Makin' lots of sawdust.
Posted 08-30-2009 at 02:01 PM by Jim McDonald
My son recently disassembled his bunk bed, but wanted to keep the drawer section and desk, so that left us with some rather large pieces of particle board (PB) and some PB covered in masonite.
No problem with the long side rails--we'll recycle them into shelves, since he has been wanting new shelving for a while. But the base of the upper bunk was a piece of 1/2" that was 76" X something (twin bed size).
I have been planning a project for the high school library that I will be doing at cost/free, so the PB was a blessing in disguise. Cut into pieces that would fit in the CW40, I sould use it for making the letters for Mrs. Watkins and have some left over for jigs, templates or just playing around.
Fired up the circular saw and first cut was a rip to make another shelf for the eventual remodel of the bedroom, but then I cut the remaining plank down for Dad's use.
I had forgotten how much sawdust a circular saw and PB can create. Luckily, the wind was blowing and carried much of it away, but then there was this dusting of PB all over the back yard. Of course, my pockets got full of sawdust and my dark tan turned sort of light until I got to the water hose and rinsed off my arms.
Anyway, I get down to starting the library project yesterday afternoon and the letters I'm making are going to be 12" capitals and lowercase about 4½". At first I tried a hand held jigsaw, but the blade was dull, overheated and broke. So, I broke out the CW40, put in a #9 Crown Tooth and began to saw. Even with the shop vac whining away, there was still so much dust I was GLAD to be outside.
Got the capital letters cut, rounded the front edges with an 1/8" roundover and got the first coat of paint on them before the sun went down and while there was still a little heat around. (The global warming folks have it all wrong here in Indiana the past few days)
Today, I'm going to try to get the rest of the signs cut, so maybe the paint will be dry and I can assemble and install Moday or Tuesday.
Keep cuttin'
Jim
No problem with the long side rails--we'll recycle them into shelves, since he has been wanting new shelving for a while. But the base of the upper bunk was a piece of 1/2" that was 76" X something (twin bed size).
I have been planning a project for the high school library that I will be doing at cost/free, so the PB was a blessing in disguise. Cut into pieces that would fit in the CW40, I sould use it for making the letters for Mrs. Watkins and have some left over for jigs, templates or just playing around.
Fired up the circular saw and first cut was a rip to make another shelf for the eventual remodel of the bedroom, but then I cut the remaining plank down for Dad's use.
I had forgotten how much sawdust a circular saw and PB can create. Luckily, the wind was blowing and carried much of it away, but then there was this dusting of PB all over the back yard. Of course, my pockets got full of sawdust and my dark tan turned sort of light until I got to the water hose and rinsed off my arms.
Anyway, I get down to starting the library project yesterday afternoon and the letters I'm making are going to be 12" capitals and lowercase about 4½". At first I tried a hand held jigsaw, but the blade was dull, overheated and broke. So, I broke out the CW40, put in a #9 Crown Tooth and began to saw. Even with the shop vac whining away, there was still so much dust I was GLAD to be outside.
Got the capital letters cut, rounded the front edges with an 1/8" roundover and got the first coat of paint on them before the sun went down and while there was still a little heat around. (The global warming folks have it all wrong here in Indiana the past few days)
Today, I'm going to try to get the rest of the signs cut, so maybe the paint will be dry and I can assemble and install Moday or Tuesday.
Keep cuttin'
Jim
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