I didn’t like how the “Ebony 2718” Minwax stain looked in the last entry in this series, so I grabbed a can of flat black paint from a recently completed project for my friends’ wedding, and after a 24-hour drying period, painted right over the stain.
I went out to the shop several times yesterday to sand @ 220-grit, and apply another layer of Minwax’s water-based polyurethane. Water-based simply because I had it, and I also don’t love finishing work, and soap-and-water cleanup is about as much hassle as I could be bothered with. After 3 coats – their recommendation – I had something pretty slick:
Adding in the handle I chose for the drawer, and reinstalling the drawer, I have to say I really like it.
I think getting the bolts in place took more work than laying out and installing the handle, which, btw, required me to chisel, and ‘hand drill’ (holding a large brad-tip bit in my hands, as my drill wouldn’t nearly fit in the drawer) to create counterbores to sink the drawer screws and little washers through the rear of the drawer’s front, up to the rear surface of the decorative front piece. They were only designed to go through 3/4” panels.
For the attachment bolts, I finally resorted to taping the heads to the underside to hold the bolts up while I fiddled in the narrow spots to drop the washer, lock washer, and nut onto the 3/8” of exposed bolt. I also had to use a magnet to retrieve the washers a few times.
I feel the planer should just come with a base like this in the first place :) I tried to echo the colors found in the planer in the base. Up to you whether or not I came anywhere near success with that. Here it is, deployed. Note that the area behind it is the space it’s going to roll into, but it’s currently completely full with junk.
It’s a little bit of a stoop-over to use, but I don’t plane nearly often enough, nor in long enough sessions to worry about it. My favorite bit is that I can finally roll it under the work table (I hope – haven’t tested the final assembly yet, as the table is packed with crap under it!), and put it anywhere in the shop I currently have a free spot during future projects. Note how much crap is around it in this shot. The rest of the garage is worse.
All the replacement, spare, and backup blades in my shop are going in this thing, including the planer’s blades, seen here with 2 packs I got each 50% off from Rockler for my 6” Delta jointer. They actually called me at work, made the offer, and I said “Sure, I’ll take two.” I had bought the jointer from them some months earlier.
And of course, if I want to lessen cleanup, I can leave the drawer open to catch stray shavings :)
I will post this as a project when I get the table cleared out, cleaned up, and this thing docked in there.
-- Gary, Los Angeles, video game animator
































8 comments so far
a1Jim
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17022 posts in 475 days
posted 186 days ago
Got er done ,Thumbs up Gary
-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop, custom furniture maker, woodworking school, heirloomwoodshop.com
PurpLev
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2763 posts in 546 days
posted 186 days ago
looks better painted than it did with the stain alone – good call.
and trust me – your garage is tidy compared to what mine looks these days… but that’s no reason not to clean up shop ;)
-- When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.
kiwi1969
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601 posts in 340 days
posted 186 days ago
Nice one. There,s no reason shop furniture souldn,t look good with a bit of style, I reckon it makes the shop enviroment feel more pleasant to work in.
-- if the hand is not working it is not a pure hand
lew
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4505 posts in 653 days
posted 186 days ago
I didn’t realize- probably just missed it someplace- that your planer was a Craftsman.
So I’m looking now thru the pics and get to the forth one and think- “why that looks like a Sears Tool Box, how cool!” Then scrolled down one more and it hit me DUH!
Nice Job, Gary!!
Lew
spanky46
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737 posts in 288 days
posted 186 days ago
It finished up real nice Gary!
-- spanky46 -- Never enough clamps...Never enough tools...Never enough time.
Scott Bryan
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20754 posts in 720 days
posted 186 days ago
Gary, this turned out really nice. The cart is a valuable addition to your shop. Now you will have to go to the gym for a workout instead of dead lifting the planer. :)
-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.
TopamaxSurvivor
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3063 posts in 574 days
posted 186 days ago
It looked so good in the last pic before the planer went on top of it, I thought it might have a 427 with dual quads in it!!
-- Debt is nothing more than the 21st Century's form of slavery.
Dick, & Barb Cain
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7043 posts in 1197 days
posted 185 days ago
It sure looks nice with the planer mounted to it.
Sawdust won’t hang on to the vertical surfaces.
The firs images made it look much larger than the planer base.
-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1