Drill Press Cart: Day 1

Today I went out shopping for most of the materials I needed for the build which included.

• (1) 4' x 8' x 3/4" Birch Plywood
• (1) 4' x 8' x 1/4" plywood
• 4' section of 1" x 2" Oak 
• (5) 22" full extension drawer slides
• I had (4) 3" casters so I didn't need to but them
• A box of 1-1/4" pocket hole screws

HERE IS WHAT I DID YESTERDAY

• Cut the main pieces of the cabinet (Top, Bottom, Sides)
• Prepared the base to receive pocket holes
• My Pocket Hole Jig
• Cabinet assembly time
• Adding the Cleats
• Main Carcass finished

CUTTING THE MAIN CABINET 

Using my plans , I used my table-saw with a brand new 80 tooth blade to cut the sides, top and bottom pieces to size. Having a new blade in the table-saw left me with a beautiful edge to the birch plywood. So i laid them out on my out-feed table and used blue tape to label them and to orient them in the way I wanted them to be on the final cabinet. I like using this method because when you are done you just peel the table and don't have to worry about sanding out pencil marks.

Here are the sides of the cabinet, using the painters tape to label them.

PREPARING THE BASE

The main method of joinery in this project is pocket hole screws and the way the cabinet is designed the base is very important because all the screws will be added on the bottom side of the base that way you don't see the screws. I used my Kreg pocket hole jig to accomplish but more about that later.

The base will side inside the left & right sides and I will be running 5 pocket screws from either side of the base, Sorry that I didn't take any pictures of the finished base after the pocket holes have been inserted but I will come back and edit the pictures when I am back in the shop.

I spaced the pocket holes 1" from each end of the base and then every 5 inches, I also added glue to strengthen the butt joint. Below are some pictures of me using my pockwet hole jig in inserting the pocket holes.

In this picture I drew lines representing where I want to place the pocket holes. The lines are drawn on each long side

Although I didn't take a picture of the finished pocket holes here is a image from the plans showing you how I placed them

Here is another angle of the base, screws have just been added.

In this picture I am getting ready to drill the pocket holes with a special drill bit that drills a tapered hole to receive the screw.

Here you can see the actual base of the cabinet being clamped together getting ready for the pocket hole screws to be inserted.

MY POCKET HOLE STATION

Before I move on to the next phase of the project I wanted to show you my pocket hole station and you use it.My version of the Kreg pocket hole jig is the K4 there are other versions of the jig one cheaper and another more expensive

My workstation has 2 main functions 

• Affords me a platform to lay long work-pieces on and don't need to worry about the long work-piece from moving around while I am drilling the pocket holes.
• It also has a decent amount of storage for all the accessories that you build up over time owning this jig. 

I made my station out of 3/4" plywood scrap I had lying around, I built two compartments into it that lets me store all my Kreg clamps and screws

Below are several pictures of the jig itself housed on the workstation I made.

Here is the complete workstation, the jig sits flush with the compartments that sit on the left and right of the jig where I store my accessories. The workstation also has a lip on the front that allows me to clamp the workstation to my bench.

Here is another angle of the pocket hole station, its very important that every tool has its place.

Here are the 2 compartments that I store all the accessories for the jig.

Here is a close-up of the jig, you can see the measurement actuation's, these measurements refer to the thickness of the work-piece you are working on, the stepped drill bit can be seen that has a depth stop collar that needs to be set before you start drilling the pocket holes. Finally you can see the clamping mechanism to hole the work-piece in place.

Here is a side view of the jig, the jig has a movable insert block that you need to move that worls in accordance with your stock thickness.

Here is the main reason I designed and made this jig , it can support long work-pieces

CABINET ASSEMBLY TIME

So now that my main pieces of the cabinet were prepared and the base has its pocket holes its time to screw these parts together.

I basically set the base in between the left & right sides (as if the cabinet was resting on its back and the base was vertical) and using some clamps to keep things aligned and making sure that everything was square I added glue to the left and right sides of the base , tightened the clamps and screwed the locket hole screws home.

Below you can see an image of where the clamps need to be

Clamps in place

ADDING THE TOP CLEATS

In order to keep everything square before actually adding the top , I needed to add 2 cleats on the front & back of the cabinet, making sure that the cleats are flush to the top, front & back of the cabinet and again I am using pocket hole screws to secure them to the cabinet, these cleats also gives a place to secure the top once that is made.

The cleats have two pocket holes on each side .

MAIN CABINET CARCASS ALMOST COMPLETE

So that is as far as I got, the main body of the carcass is almost complete, I still need to add the plywood back which I will do next.

Here you can see the front side of the cabinet, this is where I will be installing the 5 drawers.

Here is the top view of the cabinet

Here is a frontal shot of the cabinet, this is definitely going to be lower than my old cart, that's a good thing.

NEXT:

• Cutting the back panel to size
• Making the drawers 
• Installing the drawer full extension drawer slides
• Making and adding the top
• Adding the casters
• Seriously thinking about making my own drawer handles and using my Kreg drawer jig
• Applying a finish

Until next time take care

New Project: Drill press Cart

I have been so busy making projects for around the house it’s time to turn my attentions back to the shop and specifically my drill press setup.

My drill press is currently housed on a very big cart that I used to have other benchtop tools on but I have found other homes for them and now I want to downsize the cart 

so I have been designing with help from online research a mobile cart just for the drill press and all the accessories I have for it.  

