Archive for the ‘Shop Setup’ Category:
It has been a year since I got started remodeling my shop. I haven’t exactly finished with what I had in mind, but then I think a guy’s shop is always under construction. I have completed the basics and have made some nice projects as well as continuing to make the improvements I set out to complete. With that said, there is one area I have completed that has been a little more than disappointing… Dust Collection.
My shop is fairly small and I really didn’t have the budget to buy some large cyclone and really go overboard with the collection. I purchased a fairly standard 2hp collector that should be plenty for my shop. I installed the collector in a small room in the corner of my shop and ran 4″ black hose through the wall to one of the trash can separator lids. Out of the lid, I ran 4″ hose about 18′ down the wall and put a Y at each machine with a plastic blast gate. Each machine is on wheels or a mobile base and is very easy to pull out for use.
This is where my disappointment comes in…These blast gates clog with wood chips in no time and render the collector almost useless. When the gates stop closing all the way due to the chips, the effectiveness of the collector is greatly reduced.
I did a little research (I wish I had done more research when I first bought all my equipment) and found these self-cleaning gates through Lee Valley.
The main problem with the plastic gates is that wood chips and sawdust get caught in the grooves which prevent the gate from sliding closed all the way. With the Lee Valley self-cleaning gates, the grooves or channels go all the way through the gate allowing chips to be cleared out as the gate closes. They also have a knob that you can tighten to lock down the gate to keep it in the open or closed position.
I have just installed these gates as of this morning, but so far I am thrilled with them. The increased performance of my system is more than noticeable, it is like I installed a new system.
The Lee Valley gates are steel and cast aluminum as well as about $7 higher than the plastic gates, but I think they will more than pay for themselves just in cleaning time and frustration.
The first photo below shows the old gates installed in the system. The second photo are the plastic gates after removal. This is as far as they could close due to the chips wedged in the gate channel. The last two photos are of the new gates installed in the system.
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All I can say is WoW! I received this via FedEx after ordering from Woodcraft on Black Friday. I have been looking at it for about 3 months or so, but I finally pulled the trigger. I honestly don’t know what took me so long… I wish I had ordered it the moment I saw it. Compared to the other guides, it is very reasonably priced at $120.00. After putting it together, it was dead on right out of the box. I absolutely love the flip stop that extends out to 42 inches, the longest I have found. I really don’t have anything bad to say at all, but then I’ve only used it for 1 day so far…if something comes up, I’ll be sure to post an update. Back to making cabinets for now…
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While I’m sitting here waiting on my 7 ft rails to come in for my table saw, I decided to go ahead and come up with some type of outfeed table today. I’m going to really need good outfeed support for the cabinet job I’m getting ready to start. The old workmates with home made rollers mounted to them are getting old…I did a little looking around and remembered an episode of The Wood Whisperer where he built a new outfeed table due to changing his rail/fence system. It looked like it would suit me well and would be quick to make. Out to the shop I went. I didn’t use the walnut veneer plywood like he had lying around…I just used plain old pine plywood, but I think it turned out well. It is sturdy and should provide a lot of service. It only took about 4 hours from start to finish and I can’t believe I haven’t made one before, but I guess it’s better late than never.
It looks like it will be Tuesday before my new rails arrive as well as the new Osborne Miter Gauge I ordered, so I think I’ll make a panel sled tomorrow and possibly get started on the cabinets by making the smaller stack that goes above the refrigerator. I’ll post some progress pics as I go along.
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Ok, so I knew that this build was going way too smooth and that sooner or later a problem or mistake had to surface. Well, after fitting the insert plate perfectly ( not the least bit of play ), I got busy mounting the router base to the insert. This all went very smoothly as well and the router is about at close to center as anyone could get it. After all of this, the top was still not attached, so I flipped the top upside down on my workbench and turned the cabinet over on it. After drilling and driving screws, I threw a coat of shellac on it just to seal the outside. After the shellac dried is where I ran into trouble…
I have no helper, so I levered the top on my bench and flipped it over. At some point, the top slipped, I heard a “crack” and the case fell on top of the stretcher of my bench. After collecting my thoughts and flipping it back up, I saw the source of the “crack”. About an inch and a half chunk of laminate snapped off. After cursing for a few minutes, I applied some cement and glued the piece back in. This fix wasn’t terrible, but I could see it and for everything else to look so good, it stood out like a sore thumb. This was one of those times when I just needed to leave the shop for awhile.
