Current large project - Mobile Workcentre

[Expat]

Here's some images from SketchUp of the mobile workcentre I'm building at the moment. Currently I have all the ply and mdf cut and abut 75% of the maple and poplar cut. I still have to cut the grooves and rabbets for the maple and poplar pieces but I've been held up by other projects that came along as well as the nasty weather.
My garage isn't fully sealed and it's not heated so when it's -25c outside it's about -15c in the garage! That's thanks to my little heater chugging away in a valiant attempt to keep me from turning into a snowman!
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3005&d=1226226422
The basic plans are from Wood magazine but I modified them slightly. I shortened the overall length of the cabinets and the mobile base unit (not shown) by 10". I took 2" out of the table saw cabinet and 8" out of the router cabinet. I also eliminated the dust collection valleys that the original plans called for in both cabinets. I'll be relying on direct dust collection using 4" tubing split and stepped down for the router area and connected above and below the table while the table saw will have a 14"x14" base plate attached to 4" ducting exiting the rear of the cabinet. Making those changes gives me room for a sliding shelf under the table saw for extra storage as well as easier access to the router under it's table.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3004&d=1226226413
While you can't see the detail here the left wing of the table saw is replaced by a 24"x27" downdraft sanding table. Made from 2 pieces of 3/4" MDF with a piece of 1/4" tempered pegboard that has laminate applied to it and then drilled where appropriate it will make a nice added support for larger stock as well as extending the overall usability of the unit. The right/router wing is 41"x27" made of 2 pieces of 3/4" MDF with a laminate surface supported by the router cab and 1" aluminium angle attached to the table saw as well as the usual bolts from the fence rails.
That gives me a total working surface of 27" x 90" which is not bad for a 19'x14' garage. Rolling that into the driveway on a sunny day will open up a lot of space for me to get things done properly although I do miss the 100+ year old ironwood workbench my dad and I had. Up until the late 60's it was in the Palings piano factory in Elizabeth Street prior to the building of the Myer Centre and the Queen St Mall.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3146&d=1230837853
A further change I'm contemplating is the orientation of the router table and the mitre track/fence. I had already planned to move the router and the tracks further back from the "front" edge of the work surface to support larger pieces but then I thought about turning everything sideways to provide support for longer pieces. I have time to work out what is best as the hole for the router plate and groove for the mitre track won't be cut till the top is assembled, laminated, aligned with the top of the table saw and mounted securely.
The original plans called for only two drawers in the right side of the saw cab for accessory and tool storage and I have narrowed them by 1". The top of the saw cab can easily stow a mitre gauge or other items being used for the current project being worked on. The plans for the router cab have a fixed shelf under the router and another slightly lower for stowing items as well as a slide out bottom shelf for bit and accessory storage.

[artme]

Looks good.:2tsup:
No doubt that a convenient work area including a good sized flat surface is a bonus in any workspace.

[3 toed sloth]

Hi Expat,

That will be a very handy unit. And there's great satisfaction in using something like that and knowing you made it.:)

Am I right in thinking you put an inverted circular saw into that square hole on the left?

So to use the sanding table you plce the "box", with the pegboard top, over the TS and then the whole top comes up to RT level?
If this is right, do you have to take the TS out for that? or does the box have it's own dust port?
I think the sanding table is a great idea.

Btw...did you say -25? That's cold.:o

[Expat]

Am I right in thinking you put an inverted circular saw into that square hole on the left?
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3147&d=1230849033
This is what the unit looks like built from the original plans with a 52" fence system. My Delta saw is similar to this but of course with the workcentre I've shortened the right/router table "wing" 10", the router cabinet 8" and the saw cabinet 2" plus opened up the area under the saw for a slide out shelf. I have a 50" Red Line fence system in my sights so it'll work out nicely. Only $C279 plus tax so it's more affordable than the Biesemeyer.
The downdraft sanding "wing" will be used instead of the metal wing you see above - which I opted for initially because I knew they would be replaced soon as possible so why pay for cast iron if you aren't going to need them. It will have the same basic construction as the router table - two pieces of 3/4" MDF screwed and glued together - but before the laminate is applied to the top surface I'll remove two sections 8"L x 24"W with a 1" bridge between them and inlay the 1/4" thick pegboard into a 1/4"W x 1/4"D rabbet. I'll brace the pegboard from behind using 1/4" x 1 1/4" Poplar to give the surface the necessary support for when it's used as an assembly/work area. Once the surfaces are all level - a local shop has a large drum sander - the laminate will be attached over the entire surface of the sanding wing and the 5/32" holes drilled from behind before being chamferred from above. Then a box will be attached and sealed to the underside of the 17" x 24" downdraft area that will be 3/4" deep at the front and 5" deep at the rear to accomodate the 4" dust hose connection.

It's -7c outside now and then there's the windchill on top of that. Supposed to be -10c tomorrow. First Xmas here I was outside putting up lights in -28c with a windchill of -35c. My hand froze to the staple gun! Bit of a difference to Brissie at Xmas!! Xmas 2006 it was 12c and the poor trees thought it was an early Spring and started to bud! How wrong they were!!

[3 toed sloth]

Ohhhhh, now I get it.:rolleyes::)

[Harry72]

Looks like a good project!

[Expat]

http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/woodstore_2035_25874130
This is the unit that got me thinking about a downdraft table for the left wing. I didn't feel the need for the tool storage so that was out from the start. This is 24" x 27 1/8" overall with the top made from 3/4" MDF. The underside is made from 3/4" x 2 3/16" Maple or Birch with a sealing plate under the sanding area of 1/4" masonite/hardboard.
My alterations will provide me with a unit roughly the same overall size - they sized theirs for a Jet contractor saw - but will be thicker to take more of a pounding as a proper support wing. I could just go ahead and finish this piece I suppose and mount it up but I'd still have to remove it to do the trial fitting and final install of the saw on the workcentre anyway so I won't bother till I've got that all bolted down. Do it once and do it right.

[koala_1977]

So where does one find plans like that. I have one of the old triton Mk3 which has no legs and would love to put it in a bench set up.

[Expat]

The full plans for both the workcentre and the downdraft wing were in Best Ever Workshops 2008. The workcentre originally appeared in the October 2003 issue of Wood magazine. You can also buy the plans from the Wood on-line store. I'm cheap so I just went by the magazine but I also used Binky's (http://www.binkyswoodworking.com/TblSawCab.html) walk through of how he built his version.
http://www.binkyswoodworking.com/TSCab24.jpg
My version is shorter than in the mag by 10" overall - 8" from the router cabinet and 2" out of the saw cabinet with 10" taken from the router wing itself and 10" from the mobile base. I did that simply because of space issues and with the sanding wing being longer than the stock steel/iron wing I wanted to lessen the blow somewhat. Binky made his 12" shorter overall and has three drawers in the saw cab as you can see from the photo above.

I also didn't use the dust collection "valleys" under the router or the saw that the original plans call for. I have a dust fitting on my router fence and on the router base so I have direct dust collection above and below the table. Because I already use "The Boot" and have a collection tray under the contractor saw I can use 4" tubing to carry the dust and particles away underneath. That eliminates quite a few MDF and hardwood pieces from the plans as well as opening up more storage space under both the router and saw. I found I saved a 4'x4' of MDF. Apart from the savings in up front costs and time to build there's less weight to push around as well. I'll have a 4" dust tube along the rear of the unit with Y connectors and blast gates branching out to the router (two 2 1/2" hook-ups), saw (one 4" for the tray and a 2 1/2" for the Shark Guard) and sanding wing (one 4" for the wing and a 1 1/2" for the sander itself). All it needs is to have the main dust line plugged in and the appropriate blast gate(s) opened.

[Expat]

Well it's been a while since I got back here from home and now that things have settled down a little I finally got the chance to work on my mobile work centre. This is copied from the posts I've made over the past week or so on the Canadian forum I'm on so here goes:

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3147&d=1230849033
This is the Wood magazine mobile work center I've been trying to put together since late in 2008. It seems like every time I get ready to actually finish building the thing something crops up...... like having a triple by-pass for example! Anyway I finally got sick of the temporary base I have my contractor saw mounted on and actually found the time to get a start on assembling all the wood I've jointed, planed, sized and stacked. Besides, with the discovery that my stock fence has a sizeable wave in it I wasn't going to mount a new Redline fence and then have to tear it off and start again once it was time to mount the saw on this thing.

I decided when I first looked over the plans for this work centre that I would be shortening it because of a lack of space in my garage. That's one of the reasons I went with a contractor saw and not a hybrid. Anyhow I kept all the front to back and height measurements the same but shortened the mobile base 10", the saw cabinet 2" and the router cabinet 8". I've also shortened the router top/wing 10" but have added a downdraft wing to the plans which is 8" wider then the existing metal wing(s).
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3004&d=1226226413
The other modification I made to the Wood plans was to eliminate the internal dust collection baffles for the saw and the router. Instead I have a plate to mount under the saw leading to 4" tubing and for the router I have a fitting that came with my Craftsman router that does a very good job of collecting any chips and dust from below the plate. When I made my portable router table's new fence I incorporated a dust collection port. While I won't be using that fence on this work centre an Accusquare Router Fence attaches directly to the Redline fence and I'll be using that and it's dust port for dust collection above the router table/wing.
http://store.thesawshop.com/catalogue/images/m3routerfence.jpg

Like I said I've had most of the maple, poplar, ply and mdf jointed, planed and sized for a while and I had nearly all of the hardware sitting around just waiting for me to get a move on. Well last week I finally bought the last of the maple and mdf I needed to build the mobile base.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3285&d=1245119121
The plans call for the maple to be screwed together with butt joints into end grain but says I "Why do that when you have a shiny new Kreg K3 Master System sitting there in it's case!?" So out came the Kreg and wallop, bang, woosh together went the support frame!
Keen observers will note that I made a mistake but I got around that and all is well.
I also used the proper pockethole screws - #8 x 1 1/4" fine for the maple and course for the mdf - to attach the stretchers to the mdf while the glue dried. I'll taper drill from above for the rails now that I have reference marks to go by rather than trust my brilliant eyeballing!

