The Planer Cart - Woodworking Complete!

Well, the top was edge-wrapped with more of the wormy red oak and the hardware installed.

Here is the top in the clamps. I notched out the side pieces around the tube to allow access to the nut when the top is in the cart.





After the glue cured, I sanded the top down to 220 grit. I then installed the hardware as shown in the photo. The piece of 3/4" tube is being used to prevent the threaded rod from digging into the wood. I made it about 5/8" long so that it won't interfere with the tightening of the nuts to the side panels.

Now is the time to cut the notches in the side panels to accept the flip-top. This starts with 7/8" dia. hole centered in the side panel and down about 1".




I extend a couple of tangent lines from the hole and then cut the sides of the notch.






Oops! When I said the holes are to be centered, I meant they were to be centered in the side panels. I'm not exactly sure what I centered this hole on, but it clearly wasn't the side panel. So now we get to work on our repair skills.



This is what I came up with. It's a piece of the red oak I cut from scrap that closely matched the grain around the boo-boo. I roughly cut it out on the bandsaw and final shaped it on the spindle sander until it fit snugly.



A bit of glue and a clamp to align the faces and I ended-up with this. A little more sanding to blend and we'll pretend it never happened.





Now that the side-show is over, we can continue with the assembly of the cart. This is a picture of the cart with all the woodworking complete. I added the barrel-bolts to lock the table in place.




That completes the woodworking for the cart. I'll add a finish as soon as I can make up my mind what to use (danish oil...poly....danish oil...poly....). Once that is done, I'll add the planer. This will be attached with 3/8" dia x 3-1/2" long carriage bolts. I will probably go ahead and attach the planer for a trial run before I apply the finish, now that I think about it. When I get the planer attached and the finish applied, I'll post final pictures (along with the plans).

The Planer Cart - Top Glue-ups

I was able to find a big enough piece of 3/4" plywood in the shed to use for the middle layer. The outer layers will be 3/4" maple-veneered plywood I had left over from the shop table. I cut all of the pieces needed for the top to size. The middle layer will be two pieces that are cut slightly less than half of the length of the outer layers. When the ends are aligned, it leaves a channel in the middle of the top for the 3/4" dia. steel tube. I had to cut a shallow dado in the outer plys where the steel tube will be. This was necessary because the middle plys are actually 11/16" and tube is exactly 3/4" dia.

Here is the first of two glue-ups for the top. It consists of one outer ply and the two pieces for the middle ply. It's hard to see them in the explosion of clamps, but they're in there. The grey clamps and cauls are the real work-force here. The red clamps were used to align the sides of the middle and outer plys until I could get everything torqued down.


The glue set-up overnight and this is the result. You can now see the channel for the steel tube. The channel was sized to be slightly larger than the tube to allow for the epoxy.





This is how the tube fits into the channel. The tube sticks out about 5/16" on each side. The shallow dado cut in the outer plys was useful for positioning the tube perpendicular to the sides.





Here is the second glue-up. There were two parts to this. First, I applied epoxy to the channel and set the tube. Then I glued and set the other outer ply, added cauls and clamps to set-up overnight.




Here is the top, so far. I still need to wrap the edges with hardwood, but all the tough stuff has been done.





Once the top is edge-wrapped, I'll be ready to prepare the cart-part to accept the top. We're gaining on it now!

The Planer Cart - The Cart-Part

I was able to make pretty good progress this weekend. The basic cart is complete (save a few bits of sanding) and turned-out as expected, for the most part.

Here is the final cart-part. Everything has been glued and screwed including the addition of the side stiffeners. These were the last pieces I installed and I have to say, they add A LOT of rigidity to the cart. They were pocket-screwed to the bottom rail and glued to the side panels (using the rabbets I cut earlier).

So there it sits, looking like it needs a top. I have all of the hardware for the flip action but I need to get into the shed and dig out some plywood for the top. I didn't make it down there before dark so it'll have to the wait until tomorrow....stay tuned.

The Planer Cart - Main Assembly

I've made quite a bit of progress so far. The rain stopped, so I was able to get the plywood. I opted for a 2'x4' piece of oak veneered fibercore mainly because that was just about all the home center had that would match fairly well and I didn't need a full sheet. I also purchased the casters while I was there, so I should have everything I need to complete the cart.

I made pretty good use of the 2'x4' plywood. I needed two pieces that were 20"x21-1/2" so there wasn't much drop. After I cut the pieces, I made a rabbet all around so the 1/2" plywood would fit into the grooves I made in the rails and stiles. Once this was done, I sanded the plywood to 220 grit and then assembled the side panels.

