Power Tools For A Hand Tool Shop

Josh, a hand-tool guy, wants to know what power tools he should be including in his shop.

You can save a lot of money by checking out this woodturning lathe sale.

GWA Field Trip to Hardwoods Inc

On May 1st, 2010, my woodworking club, the Gwinnett Woodworkers Association (GWA for short), visited Hardwoods Inc. in Mableton Ga. Hardwoods, Incorporated is a wholesaler and retailer offering one of the largest inventories in the Southeast of specialty hardwoods and related products. GWA members were exposed to a guided tour of the kiln facilities and lumber yard that lasted a few hours and afterwards were able to purchase lumber at discounted pricing - I managed to score three sticks of Honduran Rosewood for an upcoming project at about 50% off. These are the photos I took as we were shown around the gigantic facility - if you ever get a chance to go to s similar kiln/lumber yard facility you should go - for a woodworker it's like going to the Holy Land...

I'm not sure if you can get the actual scale of the building from this shot - at the beginning of the tour we were in the retail space - the racks behind the speaker are all full of retail sales items

The warehouse buildings are quite massive - most of those stacks are 8/4 sticks about 12 feet long.

These conveyor type contraptions help to move sticks as they're graded - quite a job

These stacks were all of 8/4 poplar getting ready for the kiln (so what you see is all wet) - quite a site seeing so much hardwood.

These shots are of the kiln - the control stations in the back let you set the temperature and humidity.

These massive doors slide apart so the pallets of wood can be moved in or out - the smaller door allows the kiln operator access to check the moisture content of the wood - something that's done multiple times as the wood is dried (usually over a period of many days).

The plan re-uses saw-dust as fuel for the kiln - this shows some of the furnace with valves to control the mix.

That's about it - thanks for looking in.

-- John

You can read more about woodturning lathe tools right here.

AN EAGLE

The idea for carving An Eagle who is carrying off a golfer began in 1978 as a future carving project.  Over the years the idea would come to the top of mental search  engine called “imagination” but was not ready to become reality.  An “Eagle” is a golfing term meaning “two under par” so to [...]

Check out this guide to buying a wood lathe if you're in the market for one.