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3287&d=1245119149
Right side up - okay the casters aren't - and I'm ready to round over the top edges. I rounded over the bottom edges before I attached the frame. The Wood plans call for 1/8" roundovers and I complied. Used my combination square to run the lines for the 1/4" carriage bolts that will attach the casters 5/8" from the edge of the base. Locking swivels on one end and fixed at the other from Lee Valley.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3288&d=1245119160
Once I've applied some poly to the base it's on to the saw cabinet.

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3289&d=1245196843
After one coat of poly here she is! The Wood plans called for 1/4" x 1" machine screws for the casters but the Lee Valley models will accept 5/16 so I went larger. Used a 3/4" spade bit for recessing the heads and clamped a piece of scrap mdf underneath while I drilled the bolt holes to avoid blowing out the backside of the mdf. Used my #7 Lee Valley tapered bit and countersink for the 36 #8 x 1 1/2" fine screws.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3290&d=1245196852
Rides just high enough to clear all the concrete lips and such but not so high that anyone can see I didn't finish applying the poly underneath yet! I'll rub this first coat down and put a few more on the maple frame and underneath the mdf to seal it up. One coat on top is fine for now. Most of that surface will be covered by the two cabinets anyway so all I was really doing was sealing up where the glue isn't going.

Had a little time to work in the garage/shop while the painter was working in our guest room and decided to mill some maple for the saw cabinet. I was never really all that happy with the pieces I already had for it that were made from board stock I bought from a lumber yard close by. Actually it was rubbish!
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3291&d=1245718124http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3292&d=1245718138
So from some board stock I bought at Century Mill last fall I proceeded to rough cut the 4/4 14"x73" and 4/4 14"x50" maple boards down into more manageable widths and lengths. Boy did some of these spring! Good thing I kept a pile of wedges handy to keep the kerf from closing up too badly and catching on the back of the splitter. I know you don't see it in this photo but I do use one. A couple of the cut pieces twisted a little and one of them sprang down about 1/4" over less than 4'. I have plenty of spare board stock should it become necessary to replace any of these pieces once they're jointed and they go too close to 3/4" thickness before the rough side is planed.

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3294&d=1245718170
Darn near had to postpone jointing the stock because I left it so late to get down to The Carpenter's Square. Anyway I got them all flat on one side at least. Any that looked bad along an edge were also edge jointed but most were good enough to leave it for the saw to clean them up using an auxiliary fence to keep everything straight and true. I'll be using my Glue-Line Rip blade for that so I won't have to do much in the way of sanding save for top and bottom once they are grooved, notched and/or rabbeted. I'll change to my Premier Fusion for the cross cuts and rabbets using the Incra 3000se. I would have done all of that this evening but with the weather being uncooperative I can't move the planer, table saw or router table out into the driveway. I've got two strollers in the shop/garage at the moment and they don't need to be covered in dust thank you!

Oh I wanted to also make a comment about a tool accessory that I bought some time ago but only got around to using on this project in the last few days. It's the Robertson Drive Bit Set from Lee Valley. I'm sorry to say it's junk! I wanted longer #1 and #2 Roberston bits than my cheapo B&D bits from 8 years ago which are all still going strong while these things went MIA first time up. Yes, I was applying enough pressure and holding the driver straight as I drove the #8 x 1 1/4" screws into the mobile base. I pre-drilled all those holes with a #7 tapered bit and countersink unit also from Lee Valley. Everything else I've bought from there has performed just fine thank you but these things were a complete waste of money. I finished driving those 36 screws with the B&D bits with no problems.

[Expat]

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3295&d=1245718196
I got everything jointed, planed and cut to width finally. Time to break out the Incra 3000se and mill them to length. In the photo above I'd already finished three pieces marked Saw Cab S, T and X. That's when trouble struck!
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3296&d=1245718210http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3297&d=1245718217
I go to trim the end of a piece meant for the router cabinet - I cut all my maple pieces first, the poplar comes later - and the darn table saw on-off switch falls off under my finger! On closer inspection it had broken off and no way to fix it. I bought the saw from Federated Tool at the Woodstock Show and I'd posted in the warranty card so I figured was covered. Called up a couple of Delta repair places and of course no one has that switch in stock. "Do you have your receipt sir? Would you like to wait a week or so for that part to come in sir?" Not bleedin' likely sister!
So I stopped at Busy Bee Tools in Pickering on the way to T.O. and picked up a cheapie replacement from Susan who I scolded for missing the last breakfast in Ajax! Of course I almost missed it too but I did get there before everyone left.......... just!
Now it's off to fix the saw and maybe finish the dimensional milling in the morning.

Well so much for doing any milling today. It took a while to sort out what to use for the new switch housing and another project that has to be completed or else! More on that one another time.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3298&d=1245811426http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3299&d=1245811431
Popped into Torbram Electric and picked up a plastic box and lid along with some crimp-on connectors. I cut a hole in the sealed back of the box and drilled two holes for the switch assembly screws to come through so everything would be sealed up nice and tight from the front side. The removable fascia which will be at the rear of the switch box I drilled for the two earth lead retaining screws which go into the original mounting plate. Because of the shape of that mounting plate I also had to drill a hole for one of the brass fascia mounting screws to pass through so now the mounting plate is held to the facia by three screws and still earth the motor and the chassis of the saw in much the same way as before.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3300&d=1245811439
Here is the front of the new switch assembly and you can see how I reversed the assembly screws to come from inside the box. Honestly trying to get the spring washer and nut on inside that box was not something I was prepared to attempt! A little dab of Locktite on each of the screws should assist in keeping things where they are supposed to be. Getting those grommets into the holes I drilled in the sides of the box for the line and load leads to pass through was almost as tough as the mounting screws would have been. I used to have a little wedge for grommet inserting but of course it was nowhere to be found so both of these wound up a little the worse for wear.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3301&d=1245811443
And here she is mounted and about to be tested for the first time. I ran my multimeter over everything and it all checked out nicely. The STOP paddle sits nicely proud of the rail and is very easy to feel with your thigh so no taking my hands off the work when I need to stop everything.

Now back to building this darn work centre!!

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3302&d=1245895563
I had a chance this evening to finish milling the maple stock for the work centre. I set up my Incra 3000se with a sacrificial fence to provide support for the cuts. A piece of scrap maple that was jointed and planed but not needed for this project came in handy for this. The Incra is very accurate once it's dialled in and super easy to use. The new power switch proved it's worth too. Very easy to use and as handy as I thought it might be.

Now all of the maple and ply is dimensionally milled all that's left is to break out the router table and the dado set for some grooves, notches and rabbets! The poplar is mostly for the router cabinet and it can wait till I have this baby assembled before I go charging after it.

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3303&d=1245980498
I really don't use tape measures and such for much in the shop except to get in the ballpark for my final measurements. I use a set of brass set-up bars, a digital height gauge and of course my digital micrometer to zero in on what's called for. Here I'm setting the 3/4" side clearance and 1/4" depth for a 1/2" groove that has to run down the middle of a 2" wide piece of milled stock. The dado is set to slightly under 1/2" wide for the ply that rides in the groove and once I have this set I then zero in on centering the groove using a jig that moves the fence along very carefully and which I forgot to photograph!
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3304&d=1245980509
Everything is now set to make a bunch of 1/4" deep by 15/32" wide grooves down the middle of a whole bunch of 1 1/2" wide pieces.

[Expat]

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3305&d=1245981018
Time for some rabbets and that means a sacrificial fence to bury the dado in so I can sneak up on the various widths and depths needed. I love those Rockler clamps!

Now all of my grooves, notches and rabbets have been cut for the saw cabinet maple pieces. I have a couple of notches to cut in some ply and a piece of MDF and then it's assembly time!

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3306&d=1246044748
Loose dry fit time. With the clamps on it was good for me so time for some glue and lots of clamps!
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3307&d=1246044755
Lots more clamps went on but before it got too crowded I snapped this. I clamp a piece of 3/4" MDF to my table saw to use as a bench and cover that in wax paper that's held in place by spring clamps. I use off-cuts under the clamps to distribute the load evenly and stop marks appearing. Not that it's a big deal with this because after all it's a work center and not a piece of fine furniture. That's also why I'm not that that worried about the ply being a little wonky and small gaps showing up. All of the outer dimensions of these two panels check out spot on and they are square and flat so we're good.

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3308&d=1246044764
I like Titebond III because that stuff grabs hard and dries quickly. So I placed the first panel in position on the base to get an idea of what height the saw base would be. I dropped the lower front rail in place as well for perspective.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3309&d=1246044773
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3310&d=1246044781
Here's both end panels sitting in place with the lower front rail also dropped in place on the base. The piece of stock in the foreground is the filler that goes between the saw cabinet and the router cabinet at the top of the end panel. It's attached to the saw cab first from outside the cab and sits between the stiles of the router cabinet. 3 or 4 screws are driven through the ply panel of the router cab into it to join the two cabinets together.

Now to notch the rear ply panel and the center MDF support panel and drop in the floor panel, rear panel, center support panel and the front and rear top rails. It's getting there!

I did a dry fit of most of the components for the saw cabinet just to see how everything looked but mostly to go over in my mind the best way to throw all of it together before the glue set up.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3311&d=1246138662
In doing so I found myself doing something different to what the Wood magazine article did.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3312&d=1246138670
I glued the lower front rail to the bottom panel and then sanded the join and the bottom panel prior to fitting everything else together. I was going to glue the rear upper rail to the rear panel too but in the end I decided to leave that till assembly.

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3313&d=1246138677
Speaking of the rear panel and the upper rear rail here they are glued and clamped. So far there are only 7 screws in the cabinet with everything else held by glue (and clamps for now) alone. As there is no rear lower rail the plans called for 4 screws from the rear panel into the bottom panel but I used 5. I was thinking of using pocket hole screws from underneath this is only 1/2" ply and there's a center support panel to be installed that the bottom panel will screw into from underneath so I wimped out on the pocket holes. Oh and yes I know the screws at the rear aren't aligned equidistant from one another or along the panel. They're in there and they didn't split the cheapo ply!
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3314&d=1246138683
And here she is from the front. Believe it or not it's square! How did I manage to do that!? I still have the center support panel to install and then the drawer/shelf extension slides and their cleats. Once that's done I can sand it down and give it a few coats of poly except on top and the bottom of the side rails because they have some more gluing to go through yet. The 3/4" MDF saw panel goes on top and the whole thing screws and glues down to the base.

