# 004: cheap, rolling lathe stand



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*box frames, wheels, and a height change*

In early December, a little more than a week before I flew home, I decided to make mom a cutting board. However, the garage was a mess. I spent some time figuring out what I could attack, cleaning off the back table to use for flattening the board after the glue-up, building the router sled and rails to perform the flattening, and as a slipped-in, totally unrelated side project, I built a quickie rolling lathe stand on the cheap, as I'm still looking for work. When I say "on the cheap," I mean free. Well, that's not entirely true. I used about 2 scrap 2×4s I had in my storage shed, which add up to about $4 total from Home Depot if bought new. I also had a box of 4 very nice locking, swivel casters from Rockler, which I bought months prior (on sale, IIRC), well before I found myself out of work. I didn't spend any new money, though. This was all stuff sitting around in the inventory, as most/all things for awhile shall be. Here are those wheels:





I built two simple box frames:



I decided to go with all wood joints so the pocket hole screws from the legs and caster wheel bolts would have free reign. Being in a hurry I just went with large pegs, which I at first cut and rounded from a dowel I'd had laying around for years:





I laid things out cleanly for flush joints (as flush as it gets with rounded 2×4s), did several tests with my 1/64" increment brad point bits (also from a Rockler sale (on sale again as I post this from $40 down to $30)) for tightest fit, and I glued up the frames:





As an aside, I cleaned my saw table - home for months now to disassembled planer parts, wood, turnings, dust collection fittings, and the lathe for which I was building the stand - and brought it from this (it actually IS under there):



...to this (even scrubbing away rust brought about by green shavings from the lathe):



So much nicer! I can use it again 

An example glue up, with clamps on either side of the exposed pegs, which will be flushed up later:



I did that thing everyone warned me about last time again, making some extra, needed pegs on my lathe instead of with a nice dowel plate. Here's how it looked this time:



The following shot tells me I can probably make dreidels pretty easily 



I turned the first halves, then flipped them over and let the same CNC code turn the other half. It was all done in about 20 minutes or so:



Done!





Using the pegs to glue up the second box:



I designed the stand in SketchUp. I doubt anyone wants it, but if so, I can upload the file. Anyway, this helped me figure out leg length and angles. It turned out I needed a 5° angle on each side, which was easy enough with my miter saw. Here's how they fit:



I glued and screwed the legs to the bottom frame first:



Then the top:



Then the casters (I had drilled the holes in the base on my drill press before I attached the legs):



And that was the basics. This is the longest post for the simplest, cheapest build ever 



With the lathe screwed on top. It looks narrow and top-heavy, but it's quite stable, I've found. Too, I'm going to be adding a lot of weight in the bottom. More on that later. Note that the wheels all have a step lock that locks both rolling and swiveling, so it becomes rather like a stand with rubber feet when you lock the wheels, and it rolls like butter when they're unlocked. I'm happy with them.



Unfortunately, it was too tall. I had miscalculated the height the wheels would add.



That was where I had to finish up before the holidays. I decided to figure out how to shorten it over the break and then come back refreshed and make the change. My original plan was to cut a chunk out of the middle of the legs, then build a drawer box that was shorter than what I'd removed, and screw the top and bottom remaining sections of the legs to that box. After designing that 2x in SketchUp, I realized I didn't like anything about that plan.

I opted to simply fix the legs. I had glued them in, but it was easy enough to flush cut them back off with a pull saw after removing the pocket screws. I moved the top down by 6" in my original design in SketchUp and figured out the leg angles again. They went from 5° to 6.2°. Amazingly, after eyeballing this value in between the tick marks on my miter saw, I used a precision angle finder with every 10th of a degree marked on it to measure my cuts, and they were dead on the 6.2 mark!

Here's how it came out after shortening it after I got back from the holidays:



Now it's a great height for me. It still seemed like it might be too tall, but I've only used it on my saw table (behind me in the shot), and the top of the stand now is actually a little shorter than that by an inch or two.



That's all for now. I've made more, as the stand is going to be a lot more involved than just legs and box frames, but that'll be for future posts, which should come along very soon.


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## davidmicraig (Nov 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *box frames, wheels, and a height change*
> 
> In early December, a little more than a week before I flew home, I decided to make mom a cutting board. However, the garage was a mess. I spent some time figuring out what I could attack, cleaning off the back table to use for flattening the board after the glue-up, building the router sled and rails to perform the flattening, and as a slipped-in, totally unrelated side project, I built a quickie rolling lathe stand on the cheap, as I'm still looking for work. When I say "on the cheap," I mean free. Well, that's not entirely true. I used about 2 scrap 2×4s I had in my storage shed, which add up to about $4 total from Home Depot if bought new. I also had a box of 4 very nice locking, swivel casters from Rockler, which I bought months prior (on sale, IIRC), well before I found myself out of work. I didn't spend any new money, though. This was all stuff sitting around in the inventory, as most/all things for awhile shall be. Here are those wheels:
> 
> ...


nice design, like the inward angles which help keep the machine centered without making it a tip hazard. Thanks for the detailed breakdown.

Looks Good!

David


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *box frames, wheels, and a height change*
> 
> In early December, a little more than a week before I flew home, I decided to make mom a cutting board. However, the garage was a mess. I spent some time figuring out what I could attack, cleaning off the back table to use for flattening the board after the glue-up, building the router sled and rails to perform the flattening, and as a slipped-in, totally unrelated side project, I built a quickie rolling lathe stand on the cheap, as I'm still looking for work. When I say "on the cheap," I mean free. Well, that's not entirely true. I used about 2 scrap 2×4s I had in my storage shed, which add up to about $4 total from Home Depot if bought new. I also had a box of 4 very nice locking, swivel casters from Rockler, which I bought months prior (on sale, IIRC), well before I found myself out of work. I didn't spend any new money, though. This was all stuff sitting around in the inventory, as most/all things for awhile shall be. Here are those wheels:
> 
> ...


that looks great Gary! I like that mobile base, has lots of options for additions for storage/tools/etc. looking forward to see what it'll hold. and the height looks good.


