A Very Generous Friend

     A friend of mine, who also is a woodworker, showed me his very generous nature.  In the current vernacular he's having some "issues" and he's shared them with me since both of us have had the misfortune to have the same type of issues.  Since we can share these things it's too bad that he is moving back home to the east coast, Las Vegas just doesn't compare to the place he's lived most of his life so I really can't blame him.
     Yesterday we were talking on the phone and I mentioned what a headache I was having with my old (1940's Craftsman) drill press.  I told him how the pulley kept spinning and the allen screw wasn't holding and right away he said: "just come over and get my drill press".  At first I thought he was kidding but he was serious!  He said to me that he hardly ever uses it and it would be one less thing he'd have to pack up for the move.  I tried to talk him out of it but he insisted, told me come over right now and bring some Starbucks and it's yours!

If you look past the clutter in my shop you can see that it's a great machine.  Sixteen and a half inch capacity, nice large table with castings for T-bolts, heck, it even has a light.  Once I figured out where to put it and then familiarize myself with adjustments, speeds, etc. it's a dream.  My old drill press will be taken to the neighborhood garage sale this weekend.  I had some nostalgic attachment to the old one but the newer one performs so much better -- the heck with nostalgia!

Here's the set up I finally came up with to drill the holes for the Soss hinges.  They have to be exact since there isn't any adjustment.  10 mm in diameter and 11 mm in depth and the wall thickness has to be 2.5 cc .............whew!  I made the jig and blew the chips off after each hole to prevent any chips from messing up those precise measurements.  I had a few problems setting the depth on the new drill press so a few had to be rebored.  Next step is putting the recess for the glasses, anxious to see how that will work out.  Lots of unknowns here.
Need to start drawing the plans up for the Walnut side table that will have the piece of marble inset on the top.  Now that we're finally hitting our 100+ degrees I need to get back to my habit of working in the shop in the morning but once the temperature hits 98-100 it's time to head for the air conditioned house.
SaveSave