Finally got some time this evening to cut and fit the center support panel to the saw cabinet. Taking that nap this afternoon while it was raining and the girls were taking there nap wasn't such a good idea I guess!
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3315&d=1246329046
I didn't follow the Wood plans with this piece either. Of course it's 1" closer to each side than the original plans called for but that's because the whole cabinet is 2" shorter and I wanted to keep the changes to each side the same. That'll make cutting the drawers on the right side and the sliding shelf on the left easier to work out. I also made the panel longer so that it has a notch at the front to fit under the front support rail. In the original plans it ends at the rear of that rail because on the left there are two panels that seal off the dust collection area under the saw and they fit under the rail and against the panel. With all that gone from my plans I wanted to give the rail as much support as possible.

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3316&d=1246329118
Here it is sitting in place on the mobile base. All that's missing now are the three drawer slide cleats, the end filler rail and the cabinet top. Most of that will be fitted up tomorrow unless I pass out and sleep the day away!

edit: I didn't sleep the day away but it rained again so no chance to wheel the planer outside and take the cleats down to 1/2" from 3/4". So instead I was going to finish the dimensional milling of the maple, ply and mdf for the router cabinet.Before I use the saw I always check to see if everything is ship shape and wouldn't you know it the blade is out of alignment. Bah! Humbug! Now I've got to spend time getting that into place. I know why it's out but it's still a pain. I'll be glad when I've finished this project so this won't keep happening.

[wheelinround]

I was about to say fancy making a 2nd:; one just to make sure you got it right thought best check his location first :doh:

Real nice work :2tsup::2tsup:

[Expat]

Well Canada Day certainly has seen me busy. Apart from walking to the mailbox with one of our twins Emma, then helped her make sandcastles in the sand pit and finally let her run through the spray as I watered the plants in the backyard I actually got some work done on the router cabinet.

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3317&d=1246488957
Tuesday evening I set up the router and cut all the grooves in the rails and stiles for the end panels. Now because the ply side panels are not 1/2" or even 12.5mm really I was using my Blue Tornado 1/2" ply dado bit which is actually 15/32". That means getting it in the center of a 1 1/2" wide rail/stile is a little bit of a trick and the groove may wind up being too wide. After a lot of fine adjustments I got things down to where there was only 1/128" difference and the groove fit perfectly on the ply. That's why I marked one side of the cuts 1/2" so that all of those would be oriented the same way on assembly. Keeps everything lined up just purrrfect!
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3318&d=1246488965
The lower front rail has a 1/2" x 1/4" rabbet cut in it to accept the 1/2" ply bottom panel. Used my Blue Tornado rabbet set for this and my home made router fence adjusted for zero clearance. I just made the cut and no dust! Smooth as a baby's bum your majesty!

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3319&d=1246488974
The lower and upper front rails need to be notched so out comes the Incra 3000se and the dado set. Before I show you the results I wanted to show those who might be thinking about buying the Incra how easy it is to set up and how accurate it makes cutting. I check the blade alignment and then set the Shop Stop block at 3". The adjustable top section is then dialled in as I make a series of cuts and measure the results with my digital micrometer.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3320&d=1246488982
Here I'm at 3 3/128".
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3321&d=1246488988
A little tweak of the adjustment screw and Bob's your uncle!

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3322&d=1246488997
I set up the Incra for my dado stack and zeroed it in like I would for a regular cut. I decided to use my Rockler fence clamps to attach the sacrificial fence. Did I mention I like these? Very handy.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3323&d=1246489004
Yummy!

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3325&d=1246490642
After gluing up all the rails and stiles one at a time and checking for square and flatness - it's both - I put one router cabinet side panel in place on the base next to the saw cabinet. It's getting there now.

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3326&d=1246490652
Both side panels went together square and flat. The bottom panel and the lower front rail also went together square and flat. How I'm achieving this is beyond me! Anyway, time to put it all together. The bottom panel/lower front rail are dropped in place but not attached while the rear panel and upper rear rail are glued in.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3327&d=1246490665
I reversed the clamps to help force the rear panel against the rear stiles and to make sure the side panel stiles don't go anywhere I put the bar clamps outside in roughly the same plane.

Off to the Canada Day fireworks at our local park this evening so I'll let this set up tonight and attach the bottom panel/rail and the upper front rail tomorrow. Then it's on to the finishing touches inside each cabinet followed by fitting them up to the mobile base. I'm in a race to get as much done before we head off for the weekend and Christmas in July!!

[Paulphot]

I just wanted to say that I am really enjoying reading your posts. The pictures are fantastic and I love what you are doing.

Thanks so much for sharing with us.

Paul

[Expat]

Thanks Paul. There are a couple of guys on the Canadian forum who are looking to build similar units and I just thought it was appropriate to share what I was doing. After all if I can do this darn near anyone can!

I also wanted to say before anyone gets all jumpy about it that in spite of Canada using the metric system in lots of areas I still go by the ruler the nuns beat my knuckles with - feet and inches! I know what 25mm is roughly equivalent to and I don't care. 1" is still 1/12th of a foot to me and I'm sticking to it. I know what I weigh in pounds - still too much according to the doctor - and I prefer to work out my car's mileage and not litres per hundred kilometres!

[Expat]

Well I got absolutely nothing done today. Too much else to do but I did manage to throw a couple of pieces of mdf on top of the cabinets which are sitting on the base and this gave me my first look at what will be in another week or so.

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3328&d=1246572736
The piece on top of the router cab is too narrow and too long but it gives some idea of how things are lining up. Where that piece of stock is laying is roughly where the router/wing will end leaving a 1" overhang at the end and 3/4" at each side. The original plans had about 8" of overhang which to my mind doesn't help with access to anything underneath. The mdf panel on top of the saw cabinet is actually the piece I will be using there but it hasn't been cut to width as yet. The length is correct though.

There's still a whole lot of work ahead of me of course. For a start the router cabinet needs the bottom panel/lower front rail and the upper front rail glued and screwed in place and then the whole assembly sanded and sealed on the outside. Both cabinets need their drawer/shelf slide cleats, drawer/shelf slides and shelves installed. Then there are 2 drawers (saw cabinet), 2 sliding shelves (1 for the saw cabinet under the saw itself and 1 for the router cabinet) and a fixed shelf (router cabinet) to build before finally the cabinets are secured to the base and the work surfaces are installed along with the saw. The plans also called for a full length door for the router cabinet but I'm not using that in my build. Instead I'll make a false front for the sliding shelf that will mate up to a 3/4 length door so the shelf will be accessible without having to open the door and vice versa. Then there's the hole to be cut under the saw for mounting the dust collection tray, the hole in the back panel of the saw cab for the dust hose and blast gate and of course all the cutting, routing and general fiddly stuff associated with turning 2 pieces of laminated mdf into a router table that's perfectly aligned to the top of the saw! I hate the fiddly stuff.

None of that will get done until we're back from Christmas in July so it'll be 4 days before I get any more work done on this. Still I'm happy with the progress so far but a little perplexed as to why there is a gap of about 1/16" between the saw and router cabs at the base when both of them are square!? Could it be that the mobile base ends have sagged a little? I think I'll support the base frame on some blocks while I'm away and see if that moves anything. Very strange indeed.

[Al B]

I just wanted to say that I am really enjoying reading your posts. The pictures are fantastic and I love what you are doing.

Thanks so much for sharing with us.

Paul

................. :whs: .....................

Keep it coming Expat, Great work mate. :2tsup:

[Expat]

Got back late Monday evening from the weekend away at our girl's Grandma and Grandpa's in the Ottawa Valley so no progress of any significance since my last post.

However, on the way home we dropped in on Dave and Mary at The Saw Shop - makers of RedLine fences and suppliers of The Boot, Align-It, GRR-Ripper and Boeshield products all of which I use..... and love! I had planned on using a 50" RedLine fence on this project but have decided to go with the 60" instead so I can take advantage of the extra space afforded me to the left of the blade by the downdraft table/wing I'm building on that side. I had also planned to use an Accusquare router fence attached to the RedLine for the router table/wing of the work centre but Dave said "No, no. Try our RedLine router fence instead!" Now while I don't have a photo of it yet let me tell you it's a beauty!! Matches the RedLine saw fence perfectly and of course it's made to attach to it easily and securely. This will be quite a step up from what I had planned and I'm looking forward to using it and the rest of the work centre.

Now I just have to get off my bum and finish it all!! One more basic piece to glue and screw to the router cab and then it's sand, seal and fiddly bits for it and the saw cab before I finally attach them to the mobile base. That's when things should get interesting because then I have to build some drawers and sliding shelves, something I haven't done a lot of over the years and I plan to try out my dovetail jig on the drawers!! This could be a lot of fun or a bloody nightmare. We shall see.

[artme]

Expat this is a superb WIP. Greenie on the way.:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

[Waldo]

I always enjoy following how others go about customising work spaces to suit. :2tsup:

[Expat]

I always enjoy following how others go about customising work spaces to suit. :2tsup:
Oh I have a lot of other projects for the garage/shop to build. My mitre saw needs a home as does my combination belt/oscillating sander and I also want to build a more substantial mobile base for my planer as opposed to the old microwave cart I have it mounted on now! Then there's the matter of storage cabinets and racks for my power/hand tools and clamps plus sheet goods and board stock storage. I am inspired by the pocket hole assembly wing in the latest issue of ShopNotes magazine and I may have to build something like that as a clamp on accessory table for the router wing side of the work centre. I know the drop in pocket hole jig plate will be a definite addition to mount my K3.
Once I clear a little space with the work centre I have to get the new lighting and outlets installed and tear down a good portion of the garage ceiling drywall. The bedroom over the garage is the coldest in the house every winter and we know there is a major leak up there so down comes the ceiling before we get another cold blast. I want to spray foam as much as possible before the new drywall goes up to try and make the space warmer for working in winter. So lots to do and a short time to do it in before I can really get some work done. Oh, did I mention I have a cherry & butternut blanket/toy box to build for my first nephew/niece arriving in September?

