Scratch Build – In Progress Project FiveWood - Complete!!

Hehe, being from Scandinavia it was the first thing I could think of that would be easy to google. ^_^

Found a page with a information on bunch of different joints (and other stuff).. "halved joint" is apparently the correct term. The page: http://sawdustmaking.com/#Information

 

04.07.08:

04.07.08:

I've been working on things all over the place. A little here, a little there. One of my biggest obstacles has been TOOL SHOPPING! I've gone a little crazy with the workshop upgrades. Table saw, router, drum sander and many other things I am reluctant to admit to. I do have a lot of 'experienced' tools that need new owners. Time to hit eBay.

Anyway, I've put some more work into the backplate. Trimming out the motherboard backpanel with walnut.



This is roughed out and will require some meticulous hand sanding.



Here it's glued up and ready for trimming and some serious sanding until my hands cramp up.



So, to take it another direction; remember those neat rails I have made for the top of the case? I'm working on revision two of those as well. This time, instead of assembling them from various parts. I want to cut them of one solid piece straight out of a mahogany board. You can almost see the pencil marks on this board.



This is the rough-out for my first try at this idea. I am going to cut this on the scroll saw rather than the band saw.



Here's the rail as cut.



and here after a quick rough-sanding and an attempt to route a very curved / uneven surface. I learned that this is going to be a tricky maneuver and will require a LOT more time than I spent sawing this one.



So, I sketched out another and will give this some serious effort.



and viola! cut and cleaned! I won't whine about how painfully slow you must go on a scroll saw to get the cut this clean and accurate.



as well, I need some thin rails to go with these rails. I traced the finished top-rails and used that as a guide to cut these.



I cut four of them.



This is one idea I have,



This is another. One thing I have learned, I have three hand sanders, a bench-belt sander, a bench disc sander and a drum sander, the best sander I have for this type of piece? Sanding by hand. In the end, I took a piece of 220 grit and completely sanded the rails and they came out perfect! Not sure if this picture was before or after that.



and now for something completely different: Remember that piece of cedar I showed a few weeks back? Here it is in it's entirety. I've decided to use this for part of the front panel.



I took this board and cut it in half and then re-sawed the two boards. Resawing gives this mirrored pattern here. Working this cedar has made my entire shop and surrounding area smell like a guinea-pig cage (minus guinea pig poop).



and the other two.



and here's the pieces cut for the main part of the front panel as well as a strip cut and rabbeted to fit between these two.



This strip of cedar has a nice pattern for a center strip.



a closer look at the rabbets cut with the dado blade set.



and here as I have it prepped for glue.



and glued and clamped (the dark areas are where I've sponged off excess glue).



Here's the finished panel. I still have to trim the top, bottom and sides to the exact size.



While we're talking about cedar. Here I have taken a piece of sanded cedar and a piece of sanded burled mahogany and finished them using the same techniques I plan to use for the project. This has had a coat of sanding sealer and three coats of polyurethane. Looks pretty good, better than this photo shows. It feels real nice as well.



a closer look at the cedar as finished. This gives a little better look at the finish.



and now for another topic (I told you I've been jumping around); I have decided to use T-slots for the Barkley panels (see earlier in the build log). Of course, I could use pre made T-slots, but what's the fun in that. So, I am making them myself.



Here, I have built a test set to check this idea before I commit to building all the parts for this mechanisms.



Even roughed out, this setup works well. So it's time to make some T-slots.



Cutting stock for all the pieces of mahogany I'll need. I need 45 inches of T-slot, this requires 270 inches (11+ feet) of slats from 1/4" x 1/4" and up! Good thing I did get the drum sander, it's the only way I could come up with that many slats at exactly the size I need!



after some tedious gluing (I won't bore you with it all), I've gotten the major components of the T-slots complete. They need sanding, cutting and so-on.



I'll cover this next time.



thanks for looking.

CC

 

WOW! Nice work! I sooooo wish I could have a work shop like that with such tools. And some time...time would be good. I love wood. It has such a warm soft look and feel to it. Metal it cold and hard. don't get me wrong I love the looks of raw metal too but, it has it's time and place. It's good to see more wooden PC's being made. another one recently is Dual PC by oldnewby. I love the way he has incorporated the 'soft, warm wood look' with the 'surgery clean, freashness' of the alu inside.

I would die for the skills and equipment the you have. (well not really as I could not make use of them when dead)

A shame you missed the last couple of deadlines but hey with a mod like this we'll excuse you.

Keep them updates coming you hear!

 

that front panel...

great work, great looking wood!

 

04.28.08

04.25.08

Official project name may be changed to "Project Five Months". Progress continues albeit slow. It just takes time to get all these things done the way they need to be done. Many things have seen all the machine assisted sanding they will see. It's mostly down to hand-sanding much of what's left. I've dropped a hard deadline in favor of getting this done right. I am targeting a late May reveal, but I am prepared to push that to late June if things are coming together expediently by May 15.



I've been stretching out that single piece of cedar quite well. The panel sander is just the tool to make the most out of all available lumber. Here's the trim for the edges for the front panel.



