Hi folks,
I thought I'd introduce myself and tell a happy woodworking story. I joined this forum a year or so back, but didn't become active posting for numerous reasons. I'm fairly active on another woodworking forum and just hadn't made it over to this site frequently enough to commit time to engaging much.
I'm a timber frame carpenter by trade. Plenty of general and finish carpentry in the mix as well. I end up doing a healthy amount of custom woodworking at work as well (from large, architectural type woodworking to furniture and lots of stuff in between.) Despite working full time in a shop with a full compliment of woodworking tools and having access to whatever I want or need, somehow I have the woodworking bug bad enough that apparently that's not enough to satiate my needs...
Over the last 4 years I've slowly been building out a small wood shop in my basement to work on my own personal projects and to take on small side jobs that sometimes arise outside my main employer. Despite having access to 4 different bandsaws at work, I've been dreaming of owning my own bandsaw in my home shop for a couple years now and finally was able to come much closer to that goal yesterday.
After countless months of searching via word of mouth, Craigslist, IRS auctions, GovDeals, etc and even considering spending way too much money on a new saw, I posted a wanted ad on the classifieds here about a month back looking for a used Italian bandsaw within a certain criteria range. Within a couple days, fellow forum member RoyG emailed me, offering to sell a saw of his for a very reasonable price. It took me some weeks and many detailed emails back and forth to be able to make the trip down to the Raleigh area to check the saw out. Needless to say it ended up following me home.
That's not to say it was painless to get this beast loaded into the back of the truck. Through a variety of techniques involving brute force, a come-along, 6x6 blocks, and galvanized pipe, Roy and I were able to eventually get it situated nicely in the back of my truck laying down on its spine on a pallet. Unloading should be a bit easier with the forklift now
The saw is an '86 Steton SN500 imported from Italy by Roy when new. 500mm (~20") wheels, 2 hp motor, blade brake, 1/2"-1 1/4" blade range Euro guides, 12" + re saw capability. The manual claims it only weighs 550 lbs, but good lord, it certainly felt a bit heavier than that yesterday as we were trying to slide it into the truck bed...
Roy also graciously invited me to poke around in his lumber stacks, and I came home with some beautiful 4" thick mahogany, 8/4 spalted maple, walnut, and 4/4 cypress. It was a great experience, and a familiar one that frequently happens among woodworkers when a long-standing tool changes hands between people that have a deep interest and passion in working wood. Each major piece of used machinery that I've acquired over the years (table saw, jointer, bandsaw) has involved shared stories, memories, advice and just a plain old good feeling of being around others that also love working wood and get excited about all the nitty gritty details that go along with it all.
Trying to get a couple pics uploaded. The saw is still in the truck at this point, but I hope to get it unloaded and setup over the next couple of days. I will update again once I have it looking more presentable.
Great forum here, and hope you enjoyed the story! Thanks again Roy!
Edit: Hmmm, not sure how to get the pics embedded in the post, as opposed to links that you have to click. Also, not seeing how I add my location into my avatar/profile. Any help?
I thought I'd introduce myself and tell a happy woodworking story. I joined this forum a year or so back, but didn't become active posting for numerous reasons. I'm fairly active on another woodworking forum and just hadn't made it over to this site frequently enough to commit time to engaging much.
I'm a timber frame carpenter by trade. Plenty of general and finish carpentry in the mix as well. I end up doing a healthy amount of custom woodworking at work as well (from large, architectural type woodworking to furniture and lots of stuff in between.) Despite working full time in a shop with a full compliment of woodworking tools and having access to whatever I want or need, somehow I have the woodworking bug bad enough that apparently that's not enough to satiate my needs...
Over the last 4 years I've slowly been building out a small wood shop in my basement to work on my own personal projects and to take on small side jobs that sometimes arise outside my main employer. Despite having access to 4 different bandsaws at work, I've been dreaming of owning my own bandsaw in my home shop for a couple years now and finally was able to come much closer to that goal yesterday.
After countless months of searching via word of mouth, Craigslist, IRS auctions, GovDeals, etc and even considering spending way too much money on a new saw, I posted a wanted ad on the classifieds here about a month back looking for a used Italian bandsaw within a certain criteria range. Within a couple days, fellow forum member RoyG emailed me, offering to sell a saw of his for a very reasonable price. It took me some weeks and many detailed emails back and forth to be able to make the trip down to the Raleigh area to check the saw out. Needless to say it ended up following me home.
That's not to say it was painless to get this beast loaded into the back of the truck. Through a variety of techniques involving brute force, a come-along, 6x6 blocks, and galvanized pipe, Roy and I were able to eventually get it situated nicely in the back of my truck laying down on its spine on a pallet. Unloading should be a bit easier with the forklift now
The saw is an '86 Steton SN500 imported from Italy by Roy when new. 500mm (~20") wheels, 2 hp motor, blade brake, 1/2"-1 1/4" blade range Euro guides, 12" + re saw capability. The manual claims it only weighs 550 lbs, but good lord, it certainly felt a bit heavier than that yesterday as we were trying to slide it into the truck bed...
Roy also graciously invited me to poke around in his lumber stacks, and I came home with some beautiful 4" thick mahogany, 8/4 spalted maple, walnut, and 4/4 cypress. It was a great experience, and a familiar one that frequently happens among woodworkers when a long-standing tool changes hands between people that have a deep interest and passion in working wood. Each major piece of used machinery that I've acquired over the years (table saw, jointer, bandsaw) has involved shared stories, memories, advice and just a plain old good feeling of being around others that also love working wood and get excited about all the nitty gritty details that go along with it all.
Trying to get a couple pics uploaded. The saw is still in the truck at this point, but I hope to get it unloaded and setup over the next couple of days. I will update again once I have it looking more presentable.
Great forum here, and hope you enjoyed the story! Thanks again Roy!
Edit: Hmmm, not sure how to get the pics embedded in the post, as opposed to links that you have to click. Also, not seeing how I add my location into my avatar/profile. Any help?