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *box frames, wheels, and a height change*
> 
> In early December, a little more than a week before I flew home, I decided to make mom a cutting board. However, the garage was a mess. I spent some time figuring out what I could attack, cleaning off the back table to use for flattening the board after the glue-up, building the router sled and rails to perform the flattening, and as a slipped-in, totally unrelated side project, I built a quickie rolling lathe stand on the cheap, as I'm still looking for work. When I say "on the cheap," I mean free. Well, that's not entirely true. I used about 2 scrap 2×4s I had in my storage shed, which add up to about $4 total from Home Depot if bought new. I also had a box of 4 very nice locking, swivel casters from Rockler, which I bought months prior (on sale, IIRC), well before I found myself out of work. I didn't spend any new money, though. This was all stuff sitting around in the inventory, as most/all things for awhile shall be. Here are those wheels:
> 
> ...


Gary,
Great post. I realize the height,of a lathe. is somewhat a personal thing but I agree with Sharon- looks good to me.

Lew


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## king (Aug 5, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *box frames, wheels, and a height change*
> 
> In early December, a little more than a week before I flew home, I decided to make mom a cutting board. However, the garage was a mess. I spent some time figuring out what I could attack, cleaning off the back table to use for flattening the board after the glue-up, building the router sled and rails to perform the flattening, and as a slipped-in, totally unrelated side project, I built a quickie rolling lathe stand on the cheap, as I'm still looking for work. When I say "on the cheap," I mean free. Well, that's not entirely true. I used about 2 scrap 2×4s I had in my storage shed, which add up to about $4 total from Home Depot if bought new. I also had a box of 4 very nice locking, swivel casters from Rockler, which I bought months prior (on sale, IIRC), well before I found myself out of work. I didn't spend any new money, though. This was all stuff sitting around in the inventory, as most/all things for awhile shall be. Here are those wheels:
> 
> ...


Nice stand,add a shelf for tools .I might make one myself thanks.


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## JamesVavra (Apr 27, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *box frames, wheels, and a height change*
> 
> In early December, a little more than a week before I flew home, I decided to make mom a cutting board. However, the garage was a mess. I spent some time figuring out what I could attack, cleaning off the back table to use for flattening the board after the glue-up, building the router sled and rails to perform the flattening, and as a slipped-in, totally unrelated side project, I built a quickie rolling lathe stand on the cheap, as I'm still looking for work. When I say "on the cheap," I mean free. Well, that's not entirely true. I used about 2 scrap 2×4s I had in my storage shed, which add up to about $4 total from Home Depot if bought new. I also had a box of 4 very nice locking, swivel casters from Rockler, which I bought months prior (on sale, IIRC), well before I found myself out of work. I didn't spend any new money, though. This was all stuff sitting around in the inventory, as most/all things for awhile shall be. Here are those wheels:
> 
> ...


You could grab a couple of those foam rubber cushion pads that they sell to ease foot fatigue and set those in front of your new setup. When standing on them you will be up an inch or so, effectively lowering the height of the stand closer to where you were comfortable with it before.

(I bought some cheap ones at HF a couple of months ago, but I noticed the height difference on the lathe and still don't use them there.)

James


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## SheilaJ (Jun 21, 2011)

gfixler said:


> *box frames, wheels, and a height change*
> 
> In early December, a little more than a week before I flew home, I decided to make mom a cutting board. However, the garage was a mess. I spent some time figuring out what I could attack, cleaning off the back table to use for flattening the board after the glue-up, building the router sled and rails to perform the flattening, and as a slipped-in, totally unrelated side project, I built a quickie rolling lathe stand on the cheap, as I'm still looking for work. When I say "on the cheap," I mean free. Well, that's not entirely true. I used about 2 scrap 2×4s I had in my storage shed, which add up to about $4 total from Home Depot if bought new. I also had a box of 4 very nice locking, swivel casters from Rockler, which I bought months prior (on sale, IIRC), well before I found myself out of work. I didn't spend any new money, though. This was all stuff sitting around in the inventory, as most/all things for awhile shall be. Here are those wheels:
> 
> ...


This looks great! Thank you for sharing all of your details. This is a bit ambitious for me, but I really would like to give it a whirl. I always have to stand on a stool, so a customized height would be really nice. Thank you!
-Sheila


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## Springerlover (Mar 23, 2020)

gfixler said:


> *box frames, wheels, and a height change*
> 
> In early December, a little more than a week before I flew home, I decided to make mom a cutting board. However, the garage was a mess. I spent some time figuring out what I could attack, cleaning off the back table to use for flattening the board after the glue-up, building the router sled and rails to perform the flattening, and as a slipped-in, totally unrelated side project, I built a quickie rolling lathe stand on the cheap, as I'm still looking for work. When I say "on the cheap," I mean free. Well, that's not entirely true. I used about 2 scrap 2×4s I had in my storage shed, which add up to about $4 total from Home Depot if bought new. I also had a box of 4 very nice locking, swivel casters from Rockler, which I bought months prior (on sale, IIRC), well before I found myself out of work. I didn't spend any new money, though. This was all stuff sitting around in the inventory, as most/all things for awhile shall be. Here are those wheels:
> 
> ...


I just finished a workbench and included casters. I wondered if they would adversely affect it's stability. They didn't. Your inclusion of casters and positive comments are good to hear. I'm planning a lathe stand and mobility fits my situation. Thanks for your design.


