mickyd's Woodworking Projects

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 9:51 am

Well Mike I hope you have a much better go at this than I did. Like I said earlier, I can do sliding dove tails BUT...by the time I got one done that I got one done that was tight enough to be accurate and still loose enough to slide I had far more scrap than you have wood to start with.

This exercise was good for me though because I gave a lot more thought to my setup than I ever have and I learned a lot (about myself and my router table and fence).

My stock fence is adjustable with an inherent accuracy of 1/32" which was not good enough for this project. Long dovetails that are accurate to 1/32" fit together well but they don't slide right. Exact makes a good fit while 1/32" looser is far too loose. Shims is the obvious answer but where to shim and what to shim with that happens to be in the shop?

shipwright · Post by **shipwright** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 12:17 pm

Just an observation but if we all put as much thought and effort into world peace or a economic recovery as we do with making a woodworker out of Mickyd, this could soon be a much better world.

Mike, you seem to be able to generate more thought and discussion here than anyone else, would you please start a thread on one or both of the above topics?:D

mbcabinetmaker · Post by **mbcabinetmaker** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 12:42 pm

Paul don't encourage him, he may try to start his own cult!:D

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 12:54 pm

shipwright wrote:Just an observation but if we all put as much thought and effort into world peace or a economic recovery as we do with making a woodworker out of Mickyd, this could soon be a much better world.

Mike, you seem to be able to generate more thought and discussion here than anyone else, would you please start a thread on one or both of the above topics?:D

Please do not. I come here to get away from those things.What I get here regarding China is all I need in world affairs!!

shipwright · Post by **shipwright** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 2:20 pm

Just kidding Dusty. Those subjects would require agreement!

reible · Post by **reible** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 3:06 pm

Just for the fun of it I dug out the issue with this project in it. Once seeing that I understand a great deal more about what is going on. This is really early 1990 stuff in how they did things back then. I can see several easy to make changes which would make this a much safer project.

The only slightly critical part is the sliding joint. They sort of depend on the thickness of the wood being 3/4" but that is not all that necessary. So long as the pass, flip pass is done without changing anything you end up with a centered groove, that is the critical portion of that operation.

The piece should be left whole (without the cut out shown on Mikes part) when doing the groove. After the groove is done then the material can be removed to shape the leg. As a side note I'd have made the part about an inch longer so you could get on and off away from the edge to do the full 1/4" round over they show. The trimming to size would be done when after that, insuring clean straight edges.

The adjustment to the width of the groove is done on the second piece. You will need to sneak up on this by taking off a bit from each edge until you get the fit you want. Remember to always do one side then do the other so that the tongue is also centered... and remember each pass removes twice the change, half on one side half on the other.

It is interesting that the second part is made oversized.... Not sure why that was not done for both parts??? I still would not feel comfortable with MY fingers that close to the bit... several way to fix this but I don't want to make this in to a big deal, it seems others don't worry so much about this so why should I....

For the slot I would like to see the fence marked or even better stop blocks in place on both the in and out feed side so you don't go to far for positive. I would personally do a drop on and lift off rather then the drill holes which you might or might not get centered on the piece. Remember to do several passes increasing the bit height each time until the slot is open.

As far as the hardware you can get a simple General 6" Stainless Steel rule cheap at a hardware store and yes they are magnetic... same thing for the magnet, cheap at the hardware store, I got a 10 pack a month or so ago for a project for less then shipping from most places.

If I get some spare time I might just make one to see how it turns out... I picked up a trashed piece of 1" thick walnut (so it has some green mold on it and some water damage) that would make a nice look gauge. I hate the smell but if I do it outside I can live with it.

Ed

osx-addict · Post by **osx-addict** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 3:43 pm

reible wrote:As far as the hardware you can get a simple General 6" Stainless Steel rule cheap at a hardware store and yes they are magnetic... same thing for the magnet, cheap at the hardware store, I got a 10 pack a month or so ago for a project for less then shipping from most places.

Funny you mentioned rulers.. My wife was using a steel tape measure (the retractable type) and when it wasn't available picked up a wooden ruler that the kids got from the SPCA a few years back.. She was wondering why her measurements were whacked.. In doing a quick check, it turned out that the SPCA ruler was off by ~1/16" compared to my other tape measures.. Anyway, just some food for thought!

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 3:56 pm

osx-addict wrote:Funny you mentioned rulers.. My wife was using a steel tape measure (the retractable type) and when it wasn't available picked up a wooden ruler that the kids got from the SPCA a few years back.. She was wondering why her measurements were whacked.. In doing a quick check, it turned out that the SPCA ruler was off by ~1/16" compared to my other tape measures.. Anyway, just some food for thought!

There's a rule (the verbal type) that says ALWAYS USE THE SAME MEASURING TAPE FOR ALL MEASUREMENTS OF A PROJECT.

This is also another great reason to use story sticks instead of rulers!!! Story sticks never lie!!

My personal rule --If you want a piece to fit, never use a ruler.

shipwright · Post by **shipwright** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 4:00 pm

charlese wrote:There's a rule (the verbal type) that says ALWAYS USE THE SAME MEASURING TAPE FOR ALL MEASUREMENTS OF A PROJECT.

This is also another great reason to use story sticks instead of rulers!!! Story sticks never lie!!

My personal rule --If you want a piece to fit, never use a ruler.

What He Said!!!

Paul M

mickyd · Post by **mickyd** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 4:28 pm

You guys really keep a good eye out for us rookies. MUCH appreciated. It's funny, sometimes I hesitate to even post what I think may be mundane, boring stuff, but it's those posts that really make me glad I did. Frankly, this project seemed to me to be so simple, I almost didn't even include it. Now I am glad I did.

I want to mention that I didn't work on the project last night like I planned because I still needed to chew some things over in my head regarding some of the posts made yesterday. I've mentioned the 'little guy' in my head before and he was BARKING at me when I got home last night after work. reible's comment about where to start the cut was an issue I thought about last night. It wasn't fully for safety reasons but more how I was going to prevent the bit from rounding the top surface if I didn't hit it just right.

Only got a few minutes to post so don't think I'm ignoring anyones comments. With the risk of chipout, part flying, and knowing nothing about a starting pin or if my under table router on my ERcan even do that, does this method make any sense?
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Also, jpg, what bugs you about the inside radius?