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23K views 34 replies 17 participants last post by  rodman40 
#1 ·
Mortise Practice

I went to the local homecenter to get some 2×4's build the base structure of my lathe stand out of, I didn't have a lot of luck with 2×4s the bundle was still wrapped up with 4-5 loose ones on top and the loose ones where not ones I'd pay money for. After some digging I found some decent 2×10's so I grabbed 3 (remembering I needed 3 2×4's) since these where 10' long as well, I had them cut in half so they would fit in the back of my mini cooper.

When I get 2 by stock, I basically treat it as if it's 6/4 rough stock and I still go through the jointing and planing process to make sure I get some good flat boards.

Wood Floor Flooring Hardwood Plywood


After milling the boards down to 1 1/4'' thick (the final thickness I wanted) ripped them into 2 1/2'' strips. During this process I quickly realised I had way more lumber than I needed, and cut the strips I needed, plus several extras to get my mortising technique down.

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One thing I like about having the add-on fence to my miter gauge that is flush with the saw blade, it makes measuring a snap. After I cut the first peice to length I just set it on top of the next peice to be cut and flush the left side with the end of the board, and the right side with the edge of the fence. Remove the first peice then make the cut. This produced some great results for makeing sure the parts where the same length.

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At first my intention was to make the tennon 3/4'' thick, on the 1 1/4'' thick peice of wood, this leaves 1/4'' around for the mortise. I quickly found that this wasn't enough for chisel work and and mortise did not survive. Fortunatly this was on one of my practice peices.

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I shrunk the tennon down to 1/2'' which gives 3/8'' around the mortise, this worked out much better, chiseling out the mortise was an interesting experience. I can certianly see why people invest in a mortising machine. If I was a pro that would be a no brainer, I may even consider it myself if I had a project that had a ton of mortises in it (I've heard people mention projects that can contain 50+ mortise and tennon joints whew that's a lot of mortises to cut)

For the record, these aren't 100% by hand, I took a 1/2'' forsner bit and my drill press to clear out most of the material, and I use the chisel to square everything up.

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It took several tweaks and adjustments on my tablesaw to make the tennon (using a dado stack to cut the tennon). And the first one I ended up making too loose, so I lowered the blade just a nudge, but I guess it was too much because it was pretty tight fit, and next thing I know .. I split the wood.

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Tomorrow I have some more tennon practice and then hopefully I'll make the base frame for my lathe stand.
 

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#2 ·
Dry fitting the frame

After a few more practice peices I was able to set up some stops on my drill press fence and was good to go.

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It took me all day, but I was able to make all the mortises, and the tennons though the tennons where really easy. To be honest I don't know if I'll use this method for mortise and tennon joints in the future, I may look at building a router jig or something next time and make round tennons instead of square. It certianly was a learning experience though.

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I test fit all the peices together, It doesn't come together as square as I would have expected it too just magically be. I just need to plan out which steps to do the glue up so everything comes out square.

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On a side note, I think I should devise some sort of dust collection setup for my drill press.

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Overall I'm very happy with the frame, I'll have to start glueing it together and then work on the panels that will go over the frame.

-jeremy
 

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#3 ·
Transformation

Next step on my lathe stand was to start making the plywood panels to fill out the frame. I created the top and bottom and wanted to get a good feel for how the lathe sits on the stand.

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After doing this I was pretty mad at myself. I had completely forgotten to take into account wheel height when I planned out the stand. So when I attach the wheels, the thing will be 5'' too high. Which puts it at a really awkward position.

I took a break for a day or two just to ponder on what I could do to fix the problem. I thought about cutting the legs in half, trimming them and connecting them back together but I was concerned that it would compromise stability.

In the end I decided instead of fixing the lathe stand, I would turn the lathe stand into something else, a shop storage cart. I've been wanting to build one for a while now I need the storage space to help organize things a little better so might as well take advantage of the half built cart and see what I can do.

With a new plan layed out I moved forward, attaching the side panels.

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Wood Flooring Machine Engineering Composite material


I decided to put in a divider wall, one side will have drawers the other will be an open cabinet. If I had planned this better I could have added dado's to the top and bottom panels and wouldn't need the cleats. I've seen this done on TV, I haven't tried it myself I was very pleased with how strong of a hold the cleats had.

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And here's a final picture with the divider wall installed.

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Once I get the back installed I'll do a bunch of sanding and get it ready for painting. I'm very happy with how it's turning out and I look forward to making the drawers and such. Just means it'll be a few more weeks before I get to fire up the lathe and try my hand at turning.

-jeremy
 

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#4 ·
Transformation

Next step on my lathe stand was to start making the plywood panels to fill out the frame. I created the top and bottom and wanted to get a good feel for how the lathe sits on the stand.

