CURIOUS

[ben2008]

I don't do much scrolling in the summer. I have basically stopped until fall. I may do a little project. I have too much other stuff to do as a homeowner if I can find someone to help me. Seems nobody wants to work anymore. My time is short for getting things done outside  living  in MI and having only a few months of really nice weather to get things done and enjoying  the summer weather.  I'll probably start scrollin' again in  Sept., Oct. Just curious how others go about it.

Ben

Edited June 29, 2021 by ben2008

[OCtoolguy]

Well, living where I do, I can pretty much do whatever, whenever. I've got a small heater in my shop and I just installed an a/c unit through the back wall for when it gets hot. We live in a very moderate climate. Right now, it looks like rain but the rest of the state is in the 90's and 100's. The only thing that stops me from getting things done is me. I'm basically lazy when it comes to stuff that I don't feel like doing. Like painting. We've been putting that off for a couple of years now. 

[Rockytime]

At 82 I'm not only done but can't. I can't walk across the lawn as any slight variation causes me to loose my balance. I have to use a walker. We hire a lawn service to cut, fertilize and do weed control. My wife goes ballistic if the yard is not pristine. Fortunately we have two daughters and sons in law who do a lot for us. We will never move to a retirement place. We are not willing to give up our home. Neither would our girls allow it. Would be different were they living a long ways off. We may be old but we are blessed!

[crupiea]

I scroll in my dining room.   One big advantage of being single. 

Edited June 29, 2021 by crupiea

[OCtoolguy]

3 minutes ago, crupiea said:

I scroll in my dining room.   One big advantage of being single. 

It does have it's perks. I've often wondered.

 

[Fedido]

I live in South Carolina and during the 100 degree summer, I have an AC pointed at the scroll saw. I still sweat out three pounds of water, but at least it is bearable. The winter does get chilly, but usually I can do things in the afternoon. I have scrolled when it was 40 degrees. Didn’t last long though. 

[FrankEV]

I moved to Florida and bought a home on a very small piece of property so I don't have to do much house and yard maintenance.  Like Les (rockytime), I have a yard service and I only have to deal with some of my potted plants and keeping the weeds from growing between the pavers in my walk and patio.  I can still manage to spray a little bit of Roundup every once in a while.  

I also have a small AC unit and a small heater for my very small shop, so, like some others, I could scroll 24-7-365 but don't.  I do it when I want, usually 2-4 hours in early mornings when it does not interfere with my afternoon nap time.     

[TAIrving]

Outdoor activities are year-round here, golf, lawn work, etc.  Winters, when we have them last a week or so.  But the summers are as brutal as the winters are short.  I have a window mounted AC in the shop for the hot season.  

I am 78 and hire out most of the lawn work.  And I am lazy and am behind on the parts I failed to hire out.  With your words as inspiration, maybe I will get around to some of that soon.  

[kmmcrafts]

I'm not retired yet so I scroll pretty much every day from 7-8am until lunch time usually somewhere around 12 - 12:30 pm and usually back out scrolling from 1 - 3pm or 4. Pretty much every week day and sometimes on the weekend too. Every once in a while I stay inside doing website work or bookkeeping for a half day or so. I'm not a strict worker in the shop.. I've taken several days off woodworking the last couple weeks because I'm rebuilding a engine for my daughters Jeep. The rebuild has taken a lot of time sitting waiting for this part that part etc.. seems there is a shortage of everything including workers LOL.. People still shopping online though so that's good.. not sure how long that can last if nobody is working. LOL

I have a zero turn mower and a couple large older John Deere Garden tractors.. but 5 years ago someone gave me a John Deere push / walk behind 21" mower.. I had a lot of fun tinkering with that old mower. Friend of ours was throwing it in the trash and my wife said she should have me look at it. she didn't want to fuss with it as it was old and scratched up said if we wanted it she would bring it over, LOL. I drained the gas and the float bowl and poured fresh gas in darn thing fired right up one pull, LOL.  Soo, I've been mowing my 3 acers with the 21" mower for 5 years now,  while the zero turn sets there.. real hot days or real busy weeks where I'm crunched for time I do use the big mowers.. which end up being about 2-3 times a year. Tractors pretty much stay dress with the snow blower on one and a snow plow on the other. 

