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| KungFuJoe:
I hate even talking about this, but the worst has happened. After all the careful planning and preparation and purchasing, we began cutting the wood the other day. After cutting out the 2 side panels, base panel, and front panel, we realized that the jigsaw we had been using was angled just ever so slightly...maybe a couple degrees off center. Turns out the jigsaw was damaged because it's notched for centering and even when we're sure it's centered, it's still off a few degrees. So, I think you know where I'm going on this. All the sides that we cut are at a slight angle. Will we have to completely redo everything (including purchasing more wood) or is there some way we can "work" with it? I was thinking that if everything was mounting together using 2x4 or 2x8 supports (so that you are, in effect, not attaching the panels directly to each other) maybe it wouldn't matter so much that the panels were not flush at 90 degrees. Then we could cover up whatever slight gap there was with putty later on. Anyways...since this is my first cabinet, I just want to know what other opinions are on this matter... |
| Mark70:
I haven't build a cabinet yet, my woodworking experience is from rebuilding my boat, but I'd say: -Recut them square to the surface. Figure if you can make adjustments in the panel widths, or do you have enough an edge on the side panels that you could live with 1/4" instead of a half inch sticking out. You could recut the edge with a good jigsaw, or a router with guide strips of wood attached or a skill saw with a guide angle. I guess it depends on which panels and which way the angle is cut. I'd avoid filling if you can, but it may be inevitable. Let us know what you do. I will likely have to fix up some bad cuts myself once I start. My habits are loose from the boating world, since you cover everything in resin after. |
| RaggedEdge:
If you had a router you might be able to use a bit to square up the edges, but if you don't have one, it would just be cheaper to buy some more wood. I am not sure what cabinet design you are building, but my side panels stick out on all edges so if they got trimmed a small amount it probably wouldn't be noticeable. As far as the other panels, I think you should cut them again if possible. My jigsaw will not cut MDF real well. Even though I follow my line, the blade likes to curve either out or in, so my cut ends up like yours. I used a table saw and a circular saw to cut out most of my pieces, then only used the jigsaw to cut the curved part near the top. I got sloppy when I first cut mine and didn't measure accurately. After I cut out the two side panels, I realized I wanted it to look better so I went to the store and bought two more sheets of 3/4" MDF. You could possibly use the two messed up side panels as wood for other pieces, that's what I did. |
| Effayy:
--- Quote from: KungFuJoe on August 23, 2005, 03:52:59 pm ---I hate even talking about this, but the worst has happened. After all the careful planning and preparation and purchasing, we began cutting the wood the other day. After cutting out the 2 side panels, base panel, and front panel, we realized that the jigsaw we had been using was angled just ever so slightly...maybe a couple degrees off center. Turns out the jigsaw was damaged because it's notched for centering and even when we're sure it's centered, it's still off a few degrees. So, I think you know where I'm going on this. All the sides that we cut are at a slight angle. Will we have to completely redo everything (including purchasing more wood) or is there some way we can "work" with it? I was thinking that if everything was mounting together using 2x4 or 2x8 supports (so that you are, in effect, not attaching the panels directly to each other) maybe it wouldn't matter so much that the panels were not flush at 90 degrees. Then we could cover up whatever slight gap there was with putty later on. Anyways...since this is my first cabinet, I just want to know what other opinions are on this matter... --- End quote --- If the angled edges will nag at you for the entire time you'll own your cabinet, then definately take the time to buy a couple more sheets of MDF and nip the problem in the bud. If, as was stated above, you could live with 1/4" edging instead of 1/2" on your side panels, then square up what you have with a router and adjust the measurements of your cabinet to match up. EDIT: I've already needed to purchase a couple sheets of extra MDF to fix my mistakes, and I'm not even halfway done the building process yet. So you're definately not alone. :) In the end for any future projects I'm going to use a circular saw to cut close to my measured lines, then trim off with a router afterwards. Much more reliable than the jigsaw I started with. - FA |
| GameOver:
I would just straighten out the jigsaw & cut again. So you're CP shrinks by an eighth or so...no biggie. No one would know but you. Or if ya got the cash get some more wood! |
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