# 002: a rolling base for my planer



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*general assembly*

My Craftsman 13" planer is a real beast to move around in the shop. It's very heavy, and really bulky. As such, it's just always either in the way when I don't need it, or really hard to get to when I do, having collected many items from other projects on and around it since its previous use. After setting up to use it, I'm often too tired to. I've even changed some projects to avoid planing altogether, just because I don't want to move a few dozen things, then wrestle the giant box out into a clearing, move things now in the way of planing back into the void left by the planer, and then go through it all again at the end so I can say, have enough space to use my saw table again. That's no way to run a shop.

I'm very nearly out of room in my 1-car garage with all the other tools, tables, and junk collected in piles, so I'm going about the only route left to me. I'm making a tiny rolling base, as tall as possible while still enabling the whole thing to roll under my work table, out of the way, finally. It will have a drawer underneath it to hold replacement blades, and I've decided I should just put the replacement blades for everything that needs them in my entire shop in that same drawer. No more thinking "Where are the replacement blades for my jointer/box cutter/hacksaw/etc?" They'll all be in there, and that's great, because I have a lot of packs of spare blades pouring out of every nook and cranny. I recently bought a pack of 5 hacksaw blades, only to find I had the same exact, unopened pack from last year in the shop already. I just couldn't find them. Again, no way to run a shop.

Here's the planer on a piece of leftover baltic birch cut exactly to size. There's about 1/8" of clearance on each side, and the integrated handles on the sides of the cast aluminum base stick over a bit so I can still get my fingers in there easily if I need to. I used a combination of lengths of jointed boards, squares, and tape on the floor to figure out the dimensions around the curvy base.



The mounting holes are really well hidden under solid parts that can't be moved. You can't fit a bolt down most of them, meaning you have to come up through the bottom when mounting. You certainly can't fit any kind of marking pencil or awl down them to transfer the positions, so I just dripped a drop of engineer's blue down the holes. It was even hard to get the thin brush in to some of them. It's poorly designed in this aspect. It probably tells you the positions and dimensions of the mounting holes in the manual, but I didn't look 



The drops spread out through the wood via capillary action, but it was pretty easy to figure out where they had hit, and take centerpoint measurements off of those lines. They were the same each side, so I could extrapolate for the drop that apparently never fell on the one clear corner. Later, I drilled the holes with a 3/8" brad point bit, and testing things out, everything lined up rather ideally.



The sides of the box are to be 3/4" poplar, scraps from some storage cabinet shelving leftovers. I'm using only scrap on this project, and with little to no scrap left over from said scrap. I seem to have pieces almost exactly the size necessary in most cases! Hooray for the dwindling scrap pile. It has grown large.

This is officially my first face frame, made of pieces ripped from more of the poplar leftovers. I'm such a novice. I never framed anything before to make it prettier, or to act as a proper stopper for drawer fronts. It's probably because I'm lazy. I joined it with pocket screws:



Of course, with barely larger than 3/4" stiles, I got some splits from the screws, so here I'm gluing one of the bad ones back together under the extreme pressure of a Bessey K-Body.



Pocket hole screws all around, w/ Titebond III glue. The Kreg K3 Master System makes it very easy.



General assembly complete. Unfortunately, nothing came out very flush, and all in the worst way, with the large faces sticking out past the thin edges. Lots of random-orbital sanding is in my future. I rushed it, and didn't set up clamps very well to hold things very securely as I drove the screws. I usually get much better, more flush joints than this.



It is pretty comically small under the planer, but it's really sturdy, and doesn't feel in any way top-heavy. It should all work out well, and as planned. More soon.



Next up, sanding it all flush, adding supports underneath, and casters on those, then it'll be time to make a utility drawer to fill that gaping hole.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *general assembly*
> 
> My Craftsman 13" planer is a real beast to move around in the shop. It's very heavy, and really bulky. As such, it's just always either in the way when I don't need it, or really hard to get to when I do, having collected many items from other projects on and around it since its previous use. After setting up to use it, I'm often too tired to. I've even changed some projects to avoid planing altogether, just because I don't want to move a few dozen things, then wrestle the giant box out into a clearing, move things now in the way of planing back into the void left by the planer, and then go through it all again at the end so I can say, have enough space to use my saw table again. That's no way to run a shop.
> 
> ...


Good blog Gary, good thinking with layout fluid it should last some time.


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## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *general assembly*
> 
> My Craftsman 13" planer is a real beast to move around in the shop. It's very heavy, and really bulky. As such, it's just always either in the way when I don't need it, or really hard to get to when I do, having collected many items from other projects on and around it since its previous use. After setting up to use it, I'm often too tired to. I've even changed some projects to avoid planing altogether, just because I don't want to move a few dozen things, then wrestle the giant box out into a clearing, move things now in the way of planing back into the void left by the planer, and then go through it all again at the end so I can say, have enough space to use my saw table again. That's no way to run a shop.
> 
> ...


This is a nice addition to your planer, Gary. It will help to improve its mobility. Unless you have a shop with tons of room keeping the big tools, like the planer, on wheels is almost a necessity to work in a smaller shop.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *general assembly*
> 
> My Craftsman 13" planer is a real beast to move around in the shop. It's very heavy, and really bulky. As such, it's just always either in the way when I don't need it, or really hard to get to when I do, having collected many items from other projects on and around it since its previous use. After setting up to use it, I'm often too tired to. I've even changed some projects to avoid planing altogether, just because I don't want to move a few dozen things, then wrestle the giant box out into a clearing, move things now in the way of planing back into the void left by the planer, and then go through it all again at the end so I can say, have enough space to use my saw table again. That's no way to run a shop.
> 
> ...


ho… saweet. looks to nice for a utility cart…

about your feelings regarding flush and all - practice makes perfect. and for a first face frame - this looks great! it's really hard to anticipate what might go wrong when you don't have the personal experience of things going wrong. suggestions for better fit - get things clamped down better before using pocket screws, this way the screws and the rotary action will not shift things around (too much). make face frame slightly oversize, and flush route it down. just a few ideas.

I liked the idea of marking those bolt holes locations. Another way to get those holes in the right place would be to turn the planer over, take a piece of paper the size of the planer base, hold it in place, and push the paper to the base all around - where there is a bolt hole it'll make an indentation - you can then take the paper and use it as a template.


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## spanky46 (Feb 12, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *general assembly*
> 
> My Craftsman 13" planer is a real beast to move around in the shop. It's very heavy, and really bulky. As such, it's just always either in the way when I don't need it, or really hard to get to when I do, having collected many items from other projects on and around it since its previous use. After setting up to use it, I'm often too tired to. I've even changed some projects to avoid planing altogether, just because I don't want to move a few dozen things, then wrestle the giant box out into a clearing, move things now in the way of planing back into the void left by the planer, and then go through it all again at the end so I can say, have enough space to use my saw table again. That's no way to run a shop.
> 
> ...


Ten pounds of XXXX in a five pound bag! I think most of us know what thats like!
Nice job Gary.


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## GaryK (Jun 25, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *general assembly*
> 
> My Craftsman 13" planer is a real beast to move around in the shop. It's very heavy, and really bulky. As such, it's just always either in the way when I don't need it, or really hard to get to when I do, having collected many items from other projects on and around it since its previous use. After setting up to use it, I'm often too tired to. I've even changed some projects to avoid planing altogether, just because I don't want to move a few dozen things, then wrestle the giant box out into a clearing, move things now in the way of planing back into the void left by the planer, and then go through it all again at the end so I can say, have enough space to use my saw table again. That's no way to run a shop.
> 
> ...


