Tag: sander

Table Saw Modification – Router Table Enclosure: Part 3 – Hardware and Electrical

,
Trent Davis3 Comments

This is a continuation of Table Saw Modification – Router Table Enclosure: Part 1 – Carcase and Table Saw Modification – Router Table Enclosure: Part 2 – Laminate.

 

A while back I converted my side extension table into a router table.  Although not strictly necessary, I am going to enclose the router and add dust collection, while also creating much-needed storage and enclosing the electrical.

So you can see what I have in mind, here’s a sneak peek of the finished enclosure.

A sneak peek of the finished router table enclosure.

Attaching the doors and drawers

The main carcase is assembled and ready for the hardware.

To start with, I attach the main door.  I use some 1/8″ thick MDF pieces as spacers on each edge of the door.

 

With the spacers holding the door in position, I attach a piano hinge.

 

To position the air vent, I put some blue painters tape across the opening and mark the center lines where the screw holes on the vent should line up.

 

I then position the air vent with the lines going through the center of the screw holes…

 

…and drill pilot holes for the screws.

 

I then installed a magnetic door catch to hold the door closed.

 

I can then close the door.  The 1/8″ spacers made a nice gap.

 

On the inside of the door, I drill a hole as close to the metal plate of the door catch as I can so I can attach a handle.

 

I then attached a handle to the door.

 

I also attached the door for the electrical in the same way except I didn’t attach a handle.  I’ll explain why later.

 

I decided to get cheap and I got some 16″ euro-style drawer glides.

 

I need to thicken the walls of the carcase where I am attaching the drawer glides so I cut some wood strips 16″ long and 1-1/2″ tall and pre-drilled and countersunk some holes for drywall screws.

 

I then glued and screwed these to the inside of the carcase everywhere the drawer glides will be attached.  The screw placement may seem random but it isn’t.  They are arranged so they won’t interfere with the screws for mounting the drawer glides.

 

Due to a mis-measurement when I cut the pieces for the big drawer, I needed these pieces to be 5/8″ thick rather than 1/2″ thick as planned.  Here they are in place with the drawer sitting roughly in place.

 

I attached the drawer sections of the glides to the main drawer body.

 

I used a few pieces pieces of plywood as spacers to hold up the cabinet section of the drawer glides and I screwed them into place.

 

This allowed me to insert the drawer,  It’s now ready for the face.

 

Double-sided tape was attached to the back of the drawer face.

 

I used the same 1/8″ thick spacers to position the drawer face.

 

Then I pressed the drawer face onto the drawer body.

 

Once that was done, I pulled out the drawer to I could access the inside.

 

I then secured the face to the drawer with some drywall screws.

 

I drilled some holes through the face and the body so I could attach a drawer pull.

 

The drawer pull was attached and this drawer is complete.  I also temporarily attached the electrical paddle.  The reason I didn’t install a drawer pull on the electrical door is because I’m not expecting to go into that area very often, if at all, and if I need to, I can just pull the paddle out and it doubles as a handle.

 

Before finishing up the smaller bit storage drawers, I decided to paint the inner edges of all the openings.  For this I used some black Valspar latex enamel.

 

I painted the edges with a cheap foam brush.  It doesn’t matter if I get it off the laminate.  It’s really easy to remove.  I’ll show you how in just a bit.

 

I removed the doors and the drawer so I could get the edges.  The lip that runs along the  inside of the doors doesn’t need to be full covered since it will be covered with weather stripping later.

 

I also painted the edges of the doors and the face of the drawer.

 

It’s finally time to attach the weather stripping.  I cut pieces to size and attached them to the door lip.

 

After removing the backing tape, you can see that it makes a nice black barrier that should regulate the airflow in the cabinet.

 

I could then reattach the doors and the drawer.  With the edges painted, it has a nice finished look.

 

To attach the drawer glides for the bit storage drawers, I cut some 1/2″ plywood into strips.

 

These were then attached to the inside of the cabinet opening.

 

The drawer glides were attached…

 

…and one of the drawers was inserted.

 

I used the drawer face and a few 1/8″ spacers to mark where the top of the upper strips should be mounted.

 

The strips were glued and screwed like the others.

 

To position where I wanted the drawer glides, I used a combination of a piece of 1/2″ plywood plus a 1/8″ spacer – which is how I positioned the  lower glide – pluse two more 1/8″ spacers and the faceplate for one of the drawers.

 

The drawers are now in position.

 

I attached the faces the same way that I did for the bigger drawer.  First I attached some double-sided tape…

 

…and attached it using some 1/8″ spacers on the edges.

 

Then I removed the drawer and drilled and countersunk some holes for drywall screws.  I also drilled a hole for the knob hardware.  The screw wasn’t quite long enough to go through both pieces of plywood so I had to drill a recessed area for the head of the screw.

 

Then I attached the knob.

 

After that, I repeated the process for the upper drawer then I painted their edges like I did for the other drawers.

 

Installing the electrical

 

To hook everything up, I’m going to need two lengths of 3-conductor S.O. cord, which can be purchased at nearly any home improvement store.  I bought a 10′ length and inserted one end through the electrical door and routed it through the electrical box on the inside of the main cabinet.

 

3-conductor S.O. cord has just that…3 conductors.  In this case, it’s a hot, a neutral, and a ground.  This is a standard setup for 110 VAC systems.  I start by stripping the wire to exposed the stranded wires, which I then twist so they are easier to work with.

 

I hook up these wires to the outlet just like you would when installing any standard electrical outlet.  Black to the gold terminal, white to the silver, and the green to the ground terminal.

 

I then fed the wire back into the electrical box so the outlet would sit flush.  I’m not securing it at this time.

 

I got an outlet cover to help keep the sawdust out.  It turns out that this was a bad choice as I will explain later.

 

I installed the outlet faceplate which also secures the actual outlet into the electrical box.

 

The box then flips down to cover the outlet.

 

I cut the cord so it would be long enough to reach into the front electrical box with the door open.  I’ll come back to this.

 

I threaded the strain relief into the smaller hole in the back.

 

I then fed the rest of the cable into that hole far enough to reach the front electrical box and then tightened the strain relief screws.

 

Then it was time to feed both cables into the  front electrical box.

 

I closed the door so I could finish the wiring.

 

I stripped the wires and bent the hots and neutrals so they would go around the screw terminals easier.  The grounds can stay straight since they will be connected together with a wire nut.

 

This will vary by switch but I just wired the hots and neutrals according to the directions.

 

The ground wires are tied together with a wire nut.

 

The switch body is then inserted into the electrical box and the extra wire is fed back into the cabinet.

 

Then I attached the faceplate for the main switch.

 

The only thing left on the electrical is to connect a plug to the end of the cable.  This is the type of plug that I decided to use.

 

It uses two screws to hold it together.  When these screws are removed, the plug hinges open.

 

Once again I strip the wires and twist them.

 

Follow the directions for whatever plug you choose but this one was easy.  You just insert them and tighten some screws.

 

Then I closed up the plug with the two screws I removed earlier.

 

Electrical is all done.

 

Making the legs

 

I need to shorten the legs that support the side extension table.  One end has holes drilled for the hardware that attaches it to the underside of the actual table.  The other has the threaded hole for the feet.  I decided to keep the end where the feet screw in since that would be more difficult to recreate than the other end which is just holes.

 

To determine the length of the legs, I simply measured the height of the cabinet.  This provided me with the amount that I needed to remove.  I then measured down from the top of the legs and marked it with a silver Sharpie.  This is where I will cut.

 

I used my chop saw to cut along that line.

 

The chop saw leaves a pretty nasty burr that I will want to remove.

 

A few seconds at the disc sander quickly rounded over the edges enough to remove the burr.

 

I use the discarded upper end of the leg and a silver Sharpie to mark where I will need to drill.

 

I used my drill press and some 3-in-1 oil to drill out those holes.

 

The just need to be cleaned up a bit and they’re ready to use.

 

I reattached the hardware and now I have some mini-legs.  Ain’t they cute?

 

 

Attaching the cabinet to the table

 

Time to finish this up.

 

I start by turning my extension table upside-down.

 

The router enclosure fits in-between the angle iron I attached earlier and the end of the actual table.

 

I need to mark and drill the holes for the screws that will attach the enclosure to the angle-iron.

 

I used a silver Sharpie to mark these holes.

 

 

I also marked the holes on the side where the screws will go through the front rail on the table saw, the table, and the enclosure.

 

I then pulled the enclosure out so I could drill these holes.

 

To keep the bit from wandering on the slippery Formica, I drilled a small pilot hole at the center of the mark.

 

I then drilled the holes.

 

I also wanted to insert some tee-nuts into the holes to help strengthen it a bit.  I started by taking the table out and setting it on its side so I could access these holes.

 

The tee-nuts fit into the holes perfectly.

 

These were easy to hammer into the holes as long as I supported the board on the opposite side.

 

I put the enclosure back in place.

 

I installed the screws.  They hold it nicely.  Almost too nicely.  I was actually surprised that this worked as well as it did.

 

I marked where I would drill three holes in the front where I would secure the enclosure to the table.  I drilled these holes.

 

Since I’m using the countersunk screws that would normally attach the extension table to the rails, I needed them to be countersunk.

