Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum
Main => Woodworking => Topic started by: TehJefe on August 22, 2006, 03:16:57 pm
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Basically my question is this: I cut the top of a cocktail cabinet out 3/4" plywood and now Im wondering if I should router it for 1" or 3/4" t-molding.
The instructions (Kyle's) call for 1inch thick plywood, which Im pretty sure doesnt exist. My guess is that he was trying to say 3/4" plywood with 1 inch t-molding to cover both the glass and the cabinet top. Anyone know if Im right about that?
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Don't cover the glass just the wood. When you buy clips to hold the glass on they are designed for a 1" top and a 1/4" glass. Since your top is 3/4" you'll have to shim up the clips inorder for them to fit snug. 1" plywood probably exisist somewhere but isn't very common. If you really want a 1" top just take 2 pieces of 1/2" and glue them together.
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Thanks for clearing that up. I was really baffled.
Dont think its within my ability to glue two peices of plywood together.. as in.. I dont trust myself to do it well enough that it would be sturdy. How exactly would one go about that, anyway? Lots and lots of clamps? Wouldnt the center not stay stuck together very well if you only clamped the edges? Am I asking too many questions?
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The easiest way to glue two pieces of ply together to get what you want is to glue and screw. Make sure you get a nice even coat of glue over the pieces you're going to join, place them together, line them up and then drive 3/4" wood screws into the two pieces to clamp everything together. Once the glue is dry, take the screws out, and the side the screws were on becomes the bottom of your top. If you are using G1S ply, make sure your good surface faces out for both pieces. And because the side with the screw holes is the bottom, you don't really have to fill the screw holes unless you want to.
That's how I would do it.
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Just glue and screw two pices together then cut it to whatever shape you want. It's a lot easier than you think and doesn't take any clamps at all. No need to even align the pieces since you can square and do all the cuts you need after the fact. Consider doing it out of mdf since it's just a top and doesn't require a high quality piece of lumber.
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This has me thinking...
couldn't you do like you were saying and use a 3/4" peice of ply, 1/4" glass and route out the plywood for a 1" peice of t-molding? Seems like it would be cleaner than glass clips. Would that make the class to unstable?
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This has me thinking...
couldn't you do like you were saying and use a 3/4" peice of ply, 1/4" glass and route out the plywood for a 1" peice of t-molding? Seems like it would be cleaner than glass clips. Would that make the class to unstable?
Hmmmm...
I would want to match the top perfectly to the glass, but in a home use environment, with tempered glass, that just might work. You just wouldnt want to be tipping the cabinet or doing anything too wild moving it around with the glass in it.
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You could although keep in mind then there would be nothing holding the glass on except the rim of the t-molding. Depending on how much the glass moves around or gets pushed on it might cause your t-molding to pop out. you could also just recess the glass down in to the wood itself or just recess a smaller piece of glass over the top of the monitor if you weren't going to use the any of the overlays out there. A bunch of things could be done different in a home enviroment. The classic design though was with a 1" wood top 1/4" glass 1" t-molding and glass clips.
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AHhhhh ofcourse. Thanks a ton. ;D
I almost wish it was harder or that I never got a reply so that I wouldnt be faced with the decision of whether or not I should get a new peice of wood. Ill have to mull it over for a while...
any reason that a 1/4 shouldnt be glued to a 3/4ths peice of ply? I still have a 2by4 "handy panel" of 3/4ths left over..
The story behind that is I basically I thought that I was gonna have to re-cut one of the sides and I jumped the gun and went out and bought new wood mostly out of frustration. It turned out that I cut it too big the first time, not too small. *sigh* ::)
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Actually it would probably be better that way, so when you go tou route for your t-molding, you're in the wood, instead of trying to cut into your glue line. Just use the 1/4" on the bottom.
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Na you can glue on 1/4". Or do what I did use 3/4" tmolding and 3/4 wood and just shim up the clips so they are tight.
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Dont think its within my ability to glue two peices of plywood together
You'll never be able to wire your CP without a helmet then! :laugh2:
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Discovered!
First carlos mencia, now you... when will it ennnnd?!
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Okay, so I glue/screwed the two pecies together and everything was looking good...
Until I realized that on one of the sides theres about a 1/16 of an inch gap between the two peices of wood. I guess I didnt spread the glue out evenly enough-- I had to wipe it away from every side but that one. I tried using my clamps to tighten it, but I think it was too late.. it wouldnt budge at all. Its still out back drying (still screwed and everything) and I dont know what I should do with it. Is it gonna be structurally and asthetically sound?
For future reference, how close should the screws be to eacher? I went with 1 every five inches.
Oh, and plus I freakin stripped one or two of the screws while driving them in. Any tips on getting those suckers out?
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Oh, and plus I freakin stripped one or two of the screws while driving them in. Any tips on getting those suckers out?
If you just basically have the head of the screw with a big hole in the middle-needle nose pliers work wonders. Grab the edge and turn. It'll take a little while, but it's not too bad.
That or you could use a small hole saw to bore it out if you absolutely can't get it out-just mean you have a bigger hole to patch since you are planning on patching anyway.
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Ahh perfect. Thanks for the tip.
Forgive my inexperience, but all I have to go on is 7th and 8th grade woodshop.
The screws came out fine using needle nose pliers, but as it dried, it looks like that gap between the boards got bigger. I really dont feel safe with it. What did I do wrong? Should the screws be closer together maybe? Or bigger? I was using phillips size #8. Should I have countersunk them?
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Oh and if Im being too much of a pest, let me know. I just dont want to do it wrong again. Low budget. :banghead:
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Heh, ya got me by two years-the majority of the stuff I know about woodworking, I learned from making my cab and reading over the past couple months.
As for what happened to yours, the biggest thing I can think of is that the screw didn't hit the bottom layer just right and pushed the boards apart-did you drill guide holes before you screwed? I would also suggest clamping before you screw and then screwing from the outside edge to the middle.
Also, what glue did you use? If it was a poly glue like Gorilla Glue, that stuff loves to expand. I recommend something like Titebond III-its good stuff and no expansion issues.
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This has me thinking...
couldn't you do like you were saying and use a 3/4" peice of ply, 1/4" glass and route out the plywood for a 1" peice of t-molding? Seems like it would be cleaner than glass clips. Would that make the class to unstable?
The glass on a cocktail overlaps the t-molding for good reason. When (not if) something spills it runs over the side, not into the molding and under the glass.
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Leave the screws in? No need to take them out unless you have a specific reason to do so.