A replaceable top is a great idea. I'll have to remember that if I'm ever in a place to do this sort of thing myself.

I finally finished the bathroom this Sunday. Got the sink drain part I needed and installed everything and caulked. Prior to this job, my caulking skills were pretty shoddy, but now a wet finger, rag, and bucket of water let me make for some smooth, clean lines. My wife went to Target for the accessories and now the room is complete. Kids are now kicked out of out bathroom so we won't be seeing toothpaste stains all over ours.

I have been looking at plans from here. Once I have the mudding and paint done in the garage, a new bench and wall cabinets are on the build list. First up, I am going to build this to make ripping 4x8 sheets easier. They do have a fancier plan but I can't justify the cost to build the carriage and I like the simplicity and tilt out of the first one.

Traded a bottle of "The Glenlivet" to a friend for his 10" Sliding compound Mitre Saw & table to replace my non-sliding and sometimes less than perfect Ryobi.

It's just a "King" and it may be as old as the scotch I gave him so he probably got the better deal price wise but because it's an older model, the sliding pistons go through tubes that run the entire length underneath the cutting platform so there is absolutely zero wobble. Came with a good finishing blade and a table decked out with some plywood shelving too so in all, I'm pretty happy.

It's long cuts are way more accurate than my previous saw's short cuts. My old worked OK for what it was but even without sliding, there was some blade wandering that kept it less than accurate when you needed a perfect angle.

Request::
I'm looking for plans for a slightly more complex than average painters easel. Desired features would be.
- Folds down for better portability.
- Clamps the canvas board in place
- Fold down pallet
- Perhaps in the folding process it creates some storage for supplies.

Here is a picture of pretty much exactly what I'm looking for. I'll be using this pic to eyeball the construction if I can't find actual plans.Sorry for the large pic.



If you happen to run across actual plans, please pass them on, thanks.

I bought one like that from Costco years back for my father, I found this one on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-GRUMBACHER-F...4QQcmdZViewItem

Might be cheaper to buy one from here:

http://www.aswexpress.com/discount-art-supplies/online/2553/art-supplies/4

Just found this site, very cool:

http://www.artisteaselplans.com/arteasel/

I took a quick look around at table saws and the entry level ones look a bit flimsy. Am I better off looking for something big, solid, inexpensive and used ?

I ran across these two which seem to meet all the above criteria :

http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell-tools-equipment-Table-saw-W0QQAdIdZ192695885

http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell-...QAdIdZ204809234

Thoughts ?

Those are some funny looking portable easles.

I would take a look at the first one. Looks like an old beaver saw (very well built). If possible you want a belt driven saw like the first. Generally the motors are more powerful and will do better with ripping or lage pieces of hardwood. The belt will also protect the motor from burnout in heavy use.

The arbour on some contractors saws can be quite out of square or have significant runout.

The contractors saw will do fine for light duty and occasional use though.

Thanks, Fred.

Re: the easels, a couple of months ago I saw a great design for a folding gun rack (for shotguns on an outdoor sporting clay course) that looked like a few tweaks could turn it into a pretty fair easel. Had storage when folded down and everything. Will see if I can find it.

Murph, are you looking for "light and easy to carry" or "rock solid and easy to move on its built in wheels" ?

OK, I finally understand my troubled relationship with woodworking. Seems like I take great pleasure from designing things to make from wood, and enjoy using / showing off the finished product, but the bit in between (the "making sawdust" part) doesn't seem to do much for me.

Nevertheless, I just finished unloading a large carload of lumber (it's amazing what you can fit in the back of a Dodge Magnum) so I'll either be proudly posting pictures of workbenches and outdoor furniture over the next few weeks or you'll simply never see me in this thread again