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*the drawer carcass*

With my new rolling lathe stand rolling and standing well, it was time for some drawers. This was also a great opportunity to start using up some of that huge pile of free, scrap alder I got 6 months ago. I hadn't used any prior to this, and while the smell of the lumber and dust when I picked it up brought me back to my childhood - they made me vividly recall toys and painting easels from my kindergarten - cutting it fresh smelled sweet, and reminded me a lot of something like Kool-Aid® powder. I like it  I selected some lengths of similar thickness near the target width for my face frame:



In the last two pics in my scrap alder link above (1, 2), you can see that longer pieces stuck out the front of the shelving a bit. We've had some rains late last year, and early this (and this week is pretty constant, heavy rain), so those got wet and a bit moldy. I was eager to try to use some of that and see if I couldn't sand them back to pretty. You can see the mold here:



I got a little shock when I picked one piece out of the pile and felt something squish under my finger beneath it. It was a brown widow with 2 egg sacks. Thankfully, though brown widows have much more potent venom than the smaller black widows, they are far less aggressive. You really have to want to be bitten, though I suppose this was pushing it  You can see the little orange-red hourglass on its belly.



I scraped off the egg sacks, but threw the spider, who was fine, in my "woods," which are just 3 Hollywood junipers in my tiny back yard. Here are the pieces milled up and pocket hole drilled. I'm getting a little burn from my saw - visible here - so a tune up will be in order soon.



I worked around the natural sections:



Here are the frame glue ups:



And the carcass glue up:



Here's everything dried:



I'd been wrestling with how to enclose it, considering everything from full sheets of something outside to small scrap pieces glued haphazardly to the inside, but then a few restrictions decided it for me. The carcass was built to slide snugly in between the legs, so no outer panels. I didn't want dust and chips to accumulate inside the frames with inside panels, as then there'd be 3/4" insets. I hadn't wanted to go the floating panels route, so in the end, it was down to inset panels. I got out my little RIDGID laminate trimmer, a 1/4" rabbet bit with bearing I didn't know I had, and had never used (don't you love cheap variety router assortments?). It was surprisingly easy to set it up and rout the frames, maybe 15 minutes in all, including vacuuming up afterwards.



A little bit of chiseling in the corners to make them square (getting pretty good at it now), and cutting some scrap 3/16" hardboard I found in my wood storage shed, and I was able to close up the sides of the carcass with inlays. The glue up gave me a chance to use my spring clamps. I never get a chance to use them. It was fun.





That worked out pretty well. Hardboard shouldn't move like regular wood does, so the nice tight fit hopefully won't cause me any problems. Also good was that I was able to ROS the sides and panels to flush, and all of the mold is completely gone! It worked. I had a feeling there would be good wood hiding beneath.





For the top, I'm going to use something like 1/2" ply and roundover the top front edge. It'll act as a little shelf under the pipes that hold the tools. For the bottom, who knows? Hardboard, ply, whatever I have laying around to seal it up so the drawers don't fill with dust.

Speaking of… next up, drawers!


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *the drawer carcass*
> 
> With my new rolling lathe stand rolling and standing well, it was time for some drawers. This was also a great opportunity to start using up some of that huge pile of free, scrap alder I got 6 months ago. I hadn't used any prior to this, and while the smell of the lumber and dust when I picked it up brought me back to my childhood - they made me vividly recall toys and painting easels from my kindergarten - cutting it fresh smelled sweet, and reminded me a lot of something like Kool-Aid® powder. I like it  I selected some lengths of similar thickness near the target width for my face frame:
> 
> ...


Very sturdy looking carcass, Gary. Can't wait to see the drawers.

Lew


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## Firestarter (Apr 30, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *the drawer carcass*
> 
> With my new rolling lathe stand rolling and standing well, it was time for some drawers. This was also a great opportunity to start using up some of that huge pile of free, scrap alder I got 6 months ago. I hadn't used any prior to this, and while the smell of the lumber and dust when I picked it up brought me back to my childhood - they made me vividly recall toys and painting easels from my kindergarten - cutting it fresh smelled sweet, and reminded me a lot of something like Kool-Aid® powder. I like it  I selected some lengths of similar thickness near the target width for my face frame:
> 
> ...


Gary,
Nice work! I always enjoy your posts. Can I ask what bar clamps you used for the frame?
Thanks
Rich


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *the drawer carcass*
> 
> With my new rolling lathe stand rolling and standing well, it was time for some drawers. This was also a great opportunity to start using up some of that huge pile of free, scrap alder I got 6 months ago. I hadn't used any prior to this, and while the smell of the lumber and dust when I picked it up brought me back to my childhood - they made me vividly recall toys and painting easels from my kindergarten - cutting it fresh smelled sweet, and reminded me a lot of something like Kool-Aid® powder. I like it  I selected some lengths of similar thickness near the target width for my face frame:
> 
> ...


looks great Gary. nice save on the lumber, and good fortune on the spider. could have been nasty.

another thing to consider - the frame is solid wood, and can still move even if the panels are hardboard. this *might* throw the panels off in years to come. a floating panel solves that problem. however, with this size stiles, it might not be a concern.


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *the drawer carcass*
> 
> With my new rolling lathe stand rolling and standing well, it was time for some drawers. This was also a great opportunity to start using up some of that huge pile of free, scrap alder I got 6 months ago. I hadn't used any prior to this, and while the smell of the lumber and dust when I picked it up brought me back to my childhood - they made me vividly recall toys and painting easels from my kindergarten - cutting it fresh smelled sweet, and reminded me a lot of something like Kool-Aid® powder. I like it  I selected some lengths of similar thickness near the target width for my face frame:
> 
> ...