Here are the side panels cooking in the clamps. I'll let these sit for awhile to give the glue plenty of time to cure since I'll be running them through the machines later.




Once the glue had set up enough, I removed the side panels from the clamps and cut a 1/4" deep rabbet on the bottom to accept the bottom shelf. I also cut a rabbet in the bottom of the bottom rails for the bottom shelf. After resetting the fence, I then cut a 1/4" deep rabbet along each inside edge of the side panels for the bottom rails and a stiffener (which I'll be adding later).

Here's a the main assembly in it's dry-fit stage. This gives you a pretty good sense of what I'm going for. The side panels will be connected at the top with a 5/8" dia. threaded rod, which is part of the flip-top assembly. We'll talk more about that later.



Next, I'll tear down the dry-fit and do some sanding. I also want to round-over the outside edges of all the pieces. Not much, just enough to knock the scary off of them. Once that's done, I'll glue-up the main assembly.

The Planer Cart - Getting Started

I know it's been a few weeks since my last post. This was mainly due to massive research and development of the planer cart. I had an idea of what I was going to build, then I started looking on the web and getting better ideas. This led to looking at magazine articles which led back to the web. Several trips to the home center to find the right materials and a few drawings later, I finally decided how I was going to build this thing....for the most part. At any rate, I did get started on the construction. Here's what I've done so far


To start with, this is the planer I will be housing. Several factors contributed to the design of the cart including (but not limited to) the physical size of the planer (large) and the weight (97 lbs.). The planer will also need to 'flip' upside-down to be stored inside the cart and then the whole thing needs to tuck nicely away under the over-hang I built into the shop table. It sounds like alot, but I think I covered all of it. At least I hope I did.

This is the stock I chose. It's quarter-sawn red oak I've had in the shop for about a year now. This particular stock is very wormy. That is to say, it has a lot of worm holes in it. This picture shows the rough cut pieces, however, it doesn't really reflect the worminess so much. Trust me. They're there.


Here's a shot of the prepped pieces. They've been thickness planed and ripped to width. The worminess is starting to show.





I cut all of the pieces to length and am now set up to cut the groove for my panel pieces. I thought I'd mix things up a bit this time and make the groove with my router. I have a tongue-and-groove bit and thought I'd show the steps for using that to make the panels. In this picture, the top cutter has been removed and the height set to cut the groove as close to the center as I can get. I then run the piece through, flip it over (end-for-end) and run it through again. This will center the groove.

When I was done grooving, this is what I got. The bit did an excellent job making the grooves - flat bottoms with consistant widths and depths.





This is the setup for cutting the tongues (or tenons) in the ends of the pieces to fit into the grooves. I recently made a coping sled for just this purpose. You can see in the picture that I've added the other cutter to the bit. This is now all set to cut.



Many things went wrong. First, the obvious whiskers that popped up. These aren't the normal whiskers that can be knocked off with a bit of sanding, these were more like a full-grown beard. I believe this was due to the fact that the bit was really designed to be used on long-grain tongue-and-groove joints (hence the name) and not the end-grain, as I tried here. Secondly, the tenon came out too narrow for the groove I cut. This occured because of the way I cut the groove (flipping the piece over and running again to center) which came out wider than the bit was designed for. So, the tenons will be cut on the table saw just like I did for the shop table (click here see).

So, after all of that, I now have the frames for the panels that will make-up the sides of the planer cart. Right now, they look kind of hollow in the middle. It's been raining the past few days and I haven't had a chance to get the 1/2" plywood that will fill the gap.


Well, we're off to a good start. Hopefully I can finish this cart soon. As with the shop table, I will post plans for the planer cart as soon as I can.

The Shop Table - Final Touches

The edging is made using 3/4"x1" solid wood. They have been cut to length and mitered using the plywood/hardboard to get the actual dimensions. The idea for the edging is to cover the edges of the plywood and to provide a way to contain the hardboard.

Here are the edging pieces installed. They were set by using a small-ish piece of 1/4" hardboard to align the top of the edging with the top of the hardboard and glued and pin nailed to the plywood edge. I didn't use the final piece of hardboard because I don't want the glue squeeze-out to permanently attach the hardboard. Once the glue had a chance to set-up, I then installed the hardboard.

For right now, the hardboard will just sit on top. I want to stain and poly the edging, so for now, it will float.





I had to do a little bit of trimming around the edges of the hardboard to get a nice, snug fit.







And here it is. Done. I'm still deciding whether or not to poly the hardboard.






One more shot annnnnnnd...we're done. All that's left to do is load it up. I enjoyed building this project and it'll be a welcome addition to the shop.





