Davids for Tom

[publicIdaho]

I made a couple pieces 6 3/4" tall to hold and mark centers for the brace pieces.

[publicIdaho]

The brace sat on the spacer so it was easy to pin in place.

[publicIdaho]

Panel 6 was marked and cut off of the bad panels, so they needed the board extension too.

[publicIdaho]

Skipped 6 and went on.

I have to say that the pocket screws worked like a dream! They hit the old holes from the dry fit and put the panels right where they needed to be. They held the panels down tight, squeezing out the excess adhesive.

I finished to this point before gluing up the wood edges on panel 6, then went on to the other speaker. I got the second speaker glued up so fast that I decided to go out and get a bite to eat so that my glue on panel 6 parts had enough time to set up "good enough."

Good enough with wood glue is usually a little over an hour at this temperature.

Love those pocket screws.

[publicIdaho]

Here is a shot of a very handy tool no woodworker should be without.

[Tom Smit]

Skipped 6 and went on.

I have to say that the pocket screws worked like a dream! They hit the old holes from the dry fit and put the panels right where they needed to be. They held the panels down tight, squeezing out the excess adhesive.

I finished to this point before gluing up the wood edges on panel 6, then went on to the other speaker. I got the second speaker glued up so fast that I decided to go out and get a bite to eat so that my glue on panel 6 parts had enough time to set up "good enough."

Good enough with wood glue is usually a little over an hour at this temperature.

Love those pocket screws.

Are you using PL Premium? If yes, then good since it expands to fill any misses. Let the squeeze out alone on any panels not visible. On the ones that are visible, use a chisel after a couple/three hours, to clean up excess.

Nice progress, BTW.

[publicIdaho]

It is a cabinet scraper, and if you look carefully, it was made out of a cheep saw blade I found at the dollar store. I cut the saw blade into three pieces (it was not a very big saw) and used a grinder to take off the teeth. Be careful not to get the blade too hot when grinding off the teeth.

Almost ready to be a useful tool - put the blade in a vice and use a file carefully to flatten the edge of the blade. Then use something hard - I use an old pocket screw drill bit; they are hard as heck, but a phillips screw driver shank works too, and push down hard at a little angle and push the bit/shank down the edge of the blade. This puts a hook on the scraper.

After a little practice, you will be sharpening the scraper good enough that it will take nice shavings on hard wood.

You can use this tool to scrape out that nasty PL adhesive, or scrape down the overhang wood edge on the board extenders.

[publicIdaho]

Glued in panel 6 with no pocket screws. What a pain! The panel wanted to slip and slide all over the place, especially when a new clamp was put on, and this is an easy to reach panel!

One more time - look into pocket screws - they make putting these cabinets together a breeze.

So, it was a good afternoon - two cabinets well on their way.

[publicIdaho]

I used PL Premium to glue in the panels, wood glue to hold the wood edges on the plywood. Wood glue will be fine for these joints because all the edges were cut smooth on table saws with good blades - no voids to fill.

Want a good table saw blade? Try the Forrest Woodworker II blade. We swear by them.

Another tip on the PL Premium - when it gets all over your hands - and it will get all over your hands, grab a hand full of sawdust and rub your hands together. It won't take off the adhesive, but it will take the stick out of it. Anything that will take the PL off your hands should not go on your skin.

I really think that the chemicals that are used as solvents in stuff we use in the shop are bad for your nervous system. My dad lost all the feeling in his feet and we think it is related to all the paint and lacquer thinner, stain, stripper, etc. that he has used without gloves over he years.

I will really go off on safety when I start spraying. Volatile organics = brain damage. Find an old painter that still has all his marbles. Not likely if they don't use a respirator regularly.

[Radian]

Anything that will take the PL off your hands should not go on your skin.

Soaking the hands in warm water at the end of the day, then gently rubbing the hands and fingers together works very well at sloughing off that very thin layer of cured PL.

...of course, wearing nitrile gloves doesn't hurt either.

[But it Hertz]

Anything that will take the PL off your hands should not go on your skin.

Soaking the hands in warm water at the end of the day, then gently rubbing the hands and fingers together works very well at sloughing off that very thin layer of cured PL.

...of course, wearing nitrile gloves doesn't hurt either.

Surgical rubber gloves for the win. I get through about 5 pairs per panel... but things stay really clean!

BTW, at the beginning of this you mentioned rigid pipe clamps... where do you get the hardware, I mean clamp parts from please? Looks like a great idea!

[publicIdaho]

The nice Pony pipe clamps - they are orange - you can find at Home Depot or Lowes. You have to get the right sized pipe - they come in either 1/2" pipe size or 3/4" size. The 1/2" size are cheaper, pipe is cheaper and the clamps are cheaper, and they are lighter to work with. But the 3/4" clamps reach in a bit farther in. We run about 65% 3/4" clamps.

As for the pipes, we use our 24" pipes clamps 70% of the time - we use the shortest ones that reach first. If you are limited on how many clamps you are going to have, it might be handy to run 30" pipes with threaded ends. Put a coupler on the end to protect the threads, and have some other pipes around when you need a longer clamp. Take off the coupler, slide the end off, add the length of pipe needed with the coupler, and slide the clamp end on the extension pipe. This way you have the best of both worlds, short clamps that are easier to use that can still be made longer when needed.

I picked up some knock off pipe clamps at Harbor Freight tools. Definitely not as nice as the Pony brand clamps, but they were on sale for less than half than the Ponys run. So what would rather have, a few nice clamps, or enough clamps to actually do the job the right that are not quite as nice.

If you took a poll here and asked how many people wished they had a few more clamps on hand when they were building, it would be almost unanimous. A few more clamps is good. Even with our big supply of clamps, we run out from time to time. And we know, because we have a set of last resort clamps. We have to be desperate to use those suckers. Did have to use them today though, but because they are special.

[publicIdaho]

Not too much progress today.

Started with the fun stuff. Had to make the insert pieces for the access panels. Started wit the fun ones first. Measured the height exactly, left the length a little long to the angled section.

Used the edge sander to round over the corners. We have a combo disc sander / vertical belt sander that would be better to do this, but it is not normally plugged in and plugging in the sander would take longer than doing the whole thing on the edge sander.

I really like that edge sander. Use it all the time. If you have a table saw already and are looking for the next big item for your wood shop, think edge sander.

Checked the fit on the cut out.

[publicIdaho]

The rabbit cut on the insert is done on the router table.

Check the depth on a piece of scrap.

[publicIdaho]

We made this router table and it is one of the most important pieces of equipment in the shop. (Even more important than my beloved edge sander.)

Here is a very important tip on the router table - the chips that come off of the router bit need someplace to go. Check out the cut out on the back of the fence. When we made this discovery, most of the routing issues we were seeing disappeared.

Also note the piece we clamp on to the face of the fence. This was essential on the little skinny ends that would otherwise have a tendency to dig into the gap that develops when larger bits are used.