[Expat]

At last a post where I've done some work and have photos to prove it!

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3341&d=1247186058
The drawer/shelf slider cleats only have to be attached to one side of each compartment of the saw cabinet. The sliders will attach to those and to the center panel. Here I used some scrap cut to 6 1/8" to hold the cleat in place before three screws and a lot of Titebond III complete the job.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3342&d=1247186072
Both cleats in place ready for sliders.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3343&d=1247186080
And the saw cabinet with all of it's cleats in place. Rather than waste a maple board for just one cleat I used a piece of scrap poplar I had for the sliding shelf cleat under the saw itself. Remember this area would have been used for the dust collection trough in the original Wood plans. The center mdf panel will hold three sliders for the two drawers and the sliding shelf.

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3344&d=1247186087
The router cab gets two drawer slider cleats at the bottom and two cleats to support the fixed shelf that goes under the router.

In the original Wood plans that shelf was the lower support for the dust collection trough for the router. Now it will hold items such as the collet wrench and 1/4" collet. The drawer will hold router bits and other accessories for the router with space for a second router if need be. i'll store my plunge base there as well as my bit sets and single bits.

Tomorrow I'll head over to Lee Valley and pick up the drawer slides and maybe the pulls unless I get a creative urge to make my own....... yeah, that's the ticket! Anyway the drawers and shelves are not far away and that means at long last I get to play with my fabulous Crapex...... sorry.... Craftex dovetail jig. I've got plenty of spare pieces of poplar if (make that when) I screw up so this should prove interesting to see if I can get this right. If worse comes to worse I'll break out the Kreg K3 and just pockethole everything! I know that's cheating but I'm anxious to get this thing finished and mount the saw and my new fence(s).

[Expat]

Back from Lee Valley in Eastern Toronto - otherwise know as beautiful Scarberia! Picked up the drawer sliders...... okay and a couple of other items! How can you go to that place and not walk out with more than you intended? Anyway.....

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3345&d=1247257575
First up was the router cabinet and it's sliding shelf. The upper shelf will be fixed in place so this was a simple install. The original Wood magazine plans called for 28" full extension sliders but I shortened the cabinet 8" didn't I so 1 pair of 20" is what I picked up. I thought about black or white but I'm cheap so I went with the plain old zinc finish. Got my drill all set with a taper bit and my refurbished driver with a phillps bit so no changing back and forth for me.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3346&d=1247257584
The plans say the sliders have to be 3/16" from the front of the cleats so I marked that and clamped them in place while I drilled and then drove the first screw. The plans also say to mount the sliders 1/4" off the bottom panel and I had some spare pieces 1/4" thick from another project which came in very handy.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3347&d=1247257591
C'est magnifique! Or something like that. I failed French miserably and Father Mitchell took great delight in smacking me across the knuckles after each failed test result. Anyway the sliding shelf will be large enough to hold some single router bits, my bit kits (rabbet, dados, roundovers, etc...) and even my plunge base. The fixed shelf can hold tools and items such as my small Incra mitre gauge I bought just for the router table.

Not so magnifique is the state of the garage around the saw. Yikes!!! I better get those bags of sand out of there and into the sand pit for my girls hadn't I? The air filtration unit can go to the shed till I have the new ceiling and outlets run. That'll help.

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3348&d=1247257599
That roasted curly maple is nice stuff..... even when it's being used for a spacer. I used the farthest mounting hole on each of the tabs so that the sliders will have move give to them should the cabinet and/or the drawers/shelves not be 100% square. From what I've measured I'm good but wood shifts.
This is under where the saw will sit which in the original plans was taken up by the dust collection trough. I'm using a pan and 4" hose under the saw so there will only be the sliding shelf here which is why I install the lower slider first on this side.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3349&d=1247257606
On the other side of the cabinet the top sliders are installed first because otherwise how would you place the 6 1/8" spacers against that panel? The sliders are 1/4" from the bottom of the cleats and that's why you see the 1/4" spacers in there. Front edge of the sliders top and bottom, both sides of the cabinet are 3/4" from the front edge of the lower front rail and the front edge of the center panel.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3350&d=1247257612
Ready for a shelf and two drawers! Of course with two sliders mounted to the lower portion of the center panel I had to stagger the mounting screws a little. Other than that all is good. I get one 12 1/2" wide shelf (1/2" thick sides, front and rear) on the left and two 16 3/8" wide drawers (1/2" thick sides, front and rear) for storage under the saw and of course open storage beside the saw on top of the mdf panel attached to the top of the cabinet.

Now it's on to the drawers and shelves. Oh and the pulls for the drawers which I'm hoping Ed will be able to turn from the last piece of camphor laurel I brought back with me in March. It'll be a nice Aussie touch to this project.

[Expat]

I was speaking with Dave at The Saw Shop about the rebuild of their web site which is causing me to tear what little hair remains out in large clumps. Okay maybe not large clumps but in terms of the percentage of what's left it's sizeable! I asked if I could use the photos he's given me of their new Red-Line router fence in this thread and of course Dave said "Go ahead".

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3351&d=1247262816
Isn't that a beauty!?
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3352&d=1247262823
Easy to adjust and add on auxiliary fences and the like and once you're done just slide it off the saw fence and tuck it away. I'm really looking forward to using this so I'd better get cracking on those drawers and shelves.

[Tex B]

Looking good, expat. Great WIP :2tsup:

Greenie on the way.

Tex

[Christos]

Very nice on the work that you have done so far.

[Expat]

No photos yet as I want to finish rounding over the edges, finish sanding and sealing them but with the help of one of our Canadian forum members I now have three figured Jarrah drawer pulls to use on the work centre saw cab drawers! Thanks go to the design committee who stayed around at Ed's after Lunch In Leaside today - Ed, Stephen and Elizabeth.

It would have been nice to have Ed turn them from the camphor laurel but of course I forgot I gave my last piece away to my s-i-l's dad! Dopey me. So I dropped into see Peter at Artistic Woods on my way to the lunch and he had some long jarrah pen blanks. Excellent! The lacewood or the mallee burl would have been nice too but the Jarrah came out so beautiful and the figuring on two of the pulls is way too good for just a saw bench! Anyway I'm teasing too much I know. Time to get on with this and get you some photos to look at!

[Expat]

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3354&d=1247433194
Here are the Jarrah pulls that Ed turned for me from the pen blanks Peter at Artistic Woods produced. Beautiful grain structure. Two of them are from the same blank so they will be used on the drawers while the other will be attached to the sliding shelf.
Yes, that is my Ridgid oscillating spindle/belt sander they are sitting on. I only bought it at the Woodstock Show in 2008. Now it's sitting on top of it's empty box! Gotta build me some work shelves for these tools haven't I?
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3355&d=1247433200
After rounding over, final run across the edge belt sander and then hand sanding with 220 grit they're ready for some Tung oil. I can't thank Ed enough for these. I'm going to have to shout him breakfast or lunch at one of the forum get togethers.

Now with the sander out of the box at long last that leaves my dovetail jig as the only toy I haven't played with yet. Time for some drawers and shelves me thinks! Better get the planer and the saw out and make some 1/2" thick poplar sides, fronts and backs. 1/2" ply bottoms and 3/4" mdf false fronts I'll cut when I'm through playing with dovetails. Never used them before to make a drawer so this will be fun....... or frustrating....... or a bit of both!

[Expat]

I gave the pulls one light rub of Tung Oil and this is what I got!
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3356&d=1247438869
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3357&d=1247438874
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3358&d=1247438880
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3359&d=1247438886
WOW!

One more coat I think and then the sealer..... if I can find the tin..... which was here before I went home in January..... hmmmmm.

[Expat]

Didn't get a lot done on the actual working with wood side of things today. Instead my larger daughter Emma and I went off to Busy Bee. Okay Emma is also the eldest of the twins but only by about 30 seconds!
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3364&d=1247629369
And this is what we picked up. No, not the bin! The dust collector. Works well enough to collapse the sides of the bin and will be a nice complement to all the dust channelling I've got lined up for the work centre.

Speaking of the work centre, I did get one thing done this evening.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3365&d=1247629633
Got the poplar for the two drawers planed down to 1/2" only to discover that two of the end pieces are no good. Oh well. I have lots more poplar and these two can be my sacrificial lambs to the slaughter as I practice with my dovetail jig!
The new d/c was working well too. About 1/10th of the previous amount of shavings from when I was using the shop-vac were not captured so I'm happy with that.
First thing in the morning I'll have to rough cut two new ends as well as the ends/side pieces for the two sliding shelves and take them down to The Carpenter's Square to joint them. If I have time I'll thickness them and cut to final sizes but I'm the baby sitter from noon on so I'll have to work quick...... something I've yet to do on this project!

[Paulphot]

That thiknesser mod looks interesting. Is it just a stack of panels with the center cut out? Is there another "plate" over the machines front and back doors or is it flush?

How much has it improved the quality of the planing?

Can't wait to see more of the cabinet build.

[Expat]

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3079&d=1228112168
I built the planer base from a piece of 3/4" mdf attached to the top of the old microwave stand. I bolted the planer down to that and through the original top of the stand so everything is tied together. Of course the rest of the stand is still a cheap piece of garbage but eventually I'll replace it ith something a lot stronger and with better casters.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3080&d=1228112178
Prior to bolting it down I traced the outline of the planer onto a 2' x 4' piece of 3/4" mdf and cut the hole out with my jigsaw before sanding it smooth. Then I trimmed the outside down for clearance while I worked around the planer and to reduce the weight of the finished bed.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3081&d=1228112185
Oila! Just the outside left to be trimmed.
Once I had the first piece correct I used it as my template for the other two layers. I used a pattern bit in my router and after screwing and gluing another piece of 3/4" mdf to the first I ran the pattern bit around the outside and inside. Then another piece of 3/4" mdf was attached and once again I used the pattern bit to make the inside and outside the same. Finally some laminate was applied to the top layer of mdf and that was trimmed with a laminate trim bit. So now I had a 2 1/4" thick infeed/outfeed table.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3153&d=1231110489
I shimmed the table up to match the height of the planer bed and it works beautifully. Plenty of room to stack work in progress without getting in the way and equally useful when not in use with the lack of storage I currently have! Before I use it I wax the bed and table for better stock feed.