 

I painted the countersunk area black so it would blend in better.  Then I installed the screws and secured them with washers and lock nuts.

 

I Chose where I would install the legs to the enclosure.  I used my combination squares to align them.  This allowed me to easily position each leg so they match.

 

Both legs are now attached.

 

So close!  Only one thing left to do before I  actually attach it to the saw which is to install a dust port.  I’m using a 90-degree port which will allow me to angle it to the back of the saw if I choose to down the road sometime.

 

I could finally attach the extension table to the saw.  I used longer bolts than the ones provided by SawStop to go through the rails, the extension table, and the enclosure.

 

I inserted put the router lift in and tried it out.  It works perfectly.

 

That pretty much covers it.

 

If I had it to do over again, I would do something different to the outlet faceplate in the main cabinet.  The cover for it, which I intended to keep closed while the router is plugged in is too shallow so unless I change the plug on the router power cord to a right-angle version, I can’t keep the faceplate closed while the router is plugged in.

 

Also, I would probably just make an entire new table that has all of these features built-in, rather than reusing the existing table.

 

One last thing I would do differently is that I would use better drawer glides.  I always have trouble getting the euro-style glides installed squarely so the drawer face is flush with teh rest of the cabinet.

 

If you have any questions or suggestions, please leave a comment below.

 

<< Back to Table Saw Modification – Router Table Enclosure: Part 2 – Laminate.

<< Back to Table Saw Modification – Router Table Enclosure: Part 1 – Carcase.

Table Saw Modification – Router Table Enclosure: Part 2 – Laminate

,
Trent Davis4 Comments

This is a continuation of Table Saw Modification – Router Table Enclosure: Part 1 – Carcase.

 

A while back I converted my side extension table into a router table.  Although not strictly necessary, I am going to enclose the router and add dust collection, while also creating much-needed storage and enclosing the electrical.

So you can see what I have in mind, here’s a sneak peek of the finished enclosure.

A sneak peek of the finished router table enclosure.

Preparing the table for the laminate

Before applying laminate, I always like to make the work surface fairly smooth.  The first step to accomplishing this is to fill in the nail holes and any other gaps with wood filler.  I actually would normally use Bondo for this but this time I’m using MinWax Wood Filler which is basically just beige-colored Bondo.

 

Like Bondo, the MinWax Wood Filler is mixed together from two parts.

 

I applied the wood filler and let it set for about 15 minutes.

 

Once the wood filler was cured, I took a random orbital sander to it.

 

The surface is now flat and smooth.

 

There were a few areas where the individual pieces of the front didn’t quite line up and made gaps.  I packed those full of wood filler and then sanded it down.

 

This results in a pretty smooth cabinet.

 

Cutting the laminate

I found that Home Depot carries a matte black Formica laminate that perfectly matches the laminate used on the SawStop extension table so I picked up a sheet of that to use.  Normally I like to have a small gap at the bottom of the faceplate on my table saw fence but as you can see, this is going to be a problem when cutting laminate.  I’m going to have to bring the faceplate down as far as I can, otherwise the laminate may slide under the faceplate rather than ride against it.

 

To adjust the faceplate on a SawStop fence you need to loosen the 5mm allen bolts which are accessible from the underside of the main fence body.  Start by turning the fence on its side with the faceplate you want to adjust facing down.

 

You will need a 5mm ball-end allen wrench.

 

The ball-end on the wrench allows you to access the bolts at an angle.  You don’t need to remove them, just loosen them a bit.

 

I used a rubber mallet to persuade the faceplate to rest closer to the top of the table.

 

I’m going to start by ripping the laminate to the widest width that I’ll need, which is 28-1/4″.  I actually ripped it to 29″ so I would have a little overhang.

 

When cutting laminate, I like to use a SawStop 80-tooth Titanium blade.  It gives a really smooth edge.  Also, when cutting something as thin as laminate, I like to have the blade raised up above the material quite a bit more than usual since the material will try to climb up the blade otherwise.

 

This was the most awkward cut.

 

Then I cut two pieces that will cover the front and back, which are 19″ high.  I decided to cut the pieces down to 20″ each.

 

This can be a bit awkward too but it was still easier than wrestling with the full sheet of laminate.

 

The two pieces of laminate are cut down.

 

I then measured the sides and cut pieces for them.

 

Applying the laminate

I’m using Wilsonart International 600 contact adhesive.

 

I used a foam roller to apply a coat of contact cement to the front surface of the carcase.

 

I then applied contact cement to the back of the laminate.  Here I am applying to just the areas that will be contacting the wood.  Right after I took this photo I realised that I forgot to apply some where the laminate will touch the two vertical walls so I added some there.

 

The contact cement sets up pretty quickly.  You want to wait till it isn’t really sticky anymore.  The surface should be just a bit tacky.  Once the two pieces touch each other, they’re pretty much staying like that.  In order to attach the laminate correctly, lay some scrap strips of wood on the work surface…

 

…then lay the laminate, sticky-side-down, on top of the strips of wood.  Use this opportunity to position it correctly.

 

I like to work from the center-out so I first remove the inner-most wood strip(s).

 

Press down firmly right in the center and work your way to the front and back edges.

 

Then remove one of the adjacent strips and press the laminate down working your way from the middle to the outside edge.

 

Then do the same thing for the opposite end of the laminate.

 

You can use a laminate roller to  make sure that there aren’t any air bubbles.  Again, work your way from the center to the edges.

 

To trim the laminate flush with the cabinet, use a router with a straight pattern bit.

 

Position the router bit so the bearing will ride along the edge of the work surface.

 

Route the edge.

 

The edge should be pretty smooth.  One problem you may run into is that the contact adhesive will build up on the edges of the wood.  This can get gummed up in the bearing on your bit or even make a bump that the bearing will roll over, causing you to have an uneven edge.

 

Before attaching the laminate to the back of the cabinet, I decided to drill the holes for the dust collection port and the wiring.  I started by marking line on the center of the back wall.  This view shows the cabinet sitting on it’s back so the surface we are looking at is the inside of the back wall.

 

To cut the hole, I used a 4″ hole saw on my cordless drill.

 

I started from the inside and cut it about halfway through.

 

Then I switched to the outside, inserting the pilot bit into the hole that I made from the inside.  Cutting halfway through from each edge helps prevent tearout.

 

I’m using a strain relief that you would normally using when putting in a junction box.  It measures almost 1″ in diameter on the threaded end.  I won’t be using the threaded ring so I take that off.

 

I marked where it would look best to drill the hole.

 

I decided to try using a 15/16″ spade bit.  I should have just used a 1″ bit.

 

Both the holes have been cut out.

 

I inserted the strain relief in order to cut some threads in the hole.  I wanted to do this now rather than after I got the laminate in place so it wouldn’t get all scratched up.

 

I apply the contact cement to the back laminate piece…

 

…and to the back of the cabinet.

 

Then I applied the laminate and trimmed it like I did the front.  Notice that the holes are covered with the laminate.  I’ll cut them out later.

 

I then applied the laminate to both ends.  I didn’t apply any to the underside since that won’t be seen.

 

To cut out the holes, I started by drilling a pilot hole through the laminate from the inside of the cabinet.

 

Once the pilot holes were drilled, I went to the outside and made the hole bigger using a step bit.

 

I just need the hole big enough to fit my 1/2″ pattern bit into.

 

I use the same setup as I used to trim the edges of the laminate.

 

I do this for both holes.

 

I use the same technique to cut out the openings in the laminate on the front.

 

I marked the center of the main door and drilled a 3″ hole in it.  This will be for the adjustable air vent.

 

I attached the laminate to the face of the main drawer…

 

…to the face of the bit storage drawers…

 

…and the main drawer.

 

All of the pieces have had the laminate attached and the hole cut out.

 

Except for one.  I still need to make the door for the electrical.  This is going to have the main On/Off paddle in the face of it so I’ll need to cut out the opening for that.  This is the electrical box for the paddle.

 

I decided to make a simple routing template using some scrap MDF.

 

I attached the two side pieces to one of the ends using pocket holes.

 

I then used the electrical box to mark and cut the sides down to the proper length.

 

I attached the other end with pocket holes as well.

 

I marked the center of both the door piece and the inside opening of the template.

 

I lined up the routing template and traced around the inside.

 

This showed me how it would be placed and allows me to attach some double-sided tape.

 

Here you can see the double-sided tape.

 

I attach the template then drill a starting hole big enough for the router bit to fit through.

 

I cut out the opening with the same pattern bit that I’ve been using.

 

Here you can see how the electrical box fits in place.

 

I attached and trimmed the laminate like I did for the other pieces.

 

I used the same routing template to cut out the opening for the electrical box that the router will plug into.

 

The router bit makes a rounded opening.  Although I like the look of it, the openings in the cabinet need to be squared, not rounded.

 

This is easy to fix with a flat file.

 

All of the openings have been squared.  You can see some residue from the contact adhesive on the corners.  I’ll take care of that later.

 

 

Sealing the doorways

I’m using some sponge window seal to make the doors more airtight.

 

I needed to make a simple frame inside the doorways.  I figured out the sizes of plywood strips that I’ll need and cut them out on my table saw.