Lew - Unclamping the glued drawers and sanding things up today! The fronts are also cut. I'm still back and forth on slides. I'm going with bottom slides to maximize the drawer capacities, which is what's most important to me right now - storage space. I made the drawers about 1/16" shy on each side of the frame. If I ever have a problem, I'll just shave away some frame, and/or sand away some material from the drawer sides, but I think there's enough clearance. I've made some dovetail slides, but they're a bit loose, and I'm not 100% on how I'd like to attach them yet. I've got a bit to figure out today, apparently 

Rich - The clamps are Bessey Tradesman clamps, medium duty. They're very heavy and work great. I have a bunch of Jet bar clamps as well, but they bend terribly and just can't provide nearly the power of the Tradesman clamps because of that. Too, I have Jorgensens, the orange clamps, but their rubbery pads leave really bad oil spots on wood. I have to tape the pads to prevent it. The polymer pads on the Besseys leave no marks at all, though they can dent pretty significantly due to their power. I've also tried some Irwins, but they pale in comparison as well. So far, Bessey just wins hands down in bar and parallel clamp categories for me.

Purp - True. I guess I'll have to be the guinea pig here and see if the panels get squished or pull away one day. Here's hoping it all just works out, though I've seen pretty significant movement in even small pieces of wood.


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## Firestarter (Apr 30, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *the drawer carcass*
> 
> With my new rolling lathe stand rolling and standing well, it was time for some drawers. This was also a great opportunity to start using up some of that huge pile of free, scrap alder I got 6 months ago. I hadn't used any prior to this, and while the smell of the lumber and dust when I picked it up brought me back to my childhood - they made me vividly recall toys and painting easels from my kindergarten - cutting it fresh smelled sweet, and reminded me a lot of something like Kool-Aid® powder. I like it  I selected some lengths of similar thickness near the target width for my face frame:
> 
> ...


Thanks Gary for the info, from what I have seen I would agree with you that Bessey are the best Just need for them to be on sale so i can stock up!


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*drawers from scrap material*

In keeping with the "don't spend anything" ethic of this piece, I found some scrap 1/2" boards. Two were longer scraps of baltic birch ply, but there was only enough with the long grain for the 2 sides of each drawer. I had a stack of scraps of the same stuff but with the grain running across the width, so I cut 2 of those down for the backs. The fronts I made from scrap 1/2" construction grade ply. The drawer fronts would cover those up. The bottoms are 1/8" hardboard from a single scrap piece - my last - which was just large enough to cut out both pieces. I love using up scrap entirely!



Here are exciting time-lapse videos of the glue-ups (I don't know why I felt like filming these):

http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377

http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377

I let them dry overnight.



I used a simple drawer lock joint cut with the circular saw table. I've never made one before, and couldn't figure out a really simply way - something like routing pins and tails simultaneously. I just had to take careful measurements for the groove that fits over the rabbet, but it came out incredibly flush on all joints.



The cheaper ply on the front faces in the next image will have drawer fronts over them to hide them. The only scrap left for the backs had the grain running the wrong way, but I kind of like it. At the very least, it doesn't bother me, and I don't think anyone except someone very familiar with drawer construction would even notice. They'll be somewhat hidden in the back of the drawers.



There was a slight discrepancy - perhaps as much as an 1/8" - between the left and right drawer holes in the face frame (must have gotten my center stile a little to one side) so these drawers are not identical. They each leave about the same clearance on both sides when put in the proper hole. More on that in the next post on drawer slides.



The drawer fronts are to be inset walnut cut from the same board so the grain flows across. Here they are, cut to size with the handle holes drilled. The walnut was from scrap I had in my wood shed.



Here are the backs. I actually love the deep coloring on the left, and the knot at the right, but after careful consideration, I decided the knot would compete way too much with the drawer handle, and the even look of the other sides won me over. At least I have this picture to remember the backs, as they'll be glued to the drawers and never seen again.



The handles I bought as possible handles for a cabinet I built a year ago, but went with other ones instead. These two - the only two in this style - have been floating around the shop ever since waiting for a home. I think they look very nice on the dark walnut boards. And that's still no new money spent on the rolling lathe stand. It's still all been scrap.



I think I'll save the drawer slides for another post, because they're rather involved.


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *drawers from scrap material*
> 
> In keeping with the "don't spend anything" ethic of this piece, I found some scrap 1/2" boards. Two were longer scraps of baltic birch ply, but there was only enough with the long grain for the 2 sides of each drawer. I had a stack of scraps of the same stuff but with the grain running across the width, so I cut 2 of those down for the backs. The fronts I made from scrap 1/2" construction grade ply. The drawer fronts would cover those up. The bottoms are 1/8" hardboard from a single scrap piece - my last - which was just large enough to cut out both pieces. I love using up scrap entirely!
> 
> ...


Great write-up, Gary and cool time lapse!

Lew


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *drawers from scrap material*
> 
> In keeping with the "don't spend anything" ethic of this piece, I found some scrap 1/2" boards. Two were longer scraps of baltic birch ply, but there was only enough with the long grain for the 2 sides of each drawer. I had a stack of scraps of the same stuff but with the grain running across the width, so I cut 2 of those down for the backs. The fronts I made from scrap 1/2" construction grade ply. The drawer fronts would cover those up. The bottoms are 1/8" hardboard from a single scrap piece - my last - which was just large enough to cut out both pieces. I love using up scrap entirely!
> 
> ...


looks great, those drawer looks too good.


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## Dusty56 (Apr 20, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *drawers from scrap material*
> 
> In keeping with the "don't spend anything" ethic of this piece, I found some scrap 1/2" boards. Two were longer scraps of baltic birch ply, but there was only enough with the long grain for the 2 sides of each drawer. I had a stack of scraps of the same stuff but with the grain running across the width, so I cut 2 of those down for the backs. The fronts I made from scrap 1/2" construction grade ply. The drawer fronts would cover those up. The bottoms are 1/8" hardboard from a single scrap piece - my last - which was just large enough to cut out both pieces. I love using up scrap entirely!
> 
> ...