I still raise the first and last pieces through as they enter and exit (respectively) and run stock through nose to tail for a continuous feed to avoid snipe. That can mean a lot of quick back and forth from feeding to removing stock but it works for me. I'm a drummer so I'm used to moving quickly with my hands from one side to another and back again. I also use a spare piece of stock if I have it laying around as a first and last piece and I find that also reduces or eliminates snipe. If I get snipe on that iece of scrap who cares! It really doesn't matter if you have a budget planer like this or a multi-thousand dollar piece, snipe is going to happen. Sometimes it's so obscure you may not see or feel it but it'll be there. It's how you deal with it that makes all the difference.

edit: Can't find the manual for the dovetail jig and playing around with it this evening has resulted in nothing but frustration so far. I can see where I'm going wrong but I'm not sure how to correct the problems without making a mess even bigger. So I think for my sanity and to get this work centre finished before I grow too old to use it I'll just bite the bullet and break out the dado bits for the router table and lock the drawers together that way. Sigh.....

[Expat]

Because I altered not just the overall length but also the length of each of the cabinets for the work centre the drawers and shelves for those cabinets are not the same as the original plans from Wood magazine. For the saw cab drawers and sliding shelf - especially the shelf because it's something I've added - the dimensions from the original plans were never going to work. So while the poplar pieces I had were what I had originally planned for they aren't any good now because I made another change while I was building the saw cabinet! Remember back when I installed the center panel for the cabinet? I said I had made it larger by extending it out and notching it to support the upper front rail where in the original plans it butted up against the rear of that rail. Well that was okay but it meant that the false fronts for the drawers and the sliding shelf would come to rest against that panel, the upper front rail and the lower front rail. That's 3/4" further forward so the drawers and the sliding shelf could be 3/4" longer as well. That means more poplar! Fair enough.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3366&d=1247829350
Rough cut to length and width here's enough 4/4 poplar to make the front, back and sides for 2 drawers and 2 sliding shelves - one of the shelves is in the router cab and it's sightly wider than the original plans as well as 8" shorter. So from here it was off to The Carpenter's Square to joint them all before final dimensioning and planing.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3367&d=1247829359
It only took one pass for each piece on the jointer because the nice folks at Century Mill had jointed the boards for me when I bought them and they had remained nice and true over the Winter. Shame so much of this wood will wind up as sawdust and shavings.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3368&d=1247829368
Length and widths correct and planed to 1/2" thick within a thou or so. Boy there was a lot of material in the dust collector after this! I haven't sanded or scraped these but I don't see any snipe, do you? Goes to show if you use a piece of scrap before and after each run and take the last few passes really light even a low cost planer like my Ryobi can turn out some fine pieces.

Now I have to decide if I'm still going to dovetail this suckers or cave and just lock joint them. If I can find the manual for the jig I'll give that a shot but otherwise I want to finish this thing asap because the next project has been moved up a tad. Seems my niece/nephew will be arriving sooner than expected so her/his blanket/toy box needs to be done by the end of August! I hate deadlines.

[Expat]

Finally got hold of the manual for my dovetail jig and what do you know? Not recommended for pieces under 5/8" thick. Great! So I decided to go with the pockethole jig even though they don't like the idea of going to 1/2" material either.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3369&d=1247975126
Cut the pieces and trial fitted them together and in the router cabinet and they are fine.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3370&d=1247975140
Pocket holed them with my Kreg jig.

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3371&d=1247975148
Next up I needed to get groovy so out came the dado set up and a thick sacrificial fence for the Incra. Each of the side pieces for the saw cabinet drawers and shelf have grooves at each end to receive the ends of the front and back panel that have a rabbet cut in them.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3372&d=1247975157
I didn't point this out before but I will now. For those who haven't used the Incra Flip Shop-Stop you can move it forward on the mitre fence to sit in front of a 3/4" sacrificial fence and not lose the adjustment when you do so. Neat.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3373&d=1247975166
Here's all the saw cabinet drawer and shelf pieces looking groovy! 1/4" up from the bottom, 1/4" wide and 1/4" deep.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3374&d=1247975173
The router cab shelf also looking groovy.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3375&d=1247975181
To dial in the exact width of the front and back drawer parts I took a piece of scrap poplar and began cutting it down until I had just enough play at the front and rear so that I could get the drawers to go between the sliders nice and neat. Those scrap pieces of roasted curly maple came in handy again!
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3376&d=1247975189
One saw cabinet shelf sitting in position thank you sir! It slides in between the sliders easily with no gaps front to rear. The front of the drawer will sit even with the lower front rail so that the 3/4" mdf false front sits against the rails and the center panel and flush to the stile on this end. You might have noticed that the front is taller than the sides. The back piece is smaller than the sides. Why? Because I need to be sure I clear the dust hose and the blast gate at the back of the cabinet and the false front will be the full height of the cabinet so needed clearence at the rear and extra height to offer more support at the front. I'll draw a nice transition and then use my jigsaw and sander to smooth the front and then cut down the sides and make a transition there as well. Purty!
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3377&d=1247975198
Good heavens I actually got them made! I used the same method to dial in the width of the two drawers that I used on the shelf.

The shelf and drawer bottoms get made from 1/2" ply which of course isn't 1/2" at all. They will all have a nominal 1/4" x 1/4" rabbet around them so they ride in the 1/4" groove a 1/4" up from the base of the sides, front and back pieces. I'll just the bottoms over the dado and dial in the correct thickness so they sit snugly in the grooves but not too snug. If they're 1/16th shy of the correct length and width that'll be fine too.

Once the drawers and the saw cab shelf are ready for their false fronts it'll be time to finally secure both cabinets to the mobile base and each other. I've been waiting for this long enough. I need to have the cabinets set in place permanently before I scribe the false fronts just in case anything moves when it's all screwed down. You never know! That's when I attach the sliders to the drawers and shelves too. If I need to do any final sanding to allow for the cabinets shifting slightly I can do that without worrying that they will be wedged in place.

So lots to do but it's getting there.

[Christos]

Looking very good.

[Expat]

Looking very good.
Drawers are bit rough because I've never built them like that before. The last one - top drawer on right of the saw cab - turned out the best of course. Learning from previous mistakes. Haven't even been in the shop so far today. Feelin' like I've caught a wog or something. I think I'll try to cure it with some sawdust.

[Christos]

You are making progress. That is a good thing. You are also modifing the size to suit the size that you need. So much to consider as you go along.

[Expat]

After being up most of the night because Maddy is not doing well for some reason I didn't do any work this morning in case I made too much noise and woke the girls then wound up going to bed once they were up and sleeping till after 2! Lazy B I am.

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3378&d=1248049322
When I did venture out to the garage I cut the bottoms for the drawers and both shelves. I made them a little small by about 1/16th all around so there was wiggle room. They were given 1/4"x1/4" rabbets all around and test fitted. Looks good to me.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3379&d=1248049330
SUCCESS! First time I've used this method of drawer making so I was learning as I went and it shows but they are square - within 1/32nd and Norm says that's fine! - and flat. Measured from the front of the lower front rail to the front of the sliders with my Incra gauge and transferred that to the sides of the drawers minus 1/16" so the false fronts have some clearance. Measured up 1" on the sides using my combination square and attached the sliders. The drawer went in perfectly. No binding and it was square in the sliders and the rear stops! How am I doing this!?
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3380&d=1248049337
Both drawers in place. I might use some wood filler to clean them up a little but it is a work centre and not fine furniture as I keep saying so I'm not that worried about gaps here and there so long as it's all square and will work properly.

Now having said that you're probably wondering why I didn't assemble and install the sliding shelf as well? I made a catastrophic mistake. I'm not about to show you because I was almost sick when I did it but suffice to say I can save it without having to do major surgery or start from scratch. When you're flying by the seat of your pants these things happen. I've changed so many dimensions and design elements of this work centre I kind of expected to make more mistakes than I have so I suppose I'm doing okay all things considered.

The router cab sliding shelf and fixed shelf are ready to be installed but getting a photo of them with everything stuck on top of them was not going to happen. I need to move a bunch of stuff out into the driveway and give myself some room to attach the cabinets to the base finally and then I can install the shelves and get some photos. Then it's false front time for the saw cab and then the moment I've been waiting for since last August when I bought the table saw - I'll install the top for the saw cabinet and start aligning the saw on it!

That's going to be a back and forth process because before I do that I have to get the router wing/table made, laminated and cut to final size then clamp it to the router cabinet to help align the saw. I can do all of that without the new fence and rails but those will be needed when it's time to mount the router wing/table permanently. I have a hole to cut out under the saw for the dust collection tray and a hole to drill in the rear panel of the saw cabinet for the dust hose/blast gate to mount to. None of that can happen until the saw has been aligned and it's mounting holes drilled. Sigh...... it never stops.

[artme]

Coming along very nicely Expat.:2tsup::2tsup:

[Expat]

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3381&d=1248135381
Broke out the belt sander and removed the poly from the mobile base so the Titebond III has something to bite into. More on the sander later.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3382&d=1248135388
Plenty of glue and sixteen #8 x 1 1/2" course screws later and there she is at long last. Yes there are now four swivel casters on the base. I have need of a set of fixed casters on another project in a few weeks so I splashed out for a pair of swivels and made the swap. If you're wondering about the gap at the base between the saw cabinet and the router cabinet my guess is it's the base having sagged a little while the cabs weren't secured to it. Both cabinets are square and the funny thing is on pages 22 and 23 of the Wood "America's Best Home Workshops 2009" Chris Finnerty built the same mobile work centre and his has the same gap! So right now I don't feel bad about the gaps at all.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3383&d=1248135396
Here she is back inside with that 49" long piece of spare mdf sitting where the 41" x 27" x 1 1/2" laminated router wing/table will go. I positioned it so the overhang to the saw side is pretty much spot on with 3/4" overhang all around the other three sides of the router cabinet. You can see why I shortened the top from 51". Imagine having to bend waaaaay down to look into the router bay with that kind of overhang at that end! That's not for this little black duck.

