# Why no hobby time for me lately



## kustomkb (Jul 16, 2011)

I've been wanting to finish my Hoglet;

http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=1831.0

But most of my time has been spent with my 18 month old Son (lots of fun) and working on my 55+ year old house (not much fun)

I tore out some kitchen cabinets which were built from 2x4's and cedar planks and added counter top outlets and a dedicated circuit for the microwave. Our kitchen is small and we need maximum storage space. The ultimate goal of this exercise is to make room for a dishwasher, aka "The Relationship Saver", which we need desperately.

I thought I would share some of the machining aspects of the project.

So of course before we can build anything we need to design and build our jigs and fixtures.

I decided to go with 32mm frameless cabinets. Here are a few shots of the drill jig I made for locating and drilling the shelf pin holes and door hinge holes as well as holes for the drawer slides.







To cut the panels I needed a sled for the table saw. I started by machining teflon runners to have a sliding fit in the mitre gauge slots;






I put double sided tape on them, dropped the base on and installed the counter sunk screws;






Plastic laminate was used to cover the face and I made a fence with t-track to take a sliding stop;











After trying the "5 cut test" method, my piece measured 2 thou taper over 12 inches. Dividing by 5 would suggest I was out .0004" over 12 inches. So I immediately went out and bought a lottery ticket.

I went out and purchased some nice maple plywood and roughed out my panels. After cutting over a dozen pieces I took a closer look and I was out closer to a thirty second over 20 inches. Unacceptable! I know my luck is never that good and it took 3 more adjustments to finally get the fence square to within 2 thou over 15 inches. I think I can live with that.

Here is my set-up for adjusting the fence;






And the stop, which is keyed into the t-track to be square vertically;






And the blade guard which is to be installed once I am sure that I am happy with the squareness of it all;






This is a practice cabinet I made, to familiarize myself with joinery technique's, from 2x4's and pieces of scrap wood I had laying around;






Thanks for looking!


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## lazylathe (Jul 16, 2011)

Go Kevin!!!! ;D

This is the first time i have ever seen a table saw being set up with machinist tools!!!! ;D

Just a thought since you seem to be into it....
Have you trammed the blade??
LOL!!! 

My 1960's Atlas table saw is a beast but she sure does cut beautifully!!!
And is so much more quiet than the old Delta i used to own.

Have fun with the kitchen cabinets!!

SWMBO put in a request for to picture frames and i have just finished them off.
Maybe i can start back again with the metal....

Andrew


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## kcmillin (Jul 16, 2011)

Nice One Kevin! That has to be the Squares't Cabinet in the World.

Kel


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## mgbrv8 (Jul 16, 2011)

Every time I have my wood working friends over when I am doing wood working it drives them nutz. I guess its hard to suppress the machinist in me, its just plus or minus a 1/32" feels wrong. ;D

Dave


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## Troutsqueezer (Jul 16, 2011)

Nice work Kevin. I took the easy way out some years back and bought an Incra Jig (+/-.001") which serves as a table saw fence and router fence. The router is mounted in the table saw top off to one side. 

-Trout


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## kustomkb (Jul 17, 2011)

Thanks fellows!



> Have you trammed the blade??
> LOL!!!



Oh Yeah, the tenth's dial had to come out for that one! 

Kel, - I thought it might be a good chance to show off the army of squares I've collected over the years. 



> plus or minus a 1/32" just feels wrong.



I hear ya Dave, the wings of the saw are below flush .002 and it's bothering me to no end!

That's a serious piece of hardware you have there Trout! I've been drooling over those for a while. One day... I also want to build an extension and move the router to share the fence as well. 

Here is an auxilary fence I made. I copied the clamping mechanism from a Biessemeyer parts diagram. The clamping force is transmitted diagonally through the stock fence to help keep it square;










Have fun!!


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## kustomkb (Oct 31, 2011)

Here are a few shots of the cabinets going in;



















The inspector reviewing the interior finish, he said it looks okay;







Of course I had to make a drill jig for locating the handle holes;




















I pick up some "Flexible strip LED's" and must say how impressed I am with the light they put out. I got 10 feet of light strips, a 12V transformer, a switch and a bunch of wire for $50. They can be found cheaper on E-Bay, but I wanted to see them in person first. The guy at the small store front where I bought them said there are new ones coming out which are even brighter. They have an adhesive backing which I stuck to a strip of aluminum and screwed that to the cabinet. I'm getting all kinds of ideas for around the shop...







The "temporary" counter tops until the other two thirds of the kitchen is finished;













So now the drawers need to be made. I could slap something together, but I've come this far so...

A router table was needed to accommodate a heavy router.

I made a frame to fit snugly between the rails to the right of the saw's table and some laminated mdf to fit snugly into the frame;









This was laminated with plastic laminate and the cut-out for the insert was milled as well as slots to receive miter and t-track;








I also built a router fence which will clamp to the table saw's fence;
















And here is the extension wing getting installed with threaded inserts;
















And the finished set-up;








Sorry for the long, off topic post. I just wanted to show what I have been up to lately and try to keep myself from running off and joining some crazy wood working forum.

All in all, I figure it came out pretty good for a guy who's not even into wood working. I just wanted to save a little money and be able to say I built them myself. Also, I am not a big fan of formaldehyde soaked particle board going into my house.

So I am hoping these must have earned me a couple of points, certainly some shop, hobby time. ;D


I have noticed that the cast iron extension wings have drooped down in the middle about .020"

I read on line about a guy who said he had no problem bending them back. Do you guys think it is worth the risk? Or should I have them Blanchard ground? -It would be nice to have a large flat surface in the shop.

Thanks for looking!


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## woodnut (Oct 31, 2011)

Nice work Kevin.

I usually make my jigs out of scape wood then loose or miss place them. Going to have to make some nice metal ones. I like those large squares, wish I have a mill to make some.

Kitchen looks great, keep up the good work.

John


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## kcmillin (Oct 31, 2011)

Great job on the cabinets Kevin, the led's are a great touch. 

I can't say weather or not trying to bend it back is a good idea, but a ground flat table saw table sounds like a pretty awesome idea , 


Kel


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## steamer (Nov 1, 2011)

Looking good Kevin!....shame the masons don't align bricks that way isn't it....maybe they'll read this and learn!

 :bow: :bow: :bow:

A Karma from me.

Dave


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## kustomkb (Nov 2, 2011)

Thanks fellows!

John- I'm glad I made them. I know they are square and won't flex. They were made from scraps found at work.

Kel- It seems Blanchard grinding won't be too expensive and they can do the whole thing in one shot, if I do a little machining prep first.

Dave- yes, it's not the straightest thing I've ever seen. Let's say it adds "character"...ya right.
 Thanks for the point. Do you mind if I transfer it to the account I have open with the Mrs.?
 I was admiring the bank of drawers in your shop. I'd like to set up my shop in a similar fashion. Now that I know how.

So I think the moral of the story is, never hire a machinist to do a the work of a cabinetmaker.
The job will take ten times as long and be foolishly accurate.

Cheers!


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