Sewing machine Table Wood Gas Workbench


After doing this I was pretty mad at myself. I had completely forgotten to take into account wheel height when I planned out the stand. So when I attach the wheels, the thing will be 5'' too high. Which puts it at a really awkward position.

I took a break for a day or two just to ponder on what I could do to fix the problem. I thought about cutting the legs in half, trimming them and connecting them back together but I was concerned that it would compromise stability.

In the end I decided instead of fixing the lathe stand, I would turn the lathe stand into something else, a shop storage cart. I've been wanting to build one for a while now I need the storage space to help organize things a little better so might as well take advantage of the half built cart and see what I can do.

With a new plan layed out I moved forward, attaching the side panels.

Wood Gas Flooring Hardwood Machine


Wood Flooring Machine Engineering Composite material


I decided to put in a divider wall, one side will have drawers the other will be an open cabinet. If I had planned this better I could have added dado's to the top and bottom panels and wouldn't need the cleats. I've seen this done on TV, I haven't tried it myself I was very pleased with how strong of a hold the cleats had.

Wood Rectangle Table Hardwood Wood stain


And here's a final picture with the divider wall installed.

Table Wood Computer desk Gas Hardwood


Once I get the back installed I'll do a bunch of sanding and get it ready for painting. I'm very happy with how it's turning out and I look forward to making the drawers and such. Just means it'll be a few more weeks before I get to fire up the lathe and try my hand at turning.

-jeremy
Lookin' good! Thanks for the postings!!!
 

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#8 ·
To Spray Paint or To HVLP that is the question

I decided to go with spray paint for painting my shop cart and it hasn't been very good. Two can's worth just to get a single coat of primer, then 2 cans for a single coat of paint. I think I got more of it blown back at me than what is actually on the peice.

I don't really have any experience with HVLP systems but how are they compaired to canned spray equivilants? Is there something better I can do about the bounce back from spray paint? or about how many cans it takes just to apply the paint to paint my object.

This may be the wrong place to ask this, I can post on the forums if I don't get any response or if that would be better.

The finish on my peice isn't very good, mostly because I ran out of spray paint .. and the amount of mess it made, doesn't really make me want to buy more.

-jeremy
 
#9 ·
Episode II: Attack of the Tenons

I spent most of last weekend and this week painting the shop cart and getting that finished. It is mostly done I would like to make some drawers for it, but here is a picture of it anyways.
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At very least I learned quiet a bit from it, I learned I liked this frame structure for shop furniture, it's very cheap and easy to build and the finished product is very sturdy (and heavy). I also learned I don't like canned spray paint, at least not for large projects like this. It takes too many spray paint cans to provide a finish I would be happy with, and it makes far more of a mess than I'd like.

A few days ago I recut all the wood I needed for a new lathe stand, with updated measurements and it's set up to do a loose tenon system this time instead of a traditional mortise and tenon.

Wood Chair Table Wood stain Hardwood


Today I "should" have been cleaning up around my shop, or at least making the drawers for the shop cabinet but I couldn't help myself I got a new toy yesterday and I've been itching to try it out.

After I researched a bit about mortise machines and loose tenon systems, I really wanted a Festool Domino. Alas my pocketbook said no. I didn't want a bench top mortiser, for fear of how much space it would take up, and holy smokes some of the router mortise and tenon jigs where super expensive.

I narrowed my choice down to 2, the beadlock and the mortisepal. It was a close decision, but after factoring in the "total cost of ownership" the mortise pal beat out the beadlock and to me the mortise pal was more versatile.

Today I set out to find out, could I get the mortise pal to work similliarly to a Festool Domino. First I tried to see if there was any bit and template combination I could use to fit the existing festool domino's or tuffer tennons. Unfortunatly I could not find the magic combination and settled on having to make my own "dominos"

I figuredout my tenons needed to be 7/8''x 3/8'' .. this would work with the 3/8'' bit + 1/2'' template. I cut some strips from a peice of scrap material I had so it was the same material. (it's 2×10 pine or something, I think douglas fur by the look but who knows)

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I didn't have a 3/8'' round over bit so I used my 1/4'' round over bit and made them close enough. After the roundovers, I went back to my table saw to cut them down to 1 3/4'' length. That gave me a whole pile of my own custom tenons, more than I need for this project that's for sure.

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The next step was to see if I could actually use the mortise pal the way I wanted, and double up the tenons on the stock like I would on a festool domino. My first attempt didn't go very well, but I figured out what I did wrong pretty quickly and my second attempt produced a perfect, reproducible fit.

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I glued the test peices together, and the faces are all flush, and it's pretty damn square if you ask me.