After taking my mind off of the problem, it hit me…just trim off an inch and a half of the front of the top and glue in a piece of veneer. After returning to the shop, I set up a straightedge and spiral bit and began cutting. After the front strip was removed, I cut a piece of veneer to match the trim and glued it in. After trimming and chamfering, it’s really hard to tell that there ever was a problem. As a matter of fact, the top is now 28 inches instead of 29.5, so it will probably work out better anyway…next…on to the fence.
So I ripped 3 strips of mdf to 6 inches, cut some 45 degree blocks and glued up the fence…nothing unusual here. While that was drying, I took the third piece of mdf, cut it in half and applied more plastic laminate with contact cement. After that, I cut them down a bit and put a 45 degree bevel on the inside edges that will be near the bit. After the fence dried, I took it out, cleaned it up and cut out a large opening for the bit using the table saw and a jig saw. It turned out pretty well although I still have to cut slots to mount the movable pieces to the fence. So I’ll post some more as I get it done, but until then, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
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So the base cabinet is done for the moment, so lets move on to the tabletop. I cut two generous sized pieces of mdf and glued them up. After that big hung of weight had set up, I trimmed the edges and made sure it was all square. I had some Oak plywood scraps laying around and was too lazy to plane/joint some rough oak to size, so I cut the scraps to size, mitered the corners glued them onto the mdf top for the edging.
Next, I cut two over sized pieces of white plastic laminate, spread out the contact cement ( almost got high from the fumes ) and then applied the laminate when the cement was tacky. I did this for both the top and bottom. After rolling out the laminate, I took a flush trim bit in the router followed by a slight chamfer around both the top and bottom. This went well as I was pleased with the outcome.
Now I had this really nice top and was very nervous about cutting the hole in the top for the insert. After carefully making my calculations, I constructed a jig from scrap plywood and pocket screws to run the router around. After positioning it and clamping it down, I finally just had to get over the nerves and just go for it. Using a 1/4 inch up spiral bit, I went for it. After about 4 or 5 passes, the big hunk of meat fell out and I was left with a really nice hole exactly as intended. I next chucked up a 3/8 inch rabbet bit in the router and went to town after removing the pattern. This left a perfect fitting ledge for my shiny new router insert…except for the corners. The rabbet bit left too large a radius in the corners. So after considering what to do for a minute, I chucked up a 1/2 in straight bit ( which is the correct radius ), mounted a straightedge to keep me in check and carefully worked into the corners. After just a minute amount of chisel work, the insert plate “fit like a glove”.
I guess tomorrow it will be construction of a decent fence and figuring out how to drill holes in the router insert for the mounting screws as well as the adjustment points. So, I’ll post more as I get it. –JackD
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So let me start by saying that I have a kitchen cabinet job to do for my elderly grandmother. She has been in poor health and my family all went in together and built an addition (apartment) onto my aunt’s house for her to live in. I have many uncles, aunts and cousins and many of them chipped in and did tasks like wiring the electrical, drywall, carpentry and plumbing. I must say that the addition turned out beautiful.
This is where I come in…Being a woodworker, I was asked about the cabinets for the small kitchenette. I consider myself to be an intermediate woodworker and as such did not hesitate to try and tackle the job even though I’ve never built any kitchen cabinets. I started doing some research and some modeling in Sketchup and realized that kitchen cabinets are much different than the furniture I’m used to building. But so far it has been a nice change of pace and I really enjoy it.
The first thing I decided to do was to build a new router table. I burned my last one when I remodeled the shop and haven’t gotten around to building a new one. I knew I would need it for moldings and such. So I decided to kill two birds with one stone. I wanted to do a dry run on a base cabinet carcase and also wanted a cabinet style router table, so off to buy a sheet of plywood. After I got home, I jumped right in and almost immediately I realized that it sure would be nice to have 7′ rails for my table saw. I got around the capacity limitation by measuring and clamping a straightedge along the left side of the workpiece and running that along the left side of the saw. It worked well, but was a pain ( I have since ordered the 7′ rails…should be here in 3 to 5 days ). Anyway, the Birch plywood base cabinet turned out beautifully ( my opinion here ).
I installed a shelf in the bottom and eventually plan to install a deep drawer in the space below. I also plan to construct some tall narrow boxes with bit drawers in the left side, electrical on the right side and some baffles in the center section with a dust collector hookup.
I think I accomplished my goal as I completed the cabinet in about 2 1/2 hours and gained a little experience with standard cabinets. Next onto the top and a nice new router table.