I also have a collection of handles for future projects : ) Very nice post and the black handles on the Walnut look awesome , Gary : )


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *drawers from scrap material*
> 
> In keeping with the "don't spend anything" ethic of this piece, I found some scrap 1/2" boards. Two were longer scraps of baltic birch ply, but there was only enough with the long grain for the 2 sides of each drawer. I had a stack of scraps of the same stuff but with the grain running across the width, so I cut 2 of those down for the backs. The fronts I made from scrap 1/2" construction grade ply. The drawer fronts would cover those up. The bottoms are 1/8" hardboard from a single scrap piece - my last - which was just large enough to cut out both pieces. I love using up scrap entirely!
> 
> ...


Good blog Gary


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## Ken90712 (Sep 2, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *drawers from scrap material*
> 
> In keeping with the "don't spend anything" ethic of this piece, I found some scrap 1/2" boards. Two were longer scraps of baltic birch ply, but there was only enough with the long grain for the 2 sides of each drawer. I had a stack of scraps of the same stuff but with the grain running across the width, so I cut 2 of those down for the backs. The fronts I made from scrap 1/2" construction grade ply. The drawer fronts would cover those up. The bottoms are 1/8" hardboard from a single scrap piece - my last - which was just large enough to cut out both pieces. I love using up scrap entirely!
> 
> ...


Very Nice Gary!


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*installing the drawers*

When I last left off, I showed the dovetail slides, but they didn't have a good way yet of attaching to the drawers, and weren't in the drawer carcase yet. That reminds me. Here's the carcase installed:



I cut a piece of scrap ply to fit on the top and tacked it on with small, set nails - lots of 'em 

And now for another rambling video on how I finished up the drawer slides:






This was the glue-up on the drawer blocks:



Adding walnut pegs through the slide blocks to retain the rear sides of the drawers:



These are the countersunk screws in the back of the dovetail slide to join it to the back frame inside:



Front of the peg block on one slide:



Pegs sliding into back of drawer:





Installing the slides:



It was a bit tricky to get into the back, so I had to use a small ratcheting screwdriver to install the countersunk wood screws in the back of the slides. When that wasn't strong enough, I moved to a right-angle attachment on my drill, which was just barely small enough to squeeze in, and quite awkward. I wished I hadn't installed the inlaid panels around the outside. It would have made installation so fast.



Here's a testing of a drawer slide:

http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377

Here's a drawer box installed. Note that it's just a little wobbly. I can do some things to counter that, like putting some rails under the sides of the drawer, or adding a strip of plastic to the sides of the drawer to run against the sides of the face frame, or I could have made tighter dovetails out of a harder wood, but so far in the finished drawers it's not a bother:

http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377

Here I'm gluing in the support blocks under the drawer slides. This gave me a chance to get the fronts exactly centered, as the drawer boxes were already slid onto their pegs and screwed in at the front, so they were part of the slides at this point:



This is the careful gluing on of the drawer fronts. I did a lot of tweaking as I worked here, and as the glue was setting, because these are inset drawers with little clearance between themselves and the face frame holes:



And here I am testing the finished drawers:

http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377

And here's a total mess I made on the new stand in the garage the other day with the new drawers helping me sort several things:



The right drawer front, despite all of my careful fussing ended up just a whisker high. Whereas the left drawer front was perfectly centered, the right front scraped against the top of the face frame. I was able to shave them in place with my Buck Bros. 3-inch block plane. It's quite a handy little tool still, and still quite sharp. The walnut top planed away easily with just my other hand holding the opposite side of the front against the planing motion. Nice, full-length curls:





Then I had to get artsy with the shavings 





It reminds me of some crazy tshirts I've seen. I kind of want to make a trivet like this, with a frame and a bunch of curly shavings packed tightly inside.

Further plans for the rolling stand include:


PVC tubes above the drawers for the tools
some weights inside the bottom frame and a shelf on top of it
a system on the back to hold one of my 2 plastic dust hoods with 4" ports
divider boxes for the drawers to add a second level and sort things better

Thanks for reading!


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *installing the drawers*
> 
> When I last left off, I showed the dovetail slides, but they didn't have a good way yet of attaching to the drawers, and weren't in the drawer carcase yet. That reminds me. Here's the carcase installed:
> 
> ...


Now those are some cool drawer slides! Now the only thing you will need to remember is to completely close the drawers before turning to avoid having them fill up with shavings. Don't ask me how I know this ;^)

Lew


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## Maveric777 (Dec 23, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *installing the drawers*
> 
> When I last left off, I showed the dovetail slides, but they didn't have a good way yet of attaching to the drawers, and weren't in the drawer carcase yet. That reminds me. Here's the carcase installed:
> 
> ...


Grown to enjoy these well detailed blogs of yours Gary. Very informative…..


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## cosmicturner (Feb 7, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *installing the drawers*
> 
> When I last left off, I showed the dovetail slides, but they didn't have a good way yet of attaching to the drawers, and weren't in the drawer carcase yet. That reminds me. Here's the carcase installed:
> 
> ...


Good work Gary I like the drawers


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## rtb (Mar 26, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *installing the drawers*
> 
> When I last left off, I showed the dovetail slides, but they didn't have a good way yet of attaching to the drawers, and weren't in the drawer carcase yet. That reminds me. Here's the carcase installed:
> 
> ...


Gary, your work and attention to detail contradict the title of this blog. A suggestion when you install the pvc tubes you may want to cut away 1 side, leaving both ends intact, and mount the opening face up with the handle end elevated. this allows you to change tools by just looking down and not having to hunt for th right tool


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## jlsmith5963 (Mar 26, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *installing the drawers*
> 
> When I last left off, I showed the dovetail slides, but they didn't have a good way yet of attaching to the drawers, and weren't in the drawer carcase yet. That reminds me. Here's the carcase installed:
> 
> ...