It will have the following features:

• Portable  
• 5 drawers  
• A better height to work at
• A smaller footprint in the shop

Here is a 3D rendering of the project

Road-trip to Epic Woodworking & Tom Mclaughlin

This weekend  I took a little road trip out to visit Tom McLaughlin at Epic Woodworking in Canterbury, NH.

Epic Woodworking has both On site Classes & Online Classes whether you are a beginner or a more experienced woodworker Epic Woodworking has a course for you, that Tom teaches.

The whole reason for my trip was to have a class with Tom McLaughlin as our host and the topic of discussion was a very informal visit to his shop to talk about how he made The Tilt Top Table that was featured on his TV show “Rough Cut with Fine Woodworking”

Here is the  shop of Tom McLaughlin of Epic Woodworking , what a beautiful shop inside and out.

Here you can see the Tilt Top Table assembled

Here is Tom demonstrating the table in tilted position

Below are a couple of pictures and video of Tom demonstrating how he made some of the components that made up the table

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Below is a couple of pictures I took while in the shop.

Lath time

Tom is demonstrating how he turned the column that supports the table top, he used Curly Maple

Master at work

A lot of effort went into the turning , I also made a video below that better demonstrates how Tom was turning it in real time

Cross-Cutting Jig

Tom made this very simple jig to cut the leg to its final size, I have to say that Tom is extremely talented in taking something complex and finding an easy solution.

Table-saw Jig

Tom made a very simple jig for the table saw and in this picture he is cutting one of the legs to final size. Tom is a genius in making very simple but extremely effective jigs in achieving his goal

Router Jig

I won’t go into too much detail on this , but it’s another jig that he made for the column that needed to recently be sliding dovetail grooves that will receive the 3 legs

Router Jig

Tom also made this ingenious jig for the router, basically making a sled for the router to ride to cut a flat into something round.

Seem-less Design for a pedestal

Here is how far we got in the class the pedestal all made with the column and feet attached.

Roughcut Swing

Here is the swing that he made when he was a guest on the Roughcut show before he actually got to host it a few years later . Let me tell you it is as beautiful as it is comfortable and he has it sitting out back behind his shop.

Crosscut Sled

Tom is demonstrating his cross cut sled on the tablesaw.

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Tom was very kind in taking a picture with me in the shop. I can never get a good picture as Tom can contest I think i tried like 6 times to get a decent pic of me, Anyway this was the best one, LOL

I would just like to Thank Tom for a wonderful day and I learnt so much just being in his shop with him showing you all the techniques that you can use in  any project, he is extremely friendly and knowledgeable. I think some of his best traits is that he is extremely approachable and no question is too dumb.

SPECIAL UNEXPECTED SURPRISE

What was a little funny was that Tom showed us the project that he made for the episode of Rough Cut & Fine Woodworking that was airing on the day that we were in his shop, the project was a Contemporary Table lamp that he made with special guest Chris Becksvoort if you want to look at the show click here

The lamp is beutiful and its made with pieces of veneer that acts as the shade and the body is made up of a few pieces of wood with half-lap joinery.

If you would like to learn more about Epic Woodworking I have placed links below to his social media sites, as well as his website.

Until next time Tom take care.!!!!!!!

Project Plans For Room Divider: Available now

Hi Everyone,

I have just completed the woodworking project plans for the Room Divider and are avaiable in my shop. These plans are extremely details and the Room Divider boasts the following:

If you are looking for a Room Divider to separate two living spaces that has style and functionality then this room divider complete woodworking plans are for you. 

The Room Divider has a one of kind herringbone wooden pattern on the front and also has a cork-board and chalkboard surfaces on the back, ideal for hanging notices or writing weekly family notes on the back side. Since I have 2 young children it works great for hanging all their school art or perfect for hanging seasonal card such as Christmas or Thanksgiving. If you are a work from home parent which is why I made it, the herringbone wood pattern makes for a eye catching backdrop to them conference & video calls that never seem to stop occurring.

THE ROOM DIVIDER HAS THE FOLLOWING FEATURES:

• Stylish wooden herringbone pattern on the front
• A chalk-board & cork board sections on the back side
• The divider is also portable and moves on 6 castors

MY PLANS INCLUDE:

• Step by step color plans that include diagrams and written instructions for building this.
• A cut-list for every component in the Divider
• A tool list of what tools you need for building this project.
• A written step by step document that details the various parts of the project.
• I also documented every phase on the project in my blog that you can see real project pictures.

New website section: Wood Lingo

When I first started woodworking and even sometimes now I was very confused with a lot of the terms and definitions used by lumber suppliers.

If you ever visit a lumber supplier either by going to the internet and visiting a supplier in person they used terms such as Board Foot, S4S and then there is the whole wood grading system, it left me feeling very bewildered and out of my depth, so I decided to start this little project on demystifying this whole subject, because if I felt like that others probably did too.

I have included some charts in here and I am working on making a downloadable PDF that you can print and take with you.

You can see the new section here, which is part of the Woodworking 101 section of the site

PROJECT FINISHED: SAND & WATER TABLE

So today I finished the table and gave it to my son and he absolutely loved it, I needed to finish a couple of things on the table before I could give it to him.

HERE IS WHAT I DID TODAY

• Added some round over details using my router
• Sanded the whole unit 
• In its new home

ROUND-OVERS

I needed to round-over all the sharp edges on the table because I didn't want my son to scratch himself. So I usede my palm router with a round-over bit to take care of this.

Here you can see the round-overs on the front & right leg

Another round-over

FINALLY I NEEDED TO SAND IT

Using my random orbital sander I sanded the whole unit from 800 grit to 220 grit and it is very smooth and more importantly kid friendly.

