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2 Random tips before starting your project
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DougHillman:

--- Quote from: grumble on August 13, 2004, 06:09:34 pm ---So I'm curious.. Where did those of you who consider yourselves to be competent woodworkers learn your stuff? Was it just trial and error, a teacher? a class? books? tv? what. Are there any good resources beginners could use to learn more?

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Do they still teach shop class in Jr. High?  Mine was 20 something years ago.  :)  Didn't take anything in High School (I was working with computers only then.  Woulda taken the shop classes if I'd known I was gonna end up with a hobby that combined the two. :)  )  

I'm of the "read a whole lot about it, and then jump right in" school.  I picked up some woodworking books from the library (mostly tool how-to type books), woodworking magazines, and watched the woodworking shows on PBS.   I then went to work on the project I was wanting to do.  (A jewelery box for my then girlfriend.)   I screwed things up a coupla times and had to redo stuff, but it was the best way to learn.  

As you go, you're going to learn what works & what doesn't.  What tools are really useful (ROUTER!) and what aren't as imperative (table saw) to an amatuer woodworker.  

Building a cabinet is actually a pretty decent choice for a first project.  In general, it's not overly complicated and doesn't need to be 100% perfect to the smallest detail.   The best suggestion is to take your time, plan things out ahead of time, take some more time, think about things, and not sweat it too much if you screw up.  Nearly every mistake you could make can be rectified somehow.  

And ask lots of questions.  You probably know some people who are decent woodworkers.  And there's a whole forum full of them here. :)

 
shmokes:

--- Quote from: Peale on August 13, 2004, 10:30:41 am ---Dang, shmokes, what size bit are you using?  I've always used a 1 1/8" saw, and it's nice and snug.

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I'll ltry to remember to look at the size of the bit next time I'm at work (I've got a garage at my work where I'm building my cabinet.  Shhh....nobody there knows -- I clean up after myself very well).  After I drilled the holes and mounted some buttons I wondered if I was drilling too big, but my bit matches the visio stencils EXACTLY.  It's fine on the joysticks, of course, cos of the dust washers, but the lip on my buttons barely covers a perfectly drilled hole.  If it were any worse I'd redo it.  If I did it again, I'd use a smaller bit.
Chris:

--- Quote from: shmokes on August 13, 2004, 10:27:42 am ---You know...I always thought the button holes were supposed to be the same size as the joystick holes, and the Visio templates support that claim.  But now that I've drilled my panel I realize that I should have used a smaller bit for my button holes.  The lip on my buttons will barely cover the hole if it was drilled perfectly.  If the bit jumped around when starting the hole, even by a tiny fraction of an inch, the button lip will somtimes not cover it all.  The shaft of the button, though, would fit easily into a much smaller-diameter hole.

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Are you using the smaller Nintendo buttons instead of the standard buttons?

--Chris
rchadd:
1. wear a mask when working with mdf

2. mdf is nice to work with but very heavy, in hind sight i think i should have used plywood.
grumble:
I found another tip out the hard way last night. Be very careful when buying clamps at home depot. My girlfriend took one of the long (4ft) metal clamps off the shelf. The one behind it fell on the floor and the one behind that fell on my head. :'( Trust me. Getting wanged on the head with a big metal clamp is no fun at all.
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