 

The pieces make a frame inside each door.  I need to add a rabbet to each piece so the seal has somewhere  to rest.

 

I set up my dado stack to cut just a bit shallower than the thickness of the window seal, which is 1/4″ thick.

 

I wanted to add a 3/4″ wide dado stack, that is 1/2″ from the edge.

 

I added the rabbets to each piece…

 

…making the frame pieces.

 

I pre-drilled and counter-sunk holes through the thickest parts of the frame pieces.

 

I inserted screws into each piece to make it easier to attach.

 

I glued and screwed each frame piece in place.

 

Before attaching the window seal, I want to clean up the edge of the laminate.  I do this with a 7-degree bevel bit.  I have the bit just barely protruding from the base of the router and run this along each edge.

 

It has trouble getting into the corners but it cleans up the rest of the edges really nicely.

 

I then do a pass at about 45-degrees with a hand file.  This is also how I clean up the corners.

 

The end result is a nice edge that isn’t too sharp and will help prevent chipping.

 

I now need to finally clean off the contact adhesive.  This is really easy to do with lacquer thinner and some blue shop towels.  Here is a before…

 

…and after.

 

 

The laminate’s in place.  In the next article, I’ll cover cleaning up the edges a bit more, attaching the hardware, and doing the electrical.

 

If you have any questions or suggestions, please leave a comment below.

 

<< Back to Table Saw Modification – Router Table Enclosure: Part 1 – Carcase.

Table Saw Modification – Router Table Enclosure: Part 1 – Carcase

,
Trent Davis2 Comments

A while back I converted my side extension table into a router table.  Although not strictly necessary, I am going to enclose the router and add dust collection, while also creating much-needed storage and enclosing the electrical.

So you can see what I have in mind, here’s a sneak peek of the finished enclosure.

A sneak peek of the finished router table enclosure.

Preparing the table

To start with, I removed the router lift and detached the extension table from the saw.

My existing router table with the router lift removed.

 

Once the table is turned upside down, you can see that I will need to remove the wooden bracing, both legs, and the electrical hookups in order to accommodate the new enclosure.

With the table upside-down, you can see the support braces and the electronics.

 

I removed all of that but decided to keep the router lift supports since they shouldn’t interfere with the new enclosure.

I removed the legs from the underside of the table.

 

One of the things I wanted to accomplish with this was to beef up the bracing under the table.  I don’t think that the wooden bracing that came with the table was doing much to prevent sagging from the added weight of the router lift since it mainly runs from left to right.  I decided to run a piece of angle iron from front to back that I will use to not only support the table but attach the router enclosure to.  The inside area of the table measures just under 28 3/8″  I’ve decided to make a cabinet that is 28 1/4″ wide.

Measuring how wide I should make the router table.

 

I cut a piece of 1″ angle iron to ~28 3/8″.

Cutting the angle iron on my chop saw.

 

The chop saw leaves a pretty nasty burr which I removed with a flat file.

Using a file to remove the burr.

 

The piece fits nicely between the front and rear edge of the table.

The angle iron is all cut down to use as a brace.

 

The screws that I’m using to attach the angle iron to the table will need to be 3/16″ wide to accommodate the screws.

The screws I'll be using require a 3/16" hole for clearance.

 

Using a silver Sharpie, I made marks on the angle iron about 3″ apart.

Spacing out the screw-holes somewhat evenly.

 

Using my drill press, I installed a 3/16″ bit and used some 3-in-1 oil to drill each of the holes.

Setting up the drill press for drilling through the angle iron.

 

I added a countersink to each hole so the screws sit flush

All the holes have been countersunk.

 

Scrounging through my coffee can of miscellaneous hardware, I was able to find some countersink bolts that match up with the 1/4 – 20 tee nuts that I had.  I will use these to attach the cabinet to the angle iron.

All of the hardware laid out.

 

The bolts require a hole that is 17/64″ in diameter.

The bolts require a 17/64 hole for clearance through the angle iron.

 

I laid out where I am going to drill the holes about 4″ apart.

Marked the positions of the holes roughly evenly spaced along the length of the angle iron.

 

I installed a 17/64″ bit in my drill press and using some 3-in-1 oil, I made the holes.

Setting up to drill the holes in the angle iron.

 

I added a countersink to each of the holes so the bolts sit flush with the angle iron.

The bolts lay flush with the surface of the angle iron.

 

I decided to make the cabinet 18″ deep so I clamped some speed squares to the front and back walls of the underside of the extension table and positioned the angle iron making sure that the smaller holes are facing down.

I clamped a speed square to each side of the table right at 18".

 

I attached the angle iron using the screws chosen for the job.

The angle iron has been attached.

 

 

Assembling the cabinet carcase

The cabinet was originally going to be made from 3/4″ plywood that I had as scrap.  I made a mock-up of it and quickly realized that it was going to be pretty heavy and unnecessarily bulky.  I redesigned it in SketchUp out of 1/2″ plywood.

Before we continue, I am going to assume a few things about you, the reader, for the sake of brevity.

I am assuming that you are using a table saw that is 27″ deep.  This is a fairly standard size for a 10″ table saw.  My saw happens to be 30″ deep so the measurements I cut to most likely wouldn’t be appropriate for your saw.  That being said, here are the outer dimensions of the router enclosure that I made.  This is just to give a general idea of what I made and you can use it as a starting point for your enclosure.

Sketchup plan for the router enclosure.

 

I’m also assuming that if you are interested in making a router enclosure for your table saw that you know how to cut plywood down to size.  As such, I won’t go into great detail on how I cut each piece and what size I cut them to.

I will, however, cover a few things that may be of interest to you.  Let’s get started…

 

To put together the cabinet, I’ll need to make some dadoes and rabbets.  For the two internal vertical walls I could just do full dadoes but I chose to do stopped dadoes instead.  I don’t need them to be particularly neat as far as how they stop so I decide to just cut a dado and stop cutting at the dado that runs left to right.

The back panel with two stopped dadoes, a full dado (technically a groove), and a rabbet.

 

To set these up I made a mark on the board where the dado should end then put some blue painters tape on the fence and made a mark that lines up roughly with the center of the blade.

I made a mark on the fence and on the material so I know when to stop feeding the material across the dado stack.

 

I push the material through and cut the dado.  When the two marks meet up, I stop feeding the material and stop the saw.

The mark on the fence lines up with a mark on the material.

 

This results in a stopped dado.  I make a second one for the other vertical wall.

I made both dadoes.

 

I then make a complete dado (technically a groove since it runs along the length of the material rather than the width) for the horizontal piece.

I made a dado that runs the length of the board.

 

After I finish the dadoes, I need to make several rabbets on the edges of some of the workpieces.  I set up a sacrificial fence and made all of the rabbets.

I use a sacrificial fence when cutting rabbets.

 

The back piece has a rabbet along the bottom edge.

I added the rabbet along the bottom of the workpiece.

 

The two side pieces will have rabbets along the bottom and back edges.

The back and side walls of the enclosure.

 

I cut the dadoes and rabbets on the side pieces.

I finished the back and both the left and right sides.

 

The horizontal piece has two dadoes that line up with the two stopped dadoes in the back piece.  Other than the drawer (which I cover later) nothing else has any dadoes.

The back, sides, and middle piece.

 

I dry fit the workpieces to make sure everything fits together well.  The bottom and the two inner walls don’t have any dadoes, grooves, or rabbets.

A dry-fit shows how it all goes together.

 

For the glue-up I started by putting a bead of Titebond 2 in all of the dadoes.

I also added glue to teh dadoes on the middle horizontal piece.

 

I placed the horizontal workpiece in its corresponding dado on the back piece.  Then I inserted the vertical pieces in their corresponding dadoes on the horizontal piece and the back piece.

I snapped all three pieces together.

 

I used a combination square to mark a line on the underside of the horizontal workpiece directly underneath the dadoes.

I drew a line down the underside ot the middle piece to help in nailing the pieces in place.

 

I secured the pieces down by adding nails with a nail gun along the lines I drew.

My aim isn't perfect but I added some nails along the lines.

 

I then did the same thing on the back.

I nailed them to the back piece.

 

I attached both side pieces by adding a bead of glue in the dado and along the rabbet on the back edge.

I applied glue to the dado and one of the rabbets on the left side piece.

 

The side pieces slid right into position and I made a line to correspond with the horizontal piece.

I put the piece in place and marked a line for nailing the horizontal piece to it.

 

I nailed the side on along the back edge and the line I just drew.

I nailed the side onto the back and the horizontal piece.

 

To attach the bottom, I flipped the assembly upside-down.

I turned the assembly upside-down so I can attach the bottom.

 

I ran a bead of glue along the rabbets that I put on the bottom edges.

Glue is applied to each rabbet.

 

Then I nailed it in place.

The bottom is placed and nailed to the back and each side.

 

I decided to piece together the front rather than cut it out of a single sheet because I didn’t want to waste any plywood if I could avoid it.

The indicidual pieces for the front are laid out.

 

I laid the enclosure on it’s back so the front was facing upward.  I then started attaching the pieces of the front starting from the bottom.

I applied glue along the botton.

