Archive for the ‘woodworker’ Tag
Time to up my game.
I’m a one man shop, and I’m slowly being overwhelmed by the amount of things I’m wanting to make. Being asked to make. Have to make.
Hiring help is not an option: I am committed to doing this myself. I say it at every event: “It’s just me in the shop.” So how do I get more efficient?
I get a better machine.
A CNC router (CNC = Computer Numerically Controlled) will allow me to have one machine making something while I’m working on something else. I’ll essentially become a two man shop.
That’s the plan, anyway.
I started shopping for a CNC last year. When you start crowd sourcing information, you find a lot of people will talk about building your own CNC. I heard “Make it just like you want it,” and “Save money.” I’m sure those statements are true, but I wasn’t interested in a DIY project. I wanted to save TIME, and buy a machine that would essentially be plug & play.
The next decision was budget. I considered less expensive, hobbyist-level machines, and quickly rejected them. Reviews are good for many, but I needed a machine that would keep up with my burgeoning, out-of-control hobby. I wanted a machine capable of working long hours with high reliability. You know, like me. High reliability means the price will go up, of course.
Size of the table (how big an item you can work on) is the next factor. The idea I seized upon here is that you should buy your second machine first. Don’t get a machine that’s “just big enough” for current needs, but get one that will do the projects you will want to do in a year or three. Good tools last a long time, after all, so buy the tool that is big enough for the future.
OK, go.
The first machines I looked at seriously were those sold by my favorite woodworking store, Rockler. Rockler is geared towards the hobbyist (red flag!), and they sell several models of CNC machines. Their “affordable” models are smaller, hobbyist machines. I wanted more.
Their most expensive model is by a traditional woodworking tool manufacturer, Powermatic. They have a good reputation, but I wondered what a manufacturer of table saws and drill presses would know about a computer-driven routing system. Their CNC machine was a relatively new offering; they’re late to the party. I moved on.
A person I’ve hired to do some CNC work for me recommended ShopBot exclusively. They make great machines, I’m sure, but were simply out of my price range. I’m not a corporate buyer; I needed a machine to fit in my budget.
I got very interested in Legacy machines; they had a great reputation and great training, I was told … and some totally bad transactions, too. They either had the best customer service, or were awful. And, in the end, they were out of my budget.
Finally, some people I respect in the RouterForums.com group highly recommended Probotix. Great customer service, I was told. Interestingly, they used Linux for their operating system, and were a family owned company that started in Illinois. That sounded very similar to the company I work for, Smarts Broadcast Systems, that is a family owned company based in Iowa; we use Linux for our operating system.
Probotix was my choice. I determined I would buy their largest machine, the Probotix Nebula. The work space is a massive 45″ x 61″ … far beyond the minimum 24″ x 36″ that was what I needed today. I totally respect their use of Linux … and they provided a plug & play solution for me. On the other hand, I know the style of company that they are.
Clearly, Probotix is quirky. They are very personal, but they are not polished. The materials they have online are hardly impressive. However, I went with the recommendations of people who I respect, and selected a large machine that was within Mrs M’s stretched budget.
Options had to be decided:
- You need to specify the mount for whatever router you want. I chose an air-cooled spindle, after research told me that spindles – that require 220v – are tireless workers. Routers will wear out quickly when used in cuts that may go 30 minutes without stopping. Go for the spindle.
- A “Z Touch off Puck” allows you to easily establish the height of the workpiece – so your machine knows what height to send the router bit when it begins. Sold.
- And ATLaS Tool Length Sensor is supposed to speed up bit changes, so you don’t have to touch off every time when you change bits. Sold.
- They offered an 8 piece router bit “starter set,” but I decided to buy my own bits based on my research into the kinds of bits I would need for the kinds of work I anticipate doing. So, no to their set.
- They sell a 4th axis rotary so you can carve in 3 dimensions by rotating your work piece automatically. I thought about doing this, but didn’t to save money. I can always add it later.
- Choose your spindle … and I chose to have them install an air-cooled spindle for me. Not the most expensive, but it was still more than twice what I paid for my last 3-1/4 horsepower router.
- The machine only does what it’s told, so you need software. The program they offer is by Vectric, and I elected to buy the upgraded software directly from that company. It’s called Aspire, and the people I was consulting on this purchase told me I would not regret buying the best CAM software out there for CNC routing. OK, so no to the CAM software from Probotix and yes to the upgraded purchase from Vectric.
