..but first!

This project spurred me to do something I had put off for years: clean the garage.

It is a big, two-bay garage, that was filled to the brim with 'project' stuff, and largely useless.  During winter we could just about stack everything up so a single car could be parked in there, but we rarely did anyway.

It all had to go.  Luckily we had a great, dry weather spell so everything was unloaded into the driveway, sorted and thrown away.  Well most of it.  OK, fine, some of it.  But at least I knew where (and what) everything was now.

Then I borrowed a table-saw from a trusting friend and gave it some worthwhile upgrades:

First a surface polish, and a paddle switch upgrade:

This is a upgraded belt - probably the most worthwhile upgrade - it significantly improved the stability of the saw (yes it now passes the nickle test) which makes it much safer.  I was determined to use a lot of recycled wood in this project and spent a lot of time milling and refacing old lumber.  These upgrades made that bearable.

I also upgraded the dust management by hooking it up to my shopvac and linking it together with this nifty switch that'll automatically turn on the vacuum shortly after the table saw comes on.

Finally, a clean workshop!