electrolysis makes things pretty

i picked up a tiny bench vise the other day for 6$ at a local antique place. it was a bit rusty, and i've been curious about electrolysis for a little while now, so i gave it a shot. well, it worked, and it's the easiest thing in the world. all you need is baking soda, water, rebar, a bucket, and a battery charger. plug it in and wait. it actually took longer then i thought it would, but i had it outside, so maybe the temperature slowed down the chemical reaction. anyhow, if you have something that's rusty, it's kinda fun to see the rust magically come off the thing.

this is my sketch and list for the cabinet i started up in prince george. i worked on it a bit during the summer, i had some parts to redo, and then it sat for quite a while. i've got the shop to myself for a few weeks, so i decided to pull it down from the self. i'm going to try to have it done for the end of year show at IP, but i know my dad wants in the shop, so i'll have to see what kind of shop time i can get between now and then. my plan is to have a carcass by the time they get home.

oh yeah, i bought a bandsaw. it's a silver 26" from the turn of the century, or there abouts. it comes with a five horse motor and all the trimmings. it's in northern new york state, and my folks just happened to be out there next week, so they're are going to bring it back for me. i'll have to make guards for it, but i saw some really neat ones that david ellsworth made. he essentially made two big donuts that only cover the outside of the wheels, it looks pretty.

two things down, ten million to go...

i finished the sofa last night, and it feels pretty good. the glue ups went together very well with no obvious problem, except for one. i don't know how i'm going to take pictures of this beast. i usually just hang a king sized sheet up in the shop, but i fear that this is slightly larger then a king. it's going to be photoshop madness to get this thing onto a grey background. and then i'll need some more photos once the cushions are all done. i'll be hitting the road this week to deliver both this and the stereo cabinet. and while the glue was drying, i dug out my drill press.

i picked this up in gibsons while i was at IP, i paid 85$ for it with no motor. i spent my spare time from school fixing it up. a fresh coat of paint and some bearings, and all i needed was a motor. well, time ran out in roberts creek, and still no motor. so i drug it home and there it sat for a while. when i got it, it had a weird chain drive setup, so i hunted down a pulley for it. the chain drive was setup for a really slow speed, and i wanted to be able to choose different speeds. i got the pulley in the mail, and it didn't quite work. it had the correct splines for the quill setup, but it was for a bigger walker-turner machine, so i had to cut off the bigger part of the pulley. oh well. so now i have a three step pulley, but i can only get the belt on the upper two. two speeds are better then one. my pops had a motor for me, so i slapped that on and gave it a try. to my surprise, it had next to no runout. that made me a happy camper. so now, i just got to find a pulley for the motor and i'm off to the races.

and if i really want to add more speed options, i can always add a third pulley in between. i got all the parts for that with the chain drive setup. it's a pretty nice press. it's got a quill lock, no runout, and it weights a ton. now all i need is a shop.

next up is getting the arbor flange on the table saw trued up, and finishing the cabinet i started at klager's house.