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DeWalt PowerShop Build

16K views 114 replies 23 participants last post by  ToddJB 
#1 ·
Why? What? Where? How? When?

Good day, and welcome to the initial installment of my DeWalt RAS cabinet blog.

Background
Woodworking is a hobby for me, nothing more and nothing less. Within the realm of hobby lies a tremendous range of passion; there's 'love it, can't live without' all the way to 'it's something to tinker with when there's no sports on TV.' I'm closer to the former than the latter, but I'm also a very patient fellow when it comes to getting things done the way I want them. Bottom line: It's the journey.

Why start a blog with reflection? Why indeed. The answer lies in the connection of dots, the songline that dictates the development of my shop space and the tools it contains. Some of the things in my shop, the workbench for example, were game-changers in ways I did not anticipate. Other shop tools have been instigators in the same sense as my bench, and it is one of those ancillary paths that is the focus of this short blog series. I bought a 1956 DeWalt MBF 9" radial arm saw via Craigslist about three years ago for the tidy sum of $100. Although the saw lacked a decent blade and pawl, it did come with a rather spiffy, customized "General Electric" stand.

Furniture Automotive tire Helmet Wood Lifejacket


Don't get me wrong. The GE stand is nice, in a 60s / Jetsons vibe kind of way, but there's always been a sense it was not a permanent fixture. It's not rickety, but there's no way to add extensions to either side of the saw's top. To work longer stock of all varieties, I envisioned a wall-length work surface that would incorporate the RAS. The surface would also include a removable fence and stop blocks for repeating cuts. Oh, and it would have to be visually appealing, like those great workstations I see in the workshop books and posted on LJs. Because what I have now is not inspirational in any way…

Property Table Wood Floor Flooring


The simple fact is, I'm not very good at creating things from scratch. I'm a copier by nature. An improver, if you will. Give me a broken down piece of something and I'll make something useful out of it. If it's a decent piece I'll kick it up a notch. But when I'm presented with a blank slate it's tough to get started. So the Spiffy GE Stand endured as the home for the DeWalt MBF as the months went by and the excuse list grew.

- When I realized (rationalized) any type of RAS cabinet would be in the way while a partition wall was built in the shop, the cabinet waited.

- When I couldn't decide what the RAS cabinet should look like, doing nothing seemed to be a sound approach. So the cabinet waited.

- When I decided it would be an actual cabinet, I figured whatever I built would be too big and heavy to move out of the way when I finally got around to laying down a wood floor. So the cabinet waited.

Fast forward to today, and all the boxes have now been checked. The partition wall was completed in 2012, the DeWalt PowerShop Workbench was blogged about eleven months ago and the shop floor was installed at the end of October 2013. I even had a picture of a completed cabinet (see blog link above). No excuses anymore, time to get started.

Inspiration
I'll build a RAS cabinet in the style suggested by my saw's OEM via "Plan No. DW102".

Font Motor vehicle Machine Metal


I appreciate "F.W. Lane" and his pack-ratting ways… Because he saved his copy of the big DeWalt fold-out poster, I'm able to build it today. With a copyright date of 1954, it's right on to be a match to my RAS. The drawings for the bench include construction methods that are certainly not common today. Key to this cabinet is a pair of horizontal 2×4 support beams notched into a series of vertical 1×6 ribs. The toe kick has to be cut from each rib. All inside shelves and the cabinet bottom are cut around the ribbed interior space as well. My first impression is 'overbuilt and needlessly labor-intensive', but I'm committed to building this thing in period style anyway. Even the dimension lumber called out in the drawing is off from today's milled goods. I plan to use key dimensions and build the rest to fit.

Wrap-up
First time working with a real materials list, and that gave me an idea how much 1x stock I needed. That was a WAG though, as I'm modifying the original plan to better fill the space in my shop. My father found a number of donor pieces and the rest of what I thought would be needed was bought outright (a rare occurrence in my world).

Wood Table Hardwood Plank Wood stain


Construction will use the best tools for the job, be it hand tool or tailed apprentice.

So I have my excuses out of the way and material on-hand. It's time to get this build underway; I have no idea how long this one will be in-work, but I can't let that stop me. Stay tuned for the next installment, where sawdust is guaranteed to be seen. Until then, as always, thanks for looking!
 

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#2 ·
Why? What? Where? How? When?

Good day, and welcome to the initial installment of my DeWalt RAS cabinet blog.

Background
Woodworking is a hobby for me, nothing more and nothing less. Within the realm of hobby lies a tremendous range of passion; there's 'love it, can't live without' all the way to 'it's something to tinker with when there's no sports on TV.' I'm closer to the former than the latter, but I'm also a very patient fellow when it comes to getting things done the way I want them. Bottom line: It's the journey.

Why start a blog with reflection? Why indeed. The answer lies in the connection of dots, the songline that dictates the development of my shop space and the tools it contains. Some of the things in my shop, the workbench for example, were game-changers in ways I did not anticipate. Other shop tools have been instigators in the same sense as my bench, and it is one of those ancillary paths that is the focus of this short blog series. I bought a 1956 DeWalt MBF 9" radial arm saw via Craigslist about three years ago for the tidy sum of $100. Although the saw lacked a decent blade and pawl, it did come with a rather spiffy, customized "General Electric" stand.

Furniture Automotive tire Helmet Wood Lifejacket


Don't get me wrong. The GE stand is nice, in a 60s / Jetsons vibe kind of way, but there's always been a sense it was not a permanent fixture. It's not rickety, but there's no way to add extensions to either side of the saw's top. To work longer stock of all varieties, I envisioned a wall-length work surface that would incorporate the RAS. The surface would also include a removable fence and stop blocks for repeating cuts. Oh, and it would have to be visually appealing, like those great workstations I see in the workshop books and posted on LJs. Because what I have now is not inspirational in any way…

Property Table Wood Floor Flooring


The simple fact is, I'm not very good at creating things from scratch. I'm a copier by nature. An improver, if you will. Give me a broken down piece of something and I'll make something useful out of it. If it's a decent piece I'll kick it up a notch. But when I'm presented with a blank slate it's tough to get started. So the Spiffy GE Stand endured as the home for the DeWalt MBF as the months went by and the excuse list grew.

- When I realized (rationalized) any type of RAS cabinet would be in the way while a partition wall was built in the shop, the cabinet waited.

- When I couldn't decide what the RAS cabinet should look like, doing nothing seemed to be a sound approach. So the cabinet waited.

- When I decided it would be an actual cabinet, I figured whatever I built would be too big and heavy to move out of the way when I finally got around to laying down a wood floor. So the cabinet waited.

Fast forward to today, and all the boxes have now been checked. The partition wall was completed in 2012, the DeWalt PowerShop Workbench was blogged about eleven months ago and the shop floor was installed at the end of October 2013. I even had a picture of a completed cabinet (see blog link above). No excuses anymore, time to get started.

Inspiration
I'll build a RAS cabinet in the style suggested by my saw's OEM via "Plan No. DW102".

Font Motor vehicle Machine Metal


I appreciate "F.W. Lane" and his pack-ratting ways… Because he saved his copy of the big DeWalt fold-out poster, I'm able to build it today. With a copyright date of 1954, it's right on to be a match to my RAS. The drawings for the bench include construction methods that are certainly not common today. Key to this cabinet is a pair of horizontal 2×4 support beams notched into a series of vertical 1×6 ribs. The toe kick has to be cut from each rib. All inside shelves and the cabinet bottom are cut around the ribbed interior space as well. My first impression is 'overbuilt and needlessly labor-intensive', but I'm committed to building this thing in period style anyway. Even the dimension lumber called out in the drawing is off from today's milled goods. I plan to use key dimensions and build the rest to fit.

Wrap-up
First time working with a real materials list, and that gave me an idea how much 1x stock I needed. That was a WAG though, as I'm modifying the original plan to better fill the space in my shop. My father found a number of donor pieces and the rest of what I thought would be needed was bought outright (a rare occurrence in my world).

Wood Table Hardwood Plank Wood stain


Construction will use the best tools for the job, be it hand tool or tailed apprentice.

So I have my excuses out of the way and material on-hand. It's time to get this build underway; I have no idea how long this one will be in-work, but I can't let that stop me. Stay tuned for the next installment, where sawdust is guaranteed to be seen. Until then, as always, thanks for looking!
Great blog, Smitty. Love plan dw102… just perfect for your shop!

Cannot wait for the sawdust…
 

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#3 ·
Why? What? Where? How? When?

Good day, and welcome to the initial installment of my DeWalt RAS cabinet blog.

Background
Woodworking is a hobby for me, nothing more and nothing less. Within the realm of hobby lies a tremendous range of passion; there's 'love it, can't live without' all the way to 'it's something to tinker with when there's no sports on TV.' I'm closer to the former than the latter, but I'm also a very patient fellow when it comes to getting things done the way I want them. Bottom line: It's the journey.

Why start a blog with reflection? Why indeed. The answer lies in the connection of dots, the songline that dictates the development of my shop space and the tools it contains. Some of the things in my shop, the workbench for example, were game-changers in ways I did not anticipate. Other shop tools have been instigators in the same sense as my bench, and it is one of those ancillary paths that is the focus of this short blog series. I bought a 1956 DeWalt MBF 9" radial arm saw via Craigslist about three years ago for the tidy sum of $100. Although the saw lacked a decent blade and pawl, it did come with a rather spiffy, customized "General Electric" stand.

Furniture Automotive tire Helmet Wood Lifejacket


Don't get me wrong. The GE stand is nice, in a 60s / Jetsons vibe kind of way, but there's always been a sense it was not a permanent fixture. It's not rickety, but there's no way to add extensions to either side of the saw's top. To work longer stock of all varieties, I envisioned a wall-length work surface that would incorporate the RAS. The surface would also include a removable fence and stop blocks for repeating cuts. Oh, and it would have to be visually appealing, like those great workstations I see in the workshop books and posted on LJs. Because what I have now is not inspirational in any way…

Property Table Wood Floor Flooring


The simple fact is, I'm not very good at creating things from scratch. I'm a copier by nature. An improver, if you will. Give me a broken down piece of something and I'll make something useful out of it. If it's a decent piece I'll kick it up a notch. But when I'm presented with a blank slate it's tough to get started. So the Spiffy GE Stand endured as the home for the DeWalt MBF as the months went by and the excuse list grew.

- When I realized (rationalized) any type of RAS cabinet would be in the way while a partition wall was built in the shop, the cabinet waited.

- When I couldn't decide what the RAS cabinet should look like, doing nothing seemed to be a sound approach. So the cabinet waited.

- When I decided it would be an actual cabinet, I figured whatever I built would be too big and heavy to move out of the way when I finally got around to laying down a wood floor. So the cabinet waited.

Fast forward to today, and all the boxes have now been checked. The partition wall was completed in 2012, the DeWalt PowerShop Workbench was blogged about eleven months ago and the shop floor was installed at the end of October 2013. I even had a picture of a completed cabinet (see blog link above). No excuses anymore, time to get started.

Inspiration
I'll build a RAS cabinet in the style suggested by my saw's OEM via "Plan No. DW102".

Font Motor vehicle Machine Metal


I appreciate "F.W. Lane" and his pack-ratting ways… Because he saved his copy of the big DeWalt fold-out poster, I'm able to build it today. With a copyright date of 1954, it's right on to be a match to my RAS. The drawings for the bench include construction methods that are certainly not common today. Key to this cabinet is a pair of horizontal 2×4 support beams notched into a series of vertical 1×6 ribs. The toe kick has to be cut from each rib. All inside shelves and the cabinet bottom are cut around the ribbed interior space as well. My first impression is 'overbuilt and needlessly labor-intensive', but I'm committed to building this thing in period style anyway. Even the dimension lumber called out in the drawing is off from today's milled goods. I plan to use key dimensions and build the rest to fit.

Wrap-up
First time working with a real materials list, and that gave me an idea how much 1x stock I needed. That was a WAG though, as I'm modifying the original plan to better fill the space in my shop. My father found a number of donor pieces and the rest of what I thought would be needed was bought outright (a rare occurrence in my world).

Wood Table Hardwood Plank Wood stain


Construction will use the best tools for the job, be it hand tool or tailed apprentice.

So I have my excuses out of the way and material on-hand. It's time to get this build underway; I have no idea how long this one will be in-work, but I can't let that stop me. Stay tuned for the next installment, where sawdust is guaranteed to be seen. Until then, as always, thanks for looking!
that's quit a RAS cabinet. It'll fit your shop well.
 

Attachments

#4 ·
Why? What? Where? How? When?

Good day, and welcome to the initial installment of my DeWalt RAS cabinet blog.

Background
Woodworking is a hobby for me, nothing more and nothing less. Within the realm of hobby lies a tremendous range of passion; there's 'love it, can't live without' all the way to 'it's something to tinker with when there's no sports on TV.' I'm closer to the former than the latter, but I'm also a very patient fellow when it comes to getting things done the way I want them. Bottom line: It's the journey.

Why start a blog with reflection? Why indeed. The answer lies in the connection of dots, the songline that dictates the development of my shop space and the tools it contains. Some of the things in my shop, the workbench for example, were game-changers in ways I did not anticipate. Other shop tools have been instigators in the same sense as my bench, and it is one of those ancillary paths that is the focus of this short blog series. I bought a 1956 DeWalt MBF 9" radial arm saw via Craigslist about three years ago for the tidy sum of $100. Although the saw lacked a decent blade and pawl, it did come with a rather spiffy, customized "General Electric" stand.

Furniture Automotive tire Helmet Wood Lifejacket


Don't get me wrong. The GE stand is nice, in a 60s / Jetsons vibe kind of way, but there's always been a sense it was not a permanent fixture. It's not rickety, but there's no way to add extensions to either side of the saw's top. To work longer stock of all varieties, I envisioned a wall-length work surface that would incorporate the RAS. The surface would also include a removable fence and stop blocks for repeating cuts. Oh, and it would have to be visually appealing, like those great workstations I see in the workshop books and posted on LJs. Because what I have now is not inspirational in any way…

Property Table Wood Floor Flooring


The simple fact is, I'm not very good at creating things from scratch. I'm a copier by nature. An improver, if you will. Give me a broken down piece of something and I'll make something useful out of it. If it's a decent piece I'll kick it up a notch. But when I'm presented with a blank slate it's tough to get started. So the Spiffy GE Stand endured as the home for the DeWalt MBF as the months went by and the excuse list grew.

- When I realized (rationalized) any type of RAS cabinet would be in the way while a partition wall was built in the shop, the cabinet waited.

- When I couldn't decide what the RAS cabinet should look like, doing nothing seemed to be a sound approach. So the cabinet waited.

- When I decided it would be an actual cabinet, I figured whatever I built would be too big and heavy to move out of the way when I finally got around to laying down a wood floor. So the cabinet waited.

Fast forward to today, and all the boxes have now been checked. The partition wall was completed in 2012, the DeWalt PowerShop Workbench was blogged about eleven months ago and the shop floor was installed at the end of October 2013. I even had a picture of a completed cabinet (see blog link above). No excuses anymore, time to get started.

Inspiration
I'll build a RAS cabinet in the style suggested by my saw's OEM via "Plan No. DW102".

Font Motor vehicle Machine Metal


I appreciate "F.W. Lane" and his pack-ratting ways… Because he saved his copy of the big DeWalt fold-out poster, I'm able to build it today. With a copyright date of 1954, it's right on to be a match to my RAS. The drawings for the bench include construction methods that are certainly not common today. Key to this cabinet is a pair of horizontal 2×4 support beams notched into a series of vertical 1×6 ribs. The toe kick has to be cut from each rib. All inside shelves and the cabinet bottom are cut around the ribbed interior space as well. My first impression is 'overbuilt and needlessly labor-intensive', but I'm committed to building this thing in period style anyway. Even the dimension lumber called out in the drawing is off from today's milled goods. I plan to use key dimensions and build the rest to fit.

Wrap-up
First time working with a real materials list, and that gave me an idea how much 1x stock I needed. That was a WAG though, as I'm modifying the original plan to better fill the space in my shop. My father found a number of donor pieces and the rest of what I thought would be needed was bought outright (a rare occurrence in my world).

Wood Table Hardwood Plank Wood stain


Construction will use the best tools for the job, be it hand tool or tailed apprentice.

So I have my excuses out of the way and material on-hand. It's time to get this build underway; I have no idea how long this one will be in-work, but I can't let that stop me. Stay tuned for the next installment, where sawdust is guaranteed to be seen. Until then, as always, thanks for looking!
Smitty a very interesting read. You gave us insights on your passion and thought processes.
This build should be most interesting and fun.
 

