Got a few corner brackets made, so I can attach the top to this desk...Some will be simple, almost..
Tablesaw to thin 3/4" stock to 1/2" thick...mitered at the tablesaw...wasn't happy with the cuts...we have ways...
Swing this little saw around to 45 degrees...cuts fast, too...other brackets were a bit different
tenons fit into grooves in the stiles....plain ends get glued and a screw ( more on the metal ones in a bit)
But, right where the glued end goes, there is a pilot hole..
Means I install that screw, before the bracket goes on...
Now, about those metal brackets. I don't want screws to go into the raised panels...
Had to add a washer, to keep a screw from pulling right on through...Ok, decided to attach things into a desk..
And, after clearing the top of the tablesaw..
So I could finish the metal brackets install..
easier to reach, this way. Will leave this thing on the tablesaw, for now...needed to room around the bench, to do a glue-up of the top..
Have 5 planks sitting upstairs, chosen for "looks" and the fact they are the same thickness....just need to haul them all to the shop, crosscut to rough length, of about 48" or so....then joint the edges to make a decent glue joint. Sounds like fun? I'm sure cussing will be involved..
5 planks, selected because they are all the same thickness....and at least 50" long...
At least there was 50" between the bad stuff....
Got all 5 cut down to 49" long..
Some needed trimmed for width..
Some for wane, some for other issues.
Don't need this in a desk top...blue chalk line, to mark where a rip cut will go...
Then try to split the lines with the saw..
Then run the Jointer for a bit...
Got 3 out of 5 done...tried a dry fit...
Hmmm, needs a little more work...these are just sitting there, no glue, no clamps....need to find out which one needs a little more jointing...then work on the last two planks...
Average width was 5-1/2"....need a top 21-1/2 wide.....figure 2 @ 5" wide, and 3 @ 4" wide....then trim to final width?
Knee is still sore....need to get a few items moved out of the way, too....maybe tomorrow, IF I can get a decent day IN the shop....
07-12-2019, 02:37 PM (This post was last modified: 07-12-2019, 08:34 PM by bandit571.)
I'd have to measure both....biggest change is in the drawers...or lack of them.....as for the new one...
Dry fit for the top...before I glued the 5 planks into a single panel....top is 49" long...
Current desk is 44"long ,but the depth is the same at 22", height is the same, at 31" to the bottom of the desk's top. The extra 5" is to allow a "bank" of 5" deep drawers, 4 drawers. current desk has 4 narrow drawers, total....all 2" deep, or less. Not much storage for paperwork.
Current hutch has no place to sit the computer's tower, other that right on top of the very narrow top shelf....monitor has to sit in front of the hutch..plan is for it to sit back, into the hutch. Tower will have it's own space in the hutch. This way, I don't have to stand up, to insert a dvd, or the disc from the camera.
I have a 1 x 8 of Ash, for the top shelf of the hutch....rest is still in the design stage.
have added the corner blocks to the desk....the ones I'll attach the top to the case with....slotted holes have been drilled, too...
Maybe when the top comes out of the clamps, I can surface it flat? Best looking face goes up.
Top was glued up the other day....after doing straight-line rips,for a 22" wide top...
Once all the edges looked close enough....marked a big "V" across all of them...then glue and clamps
With lots of cawls....let this mess sit a day....
Went to remove the clamps yesterday..only creaks heard were from a couple cawls....hammer to remove the rest of the cawls...then back onto the base of the desk...worst side up, had dried glue to scrape off...hand plane? Ah..no..we have ways...
Stanley #70..was actually made for work like this....as in painted (or glued on) shipping labels from old wooden shipping crates....or, barcodes printed right on that board you just bought. Worked on the glue joints a bit..beltsander 80 grit, ROS 60 grit, and a Jumbo Jack plane...
Stanley #5-1/2....going across the grain, until the high spots match the low spots....used a #3c for the hard to reach spots...side was now flat, but..
Both ends were...wavy...had enough extra in length, I could trim the ends square, so...
Guide for the circular saw, to also get the ends square. less than an inch was taken of...still enough for a 1-1/2" overhang on the ends. Flip the panel over, rotate as needed...and work on the "show" side...
