Sup /diy/nos?
What did /diy/ build this weekend?
This weekend I had to rebuild my workbench. I bought a house in March 2014 with a tiny side room in the basement that I am determined to turn in to my workshop since I do not have a garage.
I built a workbench right away, but I only had hand tools (poorfag starting off) and I had a lot of beer in me. It was crooked as shit, the screws were fucked up (again, drunk) and over 2 years it was starting to fall apart (not surprised).
Recently I acquired some power tools and decided I needed to rebuild. So I deconstructed the bench.
>pic related, old bench
I was able to salvage a lot of wood from the original bench, plus what I left from a few months back when I redid my roof with my Dad.
So I compiled the wood. I had the countertop for 5 years. I placed it on cinder blocks back in college as a desk. The desks school gave me were shit with no leg room. So I bought that counter top and put it on blocks. But this time I reused it for a workbench.
I framed this bitch out this time. Honestly, the original build was such garbage. Over the last 18 months with my Dad helping me build shit, I have learned a ton, that and also youtube videos.
My Dad is awesome at construction, but always did things himself and never really wanted help. But now that us kids are older, he is more than happy to help, and I am more than happy to learn.
Here is the frame for the bottom of the bench. before it was sagging in the middle. So I wanted to alleviate that.
My basement floor is not level, so I had to build off of my counter top as if that was constructed to be level.
I grew up in South East Michigan my entire life. My parents took off to the Upper Pennisula in 2011 after the economy shit the bed. When they took off I was away at college and they got rid of most things. One of the things they gave away was the saw that is pictured. They gave it to a family friend.
A few months ago, that family friend moved to Florida. Knowing that I had bought a house, he called me asking if I wanted the saw back. So it was a cool turn of events to get something back from my parents.
he also gave me a Uhaul of furniture since he bought a new house house furnished in Florida. It helped me out a ton. Im still humbled.
here is the saw. You can tell it is old. This was built in a time where safety was not considered. I had to take off the hood to cut. This saw is scary, but is amazing.
Next weekend I am going to build this its own rolling bench so I can maneuver it in my basement depending on size of lumber.
>pic related
Again,
Not having much of any tools and only seeing what my Dad built growing up, I had to figure this shit out. I needed to screw in the legs of the bench but had to worry about movement. So I cut shitty lumber that was made it hard as hell for the legs to move. This enabled me to put the legs in without movement.
Here it is on upside down. I only knew to put the cross beams up for stability because my Dad did that to my loft bed at college in 2009.
Just some of the stuff I picked up on and didn't realize it until now.
Here it is complete. Much better than the original. I also used a lot less wood since I had an idea of what I was doing this time.
It took a while to complete as I was watching a football game while building. But I was able to take what I learned from the Dad master and what what blew from my first build.
And finally,
A pic of my Dad and I on my roof. Good times were had. I was able to learn a shit load to build this bench.
All-in-all a good weekend. Got to use what my dad taught me to build a decent bench that will enable me to build more.
>>902215
DeWalt radial arm saw. They invented them and it was the only tool they made for decades. Wasn't till the 80/90s that B&D started to use their name on other tools. I've got a Model 1400 myself. DeWalts were some of the best radial arm saws on the market.
You really should put the guard back on it. Other than that, as long as you keep out of the path of travel of the carriage, it should never hurt you when used to cross cut. Even if it kicks, the wood will be sent towards the column and the carriage will only travel as far as the length of the arm. The 'danger' of a radial arm saw is overblown by idiots that don't use proper safety procedures. I've never even heard of someone getting injured by the blade of one that wasn't doing something stupid.
Cool thread, OP.
>>902225
>>902225
Thank you for the info. I do appreciate it.
The only reason I took the guard off was that I was cutting essentially 4x4 (2 2x4's). The guard and motor area was causing blocking. So I had to remove the guard to cut once, flip the lumber over, and cut again. Only the legs of my bench were that wide. Once I cut the legs, that guard went right back on.
I have never taken such extreme care when a saw is operating. this one makes me care a whole lot more.
But I will agree, this saw is amazing. It is built to last, and the few times I have it use it, it has produced some amazing results.
One more full pic.
When I get paid in 2 weeks, the radial saw will get its own bench area on wheels so I can wheel it out of the tiny workshop area and into the main basement if I need longer lumber cut.
Good work.
>>902238
bring the table of the RAS up to the bench table you just built, so you can use it to support long pieces of lumber.
Also, it looks better when all the benches are the same height. (Unless something needs to be higher or lower to serve its intended purpose)
>>902538
>>902538
Thanks for the info. I am going to build a different table that rolls for the radial saw for that purpose. In my basement where I have this workshop, it's a small room. So I want to wheel it out to the much larger room when I need to longer pieces of lumber.
I just screwed some 2x4s and stacked them up to keep it off the ground. This weekend I will build it its own home.
