Woodworker's Journal 2004-Winter, страница 15

Keeping It All Shipshape

Efficiency means there's a place for everything and everything is in its place, but you'll also need to keep up with routine maintenance and general shop cleanliness. Here's where memories of your high school shop teacher and the business end of a long-handled broom may come to mind... But he was right: You'll do your best woodworking when the shop looks like you mean business and lets you get right down to it, so keep it swept up. We all know that blades, bits and cutters work best when they're pitch-free and honed to a keen edge. Maybe it's time for a marathon sharpening session soon. Dialing in those bevel cuts will be easier if your table saw arbor gears receive an occasional dab of paste wax to keep them meshing smoothly. Have you done this lately? If you want to buy another decade or two of time from your air compressor, drain condensation from the tank regularly to inhibit rust, just like the manual says. And now that wood dust is a suspected carcinogen, inspect and clean your shop vac and dust collection system often, not only to keep the dust down but also as a matter of personal health.

A few years ago, tool expert Sandor Nagyszalanczy wrote an excellent two-part series on shop and tool maintenance for Woodworker's Journal. If you didn't read these articles, it'd be worth your effort to order the back issues (April, June 2003). For Sandor's basic checklist of what to tend to and how often to tend to it, see the reprinted box on the facing page.

Why not make 2005 the "Year of the Shop?" Once you start making inroads toward better layout, organization and general tool and shop maintenance, I'll bet you spend more time woodworking than last year. Chances are, you'll be happier in the process. ~

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Tool tune-ups don't have to be drudgery if you follow a regular maintenance schedule. It's also cheap insurance toward longer tool life.

Winter 2004

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