Gary

I am curious as to what consideration you gave to expansion and contraction of the wood in the slides. I see your somewhere in LA, here in the Midwest where the annual relative humidity swings from 40% to 90% anything built that tight (btw impressive craftsmanship) in February would lock up in the humidity of the summer.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *installing the drawers*
> 
> When I last left off, I showed the dovetail slides, but they didn't have a good way yet of attaching to the drawers, and weren't in the drawer carcase yet. That reminds me. Here's the carcase installed:
> 
> ...


Hey Gary
fine work on the slides and a super Blog. I kinda wonder how seasonal weather changes might effect the sliding of your wood slides.


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *installing the drawers*
> 
> When I last left off, I showed the dovetail slides, but they didn't have a good way yet of attaching to the drawers, and weren't in the drawer carcase yet. That reminds me. Here's the carcase installed:
> 
> ...


Thanks, everyone!

jlsmith and Jim - Good question about wood movement in the slides. It had been raining hard for most of a month by the time I built them, so I'm kind of wondering now if they'll get more loose in the dry summer months here. We'll just have to see what happens, and if they seize up, I'll definitely report it here on the site in a new blog entry.


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## pommy (Apr 17, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *installing the drawers*
> 
> When I last left off, I showed the dovetail slides, but they didn't have a good way yet of attaching to the drawers, and weren't in the drawer carcase yet. That reminds me. Here's the carcase installed:
> 
> ...


Gary i really really like this idea and if you dont mind i would like to use it for my lathe i have one question is there any thought behind why the frame is angled at the back and do you see any problem making the frame square

Andy


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *installing the drawers*
> 
> When I last left off, I showed the dovetail slides, but they didn't have a good way yet of attaching to the drawers, and weren't in the drawer carcase yet. That reminds me. Here's the carcase installed:
> 
> ...


Andy, I don't see a problem. I was just thinking angled legs like a saw horse, so the force is spread out at the bottom. It will take tipping a lot more to get the weight over the rear support legs if they're angled back a bit, similar to a chair. If it's sturdy and heavy enough, and wide enough at the bottom, though, it should stay put.


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## jlsmith5963 (Mar 26, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *installing the drawers*
> 
> When I last left off, I showed the dovetail slides, but they didn't have a good way yet of attaching to the drawers, and weren't in the drawer carcase yet. That reminds me. Here's the carcase installed:
> 
> ...


Gary 
Even though I lived in the bay area at one point in my life, I always seem to forget that winter is wet and summer is dry, so the tight fit in February is what you want.


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *installing the drawers*
> 
> When I last left off, I showed the dovetail slides, but they didn't have a good way yet of attaching to the drawers, and weren't in the drawer carcase yet. That reminds me. Here's the carcase installed:
> 
> ...


Great blog and project.


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## Rustic (Jul 21, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *installing the drawers*
> 
> When I last left off, I showed the dovetail slides, but they didn't have a good way yet of attaching to the drawers, and weren't in the drawer carcase yet. That reminds me. Here's the carcase installed:
> 
> ...


I love the sliding dovetail


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## scottb (Jul 21, 2006)

gfixler said:


> *installing the drawers*
> 
> When I last left off, I showed the dovetail slides, but they didn't have a good way yet of attaching to the drawers, and weren't in the drawer carcase yet. That reminds me. Here's the carcase installed:
> 
> ...


It just dawned on me that I need to get going on a new lathe stand. I found some plans before we moved that I liked, but have since changed my mind… This might just be the ticket. Looks like you've got the height right, how is the room at your feet? - oh and where is the project with those curls you were eluding to? 

Great series.


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *installing the drawers*
> 
> When I last left off, I showed the dovetail slides, but they didn't have a good way yet of attaching to the drawers, and weren't in the drawer carcase yet. That reminds me. Here's the carcase installed:
> 
> ...


scottb - I haven't yet gotten a chance to really put it through its paces, so I'm afraid to comment too much. It feels higher than when I had the lathe sitting on the saw table, though it's an inch or two lower. That could be because of the lack of foot room. Perhaps I'm leaning forward a bit? As I use it, hopefully soon, I'll be reporting on my experiences, good and/or bad. Thanks!


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## WoodyWoodWrecker (Jul 1, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *installing the drawers*
> 
> When I last left off, I showed the dovetail slides, but they didn't have a good way yet of attaching to the drawers, and weren't in the drawer carcase yet. That reminds me. Here's the carcase installed:
> 
> ...


Looking at your blogs and video's really makes my wish my shop was done. I'm going to try and finish it soon but I work quite a few weekends and haven't been able to get to it. I'm new to woodworking and hope to start getting some experience soon.

Scottb, I think the curls are from his drawer fronts.


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*dust hood mount solution*

This one's been in the works for awhile, and by that I mean I've pondered it in my head for a few minutes here and there over the last several months. I've had the general idea most of that time, but this week I pondered even harder than ever and imagined all of the pieces.

I just wanted something simple that could hold one of the two dust hoods I've ended up with from Rockler, but I wanted to be able to tilt it forward over the piece, or backward out of the way, and slide it left and right, as my lathe is longer than the hood. Note that this isn't for collecting the chips right off the turning. I'll just sweep those up later. My DC isn't that powerful. I just wanted something that would let me sand without filling my little 1-car garage in choking dust, especially the dreaded olive wood, to which I am pretty allergic. It's like delicious poison to me with its captivating fragrance.

I didn't take any pictures this time, but I will say this for the video makers out there - this is a lot of work! Just shooting little segments of each step, each about 10 seconds to 5 minutes in length - greatly slowed me down, amounted to more than 1.5 hours of footage in 11GB of space (my camera card is only 8GB - I rarely fill it), and took something like 5 hours to edit down the 91 clips into just over 200 cuts in the final film. Phwew.






I think I only didn't use material from about 2 or 3 source clips. I was pretty clear on what I wanted to show as I worked.


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## PetVet (Nov 7, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *dust hood mount solution*
> 
> This one's been in the works for awhile, and by that I mean I've pondered it in my head for a few minutes here and there over the last several months. I've had the general idea most of that time, but this week I pondered even harder than ever and imagined all of the pieces.
> 
> ...