 

Since this is being put together from several smaller pieces, they don’t always align perfectly.  This is fine.  I’ll deal with this before I attach the laminate.

The framing for the bottom drawer opening are glued and nailed in place.

 

I then attached the vertical pieces.  The outer ones went on easily.  The inner walls are 1-1/2″ wide so they should overhang the vertical wall with 1/2″ on each side.  I used two scrap pieces of the 1/2″ plywood to help position the vertical pieces, starting from the lower end and nailing it down before moving up to the top.

I used a few scraps of 1/2" plywood to center the vertical front piece on the vertical wall.

 

I eyeballed the placement of the nails and managed to not screw this part up.  All that’s left is to attach the top horizontal piece.  I purposely cut this piece a bit wider than I needed, just in case the front pieces didn’t assemble as cleanly as I wanted.  I placed the piece in place and marked where I needed to trim it down.

Ready for the top horizontal front piece.

 

I then applied some glue on the remainder of the vertical walls and finished it up by nailing it in place.

I nailed the front piece in place.

 

This is where I realized that I trimmed the top front piece a bit too much so it sits about 1/32″ too low.  That’s well within my own tolerance range for this project so I’m going to let it slide.

The main carcase is done.

 

 

Making the drawers.

I didn’t do anything fancy for the main drawer.  It’s very utilitarian.  I just cut out the sides and put a 1/4″ dado (or groove) in each piece for the drawer bottom.  With the pieces cut, I laid them out for easier assembly.

All the parts for the main drawer all laid out.

I applied some Titebond 2 wood glue to the dado and along the side pieces where they will meet up with the front and back.

Applying glue before assembling the drawer.

 

I then assembled it and secured it with some nails.

The main drawer glued and nailed together.

 

The router bit storage drawers are a bit different.  I decided to just make drawers without sides.  I also wanted the bottom of them to be 1″ thick so I cut down some pine to make the bottom boards then some matching 1/4″ MDF for the top surface.

The pieces for the router bit storage drawers.

 

I glued them together and clamped them up.

The drawer bases glued together.

 

After drying overnight, there was quite a bot of glue squeeze-out that needed to be sanded away.  I used a random orbital sander to sand it smooth.

Lots of squeeze-out that needs to be sanded away.

 

After a bit of sanding, I got it all smooth.

The edges of the drawer bases are nice and smooth.

 

I drew a 1/2″ grid on top of the MDF to help lay out the hole pattern.

A 1/2" grid drawn on the tops of the drawer bases.

 

I used an awl to punch a hole pattern.  I decided to space them 1″ apart down the length of the drawer and each row staggered 1/2″.

Holes marked with an awl to aid in drilling.

 

I set my drill press to drill halfway through the material.  After a lot of tedious drilling with both 1/4″ and 1/2″ forstner bits, I finally got all the holes drilled.

After the extremely tedius process of drilling all of the holes.

 

I sanded the top smooth which got rid of the pencil marks and did a test fit with some of my router bits.

I sanded them smooth and test fit some of my router bits.

 

The drawers will have a front piece that the drawer face will attach to.  This is a simple piece of 3/4″ plywood cut to the width of the drawer and 1/2″ shorter than the height of the drawer face.

Laying out the drawer front with the base.

 

I pre-drilled and countersunk the holes for some drywall screws to attach the front to the base.  Then I glued and screwed them together.

The fronts have been glued and screwed to the bases.

 

That’s it for the main cabinet carcase.  In the next article, I’ll cover applying the laminate.  I’ll follow that up with adding the hardware, doing the electrical, and attaching it to the underside of the table.

 

If you have any questions or suggestions, please leave a comment below.

 

>> Continue on to Table Saw Modification – Router Table Enclosure: Part 2 – Laminate

 

The extension wing provides a lot of work surface.

Workbench: Part 7 – Installing The Hardware

,
Trent Davis


<< This is a continuation of Workbench: Part 6 – Finishing the benchtop

 

The finish has been applied to the bench-top so now it’s time to attach the hardware.  This is a tricky subject to explain clearly.  I’m going to do my best but I’m planning on coming back and editing this post a bit in an effort to clear some things up.  That being said, if any of my explanations below are confusing, please leave me a comment and I’ll try explaining it in more detail.

This post has a lot of pictures so be patient while it loads.

 

 

Attaching the angle iron to the ends of each piece.

 

The bench-top is 23-7/16″ deep so I need to cut four pieces of angle iron to that length.

The final depth of the benchtop is 24-7/16".

 

A metal chop saw was used to make all my cuts but you can do this with a hacksaw if you don’t mind the blisters and carpal tunnel.

A metal chop saw made this process go pretty quickly.

 

The chop saw leaves a jagged burr on the edge of the angle iron so I’ll need to knock that back.

Cutting on the chop saw left a pretty nasty burr that I needed to get rid of.

 

You can use a hand file to remove most of the burr from each end of the pieces of angle iron.  I did this while slightly rounding over the ends.

I used a metal file to get rid of most of the burr.

 

To remove the burr on the inner corner I needed to use a rat-tail file.

A rat-tail file was used to knock back the burr on the inside corner.

The burrs were removed from both ends of each piece of angle iron.

Both ends of all four angle iron pieces have been filed and slightly rounded-over.

 

A test fit gives a preview of how it looks and lets you make sure that none of the metal pieces are too long.

A test fit shows that these pieces fit nicely.

 

The screws will be attached in the center of the angle iron so I set my combination square to half the width which ended up being 5/8″.

I set my combination square to 5/8" which is half the depth of the angle iron.

 

I used the combination square to set the position of a metal shop rule on the angle iron and I clamped it in place.

A straightedge clamped to the pieces at the correct depth made this process easy.

 

I decided on the placement of the screws by first marking where the center screw will be and then adding the marks for the outer screws about 1-1/4″ inches in from the edge.  I then found the center point between the outer marks and the central one.  I used a silver Sharpie to mark the placement of the screws with some hash marks on pieces of painters tape so I could repeat them on each piece.

I added painter's tape and made marks at the spots where I wanted to drill my holes.

 

The screws that I am using to attach the metal require a 7/32″ hole.

The holes will need to be 7/32" in diameter in order to accommodate the screws.

 

When drilling through metal you should usually apply a few drops of 3-in-1 oil to where you will be drilling out the holes.  This is what I did when I made the holes using a drill press.

I applied a few drops of 3-in-1 oil to the steel before drilling.

 

Since I wanted the screws to sit relatively flush with the top of the metal, I added a countersink to each hole using a 3/4″ countersink bit.  I went just deep enough for them to be flush but I didn’t want it too perfect since I’m going for a more used, industrial look.  Fortunately, making things “not perfect” is a specialty of mine.

I followed the 7/32" bit with a countersink so the screws sit flush.

 

This took quite a while. I ended up doing most of them with a hand drill which actually went much faster than the drill press and helped contribute to the imperfect look that I was going for.

All the holes are drilled and countersunk. You can see one screw inserted in one of the holes to test the fit.

 

When it was time to drill the holes, I clamped the angle iron to the ends of the bench-top pieces so I could ensure their placement was correct and that it wouldn’t slip.

I clamped the metal to the wood so I can drill accurately.

 

I used some blue painters tape on my drill bit to mark the depth of the hole that I needed for the screws.

I marked the desired hole-depth with some painter's tape.

 

I drilled just to the point that the painters tape touched the metal.  This is easy to do if you watch the shavings that gather around the hole you are drilling.  When the tape starts to brush them aside, stop drilling.

I drilled down till the tape was flush with the top of the metal.

 

The pieces were then attached with screws. Now the bench-tops are officially done.
Twenty screws total are used to attach the angle iron.

 

 

Attaching the legs to the bench-top.

 

I am using hardware by Steel-Tek to create the legs for this desk. To get a visual on what pieces are needed where, I laid them out on the underside of the bench-top in the approximate area where they will be attached.

I gathered up the hardware and set them up where they were going to be installed.

 

I attached a 3/4″ flange (part no. 673-104HC) in each of the four corners of the main bench-top piece. I set them 2″ in from each edge.

I arbitrarily decided to position the legs 2" in from each edge.

 

Four screws were used to attach each flange. I also added a fifth flange along the back edge which will help support the bench-top along the length.

All of the flanges have been attached to the underside of the benchtop.

 

Since I still had the hash marks on my shop rule from when I drilled the holes in the angle iron, I laid that out and used it to arrange the hinges for attaching the extension wing. I debated about using a piano hinge for this as it would provide better support since it would be screwed into the side rather than from underneath. In the end, I decided to attach four hinges along the underside and I’ll just keep an eye on it. I can always come back and change it later if it starts to weaken.

Laying out the hinges in their approximate location.

 

I ended up spacing the hinges a little over 2″ apart.  This measurement will vary depending on the hinge that is used.

I decided on a 2-3/16" gap between the outer hings and the inner ones.

 

Each hinge was attached and they seem really solid so I’m not too worried. I needed a slight gap between the main table and the wing because of how the wing is going to be held upright. This will be explained later.

All of the hinges have been attached.

 

Back to my chop saw to cut down the 3/4″ tubing to the various lengths that I needed.

Cutting the steel tubing to size with a metal chop saw.