- Dust collection is an option, and I know that I MUST have it, but I already have the powerful V3000 from Oneida. I don’t need a baby system just for the CNC, so no to their system, but yes to the dust boot that my system will attach to.
- The table itself is commonly referred to as the spoil board (as it’s going to be cut up on occasion). You can get it with a grid and threaded inserts installed, which I seriously considered … and did not do to save money. I’ll do my own mounting jigs to hold work pieces in place.
- Want to make dovetail joinery? It can be configured to do that. I like being fancy. Sold.
- Want a rolling stand to hold it all? I could build my own, but … I am trying to save time here. Sold.
- A keyboard/mouse/monitor arm was offered that would attach to the CNC’s stand. Probotix supplies the computer setup, along with the software they’ve developed to run the machine. You’ve got to put it somewhere, so yes, please.
I ordered my Nebula, and was told it would be 2-3 weeks before the unit would ship (they build each unit as ordered for each buyer … just like my company). Unfortunately, it was almost 4 weeks before it would ship. I got a call on a Friday morning, and was told that a Nebula they had just built for another customer (in front of me in line) could be mine if I was OK that it was configured for a 110v router as well as for the 220v air-cooled spindle that I selected. All I had to do was say yes, and the unit would ship on Friday.
Yes. Of course. YES. Ship it.
I paid extra for quick shipping. I was told it would be delivered in 3-4 days, but this would be a residential delivery that required special handling. It took 5 days to get to me, and only delivered that day because I proactively followed the shipment, and called the shipper when the website noted that the crate would be arriving in Los Angeles on a Thursday. I scheduled my delivery before the shipper even received the crate.
Delivery was last Friday.
Next up: Installing the Probotix Nebula
To receive an email every time I publish a new post, just click the “Follow” button near the top of the column to the left.
More
Installing Oneida’s V3000 Dust Collection System
The Big Install
Here’s the picnic table in its original wood stain, circa 1987.
It was about 15 years ago that I built my own workbench: a rite of passage for any woodworker.
After making my first project in Junior High, and then working my way through college building in the Mizzou scene shop, I was very much a DIYer throughout our early family years. After making bookcases out of plywood to hold our album collection in our first apartment, I continued to make things for our home. In our first house, it was about outdoor living: a wooden fence. A patio cover. The picnic table that I made is still with us, 32 years later.
The Easton Press collectible books are pretty. They read well, too.
In our second home, I really got busy. Space saver closets. A breakfast nook. More patio furniture. End tables. Loft beds for the boys. An entertainment center. A desk.
I’m sitting at that desk to write this post. It’s been my official office since I stopped my daily commuting on the LA Freeways in 2009.
It wasn’t until I decided to make a Christmas gift for my mother, though, that things began to get dicey.
Yes. I blame my mother.
Mom, you see, has this obsession with snowmen. I decided I would make her a snowman routed bowl, and that prompted a whole slew of other bowls in different shapes and sizes. I chronicled that process in one of my early blog posts, Making A Snowman.
Once I had made a couple of dozen bowls (!), I commented to who would become the elder Mrs M that the same technique for making bowls is how you would make cutting boards.
Major mistake, that. Life altering, even.
She immediately said, “Make me a cutting board.”
OK, so I made 5 in that first batch, and gave 4 of them away that Christmas. Velda’s board got another one of those early blog posts, which you can read, here. The picture is not very good, though; here’s a better picture from when I restored her board a couple of years later:
Velda’s Cutting Board. Goncalo Alves (Tigerwood), Black Walnut, Honey Locust, Jatoba & Cherry. Edge grain, and 2 years old as shown. 16″ x 21″ x 1-1/4″.
From there, it was just a hop & a skip to what has become Mr M’s Woodshop. Our 2 car garage hasn’t seen a car in more than a decade. It’s become the center of my seriously out of control hobby … with about 450 square feet of dedicated space.
The problem? The shop is bulging at the seams. I’m working in a mess right now. The main culprit, I’ve decided, are the piles & piles of end cuts and off cuts that I’ve collected and refuse to throw away. Hardwood doesn’t come in nice even-sized boards, unfortunately. Some are 8′ long. Some are 9′. Or 10′ … or any length up to 16′. The widths are similarly variable, from 4″ up to, in rare cases, 14″. When I do what I do, I inevitably have the odd bits & pieces left over, and those are the hardest parts to use. They require TLC. They require special sizes. They require individual glue-ups; there’s no efficiency here.
