Boring till pieces machined

Wednesday, I managed to make a dent in my to do list.
Yes fans, even after a love's one passed away, the Honey do list is still in effect :-)
One of these resulted in a bureaucratic catch 22.
We had everything listed as co-owner, so I had to changed the car's title.
But as soon as I declared her dead, I now have to change the plate on my car, if I want to drive away from here..... So I figure if I must changed plates may as well get veteran plates, but hold on sport fans, that require being vetted by the Royal Canadian Legion (of which I am a member) but that won't happen right now, so I got regular plates on, to be replaced by my vet plates once authorized, and getting a refund for the unused portion of the old plate I shared with Heather ..... Allright, what I thought would be a short visit at my local Provincial government office took a bit more time than I thought... Then a few more hours at the local Federal government office

After checking on Rudy, who was spending time with his doggy friends at a friend's place, it was time to start my shift at the wood shop. A quick stop home to gather my dimensions, off I went to the base woodshop.  In no time I had the pieces machined to make my till frame.

The four side pieces machined and the remainder of the board I bought.

That of course would be dovetailed by hand.
NO I did not took Rudy in the shop, way too noisy and dangerous for him.

Back home, with Rudy, I tried two pieces on the wall for sizing, it fit, just, above the pegboard in place, but I am pretty sure that area under the window is going to be modified shortly... :-)

This is how a 32 in piece fit.

And that is as big as I wanna get.

I may still shave off an inch or two,,,

Thursday
More stuff picked away at my list, mostly stuff I could not do at the local Federal government office, they apparently don't talk to the tax dept and passport office etc ???
These you do on line or via old fashion phone with muzak on hold for eons............your call is important to us, please stay on the line in order not to loose your priority in the cue... Zzzzzzzzzz

After tweaking my pieces to my final, final, final dimensions. Who me keep changing my mind !??
It was quick work dovetailing a 6 in wide box.
Then come the fun part...
Finalize my holders.  That of course would imply that I settled down which ones are going where.
Hummm, still don't want to customized the holders too much to specific tools, but regardless these holders are to be simply screw in from the back, so I can further customize down the road :-)

Had the car in for tire changes, 2 new ones, somehow they got the wrong sizes in ?? They will called me back tomorrow when the right size comes in...
Then Monday back to the dealership to have my suspension rebuilt. That darn pot hole from hell I hit in Boston last year sure took its toll on the car, so far I replaced two tires, both front spring, now replacing the last two tires and the shock absorbers. They say they still OK, but they are getting long in the tooth, so may as well replace them and see if there is anymore damages, four wheels alignments and check my AC, it doesn't seems to be very cold anymore, recharge?
All that to get the car ship shape for travelling this summer, with Rudy
.
There goes a big hole in my tool budget :-(

Bob, making small progress on many fronts

Hold the press...

Just when I thought my jello was firming up, I had a brain fart!

I thought it would be nice to incorporate at least one breast drill into it.
Well that monstrosity is taking lots of room, so no problem, we will just "stretch" the box taller if required...

All-right Buster, Stefan said there would be treats involved

So where are they??

I find that sometimes, what seems like a bright idea after a few pints, turned out no so great in the morning with coffee... Humm, maybe I need stronger coffee??

So following Stefan's advice, I got Rudy his treats... 

To save the tools from being munched on :-)

Now that new layout is about 4 feet long.

4ft mark hit just under my current pegboard.

That is a tad bigger that I was first envisioning...

Lets be sure to leave room for my monkey Dad!

See it fit right in there.

Since I solved your dilemma, I think I deserve one more treat...

Sooo, I think I will split this till in two parts, first one holding only Breast drill (1), braces (4), handrills (5).
The remainders, pushdrills and small accessories will go into another smaller one mounted in front of the bench, under the window. That means re-organizing that area, yet one more time... I could also organize/displays my brace bits and etc in that area.