Very nice!

BTW How did you end up with a bottle of Dykem?


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## DaleM (Feb 18, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *general assembly*
> 
> My Craftsman 13" planer is a real beast to move around in the shop. It's very heavy, and really bulky. As such, it's just always either in the way when I don't need it, or really hard to get to when I do, having collected many items from other projects on and around it since its previous use. After setting up to use it, I'm often too tired to. I've even changed some projects to avoid planing altogether, just because I don't want to move a few dozen things, then wrestle the giant box out into a clearing, move things now in the way of planing back into the void left by the planer, and then go through it all again at the end so I can say, have enough space to use my saw table again. That's no way to run a shop.
> 
> ...


It looks good so far. I'm looking forward to the completed project as my planer is still on the floor and I'm always open to good ideas for a stand. BTW, I did something similar to mark holes once, but I turned over my grinder, emptied the filings out, then sprinkled some of them in the holes. Just a light dusting all the way around the hole. They leave a much nicer circle as they drop straight down and don't spread. Yeah, now I tell ya.


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *general assembly*
> 
> My Craftsman 13" planer is a real beast to move around in the shop. It's very heavy, and really bulky. As such, it's just always either in the way when I don't need it, or really hard to get to when I do, having collected many items from other projects on and around it since its previous use. After setting up to use it, I'm often too tired to. I've even changed some projects to avoid planing altogether, just because I don't want to move a few dozen things, then wrestle the giant box out into a clearing, move things now in the way of planing back into the void left by the planer, and then go through it all again at the end so I can say, have enough space to use my saw table again. That's no way to run a shop.
> 
> ...


Good job so far, now, the drawer!! Are you going to keep hacksaw blades in it?


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *general assembly*
> 
> My Craftsman 13" planer is a real beast to move around in the shop. It's very heavy, and really bulky. As such, it's just always either in the way when I don't need it, or really hard to get to when I do, having collected many items from other projects on and around it since its previous use. After setting up to use it, I'm often too tired to. I've even changed some projects to avoid planing altogether, just because I don't want to move a few dozen things, then wrestle the giant box out into a clearing, move things now in the way of planing back into the void left by the planer, and then go through it all again at the end so I can say, have enough space to use my saw table again. That's no way to run a shop.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the kind words, everyone. To answer a few questions:

PurpLev - yeah, it was my fault not clamping. I've done about 6 250-count boxes now of pocket holes, but I still wimp out when I'm clamping, thinking I'll be fine. I considered possibly doing the paper thing on the bottom, but man, that planer is just so heavy. It must be 80lbs. Again, I was just wimping out 

GaryK - I have a tiny machine shop in my office, complete with a Sears Craftsman workbench, and a Sherline mini lathe and mini mill. It's all set up to work with CNC through a small ShuttlePC computer. Of course, I had to get all high and mighty about it, and go with a full Linux setup with only free and open source software, which makes things harder, and means I haven't done much in the 3 years I've owned them. It's one of the many things I keep saying "I'll get that all set up great soon." Sigh…

DaleM - I just about smacked a hole in my forehead. It never even occurred to me to not use liquid. The dust idea is brilliant. Thanks for that one. I'm definitely doing that next time. It would have been way more controllable, precise, and cleaner. No giant blue mess on the wood.

Topamax - yep! I have a bunch of different hacksaws, and a "Gator" sawzall thingy with different blades. Then there's the planer, jointer, and even some hand plane type things. I might whip up a little divider just to keep me from having to dig through what will probably become a growing pile of blades. I also have a bunch of blue rectangle bin cups from a storage system I set up. I started using them in the garage. I can probably tile some of the drawer in those to help hold smaller blades more conveniently.


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## Jon3 (Feb 28, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *general assembly*
> 
> My Craftsman 13" planer is a real beast to move around in the shop. It's very heavy, and really bulky. As such, it's just always either in the way when I don't need it, or really hard to get to when I do, having collected many items from other projects on and around it since its previous use. After setting up to use it, I'm often too tired to. I've even changed some projects to avoid planing altogether, just because I don't want to move a few dozen things, then wrestle the giant box out into a clearing, move things now in the way of planing back into the void left by the planer, and then go through it all again at the end so I can say, have enough space to use my saw table again. That's no way to run a shop.
> 
> ...


I knew there was some machinist in there, due to the use of steel blue.

I'm surprised you didn't use transfer punches for the holes though!


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*flush sanding, a drawer, and a nice big mistake*

I got the casters on yesterday, cutting some scrap wood board to fit along the edges inside the bottom, and joining them in with pocket hole screws from underneath. Extra sturdy now, and the wheels are all in plane with each other. I wasn't sure how tall they were, and it was critical, as I was designing this to be as high as possible, while still fitting comfortably under my work table. I have Rockler's digital height gauge, and it showed me they were all exactly 2.5" (actually about 2.46"-2.48" .



I factored the wheel heights into my on-the-fly designing, and when I put the planer on the top of the assembled cabinet (w/ wheels), it was all exactly 1/4" shorter than the table's clearance. It fits perfectly. Sweet!

The aggressive 60-grit random orbital sanding got everything flushed up pretty well, too, as seen here:



That baltic birch is always so amazing to me, after a lifetime of construction grade ply.



Note that the handles stick over, in case I need to lift it again one day. I hate picking this thing up. It's like dead lifting. I have to stretch everything out first, shake out my hands, crack my shoulders, elbow, neck, wrists, jump up and down and wobble my head left and right, like I'm preparing for a boxing match. Then I take a deep breath, and straining, hoist it into the air finally. This cart is supposed to do away with all of that forever.



That poplar can be pretty nice looking. Here's the drawer glue-up, all made of scrap ply and 1/4" hardboard from different projects. It's so nice to dig into scrap, and only scrap. All my projects require trip after trip to Home Depot, because no scrap is quite right. I guess I finally reached critical mass:



I used simple rabbet joints for the drawer, glue-only, clamped tightly. With minimal sanding it was all very flush. I over-sanded a bit on the front panel, but that will have a decorative poplar piece that matches the rest of the cabinet screwed over it, so it doesn't matter:



I cut the rabbets with 4 passes through the saw table, moving the ShopStop on the Incra Miter 3000. It has teeth that positively lock every 1/32", so I could pretty quickly run through the cuts. No need for a dado set, or for cleaning off the currently-buried router table. I'm rearranging for better flow, so the router should be easily accessible again soon.

I've made a handful of drawers before, but I think this was the most sharp and clean one yet:



And now for the bad news, the 'big mistake' in the title. I didn't forget, but rather completely failed to notice that the rabbet joints made the drawer a 1/2" wider, so my very exacting work gave me a glued-up drawer that is exactly 1/2" too wide. I was doing so well, too! I screwed the bottom-mount drawer slides in, and did a test fit. Each drawer slide needs 1/2" clearance between the drawer wall and cabinet wall. With the drawer 1/2" too wide, one slide fits in, as does the drawer, and then the other slide is completely out of the hole, which is exactly right, for a drawer that is exactly 1/2" too wide:



I have a couple of ideas to remedy this. I ran through a lot of options, from remaking the drawer, to routing the slides into the drawer 1/8", to routing the slides into the cabinet walls, and relieving the front so the slides could slide in, etc, and didn't like any option. I don't want to buy new slides (e.g. for mounting under entirely, avoiding clearance issues altogether) as I want to keep this built entirely of my scrap, to deplete my pile, not add more hardware to the mix. My ideas are about fixing the drawer so it's the right length, with minimal redoing of anything. I'll post on that next, when and if it works.