Sanding time

IN ITS NEW HOME

On the Deck

Front View

Side View

Sand & Water Table Update

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to let you all know that I fixed the plans for this project and they are free to download, please visit my shop for the plans!!!!

Just a quick note about the free plans although I am not charging anything for the plans I would greatly appreciate and donation that you can send as it keeps my projects and website content coming.

Thanks Ed

PROJECT: SAND & WATER TABLE

This morning I basically finished construction on the water table, all that I needed to do was build and attach the bottom shelf, but there was a lot more to that part than anything so far here is what I needed to do.

• Crosscut the slats for the shelf
• Pre-drill and countersunk the slats to receive the screws
• Dry fit slats to frame
• Added a round over to the slats
• Glued & Screwed the slats
• Attach the whole shelf assembly to the table
• Construction Phase complete

CROSSCUTTING TIME

First I needed take all my 1x3 and cut them to size on my miter saw station, using a stop block on the chop saw to cut all 16 pieces to final size, below you can see a picture of my miter saw.

Here you can see the chop saw set-up using my kreg production stop that was on my top-trak on the miter saw station, this is a dream for doing repetitive cross-cuts

COUNTERSINK TIME

So now that I have all my slats cut I wanted to bury the screws beneath the surface of the wood, I was adding 4 screws per slat so that was a lot of holes to drill so I brought all the slats over to the drill press and using my home made drill press table I set up another stop block and prepared the countersinking bit for a lot of repetitive cuts.

Here is the drill press and table with the stop block clamped to my fence. I marked the pieces 3/8" from each face as they were being drilled in 3/4' thick frames.

Here is another view of the slats being prepared on the drill press.

All the slats are drilled

DRY-FIT SLATS

I needed to determine what the spacing was for each slat so I lay out all the slats and experimented with the best spacing and I arrived at using a 3/4" space between each of the slats, you will end up with a slight larger space on the second-last slat from the end maybe 7/8" but I was OK with that.

Here is slats being spaced out evenly by 3/4" 

ROUTER TIME

I was very excited for this step because I recently purchased a new Router from Bosch and I had only installed it in my router table last night so today was the first time I used it, and it didn't disappoint. Anyway I installed a round-over bit in the router as I was using it to apply a profile around 3 edges of each slat and it came out great, took any sharp edges and turned them into soft rounded edges, a necessity for anything that you make for children.

Here is my router table top, I just inserted the round over bit

Here is the router under the table, its really powerful and has an awesome feature that let's me adjustments in bit height from the top of the table

Here is a close-up of the rounded edges, although this pic was taken as I was securing them to the frame.

SECURING THE SLATS

So now that all the slats were milled it was ready to secure them to the frame, I used Titebond wood glue and 1 1/4" exterior screws to secure the slats in position. I used a 3/4" thick piece of wood as a spacer and just glued and screwed each piece until the shelf was finished. After the slats were installed I sanded the shelf with 220 grit sand paper in my orbital sander.

Here is the spacer I used to space each slat while I glued and screwed each slat to the bottom frame

Shelf finished. Looks nice I am wondering should I finish it maybe a spar urethane on it

ATTACHING THE SHELF

Now that the bottom shelf is complete I needed to attach it to the legs, because the bottom shelf fits inside the legs and screwed, I needed to devise  a method of resting the bottom shelf assembly in place to screw into the screws. So to achieve this I cut spacers to act as ledges for the shelf to rest on temporarily and screw them home.

Below are the pictures depicting the method I used, pictures are always vetter at describing something than words so here you are, please remember that the table is upside down in these pictures.

Here is the spacer clamped to the leg with a clamp, I added 1 of these assemblies to each leg, they are resting on the bottom edge of the top frame

Here are all 4 spacers clamped to the legs

Finally here is the bottom shelf assembly turned upside down and resting on the spacers , all that was left was to screw them home

CONSTRUCTION & BUILD COMPLETE

Adding the bottom shelf completed the build phase of this project and it looks great, I still need to sand the whole unit down to 220 grit sandpaper, I was going to paint the unit but because it is pressure treated it doesnt take kindly to paint as the wood is still very moist and probably will remain that way for some weeks/months.

Below are some of the pictures of the unit completely assembled and it looks great

Here is the assembled water table, looks great and I am sure my son will get plenty of enjoyment out of it

You can see the containers that the water will go into, just a suggestion but I might adjust the dimensions of the table by a little and possibly use a thicker piece of wood for the divider because I can not get the lids on the containers easily as they bump into each other

NEXT

• Sand the entire unit smooth
• I will add the round over detail to the front of the top frame, thinking about adding the round over to the edges of the legs on the non tapered sides

Sand & Water Table Update (Plan Change)

While making the bottom shelf this morning I came across a error in the plans that I need to change, Once I have amended the plans I will post the project back on my shop.

Sorry for any inconvenience

Thanks Ed

NEW PROJECT: SAND & WATER TABLE

After working on projects for the Home Office over the last couple of months I decided to turn my attentions to my 5 year old son, he has been waiting patiently for a new water table. He had a plastic one last summer that has been around for years and it fell apart on him, so I decided to make him.

I came across this project online and the plans were already made for it so I decided to make it for him. I came across it on Ana White.com and she has plans available for it, I really like this design as it is very simple and anybody can make it with very little tools and/or experience. I also like the shelf on the bottom that you can store all the toys that come with having little ones that play on the deck.