But at any rate, I am impatient (who me?) so tomorrow during my supervisor's shift on the base, I'm cutting my pieces for my re-re-revised boring till.

Bob, designing on the fly with inputs from Rudy.  Must find a better place for Rudy's monkey...

Boring till design set...

... In Jello.

Today I was planing on checking off a few more boxes on my executor's to do list, but I forgot...Today is a holiday, Victoria day, sooo banks are closed, government offices and  post office, so much for that! When you are retired every weekend is a long weekend, so...I don't pay much attention to "holidays"

Took Rudy out for a drive nonetheless and he got to sniff out the
base woodshop :-) I put in for a supervisor shift this coming Wednesday.

The more I thought about Stefan suggestion, holding the hand drills by their chucks not the doggy treats part :-)
The more I think it would be better for easier access/retrieval

So hanging from their chucks it is. Only thing is they all have various chucks sizes an clearances under, so it would look like they are going to have dedicated locations. Similarly, the only brace which would not fit into my brace holder is my English plated brace, so it would also necessitated a dedicated spot.

My only hand drill which will not hang by its chuck is my MF Buck Rogers one, its chuck is not bigger than the body. Would require a different strategy to hang in there.

Rudy leaving the scene...What no more treats? 

I'm going to chew on your shoes or something!

Since I need to increase my spacing's for the hand drills, I will have to seriously give some thought to which ones to store in there, since that reduces my available space. And the more I thought about putting the bits on hinged panels in front of them, the more I don't like it since that would negate seeing my drills in the open, which is after all one of the main design consideration for my open tills storage.

Yes, I know, open storage is bad for rust but I want to see my tools, some have been tucked away in boxes far too long, I want to see them!

The highlite of my days is to relax with a cold one while admiring my tools in the late evenings, so there! Besides being a handtools only shop, I'm not too worry about sawdust, I mostly makes wood shavings and chips. I will concede however that you cannot avoid some dust  and yes, I have to dust my tools once in a while. But since the whole idea is to rotate them in and out of long term storage, they get handled enough to spot the dust before it causes any damages.
So think what you want, I'm sticking with open storage... Just realized that it does have this drawback. I thought however to cover them with a drop clothe if/when I'm going away for a period of time on travel.

Another drawback is, if I customize too much the holders for specific tools, It negate being able to rotated them easily in and out of storage when their turn to come out to play has arrived.

So in the end, I'm balancing the aesthetic look with practicality. This will determine my final dimensions required. I also need a bit more than 27 inches high as figured out with my template and the depth would be 6 inches.

BTW in yesterday post I talk about my template being 27 in wide by 25 in high, it is more correctly 25 wide X 27 in high! I went back and corrected that post.
Somehow I transplanted these numbers but I did labelled the up part correctly on my cardboard template, so I did in fact play along the right dimensions with my tools layout.

My final outside dimensions are then:
A rectangular box, 25 in width X  30 in high X 6 in deep

I now need to finalize my holder's muck up strategies, while I go ahead and start machining my side pieces, joinery would of course be dovetailed. The holders would simply be screwed in from the back (plywood).

At the bottom of the till, there would be two rows of holder, the rear one, standing higher, would hold push drills etc, the front one will hold small bits and accessories.

So here is a preliminary look at what I have in minds. Mind(s) ?? Yes, in both my military and civilian minds :-)

Drawn not to scale and will contain more tools :-)

Yes, those braces would appears to be Rudy sizes :-)

The way I look at this shop re-organization effort, once complete, if a tool does not fit in the wall in front of my bench (in my various tills) I probably have no need for it... or very rarely. That wall of tools (Tm) contains more than enough tools :-)... Oh and that leave three more walls (insert biggest grin here)

Bob and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat workshop, where tools appears magically out of nowhere to be displayed :-)

Boring till preliminary design

Today is a slow day, catching up on yard works and etc...
Rudy is so much help...NOT! :-)

Anyway, figured out my max space available, about 25 in external dimensions, in order to fit between the window and the service entrance. The height? Not sure yet.