Wish me luck!


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## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *flush sanding, a drawer, and a nice big mistake*
> 
> I got the casters on yesterday, cutting some scrap wood board to fit along the edges inside the bottom, and joining them in with pocket hole screws from underneath. Extra sturdy now, and the wheels are all in plane with each other. I wasn't sure how tall they were, and it was critical, as I was designing this to be as high as possible, while still fitting comfortably under my work table. I have Rockler's digital height gauge, and it showed me they were all exactly 2.5" (actually about 2.46"-2.48" .
> 
> ...


Been there and done that as well. But I am sure that the next time you make a drawer it will have 1" of clearance! I have often said that we learn more from our mistakes than we do our successes. And, I can honestly say that I have learned a lot.


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## damianpenney (Jun 22, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *flush sanding, a drawer, and a nice big mistake*
> 
> I got the casters on yesterday, cutting some scrap wood board to fit along the edges inside the bottom, and joining them in with pocket hole screws from underneath. Extra sturdy now, and the wheels are all in plane with each other. I wasn't sure how tall they were, and it was critical, as I was designing this to be as high as possible, while still fitting comfortably under my work table. I have Rockler's digital height gauge, and it showed me they were all exactly 2.5" (actually about 2.46"-2.48" .
> 
> ...


I really like this project Gary because I really hate having to lift my 'portable' planer too, urgh.


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## TraumaJacques (Oct 25, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *flush sanding, a drawer, and a nice big mistake*
> 
> I got the casters on yesterday, cutting some scrap wood board to fit along the edges inside the bottom, and joining them in with pocket hole screws from underneath. Extra sturdy now, and the wheels are all in plane with each other. I wasn't sure how tall they were, and it was critical, as I was designing this to be as high as possible, while still fitting comfortably under my work table. I have Rockler's digital height gauge, and it showed me they were all exactly 2.5" (actually about 2.46"-2.48" .
> 
> ...


Agree 100 % with Scott I have the same issue in my tiny shop>


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *flush sanding, a drawer, and a nice big mistake*
> 
> I got the casters on yesterday, cutting some scrap wood board to fit along the edges inside the bottom, and joining them in with pocket hole screws from underneath. Extra sturdy now, and the wheels are all in plane with each other. I wasn't sure how tall they were, and it was critical, as I was designing this to be as high as possible, while still fitting comfortably under my work table. I have Rockler's digital height gauge, and it showed me they were all exactly 2.5" (actually about 2.46"-2.48" .
> 
> ...


Just redo the drawer- pretty straight forward, and least likely to mess anything else up - after all, youve got the cabinet so nice and clean - why mess it up with relief cuts, or narrow it's thickness?

itll be less work for you to just rebuild the drawer - if you only glued those rabbet joints, you should be able to hammer it apart - even if the edges get tear out - you'll be shortening those anyways…


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## Splinterman (Mar 13, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *flush sanding, a drawer, and a nice big mistake*
> 
> I got the casters on yesterday, cutting some scrap wood board to fit along the edges inside the bottom, and joining them in with pocket hole screws from underneath. Extra sturdy now, and the wheels are all in plane with each other. I wasn't sure how tall they were, and it was critical, as I was designing this to be as high as possible, while still fitting comfortably under my work table. I have Rockler's digital height gauge, and it showed me they were all exactly 2.5" (actually about 2.46"-2.48" .
> 
> ...


If anyone tells you that they have never made a mistake in woodworking….......they are a complete fool and a liar…............hang in there….........its looking good.


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## Bret (Oct 31, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *flush sanding, a drawer, and a nice big mistake*
> 
> I got the casters on yesterday, cutting some scrap wood board to fit along the edges inside the bottom, and joining them in with pocket hole screws from underneath. Extra sturdy now, and the wheels are all in plane with each other. I wasn't sure how tall they were, and it was critical, as I was designing this to be as high as possible, while still fitting comfortably under my work table. I have Rockler's digital height gauge, and it showed me they were all exactly 2.5" (actually about 2.46"-2.48" .
> 
> ...


Wow! Nicely done. Makes me wish for a similar base for my planer….


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *flush sanding, a drawer, and a nice big mistake*
> 
> I got the casters on yesterday, cutting some scrap wood board to fit along the edges inside the bottom, and joining them in with pocket hole screws from underneath. Extra sturdy now, and the wheels are all in plane with each other. I wasn't sure how tall they were, and it was critical, as I was designing this to be as high as possible, while still fitting comfortably under my work table. I have Rockler's digital height gauge, and it showed me they were all exactly 2.5" (actually about 2.46"-2.48" .
> 
> ...


Hey Gary
Good stand.
All you have to do is cut one side of your drawer by cutting it on the table saw being careful not to cut the bottom and reattach the one side with biscuits or screws. If you have 3/4" drawers you can just run each side on the jointer until you have the clearance you need. I'm sure you have considered all this already.


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## DaleM (Feb 18, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *flush sanding, a drawer, and a nice big mistake*
> 
> I got the casters on yesterday, cutting some scrap wood board to fit along the edges inside the bottom, and joining them in with pocket hole screws from underneath. Extra sturdy now, and the wheels are all in plane with each other. I wasn't sure how tall they were, and it was critical, as I was designing this to be as high as possible, while still fitting comfortably under my work table. I have Rockler's digital height gauge, and it showed me they were all exactly 2.5" (actually about 2.46"-2.48" .
> 
> ...


I would just resaw 1/4 inch off each side on the bandsaw.


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*at last, a drawer*

I have to say, posting projects as I do them does two things. I puts the pressure on me to not screw up, after getting great comments from you folks about how to proceed through difficult parts. I sure don't want to come back and say "Thanks for all the suggestions, but oh well! I shattered the entire thing in a big kickback!" It also really drives me to keep working when I might otherwise say "Meh, I'll finish that part tomorrow, or this weekend." So thanks, and I'm going to keep forcing myself to post as I go, instead of just posting a project when [eventually] completed.

Anyway, I SCREWED UP AGAIN. My plan was to rout with my laminate trimmer 1/2" off one side of the long walls, both sizing them properly, and removing that one short wall, which was rabbet jointed and glued tightly in place. Here's how that looked, with a big pattern bit, and a slab of jointed red oak clamped on as the guide:



Note the dark brown of the hardboard floor peeking out of its groove after the first cut. There's a sliver of the horizontal board left here from in the rabbet of the vertical, so I reset the depth and cut again. The vertical here is unimportant - it's the short side I'm cutting through to remove it, and I'll make another of that one soon. The red oak is set to allow me to cut 1/2" off the end here, shortening the long board (horizontal) in the process to the correct length:



Here's the other side before the cut. I'm cutting deep enough to cut right through the rabbet joint entirely, and it's also cutting the horizontal ply back flush with the edge of the red oak guide board:



And here's the drawer, shortened 1/2", ready for another short side panel to be made and slotted back in. The cut off board, now too short after routing, and no longer having its rabbets is on the saw table behind it. I had to bang it free with the plastic hammer, as some glue got in the grooves at the corners from the side wall glue-up:



I had to bang the other side free with a hammer, too, and some of the hardboard tore out at the corners from the glue-up glue, which seeped into the grooves at the corners earlier. I chiseled those fragments out, and you could barely see the damage to the hardboard corners:



I pretty quickly made a new piece. The Rockler Digital Height Gauge made setting 1/4" depths from the table, and from my miter sled very easy, so I could pretty rapidly run the new rabbets, and the shelf bottom groove. Here's the shorter drawer frame, the old and new side panels, and the 1/2" shorter hardboard floor panel - I cut off the routed corners in that move:



New glue-up, of just the repaired side. That is an entirely new (and lighter in color) piece of hardboard, and after the pic, it will become clear why I had to track down another piece of stock and cut a new floor panel:



If you're sharper than me, you saw the error through all of that. By routing 1/2" off from the end of the drawer, I was cutting through the side panel. That side panel doesn't count in the shortening of the drawer's width. If that doesn't make sense, imagine it was a simple butt joint - long panel terminating right against the edge of the short panel. If the panels were 1/2" thick, and I routed 1/2" off the end to cut through the glue-up, I simply routed that board away, but didn't change the long panel at all. If I now glue on another 1/2" panel, it's the same drawer again.

The only thing making this not an entirely useless redo effort was that rabbet. It was 1/4" deep. The ply boards are about 1/2" thick. That means with my 1/2" cut, I removed the 1/4" left over - the lip of the rabbet - and then the 1/4" tucked into the rabbet of the long board. Long story short, I only removed 1/4" from the length of the long boards with this operation, instead of the 1/2" I needed. To remedy it when I realized later - after the new glue-up, of course  - I simply routed in 1/8" grooves at the bottom for the shelf slides, and let them be sunk in overall by that extra 1/4". This still required some fussing around. I got a bit fancy, and didn't rout all the way to the ends, and chiseled sharp corners, and chiseled out the ramp at the end of the slide, which helps the drawer 'sink' to closed. I ended up putting a single #6 washer under the slides on the sides of the drawer, with the mounting screws going through them, as 1/8" was apparently just a hair too deep, and the slides weren't sliding well on the tracks in the cabinet.

Too, I mounted the slides too low, so the drawer was scraping the bottom of the face frame. I remounted them a bit higher. Then the high walls of the drawer made it very difficult to tip the drawer down and up to get the wheels over each other on the slide members. I had to force it each time I put the drawer back in. You name the error, I probably made it  I'm a real novice at drawer work yet, and always cringe when I get to that part.

I kept fighting it for a couple of hours, and finally got something pretty reasonable, reminiscent of a proper drawer. It's very slightly rough-moving, but this is a very low-traffic drawer - a good 'practice' drawer - meant for very occasional use when I need replacement blades for something. I cared more about the aesthetics at this point, so I set to work on face, previously cut to fit perfectly in place, with little clearance. With all my screw-ups, I imagined this would be a very risky undertaking.



In my first attempt, I used various layerings of some very thick Gorilla Tape as shims (seen in photo above) to center the panel inside the face frame, smeared some glue on the back of the panel, pushed it in against the closed drawer through the face frame, and put a couple clamps on it. This failed miserably. The glue didn't make contact. I wiped it all up, and switched to double-sided foam tape, the only other sticky thing I had around that might work. It stuck like a champ, and I could pull the drawer open and push it closed with perfect clearance.

I carefully removed the contraption, marked and drilled some tapered holes through from the back, and hand-screwed in some #10×1" screws:



Somehow, this worked out perfectly. It slides in rather cleanly now:



I was going to have it like that, and mounted the slides back a bit just for this effect, which I thought would add visual interest, but the more I thought about this being used under a planer, in a shop where I'm always blowing sawdust off table tops, I realized the face frame was just going to collect piles of sawdust, and this will annoy me all the time. I'm going to add stops to make it a flush fit, like this:



Once the stops are in - and I'm going to make them such that the entire drawer is a hair proud of the face frame - I'll sand the frame and drawer panel perfectly flush with each other. This will also remove a small bow on the front panel. The sides curl out just a bit beyond the middle.

And here it is open. Though the tracks are just a little rough, the drawer front slips into its extremely narrow clearance (about 1/32" on all sides) pretty perfectly. I did not expect that, though I will tell visitors to the shop that of course I did:



Next up, all that other crap I mentioned, then I have to decide on a handle, and if/how I want to finish it. I'm kind of thinking of using 2 contrasting stains that work well on poplar, and just doing the outside, and the drawer front's front and sides. Maybe a light outer stain, and a dark drawer front? I'm scared. I have terrible luck with stain, even when I follow all directions to the letter (prestain, sanding, coats, sealer, etc). If I stain, I will having at more of the scraps first, to make sure I know what I'm getting.

I'm probably going to regret this nearly non-existent clearance if the board swells at all! It's a tad bit more than it appears in this shot, though. I can always sand the edges down a touch.


----------



## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *at last, a drawer*
> 
> I have to say, posting projects as I do them does two things. I puts the pressure on me to not screw up, after getting great comments from you folks about how to proceed through difficult parts. I sure don't want to come back and say "Thanks for all the suggestions, but oh well! I shattered the entire thing in a big kickback!" It also really drives me to keep working when I might otherwise say "Meh, I'll finish that part tomorrow, or this weekend." So thanks, and I'm going to keep forcing myself to post as I go, instead of just posting a project when [eventually] completed.
> 
> ...


At least you get lots of practice clamping drawers… right?

end results - looks good, and you have a few more points you'll know better next time around (or the one after)

another good thing with you posting these posts - it makes the rest of us want to catch up and post more as well…. now if only I had actual shop time to be able to post anything….lol


----------



## HokieMojo (Mar 11, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *at last, a drawer*
> 
> I have to say, posting projects as I do them does two things. I puts the pressure on me to not screw up, after getting great comments from you folks about how to proceed through difficult parts. I sure don't want to come back and say "Thanks for all the suggestions, but oh well! I shattered the entire thing in a big kickback!" It also really drives me to keep working when I might otherwise say "Meh, I'll finish that part tomorrow, or this weekend." So thanks, and I'm going to keep forcing myself to post as I go, instead of just posting a project when [eventually] completed.
> 
> ...


don't feel bad about the mistakes either Gary. I've gota a daughter going on 3 months old soon and last weekend I was cutting apart the headboard/footboard for the crib I'm building because I mismeasured and they were too wide by about an inch on both sides. When I took the panels out, I had glue on them too and split them when a tapped them apart. hopefully some real progress will be made this weekend. I figure I have about 2 more weeks before she is too big for her current sleeping arrangements.


----------



## spanky46 (Feb 12, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *at last, a drawer*
> 
> I have to say, posting projects as I do them does two things. I puts the pressure on me to not screw up, after getting great comments from you folks about how to proceed through difficult parts. I sure don't want to come back and say "Thanks for all the suggestions, but oh well! I shattered the entire thing in a big kickback!" It also really drives me to keep working when I might otherwise say "Meh, I'll finish that part tomorrow, or this weekend." So thanks, and I'm going to keep forcing myself to post as I go, instead of just posting a project when [eventually] completed.
> 
> ...


We all make mistakes! Its how we handle it that counts! The other thing is if your not building anything you can't make a mistake! I make my share and that's called experience, good or bad! 
Nice recovery Gary.