Attachments

#5 ·
Why? What? Where? How? When?

Good day, and welcome to the initial installment of my DeWalt RAS cabinet blog.

Background
Woodworking is a hobby for me, nothing more and nothing less. Within the realm of hobby lies a tremendous range of passion; there's 'love it, can't live without' all the way to 'it's something to tinker with when there's no sports on TV.' I'm closer to the former than the latter, but I'm also a very patient fellow when it comes to getting things done the way I want them. Bottom line: It's the journey.

Why start a blog with reflection? Why indeed. The answer lies in the connection of dots, the songline that dictates the development of my shop space and the tools it contains. Some of the things in my shop, the workbench for example, were game-changers in ways I did not anticipate. Other shop tools have been instigators in the same sense as my bench, and it is one of those ancillary paths that is the focus of this short blog series. I bought a 1956 DeWalt MBF 9" radial arm saw via Craigslist about three years ago for the tidy sum of $100. Although the saw lacked a decent blade and pawl, it did come with a rather spiffy, customized "General Electric" stand.

Furniture Automotive tire Helmet Wood Lifejacket


Don't get me wrong. The GE stand is nice, in a 60s / Jetsons vibe kind of way, but there's always been a sense it was not a permanent fixture. It's not rickety, but there's no way to add extensions to either side of the saw's top. To work longer stock of all varieties, I envisioned a wall-length work surface that would incorporate the RAS. The surface would also include a removable fence and stop blocks for repeating cuts. Oh, and it would have to be visually appealing, like those great workstations I see in the workshop books and posted on LJs. Because what I have now is not inspirational in any way…

Property Table Wood Floor Flooring


The simple fact is, I'm not very good at creating things from scratch. I'm a copier by nature. An improver, if you will. Give me a broken down piece of something and I'll make something useful out of it. If it's a decent piece I'll kick it up a notch. But when I'm presented with a blank slate it's tough to get started. So the Spiffy GE Stand endured as the home for the DeWalt MBF as the months went by and the excuse list grew.

- When I realized (rationalized) any type of RAS cabinet would be in the way while a partition wall was built in the shop, the cabinet waited.

- When I couldn't decide what the RAS cabinet should look like, doing nothing seemed to be a sound approach. So the cabinet waited.

- When I decided it would be an actual cabinet, I figured whatever I built would be too big and heavy to move out of the way when I finally got around to laying down a wood floor. So the cabinet waited.

Fast forward to today, and all the boxes have now been checked. The partition wall was completed in 2012, the DeWalt PowerShop Workbench was blogged about eleven months ago and the shop floor was installed at the end of October 2013. I even had a picture of a completed cabinet (see blog link above). No excuses anymore, time to get started.

Inspiration
I'll build a RAS cabinet in the style suggested by my saw's OEM via "Plan No. DW102".

Font Motor vehicle Machine Metal


I appreciate "F.W. Lane" and his pack-ratting ways… Because he saved his copy of the big DeWalt fold-out poster, I'm able to build it today. With a copyright date of 1954, it's right on to be a match to my RAS. The drawings for the bench include construction methods that are certainly not common today. Key to this cabinet is a pair of horizontal 2×4 support beams notched into a series of vertical 1×6 ribs. The toe kick has to be cut from each rib. All inside shelves and the cabinet bottom are cut around the ribbed interior space as well. My first impression is 'overbuilt and needlessly labor-intensive', but I'm committed to building this thing in period style anyway. Even the dimension lumber called out in the drawing is off from today's milled goods. I plan to use key dimensions and build the rest to fit.

Wrap-up
First time working with a real materials list, and that gave me an idea how much 1x stock I needed. That was a WAG though, as I'm modifying the original plan to better fill the space in my shop. My father found a number of donor pieces and the rest of what I thought would be needed was bought outright (a rare occurrence in my world).

Wood Table Hardwood Plank Wood stain


Construction will use the best tools for the job, be it hand tool or tailed apprentice.

So I have my excuses out of the way and material on-hand. It's time to get this build underway; I have no idea how long this one will be in-work, but I can't let that stop me. Stay tuned for the next installment, where sawdust is guaranteed to be seen. Until then, as always, thanks for looking!
Last time you were "baffled" by the baffle. Did you get that resolved?
 

Attachments

#6 ·
Why? What? Where? How? When?

Good day, and welcome to the initial installment of my DeWalt RAS cabinet blog.

Background
Woodworking is a hobby for me, nothing more and nothing less. Within the realm of hobby lies a tremendous range of passion; there's 'love it, can't live without' all the way to 'it's something to tinker with when there's no sports on TV.' I'm closer to the former than the latter, but I'm also a very patient fellow when it comes to getting things done the way I want them. Bottom line: It's the journey.

Why start a blog with reflection? Why indeed. The answer lies in the connection of dots, the songline that dictates the development of my shop space and the tools it contains. Some of the things in my shop, the workbench for example, were game-changers in ways I did not anticipate. Other shop tools have been instigators in the same sense as my bench, and it is one of those ancillary paths that is the focus of this short blog series. I bought a 1956 DeWalt MBF 9" radial arm saw via Craigslist about three years ago for the tidy sum of $100. Although the saw lacked a decent blade and pawl, it did come with a rather spiffy, customized "General Electric" stand.

Furniture Automotive tire Helmet Wood Lifejacket


Don't get me wrong. The GE stand is nice, in a 60s / Jetsons vibe kind of way, but there's always been a sense it was not a permanent fixture. It's not rickety, but there's no way to add extensions to either side of the saw's top. To work longer stock of all varieties, I envisioned a wall-length work surface that would incorporate the RAS. The surface would also include a removable fence and stop blocks for repeating cuts. Oh, and it would have to be visually appealing, like those great workstations I see in the workshop books and posted on LJs. Because what I have now is not inspirational in any way…

Property Table Wood Floor Flooring


The simple fact is, I'm not very good at creating things from scratch. I'm a copier by nature. An improver, if you will. Give me a broken down piece of something and I'll make something useful out of it. If it's a decent piece I'll kick it up a notch. But when I'm presented with a blank slate it's tough to get started. So the Spiffy GE Stand endured as the home for the DeWalt MBF as the months went by and the excuse list grew.

- When I realized (rationalized) any type of RAS cabinet would be in the way while a partition wall was built in the shop, the cabinet waited.

- When I couldn't decide what the RAS cabinet should look like, doing nothing seemed to be a sound approach. So the cabinet waited.

- When I decided it would be an actual cabinet, I figured whatever I built would be too big and heavy to move out of the way when I finally got around to laying down a wood floor. So the cabinet waited.

Fast forward to today, and all the boxes have now been checked. The partition wall was completed in 2012, the DeWalt PowerShop Workbench was blogged about eleven months ago and the shop floor was installed at the end of October 2013. I even had a picture of a completed cabinet (see blog link above). No excuses anymore, time to get started.

Inspiration
I'll build a RAS cabinet in the style suggested by my saw's OEM via "Plan No. DW102".

Font Motor vehicle Machine Metal


I appreciate "F.W. Lane" and his pack-ratting ways… Because he saved his copy of the big DeWalt fold-out poster, I'm able to build it today. With a copyright date of 1954, it's right on to be a match to my RAS. The drawings for the bench include construction methods that are certainly not common today. Key to this cabinet is a pair of horizontal 2×4 support beams notched into a series of vertical 1×6 ribs. The toe kick has to be cut from each rib. All inside shelves and the cabinet bottom are cut around the ribbed interior space as well. My first impression is 'overbuilt and needlessly labor-intensive', but I'm committed to building this thing in period style anyway. Even the dimension lumber called out in the drawing is off from today's milled goods. I plan to use key dimensions and build the rest to fit.

Wrap-up
First time working with a real materials list, and that gave me an idea how much 1x stock I needed. That was a WAG though, as I'm modifying the original plan to better fill the space in my shop. My father found a number of donor pieces and the rest of what I thought would be needed was bought outright (a rare occurrence in my world).

Wood Table Hardwood Plank Wood stain


Construction will use the best tools for the job, be it hand tool or tailed apprentice.

So I have my excuses out of the way and material on-hand. It's time to get this build underway; I have no idea how long this one will be in-work, but I can't let that stop me. Stay tuned for the next installment, where sawdust is guaranteed to be seen. Until then, as always, thanks for looking!
Never mind.

I went and re-read the other blog. Now I remember that dude Dave coming in from nowhere and noticing the 18" vs 24" depth. That was strong work.

Interestingly, he has only made 3 more posts since.
 

Attachments

#7 ·
Why? What? Where? How? When?

Good day, and welcome to the initial installment of my DeWalt RAS cabinet blog.

Background
Woodworking is a hobby for me, nothing more and nothing less. Within the realm of hobby lies a tremendous range of passion; there's 'love it, can't live without' all the way to 'it's something to tinker with when there's no sports on TV.' I'm closer to the former than the latter, but I'm also a very patient fellow when it comes to getting things done the way I want them. Bottom line: It's the journey.

Why start a blog with reflection? Why indeed. The answer lies in the connection of dots, the songline that dictates the development of my shop space and the tools it contains. Some of the things in my shop, the workbench for example, were game-changers in ways I did not anticipate. Other shop tools have been instigators in the same sense as my bench, and it is one of those ancillary paths that is the focus of this short blog series. I bought a 1956 DeWalt MBF 9" radial arm saw via Craigslist about three years ago for the tidy sum of $100. Although the saw lacked a decent blade and pawl, it did come with a rather spiffy, customized "General Electric" stand.

Furniture Automotive tire Helmet Wood Lifejacket


Don't get me wrong. The GE stand is nice, in a 60s / Jetsons vibe kind of way, but there's always been a sense it was not a permanent fixture. It's not rickety, but there's no way to add extensions to either side of the saw's top. To work longer stock of all varieties, I envisioned a wall-length work surface that would incorporate the RAS. The surface would also include a removable fence and stop blocks for repeating cuts. Oh, and it would have to be visually appealing, like those great workstations I see in the workshop books and posted on LJs. Because what I have now is not inspirational in any way…

Property Table Wood Floor Flooring


The simple fact is, I'm not very good at creating things from scratch. I'm a copier by nature. An improver, if you will. Give me a broken down piece of something and I'll make something useful out of it. If it's a decent piece I'll kick it up a notch. But when I'm presented with a blank slate it's tough to get started. So the Spiffy GE Stand endured as the home for the DeWalt MBF as the months went by and the excuse list grew.

- When I realized (rationalized) any type of RAS cabinet would be in the way while a partition wall was built in the shop, the cabinet waited.

- When I couldn't decide what the RAS cabinet should look like, doing nothing seemed to be a sound approach. So the cabinet waited.

- When I decided it would be an actual cabinet, I figured whatever I built would be too big and heavy to move out of the way when I finally got around to laying down a wood floor. So the cabinet waited.

Fast forward to today, and all the boxes have now been checked. The partition wall was completed in 2012, the DeWalt PowerShop Workbench was blogged about eleven months ago and the shop floor was installed at the end of October 2013. I even had a picture of a completed cabinet (see blog link above). No excuses anymore, time to get started.

Inspiration
I'll build a RAS cabinet in the style suggested by my saw's OEM via "Plan No. DW102".

Font Motor vehicle Machine Metal


I appreciate "F.W. Lane" and his pack-ratting ways… Because he saved his copy of the big DeWalt fold-out poster, I'm able to build it today. With a copyright date of 1954, it's right on to be a match to my RAS. The drawings for the bench include construction methods that are certainly not common today. Key to this cabinet is a pair of horizontal 2×4 support beams notched into a series of vertical 1×6 ribs. The toe kick has to be cut from each rib. All inside shelves and the cabinet bottom are cut around the ribbed interior space as well. My first impression is 'overbuilt and needlessly labor-intensive', but I'm committed to building this thing in period style anyway. Even the dimension lumber called out in the drawing is off from today's milled goods. I plan to use key dimensions and build the rest to fit.

Wrap-up
First time working with a real materials list, and that gave me an idea how much 1x stock I needed. That was a WAG though, as I'm modifying the original plan to better fill the space in my shop. My father found a number of donor pieces and the rest of what I thought would be needed was bought outright (a rare occurrence in my world).

Wood Table Hardwood Plank Wood stain


Construction will use the best tools for the job, be it hand tool or tailed apprentice.

So I have my excuses out of the way and material on-hand. It's time to get this build underway; I have no idea how long this one will be in-work, but I can't let that stop me. Stay tuned for the next installment, where sawdust is guaranteed to be seen. Until then, as always, thanks for looking!
I've pm'd freakazoid from that blog, he's still in the game and planning his PowerShop build as well. :) I've not checked in with Dave, and you're right. It was very strong work on his part. Note the drawer on wheels in the actual picture of the cabinet. That will be done here, I'm just sayin'...

There are a few other changes envisioned to the draw'd version of the bench. It's too tall, and the aesthetic is a bit stocky to my eye and will be addressed (I hope) during the build. The end caps will not be painted ply, for example, but raised panels or beadboard panels. The top will not be plywood, either. All that is notional at this point (not planned in detail at all) because there's lots to do between now and the time those details become reality.
 

Attachments

#8 ·
Why? What? Where? How? When?

Good day, and welcome to the initial installment of my DeWalt RAS cabinet blog.

Background
Woodworking is a hobby for me, nothing more and nothing less. Within the realm of hobby lies a tremendous range of passion; there's 'love it, can't live without' all the way to 'it's something to tinker with when there's no sports on TV.' I'm closer to the former than the latter, but I'm also a very patient fellow when it comes to getting things done the way I want them. Bottom line: It's the journey.

Why start a blog with reflection? Why indeed. The answer lies in the connection of dots, the songline that dictates the development of my shop space and the tools it contains. Some of the things in my shop, the workbench for example, were game-changers in ways I did not anticipate. Other shop tools have been instigators in the same sense as my bench, and it is one of those ancillary paths that is the focus of this short blog series. I bought a 1956 DeWalt MBF 9" radial arm saw via Craigslist about three years ago for the tidy sum of $100. Although the saw lacked a decent blade and pawl, it did come with a rather spiffy, customized "General Electric" stand.

Furniture Automotive tire Helmet Wood Lifejacket


Don't get me wrong. The GE stand is nice, in a 60s / Jetsons vibe kind of way, but there's always been a sense it was not a permanent fixture. It's not rickety, but there's no way to add extensions to either side of the saw's top. To work longer stock of all varieties, I envisioned a wall-length work surface that would incorporate the RAS. The surface would also include a removable fence and stop blocks for repeating cuts. Oh, and it would have to be visually appealing, like those great workstations I see in the workshop books and posted on LJs. Because what I have now is not inspirational in any way…

Property Table Wood Floor Flooring


The simple fact is, I'm not very good at creating things from scratch. I'm a copier by nature. An improver, if you will. Give me a broken down piece of something and I'll make something useful out of it. If it's a decent piece I'll kick it up a notch. But when I'm presented with a blank slate it's tough to get started. So the Spiffy GE Stand endured as the home for the DeWalt MBF as the months went by and the excuse list grew.

- When I realized (rationalized) any type of RAS cabinet would be in the way while a partition wall was built in the shop, the cabinet waited.

- When I couldn't decide what the RAS cabinet should look like, doing nothing seemed to be a sound approach. So the cabinet waited.

- When I decided it would be an actual cabinet, I figured whatever I built would be too big and heavy to move out of the way when I finally got around to laying down a wood floor. So the cabinet waited.

Fast forward to today, and all the boxes have now been checked. The partition wall was completed in 2012, the DeWalt PowerShop Workbench was blogged about eleven months ago and the shop floor was installed at the end of October 2013. I even had a picture of a completed cabinet (see blog link above). No excuses anymore, time to get started.

Inspiration
I'll build a RAS cabinet in the style suggested by my saw's OEM via "Plan No. DW102".

Font Motor vehicle Machine Metal


I appreciate "F.W. Lane" and his pack-ratting ways… Because he saved his copy of the big DeWalt fold-out poster, I'm able to build it today. With a copyright date of 1954, it's right on to be a match to my RAS. The drawings for the bench include construction methods that are certainly not common today. Key to this cabinet is a pair of horizontal 2×4 support beams notched into a series of vertical 1×6 ribs. The toe kick has to be cut from each rib. All inside shelves and the cabinet bottom are cut around the ribbed interior space as well. My first impression is 'overbuilt and needlessly labor-intensive', but I'm committed to building this thing in period style anyway. Even the dimension lumber called out in the drawing is off from today's milled goods. I plan to use key dimensions and build the rest to fit.

