, I don’t think, and I prefer my “window” to the fresh air.
 
Not woodworking related but it was definitely done in the shop so dropping it here.

I have an older truck that has been occupying space in the garage for the last 3 years. I really like driving the truck but Overdrive started slipping so I parked it when the deal on the truck I drive now came along. I had already gathered factory parts to swap a 5-speed in the place of the automatic. I finally got around to that last summer. Before installing it, I pulled the top plate off the M5OD, polished the shift rails and replaced the shift forks. The last step was to add a Hurst shifter. This is a slick shifting truck.

The truck needs new tires before it will pass inspection. I always thought that the factory "Alcoa" aluminum wheels were pretty sharp so tracked down a set and brought them home. Had the junk tires dismounted and went to work.

Guys, Just Say No to putting slime inside your tires. What a mess to clean up! 2 of the rims were coated with a thick layer of the stuff. No chemical in the shop would touch it. Many hours were lost with a wire wheel on a dri to get down to metal.

The clearcoating was deteriated to the point that it needed refurbished. This was OK because the intention was to remove the clear & polish the aluminum. Even in bad condition the clear is a total pain to remove. Aircraft stripper works to remove it, as does sandpaper. One makes a mess and my preference is to avoid chemicals when possible, the other takes a long time and a lot of physical labor. I did 2 wheels each way and learned as it progressed.

Having been a car guy all of my life polishing a set of aluminum wheels to a nice shine has been a bucket list item. After getting into this project I questioned myself many times but kept powering thru. I've always enjoyed polishing metal but now having done a set of wheels I'll send this project out to the pros next time. It would get done better & faster.

All were sanded to 1,000 grit and buffed with 2 compounds on the buffer. Bowl sanding 2" & 3" mandrels with foam pads were of big help getting into the curves & corners although the foam pads have a short lifespan in this roll. There are many hours of hand sanding involved

Was it worth the effort? Yes, it was. The truck looks are improved and I have the satisfaction of having done it. I got a little rushed at the end stretch as there was a hard date with the tire guy that had to be met. The tires were purchased online at Tire Rack, delivered to a mobile service, and the mounting was done in my driveway. This was my first experience with online tire purchase but it went smoothly and I would do it again.

New center also on order. 2 have arrived.

Enough backstory. Here are the before / after pictures. Feel free to comment.

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Not woodworking related but it was definitely done in the shop so dropping it here.

I have an older truck that has been occupying space in the garage for the last 3 years. I really like driving the truck but Overdrive started slipping so I parked it when the deal on the truck I drive now came along. I had already gathered factory parts to swap a 5-speed in the place of the automatic. I finally got around to that last summer. Before installing it, I pulled the top plate off the M5OD, polished the shift rails and replaced the shift forks. The last step was to add a Hurst shifter. This is a slick shifting truck.

The truck needs new tires before it will pass inspection. I always thought that the factory "Alcoa" aluminum wheels were pretty sharp so tracked down a set and brought them home. Had the junk tires dismounted and went to work.

Guys, Just Say No to putting slime inside your tires. What a mess to clean up! 2 of the rims were coated with a thick layer of the stuff. No chemical in the shop would touch it. Many hours were lost with a wire wheel on a dri to get down to metal.

The clearcoating was deteriated to the point that it needed refurbished. This was OK because the intention was to remove the clear & polish the aluminum. Even in bad condition the clear is a total pain to remove. Aircraft stripper works to remove it, as does sandpaper. One makes a mess and my preference is to avoid chemicals when possible, the other takes a long time and a lot of physical labor. I did 2 wheels each way and learned as it progressed.

Having been a car guy all of my life polishing a set of aluminum wheels to a nice shine has been a bucket list item. After getting into this project I questioned myself many times but kept powering thru. I've always enjoyed polishing metal but now having done a set of wheels I'll send this project out to the pros next time. It would get done better & faster.

All were sanded to 1,000 grit and buffed with 2 compounds on the buffer. Bowl sanding 2" & 3" mandrels with foam pads were of big help getting into the curves & corners although the foam pads have a short lifespan in this roll. There are many hours of hand sanding involved

Was it worth the effort? Yes, it was. The truck looks are improved and I have the satisfaction of having done it. I got a little rushed at the end stretch as there was a hard date with the tire guy that had to be met. The tires were purchased online at Tire Rack, delivered to a mobile service, and the mounting was done in my driveway. This was my first experience with online tire purchase but it went smoothly and I would do it again.

New center also on order. 2 have arrived.

Enough backstory. Here are the before / after pictures. Feel free to comment.

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Thanks for the backstory! ”New” wheels look just amazing! Chuck
 
The newly refurbished rims sure do make a difference. Can’t imagine the amount of effort it took to get the rims back to that level of shine.
 
The newly refurbished rims sure do make a difference. Can’t imagine the amount of effort it took to get the rims back to that level of shine.
Karl, there are at least 80 hours in them to this point, much of it done by hand. Time ran out and the tires needed to be put on so I went with it. The truck is a workhorse, not a showpiece so it will be fine.

The original plan was to sand to 2000 grit prior to polishing. 1 wheel was done this way and it did turn out better than the others. I doubt anyone else will ever notice.
 
Gotta love "regular cab" trucks with 8' beds. Hardly ever see them anymore. Wheels and truck look great.
 
Not woodworking related but it was definitely done in the shop so dropping it here.

I have an older truck that has been occupying space in the garage for the last 3 years. I really like driving the truck but Overdrive started slipping so I parked it when the deal on the truck I drive now came along. I had already gathered factory parts to swap a 5-speed in the place of the automatic. I finally got around to that last summer. Before installing it, I pulled the top plate off the M5OD, polished the shift rails and replaced the shift forks. The last step was to add a Hurst shifter. This is a slick shifting truck.

The truck needs new tires before it will pass inspection. I always thought that the factory "Alcoa" aluminum wheels were pretty sharp so tracked down a set and brought them home. Had the junk tires dismounted and went to work.

Guys, Just Say No to putting slime inside your tires. What a mess to clean up! 2 of the rims were coated with a thick layer of the stuff. No chemical in the shop would touch it. Many hours were lost with a wire wheel on a dri to get down to metal.

The clearcoating was deteriated to the point that it needed refurbished. This was OK because the intention was to remove the clear & polish the aluminum. Even in bad condition the clear is a total pain to remove. Aircraft stripper works to remove it, as does sandpaper. One makes a mess and my preference is to avoid chemicals when possible, the other takes a long time and a lot of physical labor. I did 2 wheels each way and learned as it progressed.

Having been a car guy all of my life polishing a set of aluminum wheels to a nice shine has been a bucket list item. After getting into this project I questioned myself many times but kept powering thru. I've always enjoyed polishing metal but now having done a set of wheels I'll send this project out to the pros next time. It would get done better & faster.

All were sanded to 1,000 grit and buffed with 2 compounds on the buffer. Bowl sanding 2" & 3" mandrels with foam pads were of big help getting into the curves & corners although the foam pads have a short lifespan in this roll. There are many hours of hand sanding involved

Was it worth the effort? Yes, it was. The truck looks are improved and I have the satisfaction of having done it. I got a little rushed at the end stretch as there was a hard date with the tire guy that had to be met. The tires were purchased online at Tire Rack, delivered to a mobile service, and the mounting was done in my driveway. This was my first experience with online tire purchase but it went smoothly and I would do it again.

New center also on order. 2 have arrived.

Enough backstory. Here are the before / after pictures. Feel free to comment.

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Great!!! I know exactly what wheels those are, had a similar set on my Bronco II. Nice project. How was the manual swap??
 
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