----------



## dalec (Oct 3, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *at last, a drawer*
> 
> I have to say, posting projects as I do them does two things. I puts the pressure on me to not screw up, after getting great comments from you folks about how to proceed through difficult parts. I sure don't want to come back and say "Thanks for all the suggestions, but oh well! I shattered the entire thing in a big kickback!" It also really drives me to keep working when I might otherwise say "Meh, I'll finish that part tomorrow, or this weekend." So thanks, and I'm going to keep forcing myself to post as I go, instead of just posting a project when [eventually] completed.
> 
> ...


Gary,

I have made similar errors with my first projects and likely will continue to do so, helpfully with less frequency in the future. I appreciate you sharing your error and your fix so we novices can all learn.

Dalec


----------



## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *at last, a drawer*
> 
> I have to say, posting projects as I do them does two things. I puts the pressure on me to not screw up, after getting great comments from you folks about how to proceed through difficult parts. I sure don't want to come back and say "Thanks for all the suggestions, but oh well! I shattered the entire thing in a big kickback!" It also really drives me to keep working when I might otherwise say "Meh, I'll finish that part tomorrow, or this weekend." So thanks, and I'm going to keep forcing myself to post as I go, instead of just posting a project when [eventually] completed.
> 
> ...


Remind me to tell you about the time I made a china closet- in the basement- with no exit to the outside- it is not a pretty story!

Lew


----------



## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *at last, a drawer*
> 
> I have to say, posting projects as I do them does two things. I puts the pressure on me to not screw up, after getting great comments from you folks about how to proceed through difficult parts. I sure don't want to come back and say "Thanks for all the suggestions, but oh well! I shattered the entire thing in a big kickback!" It also really drives me to keep working when I might otherwise say "Meh, I'll finish that part tomorrow, or this weekend." So thanks, and I'm going to keep forcing myself to post as I go, instead of just posting a project when [eventually] completed.
> 
> ...


Fixing mistakes is part of the learning curve in woodworking


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*stain tests, and drawer stops*

Up early, I got a little done this morning before work. I tested 2 stains from my small stock pile on some scrap poplar, the same stuff I used in this rolling base.



That's Minwax "Golden Pecan 245" on the left, and "Red Oak 215" on the right. The pecan is less saturated than the online sample. The red oak is much less red, and much more like chocolate, but I like how it makes the poplar sort of look like a hardwood. I'm tentatively going to use that for everything. Though I would appreciate something like "Pickled Oak 260" for the cabinet, and "Ebony 2718" for the drawer front, I don't think a tiny rolling stand for the planer is worth buying more anything. This project has been all about using up stuff I already have. The only purchase will be the 4 carriage bolts needed to mount the planer to the base. I don't have any long enough.



I hand-cut some small pieces of scrap poplar previously ripped from the edge of a plank, sanded them up a bit, drilled some countersunk through-holes, and then used some stacked pieces of wood to get them sticking up past the face frame's bottom by 1/4", all automatically. I clamped, drilled some starter holes in the face frame, and drove in the screws.

They were too tall - the drawer front (behind the face) banged into them, so I actually used my Buck Bros. 6" block plane from Home Depot to shorten them. I'm terrible with planes, and it's not the best plane, and not set up very well. I don't yet know what I'm doing, but I've watched lots of online videos about their use, read up for awhile now, off and on, and I did sharpen the blade awhile back in the WorkSharp3000. It worked out pretty well. It's certainly not pro work - not even close - but I got them how I needed them pretty quickly. I can imagine really liking planing with a proper, and properly-tuned plane.



Here's the top one, seen from the inside. I just held the camera through the drawer hole and pointed it back at me:



The stops work, and the drawer stops pretty close to flush. Sanding the entire front (drawer and face frame) helped, and cleaned up some dings, but I gave up on perfection. The drawer slides aren't accurate enough to permit true perfection every close anyway.

I'm going to stain it today, and hopefully have enough time (8+ hours) to varnish it tonight. We'll see. I'd like to be able to slap a handle on the drawer, bolt on the planer, and tuck it under the workbench tomorrow, early, so I can be on to the next thing ASAP. There's still so much in my project queue, most of it shop upgrades, mods, and reworkings just so I can get to the real stuff at last.


----------



## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *stain tests, and drawer stops*
> 
> Up early, I got a little done this morning before work. I tested 2 stains from my small stock pile on some scrap poplar, the same stuff I used in this rolling base.
> 
> ...


Gary, better go with the pecan, shop dust won't show so much ;-))


----------



## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *stain tests, and drawer stops*
> 
> Up early, I got a little done this morning before work. I tested 2 stains from my small stock pile on some scrap poplar, the same stuff I used in this rolling base.
> 
> ...


Topamax hit it perfectly!

The only thing you want to have dust and shaving hiding is the new tool you bought- and your wife hasn't seen.


----------



## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *stain tests, and drawer stops*
> 
> Up early, I got a little done this morning before work. I tested 2 stains from my small stock pile on some scrap poplar, the same stuff I used in this rolling base.
> 
> ...


Thanks for sharing Gary


----------



## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *stain tests, and drawer stops*
> 
> Up early, I got a little done this morning before work. I tested 2 stains from my small stock pile on some scrap poplar, the same stuff I used in this rolling base.
> 
> ...


lew - now you tell me? geeesh….lol

nice work Gary. I would personally reinstall the rails - but thats because I'm anal like that - it would also mean much more work, and I'd probably also screw up the alignment while at it…. then I'd get pissed at the cart, and take it apart completely…. so - I think you chose wisely ) on another note - I'd recommend upgrading that block plane at one point , unlike other planes that you might be tempted NOT to use- the block plane is the plane that usually gets used the most, even if you don't usually work with hand tools. so you'd want a good one at that. buck bros can be tuned to work ok… but you'd be better off tuning and using a better block plane in the long run. it's good for trimming, and finessing a perfect fit of drawers, doors, and other parts for that 'flush on the money" closure.


----------



## kevinwstuart (Jul 13, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *stain tests, and drawer stops*
> 
> Up early, I got a little done this morning before work. I tested 2 stains from my small stock pile on some scrap poplar, the same stuff I used in this rolling base.
> 
> ...


Have you seen what either of those stains look like on poplar after a coat of lacquer has been applied?


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*staining*

I know dark colors are a bad idea in a dusty shop, but I just couldn't resist their siren song. Time to go crash my boat on the rocks! I looked at the colors of the planer, and with the help of our office manager at my company, decided I wanted a black cabinet with a red drawer.

I labored over my choices for an hour in Home Depot, and even had them unpack stock boxes to get some Minwax 'blank' stain so we could mix up some reds. I chose "Spice" and "China Red," and opted for the latter, as the former was a bit too orange. It'll be great for some Halloween ideas, though. I also grabbed "Dark Walnut 2716," and "Ebony 2718." I totally failed in my plan to only use what I had on hand, as what I had on hand was just the usual browns and yellows. Here's Minwax's stain page, for your reference, and the "water-based" one, which has the colorizable versions (click the red "Colors" tab at each link).



Stain and pre-stain for the cabinet:



First coat:



Second coat:



I really didn't like how this came out. It seems a neat wash for some things, especially larger, more intricate things, but it looks crappy on this, like I didn't know what I was doing (which is true . I'm going to paint over it with black paint left over from another recent project.

Stain and pre-stain on the drawer front:



Here's the drawer with "China Red" on the face:



And here's how they're looking so far put together:



Testing out some spare blade packs storage:



I've already painted the carcase with flat black enamel, and now it looks clean and uniform. I'm about to go apply a few coats of spray-on spar urethane, but I have to do it outside, and today is very windy in LA. Of course.


