Ryszard's workshop and projects

Ryszard writes:

Hello Matthias,

For the last two years I have been regularly visiting your website and I am trying to read your articles. The trouble I have got is that I do not know English, however the pictures and drawings are clear enough for me and recently I have been using the ‘Google Chrome’ translator. Sometimes it creates strange blends of words, on occasions even funny. Regardless, I have been guessing the content quite easily

I live in Poland, I am not a carpenter but an amateur DYI enthusiast. I am retired and I have quite a lot of time to use inspirations taken from the analysis and designs of your machines.

Matthias comments:
You can also use Google Translator in any browser. For example, woodgars.ca translated to Polish or Spanish.
Google Translator is an excellent resource. People often email me in Spanish, and I wouldn't be able to answer without it.
It works quite well with Spanish, if only it worked a little better on Portuguese.

After my retirement, I have started some home-made design and constructions for my garden and for my new house. Pergolas, trellises, plant stands, outdoor furniture, fireplace and barbecue spots, woodsheds for storing fireplace wood. Later, I started doing more complicated jobs: balcony balustrades, bookcases and furniture. For most of these jobs some basic tools have been sufficient; additionally, I bought a miter saw, very helpful in garden designs.

I got to like this occupation; I bought some more hand-held power tools. I have made very many helpful tools and ( based on the photos of woodworking machinery from your website in 2011) I made a 10" bandsaw It is much smaller than your 14” and 16” bandsaw, but very similar. I attach few photos. It is smaller since at the beginning I was not sure whether I was going to make it. I had a relatively small electric motor 250 W and I did not want to spend too much money. I also have smaller needs to use it for. I made a frame of spruce timber wood, 18mm thick, lap glued like on your photos, plywood wheels of a diameter 250mm, 19mm thick, few elements made of oak and beech wood blocks, and a plywood case. The table does not tilt and it does not have a cut height adjustment, the blade guides are at fixed height, one can only adjust their horizontal position.

I had been eager to finish the build and to try the saw, and all worked well! After adjusting the saw, I cut few wooden slats and I decided to cut the reindeer based on your design using my saw - it came out fantastic and I was incredibly happy. The cut reindeers went to our neighbour's 5-year-old granddaughters and they were happy, too. The saw was very helpful in creating many jobs i.e. wooden Nativity Scenes cribs. As a Christmas present I cut a horse-knight for my nephew (56cm height), the armour is cut of beer cans, the knight’s dress and the horse’s harness is made of fake skin taken off old notebooks, and the horse’s mane is made of pieces cut out of an old wig. The children were happy with the Christmas gifts and I was happy with my work.

I started to make more complex projects, however before that I had to make my wood workshop equipment. Since the wood workshop is based in a garage, all machines had to be compact and all-purpose. I welded the workbench out of 40 mm steel try squares, the table top is made of two layers of 18mm plywood . The mobile tool bases workbench is wheeled and rests on a locked frame, based on your design.

Depending on the need, the miter saw with work supports is placed on the work surface, a joiner planer, or a 12” disk sander - also hand-made.

The disk sander is powered by a three phase electric motor - 750 W 1450 rpm; it is a collar motor that was easy and inexpensive to buy in parts (dismantled); During the work your pictures were really helpful, on the photo you can see a home- made router table: 1500 W 6/8/12 mm 27000 rpm; to decrease the spending, I only bought the spare electric motor on the exchange, and to make the router lift I used a spare universal press.

Recently, I have made a big, solid vise of thick ash boards- a mobile jaw is covered with coarse skin (photos attached). The inspiration is a tool presented at: www.benchcrafted.com. While I work, the table stays in the middle of the garage, it is heavy and stable. After configuring the machines for specific jobs, they are easy to access from each side. The table has power sockets for all the machines, including hand-held power tools. This way I can avoid cables tangling while I work.

The configuration and size of the workshop equipment allow me to rearrange it after working, for the car to fit in the garage easily (see photo). You can easily notice that inspirations from your solutions are everywhere; I had to adapt it to my needs. The machines/devices and tools have to be very mobile, their size has to be suited to the space - since the room is a garage and I have to drive the car in there every day.

I am fascinated with woodwork, and I make more and more complex and serious designs: a case for a 150 year-old clock for my neighbour, furniture of the ash wood, a dressing table with traditional, wardrobe lighting, an oak stairway, a RTV table, and recently a fold-out 2-leg table to complement remaining old furniture.

I have few further designs outstanding.

Thank you, Matthias, for creating a great, inspiring website - I wish you all the best and many successful designs,

Ryszard.

P.S.
As you can see, even the colours of the machines are similar to yours- this is in your honour to say thank you for the inspiration and instructing articles.

Matthias comments:
Love all your projects and pictures. I included all the other pictures you sent under the pictures below.

More pictures of Ryszards projects and machines:

Ryszard's workshop