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Tomorrow I plan to go full scale with this puppy and mortise out the frame and glue it all together. So far I'm very happy with the purchase and look forward to seeing the final results.

-jeremy
 

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#10 ·
Episode II: Attack of the Tenons

I spent most of last weekend and this week painting the shop cart and getting that finished. It is mostly done I would like to make some drawers for it, but here is a picture of it anyways.
Wood Floor Flooring Gas Hardwood


At very least I learned quiet a bit from it, I learned I liked this frame structure for shop furniture, it's very cheap and easy to build and the finished product is very sturdy (and heavy). I also learned I don't like canned spray paint, at least not for large projects like this. It takes too many spray paint cans to provide a finish I would be happy with, and it makes far more of a mess than I'd like.

A few days ago I recut all the wood I needed for a new lathe stand, with updated measurements and it's set up to do a loose tenon system this time instead of a traditional mortise and tenon.

Wood Chair Table Wood stain Hardwood


Today I "should" have been cleaning up around my shop, or at least making the drawers for the shop cabinet but I couldn't help myself I got a new toy yesterday and I've been itching to try it out.

After I researched a bit about mortise machines and loose tenon systems, I really wanted a Festool Domino. Alas my pocketbook said no. I didn't want a bench top mortiser, for fear of how much space it would take up, and holy smokes some of the router mortise and tenon jigs where super expensive.

I narrowed my choice down to 2, the beadlock and the mortisepal. It was a close decision, but after factoring in the "total cost of ownership" the mortise pal beat out the beadlock and to me the mortise pal was more versatile.

Today I set out to find out, could I get the mortise pal to work similliarly to a Festool Domino. First I tried to see if there was any bit and template combination I could use to fit the existing festool domino's or tuffer tennons. Unfortunatly I could not find the magic combination and settled on having to make my own "dominos"

I figuredout my tenons needed to be 7/8''x 3/8'' .. this would work with the 3/8'' bit + 1/2'' template. I cut some strips from a peice of scrap material I had so it was the same material. (it's 2×10 pine or something, I think douglas fur by the look but who knows)

Wood Table Flooring Wood stain Hardwood


I didn't have a 3/8'' round over bit so I used my 1/4'' round over bit and made them close enough. After the roundovers, I went back to my table saw to cut them down to 1 3/4'' length. That gave me a whole pile of my own custom tenons, more than I need for this project that's for sure.

Gas Machine tool Machine Technology Engineering


The next step was to see if I could actually use the mortise pal the way I wanted, and double up the tenons on the stock like I would on a festool domino. My first attempt didn't go very well, but I figured out what I did wrong pretty quickly and my second attempt produced a perfect, reproducible fit.

Table Wood Automotive design Gas Hood


I glued the test peices together, and the faces are all flush, and it's pretty damn square if you ask me.

Liquid Fluid Wood Bottle cap Plastic bottle


Tomorrow I plan to go full scale with this puppy and mortise out the frame and glue it all together. So far I'm very happy with the purchase and look forward to seeing the final results.

-jeremy
Hey, you have the same lumber rack that I have! It can also be used as a step stool in a pinch. lol

Interesting about making dominos/loose tenons. they seem to working out pretty well for you.
 

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#13 ·
Improved Design

I'm assembling the frame and inside panels like I did for the shop cart, but I wanted to take a picture of my dry layout so I can show some of the improvements I made in case any one would like to make something similliar.

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The first part is the middle wall goes all the way to the top and bottom, I'll be able to screw it into the floor and ceiling peices instead of requiring the cleats that I needed to add the wall last time. I also cut 1/4'' grooves in the walls. These grooves will serve as drawer slides, which should make building the drawers easier (at least I think so).

That was pretty much it, everything else has been the same just trucking along on assembly.

-jeremy
 

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#14 ·
Improved Design

I'm assembling the frame and inside panels like I did for the shop cart, but I wanted to take a picture of my dry layout so I can show some of the improvements I made in case any one would like to make something similliar.

Table Wood Rectangle Shelving Desk


The first part is the middle wall goes all the way to the top and bottom, I'll be able to screw it into the floor and ceiling peices instead of requiring the cleats that I needed to add the wall last time. I also cut 1/4'' grooves in the walls. These grooves will serve as drawer slides, which should make building the drawers easier (at least I think so).

That was pretty much it, everything else has been the same just trucking along on assembly.

-jeremy
Looks good so far pal.
It'll be a beauty when your done !
 

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#15 ·
Drawers Galore

The nice long weekend was well spent woodworking. I tried my hand at milk paint, Royal Blue, they didn't have a dark enough green (or any green in stock) and I wasn't brave enough to mix my own. I think next time I will be. I brushed on the paint just to get a feel for how the process worked and I really enjoyed it. Much easier than any oil based paint and it felt a lot like canvas painting when I was in highschool. I'd also like to try spray painting the milk paint with my HVLP gun and my air compressor. But I'll worry about that next time I paint something.

