Mystery project and tips along the way

reible · Post by **reible** » Sun May 31, 2009 11:34 pm

As I hoped I got some time to work on this project this afternoon. The next thing that needed to be done was to attach the t-track to the wood.

This is one of the more critical portions of the job. Being in a hurry the other night I attempted to just screw the screws in the existing holes in the t-track. The result was the wood was not even with the sides of the t-track due to the screws following the gain in the wood. While it wasn't off by much it was off by too much. There are ways of fixing this but I elected to flip the parts end to end and then make the new holes using the drill press to make sure they were in the right places and had a pilot hole too.

The set up was done so that I did not have to remove the plastic parts from the wood. It required me to set up a little different so lets start with a few pictures showing that. This is the same tall fence that can be used with the jointer and fits the 500/510/520.
[ATTACH]4744[/ATTACH]

Staying with the project idea of no measuring it was easy to use one of the existing holes in the t-track to set the location of the fence. Keep in mind that if I had tried to drill without adding a spacer the chuck would have hit the fence.
[ATTACH]4745[/ATTACH]

By spacing out the extra 3/4" there was room to do the drilling. You might also note that I flipped the t-track over so it was easier to use to adjust the location of the fence. I then clamped the pieces in place and drilled the first one, going one hole at a time and then removing and putting the screw in place, then on to the next hole until that part was finished. It takes longer that way but like I said it is very important the wood and t-track match.

I used the first one as a guide for the location on the holes (eye balling it). So again no measurements.
[ATTACH]4746[/ATTACH]

For the existing holes I used a vix bit, same thing that one uses for hinges to make sure that pilot hole was located right on the money. Here is a picture of the one I used:
[ATTACH]4747[/ATTACH]

I was very happy with the results this time. Goes to show if you rush you often need to do it a second time to get it right... I'm a slow learner that way.

Ed

reible · Post by **reible** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 12:16 am

I'm going to take a detour now. We are going to talk about guide bushing, router bits and brass bars and such things. This stuff will be nothing new to router users but a few people here might well learn a bit and that what this post is at least half about.

At this point I mounted a 1/4" router bit in a router that had a 3/4" guide bushing installed. I used this selection so it would be easy to follow. So let's give it a go, the guide bushing being 3/4" can be then seen as 1/4+1/4+1/4. If we start at the edge of the bushing and go 1/4" we will be at the edge of the router bit nearest that side of the bushing. If we go another 1/4" we will reach the other side of the router bit. And then when we go the last 1/4" we are at the opposite side of the guide bushing.

This is critical to understand so take a look at these pictures:
[ATTACH]4748[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4749[/ATTACH]

For the purpose of showing how this works I'll make up a project and we can work our way through it. The project is to cut a mounting place for my Beall tilt box. The general idea is shown here:
[ATTACH]4750[/ATTACH]

See next post.

reible · Post by **reible** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 12:31 am

Hi,

I'm now going to show a way of doing this and again no measurement. I am going to do something really wrong and I hope you catch it before I explain what it is. I'm not going to do that for a while so be watching!!!!!

Step one is to get some strips of wood together to make the template. I cut a small piece off to start the process. I then space the strip 1/2" from the box using a brass bar. The wood strips are being held down using double sided tape.
[ATTACH]4751[/ATTACH]

I now use a second strip of wood that I cut about as long as the first...
[ATTACH]4752[/ATTACH]

I cut some more strips and this is the result:
[ATTACH]4753[/ATTACH]

Because I guessed so badly the gaps are too large and I need to cut pieces more to the right size. And no this is not the major error I mentioned. If you have been reading and understanding you should be jumping up and down and wigging in your chair because the error is there in plain sight.
[ATTACH]4754[/ATTACH]

So WHO sees it???

Ed

reible · Post by **reible** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 12:45 am

Hi,

If you haven't found the problem yet this should help:
[ATTACH]4755[/ATTACH]

I'm going to do it again so keep reading and looking.