Wrap-up
First time working with a real materials list, and that gave me an idea how much 1x stock I needed. That was a WAG though, as I'm modifying the original plan to better fill the space in my shop. My father found a number of donor pieces and the rest of what I thought would be needed was bought outright (a rare occurrence in my world).

Wood Table Hardwood Plank Wood stain


Construction will use the best tools for the job, be it hand tool or tailed apprentice.

So I have my excuses out of the way and material on-hand. It's time to get this build underway; I have no idea how long this one will be in-work, but I can't let that stop me. Stay tuned for the next installment, where sawdust is guaranteed to be seen. Until then, as always, thanks for looking!
For ease of reference…

Ironically, the perfect color..

Cabinetry Desk Wood Plant Table
 

Attachments

#9 ·
Why? What? Where? How? When?

Good day, and welcome to the initial installment of my DeWalt RAS cabinet blog.

Background
Woodworking is a hobby for me, nothing more and nothing less. Within the realm of hobby lies a tremendous range of passion; there's 'love it, can't live without' all the way to 'it's something to tinker with when there's no sports on TV.' I'm closer to the former than the latter, but I'm also a very patient fellow when it comes to getting things done the way I want them. Bottom line: It's the journey.

Why start a blog with reflection? Why indeed. The answer lies in the connection of dots, the songline that dictates the development of my shop space and the tools it contains. Some of the things in my shop, the workbench for example, were game-changers in ways I did not anticipate. Other shop tools have been instigators in the same sense as my bench, and it is one of those ancillary paths that is the focus of this short blog series. I bought a 1956 DeWalt MBF 9" radial arm saw via Craigslist about three years ago for the tidy sum of $100. Although the saw lacked a decent blade and pawl, it did come with a rather spiffy, customized "General Electric" stand.

Furniture Automotive tire Helmet Wood Lifejacket


Don't get me wrong. The GE stand is nice, in a 60s / Jetsons vibe kind of way, but there's always been a sense it was not a permanent fixture. It's not rickety, but there's no way to add extensions to either side of the saw's top. To work longer stock of all varieties, I envisioned a wall-length work surface that would incorporate the RAS. The surface would also include a removable fence and stop blocks for repeating cuts. Oh, and it would have to be visually appealing, like those great workstations I see in the workshop books and posted on LJs. Because what I have now is not inspirational in any way…

Property Table Wood Floor Flooring


The simple fact is, I'm not very good at creating things from scratch. I'm a copier by nature. An improver, if you will. Give me a broken down piece of something and I'll make something useful out of it. If it's a decent piece I'll kick it up a notch. But when I'm presented with a blank slate it's tough to get started. So the Spiffy GE Stand endured as the home for the DeWalt MBF as the months went by and the excuse list grew.

- When I realized (rationalized) any type of RAS cabinet would be in the way while a partition wall was built in the shop, the cabinet waited.

- When I couldn't decide what the RAS cabinet should look like, doing nothing seemed to be a sound approach. So the cabinet waited.

- When I decided it would be an actual cabinet, I figured whatever I built would be too big and heavy to move out of the way when I finally got around to laying down a wood floor. So the cabinet waited.

Fast forward to today, and all the boxes have now been checked. The partition wall was completed in 2012, the DeWalt PowerShop Workbench was blogged about eleven months ago and the shop floor was installed at the end of October 2013. I even had a picture of a completed cabinet (see blog link above). No excuses anymore, time to get started.

Inspiration
I'll build a RAS cabinet in the style suggested by my saw's OEM via "Plan No. DW102".

Font Motor vehicle Machine Metal


I appreciate "F.W. Lane" and his pack-ratting ways… Because he saved his copy of the big DeWalt fold-out poster, I'm able to build it today. With a copyright date of 1954, it's right on to be a match to my RAS. The drawings for the bench include construction methods that are certainly not common today. Key to this cabinet is a pair of horizontal 2×4 support beams notched into a series of vertical 1×6 ribs. The toe kick has to be cut from each rib. All inside shelves and the cabinet bottom are cut around the ribbed interior space as well. My first impression is 'overbuilt and needlessly labor-intensive', but I'm committed to building this thing in period style anyway. Even the dimension lumber called out in the drawing is off from today's milled goods. I plan to use key dimensions and build the rest to fit.

Wrap-up
First time working with a real materials list, and that gave me an idea how much 1x stock I needed. That was a WAG though, as I'm modifying the original plan to better fill the space in my shop. My father found a number of donor pieces and the rest of what I thought would be needed was bought outright (a rare occurrence in my world).

Wood Table Hardwood Plank Wood stain


Construction will use the best tools for the job, be it hand tool or tailed apprentice.

So I have my excuses out of the way and material on-hand. It's time to get this build underway; I have no idea how long this one will be in-work, but I can't let that stop me. Stay tuned for the next installment, where sawdust is guaranteed to be seen. Until then, as always, thanks for looking!
I was looking at the PDF. At 7'4", that is a wide cabinet.

You have piqued my curiosity here because I really, really need to do the same with my miter saw. I just keep putting it off. Completion of said cabinet would be quite liberating.
 

Attachments

#10 ·
Why? What? Where? How? When?

Good day, and welcome to the initial installment of my DeWalt RAS cabinet blog.

Background
Woodworking is a hobby for me, nothing more and nothing less. Within the realm of hobby lies a tremendous range of passion; there's 'love it, can't live without' all the way to 'it's something to tinker with when there's no sports on TV.' I'm closer to the former than the latter, but I'm also a very patient fellow when it comes to getting things done the way I want them. Bottom line: It's the journey.

Why start a blog with reflection? Why indeed. The answer lies in the connection of dots, the songline that dictates the development of my shop space and the tools it contains. Some of the things in my shop, the workbench for example, were game-changers in ways I did not anticipate. Other shop tools have been instigators in the same sense as my bench, and it is one of those ancillary paths that is the focus of this short blog series. I bought a 1956 DeWalt MBF 9" radial arm saw via Craigslist about three years ago for the tidy sum of $100. Although the saw lacked a decent blade and pawl, it did come with a rather spiffy, customized "General Electric" stand.

Furniture Automotive tire Helmet Wood Lifejacket


Don't get me wrong. The GE stand is nice, in a 60s / Jetsons vibe kind of way, but there's always been a sense it was not a permanent fixture. It's not rickety, but there's no way to add extensions to either side of the saw's top. To work longer stock of all varieties, I envisioned a wall-length work surface that would incorporate the RAS. The surface would also include a removable fence and stop blocks for repeating cuts. Oh, and it would have to be visually appealing, like those great workstations I see in the workshop books and posted on LJs. Because what I have now is not inspirational in any way…

Property Table Wood Floor Flooring


The simple fact is, I'm not very good at creating things from scratch. I'm a copier by nature. An improver, if you will. Give me a broken down piece of something and I'll make something useful out of it. If it's a decent piece I'll kick it up a notch. But when I'm presented with a blank slate it's tough to get started. So the Spiffy GE Stand endured as the home for the DeWalt MBF as the months went by and the excuse list grew.

- When I realized (rationalized) any type of RAS cabinet would be in the way while a partition wall was built in the shop, the cabinet waited.

- When I couldn't decide what the RAS cabinet should look like, doing nothing seemed to be a sound approach. So the cabinet waited.

- When I decided it would be an actual cabinet, I figured whatever I built would be too big and heavy to move out of the way when I finally got around to laying down a wood floor. So the cabinet waited.

Fast forward to today, and all the boxes have now been checked. The partition wall was completed in 2012, the DeWalt PowerShop Workbench was blogged about eleven months ago and the shop floor was installed at the end of October 2013. I even had a picture of a completed cabinet (see blog link above). No excuses anymore, time to get started.

Inspiration
I'll build a RAS cabinet in the style suggested by my saw's OEM via "Plan No. DW102".

Font Motor vehicle Machine Metal


I appreciate "F.W. Lane" and his pack-ratting ways… Because he saved his copy of the big DeWalt fold-out poster, I'm able to build it today. With a copyright date of 1954, it's right on to be a match to my RAS. The drawings for the bench include construction methods that are certainly not common today. Key to this cabinet is a pair of horizontal 2×4 support beams notched into a series of vertical 1×6 ribs. The toe kick has to be cut from each rib. All inside shelves and the cabinet bottom are cut around the ribbed interior space as well. My first impression is 'overbuilt and needlessly labor-intensive', but I'm committed to building this thing in period style anyway. Even the dimension lumber called out in the drawing is off from today's milled goods. I plan to use key dimensions and build the rest to fit.

Wrap-up
First time working with a real materials list, and that gave me an idea how much 1x stock I needed. That was a WAG though, as I'm modifying the original plan to better fill the space in my shop. My father found a number of donor pieces and the rest of what I thought would be needed was bought outright (a rare occurrence in my world).

Wood Table Hardwood Plank Wood stain


Construction will use the best tools for the job, be it hand tool or tailed apprentice.

So I have my excuses out of the way and material on-hand. It's time to get this build underway; I have no idea how long this one will be in-work, but I can't let that stop me. Stay tuned for the next installment, where sawdust is guaranteed to be seen. Until then, as always, thanks for looking!
Not a fan of the ring pulls, but the sawdust drawer is da' bomb. That cabinet is true to the drawing, without a doubt.
 

Attachments

#11 ·
Why? What? Where? How? When?

Good day, and welcome to the initial installment of my DeWalt RAS cabinet blog.

Background
Woodworking is a hobby for me, nothing more and nothing less. Within the realm of hobby lies a tremendous range of passion; there's 'love it, can't live without' all the way to 'it's something to tinker with when there's no sports on TV.' I'm closer to the former than the latter, but I'm also a very patient fellow when it comes to getting things done the way I want them. Bottom line: It's the journey.

Why start a blog with reflection? Why indeed. The answer lies in the connection of dots, the songline that dictates the development of my shop space and the tools it contains. Some of the things in my shop, the workbench for example, were game-changers in ways I did not anticipate. Other shop tools have been instigators in the same sense as my bench, and it is one of those ancillary paths that is the focus of this short blog series. I bought a 1956 DeWalt MBF 9" radial arm saw via Craigslist about three years ago for the tidy sum of $100. Although the saw lacked a decent blade and pawl, it did come with a rather spiffy, customized "General Electric" stand.

Furniture Automotive tire Helmet Wood Lifejacket


Don't get me wrong. The GE stand is nice, in a 60s / Jetsons vibe kind of way, but there's always been a sense it was not a permanent fixture. It's not rickety, but there's no way to add extensions to either side of the saw's top. To work longer stock of all varieties, I envisioned a wall-length work surface that would incorporate the RAS. The surface would also include a removable fence and stop blocks for repeating cuts. Oh, and it would have to be visually appealing, like those great workstations I see in the workshop books and posted on LJs. Because what I have now is not inspirational in any way…

Property Table Wood Floor Flooring


The simple fact is, I'm not very good at creating things from scratch. I'm a copier by nature. An improver, if you will. Give me a broken down piece of something and I'll make something useful out of it. If it's a decent piece I'll kick it up a notch. But when I'm presented with a blank slate it's tough to get started. So the Spiffy GE Stand endured as the home for the DeWalt MBF as the months went by and the excuse list grew.

- When I realized (rationalized) any type of RAS cabinet would be in the way while a partition wall was built in the shop, the cabinet waited.

- When I couldn't decide what the RAS cabinet should look like, doing nothing seemed to be a sound approach. So the cabinet waited.

- When I decided it would be an actual cabinet, I figured whatever I built would be too big and heavy to move out of the way when I finally got around to laying down a wood floor. So the cabinet waited.

Fast forward to today, and all the boxes have now been checked. The partition wall was completed in 2012, the DeWalt PowerShop Workbench was blogged about eleven months ago and the shop floor was installed at the end of October 2013. I even had a picture of a completed cabinet (see blog link above). No excuses anymore, time to get started.

Inspiration
I'll build a RAS cabinet in the style suggested by my saw's OEM via "Plan No. DW102".

Font Motor vehicle Machine Metal


I appreciate "F.W. Lane" and his pack-ratting ways… Because he saved his copy of the big DeWalt fold-out poster, I'm able to build it today. With a copyright date of 1954, it's right on to be a match to my RAS. The drawings for the bench include construction methods that are certainly not common today. Key to this cabinet is a pair of horizontal 2×4 support beams notched into a series of vertical 1×6 ribs. The toe kick has to be cut from each rib. All inside shelves and the cabinet bottom are cut around the ribbed interior space as well. My first impression is 'overbuilt and needlessly labor-intensive', but I'm committed to building this thing in period style anyway. Even the dimension lumber called out in the drawing is off from today's milled goods. I plan to use key dimensions and build the rest to fit.

Wrap-up
First time working with a real materials list, and that gave me an idea how much 1x stock I needed. That was a WAG though, as I'm modifying the original plan to better fill the space in my shop. My father found a number of donor pieces and the rest of what I thought would be needed was bought outright (a rare occurrence in my world).

Wood Table Hardwood Plank Wood stain


Construction will use the best tools for the job, be it hand tool or tailed apprentice.

So I have my excuses out of the way and material on-hand. It's time to get this build underway; I have no idea how long this one will be in-work, but I can't let that stop me. Stay tuned for the next installment, where sawdust is guaranteed to be seen. Until then, as always, thanks for looking!
Woo hoo! Can't. Wait to see it come together!
 

Attachments

#12 ·
Why? What? Where? How? When?

Good day, and welcome to the initial installment of my DeWalt RAS cabinet blog.

Background
Woodworking is a hobby for me, nothing more and nothing less. Within the realm of hobby lies a tremendous range of passion; there's 'love it, can't live without' all the way to 'it's something to tinker with when there's no sports on TV.' I'm closer to the former than the latter, but I'm also a very patient fellow when it comes to getting things done the way I want them. Bottom line: It's the journey.

Why start a blog with reflection? Why indeed. The answer lies in the connection of dots, the songline that dictates the development of my shop space and the tools it contains. Some of the things in my shop, the workbench for example, were game-changers in ways I did not anticipate. Other shop tools have been instigators in the same sense as my bench, and it is one of those ancillary paths that is the focus of this short blog series. I bought a 1956 DeWalt MBF 9" radial arm saw via Craigslist about three years ago for the tidy sum of $100. Although the saw lacked a decent blade and pawl, it did come with a rather spiffy, customized "General Electric" stand.



Don't get me wrong. The GE stand is nice, in a 60s / Jetsons vibe kind of way, but there's always been a sense it was not a permanent fixture. It's not rickety, but there's no way to add extensions to either side of the saw's top. To work longer stock of all varieties, I envisioned a wall-length work surface that would incorporate the RAS. The surface would also include a removable fence and stop blocks for repeating cuts. Oh, and it would have to be visually appealing, like those great workstations I see in the workshop books and posted on LJs. Because what I have now is not inspirational in any way…



The simple fact is, I'm not very good at creating things from scratch. I'm a copier by nature. An improver, if you will. Give me a broken down piece of something and I'll make something useful out of it. If it's a decent piece I'll kick it up a notch. But when I'm presented with a blank slate it's tough to get started. So the Spiffy GE Stand endured as the home for the DeWalt MBF as the months went by and the excuse list grew.

- When I realized (rationalized) any type of RAS cabinet would be in the way while a partition wall was built in the shop, the cabinet waited.

- When I couldn't decide what the RAS cabinet should look like, doing nothing seemed to be a sound approach. So the cabinet waited.

- When I decided it would be an actual cabinet, I figured whatever I built would be too big and heavy to move out of the way when I finally got around to laying down a wood floor. So the cabinet waited.

Fast forward to today, and all the boxes have now been checked. The partition wall was completed in 2012, the DeWalt PowerShop Workbench was blogged about eleven months ago and the shop floor was installed at the end of October 2013. I even had a picture of a completed cabinet (see blog link above). No excuses anymore, time to get started.

Inspiration
I'll build a RAS cabinet in the style suggested by my saw's OEM via "Plan No. DW102".