These were trimmed and I routed rabbets to make a nice fit along the edges of the front panel.



Get the idea?



Here's a prototype of a wooden button.



and the backside of the prototype button. A small strip of spring steel should provide the spring action we're looking for.



The 5.25 (CD) bay will have a cover made from...hell, I don't know what this is. Very white wood with a redish center. Anyway, I destroyed this piece in the end.



So, I started again with another, I think it is burled maple.



So, I bored out places for switches and lights on the backside.



Rough-cut and butt ugly. Nothing that an hour of hand-sanding won't cure.



As for the CD panels, I cut a test piece from scrap wood. Anybody need a whole pile of test pieces?



This is gonna work.



so, I went ahead with the cedar.



Here's more test buttons. Do you know what it's like to sand a 2x4 down to these tiny little buttons?!



Mocked up for fits.





clamped and mocked up for fits.





This is getting close to what the unfinished front-panel will look like.







Here's about 20 inch sq of wood that took about 3 hours to make and sand. My fingers are getting some serious cramps.



On a different note, here's my router table. I've had this about 3 years. It's a litle small and lacks what I need in a router table. SO I am making another one.



The top is just about done. (white aspen)



Of course, this was spurred on by the purchase of a new router. This is one of three and certainly the best of them.





With the top on it. This is phenolic plywood. Pretty durable stuff.

This is just another reason I'm slow with the Project FiveWood progress, I'm juggling about three projects in my home shop after work as well as golf about 4 times a week. It's a tough life.



I'm whipped and my writing shows it. Thanks for looking.

CC

 

Fan-freakin-tastic work! Your work is why I like wood cases.

Is that CD panel soft maple? It looks like the wood I used to make a liquor cabinet.

 

You're making me want to get into woodworking. Maybe when I'm out of school and have a garage that can fit everything and have a job that will allow me to afford it and have a wife that won't become upset when I spend all weekend in my garage.

Maybe when I retire.

 

Any progress?

 

Thanks for the props everyone!!

 

I have been making progress. I'll post the work soon. I had planned to spring a finished case on everyone by this time. This project just demands time (more than planned) for each of the details and I am forcing myself to take that time. Otherwise I will end up with crap.

Thanks for the interest. I won't dissapoint!

 

Yeah, that front is coming together nicely! Good work! I also like the top rail with the T-shape on top!!

 

Awesome, wait Brillant, wait whats the best word for this mod coz thats what it is, even i cant think of it.

Been through all 5 pages, F***

You wood skills are genuis,, Keep this up, going really really well

 

Awesome wood work and skills.

 

Very nice! Keep it up

 

5.17.08 Update

05.17.08

Well, I've got no new story here. Some progres and it's still moving, albeit slow. Things are coming together nicely though. Started with sanding sealer on a lot of parts prior to the upcoming poly-coats. Otherwise, it's mostly details now. Lots of details to finish up. No major mountains to climb.

Here are the top-rails with a coat of sanding sealer. I've got some tricks for these yet.



Here's the framework for the other side panel.



This side panel will be different than the last. This will be slotted on the inside parameter. I've got special plans for this one.



Of course, this means re-sawing more wood to get some thin boards.



I got two nice 20 inch pieces to work with.



Joined up to make a 9 x 20" panel



Here's where things get interesting. The plan is to have this design break up the center of the side panel. Each color represents a different piece of wood. I won't attempt to use a different type of wood for each, just a couple. Here's the initial design. Easy right?



So, after numbering and printing the parts. I cut them out.



Here's all the templates pasted to each of the stock pieces I'll cut from.



The magic of the internet!! Here's all 14 cut and placed together. This took about 40 minutes to cut them all on the scroll saw.



Here are the cuts from the backside labeled.



and from the front.



Here is another idea for the layout, but the parts fade into the panel. Needs contrast.



See what I mean? Here I am making a template for the background.





The finished template.



For the copper background. This will be secured to the backgound panel.



Looking scary here, huh? This will turn out better than it looks. (I hope)



Traced out on the panel.



This copper piece is going keep the copper tacked down with some serious carpet tape I have. This stuff will stop a car in its tracks!



Tacked down. A little warped, but that will add a nice texture.





This is the final backboard for the parts. Looks cheesy now.



Here's a mock-up of where I'm headed. More to come on this one.



Here's a look at some of the parts getting the sanding sealer. Headed for poly-coating next.



For those of you paying attention, here's a little preview of what's coming.



The top piece took the sanding sealer a little worse than any other parts. This is because I over sanded the top. Using too fine of sandpaper will cause the grain to be a little less receptive to taking the sealer. No matter, I'll win in the end.



I'll have more soon!

CC

 

wow, this is amazing woodworking my friend, you have great creativity and superior skills, bravo

 

^ditto.

 

Great woodworking!

 

amazing, absolutely amazing

 

Very nice work.

I like the fact that you are not afraid to change up your design. People who invest tremendous amounts of time and energy in planning seem to be very unwilling to deviate from the plan. Sometimes inspiration just reaches out and slaps you mid-stream.

Keep it up!