Hand tool cabinet in maple

[SawDustB]

5 minutes ago, Chet said:

The smell of lacquer really has a tendency to hang around, even with windows and doors open.

Yes, it was poor planning on my part. I could have had some shop time yesterday, but I couldn't take the fumes when I tried to go out there in the afternoon. It doesn't help that the weather was significantly below freezing yesterday, and the lacquer seemed like it wasn't drying in the cold.

[grok13]

13 hours ago, SawDustB said:

I'm trying a technique that's new to me, where you run a router with a pattern bit around the pins to clean up the baselines.

I'm using that technique on this project in addition to a pins first approach.   The tool cabinet is a skill builder for me to learn to cut dovetails.  Also, using the mitre jig to pare the corners is oddly satisfying.

[SawDustB]

1 hour ago, grok13 said:

I'm using that technique on this project in addition to a pins first approach.   The tool cabinet is a skill builder for me to learn to cut dovetails.  Also, using the mitre jig to pare the corners is oddly satisfying.

I'm sure the mitre joints would be fun, but I had enough trouble getting good results on normal through dovetails. With where I am, building this at all should be skill building.

I used the router to clean up the pins and it was amazing. So much easier and faster than chiseling everything, although I felt like I was cheating. The joints came together pretty well.

By the end of the evening, I had a dry assembled case. Next up is the lower support, which gets a mortise and tenon into the sides.

[grok13]

looking good!

[pkinneb]

Those are some nice looking dovetails!

[Chestnut]

11 hours ago, SawDustB said:

used the router to clean up the pins and it was amazing. So much easier and faster than chiseling everything, although I felt like I was cheating. The joints came together pretty well.

Do you have any more information on this method? Was it in the guild build and i just missed it somehow?

[SawDustB]

43 minutes ago, Chestnut said:

Do you have any more information on this method? Was it in the guild build and i just missed it somehow?

I saw someone post something about it elsewhere, can't remember where, but I searched for it and found this fine woodworking video on it. Even the preview picture will basically show you what to do.

https://www.finewoodworking.com/2014/05/30/simple-trick-for-cleaner-dovetail-joints

Basically the idea is you clamp a support board in behind so it is flush with the top of your pins to prevent the router from tipping. You need a short pattern bit, so the total height of cutters plus the bearing is less than the length of your pins. I used a bit with a 1/2" cutter length so that even with adding the 1/8" for the bearing it's less than the 3/4" of my stock and put it in my trim router. You simply route out between the pins, and the bearing will prevent it from cutting in any further than it should. It even cleans up any imperfections in the saw cuts. As long as you have the first 1/4" or so of the joint coming together before you do it, then the pins are almost perfect, aside from a tiny bit that needs to be chiseled in the back corners.

I'd take a picture for you, but my case is still assembled and I'm leaving it like that until I can mark out some of the other locations. Matt didn't cover this in the guild build - I'm pretty sure he did the standard chopping out for his. I wanted to try it out, since chiseling the baseline of the pins is the part of dovetailing I find to be find of tedious. I really enjoy the sawing, less so the chiseling.

[grok13]

I first saw the method here: (skip to 12:10)

https://youtu.be/RViaveKDd48

In the video, he has a Moxon vise with rabbeted jaws which allows the pattern bit to cut the entire bottom of the pin baseline.  This is unlike Bob Van Dyke's method in Fine woodworking where the jig prevents the router bit going thru to the other side and thus requiring a little bit of further hand chiseling.

I use these inserts in my Moxon vise to create the space for the router to cut all the way from front to back. 

I agree with @SawDustB, it feels like cheating but it's wicked fast and effective.

 

Edited March 12, 2019 by grok13
clarification and addition

[SawDustB]

I think I'm done being distracted for now with dust collection. I did get the drawer divider milled down to 5/8", but I can't make up my mind what piece to use for above the cubbies. I have a couple of piece with interesting defects, one of which will probably end up there.

I raided the plumbing aisle at Home Depot to connect my dust collector with the new dust deputy. I wanted to have hard pipe from the dust deputy to the collector, since it's a pretty ugly connection (unless I get into disassembling the dust collector and building a new cart, but that sounds like work, and would make it really tall). I was able to have the dust deputy ride on the same cart, although I suspect I'll add a better support to hold it. And yes, it's being held on with a bungee cord right now, but it actually is quite stable like this. Obviously I'm currently missing the hose, but I'm happy with the result. Plan B was to try bending the PVC if I didn't like how it turned out. I can't tell a difference in the airflow from right at the collector input, or going through this, so the difference is likely small enough that I don't care.

And the back view. I may end up adding a counterweight on the back corner to prevent it from being tippy with the dust deputy hanging off the front. The other option would be to shift the pillar with the motor back and drill a couple of new holes.

 

[pkinneb]

Well I have to say that is quite the connection!! In the end it works and that's all that matters  

[SawDustB]

1 minute ago, pkinneb said:

Well I have to say that is quite the connection!! In the end it works and that's all that matters  

I know . I think the longest piece of pipe there is about 6". I wanted to keep the whole thing pretty compact. I won't bother gluing until I'm a bit more sure that I'm keeping it that way.