Cleaned the top of the tablesaw off, lowered the blade out of sight, flip the panel onto the saw, good side down...then flip the base onto the panel, and center it up...no overhang at the back of the desk. Whew...
And then a few screws and washers...
Corner brackets have slotted holes, to allow the top to expand or contract, as the seasons change...washers to keep the head of the screw from getting stuck in the bracket's wood...the 4 in the knee well were the easy ones...the 3 in the drawer unit?
Was a bit cramped, had one spot that kept snapping the heads off of screws, rigght before they were tight....used the threaded leftovers in the wood as threaded insert...and ran a third one in between them...
That "gap" in back? Is for air to escape, when you slam a drawer full of bills shut...
Speaking of which..I need to start building the drawers....
Stay tuned
07-15-2019, 03:47 PM (This post was last modified: 07-15-2019, 03:49 PM by bandit571.)
fast? Nah, just no messing around, just work....
Knee has been checked out, x-rayed...then got a shot with a LONG needle Uncle Arthur (Itis) has arrived in that knee....
Sunday...had help getting the desk off my tablesaw....needed the saw for drawer parts....
Cross cut and ripped...
6 drawer fronts: 3/4" x 4-7/8" x 14"....sorted the best 4...
other 2 had issues with knots...
May rip these down to 2" and miss the knots, drawers over the knee well.
4 Drawer backs...
Rough cut, for now, will fine tune for fit, later...
8 blanks for drawer sides: 3/4" x 4-7/8" x 18" Pine.
Set up the Stanley 45 to do some plough work..
Along with a jig to hold parts still, long enough to do the grooves....drawer fronts..
And 4 pairs of drawer sides....
Jig?
Then dug around for the dado cutter....
I don't have a dado cutter for the tablesaw, so...a #18-1/2 cutter for the Stanley 45 will just have to do, as soon as I can rotate the spurs for cross grain work. Also tried out the dovetail set ups....
needs a little fine tuning. No, I do not have a router dovetail jig...sold one years ago. next episode, there will be photos about how this was done.
07-16-2019, 05:35 PM (This post was last modified: 07-16-2019, 05:37 PM by bandit571.)
Dovetails for drawers, my way...
Used a router, but I don't have the router jig....so..layout..
One for the dovetails to stop at, one for the router's base to stop at....clamped in the vise so it will stay put,,
Router set up. Depth of cut is 1/2"....and remember, safety first...
beard may fill up with chips, but my eyes won't. MK1 Eyeball to guide the cuts...not always pretty..
We have ways.
Couple of chisels to clean things up. Then use these to lay out the next cuts, and cut those on the bandsaw..
Chisel to clean out the waste, then a test fit..
And, the more I did, the better they looked....took a while...got all 4 drawers' dovetails done...and stashed the parts until needed for the next cuts..
As I needed dados for the drawers' backs to sit in....was going to set up this contraption...
But between it's set up, and building a jig to hold the parts, and a cut saw cuts....was quicker to just cut dados on the tablesaw...despite the fact I do not have a dado blade for the saw...8 dados?
Not a problem. Done with 2 set ups of the saw's fence...
need to go and buy some 5mm plywood, for the drawer bottoms, next. Then some assembly can be done....That black handle? Testing to see if it is the right size, or not....looks a bit big?
Found enough plywood IN the shop, to build 2 of the drawers...
Details?
how the back is done. Bevel is to make sliding a drawer into it's opening a lot easier. Back is glued into a dado, 3 screws into countersunk holes to hold the back in place...3 screws to attach the bottom to the back, were done after the drawer was checked for square...
Once the clamps up front were on.
Drawer #2 had issues with it's front..cupped..we have ways..
Inside and the outside faces were done, both drawer fronts ( #1 and #2) were planed smooth, too..
Sargent #408....Drawer #2 is now sitting on my bench,
All glued and clamped up...Drawer #1 needed the center point of the front found, as the handles use one bolt, so
Straightedge, and a pencil, where the 2 diagonals cross, is the center...as for the handles?
needed to clean and paint these old steel handles....
Thinking these will go better with the desk, than those oversized black handles...
Rest of the plywood has been bought, a little more pine for the skinny drawers. May get this project done before August, afterall?
Stay tuned...
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