A New Project in the New Shop

[BrokenolMarine]

I know it's been a while, but we packed up and moved. I haven't had a place to work for a while, and I haven't had a project, other than working on things for the new farmhouse, or things for Miss Tina's Studio or actually working ON the new shop. Projects for the shop don't count as projects in my book. I finally have a new project. This one is for an elderly gentleman in the new neighborhood, (If you can call where we live that...) We met him when Tina spotted him loading an old dying cabinet on a trailer to haul away, and asked if he would sell it, he allowed that he would. We bought it and restored it for storage for her studio. He was so impressed, he stayed in touch, and often stopped by to chat and watch the progress of the Studio. (At 70+, he didn't have much else to do.)

Here is a peek at the restored cabinet HE was hauling to the dump. We replaced the back, removed and discarded the drawers and cabinet doors, and replaced the bottom 4" due to severe water damage. Tina painted it when I finished with my repairs. The front was framed for cabinets and drawers, I removed that and reframed it to accommodate the shelving. She was really happy with the modifications.

Sewing Room Storage.jpg (85.93 KiB) Viewed 3574 times

I am going to show this new project as a build along for those that might be interested. I will be doing the woodworking side, and Tina will contribute as well. Our old friend recently located his little league uniform from 1960, and wanted my input on a display for it so he can give it to his grandson for Christmas. His grandson is a rabid baseball fan, and he says he will get a thrill to have such a personal collectable to display in his office.

I told him I'd be glad to help him, bring me to the wood and glass I need and I'll knock it out for him. He dropped off the glass and a length of oak. I worked on a couple sketches for a few days and we settled on a layout he liked. I got started a couple days ago. Here is where we are so far and how we got there.....

The first thing I did was set up the chop saw and shop vac and cut the oak to length, adding an inch over for insurance. I was going to cut dados in both pieces and in case of tearout on the ends, you want to cover yourself.

01 chopsaw.jpg (203.12 KiB) Viewed 3574 times

Once the boards were cut to length, I used one for the layout, carefully working out the various measurements for the spacing of the dadoes.

02 cut to length.jpg (176.31 KiB) Viewed 3574 times

I would have a rabbit on the back of the board for the back panel, come in a bit for the mid panel where Miss T would quilt the padded background where the uniform shirt, pants, and socks would be displayed, and then off set from the front, would be the glass. I would use the Dado blade to cut the dados for the rabbit and the mid dado for the quarter inch luan back and mid panels, then the table saw 3/32" blade to cut the dado for the glass. I will cut these on both sides of the two boards I have cut to the 30 and 36 inch lengths, then rip them up the middle as it's safer to work with the wider boards.

I will make two passes for each pair of dados on each board, one pass at 1/4" depth and another at the final depth at 3/8 inch. That makes for a cleaner cut and it's easier to cut the dados in the harder woods this way. Oak counts as a harder wood. To set the depth for the pass I use the Kreg setup bars.

03 kreg setup bars.jpg (130.71 KiB) Viewed 3574 times

These are really helpful tools in the shop and useful three ways. You can measure the height of the router bit, saw blades etc, the depth of a cut, or the distance off a fence by the thickness of the bar.

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I got the table saw setup for passes by setting the depth and the fence distance, then placing a featherboard against the workpiece to insure it stays tight against the fence as I feed it into the blade.

05 setup for passes.jpg (129.92 KiB) Viewed 3574 times

Always safety first, as the table saw can hurt you. This push block has tabs that drop down to grab the back of the piece as you feed the oak across the dado blade. NO fingers or thumbs hanging behind the wood to touch the spinning blades.

06 safety first.jpg (102.78 KiB) Viewed 3574 times

After a number of passes across the two blades, all the cuts were made. They turned out as planned.

07 dados done.jpg (157.72 KiB) Viewed 3574 times

I measured VERY carefully, measured again. Then one last time and set the fence up and ripped them in half. HUGE sigh... I set them aside and cut the back and mid panels. Sweet.
I test fitted the panel to the dado, and it fit. Then it was a matter of marking the length and cutting the 45 degree angles. Whew! Wonders never cease.

I test fit the frame using band clamps. (Not Band Camp, that's another story...and a great movie.) A front view shows the mid panel in the shadow box.

08 front view.jpg (160.67 KiB) Viewed 3574 times

Rear view shows the rear panel in it's place.

09 back view.jpg (163.2 KiB) Viewed 3574 times

We are making progress, but there is still a lot to do. The mid panel goes to Tina to start on her quilted, and padded, insert. I will have some work with the planes to roll the front edges and then sanding and finishing the oak portions prior to assembly. The top of the frame will be removable so that changes can be made to the display at a later date if the owner so decides. Work Work Work (Blazing Saddles) I love it.

More to come.... if anyone wants to follow along to the finish.....

[MuddyWaters62]

I am loving that project. You are a great teacher! I am looking forward to see how you and Miss Tina bring this off.

Muddy Waters

[CT_Shooter]

More to come.... if anyone wants to follow along to the finish.....

I'm looking forward to it. Thanks for sharing it with us.

[BrokenolMarine]

Thanks guys. The best thing I was ever told was by an old woodworking mentor years ago. "It isn't a mistake until you can't fix it unless someone saw it happen. Until then it's an in progress modification of the plan."

He had a small sign tacked over one of his workbenches, that said, "In 95% of the cases, plans are just guidelines to a creative mind."

[BrokenolMarine]

The second best advice?
If you have to prep real wood for a project...
... ALWAYS prepare extra.

Saved my butt on more than one occasion.

[JEBar]

you may have a new shop with some new equipment but your commitment to old school quality still produces quality work .... nicely done and still doing

[BrokenolMarine]

Since yesterday was a long day in the shop, I rested today. Knees and back weren't up to shop work. I'll be back at it tomorrow. Disassembling the rough test fit and passing the mid panel to Miss T after I tap the top for the screw holes it will need for retention.

Then I can roll the inner edges with the molding plane and smooth the outside edges with the scraper and fine sandpaper. May even get to apply some finishes if the day goes well.

[Travlin]

Thanks for all of the clear photos of your good work. One suggestion, Looking at your tablesaw I see that you do not have a zero clearance insert around the blade. They are easy to make and make all operations on the saw a lot safer. I was in the carpentry trade for fifty years and both of my stationary saws have an insert that has a slot just the width of the blade kerf.

[BrokenolMarine]

I do have one for the standard blade, that wide clearance insert is for the dado blade. If I use a zero clearance with the volume of wood being removed, I have had it build up between the piece and the fence or under the work. In either case it ruins the pass. The buildup under lifts the work and the depth is off. Buildup between the workpiece and fence throws off the line and... You are starting over.

I learned this a long time ago, the hard way. It's wide enough for the stacked dado as well.

[GunnyGene]

I notice you're using a shop vac for dust collection. While better than nothing, have you considered a real dust collection system? I've had one in my shop that evacuates outside the shop for about 20 years. Set it up with a manifold and piping and gates running to all the major tools - TS, band saw, planner, bench sander, miter saw, etc. Makes a world of difference, and not that expensive to set up.