I appreciate "F.W. Lane" and his pack-ratting ways… Because he saved his copy of the big DeWalt fold-out poster, I'm able to build it today. With a copyright date of 1954, it's right on to be a match to my RAS. The drawings for the bench include construction methods that are certainly not common today. Key to this cabinet is a pair of horizontal 2×4 support beams notched into a series of vertical 1×6 ribs. The toe kick has to be cut from each rib. All inside shelves and the cabinet bottom are cut around the ribbed interior space as well. My first impression is 'overbuilt and needlessly labor-intensive', but I'm committed to building this thing in period style anyway. Even the dimension lumber called out in the drawing is off from today's milled goods. I plan to use key dimensions and build the rest to fit.

Wrap-up
First time working with a real materials list, and that gave me an idea how much 1x stock I needed. That was a WAG though, as I'm modifying the original plan to better fill the space in my shop. My father found a number of donor pieces and the rest of what I thought would be needed was bought outright (a rare occurrence in my world).



Construction will use the best tools for the job, be it hand tool or tailed apprentice.

So I have my excuses out of the way and material on-hand. It's time to get this build underway; I have no idea how long this one will be in-work, but I can't let that stop me. Stay tuned for the next installment, where sawdust is guaranteed to be seen. Until then, as always, thanks for looking!
The fact that the picture Mr Yo posted is green is some sort of sign. While I have not completely finished my own miter saw/storage doohickey, it is nice to have a stable surface and extra doors and drawers to store stuff. Plus it will make the thing more accurate and easier to use. What else could one want?
 

Attachments

#13 ·
Why? What? Where? How? When?

Good day, and welcome to the initial installment of my DeWalt RAS cabinet blog.

Background
Woodworking is a hobby for me, nothing more and nothing less. Within the realm of hobby lies a tremendous range of passion; there's 'love it, can't live without' all the way to 'it's something to tinker with when there's no sports on TV.' I'm closer to the former than the latter, but I'm also a very patient fellow when it comes to getting things done the way I want them. Bottom line: It's the journey.

Why start a blog with reflection? Why indeed. The answer lies in the connection of dots, the songline that dictates the development of my shop space and the tools it contains. Some of the things in my shop, the workbench for example, were game-changers in ways I did not anticipate. Other shop tools have been instigators in the same sense as my bench, and it is one of those ancillary paths that is the focus of this short blog series. I bought a 1956 DeWalt MBF 9" radial arm saw via Craigslist about three years ago for the tidy sum of $100. Although the saw lacked a decent blade and pawl, it did come with a rather spiffy, customized "General Electric" stand.

Furniture Automotive tire Helmet Wood Lifejacket


Don't get me wrong. The GE stand is nice, in a 60s / Jetsons vibe kind of way, but there's always been a sense it was not a permanent fixture. It's not rickety, but there's no way to add extensions to either side of the saw's top. To work longer stock of all varieties, I envisioned a wall-length work surface that would incorporate the RAS. The surface would also include a removable fence and stop blocks for repeating cuts. Oh, and it would have to be visually appealing, like those great workstations I see in the workshop books and posted on LJs. Because what I have now is not inspirational in any way…

Property Table Wood Floor Flooring


The simple fact is, I'm not very good at creating things from scratch. I'm a copier by nature. An improver, if you will. Give me a broken down piece of something and I'll make something useful out of it. If it's a decent piece I'll kick it up a notch. But when I'm presented with a blank slate it's tough to get started. So the Spiffy GE Stand endured as the home for the DeWalt MBF as the months went by and the excuse list grew.

- When I realized (rationalized) any type of RAS cabinet would be in the way while a partition wall was built in the shop, the cabinet waited.

- When I couldn't decide what the RAS cabinet should look like, doing nothing seemed to be a sound approach. So the cabinet waited.

- When I decided it would be an actual cabinet, I figured whatever I built would be too big and heavy to move out of the way when I finally got around to laying down a wood floor. So the cabinet waited.

Fast forward to today, and all the boxes have now been checked. The partition wall was completed in 2012, the DeWalt PowerShop Workbench was blogged about eleven months ago and the shop floor was installed at the end of October 2013. I even had a picture of a completed cabinet (see blog link above). No excuses anymore, time to get started.

Inspiration
I'll build a RAS cabinet in the style suggested by my saw's OEM via "Plan No. DW102".

Font Motor vehicle Machine Metal


I appreciate "F.W. Lane" and his pack-ratting ways… Because he saved his copy of the big DeWalt fold-out poster, I'm able to build it today. With a copyright date of 1954, it's right on to be a match to my RAS. The drawings for the bench include construction methods that are certainly not common today. Key to this cabinet is a pair of horizontal 2×4 support beams notched into a series of vertical 1×6 ribs. The toe kick has to be cut from each rib. All inside shelves and the cabinet bottom are cut around the ribbed interior space as well. My first impression is 'overbuilt and needlessly labor-intensive', but I'm committed to building this thing in period style anyway. Even the dimension lumber called out in the drawing is off from today's milled goods. I plan to use key dimensions and build the rest to fit.

Wrap-up
First time working with a real materials list, and that gave me an idea how much 1x stock I needed. That was a WAG though, as I'm modifying the original plan to better fill the space in my shop. My father found a number of donor pieces and the rest of what I thought would be needed was bought outright (a rare occurrence in my world).

Wood Table Hardwood Plank Wood stain


Construction will use the best tools for the job, be it hand tool or tailed apprentice.

So I have my excuses out of the way and material on-hand. It's time to get this build underway; I have no idea how long this one will be in-work, but I can't let that stop me. Stay tuned for the next installment, where sawdust is guaranteed to be seen. Until then, as always, thanks for looking!
I like the idea of building DeWalt 'matching' cabinet Smitty. I'm sure it will turn out quite well.
 

Attachments

#14 ·
Why? What? Where? How? When?

Good day, and welcome to the initial installment of my DeWalt RAS cabinet blog.

Background
Woodworking is a hobby for me, nothing more and nothing less. Within the realm of hobby lies a tremendous range of passion; there's 'love it, can't live without' all the way to 'it's something to tinker with when there's no sports on TV.' I'm closer to the former than the latter, but I'm also a very patient fellow when it comes to getting things done the way I want them. Bottom line: It's the journey.

Why start a blog with reflection? Why indeed. The answer lies in the connection of dots, the songline that dictates the development of my shop space and the tools it contains. Some of the things in my shop, the workbench for example, were game-changers in ways I did not anticipate. Other shop tools have been instigators in the same sense as my bench, and it is one of those ancillary paths that is the focus of this short blog series. I bought a 1956 DeWalt MBF 9" radial arm saw via Craigslist about three years ago for the tidy sum of $100. Although the saw lacked a decent blade and pawl, it did come with a rather spiffy, customized "General Electric" stand.

Furniture Automotive tire Helmet Wood Lifejacket


Don't get me wrong. The GE stand is nice, in a 60s / Jetsons vibe kind of way, but there's always been a sense it was not a permanent fixture. It's not rickety, but there's no way to add extensions to either side of the saw's top. To work longer stock of all varieties, I envisioned a wall-length work surface that would incorporate the RAS. The surface would also include a removable fence and stop blocks for repeating cuts. Oh, and it would have to be visually appealing, like those great workstations I see in the workshop books and posted on LJs. Because what I have now is not inspirational in any way…

Property Table Wood Floor Flooring


The simple fact is, I'm not very good at creating things from scratch. I'm a copier by nature. An improver, if you will. Give me a broken down piece of something and I'll make something useful out of it. If it's a decent piece I'll kick it up a notch. But when I'm presented with a blank slate it's tough to get started. So the Spiffy GE Stand endured as the home for the DeWalt MBF as the months went by and the excuse list grew.

- When I realized (rationalized) any type of RAS cabinet would be in the way while a partition wall was built in the shop, the cabinet waited.

- When I couldn't decide what the RAS cabinet should look like, doing nothing seemed to be a sound approach. So the cabinet waited.

- When I decided it would be an actual cabinet, I figured whatever I built would be too big and heavy to move out of the way when I finally got around to laying down a wood floor. So the cabinet waited.

Fast forward to today, and all the boxes have now been checked. The partition wall was completed in 2012, the DeWalt PowerShop Workbench was blogged about eleven months ago and the shop floor was installed at the end of October 2013. I even had a picture of a completed cabinet (see blog link above). No excuses anymore, time to get started.

Inspiration
I'll build a RAS cabinet in the style suggested by my saw's OEM via "Plan No. DW102".

Font Motor vehicle Machine Metal


I appreciate "F.W. Lane" and his pack-ratting ways… Because he saved his copy of the big DeWalt fold-out poster, I'm able to build it today. With a copyright date of 1954, it's right on to be a match to my RAS. The drawings for the bench include construction methods that are certainly not common today. Key to this cabinet is a pair of horizontal 2×4 support beams notched into a series of vertical 1×6 ribs. The toe kick has to be cut from each rib. All inside shelves and the cabinet bottom are cut around the ribbed interior space as well. My first impression is 'overbuilt and needlessly labor-intensive', but I'm committed to building this thing in period style anyway. Even the dimension lumber called out in the drawing is off from today's milled goods. I plan to use key dimensions and build the rest to fit.

Wrap-up
First time working with a real materials list, and that gave me an idea how much 1x stock I needed. That was a WAG though, as I'm modifying the original plan to better fill the space in my shop. My father found a number of donor pieces and the rest of what I thought would be needed was bought outright (a rare occurrence in my world).

Wood Table Hardwood Plank Wood stain


Construction will use the best tools for the job, be it hand tool or tailed apprentice.

So I have my excuses out of the way and material on-hand. It's time to get this build underway; I have no idea how long this one will be in-work, but I can't let that stop me. Stay tuned for the next installment, where sawdust is guaranteed to be seen. Until then, as always, thanks for looking!
I really like how you are doing this old school bench Smitty, I know you will do a great job on it. All the best!
 

Attachments

#15 ·
Why? What? Where? How? When?

Good day, and welcome to the initial installment of my DeWalt RAS cabinet blog.

Background
Woodworking is a hobby for me, nothing more and nothing less. Within the realm of hobby lies a tremendous range of passion; there's 'love it, can't live without' all the way to 'it's something to tinker with when there's no sports on TV.' I'm closer to the former than the latter, but I'm also a very patient fellow when it comes to getting things done the way I want them. Bottom line: It's the journey.

Why start a blog with reflection? Why indeed. The answer lies in the connection of dots, the songline that dictates the development of my shop space and the tools it contains. Some of the things in my shop, the workbench for example, were game-changers in ways I did not anticipate. Other shop tools have been instigators in the same sense as my bench, and it is one of those ancillary paths that is the focus of this short blog series. I bought a 1956 DeWalt MBF 9" radial arm saw via Craigslist about three years ago for the tidy sum of $100. Although the saw lacked a decent blade and pawl, it did come with a rather spiffy, customized "General Electric" stand.

Furniture Automotive tire Helmet Wood Lifejacket


Don't get me wrong. The GE stand is nice, in a 60s / Jetsons vibe kind of way, but there's always been a sense it was not a permanent fixture. It's not rickety, but there's no way to add extensions to either side of the saw's top. To work longer stock of all varieties, I envisioned a wall-length work surface that would incorporate the RAS. The surface would also include a removable fence and stop blocks for repeating cuts. Oh, and it would have to be visually appealing, like those great workstations I see in the workshop books and posted on LJs. Because what I have now is not inspirational in any way…

Property Table Wood Floor Flooring


The simple fact is, I'm not very good at creating things from scratch. I'm a copier by nature. An improver, if you will. Give me a broken down piece of something and I'll make something useful out of it. If it's a decent piece I'll kick it up a notch. But when I'm presented with a blank slate it's tough to get started. So the Spiffy GE Stand endured as the home for the DeWalt MBF as the months went by and the excuse list grew.

- When I realized (rationalized) any type of RAS cabinet would be in the way while a partition wall was built in the shop, the cabinet waited.

- When I couldn't decide what the RAS cabinet should look like, doing nothing seemed to be a sound approach. So the cabinet waited.

- When I decided it would be an actual cabinet, I figured whatever I built would be too big and heavy to move out of the way when I finally got around to laying down a wood floor. So the cabinet waited.

Fast forward to today, and all the boxes have now been checked. The partition wall was completed in 2012, the DeWalt PowerShop Workbench was blogged about eleven months ago and the shop floor was installed at the end of October 2013. I even had a picture of a completed cabinet (see blog link above). No excuses anymore, time to get started.

Inspiration
I'll build a RAS cabinet in the style suggested by my saw's OEM via "Plan No. DW102".

Font Motor vehicle Machine Metal


I appreciate "F.W. Lane" and his pack-ratting ways… Because he saved his copy of the big DeWalt fold-out poster, I'm able to build it today. With a copyright date of 1954, it's right on to be a match to my RAS. The drawings for the bench include construction methods that are certainly not common today. Key to this cabinet is a pair of horizontal 2×4 support beams notched into a series of vertical 1×6 ribs. The toe kick has to be cut from each rib. All inside shelves and the cabinet bottom are cut around the ribbed interior space as well. My first impression is 'overbuilt and needlessly labor-intensive', but I'm committed to building this thing in period style anyway. Even the dimension lumber called out in the drawing is off from today's milled goods. I plan to use key dimensions and build the rest to fit.

Wrap-up
First time working with a real materials list, and that gave me an idea how much 1x stock I needed. That was a WAG though, as I'm modifying the original plan to better fill the space in my shop. My father found a number of donor pieces and the rest of what I thought would be needed was bought outright (a rare occurrence in my world).

Wood Table Hardwood Plank Wood stain


Construction will use the best tools for the job, be it hand tool or tailed apprentice.

So I have my excuses out of the way and material on-hand. It's time to get this build underway; I have no idea how long this one will be in-work, but I can't let that stop me. Stay tuned for the next installment, where sawdust is guaranteed to be seen. Until then, as always, thanks for looking!
That shade of green has been growing on me!
Might end up on my tool chest…

What pdf? Did I miss the plans? :(
 

Attachments

#16 ·
Why? What? Where? How? When?

Good day, and welcome to the initial installment of my DeWalt RAS cabinet blog.

Background
Woodworking is a hobby for me, nothing more and nothing less. Within the realm of hobby lies a tremendous range of passion; there's 'love it, can't live without' all the way to 'it's something to tinker with when there's no sports on TV.' I'm closer to the former than the latter, but I'm also a very patient fellow when it comes to getting things done the way I want them. Bottom line: It's the journey.

Why start a blog with reflection? Why indeed. The answer lies in the connection of dots, the songline that dictates the development of my shop space and the tools it contains. Some of the things in my shop, the workbench for example, were game-changers in ways I did not anticipate. Other shop tools have been instigators in the same sense as my bench, and it is one of those ancillary paths that is the focus of this short blog series. I bought a 1956 DeWalt MBF 9" radial arm saw via Craigslist about three years ago for the tidy sum of $100. Although the saw lacked a decent blade and pawl, it did come with a rather spiffy, customized "General Electric" stand.

Furniture Automotive tire Helmet Wood Lifejacket


Don't get me wrong. The GE stand is nice, in a 60s / Jetsons vibe kind of way, but there's always been a sense it was not a permanent fixture. It's not rickety, but there's no way to add extensions to either side of the saw's top. To work longer stock of all varieties, I envisioned a wall-length work surface that would incorporate the RAS. The surface would also include a removable fence and stop blocks for repeating cuts. Oh, and it would have to be visually appealing, like those great workstations I see in the workshop books and posted on LJs. Because what I have now is not inspirational in any way…

Property Table Wood Floor Flooring


The simple fact is, I'm not very good at creating things from scratch. I'm a copier by nature. An improver, if you will. Give me a broken down piece of something and I'll make something useful out of it. If it's a decent piece I'll kick it up a notch. But when I'm presented with a blank slate it's tough to get started. So the Spiffy GE Stand endured as the home for the DeWalt MBF as the months went by and the excuse list grew.

- When I realized (rationalized) any type of RAS cabinet would be in the way while a partition wall was built in the shop, the cabinet waited.

- When I couldn't decide what the RAS cabinet should look like, doing nothing seemed to be a sound approach. So the cabinet waited.

- When I decided it would be an actual cabinet, I figured whatever I built would be too big and heavy to move out of the way when I finally got around to laying down a wood floor. So the cabinet waited.

Fast forward to today, and all the boxes have now been checked. The partition wall was completed in 2012, the DeWalt PowerShop Workbench was blogged about eleven months ago and the shop floor was installed at the end of October 2013. I even had a picture of a completed cabinet (see blog link above). No excuses anymore, time to get started.

Inspiration
I'll build a RAS cabinet in the style suggested by my saw's OEM via "Plan No. DW102".