----------



## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *staining*
> 
> I know dark colors are a bad idea in a dusty shop, but I just couldn't resist their siren song. Time to go crash my boat on the rocks! I looked at the colors of the planer, and with the help of our office manager at my company, decided I wanted a black cabinet with a red drawer.
> 
> ...


Hey Gary thats one fancy planer stand it looks very smart.


----------



## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *staining*
> 
> I know dark colors are a bad idea in a dusty shop, but I just couldn't resist their siren song. Time to go crash my boat on the rocks! I looked at the colors of the planer, and with the help of our office manager at my company, decided I wanted a black cabinet with a red drawer.
> 
> ...


OK, now that's it too late to go back, I'll ask the question- Is this going to be too low to the floor? Seems like you will really have to stoop over to use it or sit down- aha!! answered my own question :^)

I like the colors.

Lew


----------



## patron (Apr 2, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *staining*
> 
> I know dark colors are a bad idea in a dusty shop, but I just couldn't resist their siren song. Time to go crash my boat on the rocks! I looked at the colors of the planer, and with the help of our office manager at my company, decided I wanted a black cabinet with a red drawer.
> 
> ...


as we spend 1/3 of our life sleeping ,
and 1/3 working ,
we might as well enjoy it our way.
good job !


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *staining*
> 
> I know dark colors are a bad idea in a dusty shop, but I just couldn't resist their siren song. Time to go crash my boat on the rocks! I looked at the colors of the planer, and with the help of our office manager at my company, decided I wanted a black cabinet with a red drawer.
> 
> ...


Thanks, folks!

And lew: Right on. I'm going to pull up a lawn chair, and chill out planing some boards. It'll be just like the beach, except the sand will be sawdust, and there will be the loudest tool I own churning away next to me. Okay, maybe like El Segundo beach, which is immediately next to, and in all flight paths of LAX 

funny anecdote: a coworker was on El Segundo, relaxing, when an engine came free from a plane and landed on the beach not too far from him!


----------



## spanky46 (Feb 12, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *staining*
> 
> I know dark colors are a bad idea in a dusty shop, but I just couldn't resist their siren song. Time to go crash my boat on the rocks! I looked at the colors of the planer, and with the help of our office manager at my company, decided I wanted a black cabinet with a red drawer.
> 
> ...


Looks great Gary! Please yourself first!


----------



## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *staining*
> 
> I know dark colors are a bad idea in a dusty shop, but I just couldn't resist their siren song. Time to go crash my boat on the rocks! I looked at the colors of the planer, and with the help of our office manager at my company, decided I wanted a black cabinet with a red drawer.
> 
> ...


aaaah…. El Segundu, and a pit fire in the evening…..loved that place at that time…also less people

i generally dont like painting, but in this case, for that planer - it looks good! a touch of color, but still with the grains showing. i like it


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *staining*
> 
> I know dark colors are a bad idea in a dusty shop, but I just couldn't resist their siren song. Time to go crash my boat on the rocks! I looked at the colors of the planer, and with the help of our office manager at my company, decided I wanted a black cabinet with a red drawer.
> 
> ...


Thanks, Spanky!

Lev - I destroyed all the grain in the carcase with a coat of flat black paint. So ha! It'll get plenty of detail again however with the abuse it will likely take.


----------



## Chipncut (Aug 18, 2006)

gfixler said:


> *staining*
> 
> I know dark colors are a bad idea in a dusty shop, but I just couldn't resist their siren song. Time to go crash my boat on the rocks! I looked at the colors of the planer, and with the help of our office manager at my company, decided I wanted a black cabinet with a red drawer.
> 
> ...


Pretty classy!

With it painted black you'll know for sure when your shop needs cleaning.

It'll be like a black limo.


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *staining*
> 
> I know dark colors are a bad idea in a dusty shop, but I just couldn't resist their siren song. Time to go crash my boat on the rocks! I looked at the colors of the planer, and with the help of our office manager at my company, decided I wanted a black cabinet with a red drawer.
> 
> ...


Dick & Barb - Ha! I'm going to regret this, aren't I?


----------



## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *staining*
> 
> I know dark colors are a bad idea in a dusty shop, but I just couldn't resist their siren song. Time to go crash my boat on the rocks! I looked at the colors of the planer, and with the help of our office manager at my company, decided I wanted a black cabinet with a red drawer.
> 
> ...


I like it!! Too heck with 'em all! Do what you want ) Whose shop it it anyway??!!

About the parts falling off planes; I've always wondered how much of that goes on we never hear about?? We used to live right adjacent to the flight path of SeaTac. The only one I ever heard of was about 30 yrs ago. A chunk of ice about a foot cube went through a roof into a house!! Nobody hurt, but they were surprised when they got home.


----------



## Chipncut (Aug 18, 2006)

gfixler said:


> *staining*
> 
> I know dark colors are a bad idea in a dusty shop, but I just couldn't resist their siren song. Time to go crash my boat on the rocks! I looked at the colors of the planer, and with the help of our office manager at my company, decided I wanted a black cabinet with a red drawer.
> 
> ...


I've been kind of partial to light green, blue green, or blue with my benches.

I guess because trees have green leaves.

It also could be because I drove a John Deere tractor when I was a kid.


----------



## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *staining*
> 
> I know dark colors are a bad idea in a dusty shop, but I just couldn't resist their siren song. Time to go crash my boat on the rocks! I looked at the colors of the planer, and with the help of our office manager at my company, decided I wanted a black cabinet with a red drawer.
> 
> ...


Wonder what the neighbors would think if i painted the house JD green with JD yellow trim ) Did you drive a 2 cylinder johnny popper, Dick? ) Geez, i love the sound of those pulling into a load like a spring tooth right after you turn on the end of the field.


----------



## Chipncut (Aug 18, 2006)

gfixler said:


> *staining*
> 
> I know dark colors are a bad idea in a dusty shop, but I just couldn't resist their siren song. Time to go crash my boat on the rocks! I looked at the colors of the planer, and with the help of our office manager at my company, decided I wanted a black cabinet with a red drawer.
> 
> ...


Yes, It was a model B, it had steel wheels, but they put rubber on it later.

They also had a big old model D, they used for plowing. *Boy! did that one let out a snort.*

check out the pictures in this Blog of memories..


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*polyurethane, drawer handle, and bolting on the planer*

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.


----------



## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *polyurethane, drawer handle, and bolting on the planer*
> 
> 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.
> 
> ...


Got er done ,Thumbs up Gary


----------



## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *polyurethane, drawer handle, and bolting on the planer*
> 
> 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.
> 
> ...


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


----------



## kiwi1969 (Dec 22, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *polyurethane, drawer handle, and bolting on the planer*
> 
> 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.
> 
> ...


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.


----------



## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *polyurethane, drawer handle, and bolting on the planer*
> 
> 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 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 (Feb 12, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *polyurethane, drawer handle, and bolting on the planer*
> 
> 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.
> 
> ...


It finished up real nice Gary!


----------



## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *polyurethane, drawer handle, and bolting on the planer*
> 
> 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.
> 
> ...


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.


----------



## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *polyurethane, drawer handle, and bolting on the planer*
> 
> 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.
> 
> ...


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!!


----------



## Chipncut (Aug 18, 2006)

gfixler said:


> *polyurethane, drawer handle, and bolting on the planer*
> 
> 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.
> 
> ...