WHAT I DID TODAY

• Went to Home Depot to buy Supplies
• Made the top frame
• Made the bottom frame
• Attached the legs

SHOPPING TIME

Materials needed for this build are

• (1) 1x6x12 Pressure Treated lumber
• (5) 1x3x8 Pressure treated lumber, I needed to buy 1x4's because my home depot doesnt carry them
• Exterior grade woodscrews 1 1/4" #8
• Exterior Grade wood glue
• 2 Tupperware containers

TOP FRAME

The top frame consisted of 2 pieces of the 1x6 for the front and back of the top frame, 2 sides of 1x6 and a center divider that divides the top frame up so as that the containers can fit inside, you need to very precise or the containers will not fit. I used glue and screws to secure the sides to the front and back pieces.

Here you can see the top frame

BOTTOM FRAME

The bottom frame is very like the construction off the top frame , except the boards are smaller and there is no center divider, this part is what forms the frame for the bottom shelf, I will be adding slats across the frame and securing it under the top frame. I used the same joinery method of butt joints and secured screws throught the sides into the ends of the front and back pieces.

Here you can see the bottom frame, Like I said I will be adding slats across this frame as this is what makes the bottom shelf in the unit.

THE LEGS

The plans call for 1x3's to be used for the legs, 2 legs are positioned on the front and back. I also added a little taper on the inside of each of the legs to add some visual appeal, I used my jigsaw and just gang cut two at a time.

The legs are then secured into the top frame , I forgot to mention every screw that I have inserted into this build so far and going forward will be counter-sunked so as that you cant see them. In the past I have plugged holes that I have inserted screws into but I am not going through this process anymore as they eventually fall out because of the weather we get up here in the North East.

Here is what the leg assemblies look like  from above them, I am very seriously thinking about rounding these edges over with a router so as that he doesn't hurt himself 

Here are the legs milled and tappered.

Here is a picture of the legs attached to the top frame.

AN OVERVIEW OF TODAY'S TASKS

Here is as far as I got today the top frame and legs made and atatched.

Here you can see how the legs are attached, and I also wanted to see how the containers fit, they do but barely, I followed the cut-list but the conmtainers are tight

NEXT:

• Attach bottom frame
• Add shelf slats
• Add some round over detail using my router

ROOM DIVIDER: ALL FINISHED

So after almost 6 weeks the room divider is all finished and was installed in the home office yesterday. I was hoping that I just needed to install the divider without any problems, but in keeping with this project it had one more hurdle to throw my way. My design had one flaw with it and that was I wanted the divider to firstly fit in the door opening, but since I had to add more wood to frame when attaching the each panel to each other using the butt hinges it through my overall width off so now it would not fit into the space.

Secondly the leg design although was very strong interfered with the panel butting up nicely to the wall so I needed to change the design and method for the room divider to still maintain its portability.

LEG DESIGN CHANGE

As I mentioned earlier I needed to change the foot design on the dividers because I could not install the dividers flush up to the wall so Instead of using 2"x2" material with the mortise and tenon joint to secure the foot to the leg as seen below. I changed it by using 2"x4"s and added a different kind of caster to them.

Here was the oroginal foot design with the mortise & tenon joint, I also used castor wheels that had stems that went into the leg.

NEW LEG DESIGN

This foot design was very different because it didn't stem from the bottom of the leg, instead i used 3 pieces of 2x4x12 and cut a dado to wrap around the bottom of the panel and then I used different castors, these castors didn't have a stem so all I had to do was screw the castors into the feet.I also made one more change my original legs had on 5 castors but the revised legs have six.

Here you can see the new leg assembly, you can see the notch that I cut into the 2x4, I also chamfered the 2x4 to match the herringbone pattern.

Here is a viiew from the top down, I didnt add the casters yet, I wanted to determine if the new design could balance the dividers and it did.

I didn't want to take any chances with my kids banging into the panels or pushing it over on top of all my computers, I decided to secure the dividers to the door frames. I basically used some loop hooks and chain that way if I need to move the divider I can just unhook it from the door frames

Here is a picture of the chains securing the room divider

ROOM DIVIDER : IN ITS NEW HOME

Finally the project is complete,this project had a lot of things that I liked and a whole lot more challenges that I didn't even see coming, but after everything is said and done. I love the divider, its definitely one of a kind (in a good way). My wife loves it as it provides that much needed element of enclosure that lets her have a productive work day.

Below are some pictures of the divider in its home separating the kitchen from the office. The side that has the wood pattern is the office and the back side is where our kitchen is as my kids can use the chalk board as is already on evident.

I hope you have enjoyed this project blog and if you feel like you want to undertake this project I will have plans available soon.

Until next time take care.

Office Side, I really like the black back drop as it makes the pattern pop

Here you can see the chalk-board and cork notice board, this will provide a nice size area  to hang family art work.

A little close up of the back side of the divider

NEXT: NEW PROJECT SAND & WATER TABLE

Site Update: Woodworking Joints

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to let you all know that I updates the video and PDF settings on my Woodworking Joints, some people were having trouble down loading the PDF and that they needed me to grant permission so as that they could get the PDF.

I have been working on this today and I think I have it fixed. You can visit the new material here. 

On another note I am on the finishing stages of the Room Divider and I hope to have it installed by tomorrow, I will post pictures once its all set, I am just waiting on the final coats of the finish to cure.