Font Motor vehicle Machine Metal


I appreciate "F.W. Lane" and his pack-ratting ways… Because he saved his copy of the big DeWalt fold-out poster, I'm able to build it today. With a copyright date of 1954, it's right on to be a match to my RAS. The drawings for the bench include construction methods that are certainly not common today. Key to this cabinet is a pair of horizontal 2×4 support beams notched into a series of vertical 1×6 ribs. The toe kick has to be cut from each rib. All inside shelves and the cabinet bottom are cut around the ribbed interior space as well. My first impression is 'overbuilt and needlessly labor-intensive', but I'm committed to building this thing in period style anyway. Even the dimension lumber called out in the drawing is off from today's milled goods. I plan to use key dimensions and build the rest to fit.

Wrap-up
First time working with a real materials list, and that gave me an idea how much 1x stock I needed. That was a WAG though, as I'm modifying the original plan to better fill the space in my shop. My father found a number of donor pieces and the rest of what I thought would be needed was bought outright (a rare occurrence in my world).

Wood Table Hardwood Plank Wood stain


Construction will use the best tools for the job, be it hand tool or tailed apprentice.

So I have my excuses out of the way and material on-hand. It's time to get this build underway; I have no idea how long this one will be in-work, but I can't let that stop me. Stay tuned for the next installment, where sawdust is guaranteed to be seen. Until then, as always, thanks for looking!
I'm a copier by nature. An improver, if you will. Give me a broken down piece of something and I'll make something useful out of it.

Smitty, this statement really resonates with me. My creative talents are in expansion, not in origination.

This project also resonates with my love for old DeWalts. I currently have two. A 54 MBF 9" (which I need to sell) and a 53 GWI 10". I also picked up my MBF for $100 but the blade on it is shot, and good 9" blades are not cheap, so I opted to get the bigger brother when the deal came along. I've built it completely into my work bench and I love the set up. I use it all the time. I think this project will pay off in huge dividends once it's up and an running.

Thanks for sharing your journey with us.
 

Attachments

#17 ·
Why? What? Where? How? When?

Good day, and welcome to the initial installment of my DeWalt RAS cabinet blog.

Background
Woodworking is a hobby for me, nothing more and nothing less. Within the realm of hobby lies a tremendous range of passion; there's 'love it, can't live without' all the way to 'it's something to tinker with when there's no sports on TV.' I'm closer to the former than the latter, but I'm also a very patient fellow when it comes to getting things done the way I want them. Bottom line: It's the journey.

Why start a blog with reflection? Why indeed. The answer lies in the connection of dots, the songline that dictates the development of my shop space and the tools it contains. Some of the things in my shop, the workbench for example, were game-changers in ways I did not anticipate. Other shop tools have been instigators in the same sense as my bench, and it is one of those ancillary paths that is the focus of this short blog series. I bought a 1956 DeWalt MBF 9" radial arm saw via Craigslist about three years ago for the tidy sum of $100. Although the saw lacked a decent blade and pawl, it did come with a rather spiffy, customized "General Electric" stand.

Furniture Automotive tire Helmet Wood Lifejacket


Don't get me wrong. The GE stand is nice, in a 60s / Jetsons vibe kind of way, but there's always been a sense it was not a permanent fixture. It's not rickety, but there's no way to add extensions to either side of the saw's top. To work longer stock of all varieties, I envisioned a wall-length work surface that would incorporate the RAS. The surface would also include a removable fence and stop blocks for repeating cuts. Oh, and it would have to be visually appealing, like those great workstations I see in the workshop books and posted on LJs. Because what I have now is not inspirational in any way…

Property Table Wood Floor Flooring


The simple fact is, I'm not very good at creating things from scratch. I'm a copier by nature. An improver, if you will. Give me a broken down piece of something and I'll make something useful out of it. If it's a decent piece I'll kick it up a notch. But when I'm presented with a blank slate it's tough to get started. So the Spiffy GE Stand endured as the home for the DeWalt MBF as the months went by and the excuse list grew.

- When I realized (rationalized) any type of RAS cabinet would be in the way while a partition wall was built in the shop, the cabinet waited.

- When I couldn't decide what the RAS cabinet should look like, doing nothing seemed to be a sound approach. So the cabinet waited.

- When I decided it would be an actual cabinet, I figured whatever I built would be too big and heavy to move out of the way when I finally got around to laying down a wood floor. So the cabinet waited.

Fast forward to today, and all the boxes have now been checked. The partition wall was completed in 2012, the DeWalt PowerShop Workbench was blogged about eleven months ago and the shop floor was installed at the end of October 2013. I even had a picture of a completed cabinet (see blog link above). No excuses anymore, time to get started.

Inspiration
I'll build a RAS cabinet in the style suggested by my saw's OEM via "Plan No. DW102".

Font Motor vehicle Machine Metal


I appreciate "F.W. Lane" and his pack-ratting ways… Because he saved his copy of the big DeWalt fold-out poster, I'm able to build it today. With a copyright date of 1954, it's right on to be a match to my RAS. The drawings for the bench include construction methods that are certainly not common today. Key to this cabinet is a pair of horizontal 2×4 support beams notched into a series of vertical 1×6 ribs. The toe kick has to be cut from each rib. All inside shelves and the cabinet bottom are cut around the ribbed interior space as well. My first impression is 'overbuilt and needlessly labor-intensive', but I'm committed to building this thing in period style anyway. Even the dimension lumber called out in the drawing is off from today's milled goods. I plan to use key dimensions and build the rest to fit.

Wrap-up
First time working with a real materials list, and that gave me an idea how much 1x stock I needed. That was a WAG though, as I'm modifying the original plan to better fill the space in my shop. My father found a number of donor pieces and the rest of what I thought would be needed was bought outright (a rare occurrence in my world).

Wood Table Hardwood Plank Wood stain


Construction will use the best tools for the job, be it hand tool or tailed apprentice.

So I have my excuses out of the way and material on-hand. It's time to get this build underway; I have no idea how long this one will be in-work, but I can't let that stop me. Stay tuned for the next installment, where sawdust is guaranteed to be seen. Until then, as always, thanks for looking!
Terry, the pdf is here.

EDIT: Todd, you do have a love of old DeWalts. Funny thing about the MBF; I like smaller. 10" cabinet saws intimidate me from a safety standpoint, and so would a more powerful RAS I think.
 

Attachments

#18 ·
Why? What? Where? How? When?

Good day, and welcome to the initial installment of my DeWalt RAS cabinet blog.

Background
Woodworking is a hobby for me, nothing more and nothing less. Within the realm of hobby lies a tremendous range of passion; there's 'love it, can't live without' all the way to 'it's something to tinker with when there's no sports on TV.' I'm closer to the former than the latter, but I'm also a very patient fellow when it comes to getting things done the way I want them. Bottom line: It's the journey.

Why start a blog with reflection? Why indeed. The answer lies in the connection of dots, the songline that dictates the development of my shop space and the tools it contains. Some of the things in my shop, the workbench for example, were game-changers in ways I did not anticipate. Other shop tools have been instigators in the same sense as my bench, and it is one of those ancillary paths that is the focus of this short blog series. I bought a 1956 DeWalt MBF 9" radial arm saw via Craigslist about three years ago for the tidy sum of $100. Although the saw lacked a decent blade and pawl, it did come with a rather spiffy, customized "General Electric" stand.

Furniture Automotive tire Helmet Wood Lifejacket


Don't get me wrong. The GE stand is nice, in a 60s / Jetsons vibe kind of way, but there's always been a sense it was not a permanent fixture. It's not rickety, but there's no way to add extensions to either side of the saw's top. To work longer stock of all varieties, I envisioned a wall-length work surface that would incorporate the RAS. The surface would also include a removable fence and stop blocks for repeating cuts. Oh, and it would have to be visually appealing, like those great workstations I see in the workshop books and posted on LJs. Because what I have now is not inspirational in any way…

Property Table Wood Floor Flooring


The simple fact is, I'm not very good at creating things from scratch. I'm a copier by nature. An improver, if you will. Give me a broken down piece of something and I'll make something useful out of it. If it's a decent piece I'll kick it up a notch. But when I'm presented with a blank slate it's tough to get started. So the Spiffy GE Stand endured as the home for the DeWalt MBF as the months went by and the excuse list grew.

- When I realized (rationalized) any type of RAS cabinet would be in the way while a partition wall was built in the shop, the cabinet waited.

- When I couldn't decide what the RAS cabinet should look like, doing nothing seemed to be a sound approach. So the cabinet waited.

- When I decided it would be an actual cabinet, I figured whatever I built would be too big and heavy to move out of the way when I finally got around to laying down a wood floor. So the cabinet waited.

Fast forward to today, and all the boxes have now been checked. The partition wall was completed in 2012, the DeWalt PowerShop Workbench was blogged about eleven months ago and the shop floor was installed at the end of October 2013. I even had a picture of a completed cabinet (see blog link above). No excuses anymore, time to get started.

Inspiration
I'll build a RAS cabinet in the style suggested by my saw's OEM via "Plan No. DW102".

Font Motor vehicle Machine Metal


I appreciate "F.W. Lane" and his pack-ratting ways… Because he saved his copy of the big DeWalt fold-out poster, I'm able to build it today. With a copyright date of 1954, it's right on to be a match to my RAS. The drawings for the bench include construction methods that are certainly not common today. Key to this cabinet is a pair of horizontal 2×4 support beams notched into a series of vertical 1×6 ribs. The toe kick has to be cut from each rib. All inside shelves and the cabinet bottom are cut around the ribbed interior space as well. My first impression is 'overbuilt and needlessly labor-intensive', but I'm committed to building this thing in period style anyway. Even the dimension lumber called out in the drawing is off from today's milled goods. I plan to use key dimensions and build the rest to fit.

Wrap-up
First time working with a real materials list, and that gave me an idea how much 1x stock I needed. That was a WAG though, as I'm modifying the original plan to better fill the space in my shop. My father found a number of donor pieces and the rest of what I thought would be needed was bought outright (a rare occurrence in my world).

Wood Table Hardwood Plank Wood stain


Construction will use the best tools for the job, be it hand tool or tailed apprentice.

So I have my excuses out of the way and material on-hand. It's time to get this build underway; I have no idea how long this one will be in-work, but I can't let that stop me. Stay tuned for the next installment, where sawdust is guaranteed to be seen. Until then, as always, thanks for looking!
The RAS in general is very intimidating, I agree. When I first got it, I treated it like Chop Saw - that was a mistake. After a chunk o' wood came flying at me, my level of respect and attention that this machine gets has increased significantly.
 

Attachments

#19 ·
Why? What? Where? How? When?

Good day, and welcome to the initial installment of my DeWalt RAS cabinet blog.

Background
Woodworking is a hobby for me, nothing more and nothing less. Within the realm of hobby lies a tremendous range of passion; there's 'love it, can't live without' all the way to 'it's something to tinker with when there's no sports on TV.' I'm closer to the former than the latter, but I'm also a very patient fellow when it comes to getting things done the way I want them. Bottom line: It's the journey.

Why start a blog with reflection? Why indeed. The answer lies in the connection of dots, the songline that dictates the development of my shop space and the tools it contains. Some of the things in my shop, the workbench for example, were game-changers in ways I did not anticipate. Other shop tools have been instigators in the same sense as my bench, and it is one of those ancillary paths that is the focus of this short blog series. I bought a 1956 DeWalt MBF 9" radial arm saw via Craigslist about three years ago for the tidy sum of $100. Although the saw lacked a decent blade and pawl, it did come with a rather spiffy, customized "General Electric" stand.

Furniture Automotive tire Helmet Wood Lifejacket


Don't get me wrong. The GE stand is nice, in a 60s / Jetsons vibe kind of way, but there's always been a sense it was not a permanent fixture. It's not rickety, but there's no way to add extensions to either side of the saw's top. To work longer stock of all varieties, I envisioned a wall-length work surface that would incorporate the RAS. The surface would also include a removable fence and stop blocks for repeating cuts. Oh, and it would have to be visually appealing, like those great workstations I see in the workshop books and posted on LJs. Because what I have now is not inspirational in any way…

Property Table Wood Floor Flooring


The simple fact is, I'm not very good at creating things from scratch. I'm a copier by nature. An improver, if you will. Give me a broken down piece of something and I'll make something useful out of it. If it's a decent piece I'll kick it up a notch. But when I'm presented with a blank slate it's tough to get started. So the Spiffy GE Stand endured as the home for the DeWalt MBF as the months went by and the excuse list grew.

- When I realized (rationalized) any type of RAS cabinet would be in the way while a partition wall was built in the shop, the cabinet waited.

- When I couldn't decide what the RAS cabinet should look like, doing nothing seemed to be a sound approach. So the cabinet waited.

- When I decided it would be an actual cabinet, I figured whatever I built would be too big and heavy to move out of the way when I finally got around to laying down a wood floor. So the cabinet waited.

Fast forward to today, and all the boxes have now been checked. The partition wall was completed in 2012, the DeWalt PowerShop Workbench was blogged about eleven months ago and the shop floor was installed at the end of October 2013. I even had a picture of a completed cabinet (see blog link above). No excuses anymore, time to get started.

Inspiration
I'll build a RAS cabinet in the style suggested by my saw's OEM via "Plan No. DW102".

Font Motor vehicle Machine Metal


I appreciate "F.W. Lane" and his pack-ratting ways… Because he saved his copy of the big DeWalt fold-out poster, I'm able to build it today. With a copyright date of 1954, it's right on to be a match to my RAS. The drawings for the bench include construction methods that are certainly not common today. Key to this cabinet is a pair of horizontal 2×4 support beams notched into a series of vertical 1×6 ribs. The toe kick has to be cut from each rib. All inside shelves and the cabinet bottom are cut around the ribbed interior space as well. My first impression is 'overbuilt and needlessly labor-intensive', but I'm committed to building this thing in period style anyway. Even the dimension lumber called out in the drawing is off from today's milled goods. I plan to use key dimensions and build the rest to fit.

Wrap-up
First time working with a real materials list, and that gave me an idea how much 1x stock I needed. That was a WAG though, as I'm modifying the original plan to better fill the space in my shop. My father found a number of donor pieces and the rest of what I thought would be needed was bought outright (a rare occurrence in my world).

Wood Table Hardwood Plank Wood stain


Construction will use the best tools for the job, be it hand tool or tailed apprentice.

So I have my excuses out of the way and material on-hand. It's time to get this build underway; I have no idea how long this one will be in-work, but I can't let that stop me. Stay tuned for the next installment, where sawdust is guaranteed to be seen. Until then, as always, thanks for looking!
Smitty I will be watching what I believe will be a great project and blog. Sawdust shoot/drawer is cool.
 

Attachments

#20 ·
Why? What? Where? How? When?

Good day, and welcome to the initial installment of my DeWalt RAS cabinet blog.

Background
Woodworking is a hobby for me, nothing more and nothing less. Within the realm of hobby lies a tremendous range of passion; there's 'love it, can't live without' all the way to 'it's something to tinker with when there's no sports on TV.' I'm closer to the former than the latter, but I'm also a very patient fellow when it comes to getting things done the way I want them. Bottom line: It's the journey.

Why start a blog with reflection? Why indeed. The answer lies in the connection of dots, the songline that dictates the development of my shop space and the tools it contains. Some of the things in my shop, the workbench for example, were game-changers in ways I did not anticipate. Other shop tools have been instigators in the same sense as my bench, and it is one of those ancillary paths that is the focus of this short blog series. I bought a 1956 DeWalt MBF 9" radial arm saw via Craigslist about three years ago for the tidy sum of $100. Although the saw lacked a decent blade and pawl, it did come with a rather spiffy, customized "General Electric" stand.

Furniture Automotive tire Helmet Wood Lifejacket


Don't get me wrong. The GE stand is nice, in a 60s / Jetsons vibe kind of way, but there's always been a sense it was not a permanent fixture. It's not rickety, but there's no way to add extensions to either side of the saw's top. To work longer stock of all varieties, I envisioned a wall-length work surface that would incorporate the RAS. The surface would also include a removable fence and stop blocks for repeating cuts. Oh, and it would have to be visually appealing, like those great workstations I see in the workshop books and posted on LJs. Because what I have now is not inspirational in any way…

Property Table Wood Floor Flooring


The simple fact is, I'm not very good at creating things from scratch. I'm a copier by nature. An improver, if you will. Give me a broken down piece of something and I'll make something useful out of it. If it's a decent piece I'll kick it up a notch. But when I'm presented with a blank slate it's tough to get started. So the Spiffy GE Stand endured as the home for the DeWalt MBF as the months went by and the excuse list grew.