So armed with a piece of cardboard cut 25 X 27 in, I try some layouts, to get a feel for the space it occupied.

I'm thinking put the braces and hand drills on the top row

and the pushdrills etc in front.

Depending on the depth of this box I could possibly add one more row at the bottom of the cabinet for small accessories, specialty bits etc.
Deeper yet and I could add the bits on small hinged doors in front of the braces and handrills?

Did some figuring out with my sample holder to guesstimate the spacing's

At about 25 wide (outside dimensions) I can put in 11, one inch diameter holes spaced at 2 inches, for the handrills and push drills.

The holes spacing for the braces works out at 7, one inch and 1/8 hole spaced at 3-1/2 in.

Figured out my optimum spacings, or did I ?

Quick work at the drill press and bandsaw, turned my two scrap boards into holders. Could not reach in for the last cut with bandsaw...

Braces, work great, good spacing.

Push drills etc, no problems, room for my big paws.

Hand drills...Not so much. Definitively too cramped

And the one inch holes are too big for some.

So obviously need to re-think my handrills holders. Need more space and a better way of holding them. Maybe from the handles?

Getting there, still don't have the final dimensions, but I can visualize how it is going to fit in my space and roughly what it will eventually hold inside.

And from my experiments look like I will be taller than 27 inches, as per my cardboard template.
Must also finalized what tools I am going to put in there.... YES, I have a "few" more to pick from :-)

And then there are the few that will not make it inside this cabinet:
The hand augers, and perhaps the breast drills (?).
The barn beam boring machine will obviously not reside inside such a till, but some of its accessories could, bits, wrench etc.
BTW, I did found a proper bit for it :-)

Not sure yet if I want to bother putting the bits selection inside of this boring till or somewhere else. For now will go with the notion of putting the drilling bits in a separate storage solution.

Bob, trying different layouts on the floor with Rudy helping or interfering??

Boring tools storage requirements

OK, I got my planes and saws looked after, now all I need is to come up with some sort of boring tools storage. What? Another boring till ? :-) "Well actually" I swear those were our youngest son Matt's first words :-)
I need two, another one for the power tool shop.

Frankly, I do not know yet what it is going to look like, but as usual let's first round up the usual suspects.

Then google woodworking brace storage and found these on Pinterest

which lead me to this blog

I like the look of it but definitively too small for my need

But I think I can use that as a starting point.

Lets see what I intend to store
From bigger to smaller

Hand augers; These are the large twist bits on steroids used with a T- handle
Do I need these? No, they are mostly decorative I suppose.

Beam boring machine: A sit down drill press.

Braces: Wooden and metallic. The original cordless drill, hold its charge forever :-)
My all time favorite is my Fray or Spofford metal brace, its chuck handle every shape of shank bits I can throw at it, securely. Sturdy and reliable.

A short selection of brace types to incorporate.

Perhaps 4 metallic brace of various sweeps?

Breast drills: The manly hand drills

Just happened to come across this MF No 112 breast drill this morning.

So now I have an older No 12 and a newer No 112.

Granted I do not need three but...

Handrills: The ubiquitous Millers-Falls usual suspects and one Stanley ...

Second from left is  a Stanley No 626 that I picked up this AM.

It followed me home with the No 112 :-)

Push drills: From Yankee styles down to the small jeweler's type

Gimlets and awls:

Various accessories for braces and drilling in general:
Spoke pointer, Hollow bit (These work together, so should remain together) depth stops, a large assortment of various bits etc. the bits will vary between the power tool drill cabinet and the hand tool room one.

Hand tool room:
Irwin, Jennings, Center bits, small assortment of brad bits for handrills
The cordless drill and Impact driver will also reside in the hand tool shop

Power tool room:
Twist bits, Brad bits, Forstner bits, Hole saws bits, small sanding drums kit.
Corded drills etc.

