sIKE's Blog at LumberJocks.com

RAS Cabinet #4: The Case work is done

sIKE — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 02:31:35 GMT

Started working on the case this weekend and got it done this evening. Here is the Sketchup drawing of the case:

and here is the final result:

and here is the leveling configuration:

I need to go back to Sketchup and redo the torsion box as I had to reduce the width of the cabinet by one inch.

RAS Cabinet #3: Getting started with the case

sIKE — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 01:59:30 GMT

As previously posted, I had worked out the details to my RAS cabinet using Sketchup. I started working on the cabinet this weekend and the reality of my previous work objected to the finest of my plans. With the miter bench not being sqaure, I have going to have to adjust my plans for the RAS cabinet.

I am going to have to take an inch off of the width of the cabinet and the torsion box. This is so I can make the cabinet square. I will then have to set the cabinet into its place and scibe filler strips in on each side to make up the difference. Oh well! Hopfully I can get this taken care of tommorow.

RAS Cabinet #2: The Cabinet Design and Sketchup

sIKE — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:15:27 GMT

Well here is the drawing for the cabinet base for my RAS.

The design for this has been challenging as not only do I have to level the table to the Saw and its carriage but I also want to level the RAS Table to my Miter Bench. After digging around I found some leveling feet that will screw to the side of the cabinet and then be adjustable though access holes drilled into the shelf. This will allow me to level the Saw to its’ table then I will level the cabinet/table to the Miter Bench.

It dawned on me as I am writing this that I will need to drop the torsion box supports down another inch to take in account the top/bottom that will be added to the frame of the torsion box shown in the previous blog. The other thought it that I might want to shorten the height of the cabinet sides by a 1/4” – 3/8” to give some travel room for the leveling feet.

I am still considering 1 drawer and and doors below or two drawers. I have 2 extra sets of 28” drawer slides left over from the Miter Bench Project. Just got to figure out how often I will be leveling this cabinet. Any advice from you RAS owners?

RAS Cabinet #1: Sketchup - Torsion Box Design and Layout

sIKE — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 06:04:08 GMT

I have been working on the design of the Cabinet of the RAS for sometime now. I finally got the Sketchup done for the frame of the Torsion Box.

I have been working on it for several hours this evening and have many more details worked out but that is gonna have to be for tomorrows blog.

The outside frame is of 3/4” MDF and the ribs are 1/2” MDF. I could as easily go with 3/4” ribs. But I think I will have minimum deflection in this configuration. Anyone disagree?

Miter Bench and Storage #8: Time to puts some drawers in!

sIKE — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 04:42:41 GMT

I managed to finish milling the drawer fronts/sides/backs this past Sunday and started the assembly process. Due to the lack of clamps and only being able to get two setups at a time (and of course my day job), I finally finished up today. Here are all ten of them in all of thier glory.

With darkness closing in this evening and the the wife not so happy I pressed on through and mounted the first two drawers.

They need a bit of fine tuning but they are in. I can see the end of the tunnel, I hope to have this finished up this weekend! Just have to finish mounting the drawers, mount the drawer fronts and then the handles! Whew!

Miter Bench and Storage #7: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

sIKE — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 03:33:06 GMT

Well, I have been slowly working on the this project over the last couple of weekends, but had to side track when my Air Compressor blew a gasket in the pump mechanism and I had to replace it (Turns out Good). With me having to work in the very hot loft to get this fixed I decided to go for broke and get all of my Compressor related sub projects taken care of. I had a slow leak on the unloader line, so I fixed that when I added the Automatic Drain Valve from Harbor Freight, thanks Patrick.

I too had the problem with the cheap hose they provide. Not wanting to convert to copper I did some driving around looking for some .250” diameter heavy duty plastic tubing. After visiting a half plumbing/tools/construction tools/the trades type stores, I found a shop that sold me some heavy duty hydraulic tubing. It has worked very well (the black tube in the pic above). While I was at it, I went ahead and finished running the PVC conduit down to what I had previously done and hooked it all in.

I still have a couple of leaks but will track those down later.

I also took the chance while working under the bench to hook up the rear dust collection port for the miter saw box, which is not working as well as as hoped, but I can re-design that later.

I am very happy, as I can use my Brad nailer again, so I can get back on to the next phase of the main project, the drawers that go under the bench. So, I proceeded to mill up the drawer fronts/backs/sides and have a kick back accident (The Ugly). I have taken a 6 week siesta from woodworking and I am still working on getting my mind back where it should be, and trust me this will help speed that process up. I was feeding like the tenth drawer side through the TS and absent mindedly took both hands off of the wood (I know ..Whats the last thing a bug thinks of when it hits a windshield?) it proceeded to bind up then fly backwards straight into my hip as I was twisting out of the way (now this happened in all of two/three seconds), it hit me so hard that it bounced and flipped over and landed on the saw blade again which then graciously sent it flying back at me once again. It hurt and still hurts like all get out.

This weekend I took advantage of the Rockler special and bought myself a Grr-Ripper, which I have gotten to use several times, a review will be forth coming.

