| Project by cranesgonewild | posted 825 days ago | 7282 views | 102 times favorited | 18 comments |  |
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This project was in the March 2011 issue of Wood magazine. This is a great workcenter when working with longer material. No more balancing the wood on the jig, which wasn’t a huge problem anyway. It’s also a great storage organizer. I’m able to keep everything together, but separate. It’s great. And when it’s not in use, it can be hung on the wall.
I pretty much went by the plans in the magazine with a few exceptions. Instead of using a draw catch to keep the lid closed, I used 3/8” rare-earth magnets. There’s two in the base, and two in the lid. I drilled holes using a 3/8” forstner bit so they sit flush in the wood. I changed the piano hinge only because I didn’t like the look of the way they did it in the magazine. I rabbeted the base and the lid for the hinge, so the lid would sit flush. It was a personal preference. And lastly, I made a solid base for the stock to rest on, on either side of the jig. The magazine had two thin pieces of wood at the edge of the base for support, which is probably fine. But, just in case I would be using smaller stock now and then, it might not reach the edge. I was going to go with four thin strips for support after seeing Vrtigo1’s workcenter, but decided on this instead.
The entire project was made of baltic birch with the exception of the MDF for the stock supports on the lid. The only reason I used MDF was because I needed 1” for height (two 1/2” pieces). The baltic birch was 11.5 mm, which is around 7/16”. So, if I were to use two pieces of baltic birch, it would be 1/8” too short. I don’t know why these people (companies) do this to us. I’ll pay for the extra 1/16”, just leave it at 1/2” for crying out loud. The dividers were dadoed and glued for strength. The bottom of the base was glued and screwed to the box. I probably went into overkill with the screws, but there is quite a bit of weight there when you add the screws and bits in the storage compartment. I didn’t want this thing falling off the wall. You’ll never see the screws anyway. It’s screwed from underneath.
I really like the way this turned out, and I think it will be around for many years to come.
-- I'm a Fungi --
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18 comments so far
mafe
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8055 posts in 1255 days
#1 posted 825 days ago
Fine idea.
Well done.
Best thoughts,
Mads
-- Mad F, the fanatical rhykenologist and vintage architect. Democraticwoodworking.
bch
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134 posts in 855 days
#2 posted 825 days ago
I too, own the Kreg Pocket Hole jig. What a great addition. I like your modifications. Well done. Thanks for posting.
-- --bch
ND2ELK
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#3 posted 825 days ago
Great idea. Very nicely done. Thanks for posting.
God Bless
tom
-- Mc Bridge Cabinets, Iowa
Rev_John
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#4 posted 825 days ago
Great idea
-- John from Jackson, Michigan
steliart
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#5 posted 825 days ago
very nice idea
-- I am not so rich to buy cheap tools.
jerrells
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#6 posted 825 days ago
Very well done – I will have to add this to my list.
-- Just learning the craft my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ practiced.
Vrtigo1
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#7 posted 825 days ago
Nice work. I like the addition of the MDF to make the entire top flush with the jig. I finally had a chance to use mine this weekend – I needed to make a frame for some pegboard I was going to hang on the wall, pocket jig to the rescue! It worked great, this is one of the best shop projects, I’m sure you’ll get tons of use out of it.
Woodstock
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187 posts in 1454 days
#8 posted 825 days ago
Cool project. Very well done. I’ve got to add this to my shop projects list.
Although I agree with you about odd fractional thickness of ply being a real pain, couldn’t you just add whatever thickness of birch veneer (or virtually any thin sheet wood such as bass or even balsa wood) you need as filler in between the two layers of ply to bring it up to exactly 1 inch? You’ve got to glue and/or screw the two ply pieces together anyway. Plywood would be much easier to screw together than MDF.
-Dave
-- I'm not old. Just "well seasoned".
jockmike2
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#9 posted 825 days ago
Nice jig set up.
-- (You just have to please the man in the Mirror) Mike from Michigan -
Roger
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#10 posted 825 days ago
oh yesss. everything within reach. nice project.
-- Roger from KY. Work/Play/Travel Safe. Kentuk55@bellsouth.net
clieb91
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2674 posts in 2101 days
#11 posted 825 days ago
Great project. Love my Kreg Jig this may be version 2.0 of my current setup. I will be looking for that magazine.
Thanks for posting.
CtL
-- Chris L. "Don't Dream it, Be it."
MayflowerDescendant
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404 posts in 952 days
#12 posted 824 days ago
Great job! Love my Kreg too. Thanks for sharing.
-- Glen - Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
degoose
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#13 posted 824 days ago
I would have thought you would have used the Kreg to build the box… LOL
-- Drink twice... and don't bother to cut... @ larrysworkshop.wordpress.com For lovers of all things timber...
cranesgonewild
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344 posts in 1074 days
#14 posted 819 days ago
Thanks everyone for the comments and the complements.
Vrtigo1- I know I’ll get a lot of use of this for sure. I’ve got a dozen projects on the backburner already.
N6DSW- I could have gotten a little fancier, but I had 1/2” MDF lying around.
degoose- It’s funny you said that, because I thought the same thing at first. But, I wanted to make nice dado cuts and give it a cleaner look.
-- I'm a Fungi --
Bricofleur
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947 posts in 1359 days
#15 posted 818 days ago
Clever! Thanks for posting. This is inspiring.
No one will say you don’t bring your tools out of the box!! :-)
Best,
Serge
http://atelierdubricoleur.wordpress.com
-- Learn from yesterday, work today and enjoy success tomorrow. -- http://atelierdubricoleur.wordpress.com
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