Tuesday 23 February 2016

Filters changed - Record Power AC400


The Record Power AC400 air cleaner needed a new set of filters having not been replaced since being purchased back in Sept 2012 (nearly 4 years ago!). To be fair I did actually vacuum the external filters from time to time. I bought the replacements from Yandle and Sons:-

  • Record Power Replacement Outer Paper Filter for AC400 Air Cleaner (RPOSAC400-27) £9.99
  • Record Power Replacement Inner Filter for AC400 Air Cleaner (RPOSAC400-26) £15.59

Shipping had to be added on.

The method of replacement was simple. Two spring clips hold the external filter in place. The internal filter bag assembly is a snug fit within the casing. I took them out and vacuumed inside. There was a little dust that had got through.

I replaced the internal filter and sealed around the perimeter with duct tape. Then I inserted the external filter and sealed the perimeter of that with duct tape too.

The filter was then hung back into position by its chains and all was OK. The fresh air flow was increased and clean air was then back in the shop. 

Monday 22 February 2016

Non shop made storage

I need to make furniture and musical instruments rather than shop furniture. Having said that I will be making a Roubo workbench soon.

In the August of 2015 I bought a storage cube to store all my safety equipment. The main item was the Trend AirShield Pro which was ironically collecting dust in the shop. I mounted it straight to the wall and built a raised platform internally for the AirShield. I also put a few long screws into existing holes in the cabinet and hung ear defenders, close up magnifier and other items. I store both Veritas MKII honing guides and all their attachments in there too. The charging cable for the Airshield runs through one of the holes in the cabinet.

Then there are the edge guides for the routers. Have you noticed that once you have replaced a router back into its blow moulded case there is difficulty inserting the edge guide? I think the manufacturers build in an internal shrinking mechanism once you have initially opened the case. Nothing ever goes back in - we don't have Festool Systainers in this shop! So the edge guides are also in the storage cube.
Then there are the face shields for turning.

So this storage cabinet has become primarily my safety gear cabinet.

I was that impressed with the cabinet that I bought another this time with an integral shelf.
Into this cabinet I have put all my moulding planes/hollows/rounds. That gets them out of the cardboard box which I had stored on the ground under the assembly table.


Both cabinets are now mounted onto the French cleat I had mounted on the wall recently. I also hung the table saw blade storage box and made a temporary hanging place for my saws.
In time I will replace this with a custom saw till.

So I have gone full circle. I initially said I need to make furniture and musical instruments. Instead I am making shop furniture - just what I don't want to do (!) - to help store my tools.
The storage cubes are from CS Storage Limited www.csstorage.co.uk and are model "Armour Cube Locker 450H 450W 450D "


A wall full of tools



Wednesday 3 February 2016

Hardwood is not cheap these days

I have been working out how much timber for my proposed Roubo split top workbench is going to cost. Roughly at the moment the prices including taxes but not shipping are

  • Beech £710.81 Janka Hardness: 1,450 lbf
  • Steamed beech £750.53 Janka Hardness: 1,450 lbf
  • Maple £1,231.11 Janka Hardness: 1,450 lbf (hard maple) 850 lbf (soft maple)
  • European oak £1,940.77 Janka Hardness: 1,120 lbf
  • White oak £1,561.65 Janka Hardness: 1,350 lbf
  • Iroko £1,031.76 Janka Hardness: 1,260 lbf
  • Douglas fir £648.03     Janka Hardness: 620 lbf
Now I know that oak is no good for iron/steel unless I want iron oxide so have ruled them out.
The maple will be soft maple still with a reasonable Janka of 850 but a little too soft for a bench.
Douglas fir is a softwood and although it is dimensionally very stable I think a little too soft for a bench.
Iroko is hardwearing on tooling but will probably work well as a bench. The jury is out on that one.

This leaves the two types of beech. Beech has been used for centuries in Europe in bench making. The steaming in the beech unifies its colour to a pink. I'm not too bothered about the colour as this is a bench but it would be nice to have it all one colour as I'm spending a lot of cash on it. So steamed beech it will be.

Plans

The plans are the Woodwhisperer Guild plans by Marc Spagnuolo designed in conjunction with Benchcrafted's own design.

Benchcrafted hardware

The cost of Benchcrafted hardware for my needs is £737.10 so the total cost of the bench (without shipping on any item) is £1,487.63

Do I Don't I?

I have to ask myself do I really need it? Yes of course I do but not for a few months.
My commercial Sjobergs is ok(ish) for now but moves about when I plane on it.