http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=MKikHxKeodA

Update:

Here’s some info in David Roentgen, the creator of that desk and some of his papers.

My two sons have need for 4 devices to share a single set of speakers… this presents a good challenge because of the switch that will be required. We’ll need a 4P3T, and finding one for less than $5 proved to be a huge challenge. I finally settled on one from Talon Electronics, a T-MEC switch was new, originally used in Soundcraftsmen Mixers. Bonus, it was designed for an audio application! The switch is advertized as a 4P4T, but it is not, it’s a 4P3T (which is all that is needed anyway). The knobs I purchased are not intended for the post on this switch, but I like how they look, so I’ll make them work. The stereo jacks are a Radio Shack part.

The front and back panel are clear plexi, spray painted on the backside. when installed, it will show the color, but appear glass like.

The finished product:

More detail at my blog, thanks for looking and stay warm!

dave.spalla.com

Since this is Lumber Jocks, I thought I would share some pics of the saw mill. They will saw your logs (you have to pre-arrange this) and use just steam power to do so! Using belts connected to the PTO of these massive tractors, logs are reduced to boards in no time.

I decided to use some bar stock, about 7/8” in diameter, just slightly larger than the slot. This would accomplish two things, first there would not have to be any adjustments in the miter slot to adjust out any slop, the bar sits nicely on the corners. Since the surface contact is at a minimum, it slides easily when required.

Next, I wanted a solid piece of steel to attach the magnet to, so 1/4” plate was selected for the task.

The finished project:

It works great, was cheap (free, access to scrap and tool room at work) and will last forever.

Thanks for looking!

The middle MDF black glued in place from last night.

Next, four holes countersunk to accept the 1/4-20 BHCS that will hold the track in place.

View of the hardware installed from the top side.

The hold-down slipping inside the aluminum channel.

Both tracks installed.

Now to glue up the blanks for the left and right side. Since I only have so many clamps, I stacked the two sets together.

With both blanks dried, I glued them to the table.

While waiting for the glue to dry, I drilled a couple 1/4” holes through the extrusion that I will be using for the fence. The bolts are 1/4-20×3 1/2” carriage SS bolts.

Now I’m getting somewhere! The middle piece of MDF will not be glue in place, it’s removable/replaceable in case I goof up and drill into it.

The final step is to wrap some pine around it, mitered at the corners. The back is not continuous so I can remove the fence if needed.

And here’s the final product. It turned out exactly as I wanted and works exactly as I expected. And it was a lot of fun to put together.

Thanks for looking!

I’ve decided to use some extruded aluminum (8020) and scrap 1/2” MDF for the project. I will laminate 3 sheets together to get the final dimension. Here’s what it will look like, minus the hardwood trim:

To get started, I cut a piece of 1/2” MDF that is the final size of the table. Then, carefully located the holes need to bolt the table to the drill press.

Once the holes were drilled out, I squared the top 3/16” to allow a carriage bolt to rest in it.

Once the four bolts are installed, then it was time to prepare the first layer glue-up. Since the bolt heads would interfere with the second piece, I had to drill out the space needed. I used a forstner bit to counter sink about 1/4”.

Here is the bottom board with the second laying upside down and next to the bolts.

Time for the first glue-up. The great thing about MDF is the flatness and the easy gluing.

That’s it for tonight…

Mounted the drawer pulls, one set of stainless and one set painted black.

Since the drawer fronts are double thick, I had to counter sink with a forstner bit so the screw could reach the drawer pull.

Next step is several coats of poly and then another project is done!

Anyone else hear about this?

Made a couple drawers, the last two for this mobile drawer cabinet (I’m building two simultaneously).

Then I cut the MDF top, and trimmed it with pine.

Using my Nobex saw, I mitered the four corners.

Installed the four casters…

Just sat the two new drawers in the cabinet, just to make sure the width was ok.

Will finish the project this coming weekend. I hope.

Using an awl, I created pilot holes for the drill bit.

A bit of tape on the bit so I don’t poke through to the other side.

Attached the drawer slides and put them in the cabinet.

And that’s it for tonight…

I was able to salvage four of the drawer assembles, I put those together with glue, brads and clamps. I got to use two of my new Jorgensen Cabinet Master clamps, and will be writing a review later (spoiler: they are fantastic).

The bottom and largest drawers.

The top and smallest drawers.

So, that’s it for today, kind of disappointing as I thought I would be finishing the project. But that will have to wait until next weekend when I can buy some pine and Masonite (for the drawer bottoms). Off to do some yard work.

But quickly realized that a quicker, more accurate way to lay out the lines would be a mini story pole.

Once the center lines were laid out, then it was time to install the slides. I used an awl to create a pilot for the 7/16” drill bit needed for the screws.

I also used a 3/4” scrap to position the slides.

Next, I cut out all the drawer blanks, ready for tomorrow’s rabbeting operation. Then install the drawer bottoms, attach drawer fronts and pulls and finish it off with some semi-gloss poly. Busy day tomorrow!

Tiger, the shop cat!

Cut the MDF inserts for the panels. Glued in place, no fasteners used.

What’s that saying about clamps?

Next, the stretchers that connect the two side panels are attached with glue and pocket screws.

That’s it for today, I’ll get back out there when the temp comes down a bit!

The goal is for me today is to start the side panels. Each will be pine with an MDF core. When completed, it will look much like a cabinet door (for now).

Dado set with the ZCI and sacrificial fence:

The boards are rabbeted:

And the pieces are dry fit together:

Glue and clamp time, no fasteners will be used.

That’s it for today… another weekend flew by.

Quite some time ago I was at a home show at Pheasant Run Resort and there wan an infomercial style booth set up where a guy was selling a bench clamp. I got caught up in the sales pitch and shelled out about $100 bucks for this thing:

At the time, I was living in a townhouse, and believe it or not, the two car garage was bigger than the one in our current single family. I had a dedicated bench do clamp this thing on. When we moved into this house about 13 years ago, I lost the bench space and this clamp has been in a box since.

Well, I have a bench again, and yesterday I pulled out the clamp and started reevaluating it and rediscovered that it’s not worth anywhere near the amount I paid for it.

It’s cast aluminum which makes it light weight, but it also flexes quite a lot. In the above picture, the amount of force required to secure the block in the vise made me think the jaws were going to snap.

Used in this configuration, it seems the most stable, and perhaps the most useful:

I can also be rotated using a different attachment:

So, it is a pretty good device, worthy of 3 stars. But is it worth the amount of money I paid for it? No way.

Anyone else have one of these? What are your thoughts?

Some of it is in pretty rough shape, but there is quite a lot that is ok. One side is clean, the other side has dirt and oil on it. I’m hoping that the oil does not penetrate too deeply. We’ll see.

When the bundles of bar stock are removed from the pine crate, they are laid flat across several pieces of oak until delivered to the CNC machines. I managed to snag of several of these as well:

The oak is 3-1/4×2-1/2, roughly cut. Some is plain sawn, while some is quarter sawn.

First step will be prep, make sure there are not any bits of metal or other debris embedded in the wood, then a trip through the planer. The only thing I’m not sure of is if this is dry enough to use. Since it is not intended for woodworking, it probably isn’t air or kiln dried. Not sure how to find out without purchasing a moister meter.

Have a safe holiday weekend, and honor those that have served this great country!

Those are some pine shaving left over from surfacing some panels. I’m not sure how many more times they can be sharpened, but for now this is a working solution.