Dan's Hobbies

Router Table (Pt. 8)

Dan — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:27:37 +0000

I finished the case late last week, and started working on the top late Saturday night. One of the things I struggled with, was how to cut a hole in the back of the case for the dust port. I didn’t want to buy a hole saw that would most likely never be used again unless I absolutely needed to. The solution I came up with, was to use an adjustable circle cutter to make a hole in a piece of MDF scrap, I then used the MDF as a template to router the hole into the case.

Circle cutter & template.

The template made it easy to ensure the dust port was flush with the bottom shelf.

The following shots are a hodgepodge, but they show some interesting details.

I used rift sawn red oak for the face frame, and really like the contrast it creates with the birch plywood.

I used bridal joints for the access door, because they're strong and simple.

I used two catches on the access door to keep it from deforming while it's under vacuum from the dust collector.

Awesome Safety Glasses

Dan — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:09:22 +0000

Image courtesy of MSA

PPE isn’t normally a topic I get all worked up about, but after using these glasses for almost a year, I can say these are by far the best pair I have ever owned. The lenses are large, and perfectly contoured to fit my head.

This is really beneficial for two reasons. One, because they are so large I rarely see the sides in my peripheral vision, so I often don’t realize I have them on, and thus I’m less likely to take them off. Secondly, because they are so well contoured they set really close to my face, and thus do a better job than most at protecting my eyes from flying debris.

If you’ve ever worn earmuffs and cheap safety glasses together, you know that the glasses ear pieces get forced into your head by the earmuffs. At best, it’s annoying; at worst, it causes pressure points and headaches.

Since the ear pieces on these are wide and thin, they spread the force out over a greater area, thus reducing the likely hood of a headache (at least for me). I originally got my pair at Woodcraft, but they don’t appear to carry them anymore, however you can pick them up on Amazon.

Router Table (Pt. 7)

Dan — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:08:05 +0000

I’m behind on getting updates on this project published, the following photos are from last weekend. While I didn’t get much accomplished, it’s starting to look like a router table. The two main things I got done where mounting the drawers, & sizing of the on of switch mount. I did one thing I won’t soon forget, chopping a mortise in plywood, murders a chisels cutting edge.

Olive wood marking knife

Dan — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 06:20:40 +0000

Who says you can’t find great deals on eBay anymore!! This lovely marking knife only cost me $29 delivered to my door step. It’s 7″ long by 1/2″ in diameter at the finger grip, and made from genuine Middle-Eastern olive wood. The blade is made of O-1 tool steel that has been hardened, tempered, and then sharpened to a 55 degree included angle with 20 degree bevels. After 15 minutes of honing on my water stones, the blade was sharp enough to shave with. This knife will probably last me a life time, but at some point in the future I want to try my hand at making one.

The cap makes it safe for breast pocket storage.

If you ignore the dust, you can see the lovely almost burl like grain patern on the handle.

Though the image doesn't do it justice, the blade is razer sharp, highly polished.

The cap

Router Table (Pt. 6)

Dan — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 18:54:29 +0000

Friday, I finished up the three bottom storage drawers. The drawer joinery, is another one of details that my design deviates significantly from Norms. For utility drawers like these, that aren’t going to see a lot of daily use I like to use dado & rabbet joints. They’re easy to make on the table saw, & provide a strong mechanical connection.

The following rendering shows a drawer constructed using this joinery method. The drawer sides have a dado cut into both ends, while the front & back have rabbets cut on their ends that fit into the side panel dados. The false front is glued onto the inner front panel.

Rendering of a drawer with a false front, that's held together with dado & rabbet joints.

The following shots show the steps I use to make drawers using dado & rabbet joinery. For reference, the drawer sides are 1/2″ ply, the bottom is 1/4″ ply, and the false front is 3/4″ ply. Before you start, one thing I recommend, is to place indicator marks on key faces. It’s really easy to get a board turned around and cut a rabbet or dado on the wrong side when your running a batch of boards. Indicator marks help prevent this, assuming you remember to pay attention. Trust me, I’ve learned this the hard way many times over.

Step 1 : Make a dado on the bottom inside edge of all the sides. Since I'm using plywood, I don't have to worry about wood movement.

Step 2 : Make dados on the inside ends of all the side boards. For a clean look make sure to cut the dados a little further back from the edge than needed, that way then can be planed or sanded flush with the front after glue-up.

Step 3 : Make rabbets on both the outside ends of the drawer fronts & backs. Since you cut the side dados first, you can sneak up on the rabbet width and thickness, and thus achieve an excellent fit.

Step 4 : Once the side joinery is complete, do a dry fit, and measure the exact length and width the drawer bottom needs to be.

Step 5 : The final step as always is glue up. I prefer to only apply glue to the dados because I get less squeeze out that way. Once the clamps are in place, set the drawers on a flat reference surface, and adjust the clamps as necessary to ensure the drawer sets flat.