Now remember I said there was more to say about the belt sander? Well it turns out the safety button is not working properly.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3384&d=1248135401
Ouch! Fortunately Maddy has lots of dressings and wound medication from all her operations so Daddy borrowed some. All is well. Looks a lot worse than it is but I'm going to get that button fixed.

[Waldo]

Expat, looking great there. As you are doing, building to your specs will give you more workable and flexible area than you could go and buy - might be for less $ but the end is worth it. :2tsup:

[Expat]

I've got a bunch of work done but I can't post updates because I can't log in to the Canadian forum to load my photos until Friday morning sometime. I've been banned for supposedly calling a moderator a wowser. I didn't necessarily direct it right at him but if he felt he fit the bill then so be it!

I posted a birthday greeting to a friend on the forum by saying this:
"Back home this term is not just used as an insult it is also used as a sign of affection between good friends. In fact one of my heroes the late, great Sir Edward "Weary" Dunlop proudly accepted membership in a club that uses this word to describe it's members. So in that spirit here's wishing you a happy birthday you old bas****!"

The moderator altered the post to read "buzzard" even though the person it was intended for thanked me for the salutation! I objected to the use of the word buzzard as I would never call my friend that and felt it sounded as though I was insulting him. Then some other clown came in and said they were offended by the word I used and I wrote a general reply stating that back home anyone who complained about the use of the word in the context I used it in would quite rightly be considered a bit of a wowser and they should look up what that meant. The forum administrator came along and asked me to apologise to the moderator and I refused to do so till the moderator apologised to me and my friend for altering my post to sound as though I had insulted my friend. So until tomorrow I can't log on there and have the site host new photos and text. Bloody wowsers!

[Tex B]

You can't win an argument against a moderator. They have all the power :wink:

Tex

[Expat]

You can't win an argument against a moderator. They have all the power :wink:
Tex
Doesn't make them right! I refused to apologise and I told the administrator - who is a good guy - that I will never apologise for the original post or expressing my opinion about the way it was handled or the way some people viewed it because as far as I was concerned if they can go around trumpeting how proud they are of a zenophobe like Don Cherry then I can certainly express myself the way my cultural experiences have shaped me. I don't go around calling everyone and his dog that word, I save it for those who deserve it in a good or if necessary a damning way! I've had an argument with another moderator on that forum and he was forced to apologise to me. This guy won't. He's pretty full of himself. Anyway who cares really. It's just a forum. Not like it means much in the grand scheme of things. I'm still working on the project taking photos, keeping notes, ready to post everything in a grand flourish soon as they let me back in tomorrow.

[Waldo]

You are in the right place here Expat, it's only Forum I have been part of where things are taken in the manner to which they should be without the absolute seriousness of every other Forum I've been a part of. :2tsup:

[Expat]

Well I'm back from my "time out" as the administrator so quaintly put it and time to update you on what little progress I've made this week. The rain put a stop to some of the work I had planned but most of whatever I could do inside the garage I got done. With the rain seemingly gone I'll finish this post and load up the car for a trip to The Carpenter's Square to use Rob's cross-cut sled. My only working sled is not large enough for what I need to do so it's down the road I shall go!

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3397&d=1248457928
Got the sliding shelf for the router cabinet cut, joined and a trial fit found it half the width of a fly's pubic hair too wide! Arrrggghhh! So some judicious shaving of both sides got it to fit puuuuurrrfect and all is well.
Yes, that's my Craftsman mounted in it's new Jessem RoutRLift FX. That's approximately where it will go in the router table/wing.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3398&d=1248457937
The saw cabinet sliding shelf had a weird problem. It was the right width and length but for some reason it took a pounding to get it to seat in the runners! So I checked for alignment of the cleats and sliders and they were within 1/32 side to side. Couldn't see anything hanging up but just to be safe I ran the sides of the shelf across the router in jointer mode. OILA! It must have been out by just a fraction in one spot because after taking off 7 thou on each side the darn thing slide in and works beautifully.
Oh one more thing about this photo. That's the actual saw and router tops in place. Now the lower piece of the router table/wing still needs to be cut down by 1" - that's what I'm off to The Carpenter's Square for - but it's okay for width. The upper piece is going to remain 1" over length and it's already 3/4" over width. Once they are joined and the top laminated I'll use a trim bit to bring the top to the same size as the lower.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3399&d=1248457945
I've mentioned using my Incra gauge to mark the location of the front of the drawer sliders so I thought I should show how I do it. You can see that I've marked the line 1" up from the bottom - in this case of the router cabinet sliding shelf - and I'm going to mark the location for the front of the slider. I get the measurement by placing the Incra against the front of the cabinet opening and measuring back to the slider in it's fully closed position.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3400&d=1248457951
Once I have the slider attached to one side I double check the measurement again before I remove the slider and go to the other side. I don't cinch the screws down on either side till I have both sides checked for screw placement. On a drawer/shelf that is as wide as these are it's very hard to balance them on a slider while you try to align the other side properly. Best to get one ready for final assembly and go to the other rather than have everything wobbling about. Once I've measured and set the other side tight I come back to the first side and check it again before cinching it all down.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3401&d=1248457959
And when it all checks out it looks like this! Now for a bit of sanding and some poly.

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3402&d=1248457977
While I'm still pondering what to do about the router cabinet's fixed shelf and waiting for the rain to go away to cut the router table/wing lower piece to final length I thought I may as well get stuck into the saw cabinet top. The Wood plans called for this to be screwed down to the saw cabinet and into the filler rail that is attached between the stiles of the router cabinet - you can see that rail in this photo. I changed another aspect of this by screwing through the back panel of the router cabinet into the filler rail. Wood magazine had it the other way! Why would you do that? You're attaching a piece of 3/4" maple to 1/2" ply. I would have thought it was obviously stronger the other way around like I did it. So you've got - in my case - four screw heads and countersinks showing inside the router cabinet. So what!?
Wood also only has three screws attaching the saw cab top to that rail angled down through the mdf top. That's fine and dandy but I decided that the Kreg jig should once again come out to play and that a couple of extra screws certainly wouldn't hurt in securing the top and the saw cabinet to the router cabinet. So you're looking at the underside of the saw cabinet top with 5 pocket hole screws to be used. I'll still screw down through the mdf top into the rails and center panel of the saw cabinet to really lock that top in place.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3403&d=1248457986
"Holy saw cabinets Batman!" sorry........
Before the top goes on I thought it best to cut the dust collection hole in the rear of the saw cabinet. In this photo I haven't sanded it back yet but it came out nice and easy. I left enough clearance around the hole for the blast gate to be screwed on from the outside and I made the hole 4 1/4" so that the gate and the hose and clamp could be pulled through for clamp removal and tightening outside the cabinet. Gotta make it easy on myself whenever I can you know!

Okay. Girls are napping and it's time to get down the road. A stop at Rob's and then Busy Bee followed by more searching for a metal trash can! How hard can it be to find one for heaven's sake!! False fronts, cabinet tops, laminating and much more is on the way.

[Honorary Bloke]

I've been banned for supposedly calling a moderator a wowser. I didn't necessarily direct it right at him but if he felt he fit the bill then so be it!

This is a great WIP, Expat. :2tsup:

BTW, I think Kevin "B" Wilson has a song about Canada that seems appropriate to your recent situation. :rolleyes::D

[Expat]

I'm just sorry it's taking so long to complete this thing. I must be boring you guys to sleep! Either that or you're all sitting around asking "What's up with this mug!? He's slower than a wet week."

Anyway I got the lower piece of the router table cut to final specs and it's nice and square, ready to be glued to the top half. I just need to line my neighbour up to give me a hand to lower the top in place so it doesn't wind up skewif because I'm using spray contact adhesive. One error with that and I'm really screwed. If it winds up okay then I'll be laying the laminate tomorrow and then trimming it to final size.

Then the fun really begins in earnest because I have to begin installing the mounting hardware for the top that connects it to the saw. Wood magazine just says you should use lag bolts through the original bolt holes in your saw table but I'm a bit leery about that for such an important piece of the puzzle. Instead I plan to use a 26" long piece of 1 1/4" angle iron screwed to the bottom of the router table/wing and with two mounting bolts through the angle iron and the original wing mount holes in the saw top. With a little bit of wiggle room I can then adjust the aligment of the router table/wing in and out, up and down, side to side. How do I stop the two bolts from spinning when I tighten the nuts? Simple. I locate where they are to be and use a 1/4" straight cutter bit in the router to route a slot from underneath the table that lines up with the end of the bolts. Then I use allen style bolts and an allen key to stop them rotating! It won't weaken the table or the mounts and it'll make it easy to keep everything in place. I'll use lag bolts through the fence rails into the sides of the table/wing but the last pair will also use angle iron for their mounts just for my own piece of mind really. This will take longer than just the lag bolt way but I know it will pay off in the long run.