My father told me if you set down too long you may never get back up.. I pretty much stay busy from daylight to dark.. not a TV watcher but I do spend my TV watching time right here on the SSV probably every day, This place is about the only entertainment type thing I do on a regular basis. I have some car, tractor and RV forums I like to read on every now and then but nothing like here.

[dgman]

1 hour ago, Algae said:

Outdoor activities are year-round here, golf, lawn work, etc.  Winters, when we have them last a week or so.  But the summers are as brutal as the winters are short.  I have a window mounted AC in the shop for the hot season.  

I am 78 and hire out most of the lawn work.  And I am lazy and am behind on the parts I failed to hire out.  With your words as inspiration, maybe I will get around to some of that soon.  

So, where is here?

[ike]

we live ina mobil home have a small 8 X 10 shed as my shop large fan no air or heat I useallly scroll about 10 month  per year but with the heat we rare having now ia don't do much, at 82 i can't take that 90 degree heat, so I am on the computer looking for patterns and playing solitaire.

IKE  

[TAIrving]

so where is here?

not far from Houston Texas

[ben2008]

2 hours ago, ike said:

we live ina mobil home have a small 8 X 10 shed as my shop large fan no air or heat I useallly scroll about 10 month  per year but with the heat we rare having now ia don't do much, at 82 i can't take that 90 degree heat, so I am on the computer looking for patterns and playing solitaire.

IKE  

No air or heat? That sounds brutal. I wouldn't last 5 minutes.

My folks are from Ohio and it gets pretty toasty in the summer and really cold in the winter down there. It's much like where I live in SE MI.

[new2woodwrk]

Last few years (just after the Hurricane that nearly wiped us out) I avoided the shop in the summer- just too unbearable for me

This year however things have significantly changed.

Since we're both scrolling a lot these days, we've purchased several heaters for the winter that worked really well - Winter for us is on and off between Dec and March. Some days/weeks are really cold, some not so much

Recently (in an other thread) I sectioned off the working portion of the garage/shop and added a window A/C (5k btu) it does a fair job of keeping that area cool enough to work

Basically, we now have a 12 month a year working environment - so far so good

Oh and we're in NW Florida  hot/cold/humid/raining you name it we have it

[Rolf]

I do all of my own yard work and most of the work that the house requires. There are, however those things that I can do but no longer want to. Like roof repair. Those I hire out. 

My scrolling usually slows down during the summer when the car and boating season kicks in. I am working on getting my boat in the water but have to fix something that has not been touched since 2005 (prior owner and myself to blame) Unless like like right now we have high heat and humidity so I have been scrolling a significant project for SSWWC in my basement shop. 

[munzieb]

Just like the rest of you in the south and west, things are starting to get a little warm here in upstate of SC. I try to limit my cutting to mornings before things get too hot. I have a fan on a stand but was wondering if anyone has tried those small personal air conditioners like the ones advertised on TV? My shop is in a 3 car garage and I know they can't cool the whole thing down but it would be nice to get some cool air blowing on me while I'm cutting. Any feed back would be appreciated.

[FrankEV]

2 minutes ago, munzieb said:

Just like the rest of you in the south and west, things are starting to get a little warm here in upstate of SC. I try to limit my cutting to mornings before things get too hot. I have a fan on a stand but was wondering if anyone has tried those small personal air conditioners like the ones advertised on TV? My shop is in a 3 car garage and I know they can't cool the whole thing down but it would be nice to get some cool air blowing on me while I'm cutting. Any feed back would be appreciated.

