fixitagainthen

Good to meet you
My name is John and I am a proud resident of the Rocky Mountain state of Colorado.

I have been a wood worker for over 25 years. I own a small remodeling company. I am proud of this fact. Most of the projects I do are really cool, probably because I choose not to compete for the easy stuff. Some of the projects I do are easy all the same. All of my projects are fun. I have a cool old old truck set up for remodel/handyman work with an easy access work shell (doors all around) and custom made side boxes set just over four feet apart along the sides with custom made tote-boxes set into the tops on both sides (tools and hardware organized and accessible) with a modular (removes and stores with ease) lumber rack in between. I have an equally cool tool trailer that was built by Forney Industries for their traveling sales people in the fifties. I have an even cooler little workshop set up in the front room of a customized mobile home (12 x 16) with materials and equipment storage outside in a pair of sheds that comprise more square feet than my little workshop. I have 72 square feet of shared office space elsewhere in the building (the misses teaches horse back riding to a bunch of kids).

I have built every bench in my shop, every desk in my office and much of the furniture in our home, some strictly for utility and others both for both utility and appearance. Even where one is blessed with materials (I know a guy with a tree pruning/moving/cutting outfit and another guy with a wood miser) time is often a commodity and utility is everything. I earn my living in a lot of areas: structural to finish and trim to tile; steelwork and millwright; sometimes I will rest my back and use my education (I have a physical geography degree). I grew up in a cool place with a family owned full service job-shop and a production cabinet shop.

We built houses and buildings from scratch,design, draw, excavate, concrete...all of the way through to flooring and finish were done in house. We also had cows and horses, and we sold hay and coal. I learned a lot growing up and it was fun. I am a mix of a craftsman and a farmer. As stated, I have learned a lot, but I also have a lot to learn. I am here both to share and to gather knowledge.

While it is not the most used, my favorite piece of equipment in my work shop is my 1953 shop-smith 10 er. Not only was this consumer machine innovative but its availability to the general public made light scale production a real possibility for everyday people in a world still largely populated by hand saws and braces with bits. Magna's (Hans Goldschmidt) machine changed things in a good way, not unlike the for-mentioned Forney with his consumer metal working and welding products.
Close runners up to "favorite" are my Stanley door installer kit (router planer combination), my original Porta-Line, and my Record 50c modified combination plane (more or less copied from Stanley). The last I seldom use but it is a really cool example of older technology and it still has its place when I am trying to match old sashes and trim in the field without the benefit of my table-saw's molding head. Of course, I do not have an "un-favorite" tool.

The most used tool in my shop is my old craftsman table saw. Likely dating from the fifties, the saw still has its original one horse power motor that I will not upgrade because I do not trust the aluminum mounts that secure the cast iron trunnion assembly to the table and because of the snap-ring (and added stop collar) that retain the arbor. It cuts well though, and the modular geared fence and rail assembly enabled me to hinge my table extensions making it perfect for the limited space in my shop. I have a lot of time into making sure that this saw runs and cuts straight and true but I did not want to fidget with the thing every time I use it. I made a welding stand out of the jumbo saw stand that it came with and mounted the saw to an old delta combo machine stand (the rest of which I did junk) to which I bolted a couple of 1 x 6 x 18 inch plates for added mass. The fixed wings are cast iron (After market cast iron router table wing left of blade and cast iron original to the right) and the hinged wings are aluminum. I like my saw, it is unique.

While many of my hand and power tools might represent the typical tools of typical professionals, I will admit that, like my table-saw and SS 10 er, many of my stationary tools would not be the first choice of the average professional, nor would I recommend them to a novice. Given the right combination of patience, planning, and skill, however, I can work efficiently in my little shop with beautiful results.