Weekly Blog - February 10th

john · Post by **john** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 8:16 pm

It's been a pretty busy and productive week in the shop, and it's about time. As posted last week, I am in the process of making a "veggie" bin and am progressing well without any major mishaps to-date. I hope it stays that way but I expect a few problems with the drawers.

The carcass was finished and I have attached a picture to show the four interior frames that I had mentioned. The plywood for the sides was warped and I had hoped it would straighten out when screwed to the frames, but it did not fully come into square. This may be a problem but I don't thik it is out enough to matter too much. There is also the piece of burnt wood that I forgot to turn to the back when attaching that frame. The other minor problem is that the top drawer space is about 1/4" shorter than required but I can adjust the drawer hight to accomodate this. Since the picture, I have attached a face frame to the carcass and installed all the various drawer stops and guides that are required.

I am now working on the drawers. Each side and back, has two 5/8" by 8 - 10inch slots to allow for air flow. I cut the 18 slots on the scroll saw and used the strip sander to sand the interiors of the slots. After viewing Nick's video on the sander I was worried that I did not have a spare platten to cut down so I did not use one. The results would have been better with a platten so I guess I will add that to my wish list. This type of use was one of my main reasons for buying the SS strip sander and I'm glad I did.

The drawer fronts are all face frame units and I decided once again to go with pocket hole screws. The plans call for biscuit or dowels on all frame joints, but one of the surfaces, at 1 1/4", was too small even for my #0 biscuits. At one point I contemplated using mortise and tenon joints since I like these but there are a total of thirty such joints and I am too impatient to go through that process.

The potential major problem is that the drawer fronts, backs, and bottoms are made from 1/2" baltic birch plywood and my supply has been in my basement quite long, and been through a couple of leaks. It was warped quite badly and again I had hoped that cutting it into small pieces would negate that effect. Well that didn't happen so now I hope that I will be able to bring it all together in the assembly process. Only time and patience will tell.

Hopefully the project will be ready for finishing or finished this time next week.

Have a fun and safe week!

John

a1gutterman · Post by **a1gutterman** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 10:33 pm

john wrote:........The drawer fronts are all face frame units and I decided once again to go with pocket hole screws. The plans call for biscuit or dowels on all frame joints, but one of the surfaces, at 1 1/4", was too small even for my #0 biscuits. At one point I contemplated using mortise and tenon joints since I like these but there are a total of thirty such joints and I am too impatient to go through that process........John

Exactly how I feel about it. This type of cabinet is perfect for pocket holes.

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 1:33 am

Very nice looking carcass, John! Now I see what you are working on. It is a big project and looking good! Best wishes on straightening up the warped plywood. Wow! seems like a big chore.

This week, it finally warmed up here. Had days with highs almost to 70 degrees. With our rainy days for a week - then a pause - then another rain - the shop humidity was up to 70%. This week has been sunny and dry - the resulting shop humidity is down to 45%.

The maple, I have been waiting to dry for about 3 weeks finally got down to 12 to 13%, so I could start to work on it. This required me to rip and re-saw two pieces and face glue 1/4" slabs to the 1" pieces. Had to make these play blocks 1 1/4" wide. After planing and gluing finally came up with 3 maple boards, 12" x 24" x 1 1/4". Then layed out the pattern blocks - did some band sawing and started pin routing. Just started the routing today and routed out 14 blocks. There are 15 left to do.

Today gave me two firsts. This is the first time doing pin routing and this is the first time working with hard maple. Will have to do some sanding when finished routing to smooth out the small marks that happened on the edges between depth settings. The maple is pretty much figured and there is also a little chip out, here and there, that will have to be sanded. Used two spiral bits. Had a brand new 3/8" spiral, with 1/2" shaft, that I wanted to try out. After a couple of blocks, switched to a 1/4" spiral. This maple is hard enough that I am noticing the bit is dulling fairly fast. May have to change back to the 3/8" bit.

When finished, I'll post a picture.

Randy · Post by **Randy** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 8:14 am

john wrote:The plans call for biscuit or dowels on all frame joints, but one of the surfaces, at 1 1/4", was too small even for my #0 biscuits. At one point I contemplated using mortise and tenon joints since I like these but there are a total of thirty such joints and I am too impatient to go through that process.

What about the "FF" biscuits from Porter Cable?

john · Post by **john** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 4:55 pm

Randy:

I'm not sure what "FF" biscuits are though I know there are mini biscuits that are smaller than those I have.

My biscuit cutting tool is actually an accessory to my Craftsman router and the cutter I have will can only go down to a #0. Needless to say, I don't do too much with this tool. Most of my joints are mortise and tenon, dowels, or pocket hole.

Chuck:

With humidity changes like that you must have some fun trying to keep wood on the "straight and narrow".

As for my plywood, I am trying something that may or may not work. I have stacked the side boards (6) and created sort of a press using my Bessey and other clamps and 3/4" flat plywood. I will try and be patient and wait at least a week before releasing them. Hopefully this will reduce some of the warp. There's plenty to keep me busy in the meantime but the project will be delayed.

John

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 5:56 pm

John, are the interior frames set in a dado or did you glue and screw the frames in place?

Looks like you have a good start to a really nice cabinet. I do so hope you have better luck with taking out the warp than I did. The materials for one of the Christmas gifts this year was warped. Didn't happen until I cut the sheet down. Then the side panels for my grand daughters "bookcase/toybox" took on a terrible warp.

I kept them under pressure (even reverse warped) for nearly a month. I ended up pulling the warp out during assembly. Didn't get it straight and I'm just waiting to hear that the glue joints are giving under the pressure.

Good Luck

john · Post by **john** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 8:16 pm

Dusty:

The side panels are screwed and glued to the four frames. I'm not sure I would have designed the frame work that way but that's probably why I am strictly a follow the plans kind of guy.

Interestingly it is one of the two places that screws are used. The other is to attach the back panel. Most joints call for biscuits or dowels and all other pieces are glued in place.

John

PTWFE · Post by **PTWFE** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 11:22 pm

FF = Face Frame biscuits.

What would it entail to retro the SS biscuit joiner with a 2" blade to permit the use of FF biscuits? Obviously the blade of course. But other than that it would seem a simple thing. New product idea?

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 9:31 pm

Here is a snapshot of the finished play blocks mentioned above;
The finish is mineral oil.
[ATTACH]897[/ATTACH]

nuhobby · Post by **nuhobby** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 8:17 am

Very Nice, Chuck!

Keep up the inspiring work...