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Currently Unthemed LuSiD-style cabinet
Xenor:
I have that very same craftsman table saw, probably just newer because mine isn't 20+ years old. Mine wasn't rusted as I put gun blue on the table surface the day I got it.
Make sure you put something like gun blue, or similar, on your new saw! That's a nice delta table saw you got there!
Bobulus:
Bah. I said I'd be slow working on this project, but then right after that, I ended up moving to an apartment closer to work, separating me from my tools. (Reducing a 48-minute commute to a 18 minute commute makes it worth it, but still)
Anyway, I'm still plugging away at this, but now my big tools are currently staying with a friend (can't exactly set up a table saw in my apartment, and there's no rentable garages to work in), so I can really only work when both he and I have a free weekend.
When I last posted, I'd been working on the control panel box...
Decided I didn't want the wires running back into the cabinet through a rough hole, so I picked up a plastic desk grommit and used a Forstner bit to cut an appropriately-sized hole. (Annoying bit: The pack said it was a 2 3/8" grommit, but that turned out to be the size of the desk-overlapping-bit, not the hole you put it in. The hole it fit in was more like 1 7/8". Glad I measured before I cut!)
Next I needed to but the CP-box sides, so I picked up a taper jig and went to town. Lots of measuring and double-checking on this step!
I plan to put pinball flipper buttons on the CP, so now seemed like a good time to cut the holes. Also seen: OCD pencil marking for screw-hole predrilling needs.
As you can see, it came together pretty well. Got the angle 99% right, and clamped a block of wood in front to make sure the front pieces lined up perfectly. I also started puttying the screw holes, but I'm terrible at puttying.
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Now, while I've been moving and packing/unpacking my stuff, unfortunately this wood as been sitting idle in a basement, and it developed a bit of a warp to it. Those two boards are being held together at the other end. :cry:
I know this is why everyone goes with MDF, but I made my bed and now I have to lie in it. So, it's boxes of heavy books to the rescue!
Bobulus:
It sat like this for like a couple weeks and most of the warp went out of it. The rest can be corrected when I start screwing pieces together.
Starting to cut the curved bit. Ended up using a coffee-can lid and a rubbermate container lid to get the curve the way I wanted it.
Here's the finished cut of the curve. I'm not so great with the circular saw...burned the wood a couple times. At least that bit will be covered by paint/trim.
Still, nothing so jagged that it can't be fixed with a belt sander!
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Decided that putting the wheels on would make it easier to plan how I was going to attach the sides, so did that step next.
Went with a 3" wheel, 120lbs max-load per wheel (that's additive, when the load's distributed, right?). Put them as close to the kickplates as possible minimize wobblyness.
Even though it'll be on the inside of the cabinet, I didn't want to banging my knees on bolt-heads if I was fiddling with the computer in the cabinet, so I countersunk the screws for the wheels. OCD, I know.
To minimize the number of screw holes I need to putty on the outside of the cabinet, I decided to attach the bottom to the sides with a 2x2 block of wood.
My plan is to glue-and-screw it to the cabinet side, and then only screw it into the cabinet bottom, so that if I have to, I can remove those screws and take the cabinet apart.
Between that, the monitor shelf brackets, and the cabinet back pieces, I think I'll have plenty of support to keep the cabinet togther!
Anyway, that's all I've had time for in the last couple months. Like I said, slow but steady. Hoping to get this thing done before 2011.
brock.sampson:
You may want to rethink that spinner placement. That is going to get smacked everytime you play golf, bowling, horse shoes etc. Mine is a little off center and it still get's smacked at least 50% of the time.
Bobulus:
It's worth considering, yeah. I thought I had it far enough that it wouldn't matter, but maybe closer to the P1 controls would be more comfortable anyway.