Now I want to show you a second way of making the template. In this case I will be using the pieces of wood shown on the left, on the right you can see the pieces that I used in the previous attempt.
[ATTACH]4756[/ATTACH]

Things start a lot like last time. ( I'm going to make a small error here so I can show you how easy it is to fix). Again the wood is spaced 1/2" away from the tilt box and stuck down with double sided tape.
[ATTACH]4757[/ATTACH]

This is where things get different. Note how the second piece of wood is positioned.
[ATTACH]4758[/ATTACH]

The third piece is added.
[ATTACH]4759[/ATTACH]

In this next picture you can see the small error I introduced, next post I'll show how easy that is to fix. (See orange wax pencil at corner.)

Big neon sign needed to point to the major error that I've got going on???

Ed

reible · Post by **reible** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 12:59 am

On my last post I left you with a corner that didn't fit. The fix is as simple as pulling that piece off and moving it over... no re-cutting, no new scraps and when your done just take the tape off and put those nice long scraps back for next time.
[ATTACH]4760[/ATTACH]

Check this photo:
[ATTACH]4761[/ATTACH]

See the major error yet???

Go back and look at post 22 again.
http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/showpos ... stcount=22

While you are working this out let's get back to the mystery. The last couple of posts should make it clear what I'm making. If not it will become clearer soon. Tomorrow I will try and put it together and maybe even post a picture. The project is far from done but I'm thinking at least a few people here will have the first part guessed soon. The second function I have a feeling very few will get until the very end.

Hope you can stay with the thread for a bit longer.

Ed

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 1:50 am

Still don't know what you are making, but referring to your re-drilling with the tall fence.
Wouldn't this operation been easier by horizontal drilling?

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 2:18 am

WHY are you routing a hole 1/4" larger than the indicator(all the way around)?:D Better use a 1/4" 'shim' between the strip outline and the router guide bushing.

reible · Post by **reible** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 2:58 am

Hi Chuck,

The tall fence has come up several times in the last few days so it was fresh in my mind.

When I went to set-up today I was planning on doing the operation in the horizontal position and then the idea came to me that I might be able to do this using the tall fence. I had never tried this method but figured I'd give it a go. I like to try new things, not that they always work out but it keeps me thinking. So now I have another trick up my sleeve and who knows if this might come in handy at a future time.

As far as set up time and effort it wasn't a big deal either way. I have a set of t-nuts mounted on the fence and so it just slides in and I tighten them and that is about it.

Of course for those who don't have the fence the horizontal drilling might be your only option. I guess I should have pointed that out but at least Chuck was kind enough to do so. Thanks Chuck!

Ed

charlese wrote:Still don't know what you are making, but referring to your re-drilling with the tall fence.
Wouldn't this operation been easier by horizontal drilling?

reible · Post by **reible** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 3:10 am

Hi,

I hope the rest of you spotted this as well!!! I've tried to present this information several ways before and it is hard to tell if people are understanding what is happen or not. This time I thought I would use a different approach and see if people were just reading or reading and understanding.

For those that didn't get it but now do here is another question for you. How should I have done the template?

JPG you get a gold star and are excused early for recess as it is clear you understand, did you spot it right away or did you have to go back to post 22?

If anyone doesn't get this after spend sometime trying to figure it out please ask and I or someone else will go into the details. It is really important to this project.

Ed

JPG40504 wrote:WHY are you routing a hole 1/4" larger than the indicator(all the way around)?:D Better use a 1/4" 'shim' between the strip outline and the router guide bushing.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 3:40 am

reible wrote:Hi,

I hope the rest of you spotted this as well!!! I've tried to present this information several ways before and it is hard to tell if people are understanding what is happen or not. This time I thought I would use a different approach and see if people were just reading or reading and understanding.

For those that didn't get it but now do here is another question for you. How should I have done the template?

JPG you get a gold star and are excused early for recess as it is clear you understand, did you spot it right away or did you have to go back to post 22?

If anyone doesn't get this after spend sometime trying to figure it out please ask and I or someone else will go into the details. It is really important to this project.

Ed

Was thinking that was the problem, but your making the layout error(4 sides with non-overlapping corners) and referral back to post 22 delayed my posting. I was having difficulty determining if you had what at first appeared to be a 1" guide bushing. That would have been an error also. After blowing up the pix, I determined it was a 3/4" guide bushing after all.