Gary, I was mesmerized! The only thing you could have done better was to sing during the video…
Great project and great video!


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *dust hood mount solution*
> 
> This one's been in the works for awhile, and by that I mean I've pondered it in my head for a few minutes here and there over the last several months. I've had the general idea most of that time, but this week I pondered even harder than ever and imagined all of the pieces.
> 
> ...


Great tutorial, Gary, Thanks!

Don't mean to be a smart a** but, maybe your next project could be a zero clearance insert for your saw. It's real scary when pieces get wedged in that slot.

Lew


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## SPalm (Oct 9, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *dust hood mount solution*
> 
> This one's been in the works for awhile, and by that I mean I've pondered it in my head for a few minutes here and there over the last several months. I've had the general idea most of that time, but this week I pondered even harder than ever and imagined all of the pieces.
> 
> ...


That was absolutely captivating. I got a few chuckles for sure. I could just see you thinking. The goo gone was a classic.

Some day you will have a bandsaw. That will be nice.

Thanks for the entertainment and enjoy your mod,
Steve


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *dust hood mount solution*
> 
> This one's been in the works for awhile, and by that I mean I've pondered it in my head for a few minutes here and there over the last several months. I've had the general idea most of that time, but this week I pondered even harder than ever and imagined all of the pieces.
> 
> ...


Rich - I've actually caught myself singing and mumbling incoherently to myself in videos. It was a bit of a shock 

Lew - I totally agree. It's been on the to-do list for more than a year now.

Steve - I actually have a 7' tall 18" bandsaw! It was right next to me in a lot of the video, off-camera. Here's one of my posts that features pics and videos of it. That said, I don't have a zero clearance insert for it, and I only have thick, 1" wide blades meant more for resawing. They're scary and somewhat difficult to do detail work with. The part that made me laugh later was remembering that I have a nice little Craftsman jigsaw on the floor in front of the band saw. I could have done all the coping and pull saw work with it, though I haven't had it set up since I was in high school! I brought it back from my folks' house 2 Christmases ago, but haven't bothered to get it cleaned up and set up again in over a year now. Too many projects like that, sadly.


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## thenickedfinger (Feb 17, 2010)

gfixler said:


> *dust hood mount solution*
> 
> This one's been in the works for awhile, and by that I mean I've pondered it in my head for a few minutes here and there over the last several months. I've had the general idea most of that time, but this week I pondered even harder than ever and imagined all of the pieces.
> 
> ...


Very very nice for a first video edit. Very cool project as well.


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## unisaw2 (Feb 2, 2010)

gfixler said:


> *dust hood mount solution*
> 
> This one's been in the works for awhile, and by that I mean I've pondered it in my head for a few minutes here and there over the last several months. I've had the general idea most of that time, but this week I pondered even harder than ever and imagined all of the pieces.
> 
> ...


Good project. Thanks for taking the time to make the video. Fun to see someone else work, kind of like being there. Be prepared to see this idea stolen, and in you favorite woodworking catalog for $129.95


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## Hoakie (May 8, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *dust hood mount solution*
> 
> This one's been in the works for awhile, and by that I mean I've pondered it in my head for a few minutes here and there over the last several months. I've had the general idea most of that time, but this week I pondered even harder than ever and imagined all of the pieces.
> 
> ...


Great idea indeed. Was thinking about doing something but hadn't quite gotten to the point you did. You definitely raised the bar (pun intended) on this one.


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## mmh (Mar 17, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *dust hood mount solution*
> 
> This one's been in the works for awhile, and by that I mean I've pondered it in my head for a few minutes here and there over the last several months. I've had the general idea most of that time, but this week I pondered even harder than ever and imagined all of the pieces.
> 
> ...


That's quite an incredible adjustable dust hood! I'm impressed with your precision and details for a workshop tool. Nicely done video too.

So, where's the possum?


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## OutPutter (Jun 23, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *dust hood mount solution*
> 
> This one's been in the works for awhile, and by that I mean I've pondered it in my head for a few minutes here and there over the last several months. I've had the general idea most of that time, but this week I pondered even harder than ever and imagined all of the pieces.
> 
> ...


My compliments Gary. I enjoyed seeing the project come together because it was so opposite from how I work. I always plan each step and I know what the end is from the beginning. Watching the video without knowing the end was a nice way to look at things.

As a recent convert to blogging, I know how hard it is to post a blog with just pictures so you also get a big thank you for doing the video.










Best,


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *dust hood mount solution*
> 
> This one's been in the works for awhile, and by that I mean I've pondered it in my head for a few minutes here and there over the last several months. I've had the general idea most of that time, but this week I pondered even harder than ever and imagined all of the pieces.
> 
> ...


Kerry - it's actually nowhere near my first video, I say with long sigh. I went to school for computer animation and had a lot of video editing to be about there - way too much. In fact, our thesis was a 30-second animation, which back then took the entire year to pull off. Most of my video work these days is 1 or a few takes from my point and shoot, which I either upload directly, or chop together in a few minutes - the simpler, the better. This was my first heavy editing in a long while. I used Kino on Linux, which is a weird bit of software. I love that I can edit almost entirely with the keyboard, fingers on the home row, but it's extremely linear. You can't easily undo something you did 2 steps ago, though I learned a bit more this time about repairing flubbed edits.

JJ - that's actually happened to me several times now. I've had a lot of bizarre ideas over the years in a bunch of other areas - not woodworking so far - and many I've seen later developed by others and for sale. It's about 2 dozen things now, and often I've designed up or modeled out the idea, or even created a physical prototype years before the other person or group 

Hoakie - thanks!

mmh - no idea, though I did have a pigeon that really wanted to be in my lawn the other morning. It kept walking in wide circles around me, but not flying away. I went inside, shut the door, and quietly watched. It was eating something in the juniper needles in the back yard. Also, the neighbor's cat has visited a few times lately. She likes to sun on my garage roof, and then meow at me when I go outside, because she can't get down.