- When I realized (rationalized) any type of RAS cabinet would be in the way while a partition wall was built in the shop, the cabinet waited.

- When I couldn't decide what the RAS cabinet should look like, doing nothing seemed to be a sound approach. So the cabinet waited.

- When I decided it would be an actual cabinet, I figured whatever I built would be too big and heavy to move out of the way when I finally got around to laying down a wood floor. So the cabinet waited.

Fast forward to today, and all the boxes have now been checked. The partition wall was completed in 2012, the DeWalt PowerShop Workbench was blogged about eleven months ago and the shop floor was installed at the end of October 2013. I even had a picture of a completed cabinet (see blog link above). No excuses anymore, time to get started.

Inspiration
I'll build a RAS cabinet in the style suggested by my saw's OEM via "Plan No. DW102".

Font Motor vehicle Machine Metal


I appreciate "F.W. Lane" and his pack-ratting ways… Because he saved his copy of the big DeWalt fold-out poster, I'm able to build it today. With a copyright date of 1954, it's right on to be a match to my RAS. The drawings for the bench include construction methods that are certainly not common today. Key to this cabinet is a pair of horizontal 2×4 support beams notched into a series of vertical 1×6 ribs. The toe kick has to be cut from each rib. All inside shelves and the cabinet bottom are cut around the ribbed interior space as well. My first impression is 'overbuilt and needlessly labor-intensive', but I'm committed to building this thing in period style anyway. Even the dimension lumber called out in the drawing is off from today's milled goods. I plan to use key dimensions and build the rest to fit.

Wrap-up
First time working with a real materials list, and that gave me an idea how much 1x stock I needed. That was a WAG though, as I'm modifying the original plan to better fill the space in my shop. My father found a number of donor pieces and the rest of what I thought would be needed was bought outright (a rare occurrence in my world).

Wood Table Hardwood Plank Wood stain


Construction will use the best tools for the job, be it hand tool or tailed apprentice.

So I have my excuses out of the way and material on-hand. It's time to get this build underway; I have no idea how long this one will be in-work, but I can't let that stop me. Stay tuned for the next installment, where sawdust is guaranteed to be seen. Until then, as always, thanks for looking!
What color is that?

Celery green? Smoky mint? Lichen? Faded moss? Sea pebble? Dusty sage?
 

Attachments

#21 ·
Why? What? Where? How? When?

Good day, and welcome to the initial installment of my DeWalt RAS cabinet blog.

Background
Woodworking is a hobby for me, nothing more and nothing less. Within the realm of hobby lies a tremendous range of passion; there's 'love it, can't live without' all the way to 'it's something to tinker with when there's no sports on TV.' I'm closer to the former than the latter, but I'm also a very patient fellow when it comes to getting things done the way I want them. Bottom line: It's the journey.

Why start a blog with reflection? Why indeed. The answer lies in the connection of dots, the songline that dictates the development of my shop space and the tools it contains. Some of the things in my shop, the workbench for example, were game-changers in ways I did not anticipate. Other shop tools have been instigators in the same sense as my bench, and it is one of those ancillary paths that is the focus of this short blog series. I bought a 1956 DeWalt MBF 9" radial arm saw via Craigslist about three years ago for the tidy sum of $100. Although the saw lacked a decent blade and pawl, it did come with a rather spiffy, customized "General Electric" stand.

Furniture Automotive tire Helmet Wood Lifejacket


Don't get me wrong. The GE stand is nice, in a 60s / Jetsons vibe kind of way, but there's always been a sense it was not a permanent fixture. It's not rickety, but there's no way to add extensions to either side of the saw's top. To work longer stock of all varieties, I envisioned a wall-length work surface that would incorporate the RAS. The surface would also include a removable fence and stop blocks for repeating cuts. Oh, and it would have to be visually appealing, like those great workstations I see in the workshop books and posted on LJs. Because what I have now is not inspirational in any way…

Property Table Wood Floor Flooring


The simple fact is, I'm not very good at creating things from scratch. I'm a copier by nature. An improver, if you will. Give me a broken down piece of something and I'll make something useful out of it. If it's a decent piece I'll kick it up a notch. But when I'm presented with a blank slate it's tough to get started. So the Spiffy GE Stand endured as the home for the DeWalt MBF as the months went by and the excuse list grew.

- When I realized (rationalized) any type of RAS cabinet would be in the way while a partition wall was built in the shop, the cabinet waited.

- When I couldn't decide what the RAS cabinet should look like, doing nothing seemed to be a sound approach. So the cabinet waited.

- When I decided it would be an actual cabinet, I figured whatever I built would be too big and heavy to move out of the way when I finally got around to laying down a wood floor. So the cabinet waited.

Fast forward to today, and all the boxes have now been checked. The partition wall was completed in 2012, the DeWalt PowerShop Workbench was blogged about eleven months ago and the shop floor was installed at the end of October 2013. I even had a picture of a completed cabinet (see blog link above). No excuses anymore, time to get started.

Inspiration
I'll build a RAS cabinet in the style suggested by my saw's OEM via "Plan No. DW102".

Font Motor vehicle Machine Metal


I appreciate "F.W. Lane" and his pack-ratting ways… Because he saved his copy of the big DeWalt fold-out poster, I'm able to build it today. With a copyright date of 1954, it's right on to be a match to my RAS. The drawings for the bench include construction methods that are certainly not common today. Key to this cabinet is a pair of horizontal 2×4 support beams notched into a series of vertical 1×6 ribs. The toe kick has to be cut from each rib. All inside shelves and the cabinet bottom are cut around the ribbed interior space as well. My first impression is 'overbuilt and needlessly labor-intensive', but I'm committed to building this thing in period style anyway. Even the dimension lumber called out in the drawing is off from today's milled goods. I plan to use key dimensions and build the rest to fit.

Wrap-up
First time working with a real materials list, and that gave me an idea how much 1x stock I needed. That was a WAG though, as I'm modifying the original plan to better fill the space in my shop. My father found a number of donor pieces and the rest of what I thought would be needed was bought outright (a rare occurrence in my world).

Wood Table Hardwood Plank Wood stain


Construction will use the best tools for the job, be it hand tool or tailed apprentice.

So I have my excuses out of the way and material on-hand. It's time to get this build underway; I have no idea how long this one will be in-work, but I can't let that stop me. Stay tuned for the next installment, where sawdust is guaranteed to be seen. Until then, as always, thanks for looking!
Mine was never more than a 32-color box of Crayons, and I'm sure that color was not in it…
 

Attachments

#22 ·
Why? What? Where? How? When?

Good day, and welcome to the initial installment of my DeWalt RAS cabinet blog.

Background
Woodworking is a hobby for me, nothing more and nothing less. Within the realm of hobby lies a tremendous range of passion; there's 'love it, can't live without' all the way to 'it's something to tinker with when there's no sports on TV.' I'm closer to the former than the latter, but I'm also a very patient fellow when it comes to getting things done the way I want them. Bottom line: It's the journey.

Why start a blog with reflection? Why indeed. The answer lies in the connection of dots, the songline that dictates the development of my shop space and the tools it contains. Some of the things in my shop, the workbench for example, were game-changers in ways I did not anticipate. Other shop tools have been instigators in the same sense as my bench, and it is one of those ancillary paths that is the focus of this short blog series. I bought a 1956 DeWalt MBF 9" radial arm saw via Craigslist about three years ago for the tidy sum of $100. Although the saw lacked a decent blade and pawl, it did come with a rather spiffy, customized "General Electric" stand.

Furniture Automotive tire Helmet Wood Lifejacket


Don't get me wrong. The GE stand is nice, in a 60s / Jetsons vibe kind of way, but there's always been a sense it was not a permanent fixture. It's not rickety, but there's no way to add extensions to either side of the saw's top. To work longer stock of all varieties, I envisioned a wall-length work surface that would incorporate the RAS. The surface would also include a removable fence and stop blocks for repeating cuts. Oh, and it would have to be visually appealing, like those great workstations I see in the workshop books and posted on LJs. Because what I have now is not inspirational in any way…

Property Table Wood Floor Flooring


The simple fact is, I'm not very good at creating things from scratch. I'm a copier by nature. An improver, if you will. Give me a broken down piece of something and I'll make something useful out of it. If it's a decent piece I'll kick it up a notch. But when I'm presented with a blank slate it's tough to get started. So the Spiffy GE Stand endured as the home for the DeWalt MBF as the months went by and the excuse list grew.

- When I realized (rationalized) any type of RAS cabinet would be in the way while a partition wall was built in the shop, the cabinet waited.

- When I couldn't decide what the RAS cabinet should look like, doing nothing seemed to be a sound approach. So the cabinet waited.

- When I decided it would be an actual cabinet, I figured whatever I built would be too big and heavy to move out of the way when I finally got around to laying down a wood floor. So the cabinet waited.

Fast forward to today, and all the boxes have now been checked. The partition wall was completed in 2012, the DeWalt PowerShop Workbench was blogged about eleven months ago and the shop floor was installed at the end of October 2013. I even had a picture of a completed cabinet (see blog link above). No excuses anymore, time to get started.

Inspiration
I'll build a RAS cabinet in the style suggested by my saw's OEM via "Plan No. DW102".

Font Motor vehicle Machine Metal


I appreciate "F.W. Lane" and his pack-ratting ways… Because he saved his copy of the big DeWalt fold-out poster, I'm able to build it today. With a copyright date of 1954, it's right on to be a match to my RAS. The drawings for the bench include construction methods that are certainly not common today. Key to this cabinet is a pair of horizontal 2×4 support beams notched into a series of vertical 1×6 ribs. The toe kick has to be cut from each rib. All inside shelves and the cabinet bottom are cut around the ribbed interior space as well. My first impression is 'overbuilt and needlessly labor-intensive', but I'm committed to building this thing in period style anyway. Even the dimension lumber called out in the drawing is off from today's milled goods. I plan to use key dimensions and build the rest to fit.

Wrap-up
First time working with a real materials list, and that gave me an idea how much 1x stock I needed. That was a WAG though, as I'm modifying the original plan to better fill the space in my shop. My father found a number of donor pieces and the rest of what I thought would be needed was bought outright (a rare occurrence in my world).

Wood Table Hardwood Plank Wood stain


Construction will use the best tools for the job, be it hand tool or tailed apprentice.

So I have my excuses out of the way and material on-hand. It's time to get this build underway; I have no idea how long this one will be in-work, but I can't let that stop me. Stay tuned for the next installment, where sawdust is guaranteed to be seen. Until then, as always, thanks for looking!
Thanks for the link, brother Smitty.

I've been looking at Behr paints…that color looks close to Shallot Bulb, Alamosa Green, Clary Sage, and Intoxication!

"Umm, yessir, can I have a gallon of that Intoxication?"

LOL
 

Attachments

#23 ·
Why? What? Where? How? When?

Good day, and welcome to the initial installment of my DeWalt RAS cabinet blog.

Background
Woodworking is a hobby for me, nothing more and nothing less. Within the realm of hobby lies a tremendous range of passion; there's 'love it, can't live without' all the way to 'it's something to tinker with when there's no sports on TV.' I'm closer to the former than the latter, but I'm also a very patient fellow when it comes to getting things done the way I want them. Bottom line: It's the journey.

Why start a blog with reflection? Why indeed. The answer lies in the connection of dots, the songline that dictates the development of my shop space and the tools it contains. Some of the things in my shop, the workbench for example, were game-changers in ways I did not anticipate. Other shop tools have been instigators in the same sense as my bench, and it is one of those ancillary paths that is the focus of this short blog series. I bought a 1956 DeWalt MBF 9" radial arm saw via Craigslist about three years ago for the tidy sum of $100. Although the saw lacked a decent blade and pawl, it did come with a rather spiffy, customized "General Electric" stand.



Don't get me wrong. The GE stand is nice, in a 60s / Jetsons vibe kind of way, but there's always been a sense it was not a permanent fixture. It's not rickety, but there's no way to add extensions to either side of the saw's top. To work longer stock of all varieties, I envisioned a wall-length work surface that would incorporate the RAS. The surface would also include a removable fence and stop blocks for repeating cuts. Oh, and it would have to be visually appealing, like those great workstations I see in the workshop books and posted on LJs. Because what I have now is not inspirational in any way…



The simple fact is, I'm not very good at creating things from scratch. I'm a copier by nature. An improver, if you will. Give me a broken down piece of something and I'll make something useful out of it. If it's a decent piece I'll kick it up a notch. But when I'm presented with a blank slate it's tough to get started. So the Spiffy GE Stand endured as the home for the DeWalt MBF as the months went by and the excuse list grew.

- When I realized (rationalized) any type of RAS cabinet would be in the way while a partition wall was built in the shop, the cabinet waited.

- When I couldn't decide what the RAS cabinet should look like, doing nothing seemed to be a sound approach. So the cabinet waited.

- When I decided it would be an actual cabinet, I figured whatever I built would be too big and heavy to move out of the way when I finally got around to laying down a wood floor. So the cabinet waited.

Fast forward to today, and all the boxes have now been checked. The partition wall was completed in 2012, the DeWalt PowerShop Workbench was blogged about eleven months ago and the shop floor was installed at the end of October 2013. I even had a picture of a completed cabinet (see blog link above). No excuses anymore, time to get started.

Inspiration
I'll build a RAS cabinet in the style suggested by my saw's OEM via "Plan No. DW102".



I appreciate "F.W. Lane" and his pack-ratting ways… Because he saved his copy of the big DeWalt fold-out poster, I'm able to build it today. With a copyright date of 1954, it's right on to be a match to my RAS. The drawings for the bench include construction methods that are certainly not common today. Key to this cabinet is a pair of horizontal 2×4 support beams notched into a series of vertical 1×6 ribs. The toe kick has to be cut from each rib. All inside shelves and the cabinet bottom are cut around the ribbed interior space as well. My first impression is 'overbuilt and needlessly labor-intensive', but I'm committed to building this thing in period style anyway. Even the dimension lumber called out in the drawing is off from today's milled goods. I plan to use key dimensions and build the rest to fit.

Wrap-up
First time working with a real materials list, and that gave me an idea how much 1x stock I needed. That was a WAG though, as I'm modifying the original plan to better fill the space in my shop. My father found a number of donor pieces and the rest of what I thought would be needed was bought outright (a rare occurrence in my world).



Construction will use the best tools for the job, be it hand tool or tailed apprentice.

So I have my excuses out of the way and material on-hand. It's time to get this build underway; I have no idea how long this one will be in-work, but I can't let that stop me. Stay tuned for the next installment, where sawdust is guaranteed to be seen. Until then, as always, thanks for looking!
Yes!!!
Thank you Smitty.
 

Attachments

#24 ·
A Basic Framework

"Where there is wood, there is a way." LJ Stef, 13 Nov 2013

Did my buddy Stef actually say that? Maybe, maybe not, but when he was faced with making a solid walnut countertop and sweating details, those words just might have been on his mind. At the start of the project, I'm thinking the same thing. My 'way' is pretty straightforward, except where it's not. As in, let's discuss the DW102 in context of what I'm actually wanting to build.

Cabinetry Desk Wood Table Plant


Rectangle Font Line Schematic Parallel


The DW102 is symmetrical to the left and right of the saw and the work surface extends roughly 2 1/2' to either side of the saw blade. I'd like more cabinet space - one cubby will be filled with a shop vac, for example - and would like to target rips of (at least) 8' material and have support of the stuff all the way through the cut. What makes 8' significant? Because as I learned already with this build, I do not currently have an effective way to break down sheet goods in my shop. An integrated RAS cabinet / workstation will get me where I want to be and further reduce the chance my table saw will ever find it's way back into my shopspace. So the first big mod to this build is to double the cabinet space to the right of the saw. Easy peasy. BTW, here's a rough graphic I did a few weeks ago depicting the finished wall cabinet when all is said and done:

Rectangle Wood Pattern Wood stain Parallel


There are three 'sections' to the cabinet shown above (despite there being four arrows, ignore those), and from right to left I am committed to building the first two. The last oddball likely won't be done, but was envisioned to hold my King-Seely (Craftsman) shaper. I don't think that one is gonna happen, mostly because the shaper is an absolute beast and the cabinet it's on works fine.

The middle bench in the graphic above is definitely different from the DW102 in the number of drawers it holds, of course. I'm looking forward to the drawer builds, but also don't want to get ahead of myself too much in the meantime.