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.


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*parallel sliding dovetail drawer slides, part I*

Last time in this series I put together some drawer boxes. Next they'd need slides, and for that I went with parallel sliding dovetails, which I first saw GaryK create in walnut here. I've wanted since I saw those early last year to try my hand at making some. I spent some time one night last week building a SketchUp model based on GaryK's photos of his results and designed around a bit I had from the Incra set, then wrote up a plan of attack for how to go about building them. This is the kind of thing where if I don't have it all detailed out, I'll screw up somewhere. There are things I'd rethink for next time, especially the retaining peg and groove placements. I got a tad under full extension, when I should have been able to get a tad over.

Anyway, I needed a 3/4" thick piece, and two 1/2" thick pieces, all 3" wide. All of my pieces were 3/4", so 4 of them had to be thicknessed somehow. My planer is out of commission until I order some parts (I got the bearing in for it awhile ago, but destroyed it trying to press it on with a clamping rig I threw together, sadly). I'm uncomfortable by far (especially with no medical insurance at the moment) resawing on my table saw, and my band saw isn't accurate enough, especially now that the blade is pretty dull. I don't have a good way in my router sled setup to hold down a small piece of light 3/4" wood, and the jointer - as we all know - doesn't ensure parallel sides (I tried anyway, and it got more and more 'off' as I went). That left my mini mill.

I lightly surfaced the sacrificial aluminum plate I made for it long ago using a fly cutter, which is like a lathe tool held at a downward diagonal in a bit in the spindle. This scribes a circle which planes a surface when that surface is moved parallel to that circle. This ensured that the surface was trammed without all of the work of setting up test gauges and tapping on loosened joints and such, and it meant I had automatically zeroed out the bit height, and that meant that when I stuck a piece of wood to it, moved the bit up, and planed the wood surface, it would be parallel to its own bottom, and exactly to thickness, and in fact it was ridiculously so, to better than 0.001" by my digital calipers!

Here's a time-lapse:






And here's a segment in actual speed:






I had originally used 2 dots of CA glue to hold the wood down, but the fibers tore off, and in the time-lapse you can see me chiseling and sanding the wood off the aluminum in the beginning. After that I went with double-stick tape, and it was actually tacky enough with light cuts (0.05") to hold securely and still give 0.001" accurate thicknesses, all pretty automatically, as I'd written a few lines of code to have it loop around, planing the parts lower and lower toward the target thickness.

Then it was on to the work. Here's another time-lapse of setting up my Woodpeckers/Incra table, then grooving the pieces. I didn't record any of the dovetail creation, so they're already done in this video. I'm just adding retaining grooves, hammering in the pegs to retain the pieces together, and at some point panicking when slides glued together. I was using CA glue on the pegs, because I didn't make the sections that hold the pegs thick enough, and was worried they'd torque when stopping the slides and pull out. I was able to hammer them free and clean up the insides, but they're a little scratchy now in action. They were so smooth before. Sigh…






You can see that I had to chisel away part of the top of each slide in order to fit in the last retaining peg. This was yet more poor design work in SketchUp. I hadn't fully planned it out in there, and as I said in the first paragraph, if I don't have it all locked down, I find ways to screw up. Too, the pegs should really be going in the top and bottom of the entire slides, and should be retaining the middle piece. I have 3 (1 one way, 2 the other) retaining the outer pieces. If I want to go full extension (this falls shy about 0.25" or so), then it would be even harder, as the pegs would be more hidden. The problem was that putting in the pegs for one side precluded being able to later put in the peg on the other, as now it was blocked.

I want to say that the Incra LS Positioner makes things like sliding dovetails too easy to brag about. Here's a little time-lapse of the setup of the lift's height, and then setting up the fence with an accurately machined square that was exactly 1.000" wide up against the side of a 1/2" shaft router bit. Clicking things into place with the positioner's click wheel, which is 1/32 of 1/32" per click (1/1024"!), then lowering the bit shaft into the table, removing the square, and moving in by 1-1/4" and zeroing it out, it was trivial from that point to simply move the fence to each position, which were all on half-inches, and run the dovetails. There was almost no thinking involved, and no mistakes. Anyway, setting up the lift/fence (I set up the fence and bit height in the last half):






I'll skip deep details about the slides, as the video later in this post explains pretty much everything. I'll say, though, that when I make these again (I'm sure I'll make more eventually for another project), I will go with smooth hardwood, and I will run some test pieces to make sure I get tight dovetails. I will also leave more wood vertically so the pieces aren't quite so bendy. These were all just a whisker loose, which was actually helpful with the bendy softwood, which had a kind of fibrous surface that upped the friction. It means there's the tiniest bit of sag and wobble, however, in the finished product. Here are some fun pics of the scrap tulip poplar (not true poplar) slides:













And here's me rambling about the drawer carcase, drawers, walnut fronts, pulls, and I get around to talking about and showing off the dovetail slides, which at this point are not installed.






I'll note here that the video is clipped. Apparently not all of it uploaded to YouTube, so the last minute is missing. It's no matter, though, as the next video ramble will contain all of that info again. I was just saying what I was planning to do, and in the next video I'll have actually done it 

The Incra setup let me come back later and put the retaining grooves and peg holes in basically automatically. You just flip the handle, slide it visually on the ruler, then flip the handle back, which engages 1/32" teeth and pulls it all in to at least 0.001" accuracy. That's why these grooves are so nicely centered on the dovetails, though it was much later that I added them:



Later I moved from these 1/8" grooves to 1/4". You can see there's a little filled 1/8" hole to the left of this groove, because I had the piece in backwards between the stops, cutting toward the wrong end, and realized the error just as I started. I actually took a scrap of the same wood and turned an 1/8" peg in my lathe to fit that, then glued it in and trimmed it flush:



Next time around I'll show how I got everything installed.


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## degoose (Mar 20, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *parallel sliding dovetail drawer slides, part I*
> 
> Last time in this series I put together some drawer boxes. Next they'd need slides, and for that I went with parallel sliding dovetails, which I first saw GaryK create in walnut here. I've wanted since I saw those early last year to try my hand at making some. I spent some time one night last week building a SketchUp model based on GaryK's photos of his results and designed around a bit I had from the Incra set, then wrote up a plan of attack for how to go about building them. This is the kind of thing where if I don't have it all detailed out, I'll screw up somewhere. There are things I'd rethink for next time, especially the retaining peg and groove placements. I got a tad under full extension, when I should have been able to get a tad over.
> 
> ...


I am so looking forward to getting the Incra router system.. should arrive from the States in a few weeks…
You make this all look so easy… which I know it is not… but simple…and effective… and so so accurate.


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## spanky46 (Feb 12, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *parallel sliding dovetail drawer slides, part I*
> 
> Last time in this series I put together some drawer boxes. Next they'd need slides, and for that I went with parallel sliding dovetails, which I first saw GaryK create in walnut here. I've wanted since I saw those early last year to try my hand at making some. I spent some time one night last week building a SketchUp model based on GaryK's photos of his results and designed around a bit I had from the Incra set, then wrote up a plan of attack for how to go about building them. This is the kind of thing where if I don't have it all detailed out, I'll screw up somewhere. There are things I'd rethink for next time, especially the retaining peg and groove placements. I got a tad under full extension, when I should have been able to get a tad over.
> 
> ...