ROOM DIVIDER: DAY 14

Today was a very productive day that had its ups and downs, some aspect of today I was very happy at and some I wasn't happy at all with. I can almost say that the project is completed except for the finishing stage where I use my HVLP sprayer. Since I have a lot to go through I will start by summarizing what I completed below.

WHAT I GOT DONE TODAY

• Chalk-board paint completed and dried
• Cork board prepping
• Installing the cork board
• My Opinions of the cork board
• Room Divider construction complete
• Applying finish preparation

CHALK BOARD COMPLETED

After using the Rustoleum chalk board paint yesterday, I gave it a day to completely dry even though the can says 2-4 hours I wanted to make sure as my basement is very humid and usually the drying time on any project in my shop usually takes a lot longer to dry. 

I am very please at how the paint came out and highly recommend the Rustoleum brand. I needed to condition the paint because the directions on the paint can instructed me to smear chalk all over the painted surface and so that is what I did below.

I needed to condition the painted surface with chalk so that's what I did.

Needless to say I was extremely happy at how the chalk board paint came out, and my kids and the rest of the family will have a lot of use with this divider.

CORK BOARD PREPARATION

I needed to complete some preparation on the panel before I could add the cork board

• I added some painters tape around the outside of the area that was receiving the cork board, because I was using a very high strength spray adhesive I didn't want to get any adheive on the elgs and face frames as these surfaces were going to be receing a poly based finish and well adhesive would not blend well with this.

I have used a lot of painters tape in this project , here you can see the outside edges all covered and it worked a charm.

• I also needed to prep the cork board tiles, the tiles came in 12" x 12" pieces so I first laid them on the panel to determine what pieces needed to be cut to size and the order in which they were to be applied to the panel.

Here is the dry fit all completed, all the tiles have been cut and sized to fit inside the face frame. As you can see I had a mishap with one of the panels, it tore badly as I was cutting it so I needed to do a patch. The cork board that I purchased was not great.

Here are the instruments I used to cut the cork board, box cutter with a new blade in it, a straight edge used to guide the blade, measuring tape and marker. This worked OK.

All cut

• After cutting all the tiles to final size I laid them out on my out-feed table and applied the 3M -90 spray adhesive this product is awesome, but care is needed in lining all the tiles up especially on a project this size. I also needed to apply the adhesive on the plywood panel as well so as to ensure a good bond when the tiles are placed.

Here you can see the cork board tiles all laid out on my out-feed table ready to receive the spray adhesive

Spray adhesive all applied.

CORK BOARD INSTALL

After applying the spray adhesive I had roughly 10 minutes to apply the tiles to the plywood panel because that is how long optimum adhesion can take place. So I started at the top and worked my way down the panel making sure to install each panel where it belonged on the panel. After I placed all the tiles I went over the panel with a small "J" roller to ensure good adhesion.

Here are the first few tiles laid so far so good, I am glad that I applied the painters tape to the outside because the spray adhesiview went everywhere.

Here is the finished panel, I have to say I was not impressed with the quality of the cork board. But nothing I can do about it now, needless to say that I will not be buying this brand of cork tile again

CORK-BOARD OPINION

I had a big mishap that almost made me scrap the rest of the panels, While I was securing the 3rd panel down on the left side, the panel cracked right down the middle, I was not very rough with the cork board knowing that they are not the toughest but it cracked anyway and working with contact adhesive it would not allow me to move the panel, so I needed to do the best repair possible, I removed the damaged pieces and patched it as best I could, it does not look perfect. Its a real shame but there is not much I can do about it. I think in the future if I had to do this project again I would purchase a cork board roll and not the tiles. But there you have it, if it annoys me that much in the future I can always come back and just apply the roll all the way down the panel and cover up the patch and all the seems between the panels.

Here is why I was not impressed with the cork board I purchased.

• The cork board packs I purchased had 4 tiles measuring  12" x 12" and they provided these little double sided stick tape tiles to stick them to the work surface that really wouldn't work because I tried an within 15 minutes the piece was on the floor.
• The cork tiles themselves were very brittle, you needed kid gloves for them and even though I thought I was very careful, I was not careful enough.
• They recommended a box cutter to cut the tiles and even with a a new blade in it the edges were not clean.

Terrible quality cork board. I need to figure a solutiuon to this.

CONSTRUCTION COMPLETE

So after a lengthy project that has so many components to it today marked the end of the Room Divider build and I have to say that I love most of the divider apart from the cork board, that really ticked me off because I am very careful in all my projects and sub standard material can really take a really nice project and ruin it, but I will remedy this in the very near future.

All that is left is to apply the finish which I prepped for today , more on that next. Below are some pictures of the room divider and I have to say that the front looks awesome and the chalk board will be a big hit with my family.

Here is the front of the divider, I love the pattern and without doubt this was the longest part of the construction, it has 200 pieces that were chamfered with a router and then hand sanded. But I think it was worth every bit of effort.

A close up of the pattern. 

Here is the back side of the panel, I am playing with the idea of adding a little bead molding around the inside edges of the cork board and chalk board , but I have not decided yet. I need my router table operational and that is next project for me after this. Really like the functionality of the cork and chalkboard just I am not happy about covering up blemishes

Close up of the cork board panel

Chalk board looks great

APPLYING FINISH: PREPARATION

Although I cant get to applying the poly-acrylic finish today I did get the prep done.

• Since I didn't want any polyurethane on my chalkboard or cork-board I needed to cover them in such a way that I didn't spray them when applying the finish so I used what I had on hand and that was rosin paper, I use this when gluing up projects or applying finish so I cut two sheets to size and used double sided tape to stick them to the panels. I also used tape around the outsaide  to make sure that the paper didn't fall of

Here is the rosin paper covering the back side of the divider, covering the cork-board and chalk-board so as to avoid getting polyurethane on them.