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Well, I didn’t publish many of the steps on this project because I just really got into the construction and didn’t want to lose my rhythm. Anyway, I took some pictures along the way and here is a dump of them all. They’re actually ordered backwards, but you get the idea. The last two involved laminating the top. The next four were routing the dog strip and gluing the top up into one big slab. A preliminary flattening in the next two. A close up of the track the wagon vise will ride in, a couple of the completed base and the last (or actually first) is of the base and top attached.
A few construction notes. I pretty much built this after the Roubo in Chris Schwarz’s Workbenches book which I bought. I think he is right on with that book and I learned a lot by reading it and then in constructing this bench. The only difference in mine and the one in Chris’s book is the tenon pegs in the top and in the wagon vise. I drawbored the pegs in the legs and stretcher joints, but I basically didn’t want to drawbore the pegs in the top in case I every want to drill them out and remove it. So what I did was to pull the base down with clamps really tight and then drill and install hardwood pegs. I may be a rookie here and should’ve drawbored the pegs, but it is rock solid and I’m happy with it right now. The other thing is the dog strip. I made a router template and routed square dog holes in the dog strip every 4 inches. I also routed grooves for the wagon vise block to ride in which should give me about 9 inches between the end of the dog strip and the block when it is fully opened.
I still have several things to do…buy some hard maple to construct an end cap for the wagon vise, a leg vise chop as well a sliding deadman. I’m also planing to build a second vise at some point that will slide along the track that the deadman slides in. I have to decide on some vise screws…whether I want to go with regular metal screws, buy some of the big wooden screws or buy a Beall woodthreader and make my own. I also have to construct a planing stop and purchase some holdfasts along with some other odds and ends.
With that being said, I think the first thing I’m gonna do is build some furniture. That’s right, I’m gonna actually slap a little finish on this puppy and drive it around naked. I’m really exciting about the clamping possibilities on this monster and I want to try it out in its current state before I make any decisions on vise screws and such. Hopefully that will give me more insight on some of the choices I need to make. So, I’ll let you know in a few days how it’s going, but until then I’ll be out in the shop. 
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I’ve only had about 2 hours of shop time since my last Roubo post, but thought I’d go ahead and put up a few more pictures of what I’ve accomplished. I actually have to go and pick up some more SYP at Home Depot to finish the top. There is a Lowe’s close to my area, but none of their SYP is kiln dried. The closest Home Depot is an hour away, so I don’t know when I’ll make it to pick some up.
I need about 3 boards to finish the top. If you look at the first picture below, the single 3 board piece on the left is the front of the bench. The four 3 board sections to the right are all glued up and will be the rear of the top. I have to glue up one more board and add it to the front piece and then a 2 board section will be milled with square dog holes and glued in between the front and rear sections to complete the top. I’m planning to put in a removable end cap on the right side and install a “wagon vise” made from just a block sliding in grooves with a screw driving it through the cap.
While I’m picking up the wood for the rest of the top, I’ll go ahead and pick up enough for the legs and stretchers and get that going next. Finally, the last two pictures included here show the solid rear of the top (the part behind the bench dog strip) glued up and in the clamps. I was really happy with how everything lined up. I’ll still have to flatten it with planes, but it shouldn’t be that difficult. Boy…I really need to make an investment in some parallel clamps!
I’ll post some more as progress continues. –JD
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I came to a harsh realization the other day when working on Leah’s bookcase…not having a decent workbench sucks bad! I walked in the house with my tail between my legs and explained that her bookcase would be delayed a little longer while I built at least my benchtop. I explained that I really needed the bench space because I was tired of being held back by my cheap flimsy bench with limited space. She said she understood and it was back out to the shop.
I decided to do the lamination in 3 board sections, so I began jointing, planing and cutting everything to dimension. My first 3 board glue up was all over the place. No matter what I did, I just couldn’t get it perfectly aligned. So after the glue up, it was back to the jointer and planer. After quite a bit of work, I was very happy with the result, but like I said, a lot of work.
On the next glue up, I decided to run a row of biscuits 1 inch from the bottom for better alignment. This was exactly what I needed and they went together beatifully. There will still be a little jointer and planer work, but much better. And with 3 inches above the biscuits, there is planty of meat for flattening the top through the years. So with that set, I was off to glue up the remaining 3 board sections, which are still in the clamps as I type this. The idea is to joint/plane each of these sections to the same thickness and glue them up two at a time. At that point, I can still get them through my planer for surfacing. I should be in pretty good shape when I glue up the entire assembly and have to pull out my #5 and #7. I knew this slab would be heavy, but I clamped it all up before glue up just to see and massive seems to be an understatement. Here’s a few pictures at various stages.
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