Great stuff Gary! Thanks


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## bigike (May 25, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *parallel sliding dovetail drawer slides, part I*
> 
> Last time in this series I put together some drawer boxes. Next they'd need slides, and for that I went with parallel sliding dovetails, which I first saw GaryK create in walnut here. I've wanted since I saw those early last year to try my hand at making some. I spent some time one night last week building a SketchUp model based on GaryK's photos of his results and designed around a bit I had from the Incra set, then wrote up a plan of attack for how to go about building them. This is the kind of thing where if I don't have it all detailed out, I'll screw up somewhere. There are things I'd rethink for next time, especially the retaining peg and groove placements. I got a tad under full extension, when I should have been able to get a tad over.
> 
> ...


nice


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## asthesawturns (Aug 23, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *parallel sliding dovetail drawer slides, part I*
> 
> Last time in this series I put together some drawer boxes. Next they'd need slides, and for that I went with parallel sliding dovetails, which I first saw GaryK create in walnut here. I've wanted since I saw those early last year to try my hand at making some. I spent some time one night last week building a SketchUp model based on GaryK's photos of his results and designed around a bit I had from the Incra set, then wrote up a plan of attack for how to go about building them. This is the kind of thing where if I don't have it all detailed out, I'll screw up somewhere. There are things I'd rethink for next time, especially the retaining peg and groove placements. I got a tad under full extension, when I should have been able to get a tad over.
> 
> ...


Looks great, those dovetails are crazy. Thanks for taking us through it.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *parallel sliding dovetail drawer slides, part I*
> 
> Last time in this series I put together some drawer boxes. Next they'd need slides, and for that I went with parallel sliding dovetails, which I first saw GaryK create in walnut here. I've wanted since I saw those early last year to try my hand at making some. I spent some time one night last week building a SketchUp model based on GaryK's photos of his results and designed around a bit I had from the Incra set, then wrote up a plan of attack for how to go about building them. This is the kind of thing where if I don't have it all detailed out, I'll screw up somewhere. There are things I'd rethink for next time, especially the retaining peg and groove placements. I got a tad under full extension, when I should have been able to get a tad over.
> 
> ...


very cool. I'm looking forward to also incorporate the same dt drawer slides in future projects. looks super. and the drawer and carcass also looks damn solid!


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## DaddyZ (Jan 28, 2010)

gfixler said:


> *parallel sliding dovetail drawer slides, part I*
> 
> Last time in this series I put together some drawer boxes. Next they'd need slides, and for that I went with parallel sliding dovetails, which I first saw GaryK create in walnut here. I've wanted since I saw those early last year to try my hand at making some. I spent some time one night last week building a SketchUp model based on GaryK's photos of his results and designed around a bit I had from the Incra set, then wrote up a plan of attack for how to go about building them. This is the kind of thing where if I don't have it all detailed out, I'll screw up somewhere. There are things I'd rethink for next time, especially the retaining peg and groove placements. I got a tad under full extension, when I should have been able to get a tad over.
> 
> ...


Cool Idea, Great looking


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *parallel sliding dovetail drawer slides, part I*
> 
> Last time in this series I put together some drawer boxes. Next they'd need slides, and for that I went with parallel sliding dovetails, which I first saw GaryK create in walnut here. I've wanted since I saw those early last year to try my hand at making some. I spent some time one night last week building a SketchUp model based on GaryK's photos of his results and designed around a bit I had from the Incra set, then wrote up a plan of attack for how to go about building them. This is the kind of thing where if I don't have it all detailed out, I'll screw up somewhere. There are things I'd rethink for next time, especially the retaining peg and groove placements. I got a tad under full extension, when I should have been able to get a tad over.
> 
> ...


Amazing precision work.


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *parallel sliding dovetail drawer slides, part I*
> 
> Last time in this series I put together some drawer boxes. Next they'd need slides, and for that I went with parallel sliding dovetails, which I first saw GaryK create in walnut here. I've wanted since I saw those early last year to try my hand at making some. I spent some time one night last week building a SketchUp model based on GaryK's photos of his results and designed around a bit I had from the Incra set, then wrote up a plan of attack for how to go about building them. This is the kind of thing where if I don't have it all detailed out, I'll screw up somewhere. There are things I'd rethink for next time, especially the retaining peg and groove placements. I got a tad under full extension, when I should have been able to get a tad over.
> 
> ...


Great job Gary.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *parallel sliding dovetail drawer slides, part I*
> 
> Last time in this series I put together some drawer boxes. Next they'd need slides, and for that I went with parallel sliding dovetails, which I first saw GaryK create in walnut here. I've wanted since I saw those early last year to try my hand at making some. I spent some time one night last week building a SketchUp model based on GaryK's photos of his results and designed around a bit I had from the Incra set, then wrote up a plan of attack for how to go about building them. This is the kind of thing where if I don't have it all detailed out, I'll screw up somewhere. There are things I'd rethink for next time, especially the retaining peg and groove placements. I got a tad under full extension, when I should have been able to get a tad over.
> 
> ...


Wow Gary that is so cool


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## chavezd2 (Nov 5, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *parallel sliding dovetail drawer slides, part I*
> 
> Last time in this series I put together some drawer boxes. Next they'd need slides, and for that I went with parallel sliding dovetails, which I first saw GaryK create in walnut here. I've wanted since I saw those early last year to try my hand at making some. I spent some time one night last week building a SketchUp model based on GaryK's photos of his results and designed around a bit I had from the Incra set, then wrote up a plan of attack for how to go about building them. This is the kind of thing where if I don't have it all detailed out, I'll screw up somewhere. There are things I'd rethink for next time, especially the retaining peg and groove placements. I got a tad under full extension, when I should have been able to get a tad over.
> 
> ...


What a cool idea


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## DanLyke (Feb 8, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *parallel sliding dovetail drawer slides, part I*
> 
> Last time in this series I put together some drawer boxes. Next they'd need slides, and for that I went with parallel sliding dovetails, which I first saw GaryK create in walnut here. I've wanted since I saw those early last year to try my hand at making some. I spent some time one night last week building a SketchUp model based on GaryK's photos of his results and designed around a bit I had from the Incra set, then wrote up a plan of attack for how to go about building them. This is the kind of thing where if I don't have it all detailed out, I'll screw up somewhere. There are things I'd rethink for next time, especially the retaining peg and groove placements. I got a tad under full extension, when I should have been able to get a tad over.
> 
> ...


Nice! I see there aren't any more in this blog series, do you have any videos of the slides installed and working?

I got referred to this entry 'cause I asked about making full extension dovetail drawer slides, only I was thinking about side-mounting them. I like the idea of undermount because all the pieces are held in closer alignment, but I might have to spring for the Incra fence to do that (Oh darn!).

So if you've got a "how it's held up!" I'd love to read those observations.


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## lignumbooboo (Jun 8, 2012)

gfixler said:


> *parallel sliding dovetail drawer slides, part I*
> 
> Last time in this series I put together some drawer boxes. Next they'd need slides, and for that I went with parallel sliding dovetails, which I first saw GaryK create in walnut here. I've wanted since I saw those early last year to try my hand at making some. I spent some time one night last week building a SketchUp model based on GaryK's photos of his results and designed around a bit I had from the Incra set, then wrote up a plan of attack for how to go about building them. This is the kind of thing where if I don't have it all detailed out, I'll screw up somewhere. There are things I'd rethink for next time, especially the retaining peg and groove placements. I got a tad under full extension, when I should have been able to get a tad over.
> 
> ...


Very inspiring router work!


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