G'day from Hughesdale, Victoria

Hi folks,

I recently stumbled across this terrific forum and thought I'd introduce myself and become part of the action. My name is Steve, and I'm a 33 year old architect.

Over the past 4 or 5 years I've spent most weekends and holidays beefing up the powertool collection and in that time I have renovated/extended/reconfigured a 1930's Californian Bungalow (weatherboard) and subdivided the land and have nearly completed building a 2 storey townhouse at the rear (will be finished by Xmas 2008)

This project was my stepping-stone into the housing market and I hope to move on and purchase a block of land in the Dandenong Ranges and build my dream home (of mainly rammed earth and timber post-and beam construction).

I am obsessed with Bunnings (yep...I know alot of people resent the store, but I love the fact you can duck down there at 8.30 pm weeknights and buy a tool etc) and have originally bought GMC tools for just about everything. Having seen the light I'm slowly replacing the GMC collection with quality tools by Bosch, Makita, Dewalt etc as funds allow and needs dictate.

I'm also wanting to get into making alot of timber furniture from recycled timbers etc for myself and friends etc, but the wife insists that she has a functional kitchen before I take on more projects! I also have to complete my classis car projects (including a Lotus 7 clubman replica and VW Karmann Ghia restoration).

So with a house nearing completion, a shed full of powertools (including my new pride and joy,a Makita LS1013 SCMS) for the next house, and my car projects and love of golf, I look forward to spending my remaining free time exploring this forum.

Thanks for reading my blurb!

Steve

Steve, in the first place, Welcome, and reading your ''blurb'' tells me that you have a lot of plans to carry out. But that's very good. Being an architect and wanted to build your own house is very exciting, a big plus is that you like it to work with your hands.
This forum is in my eyes the best forum on earth, and I hope you have a great time here. Maybe you can show us some of your work, as we all love it to see pictures, anyway pictures tells more about people, than story's.

Ad :)

Welcome stephenianjames (wow 3 new members in one hit:2tsup::D)

Hope you enjoy your time here.

Thanks for the welcome guys! I'll be sure to get off my backside and display some of my modest work down the track.

Welcome, Steve.

Obviously you have found, as I have, that with power tools "you get what you pay for".

I have a range of power tools from GMC Bandsaw, through Bosch Power drills to Triton Work Centre and Makita LS1013F Compound Mitre saw (my pride and joy also - well worth the $900-odd that I paid for it)

As the GMC tools wear out (usually prematurely), I am progressively replacing them with better quality equivalents. The Ttriton Work Centre and the Makita Compound saw were the exceptions - I chose the quality option first, avoiding the GMC option all together.

If you're still deciding on a bench saw solution - check out the Triton. As a retired Mechanical Engineer, I was impressed with the quality of the kit, the ease with which it goes together and, having got it together, how easy it was to tune for exceptional accuracy. (The detailed instruction book and accompanying 2hr video also helped).

I would also recommend that you buy the Triton Circular Saw and fit it to the Centre, and don't remove it. This is the most expensive option, but in my opinion produces the best and most consistent results

Also, by now you will have discovered the exceptional accuracy of the Makita Compound Saw. As an Engineer I was curious as to just how accurate it was!. As a test, I trimmed the end of good straight piece of 90 x 45 pine framing timber. I then turned it over (so the top face was now on the bottom) and cut a 3mm "slice" off the end.

Again, as an Engineer, I then reached for a micrometer to check the consistency of thickness of the slice - an indication of squareness accuracy. Nowhere on the surface of that slice did its thickness vary by more than two thousandths of an inch (sorry - it was an imperial micrometer).

What this means in practice, is that having cut lengths of 70 x 45 treated pine framing timber to form the sides of a 3m square frame (part of a current verandah-enclosing project that I am doing), the frames, when screwed together, are square within a millimetre or two in the 3m length.

This makes the production of frames, be they bookshelves or wall frames, a stress-free exercise.

Happy woodworking !!

Hi Steve...and welcome!

Whew!!! I'm tired out just reading all the things your into!:C

Cheers,

Ed :D

Welcome aboard, Steve.

By building your own projects, even if "only" furniture, you're on your way to being a superior architect too. Too many young engineers and architects don't appreciate how things go together.

Here's the formula for successful Civil Engineering projects:
1. Take measurements with a micrometer.
2. Lay out the work with a metre stick (or yardstick) and chalk.
3. Cut out the pieces with an axe.

Cheers,
Joe