Jim - I'm usually a mix of the two. I'll design rather meticulously at the start, at least to a point where I feel the rest will come together on its own. I usually stop designing in frustration at some point, eager to just go build. For some things like this, though, I don't design out anything, but go by a blurry, half-formed 3D image in my head. I can never see a clear picture of all of it - like trying to see a hundred faces in a crowd at once - but as in my lousy metaphor (or simile , I can wander around and look at each piece, or parts of each piece, and see them clearly. This leads to a lot of staring in the hardware store as I imagine my way around to the different areas of the build, making sure I have each part I 'fly' over. I was a bit worried that the notched stick length, curvature, and notch placement wouldn't work out, but I did have a kind of step-by-step method I followed to sort of look ahead a few steps as I went. Oh, and thanks for the awesome sign smiley!


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## spanky46 (Feb 12, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *dust hood mount solution*
> 
> This one's been in the works for awhile, and by that I mean I've pondered it in my head for a few minutes here and there over the last several months. I've had the general idea most of that time, but this week I pondered even harder than ever and imagined all of the pieces.
> 
> ...


Very innovative Gary!


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *dust hood mount solution*
> 
> This one's been in the works for awhile, and by that I mean I've pondered it in my head for a few minutes here and there over the last several months. I've had the general idea most of that time, but this week I pondered even harder than ever and imagined all of the pieces.
> 
> ...


Great video Gary! I like your methodical approach and the great end result. I put it with my favorites for future reference. My dust hood is a metal shaded desk lamp with an adjustable arm. I cut out the back of the lampshade to create a funnel. It actually works pretty good, but the arm is a bit of a pain. I like your set up much better, but I have to see if I have room for something like that. Thanks for this very entertaining and well done video tutorial.


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## Cory (Jan 14, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *dust hood mount solution*
> 
> This one's been in the works for awhile, and by that I mean I've pondered it in my head for a few minutes here and there over the last several months. I've had the general idea most of that time, but this week I pondered even harder than ever and imagined all of the pieces.
> 
> ...


I don't do any turning, but if I did I'd be all over this! After watching your video I'm trying to find a place to use your ingenuity. The video was great and the craftsmanship superb.

My wife always asks me why it takes so long just to put a couple pieces of wood together…...next time I'm just going to forward her your video.


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## grub32 (Jan 20, 2010)

gfixler said:


> *dust hood mount solution*
> 
> This one's been in the works for awhile, and by that I mean I've pondered it in my head for a few minutes here and there over the last several months. I've had the general idea most of that time, but this week I pondered even harder than ever and imagined all of the pieces.
> 
> ...


That is a terrific idea!! Nice job and happy turning!!


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## bigfish_95008 (Nov 26, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *dust hood mount solution*
> 
> This one's been in the works for awhile, and by that I mean I've pondered it in my head for a few minutes here and there over the last several months. I've had the general idea most of that time, but this week I pondered even harder than ever and imagined all of the pieces.
> 
> ...


Nice attention to detail. I need to do something similar with the miter saw.
What area of LA, I am between LAX and LMU


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *dust hood mount solution*
> 
> This one's been in the works for awhile, and by that I mean I've pondered it in my head for a few minutes here and there over the last several months. I've had the general idea most of that time, but this week I pondered even harder than ever and imagined all of the pieces.
> 
> ...


Spanky - thank you!

Mike - I'm glad you liked it enough to favorite it. Thanks!

Cory - I think I'm going to watch it whenever I forget, because I always do and think I'll be able to knock out some project in an afternoon. Weeks later…

grub - thanks!

bigfish - I have an idea for the miter saw too, which has to be a little specialized for me simply because the table is right up against the wall. There's very little room to fit anything. I'm waiting until I get a better miter saw one day and redo the support tables, though.

Autumn - glad you liked it!

Brian - I can't say I've seen any. This was something I imagined up from scratch to fit the couple of requirements I had - like sliding the hood (which I had already and wanted to find a use for) left and right, and being able to tilt it forward and backward. I think if I had a lot of time and money I'd invent something wholly different, though. Thanks!


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## Porosky (Mar 10, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *dust hood mount solution*
> 
> This one's been in the works for awhile, and by that I mean I've pondered it in my head for a few minutes here and there over the last several months. I've had the general idea most of that time, but this week I pondered even harder than ever and imagined all of the pieces.
> 
> ...


I do not own a lathe yet I watched entire video. Hmmm….. interesting


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## REK (Aug 30, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *dust hood mount solution*
> 
> This one's been in the works for awhile, and by that I mean I've pondered it in my head for a few minutes here and there over the last several months. I've had the general idea most of that time, but this week I pondered even harder than ever and imagined all of the pieces.
> 
> ...


Great idea Gary, Liked the latch adjustment, that might work real well with a sanding enclosure too.


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## woodtimes (Jun 14, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *dust hood mount solution*
> 
> This one's been in the works for awhile, and by that I mean I've pondered it in my head for a few minutes here and there over the last several months. I've had the general idea most of that time, but this week I pondered even harder than ever and imagined all of the pieces.
> 
> ...


Today is the 2nd time I watched this and just love the step by step action as well as the ingenius idea in the 1st place. Very well done. Thanks for taking the time to do this project and film.


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## nx95240 (Mar 27, 2010)

gfixler said:


> *dust hood mount solution*
> 
> This one's been in the works for awhile, and by that I mean I've pondered it in my head for a few minutes here and there over the last several months. I've had the general idea most of that time, but this week I pondered even harder than ever and imagined all of the pieces.
> 
> ...


Great idea Gary first time i seen it and like it alot ..thanks


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