[Chestnut]

Please tell me the dust in the bag was left over from before you installed the SDD?

It's taking all of my effort to not devise a better way to do this..... If it's not broken (yet) don't fix it .

Jokes i think it looks good. Looks like you made a good effort to make the bend sweeping I'd bet that is more efficient flow wise than flex hose and despite looking Frankensteinish.

[SawDustB]

12 minutes ago, Chestnut said:

Please tell me the dust in the bag was left over from before you installed the SDD?

It's taking all of my effort to not devise a better way to do this..... If it's not broken (yet) don't fix it .

Jokes i think it looks good. Looks like you made a good effort to make the bend sweeping I'd bet that is more efficient flow wise than flex hose and despite looking Frankensteinish.

Yes, I was too lazy to empty the bag until I'm sure that it's staying as is . That was from my planing yesterday. I could have easily made this much shorter, but I used a mix of 22.5 degree and 45 degree elbows, mostly the 22.5. I'm trying to keep it a gentle sweep. I could eliminate at least one of the smaller bends if I shortened my connecting pipes a bit, so I might do that. 

The optimal setup would be to raise the dust collector about 18", flip the blower 90 degrees so it went into the top of the cyclone, and stack them. I'm just not sure I want it that tall, and there's no good wall space to hang it, since I have a door, window, and electrical panel on the wall where I would ideally put it. This version took me about 20 minutes total, so I haven't got too much invested in it.

[Chestnut]

I was thinking the 90 degree thing but the blower connection doesn't look square so then you might have to make an adapter plate of sorts. That is your best end bet though. Shortening up the bag under the filter would allow you to use that space for something possibly as well.

[SawDustB]

1 hour ago, Chestnut said:

I was thinking the 90 degree thing but the blower connection doesn't look square so then you might have to make an adapter plate of sorts. That is your best end bet though. Shortening up the bag under the filter would allow you to use that space for something possibly as well.

It's close to square, but not quite. At the very least it would require drilling new holes and some sort of adaptation. I probably won't bother unless I find a way to go vertical with it. This contraption should be able to go beside my workbench if I clear some more junk out of the garage.

[Chet]

As far as the cart, what if you cut a piece of ply the same length as the cart but wide enough to support the dust deputy barrel more completely and then just bolt it to the cart.  you might only need it to be half inch thick ply.

[SawDustB]

17 minutes ago, Chet said:

As far as the cart, what if you cut a piece of ply the same length as the cart but wide enough to support the dust deputy barrel more completely and then just bolt it to the cart.  you might only need it to be half inch thick ply.

That should work, if it ends up being an issue. It's actually more secure on there than it might appear. My main concern is what happens when the barrel fills up, and if it becomes tippy. At worst, I can put something on the cart base as ballast.

[wtnhighlander]

FYI, its fairly simple to soften PVC (especially the thin wall drain pipe) with a heat gun and make your own sweeping bends. Just don't soften the ends, so they stay round at the connection point.

[Tpt life]

Fairly simple....ha!!! They make heat boxes to heat evenly around the diameter. Clean sweeps are super tricky without practice. It’s a narrow window between under and over heating. It can be done, I’ve done a fair bit. Mostly because of failed first attempts. 

[wtnhighlander]

One thing you can do to avoid having the pipe collapse if it is heated a bit too much is to pack it with sand before heating. 

I recommend doing this in a well-ventillated area. PVC can off-gas when heated, and the gas is combustable.

[SawDustB]

I'd heard about the sand trick as well, but it sounds messy. I figure I'm out an extra $30 in elbows doing it this way, which is worth it for the hassle. I've bent thin pipe, but never anything approaching 4". Probably the next biggest performance increase would be if I shorten the flex hose I use on the tools, but that would also limit my layout in the shop.

[Chestnut]

Are you searching for more performance? When i used a small collector like this i always thought it did quite well hooked up to just 1 tool at a time.

[Gary Beasley]

They do make large radius 90 degree connectors, always recommended when using pvc for dust collection. Some of them are not sewer pipe but non metallic electrical conduit made in a more sweeping curve so the wires can be pushed through, though the size of the radius may not match where you want the dust deputy to sit.

[SawDustB]

2 hours ago, Chestnut said:

Are you searching for more performance? When i used a small collector like this i always thought it did quite well hooked up to just 1 tool at a time.

Probably not, it's been fine. I just don't want to lose what performance I have. I don't tend to have an issue, except for when my planer was plugging up the grate going into the dust collector. That's mostly what inspired this whole exercise. The only other thing I'm likely going to do is run a strip of copper tape along the pipe to remove the static. I'm not worried about fires or explosions, but it gave me a pretty good zap after running it for a few minutes.

[Chestnut]

So much of what I've read indicates that running anything on PVC has little effect on minimizing this but maybe it will. I'd give it a try and report back i'm interested to see how this works in the real world.

Ducting is a all PVC and i never installed anything to direct the static and don't seem to ever get shocked by it. I also never get that close to the ducts.