Shopsmith Forums

Thanks for the pictures - now I understand what you have in mind.

I am currently building the drawers. Each of the three cabinets will have four drawers. Two at 4.25" on top, a 6" in the middle, and a 10" on the bottom. The drawers are each about 14" deep except one of the 6" drawers will be extra deep to store lathe chisels.

While I am trying to do most of this project on my Mk V, my box joint jig will only work on my other table saw.

I built all of the smaller 4.25" drawers first. Tonight I started on the first of the three 10" drawers. Herein I found my error.

As best I can figure, I do not have quite enough of a tight fit on my spacing for each notch cut. It did not show itself on the smaller drawers other than a slightly tight fit. However, on the larger drawers, the error shows itself readily. Fortunately I only did one drawer, so I can fix this with only having to recut that one drawer. I will have to run a longer test cut to ensure I have corrected my error before moving on.

Box joints are simple and tedious; a recipe for errors and accidents. I am moving slowly on this part and if I have time in the evening, I only do one. At my slow and methodical pace, each drawer takes about 30-40 minutes to cut.

I already nearly ruined one of the smaller drawers. I was all set up to make a cut and realized I had positioned it wrong in the jig.

The last time I did box joints on plywood I had a good deal of blowout. To remedy that on this project, I am using scrap pieces behind each workpiece.

I am still stuck in “drawer purgatory” but I am now ready to install them. Prior to gluing them up, I decided to build Nick Engler’s gluing jig.

Here is a link to The Workshop Companion website:
https://workshopcompanionstore.com/

This is a fantastic gluing jig and provides a dead flat surface with a 90 degree corner and holes everywhere for getting a clamp anywhere it’s needed.

Also, to mitigate glue squeeze out I waxed the edges of each piece.

My plan was to remove the wax after the glueup by aggressively wiping it down with mineral spirits.

I knew that mineral spirits will dissolve the wax and then evaporate and wouldn’t otherwise harm the wood.

Here is where I learned something new. I also found it would remove any pencil lines and red crayon marks I had missed.

Took ‘em right off!

Am I the only one who didn’t know this?

The drawers are installed and I will be working next on drawer fronts. I got a good deal on some hickory, but I underestimated and will need to get a little bit more to have enough for the drawer fronts.

I'm happy with the way the drawers work. I put some double sided tape on a few scraps of wood to use as temporary drawer pulls.

tfrayne wrote: Sat May 18, 2024 3:43 pm I am still stuck in “drawer purgatory” but I am now ready to install them. Prior to gluing them up, I decided to build Nick Engler’s gluing jig.

Here is a link to The Workshop Companion website:
https://workshopcompanionstore.com/

This is a fantastic gluing jig and provides a dead flat surface with a 90 degree corner and holes everywhere for getting a clamp anywhere it’s needed.

Also, to mitigate glue squeeze out I waxed the edges of each piece.

My plan was to remove the wax after the glueup by aggressively wiping it down with mineral spirits.

I knew that mineral spirits will dissolve the wax and then evaporate and wouldn’t otherwise harm the wood.

Here is where I learned something new. I also found it would remove any pencil lines and red crayon marks I had missed.

Took ‘em right off!

Am I the only one who didn’t know this?

Now you know WHY it is referred to as a solvent.

Well, except for finishing, the cabinets and drawers are finished.

Since I had used baltic birch for the cabinet carcasses, I was looking for something that would go well with it. I found a good price on some "rustic hickory" which means it had knots that went all the way through the boards. But filling in the knot holes with black epoxy worked well and gives it an interesting look

I am fairly happy with the progress thus far.

For the trim, I needed a way to "clamp" the pieces in place while the glue dried. I used a forstner bit to drill 1/2' holes that were about 5/16" deep. I then glued and screwed the pieces into place. My plan was to remove the screws after the glue dried and finish drilling the holes all the way through and add walnut dowels.

I decided that there was too big a chance of messing that up because of the limited clearance, especially on the bottom pieces. But with the glue fully dried I figured I did not need to have the dowels go all the way through. I removed the screws and cleaned up each hole and used the walnut dowels merely as plugs. I've never used dowels in that manner. In my previous projects that used dowels, they were always for the purpose of joinery. This is the first time I've used them as plugs.

For the finish, I used oil based poly on the base and bottom support table. I will use that on the top table also. For the cabinets, I think I want to try Rubio Monocoat.

When the finish is dried and cured, I can lower the whole assembly to the ground and begin work on the top table and mounts for my SPT (bandsaw, jointer, belt sander, 18" Magna jigsaw)

It's looking very nice! Thanks for posting.

TOO nice fer a tool cabinet!

Its finally on the ground!

I have mounted the top table but still need some final sanding and finishing. I used the three SPT mounts I have on hand to mock up what it should look like. Nothing is tied down yet. But this is starting take the form of the vision I've had floating around in my head for quite awhile now.

I keep seeing less and less madness! Great ideas!