• Since I will be using my HVLP sprayer to apply the poly-acrylic finish someone recommended that I make a sprayer stand so as that I could rest the sprayer on it while I fill the hopper (which is the container that holds the finish because trying to hold the sprayer and filling the hopper up would be difficult.

So I looked online and found this very simple stand made from scrap wood and so I went about making it, I think it took maybe 20 minutes and it will not win any prizes for looks but it will do a job for me. You can see it below

Here it is, it holds the sprayer in place and allows me access to the hopper.

Here is another view its made from plywood and held together with screws.

NEXT

• All that is left is to add the poly acrylic finish, I will probably add 2 or 3 coats and then I will move it upstairs.
• I might need to add a way to secure the top of the panel to the doorway as it is very heavy and I have kids running all over my house.

Until next-time take care

ROOM DIVIDER: DAY 13

APPLYING THE CHALK-BOARD PAINT

Today I didn't get that much time in the shop because I needed to go back to Home Depot because when I purchased the Chalk-board paint they gave me the can that needs to be tinted in stead of the can that I ordered which was black.

So it turned out that the can that I ordered was out of stock and they gave me what they thought was the right product. So after all that I had to get a tinted chalk board paint and although I thought it was black on the color chart it turned out to be a very dark grey, and its OK because after I used it on the panel it looked fine. Below i have some pictured of the panel all painted up .

Another view of the full panel.

I used a brush to cut the paint into the sides and then came back with a roller to do the rest of the panel

Here is the panel after the paint has been applied, I kind of like the color.

Here is a picture of the full panel.

NEXT

• I need to apply the cork tiles on the right side panel
• Finally I need to apply my Poly-Acrylic with my HVLP sprayer. I think that will be a wrap on this project.

Until next time , take care

ROOM DIVIDER: DAY 12

So today's activities included a trip to my local home center to purchase some latex primer and chalkboard paint.

WHAT I DID TODAY

• Went to Home Depot
• Applied Latex Primer
• Finished the Right panels Herringbone Pattern

WENT TO HOME DEPOT

I still needed to go to Home Depot to finish up getting my supplies for the divider which included:

• Latex Primer (little did I know that it was recommended that I needed to use a primer before applying the chalk-board paint) so I needed to get that.
• I also needed to purchase the chalk-board paint.

Below you can see the products I purchased and links to them

Product Description

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

APPLIED LATEX PRIMER

So to get started with applying the chalk-board paint I needed to apply the primer to ensure good adhesion of the chalk-board paint. 

I learnt from my mistake when applying the black semi gloss paint to the front of the panels, so I applied painters tape to perimeter of the panel before applying the primer, below you can see some of the pictures of latex paint and blue painters tape.

Here is the primer I used

Here is the panel after the primer has been applied, I used a 6" roller to apply and the painters tape kept the primer away from legs and face frames of the panel.

Here is another view of the panel

Another picture of the primed panel

FINISHED THE RIGHT PANEL

The other day I finished applying the herringbone panel on the left side so today I got the right panel finished, this panel will receive the cork-board on the back side. Basically everything that I did on the left panel was repeated on this panel. 

• Used the template to position the wood pieces
• Glued and brad nailed the pieces in position, each template took care of 2 rows at a time and I got a scare when I thought I didn't have enough room to lay the final row of the pattern, but thank go I did have enough room and my measurement for the panel was the same as the left side. That would of been really bad and would of been very hard to rectify.

The right side panel all complete, just need to add the cork-board to the back

Here is another view of the right side panel, I cant wait to get both of these panels together and see what they look like.

NEXT:

• I need to finally apply the chalk-board paint
• I need to buy and install the cork-board: I am currently researching the best way of attaching the cork tiles to the plywood panel. I think possibly applying spray contact adhesive will work.
• Finally get to use my HVLP sprayer to apply the Poly-Acrylic finish to the divider.

Here is a picture of my HVLP spray gun.

ROOM DIVIDER: DAY 11

Let me give you a brief status update as to where the room divider project stands up until yesterday and then I will provide today's activities.

I made the layout template, after making the template I realized that a few of the spaces were a little tight so I needed to shave a few of the herringbone pieces down so as that they would fit in the template, you will see black circles on the template , these are the places that I needed to adjust.

Here is the template that I made, as I metioned above I needed to slim some of the pieces down, I marked the template with black marking to show which ones needed the adjusted size.

I also applied the second coat of black paint to the front of the panels , so all that was needed  was to start adding the herringbone pattern pattern which I started today.

WHAT I DID TODAY

• Some Sanding
• Using the template
• 2 Rows complete
• 4 Rows Complete
• All 5 rows completed
• Some Cosmetic Touches
• One Panel Complete.

SOME SANDING

After I painted the 2nd coat of the semi gloss black paint on the front of the dividers I needed to sand down the legs and face frames because to be honest I am not that great a painter and some black paint had gotten onto some parts that didn't need paint.

Here I am using my orbital sander after the paint had dried, as you can see it created a lot of dust build up on the panel, so I just vacummed that up and wiped it down with a damp rag. I sanded it as before from 80 grit - 220 grit

USING THE TEMPLATE

After ironing out all the little imperfections in the template it was time to put it to work. My process for laying the pieces was simple but had a lot of repitition.