 

Using a disc sander, I added a slight chamfer around the edge of each piece of pipe in case anyone wants to take this bench apart in the future. I wouldn’t want anyone getting cut on the sharp edges.

Adding a slight chamfer around the ends of each piece of pipe.

 

As I was cutting these down, I realized that this piping would allow me to run wires through them in case I wanted to add a few outlets along the top. If you’ve ever run conduit, you probably understand the importance of removing the jagged edge along the inside so it doesn’t damage any wires. I did this with a deburring tool.

I removed the inner jagged edge using a deburring tool.

 

I got all my hardware gathered up. Along with ten single socket tees (670-104HC) from Steel-Tek, I used the following lengths of pipe.

  • (qty: 1) 52″
  • (qty: 4) 28 ¼”
  • (qty: 3) 16″
  • (qty: 1) 12 ½”
  • (qty: 1) 6″

Here are all the hardware pieces that I will need.

 

I also used 1″ rubber feet which fit perfectly over the 3/4″ pipe. Four of these were used for the legs and a fifth was used for the extension wing support arm.


I got some 1" rubber feet for the ends of the legs.

 

I inserted the 6″ piece of pipe into the center flange and tightened the set screw.

I inserted the shortest piece in the central flange and tightened down the set screw.

 

Two single socket tees are then attached to two of the three 16″ lengths of pipe and the set screws are tightened. These will be the horizontal support braces that will go between the front and rear legs.

I made the two horizontal braces using one of the 16" pieces of pipe and two of the single socket tees for each brace.

 

I slid two legs all the way through the tees on each of the horizontal braces and temporarily tightened the set screws. I set these aside for later.

I slid one of the braces on two of the legs and temporarily slid it to the far end and tightened down the set screws.

 

Then I attached three of the tees to the 52″ length of pipe. First I attached one on the end and tightened down the set screw. After that I slid one of the tees over the pipe and moved it towards the center but didn’t tighten it at all. I then added the last tee to this piece and tightened it up.

I then created the rear horizontal brace with the longest piece and three of the single socket tees, with the middle one fitting loosely on the bar.

 

Once it was all together I fit the loose central tee over the other end of the 6″ pipe and tightened the set screw but only the one that attaches it to the shorter piece.  This meant the large 52″ piece can slide around if I need it to while I’m attaching the legs.

The rear horizontal brace is loosely attached to the rear vertical post.

 

At this point, the only piece of pipe that is secure is the 6″ piece. This let me insert one of the sets of legs into the flanges on the side without the extension wing.  I made sure the legs were square with the bench-top and tightened down the set screws in the flanges. The tee that attaches the rear rail to these legs is still loose.  It’s worth noting that I have all of the set screws one every fixture facing the inside of the desk.  This will make it easier to remove the bench-top from the legs without having to move the bench away from the wall.

I then inserted the legs for the side that doesn't have the extension wing.

 

The extension wing support is next. I put this together somewhat similarly to the rear rail except I centered the tee and tightened it down. I also inserted the 12-1/2″ piece with the rubber foot on the opposite end. I tightened this set screw but knew I would probably have to come back and adjust this later. The two tees on the end are kept loose and will remain so.

The extension wing support is made from three of the single socket tees, one of the 16" bars, and the 12-1/4" bar with a rubber foot on the end.

 

The extension table support is then slid on to the other set of legs. To make attaching it easier, I temporarily tightened the set screws for the tees that attach it to the legs.

The extension wing support is loosely attached to the remaining leg assembly.

 

This leg assembly is inserted like the opposite one. Make sure it is square to the bench-top and tighten the set screws on the flanges. Then, I ensured that the rear rail was the same distance from the underside of the bench-top at either end and tightened the set screws on the tees at each end of the rear rail.

The second leg assembly is attached. Everything is tightened down except for the extension wing support.

 

Then I loosened the set screws on the tees that attach the extension wing arm support to the legs and slid them down so the rear tee rested on top of the tee on the rear rail. I tightened it down and set the opposite tee on this piece to the same height and secured it as well. I then lowered the horizontal brace so it rested on the rubber foot of the extension wing arm and tightened it down. Once that was in the correct position, I took a measurement and duplicated this position on the horizontal brace on the other legs.

The extension wing support is raised to the point that the rubber foot presses on the lower horizontal brace, then the set screws that attach the tees to the vertical legs are tightened.

 

Since I didn’t tighten the set screws that hold the extension wing horizontal brace to the front and rear legs, this whole mechanism can swing up and support the wing.  I needed to make a wedge for the leg to press against.  After ensuring that the bench-top pieces were co-planar, I swung the arm down and measured the angle.

The angle of the foot is measured at about 45-degrees.

 

I then transferred that angle to the table saw.

This angle is then transferred to the table saw.

 

I cut a bevel of that angle on a scrap piece of oak flooring that was left over from this same project.  I left this piece longer than I needed in case I need to try attaching it in different areas.

I took a scrap piece of oak and added that angle to one edge.

 

Once it was cut, I applied a coat of the same stain that I used on the rest of the desk and a single coat of polyurethane.

This piece was then stained and a single coat of polyurethane was applied.

 

I pressed this piece firmly into the foot of the extension wing arm and secured it with drywall screws. I didn’t glue it in case I wanted to make any adjustments.

Pressing the support firmly into the foot, I secured it to the underside of the extension wing with some drywall screws.

 

I set the bench upright and tested it out. The wing sagged a bit but rather than remove the wooden wedge and move it forward, I loosened the set screw that holds this arm in place and slightly extended the arm a bit. I tightened the set screw again and made sure the wing was flat with the main table.

The support arm holds the extension wing up and is adjustable because of the set screw on the tee.

 

If you want to lower the extension wing, you simply lift the extension wing slightly and the support arm swings down out of the way.  The rubber foot on the end grabs the bottom brace and friction locks it in place.

When not in use, the support arm swing down and out of the way.

 

 

All finished.

 

It’s time to call this project done.  My wife and I moved it up to her studio and I gave her a few days to test it out.  So far it seems to be very sturdy.  I have plans to add a shallow drawer or two but I’m going to let her use the bench for a bit to see if that is something that she really needs.

Finished desk with the extension wing in use.

 

It really does provide a lot of work surface.  The overall dimensions of the work surface is 24 ½” x 83 ¼” when the extension wing is up.

The extension wing provides a lot of work surface.

 

When the extension wing is not needed, it easily folds out of the way creating a work surface of 24 ½” x 60 ¼”.

The extension wing easily folds out of the way when not in use.

 

This gives her the space to work on her computer while still having her projects set up.

My wife is making good use of all this work space.

 

Please let me know if this helped you in any way or if you have any suggestions for how I could have done this differently.  I’m also planning on a few more projects along this same style so if you have any suggestions, please let us know in the comments section below.  I’d love to hear from you.  Also, please consider signing up for my mailing list to be notified of future articles. I am also available on social media. Stop by and say ‘Hi’. I can be reached at the links to the right.

<< Back to Workbench: Part 6 – Finishing the benchtop
<< Back to Workbench: Part 5 – Cutting the benchtop to size
<< Back to Workbench: Part 4 – Gluing up the new top
<< Back to Workbench: Part 3 – Change of plans
<< Back to Workbench: Part 2 – Gluing up the top
<< Back to Workbench: Part 1 – Milling down some 2 x 4s

After letting it sit for 24 hours, the bench is now ready for the hardware.

Workbench: Part 6 – Finishing the benchtop

,
Trent DavisOne Comment

The workbench top is almost done. It’s been glued up and cut to size. Now all it needs is the finishing touches to get it ready for the hardware.

Adding a shallow rabbet on the ends of each piece.

The left and right edges of each section are going to have angle-iron that wraps around the corners. Since these will be recessed, I need to add a shallow rabbet on each edge. I did this with my table saw and a dado stack. The depth was pretty crucial but the width was approximate. I knew I wasn’t going to get a final fit until I rounded the corner so I just made sure not to make it too wide.

Cut a shallow rabbet on the left and right edges of the benchtop pieces.

I did a rough-fit just to make sure it was deep enough but not too wide.

This is how the angle-iron will sit on the edge.

A close-up view shows how I need to apply a roundover to the corner.

I need to add a roundover in the corner so the angle-iron sits flush.

I used a contour gauge to determine the radius of the inner corner.

Using a contour gauge to determine the correct roundover to apply.

The router bit that fit best is a 1/8″ roundover bit.

It looks like a 1/8" roundover bit will work.

I set the benchtop upside-down on my router table and used it to set the height of the bit.

Setting the height of the router bit.

Then it was a simple matter of pushing the piece along the bit. The piece was pretty big but since my router table is mounted on my table saw, it was actually not too bad.

Cutting the roundover on the left and right edges.

It looks like this is going to be a better fit. Now it’s time to finish the rabbet.

Now I need to take the rabbet back by a bit.

It looks like I need to take an additional 1/16″ off the top.

It looks like 1/16" will do.

I set the fence on my table saw so I would remove just a hair under 1/16″. I’d rather remove too little and have to take off just a bit more than remove too much.

Setting my fence so I can take ~1/16" off of the existing rabbet.