I was able to get 3 coats of paint on saturday (the stuff dries so fast it's great!) and I let it sit overnight. Sunday I sanded it down and applied 2 coats of wipe on poly and it made a world of difference. The paint was a bit dull but after I applied the first coat of poly it brightened up the color greatly. The second coat was for good measure, I didn't feel the need to build up a super thick coat because I'm pretty sure the paint sealed things up pretty good.

Today I started on the task of making drawers. Here's a picture of all the bottoms cut with the rabbets cut out so the drawer fits into the dado's already made in the side walls. The drawers are made out of a bunch of scrap 1/2'' sande ply I got from home depot a while back. I'm not a huge fan of the stuff it doesn't look that great and wasn't that much cheaper than the half inch birch I certianly won't be getting it again but I figured I'd use up as much as the scrap as I can in the drawers.

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The front and back of the drawers are made from a blondewood 3/4'' ply, I liked the look of it and since I don't plan on painting the drawers (just a few coats of shellac) I figured this would add a nice look. I cut out circular half holes in the top to put your hand to open the drawer on my bandsaw but my bandsaw skills are horrible and the cut is very rough.

I've been debating on a spindle sander and I was regretting not having one now, then I had the idea of using this chunk of purple heart that I was half done turning into a cup, added some addhesive sand paper to the cup, powered up the lathe and it worked pretty well.

i
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I had my respirator and facemask on, good thing too because the first set of sandpaper I had on came flying off after the 3rd drawer front. I don't think I would have been hurt without the facemask, but it never hurts to be cautious.

The sanding worked out perfectly, was able to smooth out all the hand holes and began glueing up the drawers. I don't know if I'll get all the drawers glued together today but hopefully I'll have them all glued and varnished by next weekend.

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#16 ·
Drawers Galore

The nice long weekend was well spent woodworking. I tried my hand at milk paint, Royal Blue, they didn't have a dark enough green (or any green in stock) and I wasn't brave enough to mix my own. I think next time I will be. I brushed on the paint just to get a feel for how the process worked and I really enjoyed it. Much easier than any oil based paint and it felt a lot like canvas painting when I was in highschool. I'd also like to try spray painting the milk paint with my HVLP gun and my air compressor. But I'll worry about that next time I paint something.

I was able to get 3 coats of paint on saturday (the stuff dries so fast it's great!) and I let it sit overnight. Sunday I sanded it down and applied 2 coats of wipe on poly and it made a world of difference. The paint was a bit dull but after I applied the first coat of poly it brightened up the color greatly. The second coat was for good measure, I didn't feel the need to build up a super thick coat because I'm pretty sure the paint sealed things up pretty good.

Today I started on the task of making drawers. Here's a picture of all the bottoms cut with the rabbets cut out so the drawer fits into the dado's already made in the side walls. The drawers are made out of a bunch of scrap 1/2'' sande ply I got from home depot a while back. I'm not a huge fan of the stuff it doesn't look that great and wasn't that much cheaper than the half inch birch I certianly won't be getting it again but I figured I'd use up as much as the scrap as I can in the drawers.

Table Computer desk Wood Cabinetry Shelving


The front and back of the drawers are made from a blondewood 3/4'' ply, I liked the look of it and since I don't plan on painting the drawers (just a few coats of shellac) I figured this would add a nice look. I cut out circular half holes in the top to put your hand to open the drawer on my bandsaw but my bandsaw skills are horrible and the cut is very rough.

I've been debating on a spindle sander and I was regretting not having one now, then I had the idea of using this chunk of purple heart that I was half done turning into a cup, added some addhesive sand paper to the cup, powered up the lathe and it worked pretty well.

i
Wood Machine tool Toolroom Gas Cylinder


I had my respirator and facemask on, good thing too because the first set of sandpaper I had on came flying off after the 3rd drawer front. I don't think I would have been hurt without the facemask, but it never hurts to be cautious.

The sanding worked out perfectly, was able to smooth out all the hand holes and began glueing up the drawers. I don't know if I'll get all the drawers glued together today but hopefully I'll have them all glued and varnished by next weekend.

Wood Musical instrument Gas Machine Engineering
You're making great progress on your project Jeremy!
That paint job looks fantastic!
And that drawer space is really going to come in handy.
 

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#20 ·
All Finished, Show Off Video

I wanted to test out my flip and see how well it recorded in the garage I will be making more videos in the future I think, it's fun.

This is just a short video showing the lathe stand with the drawers and some comments on what went where etc..

 
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