So, those cut offs keep waiting for the next open slot on the calendar to get cleaned up … and I keep filling those slots with special projects.
Like the 2 I’m working on this week.
Oh, and did I mention I’ve got a new tool coming? That tool is the solution to some of these cut-offs, thankfully, so I want to save those cut-offs until I have time to process then with the new tool.
It’s about time. It’s about space.
And I hope my result is better than that of the obscure 1967 TV series from the creator of “Gilligan’s Island” with that lyric for an opening theme.
So, in all of its glory, here is the over-used chaos I call my garage workshop, before its transformation with the mandatory cleaning and new tool placement that will be the solution to my problem.
I hope.
The top clamp storage rack was added to my original rack, behind the trash can, to solve almost all of my clamp storage needs. That’s great … I now enough clamps to do 13 simultaneous sets of glue-ups, which is about right for my shop.
I need lots of clamps. And when I’m in glue-up mode, as with these chess boards, I give up floor space while waiting for the glue to dry.
As pieces come out of the clamps, they are put in front of the workbench for their next process … which had better be done quickly. Floor space is precious.
The garage’s original workbench, installed by our home’s original buyer, is overwhelmed by the things I try to keep close at hand.
Under the workbench is just as overwhelmed. Not to mention in front of it!
Too many containers of screws & hardware – that’s 4 drawer units in this picture.
And 2 drawer units in this picture. Something’s gotta give.
Chaos. Gotta go, when I can figure out how.
Above the workbench hang my plans for upcoming boards. Most of the things I make start on these clipboards.
The garage is not my own … Mrs M insists on keeping a path to her freezer & # 2 refrigerator. At least I can store my magnets on the freezer door!
The workbench is the center of any shop. Here, I’ve got a glue-up waiting to happen on top … while the planer & a stack of cut-offs are stored underneath. Space cannot be wasted. Ever.
At the end of the workbench, is this rolling cabinet of cut offs. On top of the cabinet is my sanding station, with all of my sanding supplies, kept close at hand for when I’m sanding, always on top of the workbench.
Beside the cabinet are 2 large containers of cut-offs, on a rolling platform.
A great representation of my chaos. A ladder, a bag of recycling, lumber storage, finished product and a plywood piece, all within 24″ of each other. Not. Good.
The back side of the workbench is a path, thankfully … with plywood and lumber storage cluttering the way. Not. Good.
The router table is either in use, or it’s holding whatever is currently in production. Flat surfaces do not stay clear very long.
Lumber storage, in this case behind the router table. This has got to go to clear floor space for the new tool.
The end of the tool line, with the finishing supplies on the ground, left over from my last 2 large special projects. That’s gotta go.
The table saw sits in the garage door, next to the original workbench. This works fine … until I have to cut lumber longer than 8′.
The table saw is the most important tool in my shop … and makes for a very expensive table.
The rolling cabinet under the edge of the table saw has a top that’s filled with a chaotic mix of jigs, Grr-rippers and sawdust.
Under the table saw, another drawer unit of hardware, collecting dust until I can properly place it.
The back of the table saw has storage for wood blocks used when I get big lumber orders, and overflow of jigs & mineral oil gallon jugs. Not efficient at all!
The drum sander is one of my 4 most used tools … and if not in use, it’s all too frequently full of something.
Below the drum sander, I store jigs. And dust collector bags. And, uh, a mobile tool platform kit. Not efficient at all.
Below the jig storage, here is lumber just stacked on the floor. Not. Good.
This is the main lumber rack, with 3 shelves that are 8′ long. When the rack is this empty, I have trouble doing the wood combinations that I like to do.
I have a good problem. And I need to make more stuff.
And when the work is almost done … this shop becomes a photo studio. The glory of a small shop!
I had planned for this moment for months. It was time to install the most expensive tool to ever come into my shop: Oneida’s V3000 Dust Collection System.
After using my 1-1/2 horsepower dust collector from Sears until it wouldn’t start anymore … and then, needing a temporary solution, buying a comparable used system by Delta that leaked as much dust as it collected … it was at long last time to upgrade.
And this Oneida system had better be a significant upgrade, knowing what it cost! So, here’s the story:
I’d researched this purchase for about a year … I knew I had a dust problem, and I knew that the only solution was a better dust collection system. For me, that meant 2 things:
- A better machine to suck up the dust and keep it contained
- Improved ductwork to not leak air and dust … and provide a better environment for the machine to do its work
After a lot of soul-searching, I decided to buy an Oneida system. That company’s dust collectors had stellar reviews, and there was a general consensus that their customer service was top-notch. Further, they had a lot of resources on their website that I appreciated. Airflow through ductwork is best understood by researching the underlying science, so I had work to do before understanding what I needed to do from the cutting edge to the collection bag.