I carefully extended the rabbet just a bit. I didn’t end up needing to move the fence at all, but I did have to raise the blade up just a bit and make a second pass.

Running the pieces over the spinning dado stack.

That fits much better. It’s not perfect but it’s close enough.

That fits much better.

Applying a stain to the tops and sides.

Now it’s time to apply the stain. For this, I’m using Varathane Kona wood stain.

Time to apply the stain.

I applied a generous amount using a 3″ brush.

First I apply the stain with a 3" brush.

My wife followed up with a blue shop towel and dabbed up most of the stain before it could soak in too much. As you can see, this leaves a lot of the stain in the deeper spots, like the dents, mill-marks, and “worm-holes”.

The towel soaks up most of the stain but can't really get into the dents, mill-marks, or "worm-holes".

I’m pretty happy with how this looks so far.

Looks good so far.

We need to let it sit for about an hour before we do anything else to it.

Letting the stain sit for an hour.

We put the angle-iron on the rabbet to get an idea of how it’s going to look when we are finished. I think it looks pretty good.

This is how the angle-iron will look next to this stain.

After waiting an hour, we made sanding blocks out of scrap wood and 220-grit sticky-back sanding discs.

Making a sanding block out of a scrap piece of wood and some sticky-back 220-grit sanding discs.

We used these to go over the benchtops and knock back the high spots a bit.

Knocked back the high spots with the sanding block.

The contrast was a bit too much so my wife decided to lightly dab on some more stain in spots to bring the contrast under control.

Lightly dabbing on some more stain to reduce the contrast between the light and the dark parts.

It’s probably worth mentioning that we made sure to get the front and back of each piece.

Making sure we got the front and back of each piece.

Now we need to let it sit for a few more hours before we apply the polyurethane.

Letting it sit for another couple of hours.

Protecting it all with polyurethane.

For this project I’m using Varathane brand matte finish interior polyurethane. It goes on easily and rinses out with soap and water. An added bonus is that you don’t have to sand in between coats. I still prefer to sand right before applying the final coat.

For this project I am using Varathane brand matte finish interior polyurethane.

I used the same brush that I used for the stain to apply a generous first coat of polyurethane.

Applying the first coat of polyurethane.

After applying the first coat, I went over it lightly with the brush to smooth it out. You can see how the poly sits in the deeper spots. Our intention is to apply enough poly that it fills in these spots, making a smoother surface.

I'm hoping it will help fill up the low spots and even out the top.

Finished applying the first coat. I’m letting that sit overnight before applying the next coat.

Got to let it sit for a few hours before adding more coats.

I applied the second coat and let that sit for a few hours.

Applied the second coat.

Applied a third coat…and waited.

Third coat has been applied.

…and a fourth.

After the fourth coat has been applied, I'm starting to wonder how many more coats this is going to take.

I let the fourth coat sit for 24 hours. It looks like it’s ready to be sanded before applying the final coat. The polyurethane has helped smooth out the high and low spots a bit. I’m not going for a writing surface here so it doesn’t need to be perfectly flat.

The fourth coat is dry and ready for sanding.

I carefully flipped the pieces over so I can stain the underside. Obviously, this isn’t as critical as the top and I could probably not worry about it at all, but the smaller piece will most likely be attached the the main piece with a piano hinge and will hang down on the side when not in use. This means that the underside of the smaller piece will be visible at these times.

Turned the bench-top pieces over so I can stain the underside.

I started the tedious process of applying the stain to the underside. This piece is pine plywood and it soaks up the stain a lot faster than the oak. As a result, this is going to be much darker than the top.

Applying some stain to the underside.

I soaked up as much excess stain as I could.

Soaking up as much excess stain as I can.

After waiting about an hour and a half, I lightly sanded the underside with 220-grit sandpaper. I’m just trying to knock back any bumps before I seal them for all time under a layer of polyurethane.

I let the stain sit for about an hour and a half then I lightly sanded the undersides.

I applied a single coat of polyurethane to the undersides.

I applied a coat of polyurethane.

This is the only layer of poly that I am planning on applying to the underside. I’m going to let it sit for 24 hours before flipping the bench-top pieces back over and finishing the tops.

The polyurethane has been applied and needs to sit overnight.

After letting the poly coat on the underside sit for 24 hours, I flipped the benchtop back over and lightly sanded the top with 220-grit sandpaper in order to knock back any bumps or high points. This also further distressed the top.

I sanded the top with 220-grit to knock down some of the high spots.

I carefully applied the fifth and final coat of polyurethane and let it sit for twenty-four hours.

I carefully reapplied the fifth and final coat of polyurethane.

After sitting overnight, the finish on the bench-top is complete and now it’s time to attach the hardware.

After letting it sit for 24 hours, the bench is now ready for the hardware.

Do you have any tips on staining and protecting your work? What has worked for you? Let us know in the comments section below.  I’d love to hear from you. Also, please consider signing up for my mailing list to be notified of future articles. I am also available on social media. Stop by and say ‘Hi’. I can be reached at the links below.

Previous articles in this series…

All done with two slabs cut to 5' and 2' in length.

Workbench: Part 5 – Cutting the benchtop to size

,
Trent DavisOne Comment

The top is all glued up so now I need to strengthen it by attaching 1/2″ plywood to the underside. I can then cut it down to the final size to prepare it for finishing.

Looking at the underside of the glued up benchtop.
Looking at the underside of the glued up benchtop.

There were a few spots of glue squeeze-out that I decided to remove so they don’t interfere with attaching the benchtop to the plywood. I just scraped them flat with a chisel.

Removing the glue squeeze-out with a chisel.
Removing the glue squeeze-out with a chisel.

I am attaching two sheets of 1/2″ plywood cut to 2′ X 4′ pieces. I laid them out to see which would be the best placement for them. The benchtop so far is about 25″ deep so there will be a lip overhanging the plywood at both the front and back. My initial plan was to cut the front and back edges flat then attach a border, but that plan changed, as you’ll see in a moment.

Laying out the 1/2" plywood.
Laying out the 1/2″ plywood.

I am using Loctite PL 510 construction adhesive to attach the plywood to the benchtop.

LocTite PL 510 construction adhesive for attaching the plywood.
LocTite PL 510 construction adhesive for attaching the plywood.

I ran a bead of the construction adhesive down the length of each strip of flooring. This is, of course, working on the underside of the benchtop. Then I placed the plywood sheets on top of that. I tried to get it relatively centered.

Attaching the plywood with the construction adhesive.
Attaching the plywood with the construction adhesive.

I clamped and cauled the plywood sheets to the benchtop and let it dry for 24 hours.

Clamping the edges.
Clamping the edges.

My original plan was to mill down some more of the flooring scraps and make a border along the front and back of the benchtop that was 1-1/4″ tall and 1/2″ deep. This was mostly to cover the plywood that is being attached to the underside of the benchtop. I started by cutting the tongue off the side of the flooring pieces.

Cutting the tongue off several pieces of flooring.
Cutting the tongue off several pieces of flooring.

After that I cut off the groove on the opposite side.

Removing the groove from several pieces of flooring.
Removing the groove from several pieces of flooring.

Then I trimmed the tongues and grooves off each of the ends.

Using the miter gauge to remove the tongues and grooves from the ends.
Using the miter gauge to remove the tongues and grooves from the ends.

Finally I trimmed off the grooves along the bottom of the flooring pieces. I also ended up shaving a bit off the tops just to clean them up.

Cutting the grooves off the bottoms of the flooring pieces.
Cutting the grooves off the bottoms of the flooring pieces.

This left me with some nice oak stock to use for the front and rear trim.

Now this gives me some nice usable stock to work with.
Now this gives me some nice usable stock to work with.

The final width of each piece was a little over 1-7/8″ wide…

This leaves me with ~1-7/8" of material to work with.
This leaves me with ~1-7/8″ of material to work with.

…and 5/8″ thick.

This gives me some nice 5/8" stock.
This gives me some nice 5/8″ stock.

I removed the clamps and cauls and decided to get my wife’s opinion on the front and rear trim idea. I’m glad I did. She had the idea of just cutting the milled stock into strips and gluing them to the lip, therefore just covering the plywood and not the edges of the oak flooring.

The lip runs the whole length of the benchtop on both the front and back.
The lip runs the whole length of the benchtop on both the front and back.

I cut some of the milled oak stock down to usuable pieces. I decided to just make them 5/8″ X 5/8″.

Cutting the oak stock into 5/8" X 5/8" strips.
Cutting the oak stock into 5/8″ X 5/8″ strips.

I was able to get enough strips by cutting down just 4 of the milled oak pieces. This leaves me with some more milled oak stock to use for other projects.

All the strips cut.
All the strips cut.

I laid out the pieces and applied a bead of Titebond 2 to the lip.

Applied a bead of Titebond 2 to the lip on the underside of the workbench.
Applied a bead of Titebond 2 to the lip on the underside of the workbench.

I attached the oak strips and clamped them in place with small quick-release clamps.

Holding the strip in place with some small clamps.
Holding the strip in place with some small clamps.

The strips wanted to pull away from the plywood in a few spots so I used some larger clamps to apply lateral pressure. I don’t have a lot of clamps that are over 24″ so I had to get creative with some of them, but it all worked fine in the end.

