Neil Hjelmeland
Member
- Messages
- 2
Greetings,
I'm just getting started into woodworking, something I've always wanted to do. With my wife's permission of course, a decision was made to build an outbuilding intended store bikes, mowers, etc., something that would make more room in our garage. Shortly after construction began, I realized it was going to be too nice of a building to be used as a storage shed and again with my wife's permission and more important, her blessing, it evolved instead into my new wood shop. She and my daughters call it my "tiny house"!
Due to the size of our lot and hilly terrain, I was somewhat restricted on the size of the building and settled on a 12' x 20' floor plan. It was built into the hillside on a concrete foundation with 8" poured concrete 4 ft walls on the rear and both sides. The remainder was built using 2x6 construction with 8' walls. It was during this phase of the construction when I found myself wishing that I could have built something with more square footage. My contractor was an old schoolmate of mine and very patient with my indecisiveness. So when I told him that since I couldn't go bigger, I wanted to go taller.... well a few weeks later stood my new two-story "tiny house"! I know I probably should have put more work and thought in the planning of this and have learned a few things along the way but it sure was a fun journey and I'm very happy with the final results. Since then I've installed a wood floor, insulated and finished the interior walls with 3/8" Smart Siding, small heater and had 100 amp service installed. I still need to add better lighting by upgrading the current basic single light bulb fixtures. Needless to say, I'm having a blast setting up shop and have already completed a few small projects.
When it comes to tools and equipment, I like quality and don't mind paying a little extra for it. Having said that, I love the old stuff that was built to last...something that I can repair without knowing how to read a foreign language. I have a Rigid table saw and DeWalt miter saw that I picked up from a family estate sale. I found an older Rockwell 6" jointer at a garage sale that is solid and works great. Arriving early at a few estate sales has also paid off with purchase of a drill press, radial arm saw, an air filtration system a few nice old routers and other misc. clamps and tools. I picked up an old Foley Belsaw thickness planer from an estate sale. I've never even used one before but it looked like a brute and built like a tank. I think I paid $150 for it. I guess they don't make these planers anymore but I found a supplier on the internet that carries all the original parts. The feed roller had seen their better days so I purchased a new set for $90. This past weekend I tore the machine down, cleaned it up, new feed rollers installed, a little chain lube, set the tension on the feed rollers per the owners manual that I also found on line and I've got myself a nice thickness planer. Again, very happy with those results.
I'm sure it was only a matter of time before my "not looking before I leap" was going to backfire on me. I've started reading up on the importance of good dust collection in a shop and have been in search of a good buy. This past weekend I found a used but new condition Kufo/Seco UFO-102B dust collector. Seemed like a great buy at $250. They sell between $700-$800 from what I found online. Knowing that I had my shop wired for both 110 and 220, I thought this machine would work great. What I didn't realize was that the dust collector has a 3 phase motor. I didn't even know what that meant. I focused only on the size of the unit and that it ran on 220.
I've done some research enough to know that there are a few options out there, one of them being a variable frequency drive. I know enough about electricity to get myself in trouble and know my limitations so I rely on electricians for that. My electrician happens to be out of town for a few weeks on a hunting trip so I made a visit to a local shop who sells and repairs large electric motors. They admitted to not know in much about the woodworking world or the equipment but did suggest that I try to resell this unit and find something that runs on single phase instead.
I'm hoping that someone on this site can offer me advice on what to do.
Thanks and sorry for being long winded.
Neil
I'm just getting started into woodworking, something I've always wanted to do. With my wife's permission of course, a decision was made to build an outbuilding intended store bikes, mowers, etc., something that would make more room in our garage. Shortly after construction began, I realized it was going to be too nice of a building to be used as a storage shed and again with my wife's permission and more important, her blessing, it evolved instead into my new wood shop. She and my daughters call it my "tiny house"!
Due to the size of our lot and hilly terrain, I was somewhat restricted on the size of the building and settled on a 12' x 20' floor plan. It was built into the hillside on a concrete foundation with 8" poured concrete 4 ft walls on the rear and both sides. The remainder was built using 2x6 construction with 8' walls. It was during this phase of the construction when I found myself wishing that I could have built something with more square footage. My contractor was an old schoolmate of mine and very patient with my indecisiveness. So when I told him that since I couldn't go bigger, I wanted to go taller.... well a few weeks later stood my new two-story "tiny house"! I know I probably should have put more work and thought in the planning of this and have learned a few things along the way but it sure was a fun journey and I'm very happy with the final results. Since then I've installed a wood floor, insulated and finished the interior walls with 3/8" Smart Siding, small heater and had 100 amp service installed. I still need to add better lighting by upgrading the current basic single light bulb fixtures. Needless to say, I'm having a blast setting up shop and have already completed a few small projects.
When it comes to tools and equipment, I like quality and don't mind paying a little extra for it. Having said that, I love the old stuff that was built to last...something that I can repair without knowing how to read a foreign language. I have a Rigid table saw and DeWalt miter saw that I picked up from a family estate sale. I found an older Rockwell 6" jointer at a garage sale that is solid and works great. Arriving early at a few estate sales has also paid off with purchase of a drill press, radial arm saw, an air filtration system a few nice old routers and other misc. clamps and tools. I picked up an old Foley Belsaw thickness planer from an estate sale. I've never even used one before but it looked like a brute and built like a tank. I think I paid $150 for it. I guess they don't make these planers anymore but I found a supplier on the internet that carries all the original parts. The feed roller had seen their better days so I purchased a new set for $90. This past weekend I tore the machine down, cleaned it up, new feed rollers installed, a little chain lube, set the tension on the feed rollers per the owners manual that I also found on line and I've got myself a nice thickness planer. Again, very happy with those results.
I'm sure it was only a matter of time before my "not looking before I leap" was going to backfire on me. I've started reading up on the importance of good dust collection in a shop and have been in search of a good buy. This past weekend I found a used but new condition Kufo/Seco UFO-102B dust collector. Seemed like a great buy at $250. They sell between $700-$800 from what I found online. Knowing that I had my shop wired for both 110 and 220, I thought this machine would work great. What I didn't realize was that the dust collector has a 3 phase motor. I didn't even know what that meant. I focused only on the size of the unit and that it ran on 220.
I've done some research enough to know that there are a few options out there, one of them being a variable frequency drive. I know enough about electricity to get myself in trouble and know my limitations so I rely on electricians for that. My electrician happens to be out of town for a few weeks on a hunting trip so I made a visit to a local shop who sells and repairs large electric motors. They admitted to not know in much about the woodworking world or the equipment but did suggest that I try to resell this unit and find something that runs on single phase instead.
I'm hoping that someone on this site can offer me advice on what to do.
Thanks and sorry for being long winded.
Neil