I had mentioned in a previous post that I'd provide plans for The Shop Table. I've had these all along, but they really weren't ready for final distribution until now. I've made a few changes that I ran into as I was building and modified the cutting diagram to use standard boards (I originally made the diagrams based on the rough cut wood I already had). I also found a way to get the drawings I made into PDF format.

You are welcome to download, use and distribute these as long as you don't modify them in any way or sell them. I might also add that I made every attempt to ensure the accuracy and completeness of these drawings, however, they are being made available as-is without warranty or guarantee. And always remember to work safely.

The Shop Table Plans - (336kb PDF)

The Shop Table - Cutting The Top

It's been a few days since my last post. The finishing always seems to take a while and I just completed it. The cabinet work is done and I've even installed those fuzzy brown bumpers on the doors to keep them from slamming. After cleaning-up the shop a bit, it's time to get started on the top.

The top starts with a sheet of 3/4" plywood. It's sitting on 'sleeper supports' to elevate it above the workbench and prevent me from cutting into the workbench top. I use a long straight edge designed for cutting large material. After aligning it with my marks, I clamp it to the plywood at each end. The straight edge is actually two pieces of extruded aluminum connected end-to-end with an aluminum plate. This makes it easier to store when not in use, however, this connection and the length of the straight edge causes it to flex a little in the center. To overcome this flexing, I simply place a stiffener (just a piece of scrap) tight to the straight edge near the center and clamp it to the plywood.

Next, I set the depth of cut on my saw slightly deeper than the thickness of the material. This makes it easier to push the saw through the plywood and the sleeper supports plus helps to ensure I will not cut the bench top. Once this is all set up, I make the cut and put the drop piece in the 'future project' pile.


Once the plywood is ripped to width, I can now cross-cut it to length. For this cut, I'm using another handy device called a panel clamp. It's also an extruded aluminum straight edge, but this one has it own clamp. Simply place the fixed clamp pad against the edge of the material, line-up the edge with your marks, move the adjustable clamp pad against the other side of the material and lock the clamp. Once again, I make the cut and add the drop to 'the pile'.

There's a couple of things worth noting about the two cuts I've just made. First, both straight edges are clamped to the piece I want to keep. This is because, as you come to the end of the cut, the pieces have a tendency to move a bit since there's very little material holding them together. When the guide is on the piece you want to keep and you keep the saw tight to the guide, you'll get a consistent cut instead of a fish-tail at the end. The second thing concerns cross-cutting. Since you cut parallel to the sleeper supports, you run the risk of the material falling (to the bench top) or sagging as you get further into the cut. To overcome this, use four sleeper supports and place two on either side near where you're cutting, but not directly under the cut. The other two go on each end of the material. This gives you two supports under, what will be, each piece and keeps the pieces from falling which promotes a cleaner cut. I also helps prevent kick-back, so I suppose it's also for safety.

After cutting the plywood, I cut a piece of 1/4" hardboard in the same fashion so that it's about 1/2" larger than the plywood in both directions. I then position the hardboard on the plywood so that it overhangs a bit on all four sides and clamp it to the plywood. The whole thing is then clamped to the bench.

I install a flush-trim bit in my router and set the depth so that the bearing will ride along the edge of the plywood and the cutter will cut the hardboard. Running the router around the edges makes the hardboard exactly the same size and shape as the plywood. This is known as pattern routing and is very effective. It is also very dusty. You have to keep moving the clamps around as you trim each edge. One clamp on the three edges that are not being trimmed is sufficient.


Here's a picture of the in-progress top sitting on the finished (but somewhat dusty) cabinet. You can see how the top will overhang the cabinet on the far end. This is to allow for the planer cart which is somewhere in the 'future project' pile.



Here's a different angle to show the overhang a little bit better.






Next, the top will receive a 3/4" wood wrap all around. This will be used to cover the plywood edges and to contain the hardboard. The big-picture plan is for the hardboard to not be permanently attached and be replaceable in case of damage (or excessive glue bumps). That's enough for tonight, I'll tackle the edging tomorrow.

The Shop Table - Beginning the Finish

Finishing a project has never been my favorite thing to do. Anticipation of seeing the final result makes for a bit of excitement while I'm preparing the shop for this brilliant transformation. Of course, this fades within the first 5 minutes.
I chose a medium-dark stain for the cabinet called 'Gunstock' (aka 'Mission Oak'). I say chose, but actually, I bought this awhile ago for another project and had a pretty good idea of how it was going to look.

