About : furniture that stands out
Title : furniture that stands out
furniture that stands out
hi, on the woodpecekr today, i'm making a shelf for my x-carve. my x-carve has been on sawhorses since the day i assembled it. that was perfect for a trial period, but it's time to find it a new home. and on top of it, i need the place to install my lathe extension. lucky for me, this wall just screams: put it here, put it here. so i drew up a plan for a folding shelf, which can be screwed to that wall. i start by cutting two sheets of plywood of half an inch to size. the inside of the shelf will look a lot like this; several three inch strips to make a torsion box.
so i need to cut a bunch of three inch strips. then i can check their placement by using the computer, i plan to incorporate into the shelf, and glue both extremities. for the interior division, i make "l" shapes, so i can glue the strips to the top and bottom. everything is screwed from the inside so no screws will be visible from the outside. here you can see the first four strips drying. but it's just now that i notice that i cut all of them to the same size, when i need some small ones too. so i cut the ones, which need to be cut.
one thing for sure, plywood doesn't cut well with chisels. next i can glue the rest of the sides. i use staples where the plywood won't show. now i need to glue extra supports, but i should have glued one there too. but at least i added it to my plan... next i can glue and staple all the small divisions inside the box. this will give the shelf the necessary stiffness. this job is finished; now i need to install those slides here, but they're too long, so i make some modifications to make them fit.
when both sides are ok, i drill a bunch of holes for the power cord. i drill bigger holes in the section between the computer and the x-carve electronics. then i try to fish the computer wires through; but it's difficult. so i drill a bigger opening. knowing what i know now, i would have made even bigger holes. next i mark and drill the holes for the two front electrical boxes. it's easier to screw both pairs of slides without the top. now i can cut and fish the power cord. next i glue the top.
i begin by spreading glue on top of every exposed piece of plywood; then i lay the top in place. i'm able to use clamps only on one side; the rest is clamped with cauls. to make sure i have enough pressure in the middle, i even add a two by eight on top. this is my shelf, but i must admit the plywood’s edge looks like crap, so i will cap it with oak. but i don't have enough base moldings, so i'll use this to make thin strips. first thing to do is to cut it in two.
next i cut it in small planks. when i have four, i glue them two by two and leave them aside, so i can begin to work on the inside drawers. this is pretty simple; i cut some plywood scrap to the size of the drawer and screw it to the slides. and i'm done. this drawer will hide the computer, just like this. but i need something to glue the capping too, so i add a piece of wood. now i need to do the same thing on the other side, but with half inch plywood this time.
since i modified the slides, i need to drill new holes. then, it's mostly like i did for the other side. the glue of the thin planks is dry now, but i'm scared that passing them through the thickness planer will put too much pressure on the fresh glue, will put too much pressure on the fresh glue, so i sand them thinner instead. next i cut one side to forty five degrees. mark the placement for the power cord and drill the hole. but since the plug doesn't pass through this hole, i cut a slot with the scroll saw using my thinnest blade. now that i'm able to put this piece in place, i can mark its length and cut it. and finally glue it in place.
i use headless pins to hold it in place, while i put a couple of clamps. ok, this took a little more than a couple of clamps... the rest is just like for this one, but with less fuss. after gluing small moldings beside the drawers, i can glue their face on. now i only need to glue the front of the shelf. when the glue is dry, i flush trim the molding edges with a flush trim bit. if i can't do it with the router, i use hand planes. now i need to make the electrical boxes’ holes. after drilling a hole, i can rout away the boxes holes.
it's just here that i notice that the x-carve will be a bit too big; my shelf is not deep enough. so i find a piece of scrap and make a block, which i glue to the back of the shelf. when the glue is dry, i can sand it all. next, i bring it outside so i can clean it before spraying it. ok this small accident forces me to re-sand it a little. but after that, i can spray the first coat of finish. the next day i lightly sand the finish.and spray the second coat.
now i can begin the wall support.first of all, i need to prepare some wood. now i have all the wood that i need, but this piece has a big nasty loose nut. since i don't want it to fly to my face when i'll rip it, i stick some tape on the back and fill it with epoxy. i leave this alone for twenty four hours and then i can rip it to size. this is what the nut looks like after i cut it.this is way safer this way. now i can take care of all the mortises of the support. when both horizontal arms are in place, i can mark and cut the braces. then i can make their mortises and try a dry fit. i'm not done yet; i still have to make the mortises for the back rails.
and finally cut and mortise the small piece which will keep the shelf in the vertical position. then i can glue it all. i glue everything in one shot and leave it to dry on the workbench. while the glue dries, i can turn the vertical locking pin and the drawers’ handles. i can also reassemble the drawers and screw the newly handle i just turned. when the glue is dry, i sand everywhere. the sharp corners are sanded by hand. but it's at that moment that i realised that i forgot to cut the top of the support, so i do it right away. then i can complete the sanding.
i can now spray the support. after two coats, i can try the support on the shelf. it's perfect, so i install the electrical boxes. the center one has two switches, the left one is the power of the whole shelf, and the right one is to replace the x-carve control spindle switch. the other electrical box is for the spindle’s power. now i can push all the wires inside the central cavity and install the left shelf. but if i want to connect the new spindle control switch, i need to drill a hole into the power supply casing for the new wire. after passing the wires through the hole, i can solder them to the existing switch. now i can finally screw the support to the wall.
to move this shelf, i really need help. then i can screw the pivot screws. because of the tight space on the left side, screwing the screw is not that straight forward. the other side is a charm. now i can try it for the first time. not bad, not bad at all. i think this will be strong enough to support one x-carve. speaking of x-carve, we have to move it to its new location. to fix it in place, i drill some holes into the aluminum rails and screw it to the shelf.
this will be perfect... now i need to drill a hole, so i can access the wires inside the electronic compartment. this looks great with this mesh around the wires, now i just have to reconnect all of them. the power supply and the x-carce controller are held in place with strips of sticking velcro; this way if i need to remove them in the future, it will be easy. i use the same velcro for the computer. now i can try it; just to see if it still works. and yes it does.
and this is how everything will end up when i will not be using it. but nothing holds the shelf straight; so i drill a hole for the locking pin. i make a real cut test, just to see if everything works perfectly. a real success! now i can close and lift the shelf. i'm really happy the way the shelf turned out. i worked on this for over three weeks, but when i look at the result i'm satisfied. thank you and see you soon for another episode of the woodpecker.