I looked at every system I could find before getting down to the semi-finalists. I decided not to buy Grizzly, Jet or Laguna. They had mixed reviews (Laguna’s were the best of these 3) … and their machines were louder and less effective than Oneida’s. Oneida had machines with a HEPA rating (meaning effective collection down to very small particles of dust), and they weren’t that much more expensive.
Since my old system still ran, I was content to wait for a sale that might catch my eye in December or January. I wasn’t in a big rush. Then, a couple of weeks later, they offered units with a bonus remote and bonus Dust Sentry to tell you when the barrel is full. Those are about $150 in bonuses. Sold.
I called customer service, asked for sales, and got Anna on the phone. I described my situation: a small, one-man shop. Since it was just me, I only operated one tool at a time. 5 tools were connected: table saw, band saw, drum sander, router table & drill press. A 6th tool drop was for the work bench & was used for the portable tools that sat on the bench as I used them. My longest duct run was about 25′. Anna was great to work with; she eventually recommended the V3000. That’s the system that I had previously identified as a good choice, so we had a winner. A few decisions:
- wall mount, or floor stand?
- 2 or 3 horsepower?
- 35 gallon barrel, or 55 gallon barrel for the dust?
- fiber or steel barrel?
I went with the floor stand, as I don’t have a wall. The upgrade from 2 to 3 hp was only $100, so I chose that … because more power is almost always the right answer. I stuck with the standard 35 gallon barrel, because who wants to lift 55 gallons of sawdust? Finally, I stayed with the fiber barrel because I’m cheap.
I ordered the system on November 30, but asked them to not deliver until after Christmas, as the shop was going to be FULL of activity until then. No problem.
Two more details had to be ready for the install: electrical service and ductwork. Luckily, I know a guy.
I asked the Mechanical Engineer if he was available next weekend, and he made the mistake of saying he had no plans. I went to the Building Inspector, and asked him what he knew about ductwork. “Everything,” he replied. That was the right answer. When I asked, “Wanna come help me next Saturday?”, he said OK. Since he also knew how to install a 250v service into my previously upgraded electrical panel, we could do the majority of the install in one day. We thought.
I then had to decide what kind of ductwork I wanted. My first dust collection system was done with 4″ PVC, which then transitioned to 4″ flex hose or 2-1/2″ flex hose as needed for each tool. There was a “blast gate” in front of each machine, that was kept closed when the machine was not in use & allowed the dust collection to happen through the single open gate for the machine in use. Unless I forgot another gate because I couldn’t see it. Also, the gates were right by the machines – not at the end of the rigid pipes, as they should be to maximize performance of the dust collector.
See, I learned things doing my research.
The new machine delivered a 7″ opening, and Oneida recommends using galvanized ductwork as much as possible, as it lessens fire risk from static generated in PVC pipes. They wanted to sell me the ductwork, in fact, and offered a free installation plan if I would just tell them about my shop. I filled out the forms, and they proposed selling me the ductwork for $1,100 (with “free” shipping!).
I decided to not accept their offer. I sourced many of the joints for the ductwork through Amazon, and then bought the galvanized pipes and a very few joints from Home Depot. I had to buy a crimper, aluminum tape and such … but my total cost was under $500 by using a total DIY approach, and re-using most of the flex hose and some of the PVC connections from the old system.
Big cardboard boxes started arriving with galvanized joints wrapped in bubble wrap, which I found a bit odd, but the joints were undented and sturdy. I needed a lot of different joinery to take the single 7″ port from the dust collector and split that into 6 different 4″ and 2-1/2″ openings. By the time the V3000 arrived, I had 8 boxes of stuff from Amazon, and they were joined by 8 really big boxes from Oneida.
The pre-delivery instructions emailed with my Oneida order confirmation were very specific: do not sign for the order until you open and inspect every box. If the delivery man won’t wait, then accept the order as “damaged.”
The very nice UPS man brought me 7 boxes, and abruptly left. I didn’t sign for anything. Well, OK, then. The boxes did seem undamaged; I opened them and found everything to be well cushioned and in good shape. Didn’t find the impeller, though … which was a 70+ pound box that arrived the next day.
The instructions were also very specific to look for the boxes with the green stickers:
There was no such sticker on any box.