Here's a few pictures of the stained pieces. I basically flood on a coat of stain, let it sit for a few minutes then wipe off the excess, blending as much as possible. This helps with getting an even coverage.



The pictures don't accurately show the color, but it gives you some idea. As you can see, I've already put the shop table to work. It's the perfect size to store the doors while they dry.




Here's a shot of a drawer front...again with the color. I think I need some better lighting in the shop for pictures.





And another drawer.








I'm pleased with the color. The next step will be to apply a couple coats of a wipe-on poly.
A quick update on the top. We had a nice day (no rain) yesterday, so I got the material. As soon as the finish is, well, finished, I'll get started on that.

The Shop Table - Installing Drawer Fronts

Now that the doors have been installed, we can locate and install the drawer fronts. I've tweaked the doors a bit using the adjustment screws on the hinges. I have to the say, I really like the European hinges. Installation and adjustments are a snap and they're even self-closing! These things have it all. On to the drawer fronts.

To start, I've cut a piece of 1/4" hardboard to act as a spacer behind the drawer front. This will be sandwiched between the 1/4" plywood of the drawer front and the front of the drawer box and is attached with double-sided tape. While I have the tape out, I cut a couple of small pieces and stick them to the drawer box. This will temporarily hold the drawer front until I can get the clamps on. Using a 1/2" MDF spacer placed on top of the door, I position the drawer front, aligning it with the edge of the door. Press the drawer front so that it bonds to the drawer box and then carefully open the drawer just enough to get the clamps on.

Remove the drawer from the cabinet and stand it up on the corner of the workbench. I pre-drilled and installed four 1-1/4" screws through the drawer box front into the drawer front - two on top and two on the bottom. Remove the clamps, put the drawer back in the cabinet and then move on to the next one. As far as the order of drawer front installation, I normally start on the outside and work my way in. Since I only have three drawers, once I did the outside drawer fronts, the middle drawer front was centered between those.

And when all of that was done, I ended up with this. Now that we have operating drawers and doors, let's make them easier to open.






The drawer/door pulls are pretty straight forward. I only had a couple of quirks to work out. First, the screws provided with the pulls are too short for the drawers, which is a typical problem if you use applied drawer fronts. Secondly, the pulls I bought (which kind-of match the workbench) aren't tall enough to get a grip on when placed directly on the drawer front panel. So, I used a 1/4" thick maple shim and a #12 x 2" long screw. Problems solved. I stick a piece of masking tape about where the pull will be and then mark all of the drawer fronts. I then drill a 1/4" dia. hole through the drawer front and the drawer box. Install the screw from inside the drawer, place the shim and screw on the pull. As I was holding the pull and driving the screw, the shim spun around a bit until everything was tight. It stopped on a diamond shape, which I thought looked pleasing. So I turned the others to match. Makes a nice accent.

Well, here it is. Except for some sanding and the top, there's no more woodworking to do. It's been rainy the past few days and I haven't been able to get the material for the top, so maybe I'll start finishing the cabinet. I plan on a coat of stain (something medium to dark in color) and a couple coats of wipe-on poly. You can look forward to those pictures soon. I probably won't have alot of dialog with them since it's mostly just 'wipe on, wipe off'.

The Shop Table - Installing The Doors

Well, the doors and drawer fronts are out of the clamps and ready for action. This round will be all about installing the doors (we'll get to drawer fronts soon). This is my first time installing European style door hinges, so this should be interesting for both of us. I have, however, installed 'regular' hinges many times. I'm guessing the process is similar.

Before I get too far along, I want to treat the edges of the doors and drawer fronts. This will be a simple round-over made on the router table. I want to ease all four edges of the 'outside' (the face that you see when the cabinet is all closed up). It's an easy setup and operation, but it adds a lot to the look of the panels.



Here's the installation of the doors. I won't go through all of the measuring, math, head-scratching, math and measuring I went through to obtain the locations of the hinges and holes, let's just pretend they magically appeared. I use these numbers to first locate the top hinges on the face frame, then mark and drill 1-3/8" dia. cup holes in the back of the door panel for both the top and bottom hinges. I then attach the hinges to the door, making sure they are perpendicular to the edge of the door. Next, take the door to the cabinet opening and install the screws for the top hinge. Lastly, pre-drill holes and install the screws for the bottom hinge, which was just attached to the door only moments ago.

And there you have it...perfectly aligned door hinges without a jig and very little monkey business.






Here's the cabinet with its new digs. It takes me awhile to get over the change that having the doors installed makes. I have to confess, I stood there for about 15 minutes just staring at it. I'll install the drawer fronts next, if I can tear myself away.