1. I applied glue to the backs of the herringbone pieces
2. Put them in position into the template
3. I added a 1/4" shim to the left side of the template to make sure any imperfections in the face frame were leveled out.
4. Finally used my brad nailer and used 1 1/4" brads to secure the pieces while the glue set.
5. Finally I lifted the template up and moved it down and repeat.

Here you can see the template in action.

TWO ROWS COMPLETE

Here is the 2 rows complete.

Here is another view of the first 2 rows.

FOUR ROWS COMPLETE

Here is another view of the first 4 rows. I am moving along at a nice pace.

Here you can see 4 rows down, basically the template replicated because the template does 2 rows at a time.

ALL FIVE ROWS COMPLETED

I have to say I really love the design that I have made, it might not be everyone's favorite because its very symmetrical but I love how allighned it looks. 

All 5 rows completed, I really love how this looks and more importantly the wife loves it too.

A close-up of the pattern.

One panel down and one more to go.

COSMETIC TOUCH-UPS

So because I used my brad nailer to pin the pieces of the wood pattern to the panel it left horrible little indents where the brad penetrated the wood, so I used a product that I always use  

This little product is a life saver

Before the filler was applied, so ugly.

After the filler is applied, so much better. Cannot even see the indents

PANEL ONE COMPLETE

So after all that work today I finally have one panel complete as far as the pattern is concerned, I need to do it all again to finish the pattern on both panels. I took a few pictures on the panel in its vertical position, you can see them below.

Sorry for the poor picture quality, its in part of the workshop that still has the florescent lighting, some day I will get rid of that.

Here is another view

So after spending most of the morning in the shop I felt really accomplished in what I got done, I really didnt think that I would have gotten as much done as I did but hopefully tomorrow I can get the other panel complete. I finally see the light at the end of the this project and I have learnt so much so far. Really enjoying this project I didnt think it would take this long but the project is extremely involved and I doing  lot of firsts.

COMING NEXT

• Complete the other panel
• Basically everything that was done today needs to be done on the other panel
• I need to apply chalkboard paint & cork board to the back side of the panel
• Finally need to apply the Minwax poly acrylic finish with my HVLP sprayer.

Until then, take care

ROOM DIVIDER: DAY 10

So today I got a little time in the shop, so I didnt get a whole lot done because I had to pick up my new router.

WHAT I GOT DONE TODAY

• A replacement tool
• Made a layout template for the pattern.

REPLACEMENT TOOL

Whenever I get a new tool I am always excited especially a tool like this, since my Craftsman router had broken during the week I needed a replacement so I went online and saw a Bosch 1617EVSPK on sale. I have been wanting this router for a long time now but I make it a rule that I don't just purchase a tool whenever I already have a similar tool that operates. So with my Craftsman breaking I decided to pull the trigger on ordering this tool kit.

The router had great reviews and since Bosch is a very reputable brand in power tools and has the following features I didn't hesitate.

• 1/4" S. R. Collet Chuck 
• 1/2" S. R. Collet Chuck 
• 16mm Shaft Wrench 
• Collet Nut Wrench 
• Chip Shield 
• Fixed Base 
• Plunge Base
• T-Handle Hex Height Adjustment Wrench 
• Pack of 3 10-24 Screws for Table Mounting 

Here is my new toy I cant wait to get started with this

It has a very powerful 2 .25 HP motor, and I love the wooden handles, the kit came with a fixed and plunge base

It also comes in this very sturdy carry case, I have to say its better than most of my tool cases 

The only downside of ordering a new router is that I need to replace my router plate insert for my Kreg router table because the screw holes are located in different place on the base of the tool. 

I also need to remake a lot of my shop made jigs such as the circle cutting jig and my dado and groove jig, but I will make them when I need to.

TEMPLATE JIG

I decided to make a template to use when placing the herringbone pieces onto the divider because the pattern is very symmetrical and I need all the pieces to line up.

So I made the pattern using 3/4" plywood and I also used the 6" and 3 3/4" pieces to set the template you can see pictures below. So when it comes to me actually putting the pattern on the dividers I just need to apply the pieces into the jig and glue and brad nail them in place and not have to worry about the spacing. I stuck it all together with just glue, I tried using staples but they didnt work

I made this 2d printout using my Sketchup software so as that I knew exactly how long the jig puieces needed to be.

My first jig I tried using MDF put it didn't work very well , but you can see the pieces in place, I need to do 10 rows per divider so you can see why I needed a template. I remade this template out of plywood

I just used clamps and glue to keep this all together.

Here is the finished template.

Here is another view of the template, hopefully now with a bit of luck I can lay the herringbone pattern without much problems

NEXT

• Need to do a final sanding of the legs and face frames
• Need to apply a second coat of black paint
• Lay the pattern on the dividers using today's jig
• Need to apply a water-based poly using my HVLP sprayer

Until then take care.

ROOM DIVIDER : DAY 9

So today I got a half-day in the shop and I got the following completed, I really feel like this project is never going to end but I am enjoying the process.

WHAT I DID TODAY

• MILLED THE REST OF 1X2'S
• CROSS CUT THE LENGTH IN THE 200 PARTS
• HAND SANDING TIME
• THE PATTERN

MILLED THE REST OF THE 1X2'S

So i finished milling the rest of the wood for the pattern, this process was the same the same as my last post . I used my palm router with a chamfer bit in it and ran the 8 foot length of 1x2 in sections until I got 9 lengths completed, then i used my sander to smooth over the length to make it smooth to the touch.

Here are the lengths of wood all with the chamfer profile.