Not sure where such an animal of a cabinet will reside, I'm quickly running out of room on my bench wall...hummm I need bigger walls :-)

The space I plan on using is between the window and the power panel

Tried this holder to check the size required for various tools:

It holds push drills fine

Hand drills and breast drills fits

So does small push type drills.

So I guess I can start with that size holes to figured out my holding strategies.

I will then mock up holders to figured out my optimum spacing on a piece of cardboard to figured out my till size required.

And while I am starting to plan these small (?) tills, I also want to get starting in earnest on the bottom chest for my tool chest, and I have other small projects on the horizon with my son Matt, and there is a myriads of small things left to finish around the shop...

So I am probably going to be alternating back and forth between these as time permits. My biggest problems right now are my knees. My left one is giving me fits and the stairs to from the basement shop is no fun :-(
I have recently been diagnosed with severe Arthritis in both knees, so that makes me officially old I guess...
I should not be surprised, it is the typical lot of an ex-serviceman, lower back and knees shot. Man was never designed to carry umpteen pounds of gear on his back for long distances. Thankfully I was Airforce, only did that sort of silliness part time, my Army buddies gets it much worse, they also jumps from a perfectly serviceable aircraft with all their gears on, me I just land with the plane thank you very much  and I never had to eject :-)

Bob, planning his last major projects in his ongoing shop re-organisation... I think? Oh and perhaps a bigger bench down the road?? Now where is my Voltaren??

Doldrums...

Updated 07 Oct 21, correction  and pic

I still got lots of executor stuff to complete but in the mean time I try to keep myself occupied... To me that often meant, go find tools... Hours of distractions ahead, researching and evaluating my objects of desires AKA my new lumps of rust :-)

As the weather is finally showing strong hints of cooperation, the yard sales are starting to sprout along with my usual local tool enablers new inventory...

Well... so in between trips to and from, I brake for yard sales that appears promising for tools, I quickly scanned Kijjiji ads and visited my local haunts.

So today in my trip with Rudy to the city, to pick up yet another...gasp... miter box :-)

Rudy checking the loot we brought back

The saw has an etch on it. It is a monster 27in + (probably a 28)

X 4 in and 5/8 (was probably a full 5 in new) 

Only apology is the small curlie at the bottom of the handle is cracked.

 Easy fix.

Yes it is a Disston

And here is why I just had to have it... It is the elusive MF Langdon No 74 :-)

Type 2-1/2 Model No 74

I did a few pit stops at LV and Busy Bee. Also scored another Kijjiji find, a Yankee No 135A complete in the box with instruction sheet and spare bits.
Yah, I know, I don't need another one... except...

Also recently pick up a old Millers Falls No 12 Breast drill, a couple of Jorgensen hand clamps and a rarely seen AH Reid pushdrill model.

She has been degunked, had a quick bath in Evaporust and sprayed with WD-40,.

Ready for storage until she comes back for a final clean/tune-up.

I got two of these for $10

Here is something seldom seen. if you google AH Reid push drill you will come up with the more often encountered low knob design

I have yet to see one without this splitting crack on the spindle.

The usual repair found, is to wrap a string or wire around it. 

Perfectly serviceable.

That No 12 drill took a lot of my Evaporust so I bought a big jug this time, I have a few things cueing up in the line for a bath in it.

I meant to build a proper turning saw ever since Gramercy put out their kits, finally got around to buy it, a project for later.

Finally as I was moving around the Lagdon mitre box it occur to me that for its size, it is very heavy!!! No cast aluminum on this bad boy, all cast iron and steel.

In case you are wondering, it is missing both adjustable clamping rods

 and the front post is missing its sliding plate.

Heavy casting, weigh a few pounds...

That should keep me occupied for a little while: Research, evaluation, clean up, re-hab, looking up parts, sharpening etc...
Its a good thing.

Never cease to amazed me what I can unearth locally....

Bob, sipping wine, updating tool's files.