The second major mod to the DW102 is height. The publication calls for a finished benchtop at 36" off the floor. That's too much for me, and matches no other surface in my shop. The assembly bench and Roubo-type bench are each 34". That makes 34" the right number, and that will be attained by shortening the each rib's vertical pieces. What is a rib? Glad you asked. Take another look at the piece of drawing pictured above and read on.

Ribs, Anyone? A quick check of DW102 reveals a cut list along with a measured drawing and several exploded views of construction details. What it doesn't have is instructions, e.g. Fold Flap A into Slot B. The cabinet I build is not an absolute copy of DW102 either, so I can't simply cut parts and assemble. I needed to set the core dimensions of the cabinet and build a frame that the rest of the parts would fit. That frame consists of a series of vertical 'ribs' connected at set intervals via a pair of horizontal struts. The ribs are made from 1x stock, the struts from 2Ă—4s.

The vertical length of the front and back rib pieces plus the thickness of the benchtop determines the height of the completed cabinet. I want that final dimension to come out closer to 34" high vs. 36", but with the same depth as DW102, so the vertical pieces of the ribs must be modified from what's called for. Speaking of DW102, ribs define either side of the two sub-assembly cabinets that sit to the left and right of the RAS. I'll double width the right-side sub-assembly and that means one additional rib. Time to measure, mark and cut some 1x stock and build a rack of (five) ribs!

To build a rib, there are a pair of vertical 1Ă—6 and a pair of horizontal 1Ă—3 Âľ pieces needed. I ripped on the table saw and cross-cut each piece with sawbench an old and pitted, 24" panel saw of a finer file pattern. A pair of bench hooks, holdfasts and a backsaw helped with the shorter dimensions.

Wood Table Wood stain Floor Flooring


Wood Composite material Engineering Machine tool Machine


The pieces were marked per the DW102 as they piled up.

Wood Flooring Wood stain Hardwood Plank


I'm not changing the depth from the drawing, so the front-to-back rib pieces were cut to the sizes called out on DW102. And once all the pieces were cut for each of the five ribs I could actually put some pieces together. Each rib was assembled with glue and drywall screws, checking for square almost constantly; this is not the time to go out of square.

Wood Wood stain Table Workbench Hardwood


The ribs are simple rectangles, right? Nope. There are reliefs cut into them for toe-kicks, reliefs for benchtop 'doublers' along the front, and out-right notches front and back for the horizontal struts. The toe-kick and doubler cuts were straight forward enough…

Wood Gas Wood stain Hardwood Metal


but the strut cuts could use a bit of a deep dive as they're key to the overall integrity of the workbench. I actually cut them with a 16" Cincinnati Saw Company sash saw prior to assembly, and verified the dimension by making a simple jig from scrap 2Ă—4 material.

Wood Machine tool Flooring Tool Hardwood


Wood Gesture Finger Hardwood Thumb


Cut the sides, knock out the waste with a couple whacks of a chisel.

Wood Automotive exterior Plank Hardwood Wood stain


With ribs and struts ready to go, it was time for a dry-fit. Here's proof there is some actual progress being made:

Wood Natural material Wood stain Hardwood Gas


Wood Hardwood Gas Rectangle Wood stain


Wood Flooring Hardwood Wood stain Machine


At least the thing is now standing on it's own.

I know it's not much, but shop time is getting severely crunched these days. Next post will concentrate on rails for the shelves as well as bottoms for the cabinet out of plywood (GASP!). Until then, as always, thanks for looking.
 

Attachments

#25 ·
A Basic Framework

"Where there is wood, there is a way." LJ Stef, 13 Nov 2013

Did my buddy Stef actually say that? Maybe, maybe not, but when he was faced with making a solid walnut countertop and sweating details, those words just might have been on his mind. At the start of the project, I'm thinking the same thing. My 'way' is pretty straightforward, except where it's not. As in, let's discuss the DW102 in context of what I'm actually wanting to build.

Cabinetry Desk Wood Table Plant


Rectangle Font Line Schematic Parallel


The DW102 is symmetrical to the left and right of the saw and the work surface extends roughly 2 1/2' to either side of the saw blade. I'd like more cabinet space - one cubby will be filled with a shop vac, for example - and would like to target rips of (at least) 8' material and have support of the stuff all the way through the cut. What makes 8' significant? Because as I learned already with this build, I do not currently have an effective way to break down sheet goods in my shop. An integrated RAS cabinet / workstation will get me where I want to be and further reduce the chance my table saw will ever find it's way back into my shopspace. So the first big mod to this build is to double the cabinet space to the right of the saw. Easy peasy. BTW, here's a rough graphic I did a few weeks ago depicting the finished wall cabinet when all is said and done:

Rectangle Wood Pattern Wood stain Parallel


There are three 'sections' to the cabinet shown above (despite there being four arrows, ignore those), and from right to left I am committed to building the first two. The last oddball likely won't be done, but was envisioned to hold my King-Seely (Craftsman) shaper. I don't think that one is gonna happen, mostly because the shaper is an absolute beast and the cabinet it's on works fine.

The middle bench in the graphic above is definitely different from the DW102 in the number of drawers it holds, of course. I'm looking forward to the drawer builds, but also don't want to get ahead of myself too much in the meantime.

The second major mod to the DW102 is height. The publication calls for a finished benchtop at 36" off the floor. That's too much for me, and matches no other surface in my shop. The assembly bench and Roubo-type bench are each 34". That makes 34" the right number, and that will be attained by shortening the each rib's vertical pieces. What is a rib? Glad you asked. Take another look at the piece of drawing pictured above and read on.

Ribs, Anyone? A quick check of DW102 reveals a cut list along with a measured drawing and several exploded views of construction details. What it doesn't have is instructions, e.g. Fold Flap A into Slot B. The cabinet I build is not an absolute copy of DW102 either, so I can't simply cut parts and assemble. I needed to set the core dimensions of the cabinet and build a frame that the rest of the parts would fit. That frame consists of a series of vertical 'ribs' connected at set intervals via a pair of horizontal struts. The ribs are made from 1x stock, the struts from 2Ă—4s.

The vertical length of the front and back rib pieces plus the thickness of the benchtop determines the height of the completed cabinet. I want that final dimension to come out closer to 34" high vs. 36", but with the same depth as DW102, so the vertical pieces of the ribs must be modified from what's called for. Speaking of DW102, ribs define either side of the two sub-assembly cabinets that sit to the left and right of the RAS. I'll double width the right-side sub-assembly and that means one additional rib. Time to measure, mark and cut some 1x stock and build a rack of (five) ribs!

To build a rib, there are a pair of vertical 1Ă—6 and a pair of horizontal 1Ă—3 Âľ pieces needed. I ripped on the table saw and cross-cut each piece with sawbench an old and pitted, 24" panel saw of a finer file pattern. A pair of bench hooks, holdfasts and a backsaw helped with the shorter dimensions.

Wood Table Wood stain Floor Flooring


Wood Composite material Engineering Machine tool Machine


The pieces were marked per the DW102 as they piled up.

Wood Flooring Wood stain Hardwood Plank


I'm not changing the depth from the drawing, so the front-to-back rib pieces were cut to the sizes called out on DW102. And once all the pieces were cut for each of the five ribs I could actually put some pieces together. Each rib was assembled with glue and drywall screws, checking for square almost constantly; this is not the time to go out of square.

Wood Wood stain Table Workbench Hardwood


The ribs are simple rectangles, right? Nope. There are reliefs cut into them for toe-kicks, reliefs for benchtop 'doublers' along the front, and out-right notches front and back for the horizontal struts. The toe-kick and doubler cuts were straight forward enough…

Wood Gas Wood stain Hardwood Metal


but the strut cuts could use a bit of a deep dive as they're key to the overall integrity of the workbench. I actually cut them with a 16" Cincinnati Saw Company sash saw prior to assembly, and verified the dimension by making a simple jig from scrap 2Ă—4 material.

Wood Machine tool Flooring Tool Hardwood


Wood Gesture Finger Hardwood Thumb


Cut the sides, knock out the waste with a couple whacks of a chisel.

Wood Automotive exterior Plank Hardwood Wood stain


With ribs and struts ready to go, it was time for a dry-fit. Here's proof there is some actual progress being made:

Wood Natural material Wood stain Hardwood Gas


Wood Hardwood Gas Rectangle Wood stain


Wood Flooring Hardwood Wood stain Machine


At least the thing is now standing on it's own.

I know it's not much, but shop time is getting severely crunched these days. Next post will concentrate on rails for the shelves as well as bottoms for the cabinet out of plywood (GASP!). Until then, as always, thanks for looking.
looking pretty good Smitty. My shop time is almost zero, so I'm gonna need to live vicariously through you for a while. I spent my weekend getting next years firewood ready. It's not nearly as much fun as woodworking but still working with wood I guess.

I think galoot points go up when you cross cut 2Ă—4s by hand when making a "RAS" cabinet. Just satin!
 

Attachments

#26 ·
A Basic Framework

"Where there is wood, there is a way." LJ Stef, 13 Nov 2013

Did my buddy Stef actually say that? Maybe, maybe not, but when he was faced with making a solid walnut countertop and sweating details, those words just might have been on his mind. At the start of the project, I'm thinking the same thing. My 'way' is pretty straightforward, except where it's not. As in, let's discuss the DW102 in context of what I'm actually wanting to build.

Cabinetry Desk Wood Table Plant


Rectangle Font Line Schematic Parallel


The DW102 is symmetrical to the left and right of the saw and the work surface extends roughly 2 1/2' to either side of the saw blade. I'd like more cabinet space - one cubby will be filled with a shop vac, for example - and would like to target rips of (at least) 8' material and have support of the stuff all the way through the cut. What makes 8' significant? Because as I learned already with this build, I do not currently have an effective way to break down sheet goods in my shop. An integrated RAS cabinet / workstation will get me where I want to be and further reduce the chance my table saw will ever find it's way back into my shopspace. So the first big mod to this build is to double the cabinet space to the right of the saw. Easy peasy. BTW, here's a rough graphic I did a few weeks ago depicting the finished wall cabinet when all is said and done:

Rectangle Wood Pattern Wood stain Parallel


There are three 'sections' to the cabinet shown above (despite there being four arrows, ignore those), and from right to left I am committed to building the first two. The last oddball likely won't be done, but was envisioned to hold my King-Seely (Craftsman) shaper. I don't think that one is gonna happen, mostly because the shaper is an absolute beast and the cabinet it's on works fine.

The middle bench in the graphic above is definitely different from the DW102 in the number of drawers it holds, of course. I'm looking forward to the drawer builds, but also don't want to get ahead of myself too much in the meantime.

The second major mod to the DW102 is height. The publication calls for a finished benchtop at 36" off the floor. That's too much for me, and matches no other surface in my shop. The assembly bench and Roubo-type bench are each 34". That makes 34" the right number, and that will be attained by shortening the each rib's vertical pieces. What is a rib? Glad you asked. Take another look at the piece of drawing pictured above and read on.

Ribs, Anyone? A quick check of DW102 reveals a cut list along with a measured drawing and several exploded views of construction details. What it doesn't have is instructions, e.g. Fold Flap A into Slot B. The cabinet I build is not an absolute copy of DW102 either, so I can't simply cut parts and assemble. I needed to set the core dimensions of the cabinet and build a frame that the rest of the parts would fit. That frame consists of a series of vertical 'ribs' connected at set intervals via a pair of horizontal struts. The ribs are made from 1x stock, the struts from 2Ă—4s.

The vertical length of the front and back rib pieces plus the thickness of the benchtop determines the height of the completed cabinet. I want that final dimension to come out closer to 34" high vs. 36", but with the same depth as DW102, so the vertical pieces of the ribs must be modified from what's called for. Speaking of DW102, ribs define either side of the two sub-assembly cabinets that sit to the left and right of the RAS. I'll double width the right-side sub-assembly and that means one additional rib. Time to measure, mark and cut some 1x stock and build a rack of (five) ribs!

To build a rib, there are a pair of vertical 1Ă—6 and a pair of horizontal 1Ă—3 Âľ pieces needed. I ripped on the table saw and cross-cut each piece with sawbench an old and pitted, 24" panel saw of a finer file pattern. A pair of bench hooks, holdfasts and a backsaw helped with the shorter dimensions.

Wood Table Wood stain Floor Flooring


Wood Composite material Engineering Machine tool Machine


The pieces were marked per the DW102 as they piled up.

Wood Flooring Wood stain Hardwood Plank


I'm not changing the depth from the drawing, so the front-to-back rib pieces were cut to the sizes called out on DW102. And once all the pieces were cut for each of the five ribs I could actually put some pieces together. Each rib was assembled with glue and drywall screws, checking for square almost constantly; this is not the time to go out of square.

Wood Wood stain Table Workbench Hardwood


The ribs are simple rectangles, right? Nope. There are reliefs cut into them for toe-kicks, reliefs for benchtop 'doublers' along the front, and out-right notches front and back for the horizontal struts. The toe-kick and doubler cuts were straight forward enough…

Wood Gas Wood stain Hardwood Metal


but the strut cuts could use a bit of a deep dive as they're key to the overall integrity of the workbench. I actually cut them with a 16" Cincinnati Saw Company sash saw prior to assembly, and verified the dimension by making a simple jig from scrap 2Ă—4 material.

Wood Machine tool Flooring Tool Hardwood


Wood Gesture Finger Hardwood Thumb


Cut the sides, knock out the waste with a couple whacks of a chisel.

Wood Automotive exterior Plank Hardwood Wood stain


With ribs and struts ready to go, it was time for a dry-fit. Here's proof there is some actual progress being made:

Wood Natural material Wood stain Hardwood Gas


Wood Hardwood Gas Rectangle Wood stain


Wood Flooring Hardwood Wood stain Machine


At least the thing is now standing on it's own.

I know it's not much, but shop time is getting severely crunched these days. Next post will concentrate on rails for the shelves as well as bottoms for the cabinet out of plywood (GASP!). Until then, as always, thanks for looking.
Don, if you base next year's wood needs on this winter passed, you'll be cutting until September… Yuck. :)

The frame isn't a looker just yet, but it's certainly interesting from a construction standpoint. And I have some jack plane use in mind when it gets glued and screwed together. Everything seen in the last pic will be covered though, so 'meh' to aesthetics. And yes, using hand saws quite a bit; five different ones so far. Love it.
 

Attachments

#64 ·
More Pieces, More Progress

I've managed to squeeze a few minutes' time into the shop, which was long enough to complete a couple of sub-tasks on the PowerShop Bench (PSB). Which also made me think to do a quick update to this blog series. At this point the PSB consists entirely of five ribs and two struts and is structurally able to stand on its own. No glue or screws yet, just dry-fit; as I've mentioned, DW102 didn't come with build instructions or narrative.

Handwriting Font Parallel Pattern Rectangle


When the seven pieces I've made thus far are supposed to be fitted and permanently fixed into place, in other words, is unknown. So with that said, what next? I think it's the two plywood bottom pieces.

I collected a used and slightly abused 5/8" sheet of plywood from inventory and laid out cuts that would avoid an area of blowout on the stock and get me both bottoms. Cuts were made with a circular saw (the Black and Decker Sawcat of the late 80s is an awesome tailed apprentice, BTW) on a pair of horses, with additional trimming done via RAS. Processing sheet goods is not my favorite activity - where have I heard that before- but with the stuff was cut to width, notches had to be cut so the bottoms could trace around each inside rib structure. Those notches were traced against a 1Ă—6 cut-off and completed at the bench via handsaw.

Wood Ruler Office ruler Tool Hardwood


Brown Wood Road surface Composite material Flooring


Wood Automotive exterior Bumper Flooring Floor


Wood Table Flooring Gas Sledgehammer


Wood Composite material Gas Bumper Automotive exterior


At that point this first, smaller bottom was ready for fitting and it went well!

Wood Floor Flooring Rectangle Hardwood


Repeat the process for the cuts on the larger carcase bottom and I'm good to go, right? Well, in theory, yes. A bunch of measuring had to be done to the elongated carcase bottom shelf in that it's not on the drawing; that side of my build is essentially twice the width of DW102 but not exactly. The first piece was true to the drawing and progress on that one was quick. Well, the second went quick too, only it was wrong. Shouldn't be in a hurry to make a mistake, I guess.

