Router Table (Pt. 5)I started assembling the carcase last Wednesday, and finished up this weekend. At first I thought I would have it done in a day, but I always seem to underestimate how much time waiting for glue to dry consumes. It was worth it though, because if I knock on any of the panels I get a nice hollow ringing sound (signifies sound joints). I must admit, that at first I was a worried about the carcase assembly, because I don’t have a lot of casework under my belt. In the end, it was very strait forward an uneventful, because I took the time to do two separate dry fits.  Assembled Carcase Sunday on the other hand was far from enjoyable. I learned two things Sunday afternoon that I won’t soon forget. One, no retail store (around me) carries drill bits sized in 32nds above 1/2″. I was to lowes, Menards, Home Depot, Farm & Fleet, Ace, True Value, even my local Rockler store, and none of them carry 17/32″ bits, let alone a brad point. Two, who ever decided router bit shancks should be 1/4″ & 1/2″ in diameter should be slapped across the back of the head. Imo they should have been 15/64″ & 31/64″, that way You could use 1/4″ & 1/2″ drill bits to make holes to hold them. Router Table (Pt. 4)On Friday, the plywood I ordered finally arrived, so construction has commenced. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the main differences between my table and Norm’s are the joints. He’s well known for his use of screws & biscuits. For example he used biscuits to join the case back to the sides and internal dividers, and well I find this method substandard. I chose to use dados, but as you can see below this leads to a scenario where 3 stopped dados intersect with a 4th dado.
Normally stopped dados have to be cleaned up with a chisel, but since these intersect with another dado, a router equipped with a special template bit can do the clean up faster than anyone could do by hand. Check out the following photos you’ll see what I mean. Router Table (Pt. 3)The cold snap we had here last week, brought this project to a dead stop for a few days. Thankfully the mercury has climbed above freezing again, and I was able to finish rough cutting everything to size last night except for the cabinet sides. As soon as the local wood shop gets the 3/4″ plywood in I ordered (I need it for the cabinet sides), I’ll start assembling the carcass. In the mean time, I’m going to check if my table saw is out of alignment, because I got a significant amount of burning on rip cuts last night. This usually indicates that the blade is no longer parallel to the miter slots.  Five sheets of plywood really doesn't look like much after you cut it up. Giant crosscut sledI’m not really sure why, but I have been putting off making one of these for years. Making a cross cut sled is easy, but getting the fence square can be a real PITA (Oh yea that’s why). This sled is a smaller (42″ x 42″), simpler version of the Ultimate Crosscut Sled presented by John McCormack in the July 2008 issue of Fine Woodworking. The actual dimensions of a sled are so dependent on your particular saw and project needs, that it’s pointless for me to draw a plan in sketchup for you to download. The following are some things to consider before making your sled. A baltic birch plywood primerIt seems like every other month or so, someone asks about Baltic Birch plywood on one of the forums I frequent. I think one of reasons so many questions exist, is because there isn’t much information on the net. The following is a basic primer on Baltic Birch plywood, generated from various internet sources I’ve come across. Region of origin – As the name implies, Baltic Birch plywood is produced from Birch trees from the Baltic region of Europe. The two main producers appear to be Russia & Finland. Thickness – True Baltic Birch plywood only comes in metric thicknesses. The most common sizes found in North America are 6mm, 12mm, & 18mm. Additionally 3mm, 9mm, 15mm, & 25mm can occasionally be found in a narrower range of grades. Size – You used to only be able to find Baltic Birch plywood in 5′x5′ sheets. Recently people have reported finding 4′x8′ sheets. Supposedly Manufactures have become wise to the fact that plywood comes in 4′x8′ sheets in North America, and have started producing to that size. |