Now for (The Bad), I have gotten all of the Fronts/Sides/Backs milled up for the drawers. I am using Norm’s plans for the Miter Bench (which the stop block has rocked in the milling process) which call for Front Half-Blind Dovetails for the Drawer Fronts and a Dado in the sides for the backs. However, I am using a drawer lock bit for my drawers, which has worked very well, and I properly compensated for any differences in the Drawer Fronts/Backs/Sides.

But my luck ran out with the bottoms, I missed a half inch difference in drawer depth (the sides). I have gone back and milled new bottoms, but now I have 10 pieces of 1/2” ply that currently doesn’t have purpose. Here is the first one drying in the shop tonight.

Miter Bench and Storage #6: Back to work, Top is done (well almost)

sIKE — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:55:00 GMT

After taking a month long siesta from the shop I was happy to get back out and make some sawdust, first I had to clean it up then I finally got to it. I was able to mostly finish the top up this weekend. I still need to put a bead of caulk between the bench top and the wall to help keep dust from falling behind the bench and such.

I built the box to capture the dust blown out the back of the Miter Saw. It still needs some tuning to fit the way I want it to work and get it caulked in.

I moved the “under the miter saw dust collection” down between the the top and sub top and then mortised it into the sub top. I also cut the dust collection for the box behind the miter saw. Still need to size the 4” flex hose and get 1 more 4” clamp.

I built the the stop for the left hand side of the miter saw. It needs a different carriage bolt that is fully threaded :(

And got the tape mounted on the stop guide

I am very happy with the progress. I have several little details to clean up but the miter saw is it is usable again.
After the little details are cleaned up it is on to making the drawers and trays under the bench top. I am thinking that is still 40 man hours out to complete though.

Miter Bench and Storage #5: Delays - Will get back on it soon.

sIKE — Mon, 12 May 2008 15:01:50 GMT

Sorry for the delays. Late March though all of May is very busy for me and have not gotten any shop time. :( I was in Boston last week, Memphis this week, and will be in Sacramento this weekend. That is on top of two birthdays, Mothers Day, my Wedding Anniversary, the end of the school year, plus all of the end of school year activities….alas it is almost over and I can get back to butchering wood….

Miter Bench and Storage #4: Miter Box and Drawers

sIKE — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 23:54:21 GMT

Got back on the project this weekend. The goal was to get the Miter Box assemblies completed. With some inspiration from Scott Bryan, I decided to make a modification to Norms plans. The Miter Box plans call for the box front to be enclosed by plywood. I decided to put drawers in place of the plytwood instead. I had previously completed the build out of the left box and went ahead and completed the right box.

This is the first time I got to use my new Jet 90 Degree Miter Clamps which work great. This is also the first time that I really got to put the new Wixey digital fence though its paces. All I can say is wow. The nicest thing about it is that you can setup a cut and (if you make notes) you can come back and set the same exact cut up again if needed. I was able to dial in the groves for the drawers nice and tight a 100th” at a time. The other nice bit is if you are using an auxiliary fence you can zero off of it and then use the digital readout to accurately set up your cut. All in all a great gift.
Here is the completed right Miter Box with the first(protype) completed drawer.

The plans and video have the drawers being made with a dovetail jig (Norms was fancy). I do not have one and was not able to convince SWMBO that I “needed” one. So I opted for a drawer locking bit from Freud that has worked very well. It took a bit to learn how to set it up (I am going to do a quick review shortly), but after that I was able to quickly build the drawer fronts/backs/sides with only one problem. Here are my setup blocks.

Here are a couple of pics from the milling process:

Here is a pic of one of the drawers with its milling comple:

And it together with its drawer front attached:

So all of the drawer boxes for the Miter Box are completed and the drawer fronts for the left miter box are milled (3/4” red oak with a 3/8” roundover) and attached. I didn’t have time to complete the drawer fronts for the right hand box.

All that is left is to complete to dividers for the drawers and attach the handles on the left side. The same on the right along with attaching the drawer fronts. After that I need to make the clips to hold the miter boxes to the benches then mount the boxes to the bench. I also have two red oak trim pieces to mount above the drawers, and then red oak strips on top of the rear of the box where the stop and measuring tape go. I plan to use these small drawers as bins (I got 24 of them) for screws and such. I left one (the prototype) without groves, I will use it to hold the wrench and such for the miter saw. By the way the plywood is that cheap birch ply from the orange box (not going to do that again).

Miter Bench and Storage #3: The top is on and it is trimmed out (mostly)

sIKE — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 00:49:01 GMT

I managed to get the top on during the week and got it mos of it trimmed out today. I need one more small stick of poplar to finish off the edge by the bench top tools.

I decided that I didn’t like the setup for the bottom piece of the dust collection for the miter saw. I took the top off and moved the hood to the top of the bench.

You can see that I also have got the line ran for my compressed air.

I am planning to use a small and lite coiled air hose to get the dust off that isn’t caught by the DC.

Here is where I am going t hook up the TS to the DC.

Up next is to get the RAS cabinet in. On the top picture you can see a dado, that will fit the top for RAS. I also will need to rework the cabinet for the Sink. I built the sink cabinet first. It was designed to be 3/4” shorter then the height of the bench. I then decided to lower the height of the miter bench by a bit over 4” to bring its height to be co-planer with my TS. A good decision I think, but a change mid-stream no less. So it has to come back out and have the its hair cut….as well as an adjustment to the DC line that is running though it.