[Honorary Bloke]

Crikey! Yer slower than a wet week. Get on wif it. :):cool:

[Expat]

Boy did it rain here today! Luckily nothing got into the garage but it restricted what I could do and when I could do it. Didn't get out to buy my laminate till the afternoon and only got it home and inside in the nick of time.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3405&d=1248573712
Last night the neighbour and I flipped the two layers of the router table/wing after I sprayed them with contact adhesive. We almost made a big mistake but avoided it by less than 1/16" otherwise it was start from scratch time. He got quite a shock when he tried to move the panels to adjust the overlap! I told him once they touch, that's it. 1 1/4" course screws to pull everything together nice and tight and I laid out where the mitre track and router plate will go so I had clearance all around from the screws.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3406&d=1248573718
Once the tropical hurricane passed by - reminded me of some of the Summer thunderstorms in Brissie - I took the laminate outside and sprayed it and the mdf. Slapped it down and rolled it flat. The 3M spray works really well but it's expensive compared to the roll/brush on adhesive. Still it's a lot quicker to apply and sets up real fast.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3407&d=1248573725
I allowed quite a lot of overlap on the laminate after the near miss with the mdf because I was going to be doing the laminate on my own.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3408&d=1248573733
Ran around the edge with the 1/2" laminate trimmer and an extended base and it's time to clear up the dust and round over the edges top and bottom.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3409&d=1248573740
So finally the router table/wing is cut to size, laminated and here it sits in place. I clamped it down after this to run a pencil around underneath inside and out of the cabinet. Reason? I'll be applying a couple of coats of poly to the mdf except where it contacts the cabinet and I wanted the reference lines to mask off those areas before brushing on the sealer.

One step closer!

[Paulphot]

Expat, it's looking really good. Is it the camera angle in the last shot or did you manage to close up the gab between the router cabinet and the saw base?

Keep up the posts, I check everyday to see what you have done.

[AUSSIE]

I was shocked over the weekend.I liked EXPAT's table so I thought I would check him out on the Canadian wood forum after his little episode.Well I went to sign up as AUSSIE what else?
Guess who is aussie on the Canadian wood forum?
It ain't me.Just incase you think it is
Expat you are doing a great job:2tsup:

[Expat]

Expat, it's looking really good. Is it the camera angle in the last shot or did you manage to close up the gab between the router cabinet and the saw base? Keep up the posts, I check everyday to see what you have done.
Currently the top is attached to the saw cabinet for the very first time! Only by two screws and they are only 11/4" not the 11/2" I'll eventually use. The top does have 2 coats of poly on it so far but the biggest thing will happen in the morning which is why no update as yet. I have the saw almost dismantled awaiting only my neighbour - who started the second leg of his holidays Friday - to come over and give me a lift with it onto the top at long last. I also rounded over the router table/wing top and bottom and bought the 11/4" angle iron for the mount between the table/wing and the saw's cast iron top. So tomorrow will be quite a day of measuring and double checking alignment of the saw to the table/wing and then marking it's mounting holes and where the cut out will go for the dust collection pan. Then I have to get the neighbour back before he heads off to his camp ground and pull the saw and the cabinet top to make the final cuts, secure the dust pan, it's hose and blast gate and finally attach the saw cabinet top once and for all. I guess I'll have to get the wife's cousin's hubby round in the evening to help drop the saw back in place and then it'll be it's turn to be bolted down once and for all. Happy days!


I was shocked over the weekend.I liked EXPAT's table so I thought I would check him out on the Canadian wood forum after his little episode.Well I went to sign up as AUSSIE what else?
Guess who is aussie on the Canadian wood forum?
It ain't me.Just incase you think it is
Expat you are doing a great job:2tsup:
I know exactly who that is on the CWW forum............. ME!
Thanks for the thumbs up. I have my doubts sometimes. I did hardly any woodworking from '95 till late last year when I finally got my table saw and at times it shows. I think doing all the work on this project has helped me get back into the groove somewhat but there's still a lot of cobwebs that need to be blown away.
Prior to moving over here I'd done a lot of stuff around the house and in our garage. We had a workbench that came from the old Palings piano factory in what is now the Myer Centre on the Queen St Mall in Brissie and it must have been 100 years old and weighed a ton. The wood vice on that thing was a beauty! I built storage and work benches all around it and the cabinet saw my dad's mate gave us. He had three and didn't need all of them! Mr Jorgenson taught me a lot about wood and what you could and couldn't do with it. My uncle Frank taught me to be careful around woodworking machinery because he was a cabinet maker for 50 years and half his fingers are missing! That day he took me to work with him in Bundy scared the beejeeus out of me. I've never taken my eyes off where my hands were since that day. My dad's family were all in the timber business on the Sunshine Coast. I remember visiting their sawmills when I was hardly big enough to walk. There are photos in my family albums of my Grandfather and his father-in-law with their bullock teams dragging enormous logs out of the Colondale forest at the turn of the century. So splinters have found their way to me quite naturally.

[Waldo]

We had a workbench that came from the old Palings piano factory in what is now the Myer Centre on the Queen St Mall in Brissie and it must have been 100 years old and weighed a ton.

:sigh: reminiscing makes me home sick.

[Expat]

I thought I was done today when I looked outside and my neighbour's van was gone. "So much for getting the saw on the cabinet today" I thought. Well just after lunch he knocks on my door and asks if I still needed that lift I mentioned yesterday. Hooray.

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3416&d=1248731848
In the lead up to him arriving back home I'd marked the location of the top rails and center panel of the saw cabinet on the underside of the top. Then I pre-drilled all the screw holes from underneath and countersunk them on both sides to allow for wood to pull up as the screws bite into the maple and mdf.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3417&d=1248731855
Once the neighbour and I had placed the saw on the top and aligned it I marked it's inside and outside edges and the mounting holes. Took the saw off and that's when the old base came in handy for cutting the dust plate opening. Who needs one of those Festeringtool things when you've got a zero clearance insert that rides in a track on my straight edge clamp. Rough? You betcha! But quick and it's never going to be seen under the saw.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3418&d=1248731863
Used a 3/8" roundover bit and drilled the mounting holes for the saw. Attached the dust plate and it's 4" hose. Now to wheel this lot outside and lay on the glue and screws.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3419&d=1248731870
To make sure the pockethole screws didn't back the top away from the filler rail and the router cabinet I broke out the parallel clamps. 11/4" fine screws for the pocket holes, 11/2" fine and course for the regular wood screws - fine for around the perimeter and course to go down into the center panel which is mdf. A liberal application of Titebond III on all the surfaces and this thing ain't going nowhere!
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3420&d=1248731878
At long last! Lined up so the router table/wing has 3/4" overhang on each sde and 1/2" at the end this is how it sits. As you can see there is 3/8" difference in the height of the saw and the wing. No problem I expected there to be some shimming required. I'll run a couple of spare pieces of maple through the planer and take them to 3/8", place them under the saw and line everything up again. I might even do some mitreing and make the spacers real purty like.

[Paulphot]

It's really entering the home stretch now mate, looking good. It must be a great feeling to see it with the saw in place.

[BozInOz]

I just skimmed through the thread and I must say I'm impressed.
It's comming together real well, and looks so practical and good use of space.
Look forward to seeing how it comes along.

[Expat]

I've shut it down for today. Pretty early for me but it was very humid today and laying on the driveway to put the pocket hole screws in really took it out of me. I think an evening sitting in front of the boob tube with my girls will do me. I'll hop back into it bright and early. Got to mill the 3/8" shims for under the saw and get them mounted. I'm in two minds how to do it actually. I was thinking I'd just put 4 pieces down with an elongated hole where the mounting bolts will pass through but then I thought about making a mitred corner piece to sit under the saw. Can't go pocket hole because it's too thin. Whichever way I go the shims get screwed and glued down to the top so I'll have to break out the belt sander again.

[Expat]

So before the clouds opened up Nathan - the wife's cousin's hubby - and I got stuck into it and got the saw mounted. Now I didn't have time to take photos all through the procedure but it's fairly easy to see what happened.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3422&d=1248924901
Last night I assembled the spacer frame to go between the saw cabinet top and the saw. It's 1/2" poplar that I had sitting around after I changed the size of all the drawers! Handy. Because it's being sandwiched between the saw and the top and it's being glued and screwed to the top I didn't feel it was necessary to screw this together. Some might disagree but it's too late now boys and girls.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3423&d=1248924909
Oh also last night the router cabinet door hardware arrived. All made in China of course. Sigh...
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3424&d=1248924921
And it's on! Oh yeah there's the dust collection blast gate waiting to be screwed to the cabinet. Gotta get to that. You've already seen the photos of the saw cab top with the mounting holes drilled for the bolts so let me explain how we wound up with this photo.
First I traced around the outside of the saw before we moved it off. Then I took the ROS with some 60 grit and removed the poly that I applied to the mdf top inside the outline of the saw. Then the spacer was placed inside the outline I made of the saw and secured to the top with Titebond III and 11/4" course screws.
Next we should have drilled the 7/16" holes for the 5/16"-18 x 2" stainless bolts from underneath but of course the holes are so close to the center and end panels that we couldn't get a straight shot at them. So Nathan and I placed the saw on top of the spacer and aligned it with the router table/wing and the router cabinet and we marked the mounting holes on the spacer. Then we removed the saw - again - and drilled the holes which were right on the money!
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3425&d=1248925013
Now we mounted the saw on the cabinet and installed the 4 bolts from underneath using nyloc nuts on top inside the the saw. Later I'll drill 4 holes beside the unused mounting holes you see, right through the metal into the spacer and the saw cabinet top for some #10 x 11/2" lag bolts to really lock the saw in position.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3426&d=1248925021
So here's where we sit now with the saw 1/2" higher than it was before. I'd much rather shim the router table/wing than the saw! Now I'll explain how I'm going to mount the table/wing to the saw, the fence rails and the router cabinet.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3427&d=1248925029
Here's the three mounting holes in the saw's cast iron top.......
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3428&d=1248925034
.......and here's the mating surface of the router table/wing that butts up against the saw. I have a 24" long piece of 11/4" angle iron that is 1/8" thick. First I'll make a 1/8" deep by 11/4" high by 24" long rabbet in the mating surface of the table/wing from underneath. Then I'll drill three holes in the angle iron for bolts to go into the saw's wing mount holes. I'll attach the angle iron to the saw but not so snug that it can't be moved by some "gentle" persuasion and move the table up to the saw. Where the bolts make contact with the table's mating surface I'll mark those spots and then remove enough material for the bolt heads to be concealed inside the table when the table is butted up to the saw. I'll also have two more piece of angle iron for the sides of the table at the very end of the fence rails only they will be attached to the table from underneath semi-permanently.
Next I'll clamp the angle iron to the bottom and the fence rails to the sides of the table/wing and begin adjusting the table for true to the saw. Once it's correct I'll drill through the fence rails into the angle iron and the table/wing itself. Later I'll tap the holes in the side angle iron. I'll then drill from underneath 4 mounting holes into the table/wing for the angle iron.
Remove the table/wing, tap the side angle pieces, tighten down the bolts mounting the front angle iron to the saw and finally install the table/wing. Then I'll shim the table to the top of the router cabinet - checking for alignment to the saw all the way - and finally I'll screw the table/wing to the router cabinet. NO GLUE! Lots of screws though!