I bought one of those and still haven't used it.  Added a small AC unit that did not cost much more than the personal cooler, and gladI did.  Now, I can work even when the temps get fairly high outside.

You might take want to take a idea from new2woodwrk.   Read his post above.  Sectioning off a smaller area and adding an AC unit is much more practicle and not a very expensive ordeal.     

[CharleyL]

If you live in a humid area, buy an air conditioner. Do not buy one of those coolers that blow air through trickling water on a filter. It will raise the humidity, rust your tools, and make things worse than they are now. You want to remove humidity from the air, not add to it. Those work well in the desert South West, but not in the South East, US, even though they try to sell them here. An AC unit will remove the humidity and then cool the air. It is not as effective at cooling until it gets the humidity of the air lower, so don't try to use it with a window or door open and letting in more humidity. Keep the area closed up and the humidity low in there and you will get the best cooling possible from the AC unit. If a window AC unit and it just can't seem to keep up on those brutally hot days, a garden hose spraying a very fine mist on the outside coils of the window AC unit using very little water will help the AC unit remove the heat and it will work better to cool the inside. Only do this if you aren't paying high rates for your water though. Us with our own well water supply will benefit most from this. The plants and grass below the AC unit will appreciate the drink too.

Charley

 

 

 

Edited June 30, 2021 by CharleyL

[munzieb]

30 minutes ago, CharleyL said:

If you live in a humid area, buy an air conditioner. Do not buy one of those coolers that blow air through trickling water on a filter. It will raise the humidity, rust your tools, and make things worse than they are now. You want to remove humidity from the air, not add to it. Those work well in the desert South West, but not in the South East, US, even though they try to sell them here. An AC unit will remove the humidity and then cool the air. It is not as effective at cooling until it gets the humidity of the air lower, so don't try to use it with a window or door open and letting in more humidity. Keep the area closed up and the humidity low in there and you will get the best cooling possible from the AC unit. If a window AC unit and it just can't seem to keep up on those brutally hot days, a garden hose spraying a very fine mist on the outside coils of the window AC unit using very little water will help the AC unit remove the heat and it will work better to cool the inside. Only do this if you aren't paying high rates for your water though. Us with our own well water supply will benefit most from this. The plants and grass below the AC unit will appreciate the drink too.

Charley

 

 

 

Charley, Thanks for the info. Still considering my options.

[Rockytime]

Evaporative coolers are widely used in Colorado as we are semi arid. We've used them in houses We've owned in the past. They are quite efficient. 

[Roberta Moreton]

My scroll saw is in a spare room in the house. I scroll when I please. My wood shop is not heated or air conditioned. I regret not adding insulation every day.  I’m in NC. I plan on going out to work on my bench in the mornings.  

[Norm Fengstad]

I live in North Saskatchewan where winters are long  can get very cold so have gas heated shop that i insulated very well and spend a lot of time in the shop, summers are nice long sunshine days but right now North American heat wave  has hit us and will effect us only about a week I hope. At 78 I am getting slower to do things and perhaps take more to think through a project. We still maintain our home and yard and like Rocky have no intention of ever leaving our home . I like all kinds of woodworking but settling more into scroll sawing and carving as these activites can be sit down jobs. 

[Rolf]

When I lived in Merced CA (USAF) ,. My mobile home had a swamp cooler on the roof. In that dry climate that worked great.  But I also did not have any tools at that time. I

The humidity here on LI is brutal at times and I run a dehumidifier all summer in my basement.  When it gets real bad I have stand alone AC unit that I vent outside, that really cools the basement quickly. The rest of the house has CA

[MrsN]

My saw is in the spare bedroom, so heated and air conditioned! Makes for lovely sawing all year long. 

[Grumpy Old Bear]

I also have my saw in a spare bedroom. Very nice not having to go up and down stairs. Last night I finished a new dust sucker thing-ee for the saw, so the little vacuum I use will grab both the top and bottom dust. That keeps the wife happy.