A Diversion
At this point, an error surfaced because I used a certain 1x cut-off to mark the notches shown in the previous pics… You see, I'm what some might call a hand tool junkie. I wouldn't go so far as saying I'm a galoot, because I wouldn't want to be associated with a group that would consider folks like me for membership. But I do like hand planes and have been known to grab the odd piece of scrap, clamp it up on the leg vise and take a few passes with the jack, jointer or block just to hear the "schhhh-k!" sound it makes. Well, it was just that piece of planed scrap that I used to mark the second of the two cabinet bottoms.

Wood Hardwood Automotive exterior Gas Flooring


So when I finished the notch cuts and did a test-fit, there was a disconnect. Argh. Unaware of the true cause, I measured the distance between the ribs (front-to-back) and cut the front slot longer. AND, to make matters worse, the front extended beyond the cabinet's intended face by the amount needed at the back. Argh again.So I pulled the piece, ripped it again and here's what I'm left with:



I'll glue and pin nail these before the back of the carcase is put in place; no impact and no one will ever know. Well, except for y'all. And now back to our regular program…

Back on Track

The other piece of progress was on the shelf runners. DW102 spec'd these to be ¾" stock that was cut to length and 1 ¾" wide. Well, that's too much for shelves (I said) so mine were ripped to 1 ½" and cut to length via bench hook and backsaw as several rib components had been earlier. As a matter of fact, here is the same picture you've seen before of those cuts…

Wood Composite material Engineering Machine tool Machine


Next Time…
What next, then? Glad you asked, because I've been wondering that myself. Until then, as always, thanks for looking.
 

Attachments

#65 ·
More Pieces, More Progress

I've managed to squeeze a few minutes' time into the shop, which was long enough to complete a couple of sub-tasks on the PowerShop Bench (PSB). Which also made me think to do a quick update to this blog series. At this point the PSB consists entirely of five ribs and two struts and is structurally able to stand on its own. No glue or screws yet, just dry-fit; as I've mentioned, DW102 didn't come with build instructions or narrative.

Handwriting Font Parallel Pattern Rectangle


When the seven pieces I've made thus far are supposed to be fitted and permanently fixed into place, in other words, is unknown. So with that said, what next? I think it's the two plywood bottom pieces.

I collected a used and slightly abused 5/8" sheet of plywood from inventory and laid out cuts that would avoid an area of blowout on the stock and get me both bottoms. Cuts were made with a circular saw (the Black and Decker Sawcat of the late 80s is an awesome tailed apprentice, BTW) on a pair of horses, with additional trimming done via RAS. Processing sheet goods is not my favorite activity - where have I heard that before- but with the stuff was cut to width, notches had to be cut so the bottoms could trace around each inside rib structure. Those notches were traced against a 1Ă—6 cut-off and completed at the bench via handsaw.

Wood Ruler Office ruler Tool Hardwood


Brown Wood Road surface Composite material Flooring


Wood Automotive exterior Bumper Flooring Floor


Wood Table Flooring Gas Sledgehammer


Wood Composite material Gas Bumper Automotive exterior


At that point this first, smaller bottom was ready for fitting and it went well!

Wood Floor Flooring Rectangle Hardwood


Repeat the process for the cuts on the larger carcase bottom and I'm good to go, right? Well, in theory, yes. A bunch of measuring had to be done to the elongated carcase bottom shelf in that it's not on the drawing; that side of my build is essentially twice the width of DW102 but not exactly. The first piece was true to the drawing and progress on that one was quick. Well, the second went quick too, only it was wrong. Shouldn't be in a hurry to make a mistake, I guess.

A Diversion
At this point, an error surfaced because I used a certain 1x cut-off to mark the notches shown in the previous pics… You see, I'm what some might call a hand tool junkie. I wouldn't go so far as saying I'm a galoot, because I wouldn't want to be associated with a group that would consider folks like me for membership. But I do like hand planes and have been known to grab the odd piece of scrap, clamp it up on the leg vise and take a few passes with the jack, jointer or block just to hear the "schhhh-k!" sound it makes. Well, it was just that piece of planed scrap that I used to mark the second of the two cabinet bottoms.

Wood Hardwood Automotive exterior Gas Flooring


So when I finished the notch cuts and did a test-fit, there was a disconnect. Argh. Unaware of the true cause, I measured the distance between the ribs (front-to-back) and cut the front slot longer. AND, to make matters worse, the front extended beyond the cabinet's intended face by the amount needed at the back. Argh again.So I pulled the piece, ripped it again and here's what I'm left with:



I'll glue and pin nail these before the back of the carcase is put in place; no impact and no one will ever know. Well, except for y'all. And now back to our regular program…

Back on Track

The other piece of progress was on the shelf runners. DW102 spec'd these to be ¾" stock that was cut to length and 1 ¾" wide. Well, that's too much for shelves (I said) so mine were ripped to 1 ½" and cut to length via bench hook and backsaw as several rib components had been earlier. As a matter of fact, here is the same picture you've seen before of those cuts…

Wood Composite material Engineering Machine tool Machine


Next Time…
What next, then? Glad you asked, because I've been wondering that myself. Until then, as always, thanks for looking.
To err is human, to recover is fine woodworking.

Work Safely and have Fun. - Len
 

Attachments

#98 ·
Uncertainty and Missteps

I'll come right out with it: my hand-tool-centric 'trim to fit' approach is not working on this build. Not at all. That's bad because there's been (and there will continue to be) re-work on the cabinet in several areas. It's also good in a way, because attention to dimension (as read by a stick rule in this case) and square shouldn't be dismissed in a build as unique as this.

Up to this point I've held the cabinet together using bar clamps, by the way. I'm not sure when I'm supposed to nail the carcase bottoms in place, or the 2Ă—4 struts in place, so I've not done so. With the shelf runners in place from Installment #3, though, I could get the one shelf planned for the double box cut and installed. The one thing preventing me from making these parts permanent up to this point will be addressed (or dismissed) soon. Here's what the graphic says:

Rectangle Font Line Slope Parallel


I ripped the plywood and cut the notches without issue…
Wood Tableware Knife Tool Wood stain

Wood Hardwood Automotive exterior Gas Flooring

Wood Automotive exterior Bumper Flooring Floor


But when a brought it to the cabinet frame, it was clear…
Wood Composite material Gas Hardwood Plank


No way this piece was going in without some disassembly. I tried lowering the front of each runner, but that was a no-go too.
Wood Flooring Gas Hardwood Composite material


So I removed them. Good news is, they each will go back in place in the right place as I have a spacer board cut that sets each end at the right distance from the carcase floor. So two steps back, one forward, but we have a fit.
Wood Plank Hardwood Wood stain Composite material


The furring strip looking things are supports for said shelf, btw. Here's the PSB with inside bottom and shelf installed (small side was not an issue vs. the larger side)
Table Wood Rectangle Flooring Wood stain


Some attention was needed re-working the leading-edge, benchtop 'doublers' that are shown on the drawing. I'll spare you the gory details, but some of the material over the past several weeks moved. A lot.

Wood Hardwood Wood stain Lumber Plywood


That piece was remade…

At this point I decided to bring the pieces into form, not only "because it was time," but also there's a need for the space… A cabinet this size takes up a chunk of real estate I can't afford to be without over the long term. So for assembly, one strut (the front) was predrilled for 2 ½" stainless screws and pulled tight rather well. Before final, though, I had to touch up a number of the notches to get the fit just right. The #92 shoulder plane happened to be the right width for the job!

Wood Finger Hand tool Tool Hardwood

Wood Gas Rectangle Hardwood Composite material


The back strut was pre-drilled and nailed usung 3" galvanized ring-shank nails. Why did I screw the front and nail the backside? Basically it was overkill using screws that I otherwise want to conserve for a suitable outdoor project, so once it was clear the ribs wouldn't split open by ring-shank, I stuck to that approach for the rest of the fasteners.
With the framework made permanent, it was on to the floor pieces for each cabinet side. Those were screwed to each rib at each vertical; 12 screws for those that count such things. All of this was straightforward enough, so it was on to the face trim.

The drawing calls for narrow 1x stock to be added to the face of rib-and-strut framework in the shape of an H for each carcase; nothing (strangely) in place to cover the leading edges of the plywood floor boards. That approach doesn't appeal to me at all, so I'm going to over-achieve and add face trim at the base of the cabinet to be glued then nailed in place.

I cut the verticals to width then laid them in place to mark and cut later for length. When I cut the lower horizontal face frame piece things wouldn't square up… Some checking ensued before it was clear the left-most rib stood ½" shorter than all the others. Ugh. At least it was an outside piece, but still, it has to be re-built because the missing fraction is between the drawer and the floor, where a shim couldn't fix the problem.

The floor was unscrewed, the front strut was unscrewed, and the rib beat free from the back nail. Some quick cuts got me a piece that was much more gooder (to dimension and square!), and together it went. Put the rib in place, screwed and nailed it together and finished-nailed the face trim.

But not so fast… Face trim in place, noticed another issue! Now the floor is set back from the rib! Double ugh. Take it apart (again) so I can plane the rib face to match the floor (which I know is right). Looks like the new rib grew that missing half inch in more than one place! Unbelievable. Gotta pay more attention to my cuts, I guess. Planed the edge of the rib to come flush with the floor,

Wood Gas Flooring Hardwood Wood stain


And again nailed the face.

Wood Wood stain Natural material Hardwood Plank


With that done, time to celebrate, right? Huzzah! But no, another oversight. I should have nailed the toekick into place before running the face trim down to the floor, because now it's very tough to get to. I'll solve that at a later date. Oh, and the vertical face trim runs long as a variation from the drawing; I wanted the piece to look more like a piece of shop furniture than a kitchen cabinet.

Then it was time for the plywood backer. Not much craftsmanship here (wow, what an understatement for the whole build so far, right??), just note that the piece is more than 8' wide so pieces were needed. There are verticals to be added that will hide the butt joints above the top, and the piece will be painted too, so appearance is not an issue at this point.
Wood Table Rectangle Hardwood Wood stain

Wood Floor Flooring Hardwood Wood stain


Some scrap plywood was temporarily screwed into place as a top, and a cabinet was moved into place at (roughly) the 65% Complete mark. You can see the RAS is already at home…
Property Picture frame Wood Gas Hardwood

Wood Table Floor Flooring Hardwood


One more:
Wood Writing desk Table Cabinetry Floor


And that, ladies and gents, is it for awhile. The cabinet and this blog series will now be shelved due to priorities in my life other than woodworking. The PSB still needs three drawers, three plywood endcaps and three pairs of doors. Oh, and a decent benchtop along with a good coat of paint. It'll get done, when I'm not sure, but I'm happy with where it is at present. So much to do! The saw is already more useful… So until next time, as always, thanks for looking!
 

Attachments

#99 ·
Uncertainty and Missteps

I'll come right out with it: my hand-tool-centric 'trim to fit' approach is not working on this build. Not at all. That's bad because there's been (and there will continue to be) re-work on the cabinet in several areas. It's also good in a way, because attention to dimension (as read by a stick rule in this case) and square shouldn't be dismissed in a build as unique as this.

Up to this point I've held the cabinet together using bar clamps, by the way. I'm not sure when I'm supposed to nail the carcase bottoms in place, or the 2Ă—4 struts in place, so I've not done so. With the shelf runners in place from Installment #3, though, I could get the one shelf planned for the double box cut and installed. The one thing preventing me from making these parts permanent up to this point will be addressed (or dismissed) soon. Here's what the graphic says:

Rectangle Font Line Slope Parallel


I ripped the plywood and cut the notches without issue…
Wood Tableware Knife Tool Wood stain

Wood Hardwood Automotive exterior Gas Flooring

Wood Automotive exterior Bumper Flooring Floor


But when a brought it to the cabinet frame, it was clear…
Wood Composite material Gas Hardwood Plank


No way this piece was going in without some disassembly. I tried lowering the front of each runner, but that was a no-go too.
Wood Flooring Gas Hardwood Composite material


So I removed them. Good news is, they each will go back in place in the right place as I have a spacer board cut that sets each end at the right distance from the carcase floor. So two steps back, one forward, but we have a fit.
Wood Plank Hardwood Wood stain Composite material


The furring strip looking things are supports for said shelf, btw. Here's the PSB with inside bottom and shelf installed (small side was not an issue vs. the larger side)
Table Wood Rectangle Flooring Wood stain


Some attention was needed re-working the leading-edge, benchtop 'doublers' that are shown on the drawing. I'll spare you the gory details, but some of the material over the past several weeks moved. A lot.

Wood Hardwood Wood stain Lumber Plywood


That piece was remade…

At this point I decided to bring the pieces into form, not only "because it was time," but also there's a need for the space… A cabinet this size takes up a chunk of real estate I can't afford to be without over the long term. So for assembly, one strut (the front) was predrilled for 2 ½" stainless screws and pulled tight rather well. Before final, though, I had to touch up a number of the notches to get the fit just right. The #92 shoulder plane happened to be the right width for the job!

Wood Finger Hand tool Tool Hardwood

Wood Gas Rectangle Hardwood Composite material


The back strut was pre-drilled and nailed usung 3" galvanized ring-shank nails. Why did I screw the front and nail the backside? Basically it was overkill using screws that I otherwise want to conserve for a suitable outdoor project, so once it was clear the ribs wouldn't split open by ring-shank, I stuck to that approach for the rest of the fasteners.
With the framework made permanent, it was on to the floor pieces for each cabinet side. Those were screwed to each rib at each vertical; 12 screws for those that count such things. All of this was straightforward enough, so it was on to the face trim.

The drawing calls for narrow 1x stock to be added to the face of rib-and-strut framework in the shape of an H for each carcase; nothing (strangely) in place to cover the leading edges of the plywood floor boards. That approach doesn't appeal to me at all, so I'm going to over-achieve and add face trim at the base of the cabinet to be glued then nailed in place.

I cut the verticals to width then laid them in place to mark and cut later for length. When I cut the lower horizontal face frame piece things wouldn't square up… Some checking ensued before it was clear the left-most rib stood ½" shorter than all the others. Ugh. At least it was an outside piece, but still, it has to be re-built because the missing fraction is between the drawer and the floor, where a shim couldn't fix the problem.

The floor was unscrewed, the front strut was unscrewed, and the rib beat free from the back nail. Some quick cuts got me a piece that was much more gooder (to dimension and square!), and together it went. Put the rib in place, screwed and nailed it together and finished-nailed the face trim.

But not so fast… Face trim in place, noticed another issue! Now the floor is set back from the rib! Double ugh. Take it apart (again) so I can plane the rib face to match the floor (which I know is right). Looks like the new rib grew that missing half inch in more than one place! Unbelievable. Gotta pay more attention to my cuts, I guess. Planed the edge of the rib to come flush with the floor,

Wood Gas Flooring Hardwood Wood stain


And again nailed the face.

Wood Wood stain Natural material Hardwood Plank


With that done, time to celebrate, right? Huzzah! But no, another oversight. I should have nailed the toekick into place before running the face trim down to the floor, because now it's very tough to get to. I'll solve that at a later date. Oh, and the vertical face trim runs long as a variation from the drawing; I wanted the piece to look more like a piece of shop furniture than a kitchen cabinet.

Then it was time for the plywood backer. Not much craftsmanship here (wow, what an understatement for the whole build so far, right??), just note that the piece is more than 8' wide so pieces were needed. There are verticals to be added that will hide the butt joints above the top, and the piece will be painted too, so appearance is not an issue at this point.
Wood Table Rectangle Hardwood Wood stain

Wood Floor Flooring Hardwood Wood stain


Some scrap plywood was temporarily screwed into place as a top, and a cabinet was moved into place at (roughly) the 65% Complete mark. You can see the RAS is already at home…
Property Picture frame Wood Gas Hardwood

Wood Table Floor Flooring Hardwood


One more:
Wood Writing desk Table Cabinetry Floor


And that, ladies and gents, is it for awhile. The cabinet and this blog series will now be shelved due to priorities in my life other than woodworking. The PSB still needs three drawers, three plywood endcaps and three pairs of doors. Oh, and a decent benchtop along with a good coat of paint. It'll get done, when I'm not sure, but I'm happy with where it is at present. So much to do! The saw is already more useful… So until next time, as always, thanks for looking!
I have found it quite strange how, sometimes, a measured set of plans turns out to be only a 'suggestion', rather than a 'given' and we are again building a 'prototype', but at least it's a place to start.
[Insert tab 'A' into slot 'B'].

" The saw is already more useful…" , that's 'W' in the won - lost column. ;-)

Best Regards. - Len
Work Safely and have Fun.
 

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