Getting creative with some clamps that are just a bit too short.
Getting creative with some clamps that are just a bit too short.

After the glue dried I did the same thing for the back of the bench.

Applying some lateral pressure with some larger clamps.
Applying some lateral pressure with some larger clamps.

There was some glue squeeze-out on the underside of the benchtop.

Got some glue squeeze-out to clean up.
Got some glue squeeze-out to clean up.

I used a random orbital sander on the entire surface of the underside and…

Sanding the bottom smooth to get rid of the glue squeeze-out.
Sanding the bottom smooth to get rid of the glue squeeze-out.

…it looks a lot better now.

Edges look good from the underside.
Edges look good from the underside.

Now it was time to cut everything down to size. I took the glued up benchtop to my SawStop table saw so I could trim off one end.

Trimming off the edges of the benchtop at the SawStop table saw using my sliding crosscut table.
Trimming off the edges of the benchtop at the SawStop table saw using my sliding crosscut table.

The ends of the workbench will be covered in metal. I’ll get to that in a future article. All I need now is for them to be flat.

Edge is nice and flush now.
Edge is nice and flush now.

I then trimmed off the opposite end.

Trimming off the opposite edge at the table saw.
Trimming off the opposite edge at the table saw.

It looks so much better now that I have trimmed off the excess on the ends.

Both edges are nice and flush.
Both edges are nice and flush.

I then trimmed the excess material off the front and the back.

Trimming the front edge at the table saw.
Trimming the front edge at the table saw.

This was the look I was going for.

The front is nice and flush now.
The front is nice and flush now.

The benchtop was pretty unwieldy since it was so huge. As a result, the table saw left some burning on the edges.

The table saw caused a little burning on the edges.
The table saw caused a little burning on the edges.

The random orbital sander easily removed the burn marks.

The burning is easily removed with a random orbital sander.
The burning is easily removed with a random orbital sander.

The plan was to turn this into a 5′ long workbench with a 2′ long flip-down wing. I marked the benchtop at 5′.

Marking the benchtop at 5'.
Marking the benchtop at 5′.

I used my SawStop sliding crosscut table to cut the workbench at the 5′ mark.

Cutting the benchtop to length using the SawStop sliding crosscut table.
Cutting the benchtop to length using the SawStop sliding crosscut table.

The sliding crosscut table makes it very easy to perform this type of cut.

Cutting it down at 5'.
Cutting it down at 5′.

It cut cleanly and didn’t really burn it except for where I stopped pushing the material so I could take the picture above. A little sanding and it disappeared.

Finishing the cut.
Finishing the cut.

The workbench is now cut to the final size and is ready to be finished.

All done with two slabs cut to 5' and 2' in length.
All done with two slabs cut to 5′ and 2′ in length.

If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below.  I’d love to hear from you.

Workbench: Part 3 – Change of plans

,
Trent Davis3 Comments

 

This is a continuation of Workbench: Part 2 – Gluing up the top.

After gluing up half of the top, I repeated the process and got the other half glued up as well.

Both halves, ready to be glued together.
Both halves, ready to be glued together.

 

Once it was dry I joined them together with glue and biscuits just like I did for the individual boards.

Glue and biscuits applied to one half.
Glue and biscuits applied to one half.

Pressing both halves together.
Pressing both halves together.

Both halves clamped and cauled.
Both halves clamped and cauled.

 

After taking the clamps and cauls off I was left with a fairly warped but completely glued up benchtop.

Clamps and cauls removed.
Clamps and cauls removed.

 

At this point, the project wasn’t looking too promising.  My goal was not only to make a benchtop but to see if it can be reasonably accomplished using common 2 X 4 material.  Unfortunately, they are so dimensionally unstable that they do a lot of twisting and warping as they dry.  Maybe if I had these sitting in my shop for a few seasons so they can thoroughly dry then the end result would have been better.  Still, I was somewhat determined to make this work.

 

I started sanding it using a random orbital sander.

Started with a random orbital sander.
Started with a random orbital sander.

 

This was taking a long time so I switched to a belt sander.  This want a lot faster but I was still unhappy with the results since there was so much warpage to this.  I know I can eventually get it to work but I’ll have to remove so much material that  it won’t be as sturdy as I want it.

Switched to a belt sander.
Switched to a belt sander.

 

It was at this time that my wife asked if I had any of the leftover wood from our newly installed hard-wood floors.  She had the idea that I can just use that since it already has the tongue-and-groove in place, plus she likes the look of oak more than fir.  Normally, I’m not a fan of oak but I had to agree that this would look better and be stronger even though the tabletop would be 3/4″ rather than 1″.

I decided to give it a shot.  I gathered up the scrap wood flooring and started laying it out.  I needed to get enough material to make a 7′ X 2′ section.  The plan is to have a 5′ wide bench with a 2′ wide flip up extension.

New plan! Laying out the oak flooring.
New plan! Laying out the oak flooring.

 

I had to cut some mating grooves in a few of the pieces but I was able to get enough material.  Once it was laid out, I attached a piece of blue painters tape to each piece so I could label them.

Painters tape applied for labeling.
Painters tape applied for labeling.

 

I labelled each piece with the row (number) and which order it is in from left to right (letter)

Each piece labeled.
Each piece labeled.

 

Now, this is where this gets interesting.  One of the reasons my wife wanted me to use the oak flooring is because she wanted me to try to get “mill marks” on some of the boards.  Normally, I’m not a fan of faux-finishes and antiquing techniques, but this was an interesting challenge.

I tried approximating it by hand with 24 grit sanding pads and the result wasn’t pretty (as I expected).  The other technique I wanted to try was to put actual milling marks on the wood.

To accomplish this, I needed to get a blade that I could damage.  Specifically, I needed a 10″ table saw blade without carbides.  I knew I wasn’t going to find this in the store so I would have to look for a used blade.  I started my search at Habit for Humanity ReStore.  I couldn’t find anything there that was 10″ so I decided to try at a pawn shop.  I eventually found an old Craftsman blade that had all of my requirements and was new in the box.  To top it all off, after I told them why I was getting it, they knocked $6.00 of the price.

Found a cheap 10" blade with no carbides.
Found a cheap 10″ blade with no carbides.

As you can see, it's cheap but in decent shape.
As you can see, it’s cheap but in decent shape.

 

To add the mill marks I took one of the teeth and bent it towards what would be the right of the blade after it was installed on the saw.

Bending one of the teeth with a pair of vice grips.
Bending one of the teeth with a pair of vice grips.

 

Then I installed it on my saw and made a few test cuts.  I then bent it a few more times until I found the right amount.

The blade installed. The bent tooth is marked with an arrow.
The blade installed. The bent tooth is marked with an arrow.

 

Here’s a test cut.  I’m going to do a bit more distressing and see the final result after I stain this wood.

Sample mill-marks.
Sample mill-marks.

 

Feel free to leave a comment below and let me know if you’ve tried this technique or have any other ways of distressing wood that have worked for you.
Up next: Workbench: Part 4 – Gluing up the new top.

 

Back to Workbench: Part 2 – Gluing up the top.

Back to Workbench Part 1 – Milling down some 2 x 4s.

 

Workbench: Part 2 – Gluing up the top

,
Trent Davis8 Comments

This is a continuation of Workbench Part 1 – Milling down some 2 x 4s.

We got another snow day so this gave me an opportunity to work some more on my wife’s workbench.

Now that the boards have all been milled down, it’s time to start gluing them together.

 

For this project, I knew I was going to need a few sets of cauls.  If you are unfamiliar with a clamping caul, read on…

A clamping caul is simply a set of boards that are used to keep the top and bottom of a wide glue-up relatively flat.  Their use will make sense at the end of this article.  They are extremely easy to make.  I made two sets for this glue up.  I started with some 1 X 3 stock that I cut down to be a few inches longer than the width of the final glue up.

Cutting down the 2 X 3.
Cutting down the 2 X 3.

The benchtop I am making is going to be 24″ deep so I made my cauls about 28″ long.  There’s no need to be exact, just make it a bit longer than the final glue up.

The boards have been cut to 28" long.
The boards have been cut to 28″ long.

After cutting four pieces that are 28″ long, I took them to my oscillating belt sander.  This step is optional but I find it really helps.  What you want to do is add a little bit of a slope at both ends of one side of each caul.

Sanding a slope at the ends.
Sanding a slope at the ends.

The end goal is a set of boards that have a gap between them at the ends.  This is so when you attach them, the clamps will pull them together but it won’t bow up in the middle.

The gaps at the ends of the cauls.
The gaps at the ends of the cauls.

After I shaped them with the sander, I covered them in packing tape so the glue won’t stick to them.

Packing tape applied to the cauls.
Packing tape applied to the cauls.

Now, time to work on the actual benchtop.  First I laid the milled boards out how they will be glued together.

Arranging the boards.
Arranging the boards.

I am going to be using biscuits to align everything so I put little pieces of painters tape on the edges of the boards where I was planning on putting the biscuits.

Tape applied to the boards.
Tape applied to the boards.

Afterward, I made marks where I should center the slot for the biscuits.  The placement here isn’t critical.