I didn’t have the room to spread out everything and inspect part by part, but the system had arrived in plenty of time for The Big Install on January 2.
That day, after we fortified ourselves with Jimmy Dean’s burritos, the work began. Step one was to roll all of the tools out of the garage and into the driveway, along with portable clutter in our way. I had boxed the off cuts and end cuts that I’ve been accumulating; those went out as well. The work bench had been cleared, so the shop was cleaner than it had been in years. Time to make it better.
Each box was emptied and contents were laid out on the driveway. We needed a lot of space to get organized! The galvanized pipes were still in the Jeep, but it was parked in the driveway, so everything was handy. The last box to be emptied was the hardest to unpack: the heavy impeller. Come to find out, it was packed with some kind of blow-in, instantly hardening foam wrapped in plastic. We had to carefully break the foam away from the motor housing and impeller, not knowing the exact shape of the piece to be revealed. That was the most challenging bit of unpacking, but between the 3 of us we figured it out.
Time to get into the instructions. We started with the stand, and quickly progressed to the cyclone where the bolded instructions said it well:
Parts of this procedure require at least two people to complete. Use extreme caution and good sense when assembling this unit. Parts of it are very heavy.
With hope that good sense was available, we proceeded.
The instructions were fairly well written, but annoyingly switched to French in the middle of every single instruction point. This may be a standard way to write technical directions in some areas, but it was most annoying to me. I would read a line or 3 of English instructions, and then the words would turn to gibberish in my mind before I realized I was now reading French. That one year of high school French is far, far behind me, so it made no sense when I read instructions like this:
10. Line up the holes in housing with the holes in the motor plate. Then attach using the provided (8) 5/16″ flange bolts (AFB155155). You will need a sturdy step ladder for this. / Aligner les trous de logement avec les trous dans la boulons….
That stated, the instructions were pretty clear; I’d give them a B+. We did have to take one assembly apart twice to get the right bolts in place (they used similar-sized bolts that were poorly described, IMHO. We worked through the problem, but it could have been avoided had they chosen bolts that were clearly different for each assembly). Further, the hardware wasn’t shipped in the same box as the parts being assembled; you had to find the hardware in other boxes. When we finally got ALL of the hardware out, we got going very well. Assembly started at about 9am; we were largely done with the assembly of the dust collector, including installing the electrical outlet and the major ductwork, by 4pm. We even had the time for a trip to Home Depot to buy the electrical hardware we needed.
We were very careful doing our ductwork: the goal was leak-free pipes going to each tool. Therefore, every galvanized joint:
- Got caulk between the pieces being joined
- 3 screws were used to hold together every joint
- Aluminum tape was applied outside of the joints to seal them
The result: leak-free pipes to every blast gate. This is so much better than my previous PVC ductwork!
By the time we quit at 6pm, almost all of the ductwork was done, save for a couple of tweaks that would require another trip to Home Depot. I also needed an upgrade to my router table fence dust collection hardware, so I had to order a piece. Final assembly of all ductwork was completed a couple of weeks later. I did have trouble installing the Dust Sentry in the thin metal lid of the fiber barrel: my brand new 3/4″ bit tore the metal, rather than drilling it. I managed to get a hole that worked, and then sealed the rough edges, but I wish Oneida would have drilled this hole for me.
After using this system for a couple of weeks, it’s clear that this is a massive upgrade for me. I had no idea how bad my previous dust collector was until I started using the V3000. It is an amazing system. It’s quieter than my older system that had only half the horsepower. I had gotten used to brushing dust off of my drum sander, for example, because the conveyor belt and work surface was always dusty after exiting the drum. Now, the entire assembly is dust free, because my dust collector is removing and containing almost all of the dust before it exits the machine.
And, oh my goodness, changing the bag in the dust collector is a breeze! I was using the planer, which always generates a great deal of sawdust for the collector. The Dust Sentry started flashing to alert me that the barrel was full, so I opened it up, and sure enough, it was! Changing the bag was so simple. It’s no longer The Worst Job In The Shop! This is a huge change, and so appreciated.
My shop will never be dust free … but my goodness, it is so much better now with the V3000.
Probotix was my choice. I determined I would buy their largest machine, the Probotix Nebula. The work space is a massive 45″ x 61″ … far beyond the minimum 24″ x 36″ that was what I needed today. I totally respect their use of Linux … and they provided a plug & play solution for me. On the other hand, I know the style of company that they are.
Options had to be decided:
