tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58132019355324742212024-03-13T15:13:34.261-07:00Felix Enterprises' Woodworking ProjectsMy woodworking projects both past and present.Felix Enterpriseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716929517747065941noreply@blogger.comBlogger130125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813201935532474221.post-58542188859024902702023-06-18T18:25:00.001-07:002023-06-18T18:25:39.955-07:00New Baby Gate PlansWhen I got Ripley as a puppy I thought I was going to need to use baby gates to keep her out of our dining room - the room we feed the cats in. <a href="http://blog.felix-enterprises.com/2018/09/pet-gate.html">I built a gate to keep her out.</a> Turns out Ripley is terrified of tile and hardwood floors so she's not willing to enter the dining room much less cross the expanse of tile to get there.<div><br /></div><div>However, now that we have Lexi things have changed. Lexi is perfectly happy skidding her way across tile and hardwood floors. I need another gate for the other door into my dining room. I have a purchased gate in the opening right now but I hate it. It's much narrower than the entire door opening and I have to step through it sideways to avoid accidentally knocking it down.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, using my newfound mad skills in Sketchup I designed my new gate.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgcszuVSaeXHH66hba1yxT9bDAKWk0VNdh8qdV-kypsoUC8Lqw-XEOIk-UOdPe_Ta2O0X-0u94DZiuW0JBjIdJlqSOcrlddqgMeLb6t-IXl196aAE87DSLS4D7MzcFCaHQ9SL8lvC3bCsX5xaYpRhFSSBg7L_a9uFO42aur_TX6T_Q3CWawdafn-gx8" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="713" data-original-width="757" height="602" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgcszuVSaeXHH66hba1yxT9bDAKWk0VNdh8qdV-kypsoUC8Lqw-XEOIk-UOdPe_Ta2O0X-0u94DZiuW0JBjIdJlqSOcrlddqgMeLb6t-IXl196aAE87DSLS4D7MzcFCaHQ9SL8lvC3bCsX5xaYpRhFSSBg7L_a9uFO42aur_TX6T_Q3CWawdafn-gx8=w640-h602" width="640" /></a></div><br />This gate is going to be fundamentally the same style with the addition of the opening for my plus sized cat. She still fits through the front gate I made almost five years ago but it's a bit of a squeeze. I wouldn't be shocked to find her running through the house with a gate stuck around her waist.</div><div><br /></div><div>This gate also has to work around some molding that the first gate didn't need to.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm particularly proud of figuring out how to make the cap to the gate top. There's a wide and shallow chamfer along the top of the rail that I had to figure out how to make in Sketchup. The trick is to make a template of what the profile is supposed to look like, draw the shape for the template to follow (the rounded end) and then use the "Follow Me" tool.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhD4KPj-Wi0w-RERwmArej_Ne2F6q3DoMIlGq3YgzxKFRV_74z66BIaj7VqOp3YVB772F0IJUxBNv15vQey1eM2IFBI880ddUvU7j2e62Q7c-v0UUkzOfui7liSuIkZ9v4HNgOLfhNQfcm5-gt3sArqynXRwRulBFDzROJ25gjMEEENdI0Hd4onDcez" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="227" data-original-width="543" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhD4KPj-Wi0w-RERwmArej_Ne2F6q3DoMIlGq3YgzxKFRV_74z66BIaj7VqOp3YVB772F0IJUxBNv15vQey1eM2IFBI880ddUvU7j2e62Q7c-v0UUkzOfui7liSuIkZ9v4HNgOLfhNQfcm5-gt3sArqynXRwRulBFDzROJ25gjMEEENdI0Hd4onDcez=w640-h268" width="640" /></a></div><br />I haven't even checked to see if I have material for this yet. I probably do. It'll only need a small amount of walnut and I try to keep poplar on hand. I may try to bang it out over one of the upcoming weekends but I'm not sure I'm going to have a free weekend before mid-July.</div>Felix Enterpriseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716929517747065941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813201935532474221.post-75001718231348533592023-06-18T18:01:00.002-07:002023-06-18T18:01:30.254-07:00Sweet Alexandria (Lexi)<p> I got another puppy...</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj065X5IcPonp0t-zfM2k79P8L2x4Hmw-pZI8GrlvNIHkMCXodh5-nzyQFdQPnxMNhChruJO50m_AH9HMiClIIonXathgkPcqeg06G5Ss_x4pI8qtjVXEkcA95ISyjsM6BKOserDoUBZ6r-PJNiJk-uvQCtQQB8dxKPzuLrLCrLciSOJrwwq3NeETn-" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="767" data-original-width="1074" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj065X5IcPonp0t-zfM2k79P8L2x4Hmw-pZI8GrlvNIHkMCXodh5-nzyQFdQPnxMNhChruJO50m_AH9HMiClIIonXathgkPcqeg06G5Ss_x4pI8qtjVXEkcA95ISyjsM6BKOserDoUBZ6r-PJNiJk-uvQCtQQB8dxKPzuLrLCrLciSOJrwwq3NeETn-=w640-h458" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Left to right: Sweet Alexandria (Lexi) and Ripley</i></div><p></p><div><br /></div>Lexi's owner sadly passed away unexpectedly. She was a Bernese Mountain Dog breeder and had six dogs that her family needed to get into homes. A friend in our neighborhood puppy play group saw a posting on Facebook, forwarded it to our puppy play group chat, and got me in touch with the poster. In less than 24 hours I went from being a single dog family to having two dogs.<div><br /></div><div>Lexi is a sweet puppy but unfortunately has apparently not had a lot of formal obedience training. She's smart so I don't expect it to take her too long to learn. She is very excitable though.</div><div><br /></div><div>The dogs had unfortunately been kept in squalid conditions. She smelled very bad when we brought her home and despite us giving her a quick bath and taking her to a professional groomer she still has some grime deep in her coat.</div><div><br /></div><div>It took her a week to get over having her life upended and to be somewhat comfortable in our house. It took another week for her personality to come out.</div><div><br /></div><div>She's a really sweet dog and is fitting in great with Ripley, our three cats, and the neighborhood doggie play group. (oh, and she's five years old and not technically a puppy any more).</div>Felix Enterpriseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716929517747065941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813201935532474221.post-40999947701697692372023-06-18T17:46:00.002-07:002023-06-18T17:46:25.375-07:00Picture Frames<p> Over the winter I made a couple of picture frames out of some soft maple I got a few years ago for free. I have a lot of the maple so I used a little bit of it to make the frames. I needed to wait until the weather got good enough to put finish on them.</p><p>Well, they got their finish, had the art put inside and have been hung on the walls.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgrUCWUDbABJW7X7t9Q-AQ2aMzCqr83la543-0bvVZRNIXkuaysCXe0dNZOR_E-bBqzqT46auD1N_zd5FwZHofF7NxvfDGqqnon69fHBOimOaBqh3pT4VhLY7FskZHxZ_V9VlrPt0pSJPLVDCOLiwAMoWehaHegDlqVtW5YeP4BDfmSuLsECIDunQcu" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="672" data-original-width="1196" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgrUCWUDbABJW7X7t9Q-AQ2aMzCqr83la543-0bvVZRNIXkuaysCXe0dNZOR_E-bBqzqT46auD1N_zd5FwZHofF7NxvfDGqqnon69fHBOimOaBqh3pT4VhLY7FskZHxZ_V9VlrPt0pSJPLVDCOLiwAMoWehaHegDlqVtW5YeP4BDfmSuLsECIDunQcu=w640-h360" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>The art is some water colors we bought from an artist on a trip to Saint Marten many years ago. Fortunately we stored them safely so they weren't damaged but unfortunately it took me over ten years to make the frames so we could appreciate them on our walls.</p><p>Hopefully the first couple of many more pictures to be framed and hung on my walls.</p>Felix Enterpriseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716929517747065941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813201935532474221.post-88389634908267993302023-06-18T17:36:00.002-07:002023-06-18T17:36:32.155-07:00Radial Arm Saw Mobile Cart Progress<p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEie3JTw_o7Gxg_WQbc1C2K1IaNJNbf800T9-oC9sw6enZUv-KsA3oKnP3MOn0e5NctdU0bN2XUBWDWXPOmfW7ZcNT43FG72aMiW8WWZH1NrEyh0ax30w3uH-vpS1kR3lUftKWl8efAMeORltWWPHMES_eXNOk04S1HMYZAvssyjF-Rh8Sxl5dc1pjt6"><img alt="" data-original-height="704" data-original-width="1461" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEie3JTw_o7Gxg_WQbc1C2K1IaNJNbf800T9-oC9sw6enZUv-KsA3oKnP3MOn0e5NctdU0bN2XUBWDWXPOmfW7ZcNT43FG72aMiW8WWZH1NrEyh0ax30w3uH-vpS1kR3lUftKWl8efAMeORltWWPHMES_eXNOk04S1HMYZAvssyjF-Rh8Sxl5dc1pjt6=w640-h308" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>If you only count hours in the shop I've been making good progress on the Radial Arm Saw Cart. If you go by calendar it hasn't been that great. Regardless, last weekend I got the panels shaped.</p><p>My first step was to shape the tall outer panel as seen below.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjIFvfBIh2E6AnahSBsvDcAynliApeow9HtyQPOLSE9r85yivuFftwbrpfJAuidw60tn0eheAXO_OU13yQJAVDRan_VzhLc4ssiAwmHIlRxEVUhOEo9KJdKLHd8d6NlMU4b2DpOFsm-z4yHKPWL5GFTu98PXEv3Q1iPReCsYS6JYGZG9xJBnGOFK9EF" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="645" data-original-width="634" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjIFvfBIh2E6AnahSBsvDcAynliApeow9HtyQPOLSE9r85yivuFftwbrpfJAuidw60tn0eheAXO_OU13yQJAVDRan_VzhLc4ssiAwmHIlRxEVUhOEo9KJdKLHd8d6NlMU4b2DpOFsm-z4yHKPWL5GFTu98PXEv3Q1iPReCsYS6JYGZG9xJBnGOFK9EF=w629-h640" width="629" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tall Panels</td></tr></tbody></table><br />I cut the first rail slot by hand but then I got a little smarter and made a jig. I took one of the longer rail offcuts and cut it into three pieces. I then glued them back together to make a router template. To cut the rest of the slots in the panel I carefully measured, clamped the template in place, removed most of the waste with my jig saw, then trimmed to the exact size with a half inch pattern bit in my router.<div><br /></div><div>I then used the first panel as a template for cutting the middle panel and the short outside panels. I used the same process. I lined up the first "template" panel on top of the other panels, removed most of the waste with my jig saw then used the half inch router pattern bit to get them exact.<br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgrkcN5y8fypj-hIxbJniuV-sSwXhu0k8MsHydG5t0tgt5qedg13FNe8KqIM1Txut7SWZIh9qJG-mh5WMbbrf7OeS6hwoKm8GxigfTgQ94DE5kQ_XSJSLiWv_GCVTYbYhP7KPxcw1U-DXSTaQqH6IF4ptr0Wd6ljxcvxW9QMghURfpHYuXr_fqAffEK" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="558" data-original-width="607" height="589" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgrkcN5y8fypj-hIxbJniuV-sSwXhu0k8MsHydG5t0tgt5qedg13FNe8KqIM1Txut7SWZIh9qJG-mh5WMbbrf7OeS6hwoKm8GxigfTgQ94DE5kQ_XSJSLiWv_GCVTYbYhP7KPxcw1U-DXSTaQqH6IF4ptr0Wd6ljxcvxW9QMghURfpHYuXr_fqAffEK=w640-h589" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Short Panels</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEixnQ7bjMl0z-Onn6q2B2gBX3fytwIz8RBwn3ZgatrIuZctsphfnqQLUysKPEgl5tWCw19htLlGWVGSFCIyR6Nly6RTVK_oZEYIcc_aap3e8zEE-iLkr_WABqR4WMLeYWvo4YU5zyr6oVbqqcZeza8vPSp5pLMDcjZA7Zdc7YQh4sxi2fJGQIWTCYbD" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="589" data-original-width="1188" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEixnQ7bjMl0z-Onn6q2B2gBX3fytwIz8RBwn3ZgatrIuZctsphfnqQLUysKPEgl5tWCw19htLlGWVGSFCIyR6Nly6RTVK_oZEYIcc_aap3e8zEE-iLkr_WABqR4WMLeYWvo4YU5zyr6oVbqqcZeza8vPSp5pLMDcjZA7Zdc7YQh4sxi2fJGQIWTCYbD=w640-h318" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Middle Panel and extra support rail</td></tr></tbody></table><br />My first task this weekend was to drill the holes for the handles. I'd bought 1" black pipe for these and fortunately I thought to measure it. It's 1" inner diameter so the actual outer dimension was about 1-5/16". I don't have a Forstner bit that size so I just used a 1-3/8" bit. They'll be a bit loose but that's better than being too tight or not fitting at all.</div><div><br /></div><div>Again, I carefully measured the position I wanted the holes to be on my template panel, used a center punch to mark the hole location and then drilled the hole on my drill press. It was a bit awkward because the positioning of the holes had most of the panel hanging off the table but I made it work.</div><div><br /></div><div>After getting the holes drilled in the template panel I removed the bit from the drill press and used it and the template to mark the hole location in the middle panel. I then remounted the bit in the drill press and drilled the holes in the middle panel.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now with all the joinery cut it was time to start gluing up the panels. I decided it would be easier to glue the center panel first. I'm not sure if I mentioned the source of these panels. In cleaning out my in-laws barn I came across a dozen prefabricated panels. They're thick veneer over a poplar core and they've been stained and have a film finish on them. To get a better chance of the glue holding everything together I'm sanding the finish off before gluing.</div><div><br /></div><div>I sanded the back of the mid rail support and the top of the middle panel. I then spread glue by squeezing a bunch on and then spreading it with an old AAA membership card. It was when I went to apply clamps I realized my error. The little rail started sliding all over the place.</div><div><br /></div><div>Fortunately I'd decided to buy a pin nailer over the winter and this gave me the perfect opportunity to pull it out and use it. So I quick got my compressor out and refilled, read the nailer instructions - at least enough to know what pressure to run it at and how to load nails, then pinned the board in place before adding a half dozen clamps.</div><div><br /></div><div>I used the same process with the other two side panels but I skipped the frantic prepping the compressor and nailer step and just made sure it was ready.</div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhCzqj6Fi5YUtU15xQC11A1ZKvQusTyl--8LRi9cjCP3YCFU0K67IIGbIm-scG7nDdvWtVnxSqwtm6cm3hPEeECaVjqaAZ3NNOdVph3exLVqfNa5AX3NtW0Rsj5zSgdOR7DMoGiHVdlNuT3huGov3O1IqnpQjgix0XZymZfZUIzQ9mi9gi5HSeUAALO" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="796" data-original-width="1136" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhCzqj6Fi5YUtU15xQC11A1ZKvQusTyl--8LRi9cjCP3YCFU0K67IIGbIm-scG7nDdvWtVnxSqwtm6cm3hPEeECaVjqaAZ3NNOdVph3exLVqfNa5AX3NtW0Rsj5zSgdOR7DMoGiHVdlNuT3huGov3O1IqnpQjgix0XZymZfZUIzQ9mi9gi5HSeUAALO=w640-h448" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tall side panel glue up</td></tr></tbody></table><br />I did use a lot of clamps gluing up the two side panels. I may have had the nailer ready but I didn't have any cauls ready. I did have the rails for the cart though so I used a couple of them to try to spread pressure across the panel. I noticed I didn't have any glue squeeze out on the bottom though so I took the other two rails and used them to put some pressure more in the middle of the panel. It isn't pretty but it worked.</div><div><br /></div><div>My glue up of the short side panel went a little better as I was more prepared for the number of clamps I was going to need to use. I also used a lot less glue. The above picture of the long side panel looks like I am getting a reasonable amount of squeeze out but there was actually a lot in the middle opening. </div><div><br /></div><div>I was interrupted by dinner and other things while gluing but that worked out well because while that isn't all my clamps, that is most of my good clamps of this size. The interruptions came at just the right time for me to let the glue dry so I could get it while it was a little tacky.</div><div><br /></div><div>I was kind of afraid at how the panels would come out alignment wise. I didn't cut the inner panels oversized at all so if anything slipped during glue up I would have misaligned panels. Fortunately tacking them together with my pin nailer did the trick. They all look fine so I guess I got lucky.</div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhtZWyrIFe4Z_WjZk_FsQoMT1QPmPNEIFYHq0BbVhKAQeTW9B3P2jM-1zmibTti0stMhhdMRql5l2iiapsYOh3GIqTdgItOi4uykN8HppmRXn6dO7VZcH4ewAZpSNCUl5HMhPsYPTe4Qu8hGwG0KhRHFlM2AffqqRyEILqrGLV9LyzP-VaQJEacNX-p" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="585" data-original-width="1174" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhtZWyrIFe4Z_WjZk_FsQoMT1QPmPNEIFYHq0BbVhKAQeTW9B3P2jM-1zmibTti0stMhhdMRql5l2iiapsYOh3GIqTdgItOi4uykN8HppmRXn6dO7VZcH4ewAZpSNCUl5HMhPsYPTe4Qu8hGwG0KhRHFlM2AffqqRyEILqrGLV9LyzP-VaQJEacNX-p=w640-h318" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Left to Right: Short Panel, Middle Panel, Long Panel</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /></div><div>Next step was to trim the panels cleaning out the rail cutouts, leg cutouts, and trimming the middle panel to length. This work was done with the jig saw, router and table saw.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhJkiI013-qAM880I-IEVOgkZr6nuLCp5ByELwGM_9KepbazEmWr8Pg6aYf32PNmCBOG7Did8tkywoHepx3e9CinJcVjNrPAcYQjuQvPHVxU4InaJ0R53wpNhDQJNeIQRmXFQj_GScleMN-yl2uXwe35MB4m8fC3VNxQmkQkVb-Ul-qMLHF8nL3WX2y" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="685" data-original-width="1055" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhJkiI013-qAM880I-IEVOgkZr6nuLCp5ByELwGM_9KepbazEmWr8Pg6aYf32PNmCBOG7Did8tkywoHepx3e9CinJcVjNrPAcYQjuQvPHVxU4InaJ0R53wpNhDQJNeIQRmXFQj_GScleMN-yl2uXwe35MB4m8fC3VNxQmkQkVb-Ul-qMLHF8nL3WX2y=w640-h416" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div>My rails were unfortunately around 1/128 to tall so I ran then through the table saw shaving off a little at a time until they fit. I put a bevel on all the edges making sure to not bevel the rails where they were going to be inset into the vertical panels.</div><div><br /></div><div>The the big glue up. I sanded the prefinished parts of the rails where they were going to be glued to the vertical panels and then carefully glued everything together.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgyMRCILttnwb9JI4fhiwrEIeCvT91ypvgD4swAyx03X6pyUjphMQhvHKxNePwU2lNrOzPEYdcT5vR1y1wlYNkSmKsySN4ctVkZXVcc3TG01q40pRMfxXNKckZ8t_wlHGjr9vWpPaCvnUSDKYiIgZ0PgVNMloNJ1_aMf6jcNfswOt0DNO_z3Pmr2oB4" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="807" data-original-width="1013" height="510" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgyMRCILttnwb9JI4fhiwrEIeCvT91ypvgD4swAyx03X6pyUjphMQhvHKxNePwU2lNrOzPEYdcT5vR1y1wlYNkSmKsySN4ctVkZXVcc3TG01q40pRMfxXNKckZ8t_wlHGjr9vWpPaCvnUSDKYiIgZ0PgVNMloNJ1_aMf6jcNfswOt0DNO_z3Pmr2oB4=w640-h510" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div><p>As you can see from the above photo I needed a cross clamp to bring everything square but it was pretty close regardless. This was just making a very slight adjustment.</p><p>I glued up a couple of blocks to support the wheels, again sanding the finish where they were glued on. I intentionally left them a bit short of the rail so when I add drawers I'll have space to add the drawer rails.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEguIqGo_vcso22twRtcmWU-JmHGj-aqN1T3EUKGNIPC4MqQKF8ruufyd0uWZO1Xm9_ebsTCYx1wtlOuzOC4Q74cTE-oToYbuGiFCf-jZwI6z1q2SIn0lhCXhvZhObD8_pJKQr89xk5Xcym-JOzmutq0A3Dj8xUPeKBIpdg-H1S9kKkLJX9_7sw5CKM6" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="426" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEguIqGo_vcso22twRtcmWU-JmHGj-aqN1T3EUKGNIPC4MqQKF8ruufyd0uWZO1Xm9_ebsTCYx1wtlOuzOC4Q74cTE-oToYbuGiFCf-jZwI6z1q2SIn0lhCXhvZhObD8_pJKQr89xk5Xcym-JOzmutq0A3Dj8xUPeKBIpdg-H1S9kKkLJX9_7sw5CKM6" width="259" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgpXtlQ9jk45TWYI-nVUervowUv93g1hzCSm28QtB-zqDLanUrwdND1GK_8Z7WrW3IGml_H1vpOhVQteruGyLp7KeKl5IuuEX126pnON7obAZJrk7w8KM539q8ITzhEFVNPqwtymWizaC_btL2TYKUSW3FvhZrKsfrWaIaEX7-MxlH6kK3Qw32Ba5jI" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="527" data-original-width="653" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgpXtlQ9jk45TWYI-nVUervowUv93g1hzCSm28QtB-zqDLanUrwdND1GK_8Z7WrW3IGml_H1vpOhVQteruGyLp7KeKl5IuuEX126pnON7obAZJrk7w8KM539q8ITzhEFVNPqwtymWizaC_btL2TYKUSW3FvhZrKsfrWaIaEX7-MxlH6kK3Qw32Ba5jI" width="297" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>And voila, done except for drawers I will add much later and a top.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhNOm9DXx6j_2V-e27D0b_Z-DIsiJJbGH-itqtur2rLm82LnVxeO36YVHUGE_OGpSPe35Z8gv2p6xwKRfKvqKY_OVqiwCyl6yf59UtV5enAuJHOg-TmqFlgiLaWJf_myRTCYySUKiLUKy_QaItZ25HpXeKIyHUhYhS2HfzXOiSXGba3fojQmhjWb2Ne" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="775" data-original-width="1113" height="446" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhNOm9DXx6j_2V-e27D0b_Z-DIsiJJbGH-itqtur2rLm82LnVxeO36YVHUGE_OGpSPe35Z8gv2p6xwKRfKvqKY_OVqiwCyl6yf59UtV5enAuJHOg-TmqFlgiLaWJf_myRTCYySUKiLUKy_QaItZ25HpXeKIyHUhYhS2HfzXOiSXGba3fojQmhjWb2Ne=w640-h446" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>And with the top...</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjcc5o73m02I6wGkyx9IwGTYx563N-BA-ELpyWKBeIl99m5U6VPsGyIiLCJ4kf3BgiJ_5TRiE7cGV5dmcosfVsJ-pkd7NYUfiLyRnnAm_qK2x2SeJms5txAzoZ4HQjJo6AB8sz-IZj0FKaJZn2aeLFAfrvQfxhzo-2YGfNC0MzXmqDzdTfS5ptlhZLg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="721" data-original-width="1097" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjcc5o73m02I6wGkyx9IwGTYx563N-BA-ELpyWKBeIl99m5U6VPsGyIiLCJ4kf3BgiJ_5TRiE7cGV5dmcosfVsJ-pkd7NYUfiLyRnnAm_qK2x2SeJms5txAzoZ4HQjJo6AB8sz-IZj0FKaJZn2aeLFAfrvQfxhzo-2YGfNC0MzXmqDzdTfS5ptlhZLg=w640-h420" width="640" /></a></div><br />I was intending to make the top out of a singe piece of wood/plywood but I happened to have two pieces of scrap panel that I could cut down and only "waste" a little bit of wood. I figured it would work as a temporary top and if it doesn't work I'll replace it later.<p></p><p>I had my neighbor - we'll call him Steve to protect his identity - come over and help me lift the saw onto the cart.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhXlrvxdArJpOVLedfDfgvvvNeOBe4RgH8qYkHbfuRSvqNM5_FMXKn7G8XNquDTvzZobYue0TErYMzpmugXu-aGHKYuyXTTexe-2LsGeX2mvk3D9NBhaFSU_57qeCGwWCbIf7jEqYtU_8ObQhO30Erp4QcRPqpB50fI5wj3MFGA3Kd5e4m7TUZOUQtW" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="841" data-original-width="628" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhXlrvxdArJpOVLedfDfgvvvNeOBe4RgH8qYkHbfuRSvqNM5_FMXKn7G8XNquDTvzZobYue0TErYMzpmugXu-aGHKYuyXTTexe-2LsGeX2mvk3D9NBhaFSU_57qeCGwWCbIf7jEqYtU_8ObQhO30Erp4QcRPqpB50fI5wj3MFGA3Kd5e4m7TUZOUQtW=w477-h640" width="477" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>It still needs drawers and a table for the saw but at least it is up off the ground and is on a cart that will be easily mobile. I planned on putting adjustable feet on the leg side. I think I am going to wait a while before I put them on though. It seems to sit pretty stable so far.</p><p>I intended on putting of drawers for a while but then I came across a recycle bin full of accessories for the saw. I don't know when I am going to use them but it would probably be best to keep them with the saw. Maybe I'll add a quick shelf and see if I can fit the bin underneath.<br /><br />We'll see... For now, it is done.</p><p><br /></p></div>Felix Enterpriseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716929517747065941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813201935532474221.post-62687987930952437582023-04-07T12:45:00.002-07:002023-04-07T17:06:04.414-07:00More Sketchup - Four Drawer File Cabinet<p> It is hard for me to get into the workshop during the week which is sad. However, doing design scratches the same itch as making sawdust for me. When I was learning to fly my instructors would call it chair flying. Basically, sit yourself in a chair and go through all the steps involved in starting, taxiing, and flying the plane. This is the same thing for me except I am building projects in my head. I am thinking about joinery, order of operations, etc.</p><p>I did design wheels for my tool cart.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhqPsti9rYGjOwWIdKFrDFTxcvGuNFr4Mm4kHxQ9AHcZ1VjtCiwPaMFYKYbGUF-s4HdUMiPtye6y_ejYpMMpVNitRkZZLE7R-zYKbM4N4RmB97XrRZ16Qy0LlZObLoeZ1v6hdlKsvrLqBX-HfYlByZnb8Kqz6lcwB6mBXtq2TzKdvFupGJMnIo-4BlD" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="567" data-original-width="766" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhqPsti9rYGjOwWIdKFrDFTxcvGuNFr4Mm4kHxQ9AHcZ1VjtCiwPaMFYKYbGUF-s4HdUMiPtye6y_ejYpMMpVNitRkZZLE7R-zYKbM4N4RmB97XrRZ16Qy0LlZObLoeZ1v6hdlKsvrLqBX-HfYlByZnb8Kqz6lcwB6mBXtq2TzKdvFupGJMnIo-4BlD=w400-h296" width="400" /></a></div><br />They aren't perfect in every detail but they serve the purpose I needed. I'm tempted to go back in and make them more accurate as an exercise but I think I need to get a little better with Sketchup first.<p></p><p>With that done I remembered the other project I wanted to make. My in-laws had this beautiful quarter sawn white oak four drawer file cabinet. Unfortunately it has seen better days. The finish went bad and it suffered some water damage causing the veneer to buckle and separate. I briefly thought about trying to clean it up; however, I'm pretty sure building a new one will be less effort. So, I am going to design and build my own four drawer file cabinet.</p><p>A file cabinet is just another case of drawers. It shouldn't need anything too fancy. Sure it is going to get filled with hundreds of pounds of paper but does that really differentiate it from a bookshelf when just considering the case? I don't think it does.</p><p>I started my design with the drawer. Since the drawers need to be a specific dimension in order for the hanging file folders to work my drawer width is already fixed for me. I did decide that I wanted my cabinet to be 18" deep so that meant 16" drawers to leave room for the false fronts and cabinet back.</p><p>I'm going to hang my drawers on 16" full extension side-mount metal slides. These are easy to mount and should be plenty strong. I will not be opting for the soft close style.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgo5VpFcHTmfZKmTLtYMLx3ZfX94lcsYsT4Vbx69YdJ7V2oz7JeZsp8k7qytCm-soqEs6ke8pxZFkcUiPmsh-aNDkV2RW2WzUr2Gf5m25lW0wb-YSCb51HZfMbbyztsNZThHQjFOvw_TfFhyXZ4CwLEA5z4epyzuvT9YMTg5vEye1S4N0GVmtMdIkvh" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="558" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgo5VpFcHTmfZKmTLtYMLx3ZfX94lcsYsT4Vbx69YdJ7V2oz7JeZsp8k7qytCm-soqEs6ke8pxZFkcUiPmsh-aNDkV2RW2WzUr2Gf5m25lW0wb-YSCb51HZfMbbyztsNZThHQjFOvw_TfFhyXZ4CwLEA5z4epyzuvT9YMTg5vEye1S4N0GVmtMdIkvh=w400-h283" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>Those slides look a little stubby because I could only find 24" and 14" slides in the Sketchup collection. 14" slides were sufficient to get the idea across and to help measure/fit the width of the cabinet. As you can see in the above photo I have a 16" deep drawer made from 1/2" material. The false front is 3/4" and is sized to leave a 1/8" gap all around. The 1' 1" width measurement is including the sides so there is 12" between rails.</p><p>The rails are 1/2" x 1/2" angle aluminum. I'm going to attach it to the top of the drawer sides using screws and epoxy.</p><p><br /></p><p>With my drawers figured out I moved on to spacing them out. I put a 3" toe-kick on the bottom, added a 3/4" divider between each drawer, added a 1/8" gap, and topped it with a 2" thick top. Here's an image with one side and the back removed so you can see the internal structure.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_cmUUMTiazZ0wnJMnsNVp-N2adg6_QuCFf9GMO61-kC6VX90ZXNrV66bqEyrBpQpJrLLvRv7D6UH0eGt469vcvL9QdHryv7SsBrkJGdKJazh3uaQGt5CNmvZJAkgbuZmTdfX-lI_wptYNkv77U7ri6ZAaG3PekC54J3vHjz4M-FqcM8zr2YgqyItt" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="771" data-original-width="340" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_cmUUMTiazZ0wnJMnsNVp-N2adg6_QuCFf9GMO61-kC6VX90ZXNrV66bqEyrBpQpJrLLvRv7D6UH0eGt469vcvL9QdHryv7SsBrkJGdKJazh3uaQGt5CNmvZJAkgbuZmTdfX-lI_wptYNkv77U7ri6ZAaG3PekC54J3vHjz4M-FqcM8zr2YgqyItt=w283-h640" width="283" /></a></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>You can see I left plenty of room for the 1/4" plywood back. I haven't included the rabbets for the back in the Sketchup yet and I don't know if I will. So long as I remember I need to do it when I am doing the construction it should be fine. Same reason I don't have joinery on the drawers yet. I haven't determined what material I will make them out of which may influence the type of joinery I will use.<div><br /></div><div>The overall dimensions of the cabinet are 18" deep, 15 1/2" wide and 54 1/2" tall.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjWs3869DyS6paW1L-yWCM-0gpU8mh4rtljlHO0F0N4f_uFjSSPsiP-kfARJNckGUfZ14gEY4XvWQfjXuZmI7yHD02Dn3jNyxiVIwpXKW6roKbvt7E-q-npLnY9HdiO2gJprDXwWoMpRX48SSFh0gIr3sg9hFn-7YdKt_Pl2xwjFh23bv08pagSwUCY" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="769" data-original-width="418" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjWs3869DyS6paW1L-yWCM-0gpU8mh4rtljlHO0F0N4f_uFjSSPsiP-kfARJNckGUfZ14gEY4XvWQfjXuZmI7yHD02Dn3jNyxiVIwpXKW6roKbvt7E-q-npLnY9HdiO2gJprDXwWoMpRX48SSFh0gIr3sg9hFn-7YdKt_Pl2xwjFh23bv08pagSwUCY=w347-h640" width="347" /></a></div><br />The stiles are going to be 2 3/4" wide. Both the top and bottom rail are going to be 5". In the above image the stiles are actually 3" wide but I thought they looked too big as they only leave 4 1/2" of panel. I'm going to shrink them to 2 3/4" which makes the panels 4 7/8" wide. This makes the panels twice as wide as the stiles vs only one and a half times as wide.</div><div><br /></div><div>You can see from the above image that the sides are going to be proud of the drawer fronts and top. I initially planed on making it only 1/4" but on reflection decided that 3/8" might be better. I want to put a slight round-over on the sides and I still want to see a little bit of the flat sides in the reveal. I think...</div><div><br /></div><div>This is hard to see in Sketchup but I'll mock something up before construction and then decide. Fortunately I have plenty of space inside the cabinet to move the sides forwards or backwards as I want. I also want to mock up a drawer. I measure my metal file cabinets and it looks like I've got it right but I'll feel better knowing that the drawers will hold hanging folders before I go through the effort of construction.</div><div><br /></div><div>I've already got my wood selected. I came into a supply of soft maple a few years ago and it's been just sitting in my basement. I think it is a beautiful wood and will make a superb filing cabinet.</div><div><br /></div><div>I still need to finish my mobile tool cart for my radial arm saw and the bookshelf I started last winter but I am hopeful I will be able to get to this by this coming fall.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the meantime I need to find something else I can model in Sketchup to stretch myself and learn it better.<br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /><br /></p></div>Felix Enterpriseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716929517747065941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813201935532474221.post-15239661179010179432023-04-07T12:02:00.001-07:002023-04-07T12:02:42.541-07:00Building the Rolling Tool CartIn my last post I talked about learning Sketchup and making plans for a rolling tool cart to hold my radial arm saw. Here's the finished version.<div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiGAl2BpPm2kIgZAKR9iCUZRG3-nWu5c-ZcK0zg2_3F3tj2w4KCTDJXBHGgirj7Jl7C7iGkYa_2yjnTNOpH7fLVpoiEowVhrM0b4R4Ws_RLv-bPejqJnPunyuN9Pl0-i7eWuNzHpIO1ID6pL7Dk-DeGQfJfyE-xgtCO72S8RY8fSw6wc2QVVYEptzSx" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="765" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiGAl2BpPm2kIgZAKR9iCUZRG3-nWu5c-ZcK0zg2_3F3tj2w4KCTDJXBHGgirj7Jl7C7iGkYa_2yjnTNOpH7fLVpoiEowVhrM0b4R4Ws_RLv-bPejqJnPunyuN9Pl0-i7eWuNzHpIO1ID6pL7Dk-DeGQfJfyE-xgtCO72S8RY8fSw6wc2QVVYEptzSx=w640-h468" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /></div></div>It looks a little more squat than last week's version because last week I had the height wrong. I'd measured my table heights, measured the height of the saw including a new top on the saw, then promptly forgot to subtract the height of the saw from the total height. No worries, that just gave me an excuse to redo the Sketchup design from near to the beginning.</div><div><br /></div><div>I wanted to get a couple of days in the shop this weekend but only got one. I had running around to do on Friday and I'd also slept poorly the night before. Power tools and poor sleep do not go well together and I don't do that. I did however get Saturday afternoon in the shop.</div><div><br /></div><div>I got most of my parts sourced and rough cut and I got the rails glued up. I also marked out and cut out my outer tall side panel that I will use as a template for the rest of the panels.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiSGUC7-0JiwCxiL0cviFQCni4o3t9BXIFQBvrRi0XH1bV5T4czYZ3zkwy0zAVA0QEJHjFwZe1XSY74Tg1Pt1HaZICwCthRui0u5SaAqC2eGbjMf9gD3_Pidt07Z6szHSwclEwUwcJZUKOAQgzJX_6hyGjMFpcK5PGHSnA0piMguqF5AuJQMIeTDgQA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="625" data-original-width="672" height="595" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiSGUC7-0JiwCxiL0cviFQCni4o3t9BXIFQBvrRi0XH1bV5T4czYZ3zkwy0zAVA0QEJHjFwZe1XSY74Tg1Pt1HaZICwCthRui0u5SaAqC2eGbjMf9gD3_Pidt07Z6szHSwclEwUwcJZUKOAQgzJX_6hyGjMFpcK5PGHSnA0piMguqF5AuJQMIeTDgQA=w640-h595" width="640" /></a></div><br />It still needs some work but I got most of it done. I cut out the middle and the bottom using my cordless Makita circular saw. I used my homemade fence to layout and guide it and needed to plunge most of the cuts to get them started. It isn't the most comfortable way to start a cut; however, I am comfortable doing it when I have to. I stopped short of the corners and finished them will a Japanese style pull saw. Some of the corners didn't need more than a light sanding, some needed a file.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm trying to decide if I want to drill a pilot hole for the handles or the full hole. If I drill a pilot hole I can just drill the pilot hole into the other panels. It feels like I might be able to drill the holes straighter by hand if I have a pilot hole versus using a Forstner bit to mark the center and then just winging it.</div><div><br /></div><div>I actually started on my end panels first and then remembered that I needed the rails completed to make sure I cut the notches for the rails accurately. So after getting this far I went and grabbed another couple of my prefinished panels and cut the rails. Since the panels are prefinished I sanded the finish off the backs before gluing them together.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgfmr1KqBtylHKi-hkuwRbMjsuN4WQ2xug8zil16RY5nxSHas75cZw1eV1f8nqT5AqTCYGdboP2f5BFnlT44kKhsanm2jh6SSJfp2YM4hg6P43y__D3CSF1BDoKGdEru-vC_fHMn8e9newGDNXtbwQHYYD7ij0hnST3jbKOBfIj5Jh1YYUNvbSSGM8n" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="767" data-original-width="539" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgfmr1KqBtylHKi-hkuwRbMjsuN4WQ2xug8zil16RY5nxSHas75cZw1eV1f8nqT5AqTCYGdboP2f5BFnlT44kKhsanm2jh6SSJfp2YM4hg6P43y__D3CSF1BDoKGdEru-vC_fHMn8e9newGDNXtbwQHYYD7ij0hnST3jbKOBfIj5Jh1YYUNvbSSGM8n=w451-h640" width="451" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div>Why am I calling them panels rather than plywood? Well, it is because these aren't really plywood. They are a poplar core with two thick layers of veneer on top. These came out of my father-in-laws barn and I am sure they were scavenged from the garbage from somewhere he was working. Regardless, they were free to me and are super flat. I don't normally put finish on my shop projects but since these panels are prefinished I'm going to leave them as is. I'll just sand off the finish where I need to glue them.</div><div><br /></div><div>Regardless, this was all my progress this week. I got my rails rough cut and glued together. I got my template panel cut out and cleaned up. (and yes, that was way too much glue on those rails. It was a mess to clean up.)</div><div><br /></div><div>I think I might print out a 3/4" radius template on my 3d printer this week and use that for routing the corners. I'd thought about designing my own but as people say, "if it's a clever idea someone else probably thought of it first." There are several designs for these on <a href="https://www.thingiverse.com/" target="_blank">Thingiverse</a>. This is the one I chose.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEirx_BloGLgBf0O5ixm5ko7G61R1tF0gMtD-lstcuND5s7UJstCuos0ojeGbhGajRDVQfDCDjtqgC1S4qE5PoRTM1d1_YvLaTn0sA04KthqQIECFswOvQcNCVtqDSywC1H0CUQg8dHqBkjCtNXbvn6WXxGhWIg3Myn51ZJz8Myb1mbbmCAtwwthXT8G" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="549" data-original-width="469" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEirx_BloGLgBf0O5ixm5ko7G61R1tF0gMtD-lstcuND5s7UJstCuos0ojeGbhGajRDVQfDCDjtqgC1S4qE5PoRTM1d1_YvLaTn0sA04KthqQIECFswOvQcNCVtqDSywC1H0CUQg8dHqBkjCtNXbvn6WXxGhWIg3Myn51ZJz8Myb1mbbmCAtwwthXT8G=w547-h640" width="547" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2438336</div><div><br /></div><br /></div><div>I'm trying to decide what I want to model next in Sketchup. I'm thinking about doing the wheels for the cart. I'll have to figure out how to do toroids (donuts).</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Felix Enterpriseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716929517747065941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813201935532474221.post-33092035054635835392023-03-25T08:03:00.005-07:002023-03-25T08:03:46.284-07:00I learned Sketchup<p> I recently came into possession of an old Craftsman radial arm saw. I wasn't looking for one but when my father-in-law recently passed away I inherited his. He'd had it on a homemade stand made of 2x4's. It was serviceable but since it was easier to transport the saw without the stand I didn't take it. Also, since this will not be an everyday tool I cannot dedicate space in my primary workshop for it. This means I need a mobile base for a fairly heavy tool.</p><p>A friend of mine - we'll call him "Dave" to protect his identity - is a new woodworker and is still building his shop. When he was looking at buying a contractor table saw I did some research looking for home made mobile bases. He ended up buying one with a mobile stand and didn't need a homemade stand but I remembered this stand from my research.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_ghNvOhT_lm1elOGGQ45ER9rOwNIhY5pTMJCASZEF2GeAVmlOgIc-2sm8DdmPwcdsdTCd9Dfx-o-I5BAcKK_gB8uxKZWVswSxpe8kuXTqfA-digVoG6m1jXBFlrlDFDXGD7qtYG0sH0aQTGBe4v03vLdTyKwE0rpbRgnVgrmkgYteD-69ODIx2C3p" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="785" data-original-width="1068" height="470" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_ghNvOhT_lm1elOGGQ45ER9rOwNIhY5pTMJCASZEF2GeAVmlOgIc-2sm8DdmPwcdsdTCd9Dfx-o-I5BAcKK_gB8uxKZWVswSxpe8kuXTqfA-digVoG6m1jXBFlrlDFDXGD7qtYG0sH0aQTGBe4v03vLdTyKwE0rpbRgnVgrmkgYteD-69ODIx2C3p=w640-h470" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">https://www.woodsmithplans.com/plan/table-saw-stand/</span></div><br />It's a cute little cart and fits a lot of the criteria I was looking for:<p></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Mobile</li><li>Smallish foorprint</li><li>No fussy build details</li><li>Stable</li></ul><div>Their cart looks to be built out of southern yellow pine and plywood. My initial design was also using construction grade lumber and plywood; however, when picking up the saw I found a whole mess of veneered lumber. I changed my plan to use all sheet goods.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is what I came up with:</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhvLOoVcqJMtL9Kz98d-3oUext59bEp4I0uOmqpq5sk7aVuHFjx1onkGiqXc9Msq8D6sDnUr8qZ6_JIjxoxcS_FLwv2z3oaMPuHhf5t8XSSAHPr_MHnD7MS8YBXI1_HfiCmb2Ydio4tjblE5BpkyWyDYhv63lbRTZwIiaWxbwV_gK5iIkXZd55hpFci" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="840" height="575" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhvLOoVcqJMtL9Kz98d-3oUext59bEp4I0uOmqpq5sk7aVuHFjx1onkGiqXc9Msq8D6sDnUr8qZ6_JIjxoxcS_FLwv2z3oaMPuHhf5t8XSSAHPr_MHnD7MS8YBXI1_HfiCmb2Ydio4tjblE5BpkyWyDYhv63lbRTZwIiaWxbwV_gK5iIkXZd55hpFci=w640-h575" width="640" /></a></div><br /></div><br /></div>Two sheets of plywood for each of the end panels. Each of the rails will be two strips of plywood. Then there will be a sheet of plywood on the top. <br /><br />What I wanted to mention here was, "I learned Sketchup". If you are reading this you've probably already heard of Sketchup. If you haven't, Sketchup is a 3d modeling tool with lots of features. If you are somewhat technically literate and maybe have some 3d design background it is quick and intuitive to learn. I made the above model after watching 40 minutes of videos and then another 5-10 hours of playing with the tool.</div><div><br /></div><div>Pretty much every woodworker with a YouTube channel has made a video on how to get started so I am not going to try and replicate that here. The video I used was the Foureyes Furniture Part 1 & 2 by Chris Solomone.</div><div>Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVb8ZBAOD0I</div><div>Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqcEyXs0v4c</div><div><br /></div><div>As of this writing the professional version costs $300/year. As a occasional hobbyist wood worker I could see spending $300 as a one-time cost; however, per year is a little much for me. Fortunately they provide a web-based version that is free for non-commercial use (i.e. hobbyists like me) and what I used for the above plan.</div><div><br /></div><div>https://app.sketchup.com</div><div><br /></div><div>One real strength is the ability to remove or hide parts, or spin to alternate perspectives.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg6XBsQse0SW2fGZs_SANuk1oYwq6QHpljpAQYUlX4FboblEVRb06yd0GfwYCe-xCh0CpgI0y9q0XM6imXEYeAhMFJN7UaFrZUfGH9anYjQwAeRwiFpwfJC9ic4I4m0kjFkXECk_6VRxEDxLRHeGvGrno50FU9fESWcVjDFQxUYNdPYSguQ6YsjyBJQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="627" data-original-width="642" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg6XBsQse0SW2fGZs_SANuk1oYwq6QHpljpAQYUlX4FboblEVRb06yd0GfwYCe-xCh0CpgI0y9q0XM6imXEYeAhMFJN7UaFrZUfGH9anYjQwAeRwiFpwfJC9ic4I4m0kjFkXECk_6VRxEDxLRHeGvGrno50FU9fESWcVjDFQxUYNdPYSguQ6YsjyBJQ=w400-h390" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiZkAoh_goHtjGBNXvyyJ_IUoK-RlUEWxOzSg8rIvTUTz7SjOKlkWKibPMUqJCnJ0U8qKcJIDwtPSkdpwHQkmhG92WUptd_INw9S4A1h144MBaR6TdgElQ26no9Gwm6nyyYmNjXdkXEd1vSq1a_TVb0oSGJM2DOX-5iugMN7ImRiodTI9Bwzn7-tbOC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="660" data-original-width="697" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiZkAoh_goHtjGBNXvyyJ_IUoK-RlUEWxOzSg8rIvTUTz7SjOKlkWKibPMUqJCnJ0U8qKcJIDwtPSkdpwHQkmhG92WUptd_INw9S4A1h144MBaR6TdgElQ26no9Gwm6nyyYmNjXdkXEd1vSq1a_TVb0oSGJM2DOX-5iugMN7ImRiodTI9Bwzn7-tbOC=w400-h380" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><br /><div>More on this later but I wanted to share my excitement at learning the basics of Sketchup. I'll probably still keep using my pencil and paper for my initial drafting but I'm going to try to do final versions in Sketchup. I could see when I get a little more agile in the tool I might switch to using it exclusively.</div><div><br /></div><br /></div><p></p><p><br /></p>Felix Enterpriseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716929517747065941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813201935532474221.post-6310742377281998782021-10-19T18:59:00.004-07:002021-10-19T18:59:27.112-07:00What I did over my summer!<p> Yup, I am still here. What happened? Summer and work. I'm one of the fortunate people who can work from home. In fact the company I work for has offered us the ability to work from home permanently. Or at least permanently until they change their minds. Yay!</p><p>Just because the blogging stopped doesn't mean the woodworking stopped. Woodworking slowed down but didn't stop.</p><h1 style="text-align: left;">Workbench</h1><p>I finished my hand tool workbench last spring. I flattened the top of the bench using a scrub plane I made from an inexpensive Harbor Freight jack plane. It worked about as well as you'd expect. The plane is garbage. It isn't possible to adjust the frog to give the plane blade a flat surface to ride on. The blade and the chip breaker are stamped steel. To get the tension on the chip breaker it has a big hump near the bottom that interferes with the letting the lever cap sit on top. With the heavy scrubbing the parts would work loose and I needed to put them back together again. I got the job done but figure I should have bought a slightly less cheap plane from Home Depot or Lowes.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAY4N1DqfHZfQ0DhTbuI_dHPK-_-VtSuwahDVOcq9-hE_mGoMXn7CG1S0wiJ0dRnaw2FvrJValaMc070gTNbIdjSjYZpAYBoiGVB_BSyU0nQnYTLqBZ-_ZhVxASoPc0DMOfwdgMkLlbzI/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="837" data-original-width="1117" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAY4N1DqfHZfQ0DhTbuI_dHPK-_-VtSuwahDVOcq9-hE_mGoMXn7CG1S0wiJ0dRnaw2FvrJValaMc070gTNbIdjSjYZpAYBoiGVB_BSyU0nQnYTLqBZ-_ZhVxASoPc0DMOfwdgMkLlbzI/w640-h480/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>After getting the top planed flat I drilled some dog holes using my hand drill and a jig to keep everything straight.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidFAOYFCTi2fzG9RytypHmVdjWYpvhRNjRoxDQnDB7_2t5hKBuGlW7N_UTx8OIFk6nRZgYt3hD-a22Dv2HJnTJgadxAu84Ex6ZEabkgpVB0SoCp6_U781Dnq0EVKa80PfMMxFp6fiRAMc/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1115" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidFAOYFCTi2fzG9RytypHmVdjWYpvhRNjRoxDQnDB7_2t5hKBuGlW7N_UTx8OIFk6nRZgYt3hD-a22Dv2HJnTJgadxAu84Ex6ZEabkgpVB0SoCp6_U781Dnq0EVKa80PfMMxFp6fiRAMc/w640-h414/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Then I bought a big acme threaded bolt from Amazon and added a leg vise.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicMbI7lFE37d-65vfwmH4QqS3YGkd1pjl80bCwdMGooz_pUnOrNoINKfkXUZ4rlE1JcN2GApIQSyXrEUxOZ4E9PaE8F6_nCcqAI6_B7J3iBfhk8l08PXNKAPtOg1laKYj9Gjh9mpM_T3U/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="863" data-original-width="619" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicMbI7lFE37d-65vfwmH4QqS3YGkd1pjl80bCwdMGooz_pUnOrNoINKfkXUZ4rlE1JcN2GApIQSyXrEUxOZ4E9PaE8F6_nCcqAI6_B7J3iBfhk8l08PXNKAPtOg1laKYj9Gjh9mpM_T3U/w459-h640/image.png" width="459" /></a></div><br />I added a dowel to keep the leg from swinging when I turn the screw. I also added an angled block on the bottom to keep the chop from racking when clamping something in it. <p></p><p>The handle is still a temporary piece of dowel. I need to make better endcaps for it. I just got a 3d printer so perhaps I'll print new end caps. I also need to bolt the top to the legs a little more solidly. Right now the top slides off when I clamp a board.</p><h1 style="text-align: left;">Built in Closet Shelves</h1><p>I made some built-in shelves for my gaming closet. I was hoping to better utilize the space and be able to store more things. That didn't happen but at least the games are easier to get to now.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9G2Xd-uf9zZlg7XxUNO8ihpC9o3otQUdBv9ptleZLyVfn_zrNF6ULfZUmkaY_rpcymP6bI9KGn8tai2QJ6ZClHntYTey1rF2rGaEtspQDZq1bBGNp2DNlUpgsqzr8k1cREfg11nrRqG8/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="886" data-original-width="496" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9G2Xd-uf9zZlg7XxUNO8ihpC9o3otQUdBv9ptleZLyVfn_zrNF6ULfZUmkaY_rpcymP6bI9KGn8tai2QJ6ZClHntYTey1rF2rGaEtspQDZq1bBGNp2DNlUpgsqzr8k1cREfg11nrRqG8/w357-h640/image.png" width="357" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL6vtH54Q1aZCyssw2wKGWYQUpH7PmMxBvk7fb3kaoDlBkNXkLX57oJxvUf6_JY1fmworC4hm4oOgqVkrdE46n7YEGProGr1N6A_xfKEcq8h7qktAXBA4kAUyrpyauQVmlbnWqdDeVvI8/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="867" data-original-width="497" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL6vtH54Q1aZCyssw2wKGWYQUpH7PmMxBvk7fb3kaoDlBkNXkLX57oJxvUf6_JY1fmworC4hm4oOgqVkrdE46n7YEGProGr1N6A_xfKEcq8h7qktAXBA4kAUyrpyauQVmlbnWqdDeVvI8/w368-h640/image.png" width="368" /></a></div><p><br /></p><h1 style="text-align: left;">French Cleat Laptop Shelf</h1><div>I wanted to be able to use my personal laptop on my office desk as well as my work laptop. So I built a French Cleat shelf that hovers my laptop over my work laptop.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiILSgK-hkh7VmjZDIPjlo09coXQV-99DMToPR9ZCrvhQi8ITGu7xR53CUNumT17TcojCopNjDhr4g75e8J1E9vqn-B8KhfHL1tRFskd9_VM-z4_kzfGFJTaKlkkGodPBTBYnFXvd-flWs/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="837" data-original-width="1575" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiILSgK-hkh7VmjZDIPjlo09coXQV-99DMToPR9ZCrvhQi8ITGu7xR53CUNumT17TcojCopNjDhr4g75e8J1E9vqn-B8KhfHL1tRFskd9_VM-z4_kzfGFJTaKlkkGodPBTBYnFXvd-flWs/w640-h340/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEM6WflZ_BJDL0E9AcQqt01xUbJDAAe9Lwt-8Wyak6LUxFHsn_-jlmT_hGyVY3Y1fxLVXt92E_ca3oWJUhkPlhWU7FaDGgLHRf5EQPWEPeJeuptpZeiet-GKh35SLuB6d4k48IDQL3SKE/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="865" data-original-width="1531" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEM6WflZ_BJDL0E9AcQqt01xUbJDAAe9Lwt-8Wyak6LUxFHsn_-jlmT_hGyVY3Y1fxLVXt92E_ca3oWJUhkPlhWU7FaDGgLHRf5EQPWEPeJeuptpZeiet-GKh35SLuB6d4k48IDQL3SKE/w640-h362/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /></div><br /><p></p><h1 style="text-align: left;">Holiday Gaming Table</h1><p>Last fall one of my neighbors had a garage sale. I didn't go; however, the next day while walking my dog I saw they had a small table out on the curb for garbage pick up. So I knocked on their door and asked if I could take it. They said sure, so I came back with my truck and picked it up.</p><p>The table was missing some hardware for connecting the legs. It was also kind of beat looking. Someone had painted a it white... poorly... then they got it dirty and the paint scratched and chipped.</p><p>I bought some paint stripper got it home, then re-read the safety instructions and then decided I didn't want to use a chemical stripper. I used several 60 grit sandpaper disks on my random orbit sander to strip all the paint. It took a couple of hours but I got all the paint off. Once I was down to raw wood the table was super unimpressive looking. Better than a dirty bad paint job but still pretty ugly.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilWViRwEQXLluvfuQLzddDFMjMP_ltNZs45GpGwUu6b5sIctqQ9mPDTqvMuTR1qlxqqFfuzbPvax1MrOLpdM9VMreVoYNILrvF2FMoT3Il3PopIXzoIPZHR1MaoaRuQw80e8QmzJwHFRQ/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="867" data-original-width="1454" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilWViRwEQXLluvfuQLzddDFMjMP_ltNZs45GpGwUu6b5sIctqQ9mPDTqvMuTR1qlxqqFfuzbPvax1MrOLpdM9VMreVoYNILrvF2FMoT3Il3PopIXzoIPZHR1MaoaRuQw80e8QmzJwHFRQ/w640-h382/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>This table was destined for a friend who holds a party every 4th of July. We'll refer to him as Andy to protect his identity. I took cleaning up the table as a spring project. I thought this a perfect opportunity to try some things I don't really do that often. I decided to stain the top a dark brown and my idea for the legs was a dark green. Came out okay I think. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgawUaWW9TvLiM9HwRKDTs5JlJ0p2XogU2uuEDQe5lpNT2cJ-Tin02t3VJWLZHKzB7e2T27PaPAjFYJHmpevNlme17XSiddDocgabtSypZ5OnVp559ET1I692bs135GuMCZTVksE0Hts5A/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="811" data-original-width="1085" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgawUaWW9TvLiM9HwRKDTs5JlJ0p2XogU2uuEDQe5lpNT2cJ-Tin02t3VJWLZHKzB7e2T27PaPAjFYJHmpevNlme17XSiddDocgabtSypZ5OnVp559ET1I692bs135GuMCZTVksE0Hts5A/w640-h478/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>It looks even better in someone else's game room basement.</p><h1 style="text-align: left;">Office Desk</h1><p>Mid summer my wife and I were given the opportunity to choose whether we wanted to continue working 100% remote, 100% in office or a hybrid schedule. We both chose to work 100% remote.</p><p>I've been working on an old office desk and have been gradually tweaking it to make it more suitable for working at. My wife has been working on her old student desk. It was small, maybe 2ft x 4ft. Barely big enough to hold her laptop and a single monitor. She asked for something custom.</p><p>Since I know my woodworking isn't fast I decided to get her something much better quickly. The quickest way to getting her a 3ft x 6ft desktop was to buy a solid beech workbench top. It's massive. It weighs 100 lbs. </p><p>I bought it from Grangier's on an internet sale. The first one I picked up had a really bad cup and I had to return it. While it was a pain picking up, returning, and then picking up a replacement they handled it very well. I'd shop there again. The second benchtop was as flat as I could test for.</p><p>Coming off fixing up the little table for my friend I decided to make the legs the same way. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkA5EezztDoW9Qtp_1jsf22H3eY83lGT9OXEzNXeRVl7gfMHomCSZwvzphyM2b07PGI4F262YSnSp5w-SsO5yhGGvWiOUHOog5r933lW70s5kDcD2KdfMPuQOedTdYu2B5iI3_tc-ujiY/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="985" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkA5EezztDoW9Qtp_1jsf22H3eY83lGT9OXEzNXeRVl7gfMHomCSZwvzphyM2b07PGI4F262YSnSp5w-SsO5yhGGvWiOUHOog5r933lW70s5kDcD2KdfMPuQOedTdYu2B5iI3_tc-ujiY/w640-h366/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>It's basically some hanger bolts that pull the leg up against the skirts. I have to admit when I started this I was thinking of it as a cheap mass manufacturing way to build a table. After I worked with the joint a bit I gained a new respect for it. It's very strong, it breaks down easily, and it is very forgiving. If your measurements are off even a fair bit everything will still go together fairly well.</p><p>Anyway, we polyurethaned the top and painted the legs. My wife wanted a keyboard tray so I added one of those too. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrYVW4Tc3dobq36Tlc2B__JurAy8dMYrVq97f9pgHEWSDIVS1Mdu7Qbyos6x-YIvWq0UTf_LsRPp-gKLWrN9knaf6fUgJ1RtD3bM8jl-s5E-6PeXBoKJyxKp7z_In-Mvtv-t9eU6vVIvo/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="851" data-original-width="969" height="563" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrYVW4Tc3dobq36Tlc2B__JurAy8dMYrVq97f9pgHEWSDIVS1Mdu7Qbyos6x-YIvWq0UTf_LsRPp-gKLWrN9knaf6fUgJ1RtD3bM8jl-s5E-6PeXBoKJyxKp7z_In-Mvtv-t9eU6vVIvo/w640-h563/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>She wanted a couple of monitor stands that were Calculus, jQuery, and C# Design Patterns high. One of her friends quipped that that was the best use for a Calculus book she'd ever seen. So, not in place but I created a couple of wood boxes with smaller boxes inside as drawers.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLa1m7bbNBzdaKmsjeckGjmzu8AaN6BTTRZGF6s5DgnLYe7MyjI3L0rzFtYfSwjP9ojQ8VfcuaDGvzNe6XOJg_F7Z71fjgvcHPV8xCPRmz2NL79WmNAeQVR1FM6GP4ZgqXbetOw6Mt6LU/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="915" data-original-width="988" height="593" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLa1m7bbNBzdaKmsjeckGjmzu8AaN6BTTRZGF6s5DgnLYe7MyjI3L0rzFtYfSwjP9ojQ8VfcuaDGvzNe6XOJg_F7Z71fjgvcHPV8xCPRmz2NL79WmNAeQVR1FM6GP4ZgqXbetOw6Mt6LU/w640-h593/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><h1 style="text-align: left;">Cat Wall</h1><p>I built a cat wall. Okay, it's more of a cat playground and it isn't finished.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNnCkdFZTWYuQoQKok54k_kQBHmKvCuMYSjlIeQE3kJRuEIT8bbdrYd4yuzly2Ly4Ls3_x1IkyWbjVlE1pf619a9xK_KUmVNGYTA4EwmQe_zzr_RSD-vE66gSUjFB-I07S6nyVpV_o57k/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="831" data-original-width="952" height="559" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNnCkdFZTWYuQoQKok54k_kQBHmKvCuMYSjlIeQE3kJRuEIT8bbdrYd4yuzly2Ly4Ls3_x1IkyWbjVlE1pf619a9xK_KUmVNGYTA4EwmQe_zzr_RSD-vE66gSUjFB-I07S6nyVpV_o57k/w640-h559/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />I attached a whole bunch of French cleats to the wall in our family room. The idea is to build a bunch of platforms and cubbies the cats can climb in and through. When they get bored I can rearrange the wall to make it new and interesting. The ramps are attached to the platforms with hinges so I they come apart and I can rearrange them in different shapes. <p></p><p>This is all I have so far but I'll make some more this winter.</p><p></p><h1 style="text-align: left;">Free Wood</h1><div>Well, I got free wood. I was at a summer picnic and struck up a conversation with a coworker. We'll call him Dan to protect his identity. Turns out Dan was an ex-woodworker, was moving, and had gotten rid of all his stuff excepting about 100 bd ft of soft maple. He offered it to me for free. So I got the trailer out, unfolded and drove over to his house and picked it up.</div><div><br /></div><div>I've got ideas for using it this winter to build a bookshelf but I need to go through it to see if I am going to be able to get what I need out of it.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp0m2hv-X8EFc7HzViUoOWmGtLkfr8viBLKUuIIPY-L8YPJn4VbeSrocjrHQnpIX0G0ZqDGR4UeSlbuAL0j7lWTeJkd8nWpJBLGiOSwj2qoKIt1ktG3sWBJWXG3rDWtmGIzVya7bYaT1I/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="892" data-original-width="1586" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp0m2hv-X8EFc7HzViUoOWmGtLkfr8viBLKUuIIPY-L8YPJn4VbeSrocjrHQnpIX0G0ZqDGR4UeSlbuAL0j7lWTeJkd8nWpJBLGiOSwj2qoKIt1ktG3sWBJWXG3rDWtmGIzVya7bYaT1I/w640-h360/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div><h1 style="text-align: left;">Chicago</h1><div>I visited my parents in Chicago...</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp0yp9M3PUK4JuYrjiOyq5rlZpZg4TgUAoSeoYU1qP9TUE_KAJcyYguWIjSeGTvx4BVXyt5k5KFMkBcbef8rLG0dSEEHk5vCwMe2S1cbOVCLMwDzzZn2F7_A-Ojw8eP-wu21iDPOZ73Ss/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="886" data-original-width="1542" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp0yp9M3PUK4JuYrjiOyq5rlZpZg4TgUAoSeoYU1qP9TUE_KAJcyYguWIjSeGTvx4BVXyt5k5KFMkBcbef8rLG0dSEEHk5vCwMe2S1cbOVCLMwDzzZn2F7_A-Ojw8eP-wu21iDPOZ73Ss/w640-h368/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Ev3Ylz7rdm4XmVod3sa-ySltnGfZTnn5mEA6WYw4L1AaWc6Mk0M1r61OzCoQaP0NODXyKbtOJEwa5XUWGedhXKt0ifJRML26Tnk0n3RvWjtTRbrHPdwmAJVjOZ2-_7sxGRLznhwJCkQ/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="812" data-original-width="1391" height="374" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Ev3Ylz7rdm4XmVod3sa-ySltnGfZTnn5mEA6WYw4L1AaWc6Mk0M1r61OzCoQaP0NODXyKbtOJEwa5XUWGedhXKt0ifJRML26Tnk0n3RvWjtTRbrHPdwmAJVjOZ2-_7sxGRLznhwJCkQ/" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><h1 style="text-align: left;">Heimdall is a pest</h1><div>Mid summer Heimdall decided the puppy was her best buddy. The puppy was not happy about it but Heimdall doesn't seem to care.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtUhehidIehibZHXpm9CV_b6qhyphenhyphenIKkPXoMgtJjlpctPfmbrnNhygMyAwrQrCCmObLwykVf8X2E1fJN7GmCf9yo91UtrA01OOhLb8z4rXaCMbIllqGrQp7F0LcpIG-NXiCAW5aJRC0yfaA/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="830" data-original-width="1429" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtUhehidIehibZHXpm9CV_b6qhyphenhyphenIKkPXoMgtJjlpctPfmbrnNhygMyAwrQrCCmObLwykVf8X2E1fJN7GmCf9yo91UtrA01OOhLb8z4rXaCMbIllqGrQp7F0LcpIG-NXiCAW5aJRC0yfaA/w640-h372/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><h1 style="text-align: left;">Hobby Workbench</h1><div>Wow, just realized that workbenches were the alpha and the omega of this post. Well, my wife and I decided to get 3d printers. We bought good quality but intro versions She got a resin printer to support her painting hobby. I got an FDM because I mostly want mine for making jigs and templates. I don't need a delicate high quality finish. To hold the printers we bought another smaller solid beech bench top and stuck some legs I built out of poplar and luan plywood. We painted the legs with leftover paint we had lying around.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq4FM4r5mUDPNnClAaFh-yHTzCjKh4Ddg700vNxIdxbJA4aSZExHACBkU0ZY5khhBafNFChXyLD3tzKWzy7trjxudyjHEhF8hTXVJdj0KhQ54IvM9xn0J6-XwiUNMeAgNRxqz79ZaOjQ8/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="893" data-original-width="922" height="619" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq4FM4r5mUDPNnClAaFh-yHTzCjKh4Ddg700vNxIdxbJA4aSZExHACBkU0ZY5khhBafNFChXyLD3tzKWzy7trjxudyjHEhF8hTXVJdj0KhQ54IvM9xn0J6-XwiUNMeAgNRxqz79ZaOjQ8/w640-h619/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>That's my Crealty Ender 3 V2 and her Proxon hot wire foam cutter. My printer has been moved to another room where it can run without disturbing anyone but the bench hasn't moved. I added foot levelers to the legs to make sure the top was level as well as flat. I'm currently working on light duty rolling cabinets to put underneath but they are still a work in progress.</div><div><br /></div><h1 style="text-align: left;">Summary</h1><div>It was a pretty busy summer. I didn't do any large projects but I did get a bunch of medium sized projects done. I'm hoping to build a nice bookshelf for my office this winter as well as do some more smaller projects to make our offices "better".<br /><br /></div><p></p>Felix Enterpriseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716929517747065941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813201935532474221.post-29948178554796891012021-05-25T18:55:00.000-07:002021-05-25T18:55:06.132-07:00Yup, still here...<p> It's spring / almost summer here in Upstate New York. I've got yard work, my day job has been busy... It's not my fault! :)</p><p>Anyway, the workbench is done. I need to finish up the series I have on that. I'm currently working on refinishing a table I got off the curb last summer. It was a cheap piece of furniture that then got painted... poorly... I stripped the paint and the original finish using my random orbit sander. Took me about three hours to do a poor job of it. Mostly I just didn't do a good job of cleaning up the swirl marks from the 60 grit I used for stripping everything.</p><p>Anyway, I'll hopefully get some pictures of that here sometime soon. I don't think I have any pictures showing how bad the original finish was but that's okay. It looks decent now.</p><p>What I do have for today is an update to my workshop floor plan. Here's the old one I used to plan everything years ago.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoTcX1yNksdDgnzFb7zo5hdBurlXyL-l4ngyUsyP9Zy9J5Ii9pLII0ljUlLh5HjVvfocC0vduzt3bhLjtxnOSlkSjWZ5vegKwX31O1TcoeGM5D3yvIwKzzyRJLRwLd3Z_Db4KrLLHp5ts/s2048/workshop_current_layout.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1359" data-original-width="2048" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoTcX1yNksdDgnzFb7zo5hdBurlXyL-l4ngyUsyP9Zy9J5Ii9pLII0ljUlLh5HjVvfocC0vduzt3bhLjtxnOSlkSjWZ5vegKwX31O1TcoeGM5D3yvIwKzzyRJLRwLd3Z_Db4KrLLHp5ts/w640-h424/workshop_current_layout.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>And here's the new one:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-2t_AoEPTXuLK_h5eQm8RsGQdyQSfInVbjqtpn9kXgPTp-jkr5keygvHagXoRF9JB4U6IQwYP2c3xijSXqVLuJymF3WOw3lI2cO2APUXawLKDJJ8J2XkyfZnZSfr9BSmoWfbzssnhu14/s1265/WorkshopFloorPlanJPG.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="762" data-original-width="1265" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-2t_AoEPTXuLK_h5eQm8RsGQdyQSfInVbjqtpn9kXgPTp-jkr5keygvHagXoRF9JB4U6IQwYP2c3xijSXqVLuJymF3WOw3lI2cO2APUXawLKDJJ8J2XkyfZnZSfr9BSmoWfbzssnhu14/w640-h386/WorkshopFloorPlanJPG.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>My friend Jon was asking how big my shop was and I knew I had a diagram on my blog so I looked it up. I was disappointed to see how old it was. I already had a Visio diagram of my basement, it was even mostly up to date. I just had to fix some of the measurements that were "off" and add the new tools since I'd last updated the floor plan (router table and hand tool workbench).</p><p>Yes, I would love to have a couple thousand square feet for my shop. I'm also grateful that I have what I have. Left side of the stairs is what I call my primary shop, the right side of the stairs is what I called either my secondary shop or the annex.</p><p>I don't do any woodworking in the annex. That is all wood and mobile tool storage. When I want to use one of the tools that is stored in the annex I roll it over into the primary workshop. Woodworking has become so much more enjoyable since I got all my space back.</p>Felix Enterpriseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716929517747065941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813201935532474221.post-10963553866901381912021-01-26T18:11:00.001-08:002021-01-26T18:11:31.101-08:00No Woodworking Week<p> I took this last week off from doing woodworking. I mostly sat around the house and was lazy.</p><p>I did go down into the shop on Sunday afternoon and spent a number of hours trying to flatten the back of a plane blade I ruined a number of years ago. I was trying to flatten the blade on a coarse water stone and didn't realize the stone was getting dished out. Riding up and down the walls of the valley cause much more material to be removed from the edges. I bought a replacement blade for my hand plane, chalked it up to lessons learned and move on with life.</p><p>The one good thing about it is that now I have a "busted" plane blade to experiment with when trying out new sharpening techniques.</p><p>A week or so ago I bought an extra coarse diamond stone from my local Woodcraft store. The coarse diamond stone I already had wasn't taking enough material fast enough so I figured I'd try extra coarse. I pulled it out and went to town. It was definitely taking more material than my coarse diamond stone but it still wasn't what I'd call fast. Certainly not compared to sanding wood.</p><p>I also pulled out my old dished water stones and tried flattening it on my diamond stones. I think it worked out okay but I was getting a little tired by this point. I had water everywhere including the floor. I had sharpening stone slurry all over me and my sharpening station. </p><p>In any case I worked on that busted hand plane blade for quite a bit using my water stones, my new diamond stone, and I even tried some sandpaper on a flat board. I got it better but still didn't manage to fix it. I was hopeful with the sandpaper on a board thing; however, I got lazy and didn't spray glue the sandpaper down. I think this allowed the paper to curl just a little bit so while it looked like I was making progress flattening the iron I wasn't.</p><p>I worked on one of my old cheap chisels and may actually have gotten the back flat. I need to go back and check it with a fresh set of eyes that might not be clouded by as much wishful thinking I had on Sunday.</p><p>Yesterday - Monday - evening I wanted to check out my new Grebstk chisels and see how they were. I saw Rex Kreuger talk about these on his YouTube channel. They're four wooden handled chisels for right around $20 on Amazon.com. His initial impression of them was favorable so I figured I would give them a try. They'd be cheap chisels I could practice sharpening, they might actually end up being good chisels, and I could always grind them to a different angle than my Irwin chisels.</p><p>Also, worst case... I could use them to scrape glue.</p><p>So yesterday... I stuck with my extra coarse diamond stone and my coarse diamond stone and flattened the backs on two of the chisels. Both were dished a little bit from the edge but still flattened pretty quickly. The dish was far enough from the edge on both of them I could have left it but I kept going until I had the backs flat.</p><p>I didn't take them any further because I didn't want to pull out my Tormek. I'd gone down to the shop in my street clothes and the Tormek can get a little messy. It doesn't create a slurry like the water stones but it does get water everywhere. I didn't do more than two of the four because I have tendonitis in both my wrists and I have to be careful how much I do to avoid aggravating it. I'll get the backs on the other two flattened some time this week and then this weekend I can finish sharpening them</p><p>I'm hoping I can get the bad plane blade to good enough shape that I can sharpen it into being able to be used for a scrub plane. I'll need that for flattening the top of my workbench which I need to get back to. </p><p><br /></p>Felix Enterpriseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716929517747065941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813201935532474221.post-30768079812662654522021-01-21T06:40:00.000-08:002021-01-21T06:40:33.581-08:00Closet Makeover finished - part 4<p> It's finished!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT_aK4XY3mZMxXO5Xo2-AK4Arfc8lA2m4zOI2bsq6pKj_UPrUyq4GmFE5ADeASnCvBb3zGHezjIf7rK-IjEwxPnXgnhGLfY6orriDFrV55WmUKlFOSKkO5uqhhldVsE5Pzxaeq4nvbO2Q/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="848" data-original-width="492" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT_aK4XY3mZMxXO5Xo2-AK4Arfc8lA2m4zOI2bsq6pKj_UPrUyq4GmFE5ADeASnCvBb3zGHezjIf7rK-IjEwxPnXgnhGLfY6orriDFrV55WmUKlFOSKkO5uqhhldVsE5Pzxaeq4nvbO2Q/w371-h640/image.png" width="371" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>Okay, I was hoping to make it a one-weekend project and it extended into the week but all told my time and materials cost was around $250 in plywood and 12(ish) hours of labor.</p><p>Putting the shelves into the cabinets went pretty quick and was pretty easy. I made some supports out of the offcut from the lower divider / shelf support that were 12-1/4" long. I set these up on either side of the shelf, then using gentle hand pressure on top of the shelf to keep it from slipping I fastened them in place with pocket hole screws. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUzfXz0WFFVHwS2cPOg0DFGi3yJuMi2_8NtudvGM4rF05_H7pz0sVq5T_n2lp4I-2IKqcCva-UJ2qbaA-Fs-hmtWvWZWbUthJ8KefgGUcKOoY5o0ZZZZsyQQs9cYmUk8yUo1iWR2QcvoE/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="857" data-original-width="1273" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUzfXz0WFFVHwS2cPOg0DFGi3yJuMi2_8NtudvGM4rF05_H7pz0sVq5T_n2lp4I-2IKqcCva-UJ2qbaA-Fs-hmtWvWZWbUthJ8KefgGUcKOoY5o0ZZZZsyQQs9cYmUk8yUo1iWR2QcvoE/w640-h430/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />I've used plywood for shelf spacing in the past but that's always been 3/4" plywood, often the full depth of the shelf. One thing I found that I really appreciated about these was the ability to get to the pocket holes between the supports. Also, being double layers of plywood they were able to stand on their own.<p></p><p>I do have one picture of the shelves not being packed with games.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdqPajNPVuwXv29mboD_AqwlHRfMItxXfxcp73TNXKyn9YZgCjdAoFcATu2ANyO6GWMs7bBbA35rBjJ0T6LOQfAvyFSEeF8xFMoAzlB42uvODLj79c1cR458_mJsg-0p-IvZMTGRIqecg/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="809" data-original-width="481" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdqPajNPVuwXv29mboD_AqwlHRfMItxXfxcp73TNXKyn9YZgCjdAoFcATu2ANyO6GWMs7bBbA35rBjJ0T6LOQfAvyFSEeF8xFMoAzlB42uvODLj79c1cR458_mJsg-0p-IvZMTGRIqecg/w381-h640/image.png" width="381" /></a></div><br />I'd have gotten a picture of the completed closet empty but I needed to empty one of the old bookshelves to be able to comfortably get into the left side to install the shelves. So, what's on the shelves is the contents of one of the two small bookshelves that had been shoved into the corners of the closet.<p></p><p>All in all, I am happy with the final results. It's definitely on the utilitarian side but it is still solidly built. It has slightly more storage than our previous arrangement. I think I might have done some bad math when calculating how much additional storage I was going to get. I was expecting a little more than the 8(ish) ft of empty shelf space but that's fine. I think there will be enough space for our games that have gotten scattered around the house and we're not big game purchasers so we should be good for a number of years.</p><p>Future enhancements might include:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Add some more bracing under the bottom shelf cleats to transfer some of the weight to the floor</li><li>Add a face frame to the upper shelves to hide gaps and make it prettier</li></ul><div><br /></div><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Felix Enterpriseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716929517747065941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813201935532474221.post-54371378337127722082021-01-20T05:32:00.000-08:002021-01-20T05:32:25.039-08:00Closet Makeover - part 3<p> Well, it is done. Monday evening I didn't get any time in the shop but Tuesday evening I had a couple of hours after work to glue the cases together.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3aXgCOShgi72XF9R8BwogPjQXt_2-yOEH7mIn9uCK1IJtbGQy83fXRfaCgfh5Pd_euHr1IZY3WPWYE62zMT_UqYU5gQlW02WzxZZjEdp6561GIjs0xMN2n4ZK28yycnmhO5SVabCmz_c/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="801" data-original-width="1001" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3aXgCOShgi72XF9R8BwogPjQXt_2-yOEH7mIn9uCK1IJtbGQy83fXRfaCgfh5Pd_euHr1IZY3WPWYE62zMT_UqYU5gQlW02WzxZZjEdp6561GIjs0xMN2n4ZK28yycnmhO5SVabCmz_c/w640-h512/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div>I started with one side, added some glue to the dados in that side then added the bottom/top and nailed them in place with my 18 gauge nailer. The cases were too large to keep on my outfeed / assembly table so I transferred the assembly to the floor with the top / bottom pointing upwards. I was then able to add glue to the dados in the opposite side then flip it over and add it to the assembly.</div><div><br /></div><div>I moved the assembly back up to my assembly table and checked to make sure my joints were tight. Moving the assembly from the table to the floor and back to the table did loosen a couple so I pulled them tight with a clamp and shot a few more nails into those.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then it was just a matter of putting a thin bead of glue around the back edges and dropping the 1/4" luan onto the backs. I swapped 1/4" crown 1/2" staples for the nails in my nailer / stapler and tacked the back down with those. Glue squeeze out was cleaned up with my finger, a damp rag, and just left depending on how much glue there was and how visible it was going to be later.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then I set the case aside as seen in the above photo and did the next one. </div><div><br /></div><div>With the cases assembled I was able to get an accurate final measurement for the shelves. I set on of them in place and with a couple of test cuts got the fence set to crosscut the shelves. I used the same technique as I used on the sides and top / bottom, using my miter gauge with an extension to keep the board perpendicular to the blade.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6BhNzsPJNqZPwzm08hX5QHV8Mecju3IaGgM8sGlITpj315it3JGK7yPLXpWaksPZWRmZ8RjPIshmGcfYH5khTdDaJSEGbcpdtGLw-Nm-UOskUV9j9aWspbl5BQSt6LNmm_2-ySrPqyvw/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="528" data-original-width="1149" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6BhNzsPJNqZPwzm08hX5QHV8Mecju3IaGgM8sGlITpj315it3JGK7yPLXpWaksPZWRmZ8RjPIshmGcfYH5khTdDaJSEGbcpdtGLw-Nm-UOskUV9j9aWspbl5BQSt6LNmm_2-ySrPqyvw/w640-h294/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div>The last step before assembling the shelves into the cases was drilling pocket hole screws in the ends. I thought about quitting for the evening but I really want to get this project done. It went a lot quicker than I thought it would. Maybe 45 minutes?</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh148hHPh-6Lkn_ncNa-Y2Bu5v651_09eOYEb3mIjOceFZUv96PezUr6x8f4YeYBz4Qh9VC-oYWiTMvKI_Gr1ZJAcSHKJlgE4e6kjEjaX2J19ewnDP6Ks6DG9w6x7ix3_0xoBsatepD6k/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="729" data-original-width="1083" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh148hHPh-6Lkn_ncNa-Y2Bu5v651_09eOYEb3mIjOceFZUv96PezUr6x8f4YeYBz4Qh9VC-oYWiTMvKI_Gr1ZJAcSHKJlgE4e6kjEjaX2J19ewnDP6Ks6DG9w6x7ix3_0xoBsatepD6k/w640-h430/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />Then it was dinner time: Kielbasa and Pierogis. Yum...</div><div><br /></div><div>I had after dinner plans but since one of my friends was stuck at work we cancelled. (And yes, it was an on-line event). So, (minus one Toastmaster point for starting a sentence with 'so') since my cases had had sufficient time for the glue to get to it's initial set period I carried them upstairs and put them into the closet.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAoA3apFFmWhHBBUyKaz5Fm-K8Lnjk54Q6hlAy5O76w3VRLbGJkdS_El3b24SF0t4n53Ov0ojYG_btabdIXNSLtsc2VL5f-Dqo_aGe4R18YOZSM_G0nwDWX3rFFFVjvXzA5xqXUK9MjqM/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="868" data-original-width="636" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAoA3apFFmWhHBBUyKaz5Fm-K8Lnjk54Q6hlAy5O76w3VRLbGJkdS_El3b24SF0t4n53Ov0ojYG_btabdIXNSLtsc2VL5f-Dqo_aGe4R18YOZSM_G0nwDWX3rFFFVjvXzA5xqXUK9MjqM/w469-h640/image.png" width="469" /></a></div><br />I carried all four boxes upstairs before adding them to the closet. I have to admit some nervousness that despite all my careful measuring and re-measuring (measure 20 times, cut once) that as I was sliding the second lower box in place that they might not fit. Fortunately, all my careful measuring worked out - and I didn't make any math errors. The second bottom box slipped into place and I have my planned 1" buffer (1/2" on each side).</div><div><br /></div><div>I was greatly reassured; however, then I got nervous again as I went to add the first upper case. I realized as I was lifting it into place that the lightbar that is on the inside of the closet was in the way. <sigh> It protrudes into the front plane where I was planning on lifting the boxes into. I was able to get the box in place by tilting the box into the back plane. It was a little awkward lifting the box. The box probably only weighs 40 lbs or so but it was large and needed medium-fine manipulation to get into place.</div><div><br /></div><div>The second upper box was even more awkward as I had even less space in the closet to maneuver in. Regardless it wasn't too bad and actually ended up going easier than the first upper case. I was saved by having left a whole 1" buffer along the top of the shelves. I often get in trouble by cutting my margins too close but I was careful to not make that mistake with this cabinet. It would be nice to have that volume available for storage but it was more important to not have to rebuild the shelf boxes because they didn't fit.</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, the shelves are still in the workshop and need to be brought up and installed in the cases. Before that I need to screw fasten the shelf boxes together to make sure they don't shift; though, they are heavy enough I don't think that's a huge worry. I am getting a little worried now that I didn't put enough screws into the cleats holding everything up. I may go back and reinforce those.</div><div><br /></div><div>That's another day though.</div><p></p>Felix Enterpriseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716929517747065941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813201935532474221.post-90531216361140656142021-01-19T07:02:00.003-08:002021-01-19T08:05:44.714-08:00Closet Makeover - part 2<p> Relative to most weekends I spent a lot of time in the shop. I got in probably six hours on Saturday and another three hours on Sunday. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Saturday</h3><p>Saturday morning I got started early by emptying my closet. It only took me an hour or two to move all the games off the top shelf and pick up the loose stuff off the floor and slide the plastic totes out of the way. It only took minutes to slide the bookshelves out of the closet and into the bedroom; however, that was pretty tense. Both bookshelves tucked into the sides of the closet were relatively heavily loaded and didn't have backs to stiffen them. I was still able to successfully slide them five or six feet without any disasters.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq528CZ-sPNSRtJYWWwnjJD_uYnjjmLtlRCX8z5h7l4tmZnwHLTECcTm3-_lTATbJ8s4xQIuLKzkXTOP-KM4nbPvNZIOpEuP8hO2PGOpsldJ5BNc3h_6FLLa2rOjmYmXDQ4wKUK1BDWvY/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="859" data-original-width="606" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq528CZ-sPNSRtJYWWwnjJD_uYnjjmLtlRCX8z5h7l4tmZnwHLTECcTm3-_lTATbJ8s4xQIuLKzkXTOP-KM4nbPvNZIOpEuP8hO2PGOpsldJ5BNc3h_6FLLa2rOjmYmXDQ4wKUK1BDWvY/w451-h640/image.png" width="451" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm horrible at remembering to get "before" shots</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Saturday afternoon was spent moving my materials from the garage down into my shop. All my new plywood was 4 sheets cut down into 2'x4' quarter sheets so I could fit them into my Forrester. I also needed one full sheet of plywood I already had in my garage.<p></p><p>I started with taking one of my 2' x 4' quarter sheets and cutting cleats to hold up the bottom shelf. I somewhat arbitrarily chose 3" for my cleat height. I cut four pieces off one end for the cleats on the closet sides and front walls. I cut two pieces off one of the long edges for the back of the closet. This left me enough wood for one half the bottom divider / middle shelf support. I got the other half out of another one of the quarter sheets. It left a large off-cut but that's fine. Large offcuts eventually get used for something.</p><p>The front walls of the closet are only 14" wide and the pieces I'd cut for them were 24". I cut them both down to 13-1/2" so that they wouldn't be obviously visible from outside the closet. I then glued up the over-sized center shelf support / middle divider and put a bunch of clamps and weights on it.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQgUXsqHFSNZ_2LuQePYCvUm1kyp8utlgMPmakgqiAmpHW8I2p9z0_8UO2hfUHXnXjyjiHmFYgoiCYB_jXTRlMHlVX9BB1WtpcJM1_S-yCoaBIqNSTw_gieuqpVi9DQILeB8v_pLQKIWY/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="699" data-original-width="1031" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQgUXsqHFSNZ_2LuQePYCvUm1kyp8utlgMPmakgqiAmpHW8I2p9z0_8UO2hfUHXnXjyjiHmFYgoiCYB_jXTRlMHlVX9BB1WtpcJM1_S-yCoaBIqNSTw_gieuqpVi9DQILeB8v_pLQKIWY/w640-h434/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />While this was drying I started installing the cleats in the closet. I used my levels to find the high spot in the floors then drew a level line around the closet 13" from the floor using the high spot as my initial point. This will be the line I align all my cleats with when I put them in.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFcexezpgQBEL_ua8eNC8yoPZ-6foqZOPFyqLTrnDqoEncBMrXmsopHnQn10Lcato59GEq5LZS91p-IX_hUAApSuFEDSxdfo2czfFPZZbKcb4LNGHU364rgDF7T4RBoT604HEaaRq6cM4/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="684" data-original-width="1078" height="406" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFcexezpgQBEL_ua8eNC8yoPZ-6foqZOPFyqLTrnDqoEncBMrXmsopHnQn10Lcato59GEq5LZS91p-IX_hUAApSuFEDSxdfo2czfFPZZbKcb4LNGHU364rgDF7T4RBoT604HEaaRq6cM4/w640-h406/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /> For example:<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjlNP4FFTiYra9JmmnpgUSqPDGePYyDT0h8S_aYcSVWFuXoraxjfPM9eZbC8h9prSGVuXhipagPJqUuArv4f1iIyaz_EY0vo_Ll_4LlG7CAcSbSn_cDtjZygPHcnDP91s06ojT2EV5n3Y/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="752" data-original-width="1119" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjlNP4FFTiYra9JmmnpgUSqPDGePYyDT0h8S_aYcSVWFuXoraxjfPM9eZbC8h9prSGVuXhipagPJqUuArv4f1iIyaz_EY0vo_Ll_4LlG7CAcSbSn_cDtjZygPHcnDP91s06ojT2EV5n3Y/w640-h430/image.png" width="640" /></a></div></div><br />I was then able to work my way around the closet putting the cleats in one at a time. I used my stud finder to locate studs, drilled countersunk pilot holes and then used 2-1/2" deck screws to fasten them in place. As you can see in the above photo I have predrilled pocket holes ever 8" or so in the cleats to hold down the bottom shelf.<div><p></p><p>When I got to the back center where the bottom shelf support / middle divider is going to go I used a temporary block of the right thickness to leave sufficient space. I used one of my deck screw to hold the block in place because I hadn't brought my pocket hole screws up yet.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwti26-pMfkWXM06MSE7aKd5_9RjMDY5cNfmuO7Gi_Mx-aswU2gilLv6QnOZZWMgxw16pQaZosAv8z-irSn57Tz3yr6NzKKNTdBnSDU_7XwD70xELvYTk0yAOTSyB0JACx3RyjhYCRooQ/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="697" data-original-width="1103" height="405" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwti26-pMfkWXM06MSE7aKd5_9RjMDY5cNfmuO7Gi_Mx-aswU2gilLv6QnOZZWMgxw16pQaZosAv8z-irSn57Tz3yr6NzKKNTdBnSDU_7XwD70xELvYTk0yAOTSyB0JACx3RyjhYCRooQ/w640-h405/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />I measured for the center of the back wall and aligned the temporary block with my marks.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVQtZUTnBnp3vcgOWPFi3lCzvkgWfWH4z8icsNyZIk3cQLNif-kLIEgYo9UV03hTSDugu-Oc1TUKuoqmVSKsfBDHA8vn070psOb5rWPjgm8iXivkl5-YL9PqM705nXJSZ4x8Ci7IPWkgw/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="370" data-original-width="1140" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVQtZUTnBnp3vcgOWPFi3lCzvkgWfWH4z8icsNyZIk3cQLNif-kLIEgYo9UV03hTSDugu-Oc1TUKuoqmVSKsfBDHA8vn070psOb5rWPjgm8iXivkl5-YL9PqM705nXJSZ4x8Ci7IPWkgw/w640-h208/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />This is definitely one of the cases where close is good enough. I got the block pretty close, then left some wiggle room in between the two cleats.<p></p><p>This work took long enough that I figured I could remove the clamps from my divider. After scraping the glue from the edges I trimmed the edges to be flat and square. From there it just needed to be fitted to the closet. I brought it upstairs and set it in place. I used a pencil set flat on the floor to scribe a line parallel to the floor, then did the same with the back wall. The floor wasn't level but it was flat enough that I decided to not bother cutting to that line. The back wall however needed to be cut. I did that on my table saw using my panel jig and some shims.</p><p>With the panel fit to the wall and floor I used a level to draw a level line on the panel from the back wall cleat out towards the door. I again made this cut using my panel cutting sled and some shims. Here's what it looked like after I put it in place. The level was in the shot because I was checking to make sure the front of the divider was level with the cleats on either side of the doorway.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDhs1a6QvGcJTN9XGplZK2z1qhg1W2vUwwpoR6C-qscWImtdqbYvWVfxytzpxhH5B9XnDuHUoTplQ_pfj6-8zCI03P6t8d8CZN9xqJ0fzdkeH8ZO1yApaRUTzTA-Y2kFU60LtIJGlqWKU/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="811" data-original-width="1152" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDhs1a6QvGcJTN9XGplZK2z1qhg1W2vUwwpoR6C-qscWImtdqbYvWVfxytzpxhH5B9XnDuHUoTplQ_pfj6-8zCI03P6t8d8CZN9xqJ0fzdkeH8ZO1yApaRUTzTA-Y2kFU60LtIJGlqWKU/w640-h450/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />I mean, it should be level but you never know. Those three points I was checking were the end points of the single point I started from - which is about halfway between the side wall and the lower divider / shelf support along the back wall. It is far less expensive to check now rather than to be trying to fit the next piece and have things not working and have to then try and figure out what's wrong.<p></p><p>Speaking of the next piece, that was the lower shelf.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeH8Juxn_kvrkidhFtBiXz0guvnfwjId17ScdjBEqeYg4oPqka4QCg4FxB65no4V0v2_g_vkQmWeXCmAzgtofE8EtsrjsPMBZbWQCf37YePTl87tvcYk06m0E0ZgxRI4rJjT1UksdOEmg/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="621" data-original-width="972" height="408" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeH8Juxn_kvrkidhFtBiXz0guvnfwjId17ScdjBEqeYg4oPqka4QCg4FxB65no4V0v2_g_vkQmWeXCmAzgtofE8EtsrjsPMBZbWQCf37YePTl87tvcYk06m0E0ZgxRI4rJjT1UksdOEmg/w640-h408/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />I'd measured the size of this shelf to be 25" deep by 75-1/4" wide. I did the best I could to check for square in the closet but just to give myself a little wiggle room I cut the shelf about 1/4" short in each direction. I did cut the shelf on my table saw and while I appreciate that the rip fence capacity allowed me to make a 26" rip cut, followed by a cleanup cut at 25-1/2" and finally at 24-3/4" to get my final width I was not appreciating how heavy a full sheet of plywood is to cut down. I probably should have used my circular saw and guide to break it down in the garage before bringing the full sheet downstairs.<p></p><p>The sheet pretty much dropped into place. It was a bit awkward to get into the closet and then straightened out over the cleats but once I had the right side pushed into the corner against the cleats I was able to lower the left hand side. I'm really glad I trimmed the board to be a little smaller than the calculated opening because while the back was mostly straight and the corners relatively square, the two short front walls actually angled in a little bit and hung up the board. Some solid thumping with my fist did bring everything flat and didn't seem to damage the walls appreciably.</p><p>After getting the bottom shelf in place all that remained was shimmying underneath with my Makita Impact Driver and drive the pocket hole screws into place. And by shimmying I mean lots of grunting, twisting and trying to drive screws at angles my shoulders and arms didn't like. I am a little claustrophobic but being focused on the task and only being partially underneath the shelf didn't bother me at all.</p><p>That was Saturday... It doesn't seem like all that much but like a house foundation this step was critical to get right as the rest of the cabinets will be built in my shop and will not have much adjustability once they start to go in.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Sunday</h3><p>My primary goal for Sunday was getting my shelf box parts cut, joined, and glued. Then I could let them sit overnight to let the glue dry, add shelves, insert them into the closet, then reload the closet with all my games and books.</p><p>I won't keep you in suspense... I didn't get all that accomplished.</p><p>Fundamentally my shelf boxes are going to be super simple. The sides, tops, bottoms, and shelves are all going to be 11-3/4" wide. My rough-cut quarter-sheets from Lowes are approximately 2' x 4'. So step one was ripping them all down to two pieces each, 11-3/4" wide.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7zeaWpTknY3uJdsyQguC1yo-Udq1A8yDrbO__Cp34Ce8PyqV66FI1uY4LCqYjxwNH-EeiVOcxwVkBP-IrVlcqxDSObHvS1dcYiLfc7IQEYL2uvY4aFaSQk3MhjVJmv7NMC8C2xA6ONds/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="829" data-original-width="1060" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7zeaWpTknY3uJdsyQguC1yo-Udq1A8yDrbO__Cp34Ce8PyqV66FI1uY4LCqYjxwNH-EeiVOcxwVkBP-IrVlcqxDSObHvS1dcYiLfc7IQEYL2uvY4aFaSQk3MhjVJmv7NMC8C2xA6ONds/w640-h500/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />I don't normally let boards just fall of the outfeed table onto the floor. However, after starting the saw, ripping one board, stopping the saw, walking around the saw to get the board and stack it on my New Yankee workbench then repeat just a few times, I realized it was going to take forever. Since all the boards were going to be cut down eventually, I started just shoving them through and letting them fall. Any banged up corners will be trimmed later in the next step.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU4xm2Pi52rVpDzkRsJMAn-3tzB9aohD7oQSKYZwk9jtQI__y-zcg-IrH-Py6cAbX_ofonq2tg_5o3SOSD1C2DcaZrPaTrB1WUwvkjRWCVTBn93SnWh9wwQ5V1ZPXWgNoScLeLlqiBdDU/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="582" data-original-width="1136" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU4xm2Pi52rVpDzkRsJMAn-3tzB9aohD7oQSKYZwk9jtQI__y-zcg-IrH-Py6cAbX_ofonq2tg_5o3SOSD1C2DcaZrPaTrB1WUwvkjRWCVTBn93SnWh9wwQ5V1ZPXWgNoScLeLlqiBdDU/w640-h328/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />That's a lot of boards. 26? 32? I don't have the count right in front of me; however, it was a lot. After ripping them all to width I made sure they were all square by trimming both ends using my crosscut sled. Cutting them to length was a little more dicey. I don't have a super wide crosscut sled as I don't normally need to do this and I am running out of space for sleds and jigs. Instead I used the table saw fence and a miter gauge to crosscut them all to the appropriate length. At least all the case pieces. I'm going to leave the shelves for after the cases are constructed so I can be more exact with the shelf lengths.<p></p><p>Yes, I know this isn't the safest way to make this cut; however, my table saw surface is slick so the boards didn't get that much friction. My saw blade is new enough that it cuts cleanly without a lot of force needed. I went very slow to make sure I didn't get binding. I also had an auxiliary fence on my miter gauge to help make sure I didn't twist the boards and get binding.</p><p>The next step was cutting the joinery on the case pieces. I'm using a 3/8" tongue and dado for my joints. I started by installing a 3/8" dado blade in my table saw and set it to make a 3/8" deep dado. Close was good enough as I am leaving 1" of extra space on the side of the shelves. If I am off by 1/64" it won't affect the fit of the cases in the closet. I then cut dados on the top and bottom of all the sides to my four cases. I then added a sacrificial fence and cut tongues on the tops and bottoms of all the cases. I had lots of off cuts to dial in the rabbet for the tongue but it only took me one or two tries to get a tight fit.</p><p>I got the case pieces fitted tuning the tongues where necessary with my shoulder plane. I really like this tool. I know I could do the same with a block and some sandpaper but the shoulder plane can take a bigger bite and leaves a nice surface. </p><p>With the cases fitted I cut my plywood for the backs. I've mentioned my mistakes in lumber purchases for this project in a prior post; however, I was able to make the quarter sheets for the 3/4" plywood work out just fine. However, I don't want to have seems in my backs and unfortunately I'd had the 1/4" luan cut down into quarter sheets as well and they just weren't going to fit. I ran out to Lowes Sunday morning to get two more sheets, this time cross cut to 48" then ripped to 40" which is the maximum width my Forrester can take in the back.</p><p>Then, I ran out of time in the afternoon. I had to make dinner and feeding me and my wife takes priority over woodworking... usually...</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Next Steps</h3><p>I was hoping to get into the workshop Monday evening unfortunately I hadn't slept well the night before so I figured keeping fingers was more important than potential progress. I've got my case pieces ready for assembly so that's my next step. I'm going to glue the sides to the tops and bottoms. I've got good joints but I'm probably going to shoot some brad nails into them to "clamp" them while the glue dries. I have enough clamps to glue up all four cases at once but the sides aren't going to be visible. I may as well save myself the dozen trips from my clamp storage in the auxiliary workshop and just use my 18 gauge nailer.</p><p>I've got my backs cut out to slightly undersized (about 1/8") and I'll glue and staple them to the case with 18 gauge staples using the same nailer/stapler. This will help me square the case and will "clamp" it square while the glue is drying.</p><p>After the cases are assembled it will just be a matter of cutting the shelves to the right length, drilling pocket hole screws into the shelves then installing them. Then dropping the cases into place in the closet and reloading it.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Side Note</h3><p>I don't use my extended table and fence on my table saw all that much; however, when I need to it is very nice. This last weekend I make dozens of cuts using the greater than 36" capacity of my extended table and fence. I think 39-3/4" was the widest cut I made.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHp1OhjIikp-Anj5mj0HlxsZS0Ork2m0haf6OdyXWqMWpLjAaE6vBSH8eBYy4k31VQP94v734K6s_6DNXpLdOq2p1ATTZoNAzhaZlypWZ_lJ0Pi8Hw3-mh1T8Tn0zikhf1RT-h04xUPag/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="795" data-original-width="1116" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHp1OhjIikp-Anj5mj0HlxsZS0Ork2m0haf6OdyXWqMWpLjAaE6vBSH8eBYy4k31VQP94v734K6s_6DNXpLdOq2p1ATTZoNAzhaZlypWZ_lJ0Pi8Hw3-mh1T8Tn0zikhf1RT-h04xUPag/w640-h456/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div>Felix Enterpriseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716929517747065941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813201935532474221.post-78847813623147295892021-01-17T18:26:00.001-08:002021-01-19T08:05:09.623-08:00Closet Makeover - part 1<p> I'm pretty sure I've mentioned in the past that one of my hobbies is playing board games. We've taken over a bedroom and made it into a game room. It confuses people who come over to play games but it's nice to have a room where we can leave a game set up and not have to worry about it getting in the way of dinner or something else. We took one of the closets in this room to store all of our boxed games.</p><p>Currently the games are stored on the top shelf and two small book cases shoved into the sides of the closet. We've got a couple of totes on the floor with scenery for miniature based war games. This works but we've maxed out our storage. We don't really buy that many games but we already have more than can be stored in this arrangement. </p><p>Well, I've been thinking for about the last 20 years that I'd make custom built ins for the closet. This is the year! </p><p>The indecision decision for this project is how to design it. I have Euro Games in their classic square boxes, Book Shelf sized boxes (8.5"x11"), flat pack games, and big box games. I also have some totes with scenery I keep on the floor. I want my shelves to be as wide as possible to maximize storage. I need them to be tall enough to hold my largest boxes on end. I also have a number of wide games that cannot stand on end and need to be stacked. I want some shorter shelves so the stacks don't get so high.</p><p>In summary, I want my shelves to be as wide as possible, some short, some tall, and some in the middle.</p><p>My closet is 25" deep, 75" wide, and 91" high. I think I can split the width and have 36(ish)" wide shelves. I still want totes for storing things like miniature game scenery so I think I'll create one large shelf that spans the entire closet so that I can just slide my totes in underneath. With that decided I just need to figure out what height I want to make my individual shelves and how to build them.</p><p>I thought about boxing in the entire closet to make everything square and flat and then using pocket hole screws to hang shelves. I don't know how out of plumb the walls are but I know from when we installed hardwood floors that the floor slopes 2 inches from the front of the closet to the back. I'm assuming the walls aren't close to plumb. My thought was I could line the sides and back with 3/4" plywood. To get them square and plumb I'd need to shim all the walls with furring strips. It'd be a nightmare to get right and take three full sheets of plywood. I'd also have to build everything in place rather than in my workshop. I'm calling this my "big box" design and I'm not liking it overly much.</p><p>My next thought was putting the bottom "full" shelf in level using legs scribed to the floor then building shelves up from there. I drew that design idea out a couple of times then decided that I didn't really need legs on the sides. Since it is a full shelf reaching all the way from side to side I could just use cleats attached to the wall.</p><p>The other part I need to figure out is the shelves. The trick to making built-in anything is to build as much of it as possible in your shop and then install it in a way such that it looks like it was built in place. If I were going with the big box strategy I could just pocket hole screw them to the sides and a divider, or use shelf pins to make them adjustable. But since I've already decided against the big box strategy I need a way to support my shelves. </p><p>One of the challenge of working inside a box is the need to be able to get the parts into the space. Since my door is narrower than the space inside I need to make sure everything can fit through it. I also want to minimize my costs.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">My Ideas</h3><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Medium Box - build two boxes 3' wide and 5'(ish) tall in my workshop I can put on top of my base shelf next to each other. I could put fixed or adjustable shelves in them.</li><li>Small Box - go with a Thomas Jefferson - yes, that Thomas Jefferson - approach and build individual boxes that could be stacked on top of one another. These could vary in width and height so long as I plan ahead.</li><li>Minimalistic - Instead of making full boxes, I could make U-shaped shelves. Basically a box without a bottom. I could then use pocket hole screws to fasten the sides to the lower shelf.</li></ul><h4 style="text-align: left;">Medium Box pros and cons</h4><div>I probably won't be able to make these boxes reach entirely to the ceiling without some gymnastics to get the boxes into the closet. With a wide lower shelf that will cramp the amount of space I have to fit pieces into the upper part of the closet. On the positive side, I'll be able to make the shelves inside it adjustable either through the use of pocket hole screws or shelf pins. I really like the strength of pocket holes vs shelf pins but the easy adjustability of shelf pins is nice. Though there is a bit more work engineering shelf pin style shelves in that I'll need to make a shelf pin hole jig, and I like making small notches in the bottoms of shelves to capture the pins so the shelves cannot easily slide out. I still have some more utility style shelf brackets I could install but those would be ugly.</div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Small Box pros and cons</h4><div>These boxes have some very useful attributes. I would be able to build them entirely in my shop, then install them by stacking them on top of each other in the closet. Since each box would only be approximately 1' x 1' x 3' I have no concerns with be able to get them into the closet. If we ever decided to move we would be able to deconstruct the shelf, nail a board across the front and use the boxes as shipping containers for our games. Since the bottoms would be double thicknesses of 3/4" plywood I I would have much less worry about the 3' shelves sagging over time. I would also be able to construct different width shelves so long as I could come up with sets of shelf-boxes that added up to 75" in width.</div><p></p><p>There are a couple of downsides to this style of shelf. They would take more materials to make than the other designs (materials == cost). They would only be easily adjustable within limits of already constructed boxes.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Minimalistic</h4><p>This style of shelf takes some of better attributes of the first two ideas. It uses about as many materials as the Medium Box design. I could make a variety of shelf widths so long as I have sets that add up to 75"</p><p>Unfortunately the downsides of this approach outweigh the positives. Since I wouldn't necessarily have a solid panel running from the top to the bottom or solid boxes stacked on top of each other this structure would be much weaker than the first two. It would be less modular and adjustable than either of the first two as I'd have to unload all the shelves, deconstruct them, then put them back together, and then reload them. It would also be more work to make the initial set of shelves since I would have a lot more in-place assembly.</p><p>This is basically a really bad idea on multiple levels where the cons out weigh the pros. I'm just including it here as it was an idea I briefly considered.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Ultimate Solution</h3><p>I'm going to go with a hybrid approach. I'm going to go with the Medium Box design but rather than make two boxes, one for each side, I am going to make four boxes, two for each side. By splitting each side into two boxes, on on top of the other I'll effectively be adding a fixed middle shelf that will add some strength. Of course that's offsetting the strength lost my having monolithic sides. However, I don't have any worry about getting the boxes in place. I can get the bottom two in place and then slide the second two into place by lifting them vertically and sliding them on top of the lower boxes.</p><p>The only thing I have to decide now is how tall to make each of the boxes. I think I want the sides to be consistent because it will make construction easier. I've thought about three options, split the height evenly, maximize the use of my 2' x 4' plywood sheets, and finally make sure I get the maximum number of 1' height shelves. I think I am going to go with the last option which will make 1' shelf heights standard and maximize the number of them.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Design Iterations</h3><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheLsbjd3vt0uIduHKX3tvD_c-Y5q712boqPXjgXzEuKq5qZndcAfwA-s8n4kIscPbusCY-IRiM9cjES7TXWq-zbCu1nedxBy5sVYUppWapy5UU6w35v7WgXWMnH8C-jgRYVu55fqkwvNM/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="679" data-original-width="585" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheLsbjd3vt0uIduHKX3tvD_c-Y5q712boqPXjgXzEuKq5qZndcAfwA-s8n4kIscPbusCY-IRiM9cjES7TXWq-zbCu1nedxBy5sVYUppWapy5UU6w35v7WgXWMnH8C-jgRYVu55fqkwvNM/w552-h640/image.png" width="552" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Initial Design, small box plus two iterations of the base</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxaLvMds3gVgWhbFOIbstvM-ou6I0Jz-c8obhkUQKornWzp6djSai8lZiJEFMfx_ZvbxiR0XZJ5mqNbGKGFcCJMRuxLitIyBNLp0R6QWpPFOt6-YqmBrFIBrE_wFmuM6NmFl9suiUZme0/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="684" data-original-width="684" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxaLvMds3gVgWhbFOIbstvM-ou6I0Jz-c8obhkUQKornWzp6djSai8lZiJEFMfx_ZvbxiR0XZJ5mqNbGKGFcCJMRuxLitIyBNLp0R6QWpPFOt6-YqmBrFIBrE_wFmuM6NmFl9suiUZme0/w640-h640/image.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Big box design plus cleats for bottom shelf</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj60fS0cV47gt7_4KWSZnbU8iDgdz2EG71j1YWRSi73qSyf9dem9f6Uur6bUxYjZY2vjNAOsZsaIyPWMuHU1A0Mpr6-ro3vs9LX8hgZi-3Eu7VjBJ_qzi17D4-8Jv68gkkjfOSejyC_Yr0/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="507" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj60fS0cV47gt7_4KWSZnbU8iDgdz2EG71j1YWRSi73qSyf9dem9f6Uur6bUxYjZY2vjNAOsZsaIyPWMuHU1A0Mpr6-ro3vs9LX8hgZi-3Eu7VjBJ_qzi17D4-8Jv68gkkjfOSejyC_Yr0/w475-h640/image.png" width="475" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Multiple iterations of the medium box design</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The design I am going with is the lower right hand side one in the last page of scribbles. I drew out the top one on that page then realized that I was going to have a lot of off-cuts from from my 2'x4' plywood. So I drew out the bottom left design which made more efficient use of the plywood I have. Then doing the math I realized the 48" high box wasn't going to divide evenly for 1' high shelves. I may not be fast, but I get there.</p><p>So, I did some erasing and drew in the right hand side boxes. The lower right hand box is sized to have three 12 1/4" high shelves plus the 3/4" shelf that's 13" per shelf plus an extra 3/4" for the top of the box. The top box gets the remaining space between the bottom box and the top of the closet. It will have space for two shelves plus a third 9" shelf. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Summary</h3><p>This should be a quick one-weekend build especially if I scrimp on sanding, leave the plywood edges bare, and don't bother putting finish on it. I know, that doesn't seem like a fine woodworking approach; however, these are utility shelves. The games don't leak, there isn't going to be moisture in the closet. </p><p>It'll be fine.</p><p>Or if it isn't fine, I can replace it later. Or I can come back and pull out sections and put finish on them later.</p><p>It'll be fine.</p><p><i>(Also, since I am finishing this post Sunday night I can say I didn't quite get the closet built ins finished over the weekend. Super close but that'll come in the next post.)</i></p>Felix Enterpriseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716929517747065941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813201935532474221.post-52141424142747787202021-01-12T18:47:00.001-08:002021-01-12T18:47:48.305-08:00Workbench Diversion<p> I got no work done on my workbench this last weekend. I'm going to attribute some of that to my next step being flattening the bench. To flatten the bench I need to sharpen my hand planes. To sharpen the hand planes I need to flatten the back of the plane blades. Flattening the back of a blade is much like sanding and I don't like sanding.</p><p>Instead of working on my bench I took a trip to Lowes on Saturday. I wanted to pick up some plywood for my next super secret project. And there started my plywood adventure. For some reason I'd thought that I could fit 4' wide plywood into my Forrester. I don't know how that made it into my head. My cargo area is actually closer to 3' x 5'. </p><p>The reason this is relevant is that I had thought I could just cross cut all my plywood once and fit it into the back of my truck. I've had bad luck relying on the resawing services from big box stores before so I'd brought along my cordless circular saw, straight edge guide, and a spare battery. I went to cross cut the first piece of plywood and realized that my battery wasn't just low, it was empty. Fortunately I had the spare. It was only after I cross cut my first piece of plywood then realized I was going to have to double the number of cuts. I admit I was a little nervous because my second battery wasn't full.</p><p>Turns out my battery made it through about half the cuts I needed to make. I looked at my pieces of plywood and started calculating the cost of just abandoning them in the parking lot. Instead I took the walk of shame and took my plywood back into the store and got some very helpful workers there to cut my plywood down for me.</p><p>Then the only problem was having a tall stack of plywood in the back of the truck and no tiedowns to keep it from crashing around. I drove home super carefully and had no problem; however, it was just kind of the icing on the cake of bad decisions.</p><p>That was most of my Saturday as well as a fair bit of sitting on the couch.</p><p>Sunday I went over to a friend's house. We'll call him Dave to help protect his identity. He's a beginning woodworker and is still setting up his shop a tool at a time. He'd recently gotten a Rigid contractor/job-site table and a Dewalt 2 1/4 HP router. I ran over to his house over the recent holidays to help him set up his table saw so it wouldn't be extra dangerous. While I was there we'd started building a portable router table of the same design as the one I used for 15 years or so. He has a garage workshop and has to share space with vehicles, especially during our upstate NY winters so a small format easily stored router table will be important.</p><p>In any case, I was heading out this last weekend because we hadn't finished building the router table or the table saw sleds and jigs that every shop should have. Unfortunately the router table insert he'd bought in the intervening week was for trim routers rather than his full sized router so we again couldn't finish his router table. Instead we spent the morning working on his cross cut sled for his table saw. He decided he didn't need a tall fence or a panel/tenoning jig so we didn't make either of those. I forgot the miter joint spline jig which is too bad because he might actually have wanted one of those.</p><p>We also went over router safety and basic use.</p><p>That took most of my morning and since I had slept adequately but not great the night before I may have taken a short nap on our couch. When I got up there wasn't a lot of afternoon left but knowing I'd be sad if I didn't get a little time in my shop. So I headed down and after putting away the toys I'd brought with me to Dave's house I decided to work on a small project.</p><p>I have a small coat closet in my kitchen next to the door to the garage. It holds most of our coats, shoes, hats, dog leashes, and other things that we might want before heading out the door. The top shelf in this closet has a pile of gloves, mittens, hats, and scarves. Whenever we want something off that shelf we pretty much have to dump the contents, sort them out then try to pile everything back on the shelf.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp3h_TH7T-AafAbJCXOetDrvvkZXpe2x0PYQfjV3unPxNPWkEo5HoEc8dwcXn9w_bkz6ejrJExAfJaDYF5NZGvDzp_C1dcdOr0eIxva8wUNCTsjt0eaOmf01nTRXw1LIyrC-DAKu18l60/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="776" data-original-width="1148" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp3h_TH7T-AafAbJCXOetDrvvkZXpe2x0PYQfjV3unPxNPWkEo5HoEc8dwcXn9w_bkz6ejrJExAfJaDYF5NZGvDzp_C1dcdOr0eIxva8wUNCTsjt0eaOmf01nTRXw1LIyrC-DAKu18l60/w640-h432/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>So, I'd come up with an idea on how to improve this space a few weeks back. I didn't want to start on this project while my shop was still nigh unusable due to having workbench pieces all over the place but now that the workbench was out of the way I figured this would be a nice diversion from working on the bench.</p><p>The construction was super simple. I ripped a bunch of Baltic Birch to 11 3/4" x 60". I cross cut four pieces to 24" for the sides, six pieces to 19" for the top, bottom, and shelf, and one piece to 9" for a divider. </p><p>I set up my table saw with a 1/4" dado stack and raised it to 1/4" above the table. I then set my fence so I could cut dados in the top and bottom of the sides. Then I moved the fence and cut dados about 9" up the sides for the shelf. I then adjusted my fence to cut dados for the divider in the shelf and the bottom. I decided to make that dado a full width dado in order to get it centered. I very carefully snuck up on the size of the dado, then cut all four.</p><p>Then it was just a matter of fitting all the pieces together and gluing them up. Once glued I took them up and fitted them into the closet. Thinking ahead I'd create two separate boxes that I could insert them individually. Anyway, they fit perfectly and are working out great so far for organizing our stuff.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaIaX0cNiu9HG8X97pWP8OhwUscuOxL8i_FWXCBAcKpGYrbeT5vt-e5I2gdB926vb1otJ0Es1dLxsPlY41DLIT2-BUR7IlrkFyJEJBqg7Zi8XEgMFyBxVUu4lL4YZJZ4BXVpQQiQPsgTw/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1150" height="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaIaX0cNiu9HG8X97pWP8OhwUscuOxL8i_FWXCBAcKpGYrbeT5vt-e5I2gdB926vb1otJ0Es1dLxsPlY41DLIT2-BUR7IlrkFyJEJBqg7Zi8XEgMFyBxVUu4lL4YZJZ4BXVpQQiQPsgTw/w640-h474/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr1qQmoRmSdzZm4MVlEcNAn_c54csgeqZ-sAzPDmYipJhnicetP2a2UV6T3nBQgnJm5T1Y78DxkW3Ttae2YjGI26lu0CmmB_6PoNjj_ewTLllSzXd0R7Bfh41wJuQDsrKr4p5QmPXVvR4/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="859" data-original-width="1144" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr1qQmoRmSdzZm4MVlEcNAn_c54csgeqZ-sAzPDmYipJhnicetP2a2UV6T3nBQgnJm5T1Y78DxkW3Ttae2YjGI26lu0CmmB_6PoNjj_ewTLllSzXd0R7Bfh41wJuQDsrKr4p5QmPXVvR4/w640-h480/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p>Felix Enterpriseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716929517747065941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813201935532474221.post-82222183594781795452021-01-04T05:02:00.002-08:002021-01-04T05:02:37.307-08:00It even looks like a benchWhere did we leave off? I had placed the benchtop onto the base. My workshop was a mess. The first thing I did getting into the workshop on Saturday was to clean up the shop. It's not a terribly large shop but I could spend a lot of time carrying single items back and forth to put them away. Most items get used near to where they are stored but a few items get stored on the back wall. <div><br /></div><div>My cleaning method is effectively a bubble sort. I pick a single spot and move everything in reach towards the direction it needs to go. After everything in reach has moved in the direction it needs to be, I move to another area and do the same thing. Eventually I end up with a pile of things that are a short step or two from where they need to be, then picking that spot I can put the pile of stuff away. I'm sure many/most people/some people do it this way also; however, it is also my way.</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, I've got pictures:</div><div><br /></div>
<table border="0"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRbmaLnrnjsRHpgGa-DpnLqSfL8fDwAN2NX0gaO-aW7PDjmNDPn7QXu98LJfghQHvDk_y_UyJIPG1e2ewZddYyJHdLHlGQp3thBuG3705YT4a5e6LlI4g6XTHya4xo3Ebdd8cPG4m1F6g/s1042/image.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="791" data-original-width="1042" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRbmaLnrnjsRHpgGa-DpnLqSfL8fDwAN2NX0gaO-aW7PDjmNDPn7QXu98LJfghQHvDk_y_UyJIPG1e2ewZddYyJHdLHlGQp3thBuG3705YT4a5e6LlI4g6XTHya4xo3Ebdd8cPG4m1F6g/w400-h304/image.png" width="400" /></a></td><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEGNat0WHFvqPJlIszwk0F9X8PiO6eRvVWvFJQOEWcf_cUtOejNYAqN3B34nCnRLT5_3DPEDeBDrZJnY39LuGiwMF1sQWVO1-BjJmql8e7c2EtQhhu7REKe0SbEI23dvJn05XTIcgWxyY/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="807" data-original-width="1103" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEGNat0WHFvqPJlIszwk0F9X8PiO6eRvVWvFJQOEWcf_cUtOejNYAqN3B34nCnRLT5_3DPEDeBDrZJnY39LuGiwMF1sQWVO1-BjJmql8e7c2EtQhhu7REKe0SbEI23dvJn05XTIcgWxyY/w400-h293/image.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIlSBbMJL7lzmLmSI8DtWLN8IZGSM14qLg8TSct6AWCz8Y4pTCDhVTttNmQ3l1P4c17DdCn6mfuEaUCiG08cH1pkI2qeXjerUtaJnPzQSFGAKx7h8PQYeP9VUQFZ_7kvzxJ5KL8qscGT0/s1109/image.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="777" data-original-width="1109" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIlSBbMJL7lzmLmSI8DtWLN8IZGSM14qLg8TSct6AWCz8Y4pTCDhVTttNmQ3l1P4c17DdCn6mfuEaUCiG08cH1pkI2qeXjerUtaJnPzQSFGAKx7h8PQYeP9VUQFZ_7kvzxJ5KL8qscGT0/w400-h280/image.png" width="400" /></a></td><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLjF2WgJkdovU3dqP_BhvWXio_vbqjb3MCVmAumgVJQoRE9GykVuuye5ClfmVAqwtFPOKqz5cofkfC8DKjpUL6pwB7OFrwdRtKkFKNDtNX7zIPzbRK3iQgFi67TYCiIAtJc8vuhsOAAds/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="784" data-original-width="1142" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLjF2WgJkdovU3dqP_BhvWXio_vbqjb3MCVmAumgVJQoRE9GykVuuye5ClfmVAqwtFPOKqz5cofkfC8DKjpUL6pwB7OFrwdRtKkFKNDtNX7zIPzbRK3iQgFi67TYCiIAtJc8vuhsOAAds/w400-h275/image.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr></tbody></table>
<br /><br /><div>Much better... I'm not a neat freak but I don't like my shop being slovenly either. I also don't let tidiness get in the way of finishing a project. I basically make a mess while building a project, pausing now and then to tidy, then when the project is completed I clean everything up and put everything away.</div><div><br /></div><div>Today I couldn't wait. Too many things had gotten piled around because I couldn't easily get to their drawers. Everything got put away, the floor got swept, I remounted the grinder in the far back corner of my shop. I don't know if that will be the final spot but it is out of the way for now. I found someplace to store my table saw cross cut jig.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIMMvBqtAF1KFO0wwebpGPwUpy_ClWsYz53x5ZQq_UUDfEwBsyuJL0ANbp1hDuG58pyzAmbVjo8XH_o2x1lYt-JqCpl-qTCtv28SwpUoJGGrbNmtb0FiK8Twpy7Dvjb6T_IDxHCiZ6Dsk/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="833" data-original-width="621" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIMMvBqtAF1KFO0wwebpGPwUpy_ClWsYz53x5ZQq_UUDfEwBsyuJL0ANbp1hDuG58pyzAmbVjo8XH_o2x1lYt-JqCpl-qTCtv28SwpUoJGGrbNmtb0FiK8Twpy7Dvjb6T_IDxHCiZ6Dsk/w477-h640/image.png" width="477" /></a></div><br />This weird bump out is protecting my water main. Before I'd put the walls up I'd once grabbed a board leaning against the wall, turned and tried walking away. The board got stuck and pulled out of my hand. Looking back I saw that it had snagged behind the water meter. The vision of breaking one of those pipes and not being able to turn off the full city water pressure as water gushed into my shop terrified me. The basement was already partially finished, I just cleaned it up and put a closet around the water meter to protect it from getting smashed.</div><div><br /></div><div>Cleaning the shop took me an hour and a half or so. But with that done I turned back to the workbench and set up to cut the top to length.</div><div><br /></div><div>I used my Milwaukee corded circular saw. It's probably been years since I used it last. My Makita cordless has been my go-to circular saw for breaking down plywood or even cross cutting two-by stock. However, I think it has a smaller blade and it is certainly not as powerful as my Milwaukee. </div><div><br /></div><div>Unfortunately, I don't have guides for the Milwaukee anymore. I've cut them all down to use with the Makita. So, I went old school. I set up a straight edge 5" from where I wanted to cut, clamped it down and used it to trim the end. I used a framing square to make sure my cut was relatively perpendicular to the front/back.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrcXqJT_uEFZ7idlCiY2tahcTjv0ghzsjRq-YzRPswqHgHyy82OD3OYg2w-cLa98HQKNO4lC1Dtnx53rUuZHWr45M46AGEXcAQJ8gf_yI1iTXHkR30MjZlnx_eCKJ5uzVU857rpixZD_E/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="747" data-original-width="1120" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrcXqJT_uEFZ7idlCiY2tahcTjv0ghzsjRq-YzRPswqHgHyy82OD3OYg2w-cLa98HQKNO4lC1Dtnx53rUuZHWr45M46AGEXcAQJ8gf_yI1iTXHkR30MjZlnx_eCKJ5uzVU857rpixZD_E/w640-h426/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />My circular saw isn't so big that it could make the 3 inch cut in one pass. What I had to do was make an initial cut on the top side, flip the bench top over, transfer the cut line to the bottom (now top) and after resetting the straight edge clamp, make a second cut. To transfer the cut line I used my try square and a marking knife.</div><div><br /></div><div>My first one of these was about 1/8" off on the far end after making the cut.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8lQfse9oU4uttHKtkXv4yC5xkXC8XQQQBCAWOw2T5WtKrEokYm4hybQO57jICht0oOZQpuPKzWhRAmu2YNWh5rzjTBj6LDwbpG_PCn_9fkgtXHCKDbikQ8u7nXhEkna9N-UUXR2WfQZE/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="635" data-original-width="900" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8lQfse9oU4uttHKtkXv4yC5xkXC8XQQQBCAWOw2T5WtKrEokYm4hybQO57jICht0oOZQpuPKzWhRAmu2YNWh5rzjTBj6LDwbpG_PCn_9fkgtXHCKDbikQ8u7nXhEkna9N-UUXR2WfQZE/w640-h452/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />On the other end instead of trusting the framing square I transferred the cut line from both sides to the bottom (now top) and aligned both ends of the straight edge with that. Came out much better. I'm not happy about the sloppy end but it isn't going to affect the utility of the bench so I'm going to leave it. If it really bothers me some day I'll fix it then.</div><div><br /></div><div>With the top trimmed to length I was able to slip in in between the water meter closet and the miter saw.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpXD55ENDDSNZd5Ge5bb8BiDJyWeA4YuI1WMKTT_BHstyspFB7GzcEUtPJnDWqPtwc585vZJPxeCMNQNKhPLcB3UbOYa4lKXrN08z3sUjdx3lWMug4EwPK6hZkCNe4URRvTMzTyB-wWio/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1051" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpXD55ENDDSNZd5Ge5bb8BiDJyWeA4YuI1WMKTT_BHstyspFB7GzcEUtPJnDWqPtwc585vZJPxeCMNQNKhPLcB3UbOYa4lKXrN08z3sUjdx3lWMug4EwPK6hZkCNe4URRvTMzTyB-wWio/w640-h494/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />With the bench in place I was able to check the height of the bench in relation to the miter saw. Unfortunately it wasn't perfect.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYv5jt3StO6fH3sJdC0XzCQkI0bgeVAciUw19Vclt4acH81PknkuTkecg8vIFIXE8XlcilacPt9eS8OvKcU0aZDn1xBCJgjJekt3z7pSci3bmJyB5w-kI_TtsWRs9HLcu6u0nQ_mpyiko/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="1143" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYv5jt3StO6fH3sJdC0XzCQkI0bgeVAciUw19Vclt4acH81PknkuTkecg8vIFIXE8XlcilacPt9eS8OvKcU0aZDn1xBCJgjJekt3z7pSci3bmJyB5w-kI_TtsWRs9HLcu6u0nQ_mpyiko/w640-h338/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div>That's about a 1/4 inch gap. Curious I checked to see what was level and what wasn't. Turns out the last 1/3 of my built in bench slopes downwards a little bit. That's kind of irritating because I thought I had done a better job leveling it. Regardless that explains why the miter saw can be coplanar with the built in bench but miss aligning with the new hand tool bench. I'm either going to raise the stand the bench is on, or more likely I'll just add some shims under the left side of the saw to get it to be the same height as the bench.</div><div><br /></div><div>The other thing I did before calling it a day in the shop on Saturday was fix my drill press. It wasn't broken yet per se but it wasn't fully functional either. My drill press is a Grizzly Radial Arm drill press. What's a radial arm drill press you ask? Well, it is a drill press head that is mounted on an arm so I can change the swing distance. Interestingly since the arm is a round tube I can twist the head to drill at an angle instead of building an angled sled or tilting my table. Of course I've never done this in the 20 years I've owned it but I could if I wanted to.</div><div><br /></div><div>The part that wasn't working was the ability to change the swing distance. There's a small plastic hand wheel on the right side of the drill head that engages a track on the bottom of the head tube (the tube the head rides on...). It wasn't turning and wasn't moving the head in an out. Instead of having a moveable fence I have a moveable drill. If I cannot move the drill head I cannot change the distance my holes are from the fence.</div><div><br /></div><div>I sprayed a little WD40 on both ends of the T-joint that holds the head tube to the vertical column. When that didn't work I found more things I could open up to get WD40 into the mechanism. Namely the set screw that keeps the head from moving after everything is in place. That's the little red handle on the side of the T-joint in the picture below.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb76UkcmhH-SL3yP3lTY7oOZYIMx6T3DD2L-sxo0DNk28QecBr8MUSTNH38cV6gWucB8CA68yH2ALlVHPJ7brYXh9c7KFvhaZgQIclNo5xXIPwjFWLK1GD6Kx7bwFNasnYJvYUTntEH_k/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="697" data-original-width="1155" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb76UkcmhH-SL3yP3lTY7oOZYIMx6T3DD2L-sxo0DNk28QecBr8MUSTNH38cV6gWucB8CA68yH2ALlVHPJ7brYXh9c7KFvhaZgQIclNo5xXIPwjFWLK1GD6Kx7bwFNasnYJvYUTntEH_k/w640-h386/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />And then under this nut I found on the other side.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSSphqq4Z-2eK-y_PYn-Ut1yDzJtB5oiTauJhkKQvCm_JEuf-5NCPKo7hyphenhyphengQawZOt1u0beQ-AxmFOXI9s0qVZ4L-M91GMCKqyvkMN7yQY3jMWcGGQ332pmSDA4Olja3f_MGiOTaKD1Lbw/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="531" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSSphqq4Z-2eK-y_PYn-Ut1yDzJtB5oiTauJhkKQvCm_JEuf-5NCPKo7hyphenhyphengQawZOt1u0beQ-AxmFOXI9s0qVZ4L-M91GMCKqyvkMN7yQY3jMWcGGQ332pmSDA4Olja3f_MGiOTaKD1Lbw/w640-h452/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />And no, I don't actually know what that nut is for. I'm sure it is something important. I'm going to have to look through my manual and see what it says.</div><div><br /></div><div>In any case after squirting some WD40 into all the spots I could find and then twisting the head around the longitudinal axis I was able to get the little hand wheel working again. I think the twisting helped the WD40 get into whatever was binding. I also think I need to thoroughly clean to head tube and either wax it or oil it. Just another shop chore to add to my list. I need to clean the top of my table saw again too.</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, with the drill press fixed I was able to start working on a drilling guide for my dog holes. The first step was to square the drill with the table. One of the downsides of this kind of drill press is that pretty much any adjustment requires squaring the drill again. To be honest, much of the time I deal with a little inaccuracy but since I am drilling a 3 inch hole through a block that will be a guide to drill 3-1/4 inch deep hole through the bench. Since there's always going to be some error just because I am drilling by hand with a guide block, I don't need to start with a guide that isn't as good as I can make it.</div><div><br /></div><div>I took some of the leg off cuts and marked a center on the top and the bottom. After using a try square to get the drill as perpendicular as I could I drilled a test hole. It was off by a slight amount so I went back and did a better job with the square and the second one was close enough to perfect.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrFET8QIIt0xDdCIT3PErIsCpPwQc_XDZMx21PEZQiX_uLjA8Mw6Cx-R3sbhRxjfDOjwae_iXrTVvXgNaLjpWV0_3rtGbxHmm4768YT1PKxeyXCjULW_KAfh15kk-oW7aElBNUp_XZpP0/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="707" data-original-width="761" height="595" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrFET8QIIt0xDdCIT3PErIsCpPwQc_XDZMx21PEZQiX_uLjA8Mw6Cx-R3sbhRxjfDOjwae_iXrTVvXgNaLjpWV0_3rtGbxHmm4768YT1PKxeyXCjULW_KAfh15kk-oW7aElBNUp_XZpP0/w640-h595/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />I used a wooden hand screw clamp to hold my block of wood while I was stilling it. With the brand new brad point bit the drilling went very easy.</div><div><br /></div><div>I found a piece of 1/4 inch plywood in my scrap pile that will become the base for the dog hole jig. I'm going to add a fence that will ride along the front of the bench and keep the dog holes 5 inches from the front. I'll also have an indexing peg that will space all my dog holes 4 inches apart. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjujTxBTSax8FsaEEBFXPq8R7eGh2Na4I-3yE0UujTKsKPlJpoltXls8fXbizzLpaE4FECz8nELGV5uYGGitfCCYOw9BlS6kUrePz_JufolDSLc9BQMxTjAbuIdS7Z-1RYEpNOFUnI0fTI/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="838" data-original-width="1061" height="505" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjujTxBTSax8FsaEEBFXPq8R7eGh2Na4I-3yE0UujTKsKPlJpoltXls8fXbizzLpaE4FECz8nELGV5uYGGitfCCYOw9BlS6kUrePz_JufolDSLc9BQMxTjAbuIdS7Z-1RYEpNOFUnI0fTI/w640-h505/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div>I was hoping to get this jig completed yesterday and get my dog holes drilled but instead I played <b>Dead of Winter </b>with some friends using Tabletop Simulator - and yes, between all of us playing we have purchased multiple copies of the game. There's always more time to do woodworking, family and friends come first.</div><div><br /></div><div>I still haven't fastened the top to the base. Hopefully sometime this week I can get the dog holes drilled, the top fastened, and the miter saw table aligned with both the New Yankee bench and my new traditional workbench. I'll still need to flatten it but that's going to be phase 2, along with the leg vise.</div>Felix Enterpriseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716929517747065941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813201935532474221.post-6181742051020753752021-01-02T17:23:00.000-08:002021-01-02T17:23:33.190-08:00Workbench base<p> Wooo! I got the base done and together!</p><p>I had to stop by my local Woodcraft last weekend to buy a longer 3.8 inch brad point bit. While I was there I picked up a 3/4 inch brad point bit, an extra coarse diamond stone, and some washer head screws. I follow Norm Abram's credo that a workshop should have sufficient screws on hand for whatever needs to be done. Sure, the initial investment adds up but considering that every time I need to run to Home Depot or Lowes for just one more thing it costs me an hour to an hour and a half, having sufficient supplies on hand has saved me hours and hours of wasted time.</p><p>Anyway, the next step to getting the base of the workbench together is to use some 6 inch hex bolts, washers, and nuts to connect the front and back rails to the side assemblies. I thought about making a drilling guide but then I realized my drill press was still set up for drilling holes centered on the legs. So, instead of making a template I just measured and marked where the 7/8 inch counter sinks needed to be. </p><p>After carefully drilling those I made a 3/8 inch through hole using the mark left by the brad on the Forstner bit used to make the counter sink. These through holes intersect the mortises for the front and back rails. Then I assembled the base and used the holes in the legs as guides for drilling the holes in the rails. That super long 3/8 inch bit really worked out well for this.</p><p>The last step to preparing the rails is to cut some mortises in the side rails that intersect the holes drilled down the length of the rail through the tenons. One tricky bit is that I wanted to locate the bottom of the hole I'd drilled in from the end of the rail. To do this I inserted the drill bit then used a straight edge and a couple of engineer's squares to line it up with the drill bit.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBeYXvFEjLuQdBS3tHc-CIqRe1Goa3T41zYFJ5t3bhDPzN5mGUnQooCO6PtbamsIEWIofcWQLBYqq4nP5E6Q7FGPU43tHcXj6ZDe_OKU6FkKRj1d2ZUpSd5LbORaFvz2iOS64H90jMzDE/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="860" data-original-width="1259" height="438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBeYXvFEjLuQdBS3tHc-CIqRe1Goa3T41zYFJ5t3bhDPzN5mGUnQooCO6PtbamsIEWIofcWQLBYqq4nP5E6Q7FGPU43tHcXj6ZDe_OKU6FkKRj1d2ZUpSd5LbORaFvz2iOS64H90jMzDE/w640-h438/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />I did this from both sides of the drill bit so I could trace the entire path.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIzrGtgvkvC81OlDMBnKd7TFSlSD_UOJvK_F9bk4cP86pYD3Qp0qj_nS1AYfQgTWpK7tge_zuPEcrXI35jBfQWon7LDBS7lHsfYhahdGHSIIYre74t7ktGXF2q2-HwkOOtavUH_FgBSK8/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="544" data-original-width="1128" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIzrGtgvkvC81OlDMBnKd7TFSlSD_UOJvK_F9bk4cP86pYD3Qp0qj_nS1AYfQgTWpK7tge_zuPEcrXI35jBfQWon7LDBS7lHsfYhahdGHSIIYre74t7ktGXF2q2-HwkOOtavUH_FgBSK8/w640-h308/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />The red line is where I would have expected the center line to be if I had managed to drill straight. None of the holes that I checked with a square would have been a miss but this board is pretty typical. Probably why the plans call for cutting a 1-1/2 inch mortise. Kind of a shotgun approach.<p></p><p>To cut the mortises I chucked a 1/2 inch Forstner bit into my drill press. I'd tried setting a fence but the problem was that my drill press has multiple joints in the arm holding the table and getting those locked tight enough to keep them from moving when there is force applied. In any case it didn't really work out for me. I ended up doing a pretty good job drilling things the mortises by eye. However things got messy when I tried cleaning up the mortises with a chisel.</p><p>Unfortunately I didn't do the math and realize how thin the residual thickness was after drilling the mortises. I may have chopped a little hard and pounded the chisel through the bottom of the mortise and out the side of the rail. I was sad but fundamentally I can always make a new rail if this one starts bugging me down the road. Now is not the time to start rebuilding parts of the bench.</p><p>I was more careful with the rest of the mortises.</p><p>To make the leg ends into a bench base I needed to get bolts into the holes I'd drilled and a washer and nut into the mortise. This is where I found the second problem.</p><p>The plans had called for a 7/8 inch countersink in the legs for the hex bolt and washer. Unfortunately I didn't measure for the washers I have on hand. They were actually exactly 1 inch in diameter so they didn't fit. I had to chuck a 1-1/8 inch bit in the drill press and redrill all the counter sinks. This worked out well enough. I just centered the Forstner bit over the existing hold and drilled a slightly larger counter sink.</p><p>After solving the first issue - the countersink - I then started bolting the rails to the legs. This seems like it should be a very simple process. In practice it was quite challenging. The problem came in trying to line up a washer and a nut in a tiny slot while pushing a nut into the hole and turning one or the other to get the threads to catch. There was plenty of opportunity to mutter some inappropriate words. In the end what I found worked was getting the bolt to extend into the hole slightly, get the washer onto the end of the bolt, hold that in place with a small screw driver while I inserted the nut into the mortise with a pair of needle nose pliers. Once I thought I had everything lined up I'd push and twist the bolt or in most of the cases, just push on the nut while trying to spin the nut with the pliers.</p><p>The first three or four were pretty annoying. By the time I got to the last two or three it was still annoying but I wasn't spending 30 minutes cursing and failing either.</p><p>Even more annoying once I got the legs tightened up they had a bit of a rock. I'm currently satisfied telling myself it is just because my shop floor isn't very flat. </p><p>One last step to get the base finished is to add some cleats to the top of the leg assemblies to fasten the top.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsxyxWJa-AtRj7E2r6oSsGkCGhlK_IJtoq6AOUMLBxkhxDY5fSxjEqtwK2Z79f5yOfr-DXd9cSwCkNz6wqzT8q3AwZky9bIMmRFt7Esncz2OpZAeG5JYjhmWyJNcSYvgSkT9n1lBZVONY/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="725" data-original-width="1128" height="412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsxyxWJa-AtRj7E2r6oSsGkCGhlK_IJtoq6AOUMLBxkhxDY5fSxjEqtwK2Z79f5yOfr-DXd9cSwCkNz6wqzT8q3AwZky9bIMmRFt7Esncz2OpZAeG5JYjhmWyJNcSYvgSkT9n1lBZVONY/w640-h412/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />The plans call for some ledgers attached to the bottom rails and some more two-by lumber to make a bottom shelf. I haven't decided what I want to do with that space yet so I am just going to leave it open for now.<p></p><p>I needed to get my shop back. I've had the legs off and on set up in the space in front of my table saw. I've had the bench top sitting on a pair of saw horses occupying the back of my shop space. It's reminding me of how crowded the shop was before I remodeled and put the majority of my tools on mobile bases and moved them into the shop annex. It's been a necessary inconvenience but now that my base has been bolted together I got my wife to help me move the top onto the base.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSyc1dJZq1ulEvZDyUWZk4ZpYCva74jM5iXO7cpgXSyN7gSIjT8AKCqoMyUqqVc4LdczPrQubwBh-olx4DkQMXQ0FK_YPuirHtkn7B2SWVhNCH5AG2ILJsCjKeMGuQ9poNmnR3-k8_X80/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="741" data-original-width="979" height="485" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSyc1dJZq1ulEvZDyUWZk4ZpYCva74jM5iXO7cpgXSyN7gSIjT8AKCqoMyUqqVc4LdczPrQubwBh-olx4DkQMXQ0FK_YPuirHtkn7B2SWVhNCH5AG2ILJsCjKeMGuQ9poNmnR3-k8_X80/w640-h485/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>Hopefully today or tomorrow I'll be able to get the bench to a state where it's a functional horizontal shop surface and I can then move on to accessorizing. Next steps:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>dog holes</li><li>cutting the bench to length</li><li>flattening the top</li><li>adjusting the miter saw</li></ul><div>Once the bench is finished I'm going to accessorize it by adding a planing stop to one end, a leg vise to the front left, and probably do something with the bottom shelf area.</div><p></p><p>But before I start work today I need to get things cleaned up a bit. The pieces and parts have made putting tools away difficult to impossible so they've been accumulating on every other horizontal surface in the shop.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD5SKxvH2ivUBMwW-6GBVPoZivAyI31J4VdH7ZA0bSnva4Plssw3NI5GPQJRVYLpV-qy9Z8zBZRLwFONfFN2TdzUO9aDRDSFPkk_eVsLql574-WeEWjApDnFLtKkekEA7MUfT7TFvnOQs/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="791" data-original-width="1042" height="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD5SKxvH2ivUBMwW-6GBVPoZivAyI31J4VdH7ZA0bSnva4Plssw3NI5GPQJRVYLpV-qy9Z8zBZRLwFONfFN2TdzUO9aDRDSFPkk_eVsLql574-WeEWjApDnFLtKkekEA7MUfT7TFvnOQs/w640-h486/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjroEnX5CK-XOGjdSIGuVBu3DPNFivf3DxAKuJbqKXuglCcI7IFBQzE9xbXF6v_UKBYuoX8sWeBu2_7zsMmMEPA1RpqdoUWC2-Z1m3Np2lmlVTaZ0zqRn86shEKw8zNnyGyxQ7-8jYq6qo/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="777" data-original-width="1109" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjroEnX5CK-XOGjdSIGuVBu3DPNFivf3DxAKuJbqKXuglCcI7IFBQzE9xbXF6v_UKBYuoX8sWeBu2_7zsMmMEPA1RpqdoUWC2-Z1m3Np2lmlVTaZ0zqRn86shEKw8zNnyGyxQ7-8jYq6qo/w640-h448/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p>Felix Enterpriseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716929517747065941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813201935532474221.post-21577694723770014632020-12-29T18:55:00.001-08:002020-12-29T18:55:27.738-08:00Workbench Legs part 2<p> I had another long weekend to work in my shop again due to the Christmas holiday landing on Friday. We didn't do much to celebrate but I did spend a few hours cooking on Friday. I made ham, corn casserole, scalloped potatoes, and shredded Brussels sprouts. It came out quite adequate.</p><p>Saturday I started working on the joinery for the legs. This amounted to a dozen mortises overall. Two in each leg for the side rails and one in each leg for the long front and back rails. I thought about making a router jig but most of the mortises need to be 2 inches deep. That is a lot of work for a router bit and since I don't have tall bits I'd have to add a router extension. Instead I decided to drill out most of the waste with my drill press and finish the mortises with a chisel.</p><p>Turns out drilling out a dozen mortises with a forstner bit takes a lot of time and generates a fair pile of wood chips. I did set up a roller stand to help support the end of the leg that didn't fit on my table. It took a fair bit of strain off my arms trying to hold the leg in place while drilling the mortises. Drilling mortises on my drill press was a learning experience. I've probably done it this way before but never to this extent (number, depth, length). It was a lot of work.<br /></p><p>After drilling a couple of the mortises I switched to cleaning out the mortises. I started with what I figured was the most traditional approach which was to clean out the mortises by chopping vertically down the sides to remove the waste left by the Forstner bit and to square the corners. My chisels aren't sharp yet - yes I know, I even have a sharpening station - so this work was brutal. It was hard going and left the mortises kind of messy.</p><p>I did one or two mortises this way and sitting on my shop stool thinking about how many more hours of mortise chopping I had left staring at the tenon on one of my rails I though about how maybe it would have been easier to make the bench with loose tenons. I could have just rounded over the loose tenons so they'd fit the mortises. Then I remembered that I have in the past just rounded over the tenons without using loose tenons.</p><p>The other epiphany I had was that since I was using a Forstner bit to drill out the waste I could overlap my holes a bit more and reduce the amount of waste that I subsequently had to chisel out. By drilling every 1/8 inch or so I was able to reduce the walls to just being slightly rough rather than having a lot of waste to remove between holes. This meant I could take my chisels and run them the length of the mortise smoothing the sides instead of having to chop down. Combined with no longer needing to chop out the ends to square up the mortises these two saved me a lot of work.</p><p>The last thing that I did that saved me work was after the mortises were clean, remove waste from the tenons with my shoulder plane rather than trying to widen the mortises. This was relatively easy work and went pretty quickly. Relatively quickly meant that by the end of the day on Sunday I had my all my tenons fitting in my mortises and could stand up the legs to see how they looked.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt1IQj3jR0zlmdKQkdWj8FDQ4oGa5lrtzClw7C8axi31X725sbBXzVos_a1KzlFzPrN6zZepTyXSyEPnCZhC59A1xvbRJme_yxra3552eiZi70516cHo7Pp7hizSn0eyjfEftaNhZdjOo/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="847" data-original-width="1360" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt1IQj3jR0zlmdKQkdWj8FDQ4oGa5lrtzClw7C8axi31X725sbBXzVos_a1KzlFzPrN6zZepTyXSyEPnCZhC59A1xvbRJme_yxra3552eiZi70516cHo7Pp7hizSn0eyjfEftaNhZdjOo/w640-h398/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><p></p><p>So how did they look up close? Well, I know that there are some pretty ugly tenons and mortises hidden under the rails. Some of the shoulders on the rails don't fit super tightly against the legs. They also look done. Well, done enough to start putting glue on them.</p><p>So I did.</p><p>Last night I ducked into the workshop for a few minutes and glued the side leg assemblies together. It was halfway through gluing up the first leg that I realized I'd meant to drill the holes for the long front rails before gluing the legs together. I figured if I was in for a dime I might as well go in for a dollar. I finished gluing up the first side and then glued up the second side.</p><p>I'm thinking that using my roller stand I can keep the legs level on the drill press table. I'll use a small bit to mark the location of the bolt holes by drilling from inside the mortise to the outside of the leg. I can then use that mark to drill the bolt head mortise and the 3/8 inch through hole. </p><p>I'm kind of hoping to get some time in the shop this week before the New Years weekend. One of my friends is having a weekend long virtual New Years party and I want to be able to spend some time visiting with friends. I'll still need to spend time in my shop over the weekend if I want the bench finished this week but every hour I spend ahead of the weekend gives me an hour to spend with friends.</p><p> </p><p><br /></p>Felix Enterpriseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716929517747065941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813201935532474221.post-37643421451618964272020-12-22T15:28:00.002-08:002020-12-22T15:28:16.867-08:00Workbench legs work running over schedule<p> Nope, I didn't finish the legs this weekend. I could have, and I should have but I didn't. You could say, the work on the legs is <i>running</i> over schedule. Get it? <i style="font-weight: bold;">Running </i>over schedule...</p><p><sigh></p><p>I relaxed and thought about a couple of other home improvement projects. One of the things I am finding is that being trapped in my house, little things I've been living with for years are finally getting on my nerves enough that I feel like I need to fix them. I didn't do much of anything in the shop on Saturday. I did however do a bunch of shop thinking... Basically, thinking about projects and making plans. Thinking about how quick and fast the work will go once I get up and go do it... I'll go into those sometime later as it is now Monday evening and I am still thinking about some of them.</p><p>Sunday I fixed the kitchen door that leads to our garage. The door handle latch has been sticking for months, maybe years at this point. It wasn't sticking that bad but every now and then it would stick in the "open" position and the door would swing open sometime after we'd walked away. Not the best when you've got cats who are willing to go explore the garage and beyond. Anyway, I just took the handle apart, sprayed a liberal amount of WD40 inside and on the latch. Seems to be working. While I had screwdriver next to the door I tightened the screws in the deadbolt.</p><p>Where was I?</p><p>Oh right, working on the workbench legs.</p><p>But first, vises...</p><p>I've been mulling over what I want to do for my workbench legs and for the vise.</p><p>The first semi-critical decision is what kind of vise to I want on the table. This is a decision that can be changed later but I figure it will save me headache if I design the table to accept the vise I intend to put on it. My main two choices were a face vise or a leg vise. Sure, there are other types of vises: wagon vise, tail vise, shoulder vise, crochet, etc. </p><p>I don't need a shoulder vise as those are specialized vises. I don't think I want or need a tail vise. Sure, one might come in handy now and then but I am pretty sure I can substitute hold downs and other solutions in lieu of a tail vise. Wagon vises look cool but I don't think I need something that complicated on my first bench. A crochet looks really cool and is a very tempting option. It would certainly work if I thought my primary use case was going to be edge planing long boards but I'm thinking it is as likely that I'm going to have more use cases for clamping than edge planing.</p><p>So, face vise vs leg vise. The plans I am using recommend a $75 Veritas face vise. Unfortunately that vise has risen to $110 since the article was written. There is a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Yost-Tools-F10WW-Front-Vise/dp/B01M4F8JZJ/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Yost brand face vise </a>on Amazon for $80, or a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Yost-Tools-Y18SS-Vise-Screw/dp/B01M2109GD/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Yost brand leg vise screw</a> for $50. I'm not a penny pincher but I am frugal. I'm willing to spend more money for quality tools when I think the difference will be significant; however, I try to buy the least inexpensive tool that will do the job. The Yost brand vises have very good reviews, I think they'll do. I ordered the leg vise this morning, hopefully to be here in a couple of days.</p><p>With the type of vise sorted out I need to make sure it'll work with my bench. The plans call for legs that are 2-3/4 inch square. The Yost screw requires a 1-1/4 inch hole. I don't really want to take that much wood out of the leg. It'd probably be fine but I'd rather not take the chance. What I am going to do is make the top part of that leg a little wider to accommodate the vise screw. I tossed around a couple of ways to describe the wide bit at the top of the legs: hips, thighs... None of them sounded right. Then my wife called them jodhpurs and that description fits.</p><p> The last detail is how to fasten the legs to the benchtop. The plans call for attaching a cleat to the top of the legs and screwing through that into the top. That'll work to hold the legs to the top but not particularly add any strength. Many of the YouTube bench builders will mortise their legs into the benchtop. This looks super strong. I think I am going to go with the cleat screwed to the top. It's simple and quick. If it ends up not providing enough strength I can always rebuild the legs and mortise the new ones into the top.</p><p>After picking out the segments for the leg pieces I decided to cut them to rough length then send them through the planer to get them flat and smooth. I did send a couple of the boards through the jointer but the long front and back rails were already pretty flat. Those I just sent through the planer. Then I sent everything through the planer to get it to the right thickness. <br /></p><p>The basic legs got glued up individually but I figured I could nest the two jodhpur legs together on one wider blank.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmMeLqQ6wDDbqGkokNH_5Lvymsg9aQZU4pdvCEDXerV9qEtrx_axrTfKdK53goVcbYZdcQ82H7I_3xYAwwa0Uoq7oaZ3kzdSDUpk1BG8YHFSissbm6kcUwN5yp7xBjQ3-JU94gFBttnp8/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="716" data-original-width="884" height="519" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmMeLqQ6wDDbqGkokNH_5Lvymsg9aQZU4pdvCEDXerV9qEtrx_axrTfKdK53goVcbYZdcQ82H7I_3xYAwwa0Uoq7oaZ3kzdSDUpk1BG8YHFSissbm6kcUwN5yp7xBjQ3-JU94gFBttnp8/w640-h519/image.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Square legs</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglhNcKO_lJYn1DLIJsbovkf06GU6j1-gyRt7daecPseLFUjEQ70z60nKvBxOa8Yy0z0m9IwyHxIQ3huUzEte0uZFJJQMqb0aPGVixLcyeykEacFjAjOeWAIuz6r2m6ZQ9XsVejoqONNvw/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="609" data-original-width="1068" height="364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglhNcKO_lJYn1DLIJsbovkf06GU6j1-gyRt7daecPseLFUjEQ70z60nKvBxOa8Yy0z0m9IwyHxIQ3huUzEte0uZFJJQMqb0aPGVixLcyeykEacFjAjOeWAIuz6r2m6ZQ9XsVejoqONNvw/w640-h364/image.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jodhpur legs</td></tr></tbody></table><br />I'd make a joke about not having enough clamps but clearly I do have enough.<p></p><p>After letting the legs dry up for an hour or so I took the clamps off and cleaned up the worst of the glue drips and spills. I'd really hoped to be able to square them up but the glue was still sticky enough that I was afraid I'd make a mess of my power tools. The downside of being able to do multiple large glue ups is that when it is all done you need to put the clamps away.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVLD6FmqXUfNoAgu0F8E3i5y1sULPILyGkORgpfY_Vw8hnVBe-AMAfkFI8dw8dK-CNf76tBYauTkwPxpwRlnT-1th88uOHJu4OAHbwN9YjkEiuvSz2Epf8k_MiAIlr30QVtiqYL-6SRRI/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="799" data-original-width="1024" height="499" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVLD6FmqXUfNoAgu0F8E3i5y1sULPILyGkORgpfY_Vw8hnVBe-AMAfkFI8dw8dK-CNf76tBYauTkwPxpwRlnT-1th88uOHJu4OAHbwN9YjkEiuvSz2Epf8k_MiAIlr30QVtiqYL-6SRRI/w640-h499/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />The last thing I took care of was to create a template for the jodhpur legs out of some 1/4" masonite I had lying around.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBA8Sbp8le3mmiP_Vvohp1jKZXzEsWLsUpRsvdDnBt_OM1DRbzOl99KRiN4nnZ4luaKpbkOq29Qvst4imYem3vn7_6icy5gomIIAlKpsLWKjVdGw41SCr7k85EuXRnAme0_9oxbprxn1k/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="337" data-original-width="1061" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBA8Sbp8le3mmiP_Vvohp1jKZXzEsWLsUpRsvdDnBt_OM1DRbzOl99KRiN4nnZ4luaKpbkOq29Qvst4imYem3vn7_6icy5gomIIAlKpsLWKjVdGw41SCr7k85EuXRnAme0_9oxbprxn1k/w640-h204/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />Today I cleaned up my leg blanks by running them over the jointer to clean up one of the glued edges then over the table saw to get the other edge clean. The square legs got ripped down to size. The jodhpur legs got marked out, then I cut as much of the legs as I could using my table saw, then finished the cuts on my band saw.<p></p><p>I didn't get a picture of the leg blank with the jodhpur legs all laid out but you can probably imagine how I nested them from this picture.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqm94gNW1yha1P-ZqL21JQAyw-EClX5GxQ9qjR0DRZg0yqWpsk1GPdCqT2cQwPktaar8cK5Dyhkl47Smok3nSN198gf9-hpJPWT2B0yAAZhBH26NzXu_MwiK9ykJ8TSzGxZgL0-wn1Zo0/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="515" data-original-width="1081" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqm94gNW1yha1P-ZqL21JQAyw-EClX5GxQ9qjR0DRZg0yqWpsk1GPdCqT2cQwPktaar8cK5Dyhkl47Smok3nSN198gf9-hpJPWT2B0yAAZhBH26NzXu_MwiK9ykJ8TSzGxZgL0-wn1Zo0/w640-h304/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />That's all 4 legs. The square ones on top and the jodhpur ones on the bottom. That's pretty much the orientation they were in when I cut them out.<p></p><p>After getting them trimmed and sanded I switched to working on the rails. I usually do mortises first; however, the plans call for cutting the tenons first then using them to lay out the mortises. So I trimmed all my rails to length using my spiffy new sliding miter saw. It did a spectacular job. I did use a stop block taped to my workbench for the side rails. The long front/back rails I just marked, checked to make sure they were the same length, then trimmed the one that was slightly longer.</p><p>The last step to prepare the rails was cutting tenons which I did on my table saw with a dado stack. The shorter side pieces worked out fine. The longer pieces were more of a challenge. I probably need to wax my table saw top. I should have put a better extension on my miter gauge. Regardless it all worked out in the end.</p><p>Unfortunately I didn't think about the dog holes in the top before cutting the long rails to length. I need to go back and do some math to make sure the rail length isn't going to force me to cover a dog hole (well, I'd recut the rails to make sure that doesn't happen). This is only possibly an issue because I deviated from the plans when it comes to my face vise. The plans call for a cast iron face vise which includes a wide overhang on the left side of the bench to accommodate it. With a leg vise I should be able to move the legs closer to the ends so I lengthened the front and back rail to widen the stance of the bench. Unfortunately I didn't think about the dog holes when I trimmed the long rails. </p><p>No worries. I can always cut them shorter and it will just work out.</p><p>I had really hoped to get the workbench finished over this last weekend. Unfortunately, again my vision of how quickly I would breeze through the work didn't match reality. It's a good thing I don't have to do woodworking for a living. Anyway, I have hopes I can get it finished this coming long weekend and maybe even get one or more side projects finished.</p>Felix Enterpriseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716929517747065941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813201935532474221.post-35491061258435596002020-12-13T18:41:00.001-08:002020-12-13T18:41:36.377-08:00Workbench and laptop stand<p> I was all excited about making even more progress on my workbench this weekend. In my head, it was pretty much already done. I thought through all the preparatory steps, decided how I wanted to build and attach the legs, What kind of vise I was going to put on it. It was all perfect. Then I remembered I needed to pull the wood in from the garage where I was storing it... Right... Then I need to let it sit in the workshop for a week or two until it is acclimated to my shop humidity.</p><p><sigh></p><p>So, I finished my planning, picked out the boards I am going to use for the legs then moved them from my garage to my basement. They're sitting in my basement "acclimating".</p><p>Other than that I spent some time yesterday cleaning up my shop. I swept the dust from under where my outfeed table normally goes, put the outfeed table back on the outfeed side of my table saw, put tools away and generally tidied up the shop.</p><p>I leveled the sawhorses my new workbench top is sitting on, and thankfully that removed all the "rock" from the top. I used my 4 ft level to check the top for flatness and fortunately it is more or less flat. unfortunately it is a little dished out. There's a low spot in the middle which spells a lot of flattening for me in my future. I took a couple test passes with my bench plane and it worked sort of okay. I did get some tear out so I think what I need to do is use my new sharpening station to get that plane blade scary sharp.</p><p>That summed up my day yesterday. I should have done more but I didn't. What I really wanted to be doing was working on my workbench legs; however, I couldn't because the wood wasn't ready.</p><p>Today I remembered that my other weekend project was going to be building a laptop stand.</p><p>My day job is being a software engineer. This gives the benefit in these days of Covid-19 to be able to work from home. I've been making small improvements to my workspace which is a desk on the side of our guest bedroom. A few months ago I switched from using my laptop keyboard to a USB keyboard. Then I switched my primary working monitor from the laptop to a second monitor. Then I got a third.</p><p>My digital desktop is now in good shape but unfortunately my physical desk space is now quite crowded. The laptop doesn't help because it's a normal laptop as opposed to one of those fancy tablet laptops. I cannot "fold" it up to hide the keyboard so it takes up additional desk space that is "wasted". The other problem is that it is lower than my two monitors so when shifting between displays I have to look up, then down, then back up again.</p><p>This doesn't seem like it would be that big of a deal; however, it's that extra step you have to take between two woodworking machines you use all the time. That little extra bit of effort adds up over time and since I am working 40+ hours a week in this space I should try to make things more efficient.</p><p>So I came up with a plan. If I lifted my laptop on a stand my monitors would all be on the same level and I could use the space underneath for storing my pads of paper, pens, and other miscellaneous office supplies. I even came up with a project vision.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCvfHaThTo8o2xOvYaLCG_8wIPLEZFCGBwf6Ls77ABT54BQfg1Faup4zga7yJJC-NuqMGgjYyNwaPzaiC_bXNlPs1l5PJUMcpuQ-hNy6A4Qy3XQHvxju9lgdiVslGH4abB4roxoH4FgY8/s1104/project-vision.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="553" data-original-width="1104" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCvfHaThTo8o2xOvYaLCG_8wIPLEZFCGBwf6Ls77ABT54BQfg1Faup4zga7yJJC-NuqMGgjYyNwaPzaiC_bXNlPs1l5PJUMcpuQ-hNy6A4Qy3XQHvxju9lgdiVslGH4abB4roxoH4FgY8/w640-h320/project-vision.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Okay, so it isn't a super precise engineered drawing but a lot of my projects start this way. A rough sketch with some rough dimensions. The rough dimensions allow me to get an idea of how feasible the project will be. Gives me something to looks at when I am noodling around construction decisions. My next step is to start making more detailed sketches.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8j9QZmy5EFIW4bEiraizTuNKXjI0re_znrt408x1VMlBzSKGg44EzhymS6yEmuwGFnzt10AYXAoM7QELeRkeZSsaVC0OZK2W7WCSYyol0KZAv2kJYCsN13m_6uNpvH1jccnl9xDH2wJA/s1325/detailed-sketches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="715" data-original-width="1325" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8j9QZmy5EFIW4bEiraizTuNKXjI0re_znrt408x1VMlBzSKGg44EzhymS6yEmuwGFnzt10AYXAoM7QELeRkeZSsaVC0OZK2W7WCSYyol0KZAv2kJYCsN13m_6uNpvH1jccnl9xDH2wJA/w640-h346/detailed-sketches.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>The one on the left was my first one. It was while making that one that I thought about what I would want to put in the drawers and realized that I had just not quite enough space to put my small note pads on the left and a large 8.5x11 pad on the right. The sketch on the right hand side is my second and final drawing. I changed how I was going to join the pieces. In the first one the sides were trapped between the top and bottom pieces. In the second one the construction is a little more traditional and I have the top and bottom slotted into dados in the sides.</p><p>When I headed into the shop today I briefly considered making it as Adam Savage would. He'd but joint everything with some wood glue and then pin nail it together. It would be a little quicker than my normal techniques and probably plenty string enough. But! I am a woodworker and making good joints doesn't take that much longer than slapping something together. Now, I am not trying to say Adam Savage is not a talented fabricator because he is. However, he is also a product of his background where there is not value placed on making projects "furniture" quality. Props need to look good enough to look good on screen and last long enough for the filming to complete.</p><p>So I calculated my parts sizes accounting for tongue and groove joinery.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9yahgQCr5Ugbk76UTCAg9gA9n0eCmzKeBOMNGpzs9H9o0Qg86wt9MOCWZarvkaGa3mmKgUpXPO4s5i_diQT56bWqXDSGJCcQdkX57pnuSpzFeDFZs8i1zKRhcEAriDX4Mu7jX7U6goDw/s916/parts-list.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="916" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9yahgQCr5Ugbk76UTCAg9gA9n0eCmzKeBOMNGpzs9H9o0Qg86wt9MOCWZarvkaGa3mmKgUpXPO4s5i_diQT56bWqXDSGJCcQdkX57pnuSpzFeDFZs8i1zKRhcEAriDX4Mu7jX7U6goDw/w640-h268/parts-list.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>The rectangle on the bottom was representing a piece of 1/2 inch baltic birch I'd found to make the stand out of. I drew it out so I could think about how I'd take my pieces out of it to minimize waste and hopefully leave me the most useful piece of left over plywood possible. (I ended up cutting an 11 inch wide piece 60 inches long. That leaves me a 2ft x 5ft piece of plywood left and gave me a smaller piece of scrap.</p><p>I took that piece and cut it down into my parts.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2797UDhs0DYnaFi6sHGUbDPNXC1_Wud51NGKPk88nvcGS4ppKXeMIyvXQ9JJNQl3zoqzGkeYe_5SxhKrIOx_m7Ik1eLsNylcozkLnKleSQ_wQKNLH7bSWqeFIwXoareti1DL3vLmjSkw/s1120/laptop-stand-parts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="642" data-original-width="1120" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2797UDhs0DYnaFi6sHGUbDPNXC1_Wud51NGKPk88nvcGS4ppKXeMIyvXQ9JJNQl3zoqzGkeYe_5SxhKrIOx_m7Ik1eLsNylcozkLnKleSQ_wQKNLH7bSWqeFIwXoareti1DL3vLmjSkw/w640-h366/laptop-stand-parts.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>Then it was installing a 1/4 inch dado stack in the table saw and cutting all my grooves.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM2CweW37EwYl64PQ2MduR2N7QUy-XvQZ38WYtqNYaor5c05gQ91pBL6gmX3hxV8-mt3qMbJwzEAFuP0tCTu_iQHDW7K1cdRIjoPH1HNxTJqCB-hf7dsAXd8fylVdyPaQ9ni9SFuADFJo/s1004/parts-with-grooves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="781" data-original-width="1004" height="498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM2CweW37EwYl64PQ2MduR2N7QUy-XvQZ38WYtqNYaor5c05gQ91pBL6gmX3hxV8-mt3qMbJwzEAFuP0tCTu_iQHDW7K1cdRIjoPH1HNxTJqCB-hf7dsAXd8fylVdyPaQ9ni9SFuADFJo/w640-h498/parts-with-grooves.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>Then I added a sacrificial fence and cut all the rabbets / tongues. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of that separate but I do have one of the dry-fit case.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh09yWc53Th9SZnxBZQU2ZSbVKgza-DZ34p4JRp3Im8Cr7RlM8QkwDJRIkYaTdRnQ4mhX5ITwoWae7X-KVIL6NAVEMDX-unsL1XmuvomliY3zeribB-a73bzJJn7xf6SN7CV_M8KJDWSRo/s1054/dry-fit-laptop-stand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="804" data-original-width="1054" height="488" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh09yWc53Th9SZnxBZQU2ZSbVKgza-DZ34p4JRp3Im8Cr7RlM8QkwDJRIkYaTdRnQ4mhX5ITwoWae7X-KVIL6NAVEMDX-unsL1XmuvomliY3zeribB-a73bzJJn7xf6SN7CV_M8KJDWSRo/w640-h488/dry-fit-laptop-stand.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>That's my shoulder plane photo bombing on the right hand side. A couple of the joints were just a touch too tight so I used the shoulder plane to shave down the tongue until it fit snuggly in the grooves. Once the dry fit looked good I glued and clamped it.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPmEs_uEj_KLrSicYhFUltRJ7S_AJGZ-HC7aonf-IVmSgTvZ0YdeV9iMZ7W9V8oLxvi3qaGMUrV1d23fNRMISpYNkBSEctPjBmI2Kb9NDo-Dq5ykNVaxjxUNZRfDLR9H67V1kNqxIc1vE/s1137/glued-laptop-stand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="759" data-original-width="1137" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPmEs_uEj_KLrSicYhFUltRJ7S_AJGZ-HC7aonf-IVmSgTvZ0YdeV9iMZ7W9V8oLxvi3qaGMUrV1d23fNRMISpYNkBSEctPjBmI2Kb9NDo-Dq5ykNVaxjxUNZRfDLR9H67V1kNqxIc1vE/w640-h428/glued-laptop-stand.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>Yeah, that might seem like an excessive number of clamps; but, I have them... may as well use them. While the glue on the case was drying I made a couple of drawers for the left side.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNIFPHRqCxdMvfrWEqZdQKYcnJgne0YeO_2ja7CmiVC6qqYXs46uJlE0H67yiW6mIMBqZ8Sf1T1hzqEBx5yLQLYKpnVE5uN2C6WFoQl1vXpYLm0w7vUG8msvVS-019UH4nx2x2lWAjl4c/s1117/completed-laptop-stand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="498" data-original-width="1117" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNIFPHRqCxdMvfrWEqZdQKYcnJgne0YeO_2ja7CmiVC6qqYXs46uJlE0H67yiW6mIMBqZ8Sf1T1hzqEBx5yLQLYKpnVE5uN2C6WFoQl1vXpYLm0w7vUG8msvVS-019UH4nx2x2lWAjl4c/w640-h286/completed-laptop-stand.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p> I found a math error too... Math is hard... When I was splitting the height on the left hand side I split it in half. What I forgot to account for was that the bottom drawer loses the thickness of the drawer bottom vs the top drawer which did not. That means that my lower drawer is about 3/4 inch deep and the upper is about an inch. They'll still hold things.</p><p>After making sure the drawers fit, I added a stop block to keep the drawers from sliding out the back. It was a scrap piece of white oak I had left over from my weapon mounts I made in the spring. I thought it was going to be perfect but I need to come back and shave 1/16 inch off of one side so the drawers can shit completely. Maybe I'll do that later. I also softened all the sharp edges by rounding them over with a sanding block and some 120 grit sandpaper.</p><p>The drawers are made from 1/4 inch baltic birch plywood. I glued them together using CA glue and an accelerator spray. The top drawer is held in place by extending the drawer bottom into grooves in the sides. The drawer pulls were parts I had in my stash. I'd gotten them for some earlier project and then decided to not use them. I'd thought they had a normal machine screw but they actually had a tiny hanger bolt but not tiny enough. It would have stuck through the front of the drawer. So, I roughened up the back and super glued them to the front of the drawer. If they come off I'll try something else.</p><p>This is probably a good time to talk about my new favorite glue. In a lot of the YouTube videos I watch the builders will use CA glue for jigs and things they need to finish quickly. Michael Alm uses CA glue in the same joint as wood glue using the CA glue to clamp the pieces together until the wood glue dries. I got some CA glue and some accelerator to try it out. I've used it a couple of times already to make jigs and on the dust chute behind the new sliding miter saw. Making these drawers was probably my largest use to date. I think it's going to be plenty strong and my drawers were done in minutes without needing to figure out how to fasten clamps to the fiddly pieces.</p><p>I had the stand in place briefly but it was the first time I'd spent time around it without my dust mask on and I could smell the CA accelerant. I didn't want to stink up our living space so I took it back into my shop. Hopefully it will blow off by tomorrow and I can bring it back up and start using it. I'll try to remember to get pictures of it in place.</p>Felix Enterpriseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716929517747065941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813201935532474221.post-40214568927691134332020-12-12T07:01:00.000-08:002020-12-12T07:01:16.860-08:00Workbench Top Assembled<p> Yesterday I had my day job to do, dinner to prepare for my wife, and then I spent the evening playing Mass Effect 3 with some friends of mine. Yes, I know the game was release almost 10 years ago; however, I still like it. I like that the multiplayer is cooperative. The playstyle also is one I like. Most of all, I got pretty good at the game. I can - have in the past - completed the hardest level of multi-player by myself without help.</p><p>Anyhoo, all that meant no woodworking yesterday. Today I didn't have to work my day job so after sitting around all morning and making lunch for my wife I headed into the basement.</p><p>Step #1 was to clean up the small block (5 of the 2x4s) and two of the large blocks (10 of the 2x4s). As a recap, I'd already cleaned up one face of all the small blocks by running the faces over my jointer. The large blocks are just two of the small blocks carefully glued together. Cleaning up just involves getting the bottoms flat by running them through my planer.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpcwzcJ_RbOBDWRoxJjGUeuPNGiGqntGP3qDzsZaqUuhqs6zeUs1zm86WjmDjkAD0skGmzO8uqQWaJZcwB1DWbEnaG5EZupS04ZThv-jnfGv8xkEsBt7hLdrgA9JHCP5coOsDSMNkQngU/s1033/image.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="763" data-original-width="1033" height="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpcwzcJ_RbOBDWRoxJjGUeuPNGiGqntGP3qDzsZaqUuhqs6zeUs1zm86WjmDjkAD0skGmzO8uqQWaJZcwB1DWbEnaG5EZupS04ZThv-jnfGv8xkEsBt7hLdrgA9JHCP5coOsDSMNkQngU/w640-h472/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />I'd tested my infeed on Wednesday but today I actually put it to use. It worked out spectacular. The blocks didn't need any additional support on the infeed. I was able to get each block started by setting it on the infeed table and in the mouth of the planer, shove it halfway through the planer then run around to the other side to pull it through.<p></p><p>The planer was able to keep the blocks moving while they were in the middle third but in the first third, needed some help pushing them in and on the outfeed, there was no support so I had to lift and pull to keep them tipping the planer and keep them moving. I was able to take about 1/16 inch on each pass. It only took three or four passed to get each block flattened.</p><p>After getting all the blocks flattened and thicknessed I started gluing them up. I test fit the three pieces to figure out which edges were the best match. I got one good match and one adequate match. I considered trying to pass the adequate and/or poor matches through my jointer again but decided the joints weren't going to turn out any worse than the ones I already had.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrqfQqFRXy_ZFpREfWqTwQclk63tGBXEQ0nMTFUVOp36fGyVv60KJTR-TPFUnIrxNditI4BUBxF48IBj-Ti0s6DWkyEyRr68P2iy9vOaqbY2jfvtPzy6tpdwvaGCpYOgqfk2v-UQJWsa4/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="538" data-original-width="1040" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrqfQqFRXy_ZFpREfWqTwQclk63tGBXEQ0nMTFUVOp36fGyVv60KJTR-TPFUnIrxNditI4BUBxF48IBj-Ti0s6DWkyEyRr68P2iy9vOaqbY2jfvtPzy6tpdwvaGCpYOgqfk2v-UQJWsa4/w640-h332/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />Since my shop floor is not flat which made my saw horses probably not parallel I glued one large block to the small block vertically rather than horizontally. I spread glue on the large block then set the small block on top. I slid the small block back and forth a number of times to get the glue sticky. Once I felt it had some grab I started clamping. <p></p><p>The above picture looks like it is missing a clamp on the left hand side on the end. I had one there. I just removed it before I thought to take the picture.<br /></p><p>I gave the glue 20 or 25 minutes to dry then removed the clamps, scraped the glue, then repeated the process with the last large block. I did need to upgrade to all larger clamps.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBt5QdrdVreIThcRv5F-GplDWtjKo612-7SAGMqs46Iu-ys32agPG0k7p5RIItWMsoYDrTz2UfUKFqT0Z55-d5HgjY8zw0ksl5B_vM5l3RiLH7QohvcmMqB3vWBsb-nA156rkSL0_pQUc/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="464" data-original-width="1156" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBt5QdrdVreIThcRv5F-GplDWtjKo612-7SAGMqs46Iu-ys32agPG0k7p5RIItWMsoYDrTz2UfUKFqT0Z55-d5HgjY8zw0ksl5B_vM5l3RiLH7QohvcmMqB3vWBsb-nA156rkSL0_pQUc/w640-h256/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>I then had to take a break to rake leaves.</p><p>I have a maple tree in my back yard that doesn't even start dropping its leaves until mid November and doesn't finish until early December. Normally I don't get a chance to take care of these leaves until spring by which time they've killed parts of my lawn. I had a beautiful day today and I didn't have to work so I took advantage of the weather to clean up the leaves before the whole lawn killing part.</p><p>That took a few hours but afterward in the few extra minutes I had between ordering our dinner from a local Thai restaurant and picking it up I removed the clamps from the workbench top.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZSpvHY3RMDIgPvqFtWgCMlF3bHPHEVGTlpiawLimHM_c1_q2iWdXkPoVhANdal2ozFAM7fcqfnrDN_hhHXhVseRx17ArJ6pDpWGJNZHC4D4KZvLtJwiismuOxyUr-9q-3kc5PRn2e1Sk/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1518" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZSpvHY3RMDIgPvqFtWgCMlF3bHPHEVGTlpiawLimHM_c1_q2iWdXkPoVhANdal2ozFAM7fcqfnrDN_hhHXhVseRx17ArJ6pDpWGJNZHC4D4KZvLtJwiismuOxyUr-9q-3kc5PRn2e1Sk/w640-h242/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /></div>It's looking pretty okay. I'm thinking/hoping that gap on the left is just my uneven shop floor. If not, I have a lot of hand planing and flattening in my future.<div><br /></div><div>I'm glad I'm making my first workbench out of douglas fir. Hardwood would probably have cost me $1000 vs the $250 the fir cost. Most of the issues I've come across so far are related to joints not gluing up perfectly. The majority of those are me trying to glue too many pieces at once. The others are me not getting my edges perfectly flat on the jointer... probably...<div><p></p><p>The problem with these really large blocks of wood is that they are heavy and I have the physique of a typical software engineer. The blocks are heavy enough that they are difficult to manage on the jointer and get a clean edge. I think on my next workbench I'll make sure to get a friend to help me.</p><p>I've got some planning to do. I looked at the face vise specified in the plans and it's increased in cost from $75 to $110. In the big scheme of things, that's not too expensive for a wood working tool; however, I've been wanting to make a leg vise. I was thinking of getting started with the face vise and then maybe upgrading to the leg vise later but now I am thinking I might just go straight to the leg vise.</p><p>I was already planning on widening the legs on the table. The plans call for the legs to not come all the way to the edge of the worktop. This won't work if I am ever to add a leg vise. The other problem is that the plans call for 2-3/8 inch legs. Unfortunately the Yost leg screw will require a 1 1/4 inch hold which will take more than half the width of the leg. I need to decide if I want to beef up all the legs, just one leg, or perhaps come up with some other way to fasten the vise to the table. If I was making an English Jointer's bench like Rex Kruger's I could just fasten it through the apron.</p><p>Anyway, that was all my progress for today. I got my top glued up. Hopefully more tomorrow.</p></div></div>Felix Enterpriseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716929517747065941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813201935532474221.post-72573965084814195802020-12-09T19:20:00.000-08:002020-12-09T19:20:03.819-08:00Temporary Planer Stand<p> Tonight I took a little time in the workshop. Right before dinner I ran down and glued up two more of the small blocks into one large block. After dinner and some TV I went down and cleaned the glue squeeze out off it. I was disappointed. I did better on the first one. The second small block glue up had a lot more squeeze out and I didn't perfectly align the two blocks. One side lined up quite nice, the other was off by about 3/32 of an inch. Not horrible but I was hoping for better. I'm going to have to do better when I glue up the three pieces into a full top.</p><p>While waiting for that glue up to dry I decided to build my temporary Planer stand.</p><p>This was a quick and dirty build. I took some rough measurements and decided that a 24 x 24 inch top about 32 1/2 inch tall stand would work out. My scrap 2x4 happened to be 32 inches long so I left them as is for the legs. I cut a couple of other pieces of scrap and stretched them across the top using some 2 1/2" wood screws to fasten the rail to the top of the legs. After making two leg pairs I tied them together with some more 2x4 scrap.</p><p>I threw a lot of screws into it but as probably everybody reading this is thinking, it was a little wobbly. As it would cost me around $600 to replace my planer I really didn't want to trust it to the new stand yet. I grabbed a piece of pine construction grade plywood and ripped it into four 2" wide strips. I screwed these at an angle across each pair of legs. I found a piece of MDF that was not quite large enough to cover the entire stand but was big enough to hold up the planer. I screwed that to the top of the stand with some 1 5/8 inch deck screws.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9J1lPf1uCDJ3H_bg9QY7H-dxiZUZY6kZWbE-KKFrH-aN79fClOqjZhUZnyDhkNuBQBO7oR9A8Gozt5E-q5n5pUi7bkG2rStM23z4sZNAo7HxXfLAkUOHhbTKWunc2c5KFpNQlpZvx3Ig/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="832" data-original-width="814" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9J1lPf1uCDJ3H_bg9QY7H-dxiZUZY6kZWbE-KKFrH-aN79fClOqjZhUZnyDhkNuBQBO7oR9A8Gozt5E-q5n5pUi7bkG2rStM23z4sZNAo7HxXfLAkUOHhbTKWunc2c5KFpNQlpZvx3Ig/w627-h640/image.png" width="627" /></a></div><br />After adding the gussets and the top the stand was super solid. I don't think I'd get on top and dance on it but I did lay my weight across the top and it didn't wiggle. Good enough to hold up my planer anyway.<p></p><p>The temporary stand lowers the planer so that I can use my table saw outfeed table as a staging area / infeed table. The out feed would be my table saw but my shop floor is so uneven that the table saw is about an inch short and the infeed table is just perfect. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOAkQ0n25MTYRkC8af_DLy0d1LjpGFfvIl87ujJgxPv8mrqHK-jDWZS3F5X8yv94L7aHjJK3APeoYxkY9ZPYllmHWii5y2173Xt1Igs79p9MgFJqcIWsK3DBR6bNbkbj-y10RhKsgSjto/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="829" data-original-width="584" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOAkQ0n25MTYRkC8af_DLy0d1LjpGFfvIl87ujJgxPv8mrqHK-jDWZS3F5X8yv94L7aHjJK3APeoYxkY9ZPYllmHWii5y2173Xt1Igs79p9MgFJqcIWsK3DBR6bNbkbj-y10RhKsgSjto/w451-h640/image.png" width="451" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>I ran my first large block through as a proof of concept. I can only take very small bites but it does work. I thought I needed the back of the large block levered up; however, I actually needed to remove it for the block to be at the right orientation to go through the planer.</p><p>Next time I get into my shop I need to plane the bottoms of the two large blocks and my final small block then a cleanup pass across the tops, then they all get glued up into one large top.</p><p>I did try to use my new sliding miter saw to create half laps of the 2x4s. It didn't work as well as I wanted. I think there must be another adjustment I need to make in the saw. Or maybe I need to offset the work from the fence. Anyway, the blade didn't cut all the way to the back of the 2x4 leaving a curved ramp in the back. Since I don't have infeed support on the left of the blade it was also feeling very awkward and unsafe. I ended up just cutting off that test piece and face screwed all the pieces.</p>Felix Enterpriseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716929517747065941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813201935532474221.post-38847076282166385092020-12-08T18:27:00.002-08:002020-12-08T18:27:24.365-08:00Hand Tool Workbench Progress<p> Very little progress over the last two days. I had yesterday evening free; however, I hadn't slept well the night before so I didn't get up off the couch to do anything in the shop. Tonight I had a half an hour so I dashed down and glued two of the long blocks together.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh66qf5Cs9EXPM66a8YjRq5fZSsEww5lCFNp6gUFQ0EXmha5KwZdNMxRJv_tkCAiep4VC5MYfAX5uT7EWRBrzC00SMZ_ZjeamZfCCkZUT86h9Pgu-An95c2qUnWcQYK-VmABzEnCalYg-Q/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="406" data-original-width="1108" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh66qf5Cs9EXPM66a8YjRq5fZSsEww5lCFNp6gUFQ0EXmha5KwZdNMxRJv_tkCAiep4VC5MYfAX5uT7EWRBrzC00SMZ_ZjeamZfCCkZUT86h9Pgu-An95c2qUnWcQYK-VmABzEnCalYg-Q/w640-h234/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>And yes, I used enough clamps this time that I shouldn't have to worry about gaps. If there are any it'll probably be because the boards weren't jointed perfectly flat. I did tune my jointer a number of years ago to make sure it was planing boards flat but I haven't checked in a few years to confirm it's still flat. Boards have been mostly flat enough for me.</p><p>Speaking of my planer, it got a bad chip in the blades a number of years ago. Long enough ago that I don't remember how it happened. It must have been something bad to put through the planer because it also dented the cast iron infeed table. Because of this chip in the blades my planer leaves a small ridge on everything that goes through it. </p><p>Normally I just follow the normal flattening procedure, joint one face, send through the planer until the opposite side is flat. Then I'll send the jointed face through the planer to clean up the jointed face. In this case I didn't want to send the blocks through the planer any more often than I had to. They were heavy enough and awkward enough I didn't want to risk breaking something. Instead I just cleaned up those faces with a sanding block and some 120 grit sandpaper.</p><p>Back to this glue up, I was happy that I got a good squeeze out without having buckets of glue dripping to the floor. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJywmQi8UUwV8rrYucst8RlyCb6J6D-kqe1wMRsisomjQt6A-p0uxKOqVhhvFFQ3bPwjnGcNvfgKfuZ9aBSL9kG6zP24n_lrV907nW3LWeILgW9OeyrUM_cZtkNjDB2DD0P0_hzmmLFZ0/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="547" data-original-width="1124" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJywmQi8UUwV8rrYucst8RlyCb6J6D-kqe1wMRsisomjQt6A-p0uxKOqVhhvFFQ3bPwjnGcNvfgKfuZ9aBSL9kG6zP24n_lrV907nW3LWeILgW9OeyrUM_cZtkNjDB2DD0P0_hzmmLFZ0/w640-h312/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>The lower stress of only needing to glue two boards together was also quite nice. I really should have done the first set that way. Glued the boards into pairs, then the pairs into quads, then this step gluing them into sets of eight. As Yogi Bera always said, hindsight is 50-50. (Actually I don't think Yogi Bera ever said that but it is certainly the kind of thing he would have said.)</p><p>I got the one glue up clamped (see above picture) then I needed to clean up and get ready to play Sentinels of the Multiverse with some friends. After getting cleaned up I did go scrape the glue from the surface. Looking pretty good so far.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7K9canOxPiTDddtIiwJrvgO7k1GJGTAg6DrT9JPj1E6Pwdowrs1tLFIToUeXY1pwnsrZRlH5Sagv8Doqj4NrFxjo0BBlCmBnqdi191ey2k4vT56JrcfHARMl4BCCmo8OKa3k7fjj2y7c/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="1152" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7K9canOxPiTDddtIiwJrvgO7k1GJGTAg6DrT9JPj1E6Pwdowrs1tLFIToUeXY1pwnsrZRlH5Sagv8Doqj4NrFxjo0BBlCmBnqdi191ey2k4vT56JrcfHARMl4BCCmo8OKa3k7fjj2y7c/w640-h204/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>I might duck downstairs tonight after we're done or more likely tomorrow morning. </p><p>The other thing I've been pondering is how I am going to get these double blocks through the planer. If it was not Covid I'd consider asking a strong friend to come over and help out. Since it is Covid, that's a non-starter. I thought about building in-feed and out-feed tables but that'd be a lot of work. I think what would be smarter would be to build a temporary planer stand that put the planer at the right height to use my existing benches. That decided I went and found some scrap 2x4 that I think probably came from demoing the back wall in my workshop for the dust collector closet. I could probably go find out but I don't care. They're some pretty ugly 2x4s but they'll work to make a one-use stand.</p><p>Maybe tomorrow if I get sleep tonight!</p>Felix Enterpriseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716929517747065941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813201935532474221.post-29982792418173871902020-12-06T18:37:00.003-08:002020-12-06T18:38:05.602-08:00New Project: Hand Tool Workbench<p> I finished the sharpening station so I can start a new project!</p><p>Yes, I know I started the picture frame project and haven't gotten back to it yet. It's because my frames sucked. They had huge gaps in the corners and didn't look good. They're going to be tossed and re-made. I think I might need to rebuild the jig I used which would be annoying to say the least. Anyway, that project is on hold. It'll be easier once I can make my hand tools sharp and have a bench to use them on.</p><p>Good sounding excuse, right?</p><p>Anyway, I think I've mentioned in previous posts that my winter project for this year is going to be a hand tool workbench. Why do I specify hand tool workbench and how is it differentiated from other types of workbenches? Can I use power tools on it? Am I going to build it with hand tools?</p><p>To answer the easy questions first: I can use power tools on it, I am going to use hand tools but mostly power tools to build it. The more involved question is what differentiates a hand tool workbench from any other kind? I am calling it a hand tool workbench to differentiate it from an electronics bench, a power tool bench, and a general purpose bench. It's going to be heavy enough to stay in place when using hand planes. It'll have dog holes so I can use stops and hold downs. It'll have a face vise and a deadman to help support long boards when edge planing.</p><p>Workbenches are actually very simple. They're a large(ish) flat surface held off the ground by some legs that are hopefully solid enough to keep the bench from wiggling when stressed. There are a ton of videos on YouTube on how to build a bench. Most of them are fine. Some are not. My bench is going to be in the model of a traditional European bench. Yes, I've heard of English Jointer's Benches... I don't want one of those right now.</p><p>Mine is going to be made out of Douglas Fir. Compared to a hard wood it is relatively cheap. Compared to pine it is relatively strong and heavy. I do need to worry about sap but I am hoping if I hit any pockets I can seal them in with some shellac or other finish.</p><p>I have plans... <a href="https://www.popularwoodworking.com/projects/175_workbench/" target="_blank">Popular Woodworking $175 Workbench</a></p><p>I also have a book by the same author: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Workbenches-Revised-Design-Theory-Construction/dp/1440343128" target="_blank">Workbenches from Design and Theory to Construction and Use, Christopher Schwartz.</a></p><p>I bought the lumber for my bench from a local Home Depot back in the end of September. I'd pulled out my trailer for this trip. Unfortunately it took me weeks to get the trailer road worthy but that's a whole other story.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmMazk_0MGK6pLnnhcANwQO7xCOvpyZrjH5oReCEN0bRj2I8PBfqk85WVoQ5WW3rUqYVcomoyoTFriVQb92EoMODBcPIacsKxc1Bu6tZJnXVadaqUa6-B8aMUyFXsQBe7ERU43ccKnuJk/s512/loaded-trailer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="463" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmMazk_0MGK6pLnnhcANwQO7xCOvpyZrjH5oReCEN0bRj2I8PBfqk85WVoQ5WW3rUqYVcomoyoTFriVQb92EoMODBcPIacsKxc1Bu6tZJnXVadaqUa6-B8aMUyFXsQBe7ERU43ccKnuJk/w578-h640/loaded-trailer.jpg" width="578" /></a></div><br /><p>All 2x8's... Most of them were 12 ft long; however, a couple were 16 ft long but those I cut in half using my cordless Makita circular saw. The 12 footers I extended over the tongue of the trailer as much as I could safely. The rest had to extend over the back.</p><p>When I got them home I tried to select the best five or six out of the lot and cut them in half and carried them down to my workshop. In the process I think I tore something in my shoulder but now, a little over two months later it doesn't really hurt much anymore. They've been in my basement leaning up against a wall since then acclimating to my workshop humidity.</p><p>Yesterday I started milling those boards to be the top of my workbench. I started by ripping them in half until I ended up with a pile of 1 1/2" x 3 1/2" x 70" douglas fir boards. I was about half way through the stack when I started thinking that maybe I should work on just half of them at a time. In Christopher Schwartz's article he recommends milling and gluing the board on the same day to reduce their chances of twisting, warping, and cupping as their internal stresses change after being cut.</p><p>I decided to rip the entire lot. I regretted that decision multiple times afterwards. After ripping the boards I then had to send them over the jointer to get them flat and square on at least one side. I flattened one face on all the boards, then using that face made the edge of the board flat and square to the one face. The next step was to pass all the boards through my planer to make the opposite face parallel to the jointed face, then passed them all through one more time to get the jointed face smooth.</p><p>If I'd done both jointer steps on each board I could have minimized the amount of stacking and unstacking. If I'd stopped after a half dozen or so boards I could have started gluing them into blocks. Regardless, I made a lot of saw dust.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinq31o70qLiMkKdl2_r42y57ANJ2mHwC4pVLIbVWB2CM_tWvjAt6Bpc46fq4G6qtWHpMM9JGck_nWGNyv77hArIXTnU9E8cTwIHfFoZS5y0OdTxG4mtxUHDlhwwOEHDvMjPiLDQq2z-jE/s1072/sawdust.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="863" data-original-width="1072" height="516" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinq31o70qLiMkKdl2_r42y57ANJ2mHwC4pVLIbVWB2CM_tWvjAt6Bpc46fq4G6qtWHpMM9JGck_nWGNyv77hArIXTnU9E8cTwIHfFoZS5y0OdTxG4mtxUHDlhwwOEHDvMjPiLDQq2z-jE/w640-h516/sawdust.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>I made a lot of sawdust.<div><br /></div><div>And I made a lot of big boards into smaller flatter boards.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrfXdQ58JsPhEAUqPSemWugVphtzBCZuu5Os92meuUmJQcp4zwB43NEftJI7b3W5RRj7MSWuE1Jts8pvQt0CRmOVCOvG4_ag4UjU3lhH8VIG9W93CFSqEAn9zy6Rrw34wnz0ifvQ2zems/s818/smaller-flatter-boards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="818" data-original-width="535" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrfXdQ58JsPhEAUqPSemWugVphtzBCZuu5Os92meuUmJQcp4zwB43NEftJI7b3W5RRj7MSWuE1Jts8pvQt0CRmOVCOvG4_ag4UjU3lhH8VIG9W93CFSqEAn9zy6Rrw34wnz0ifvQ2zems/w418-h640/smaller-flatter-boards.jpg" width="418" /></a></div><br /><div><br />These smaller flatter boards get glued up four at a time into blocks. Before starting the glue up I sorted through the boards finding the ones with the clearest grain on the top. The bottoms are various levels of ugly but that's the bottom. That just has to be flat enough.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuC-kPLOKDIzkMss2ZWZZPyVqpBZzu08mDi-0CxPttIMoUnFWTogYxfe1I93LWj9sWI2OjjOlb3AGDvgo0FklIH3iMJjXr6dC9Y9flhFtu-HUKwRaOQcDZxZNGDq9fCFLtTZERBYXctik/s1159/workbench-top-glueup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="1159" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuC-kPLOKDIzkMss2ZWZZPyVqpBZzu08mDi-0CxPttIMoUnFWTogYxfe1I93LWj9sWI2OjjOlb3AGDvgo0FklIH3iMJjXr6dC9Y9flhFtu-HUKwRaOQcDZxZNGDq9fCFLtTZERBYXctik/w640-h348/workbench-top-glueup.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>Yes, I used a lot of glue. I actually hadn't thought ahead well enough and didn't have enough in my shop. After gluing up the first block I had to make an emergency run out to my local store and bought a gallon of glue. With all the woodworking I do, one medium sized bottle each of Titebond I and Titebond III will normally hold me through a woodworking season. I'm guessing I used a quarter of a gallon getting all five blocks glued up.</div><div><p></p><p>I got all five blocks glued up Saturday afternoon and evening. Yes it did drip all over my floor and make a mess. No, it wasn't too bad to cleanup. I just used a paint scraper today and popped all the drops off the concrete then swept them up and threw them away.</p><p>I regretted deciding to do them in sets of four. The glue was quite slippery and made it difficult to get enough clamping pressure to keep the tops of the middle board aligned. I ended up giving up and just let them line up how they wanted. I think if I am ever to do this again in the future I'll glue them up in pairs, then glue the pairs together. It would triple the number of clamp-ups I would need to do; however, it would be a lot less stressful and probably better quality. I'd just want to start earlier in the day so I would have time for the additional glue-ups to dry.</p><p>Today I used a paint scraper to get as much of the glue off the block as was convenient. I didn't go to town with the scraper but I did try to get the biggest chunks off before working them with better tools. Once the blocks were kind of clean I passed the side that's going to be the bench surface over the planer. After all of them were flat I trued up the fence on the jointer and passed them all over the jointer until one of the sides was flat and perpendicular to the top.</p><p>All this jointing created as much sawdust as the original cleanup of the faces and edges. Oh so much sawdust. I noticed at the end of the day Saturday that the bags on my dust collector were getting full. Today I took twenty minutes or so and swapped the bags. I don't remember when the last time I did this was but I do remember drilling holes in the bottom of my garbage cans to let air in while pulling out a full bar. This worked perfectly. Getting the bags out of the cans was easy and combined with catching that the bags needed to be changed before they overflowed made the job not fun but also not a huge chore.</p><p>Getting back to the woodworking, after getting two sides off the block flat and perpendicular I swapped tools and switched to my planer and made the opposite face of my block parallel to the jointed face. This was actually quite difficult. The blocks are manageable by one person (me) but are awkward to get into the jointer. The weight makes it hard to get a feel for how they are feeding into the planer. Regardless I got through them.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc170fOhcIP4ZEqaO_kXy6BTNzvcVB098sEi4KW4zJcVfavoPiNXjA1ZuIRNiZOhMqeCeQ9XkngRBJq44ventjQuYkMSRb3fXrTosgfCoT8pYrtE6bjmwPnc8zBXiktkHk8ObfWkNqvSc/s1136/glued-cleaned-blocks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="770" data-original-width="1136" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc170fOhcIP4ZEqaO_kXy6BTNzvcVB098sEi4KW4zJcVfavoPiNXjA1ZuIRNiZOhMqeCeQ9XkngRBJq44ventjQuYkMSRb3fXrTosgfCoT8pYrtE6bjmwPnc8zBXiktkHk8ObfWkNqvSc/w640-h434/glued-cleaned-blocks.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>The above picture is actually five separate glued up blocks. Three of them got shoved to the back of the sawhorses to get them out of the way, two of them are stacked. Since the bottoms are uneven and the thicknesses are not consistent anyway, I think I'll be able to get a better glue up if I do it this way rather than flat.</p><p>It's already starting to look like a bench though!</p><p>Over all my glue-ups came out okay. Not perfect but okay. I had a couple of spots where there were gaps. I think if I had glued the boards in pairs and then glued the pairs I probably would have avoided them. Makes me a little sad but this is my first bench. I figure there will be others and I'll do them better.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Yv5FMszxc7Has3sJPEiDslu6v8GEDQ2sE9Sn3S94zdCFm5oHhyFuhEytj_z1WMznaX9XCcEORo14Fc3EqX1MiJx__q2kmPygSbZapCyuZMYpfkjdiDJ3CC9GOTkbFB39G8nCXF2mt2k/s771/glue-up-gap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="771" data-original-width="485" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Yv5FMszxc7Has3sJPEiDslu6v8GEDQ2sE9Sn3S94zdCFm5oHhyFuhEytj_z1WMznaX9XCcEORo14Fc3EqX1MiJx__q2kmPygSbZapCyuZMYpfkjdiDJ3CC9GOTkbFB39G8nCXF2mt2k/w402-h640/glue-up-gap.jpg" width="402" /></a></div><br /><p>This is one example. I think there is one other gap in the middle of the glue up and then another glue up that has split ends. I'll probably leave them alone. If they ever start bothering me down the road I'll mix up some epoxy and fill them in.</p><p>This is pretty much where I left the project today. I'm ready for the next glue up but the cleanup step after that is to pass the double block through my planer. I'm a bit nervous about that though. The single blocks were awkward enough to do on my own that I am afraid the double blocks will be unmanageable. I'm considering trying to build an extended infeed table so I don't have to lift all the weight while also trying to feed it into the planer.</p><p>I'm going to give it a day of thought and see where I am tomorrow evening.</p><p><br /></p><p>Oh, I almost forgot! My foresight to add a cover to my miter saw dust collection chute proved worth the effort today.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBFvL_jN202rbzE-g7235CH-IRZBPyai8qGg3znCUhWt8HWByOeJqWYPztYuW4d8ZEUaH6eahSUy0vpWC3RdvE9XUtOHwgANHlGyH2TmreW7A2Q92K-_q9dy7Ql3iaEGkRptG7_g82630/s1036/dust-collection-cover-save.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="1036" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBFvL_jN202rbzE-g7235CH-IRZBPyai8qGg3znCUhWt8HWByOeJqWYPztYuW4d8ZEUaH6eahSUy0vpWC3RdvE9XUtOHwgANHlGyH2TmreW7A2Q92K-_q9dy7Ql3iaEGkRptG7_g82630/w640-h366/dust-collection-cover-save.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>Without the cover that bottle of glue would be gone. It's only a bottle of glue but it could have been a more expensive tool too. Definitely going to keep that shut unless I am cutting things on the miter saw.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>Note: This blog post contains links to products on Amazon. This is not an affiliate link. I do not gain any benefit from you using it. I've not received compensation of any kind for this link or my mentioning the book.</i></p></div>Felix Enterpriseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716929517747065941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813201935532474221.post-71267974006953852562020-12-05T06:24:00.002-08:002020-12-05T06:24:34.734-08:00Sharpening Station Finished! Almost!<p> The sharpening station is officially finished. Almost!</p><p>I had a long weekend this week. Last Wednesday I put the last coat of polyurethane on the door. Thursday morning I attached the hinges then attached the door to the cabinet. Then I added the handle to the door. It might have been smarter to add the handle before putting the door on the cabinet but that's not the way I did it.</p><p>With the door back on the cabinet I lifted it back down to the floor. Once on the floor I waxed all the drawer runners and drawer runner grooves. Sliding the drawers back into the cabinet was night-and-day compared to pre-waxed. They glide so smoothly and easily. I have to admit I slid them in-and-out for a few times each just to enjoy the nice fit. I'm very happy with my shop-made slides.</p><p>After appreciating how pretty my piece of shop furniture looks I moved onto measuring and cutting out the back. I used some of the remainder of the 1/4 inch Baltic birch to cut out a back, sanded it at 120 grit sandpaper. I didn't bother starting at 80 grit and I didn't bother jumping up to 180 grit. It's the back, it'll be fine. The biggest benefit of sanding the back was that I "erased" some of the scuff marks and dirt.</p><p>So, why the "Almost!"? Well, I'm still trying to decide if I want to put a shelf on the right hand side or perhaps some more drawers. I don't have a lot of desire for more full extension slides. I have some but there's an opportunity cost to using them and I can not think of any use cases where the value add would offset the cost. There's also a door latch. The door is not swinging around loosely so I'm not certain a latch is needed. I have several choices in my parts bins but I'm not sure it is needed.</p><p>I think in both cases - shelf and door latch - I will take a wait-and-see approach. If I have problems with doors swinging around as I move the cabinet I'll add a latch. If I find something that could be stored on a shelf or drawer in the cabinet I'll add the shelf or drawer.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuWzEgsRV7xtihaoagzdPrDOGgT-UuS7JCNjtW8ro3EK7rm1KgfHyZfzU6nMl8T4UoYdKLlkOBepvk6kOyGFeU0yGXqw4ykdne322b_sQs-szhSJg-YY6qOhGL4Ra8ii33EVBAsnzmzUU/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="807" data-original-width="537" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuWzEgsRV7xtihaoagzdPrDOGgT-UuS7JCNjtW8ro3EK7rm1KgfHyZfzU6nMl8T4UoYdKLlkOBepvk6kOyGFeU0yGXqw4ykdne322b_sQs-szhSJg-YY6qOhGL4Ra8ii33EVBAsnzmzUU/w427-h640/image.png" width="427" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_6m0jKXrstVaMb42y1O75RUFWuV-Q-Uery2Vg8mvlFBiOqrO_M7v0EOdTHxDqftROvuc1_d484RaSvcDGvoYS_we2ZodhiH1pX-TxRqwVCfLYCciO14No-bjJO9y7g31dl8tiLKtKv0Y/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="793" data-original-width="895" height="567" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_6m0jKXrstVaMb42y1O75RUFWuV-Q-Uery2Vg8mvlFBiOqrO_M7v0EOdTHxDqftROvuc1_d484RaSvcDGvoYS_we2ZodhiH1pX-TxRqwVCfLYCciO14No-bjJO9y7g31dl8tiLKtKv0Y/w640-h567/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>So, done for now. Maybe more drawers or shelves later as I find a need to store things with my sharpening station. But project complete!</p>Felix Enterpriseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716929517747065941noreply@blogger.com