Here is a close-up of the chamfer.

CROSSCUT THE LENGTHS

All that was left was to crosscut all the lengths of wood to get the 200 pieces I needed, I started this on my last post I needed to cut 84 more pieces of the 6" and 60 pieces of the 3 3/4" pieces. The same as the last day I used my temporary stop block on my miter saw station because my Kreg stop block could only repeat cuts longer than 12". 

Here are all the remaining pieces that I cut tonight, since the chop saw left very rough ends I needed to hand sand them next . If only these were gold bars lol.

Here is another picture of my temporary stop block set-up on the chop saw.

and more saw-dust.....really don't like a messy shop

This was a messy process , the amount of sawdust created using the router and miter saw was a lot, really need dust collection on these tools.

HAND SANDING

After I finished cross cutting all the individual pieces that make up the herring bone pattern, my miter saw left a lot of chip out on some of the pieces and since these were going to be focal point of the dividers I needed to clean them up.

So I used 220 grit sandpaper and cleaned up the edges with the paper, I needed to sand 144 pieces and it took some time but I needed to do them and to be honest I don't mind hand sanding i get to sit down and enjoy the process.

You can see how ugly the edges look on the pieces, that is why I needed to hand sand them.

Here are most of the pieces that I habd sanded.

Finally after all that hand sanding , here are the 200 pieces that will make up the pattern on the front of the dividers.

THE PATTERN

Since I had all the parts ready to use in the pattern, I wanted to see the pattern with real wood and not a 3D image so I arranged the pieces into my predetermined pattern and you can see the image below. The pattern shows just 2 rows so the final divider will have 10 rows and I think it will look awesome.

I also identified a problem, I need to make sute the spacing on all pieces are uniform other wise it will look terrible if they are not all in line with each other, so I think I am going to have to make a pattern jig when laying them out on the divider. It will not be anything fancy I will make it from scrap... more to come on that

Here is the pattern, its very symetrical but I think it will look good, I need to make a jig to keep all these pieces in line with each other or it will look terrible.

NEXT

• Make the pattern layout jig
• Give the dividers another sanding
• Apply another coat of black paint to the fronts.
• Starting applying the herringbone pieces
• Apply a protective finish using my HVLP 
• Apply chalk-board paint
• Apply cork-board
•  

ROOM DIVIDER: DAY 8

In my last post I mentioned that my router had a problem, well I tried everything that I know as well as solicited advise from fellow woodworkers and nothing worked so I have to order a whole new router because I desperately need it for my shop, other than my table-saw the router table set up is one of the most used tools in my shop.

I will discuss it more below:

WHAT I DID TODAY

• Ordered a new router
• Router Table workaround
• Starting to mill the herringbone design pieces.

ORDERED A NEW ROUTER

My craftsman router served me well over the last 3 years but the other day I had a problem with it, I could not loosen the collet nut that holds the router bit, after days of researching the problem I did receive a lot of advise from fellow woodworkers but I could not get anything to work, instead of throwing it away, I am going to work on it when I have more time. Below you can see my router table that I spent a lot of time and money on and the router was the heart and soul of this tool.

Here is home made router table with the Kreg router table and fence.

So I decided to buy a better quality router, one that has a decent size motor and will last longer than 3 years. So I found this router on sale at Home Depot and its made by Bosch, which is a very reputable brand and had fantastic reviews. You can see the router below, the only snag is that it will take 2 weeks to get to me

This will be my new router it has 2 1/4" HP and is way more powerful than my Craftsman so it should perform very nicely.

ROUTER TABLE WORKAROUND

So with my router table out of action for the remainder of this project I needed a work-around so as that I can complete the herringbone pattern. I came up with this.

I still had a functioning palm router its not my ideal set up because I needed to add a chamfer to over 200 pieces of wood so I decided to chamfer 8' sections of the 1x2 that I will be using. But I needed to do it in sections because I need to clamp the work pieces to my outfeed table which is only 48" long and then router each one , the beauty of the router table is that I can run the wood through the bit but since I can't do that I ran the router through the wood which is a lot slower.

Below are the steps I took to start this process.

• Clamped my 1x2x8 to the out-feed table
• Ran the palm router with a Chamfer bit to the wood in 3 parts , doing 3 foot at a time and then moving the work-piece up after each 3' section was complete.
• Then sanded it with my orbital sander
• Finally move it to my chop saw to cut each 6" section away from the length of wood.

Here you can see the palm router beside the the length of wood that I will be chamfering, I basically clamped it in place and them moving the board up after every 3 feet was completed.

Here is a close-up of my palm router with the Chamfer profile bit in it.

Here you can see the chamfer profile on the end of the 8' length, next to the miter saw station to cut them all down.

HERRINGBONE TIME

I have over 20 lengths of wood to chop up after applying the chamfer to each edge of the 1x2's so I decided to set-up a stop block on my miter saw station. To do that I needed to install a temporary stop block because my Kreg stop block system on my miter saw station can only repeat cuts that are 12" or longer.

So I basically used a piece of scrap and clamping it to my fence on the miter saw station and then cutting all my 6" pieces 140 in total. Below you can see some pictures of the process.

Here is my temporary stop block which is set 6'' from the blade in my Miter Saw station.

Here is a close-up of one of the pieces

So I got a little more than 56 done I need another 100 or so.

WHATS NEXT

The progress on this project is starting to slow down because my children are home now for the summer months and time available for the shop will be much more limited, but I will try and keep the progress on this project going.

• Repeat today's axctivities