The biscuit slot alignment marks.
The biscuit slot alignment marks.

Biscuit slot alignment marks.
Biscuit slot alignment marks.

Next I added some tape so I could number each board.  The reason I’m doing this with tape rather than just writing directly on the boards is because these boards are douglas fir and are pretty soft.  I didn’t want to make indentations from a pencil on them if I could avoid it.

The boards are all numbered and in order
The boards are all numbered and in order

Using the marks I had drawn, I used my biscuit joiner to make slots at all of the marks.

Lining up the biscuit joiner to cut the slot on the mark.
Lining up the biscuit joiner to cut the slot on the mark.

One of the biscuit slots.
One of the biscuit slots.

Biscuit slots cut into one of the edges.
Biscuit slots cut into one of the edges.

Now it’s time to try gluing this all together.  I decided to do this in sections, gluing up half at a time.  Setting up a few pipe clamps, I arranged the boards up so I could glue up four of the eight boards.

The boards are arranged so that the glue can be applied.
The boards are arranged so that the glue can be applied.

I applied a liberal amount of glue to the edges of three of the boards, including some extra glue in the biscuit slots.  Then I inserted a size 10 biscuit in each slot on the three boards with glue applied.

The biscuits are in place after the glue was applied to three of the edges.
The biscuits are in place after the glue was applied to three of the edges.

Then I carefully rotated the second, third, and fourth board and inserted some glue in those biscuit slots.  After that, I laid the boards out on the clamps so the biscuits inserted into the slots on the adjacent board and started to bring the clamps together.  I didn’t really tighten them that much since I needed to nudge a few of the boards with a rubber mallet to get the marks on the tape to line up again.

 

I got them all aligned and started to tighten up the clamps.

The glued up pieces being aligned to the marks on the tape.
The glued up pieces being aligned to the marks on the tape.

Now it’s time to attach the cauls.  I started by sliding one of the cauls under the glued up boards.  The side of the caul that I sanded the slope onto is facing up.

The bottom part of the caul set in place.
The bottom part of the caul set in place.

Then I set another caul on top of the glue up with the sloped edge facing down.

Setting the top of the caul in place.
Setting the top of the caul in place.

Then I clamped them together.  The slopes on the edges allows the cauls to bend as they “give” a little bit but will direct most of that deformity to the edges of the cauls instead of raising up off the glue up in the middle.

Both parts of the caul clamped together.
Both parts of the caul clamped together.

I attached the second set of cauls at the other end along with a few more clamps.

The second caul attached near the other end.
The second caul attached near the other end.

 

Time to wait…

After this sets up, I’ll do the same to the other half.  That’s going to have to wait until another day.

 

 

Up next: Workbench Part 3 – Change of plans.

 

Back to Workbench Part 1 – Milling down some 2 x 4s.

Making a guitar pick from a cracked cymbal – Part 2

,
Trent Davis2 Comments

This is an update to my original post titled Making a guitar pick from a cracked cymbal.

I learned a few things since making that first pick.  Here’s what I did differently.

First, I decided to trace an outline of the pick using an awl.  This works better since the red Sharpie kept getting rubbed off the cymbal as I was sanding it down.  You need to be careful when doing this but it seems to work okay.

The pick outline traced with an awl.
The pick outline traced with an awl.

 

Second, I decided to use a scroll saw with a metal cutting blade.  This will allow me to cut closer to the line which will result in less waste and less material that needs to be removed with sanding.  I bought three different types of blades.  The one I started with is the Pegas 90.503 45-tooth blade.

Pegas spiral No 2 blades. (Ref 90.503)
Pegas spiral No 2 blades. (Ref 90.503)

 

Again, I’m using the off-cut from a Zildjian A Custom 10″ Splash.

Getting ready to start cutting.
Getting ready to start cutting.

 

Cutting with the scroll saw was much easier.  The important thing to remember was to let the saw do the work.  I forgot this and got a little eager.  I ended up breaking a blade on this cut as a result.

Cutting out a the material.
Cutting out a the material.

 

Now that I had a smaller piece to work with, I was able to more precisely cut out each pick.  Once again, I ended up breaking a blade.  At that point I switched to a Pegas No. 4 90.505 38-tooth blade which was a little more aggressive.

A more manageable piece to work with.
A more manageable piece to work with.

 

The scroll saw was able to get the pieces closer to the final shape, which allowed me to save some of the small scraps in between each pick.  I’ll use these for something else, such as melting them down and casting them.

After rough-cutting on the scroll saw.
After rough-cutting on the scroll saw.

 

I found that it is actually easier to make several of these at a time simply because of the sanding process.  The problem with the sanding is that the metal heats up fairly quickly.  I got into a routine where I would sand one down and once it started to get warm, I would set it down to cool and grab the next one in line.  I would sand that one down a bit then switch to the next when it got warm, and so on.  I would just keep looping through the line until I got them pretty close to the final size.

After getting them close to the final size.
After getting them close to the final size.

 

After getting them close to the finished size, I used the original pick as a template by holding it in front of the sanded shape and see where I needed to take it down some more.

Lining up the original pick as a template.
Lining up the original pick as a template.

 

After using the pick as a template, they were really close to the final shape (the second pick in this photo had yet to go through this step).

After using the original pick as a template.
After using the original pick as a template.

 

Then I took them to my sanding block and manually sanded them down so they would have smooth edges.

Ready to be polished.

 

After that, I took them to the buffing wheel on my drill press.

5 more picks almost done being polished.
5 more picks almost done being polished.

 

And that’s it.  I think I’ve got this process down.  I’ve got a few picks being tested by other guitarists so I’ll compile the feedback and see how people like them.

Making a guitar pick from a cracked cymbal

,
Trent DavisOne Comment

Update: I created a follow-up post with a few things I did differently.  You can find that here.

I started with the remnant from a cut-down cymbal.  I chose a cut-off from a Zildjian A Custom 10″ Splash because of how thin it was and how it didn’t have much of a bow to it.

Zildjian A Custom 10" Splash.
Zildjian A Custom 10″ Splash.

 

Using a red extra fine point Sharpie, I traced the outline of one of my existing guitar picks.

Outline of the pick traced on the cymbal.
Outline of the pick traced on the cymbal.

 

This worked out okay but the red ink started to come off pretty quickly.  I think for future picks I will carefully scratch the outline with an awl.

Once the outline was traced, I took the cymbal to my Rockwell BladeRunner equipped with a metal cutting blade.

Rockwell BladeRunner
Rockwell BladeRunner

 

I didn’t need to cut it exactly on the lines.  In fact, it wouldn’t be possible with this type of tool.

Ready to rough cut the pick out of the cymbal.
Ready to rough cut the pick out of the cymbal.

 

All I was going for was a smaller section that I can take to my sanding tools for the final shaping.  When cutting something like a small cymbal remnant, it’s difficult to safely get it down to it’s final size using larger tools.  This was definitely an exercise in finding the right tool for the job, as you’ll see…

The rough cut.
The rough cut.

 

After getting it cut to a manageable size, I took it to my Ridgid oscillating belt sander.  My plan was to use this to get it to it’s final shape.

Taking the rough cut to my Ridgid Oscillating Belt Sander.
Taking the rough cut to my Ridgid Oscillating Belt Sander.

 

This proved to be too slow so I tried taking it to my disc sander instead.

Trying the disc sander instead.
Trying the disc sander instead.

 

The disc sander was too aggressive and not quite precise enough so I took it back to the oscillating belt sander.

Back at the belt sander.
Back at the belt sander.

 

I found the trick to getting it just right.  I would hold the pick in my hands a few inches off the table, rather than right on the table top.  This gave me more control but I needed to stop every few seconds to let the pick cool off since the friction would make it get extremely hot pretty quickly.

Rough shaping is done.
Rough shaping is done.

 

This got the pick to be pretty much the right shape, but the edges weren’t all that smooth.  I decided to do the final shaping by hand so I would have more control.  For this I used a sanding block.  I believe this block had 220 grit on it but I’m not entirely sure.

Final shaping is done on a sanding block.
Final shaping is done on a sanding block.

 

After getting the edges nice and smooth, they were left with a slight burr that was fairly jagged.  For this I just angled the pick so I could break down those burrs and get a smooth edge.

Knocking back the burr.
Knocking back the burr.

 

The final result was nice and smooth.  Now it just needed to be polished.

Final shaping is done.
Final shaping is done.

 

I equipped my drill press with a buffing wheel.

Buffing wheel on the drill press.
Buffing wheel on the drill press.

 

I started with the edges.  I did this in case I found any jagged spots that I missed.  If I did, I would take it back to the sanding block before finishing the pick on the buffing wheel.  After the edges were polished, I did the same thing to the front and back faces.

Polishing the edge.
Polishing the edge.

 

All done.

The final product.
The final product.

 

All in all, this worked out better than I expected.  Now it’s time to get into production mode and crank out a bunch more.

 

I’m going to test these out but I don’t have a lot of experience playing with metal picks.  They almost feel too slick so I may need to experiment with adding some texture somehow..  Have any of you made these before?  If so, how did they work as actual guitar picks?  Let me know in the comments below.

Update: I created a follow-up post with a few things I did differently.  You can find that here.