What do you want in a proper workbench?
Until ~May 2019 the Festool vacuum was listed as requiring woodshop basics to operate:
https://dallasmakerspace.org/w/index.php?title=Tools&oldid=28754
I am using that requirement as an example to point out the absurdity of some of the attitudes that have been present in the wood shop. The whole no 2x4s thing is another great example.
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Hmm I imagine that this was because of the header statement:
“ All Woodshop power tools require taking the Woodshop Basics class “
As far as I know there is not a ban on 2x4s? There is a ban on Southern Yellow Pine on the jointer and planer because the amount of maintenance it causes is considered beyond our capacity to serve right now.
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At one point woodshop was attempting to ban Southern Yellow Pine on most of the tools:
(Full transparency, I’m new to this rule since returning in March as well.)
So reading through that thread you posted it looks like they passed rules outright banning pine, then after community discussion, decided to roll back to SYP on the jointer and planer. 20180815 Woodshop Meeting - Pine ban discussion
The reasoning cited was maintenance. I can’t personally speak to a decrease in maintenance with the rule passing, perhaps someone else out here can. But I would be strongly inclined to believe it’s true.
All of this notwithstanding. I’m not sure I understand your comment about woodshop’s elitism attitude. To me, it sounds like the shop was trying to figure out how to meet the needs of members in the most reasonable way for the volunteers to deal with?
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For what it’s worth, I just looked in the cabinet, and it’s basically just consumables. The only tools in the “hoard” are a pretty complete set on hex wrenches and screw drivers (which I assume are for maintenance), a cheapo drill index that looks like it gets doled out of as a consumable, and one or two other random things that the tool wall has equivalent quality versions of. Doesn’t look like anyone’s hiding the good shit.
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I wasn’t a member when the rules regarding 2x4s, southern yellow pine, pressure treated lumber, and reclaimed wood were put in place, but I can understand why they are/were there. There is no reason to run cheap 2x4s through the jointer or planer. If you need true flat and square wood, you should buy better wood. And I’ve used southern yellow pine for years, but only ripped from 2x12s that I’ve carefully picked out that weren’t too sappy or wet, and I only used my table saw or chop saw (and perhaps the bandsaw) on them. I would never run that kind of wood through a jointer or planer, because it gums up blades on the machines, and can actually rip the teeth out of the jointer. Pressure treated lumber shouldn’t be cut with anything other than a chop saw (not the Festool) or a cheap jobsite table saw and not ANY of the Woodshop tools. Reclaimed lumber should only be used with great caution. It has to be free of dirt and debris and free of any kind of metal.
Having said this, I realize that not everyone at DMS makes fine furniture. Some just need the use of a chop saw, or table saw, then go on about their business. They need access to contractor grade tools and really nothing more. The problem is that is not what we have in the Woodshop. We have some very expensive, professional quality equipment in the shop.
Both arguments are valid. DMS members need easier access to most of the Woodshop tools. And the Woodshop needs to be able to own nice things without having them broken through misuse or abuse. The challenge going forward will be in finding the proper balance.
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A stout bench with thick top and legs and a Benchcrafted leg vise and tail vise. It doesn’t have to be made from maple or a slab of oak. Southern yellow pine works just fine. My workbench for the last 20+ years was made from 3.5" wide strips of SYP, 8’ long, ripped from 2x12s and laminated together, which I took down to Hardwood lumber and had them flatten on both sides. It has served me wonderfully, although I some point I cut it down to 6’. I just upgraded the leg vise and added a wagon (tail) vise:
Chris Schwarz (Lost Art Press) is about to release a book on his ultimate workbench (also from SYP) any day now. This is a picture of his:
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100% agree. The issue I take is when the basic user, or someone learning, is blocked access to tools for the sake of making the tools better/easier for elite users.
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& after that several ~$700 festool sanders were ruined in a couple days by people sanding without putting sandpaper on them and just keept going at it until their thing was beautifully Velcro plastic sanded. Seriously not making this up, it’s like Murphy’s law. I caught one person & saved one.
The woodshop is not trying to block access to tools to make them better for elite users.
There are no ‘elite’ users in the space.
Tools are restricted for safety, liability, or fiduciary responsibility reasons.
In the instance of SYP, that falls under fiduciary responsibility: we can’t keep machines reasonably maintained and serviced if we allow SYP.
In the instance of the above mentioned tools that were locked up, that falls under either safety or fiduciary responsibility.
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This was not always the attitude:
Emphasis mine, the assumption that someone can even identify pine and knows that it is inferior to other woods is fundamentally rooted in the idea that people using wood to make something are “fine” wood workers or even aspire to be. From @Mrksls2 posts it is clear that he never even considered that wood species identification is not something they are concerned with much less even aware of.
Check cameras for the past month every single time I’ve used the bandsaw and realize you’re very very mistaken! I called you cause a saw stop cartridge popped, and a SAW blade which both are in the locked cabinet
You called him at 4am?
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They sell replacement pads so I highly doubt If the pad got destroyed we’d have to scrape the whole unit
I text him because he would normally come in around 4am and see me on my way out so i assumed he was up because that’s the time I’d normally see him at the space
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Then a lot of $ worth of stuff has been stolen most notable a massive 200-300$ bandsaw blade which I don’t think you could even hide in a full suit case yet alone walk out with it
Replacement bandsaw blades are consumables, albeit expensive ones, not fine woodworking tools nefariously hidden away.
I grow increasingly tired of your rabble rousing and I hope the woodshop leadership understand that, in my opinion, it would be a very bad idea to give you access to expensive consumables.
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I’ve bought my own so not a concern