Now some people are going to say that this is way over the top just to mount the table/wing to the saw and there must be easier ways to do it. Sure there are. The way Wood magazine does it in the original plans is really simple. It also will allow the table/wing to move independantly of the saw! They also want you to drive lag bolts through the fence rails into the sides of the table. That's glued together mdf. I have no desire to have that as my main means of attaching the table/wing to this work centre.

Yes this is overkill but allowing for wood movement over the years I will be able to realign the top if needed or even replace it if and when it becomes torn up by years of abuse. I'm building this no one else so it gets built the way I want it. Nyah nyah!

[Expat]

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3429&d=1248993396
Here's the angle iron, the three bolts that go through the angle iron into the saw table and the 4 round head screws that go up through the angle iron into the router table/wing.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3430&d=1248993403
Cut the 11/4" x 1/8" x 24" rabbet from underneath the table/wing.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3431&d=1248993411
Once that was done I rounded over the bottom edge to allow clearance for the bead of weld on the inside of the angle iron.

Now to do the same thing to the sides of the table/wing just shy of the mitre track location. Then I'm going to have to figure out how and where I can get the angle iron cut to size. I could do it with a hacksaw of course but by the time I finish cutting all three pieces from the 4' length I'll still wind up with three fairly rough looking parts. If only I had a chop saw.

[Christos]

I must admit that I had to read the last few post twice. Then go back to the first few post to see what part you were up to.

O then I see what you are referring. Such a long winded reply to say very good work. :U

[Expat]

I must admit that I had to read the last few post twice. Then go back to the first few post to see what part you were up to.
O then I see what you are referring. Such a long winded reply to say very good work. :U
Nowhere near as long winded as my posts! Thanks for the comments. I've decided to buy a metal cutting wheel/blade for my SCMS today and cut the angle iron with it. According to the manufacturer it's quite capable provided I lock the sliding mechanism and take it slowly. I will comply! Clean up the edges with my Dremel and proceed towards completion.

[fubar]

do you like your scms? cause if you fit a mild steel cutting blade to it you wont like what happens. these blades need to run at about 1/3 the rate of an scms sparks will fly which pit and burn the alloy and plastics of the saw. buy yourself a 4inch angle grinder fit thin kerf blades they cut through this sort of angle like butter mark the job out well and take your time let the blade do the work and you should acheive very good result have had to do the same when on a job without cutoff saw and a $20.00 4inch with thin blades saved the day

[Expat]

Yeah I was thinking about buying an angle grinder/cutter because I was worried about the sparks melting the plastic on the scms but I'd spoken to someone at King and they assured me it was okay. I have to say I was and still am dubious about that so before the missus took off with the car to the hospital with our littlest I ran out and bought one and a couple of different wheels. When I get a chance to make some noise - missus and Maddy home and both girls awake - I'll lay out the cuts and hook into it.

[Expat]

I'd have gotten more done today but not getting to bed until 6am kind of slowed me down! That's what happens when you wait up for your wife and one of your daughters to get back from Sick Kid's. Oh well at least they did get home. At one point it looked as though they would admit Maddy. She's happier here and she'll see her surgeon Tuesday or Wednesday.

So what did I get done? A little but not as much as I had planned.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3432&d=1249156534
I cut the angle iron and trial fitted it to the rabbet at the mating edge of the router table/wing. This is the underneath of course.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3433&d=1249156540
Satisfied that it was all good I cut the other two pieces of angle I need for the side mounts. The rabbeting for these is a little more involved. There has to be a rabbet on the bottom and the sides so they clear the shims on the cabinet top rails and so they fit between the fence rails.
To cut the bottom rabbets I'll clamp a scrap piece of the planer infeed/outfeed table to the top surface of the router table/wing - it's 11/2" thick - to give the router a larger area to balance on. Once I've cut the bottom rabbets I'll cut the side rabbets and then round over the edge as clearance for the weld along the inside corner of the angle iron.
Then it's time to break out the drill press and drill some....... oh wait........ I don't have a drill press. Oh dear. I guess this part will have to wait won't it. Ah well, there are other things I can do...... although...... I haven't reassembled the saw yet so maybe not. Grrrr.

[Expat]

Once I woke up from my "nap" following another very pleasant breakfast in Ajax this morning I actually did some work in the garage - okay and around the yard too!

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3434&d=1249247523
To make the rabbets for the side mount angle iron oh so purty like I attached these ply scraps as stops.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3435&d=1249247530
Worked pretty good. You can see the outline of the top rails for the router cabinet here as well as the center line of the mitre track and the outline of the router lift plate.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3436&d=1249247536
Re-used the ply scraps to make the stops for the rabbets on the sides of the table/wing.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3437&d=1249247543
I rounded over the edges of the rabbeted areas and here is the router table/wing with all three angle iron mounts in place. I just have to drill the angle iron for the mounting screws that attach them to the table/wing and then it's time to get about aligning and mounting this sucker!

The procedure for mounting it is a little bit of give and take. First I have to align it with the saw table top and scribe the location of the three 1/2" bolts that will pass through the mating surface angle iron into the saw. The holes I drill for those bolts have to be just a smidge large to allow for fine adjustment during the final assembly. So the table/wing is going to be on and off a few times to get everything set up just right. The side mounts will need to be scribed and drilled as well but they are going to be tapped for their mounting bolts which pass through the saw fence rails.

Now to do all this I guess I need a saw fence and it's rails don't I? I could just leave the stock Delta pieces in place and get a move on but seeing as I'm going to fit a RedLine 60" to this thing it's better to get that in place and work with what I'll be using long term, especially as I have to drill the side mount holes before final assembly. So it looks as though a drive to beautiful Norwood, Ontario is in order. Holiday Monday tomorrow so if Dave and Mary are home I'll have to drop in.

[Christos]

Wow you are powering throught this.

Sorry to hear that your child was sick. I have none of my own and can not imagine how it would have been like.

[Expat]

Back from another spell in the cooler and there's been some more progress on the work centre. I wish there was more to show but we had the visiting nurse around today to see how Maddy's back is healing up from the cast rubbing through. Good to report that it's great and has scabbed over which is a good thing because it was an open sore from the fibreglass ridge that was left in the cast cutting her open! Thanks Sick Kid's, like we/she needed any more pain.

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3438&d=1249416876
Oh yes. On the holiday Monday Emma and I drove up to The Saw Shop and picked up my new Red-Line Fence!! WOO HOO! Fitted it up and discovered that the old Delta rails weren't so straight anymore. That's why you don't see the router table/wing in place. It wouldn't fit all the way forward between the new rails. So because the saw is still without a motor I took the table/wing down to The Carpenter's Square once the nurse left to trim just a smidge off the side.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3439&d=1249416884
While I was there I also drilled some of the mounting holes in the angle iron. This is the mating piece between the saw table and the router table/wing. Now obviously I haven't drilled the 1/2" holes for the mounting bolts because I can't begin to mark their position until I've had the table tops lined up. I've used pan head #8 x 11/4" course thread screws to attach the angle iron to the router table/wing because there is nothing underneath this area that will interfere with the screws. Not all of the screws are in place yet. No sense opening up all the holes until everything is ready for the final fitting. These three will do for now.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3440&d=1249416893
The side mounts get round head #8 course thread screws that are countersunk into the metal because from the sides they have to clear the fence rails and underneath they will have shims supporting the router table/wing that need to sit flush to the table/wing.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3441&d=1249416901
From underneath 11/4" and from the sides 2" screws will attach them to the table/wing. Only two screws are driven into the sides because in between them will be a mounting bolt that goes back into the fence rail.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3444&d=1249418069
I thought it might be of interest to some of you to see what I used to set the holes for the angle iron mounting screws. I use them in order from top to bottom on the side mounts and they are:
Lee Valley HSS 82° Countersink bit. Very handy little item.
Lee Valley #8 to #10 centering bit. Also a very handy item.
Lee Valley #7 tapered drill/counterbore combo with no countersink stop attached and the counter bore reversed to work as the depth stop. I use my set of these all the time. Nearly every hole I've drilled on this project has been done using these drills.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3443&d=1249416915
So with all three angle iron mounts in place it was finally time to put the router table/wing in place and start aligning it with the top of the saw table. Two spare pieces of poplar with jointed edges came in handy as a quick reference but of course I have a magnetic 6' straightedge that I laid across the saw table as well. Three spreader clamps lifted the router table/wing up till it was within 2 thou of true at the saw and at the far end. I know that because a 3 thou feeler gauge wouldn't pass between the straightedge and the router table/wing but a 2 thou would, just. I took measurements, made scribe marks and generally lined up everything I possible could for today ready for an early start tomorrow.

I plan to clean all the angle iron with steel wool and then paint it before heading off to drill the three bolt holes in the main angle iron mating surface. Then everything gets put back in place for another trial fit. If the main piece of angle iron is on the money or close it's not coming off again. It will either be tightened down with some red Loctite or it will be tweaked until I have a perfect alignment and then it will be secured permanently. Once that table to table mount is done I can concentrate on the side mounts. I want the main mount perfect before I do a final scribe and measurement for their fence mounting bolt holes. Once I have those they'll be drilled and the table/wing will go back in place again. The side mounts will be adjusted accordingly and once they are correct they will be secured to the fence rails permanently.

Now in all that explanation you'll notice I never said the table/wing would be permanently mounted. That will be done once I have the alignment correct and also once I've installed that pesky router cabinet fixed shelf! Yep, I still haven't done that. Way easier to do it with the top off so I suppose I'd best get that done hadn't I? Tomorrow. Always tomorrow.

[Expat]

No photos for now but I got the main angle iron mount in place and it's semi-permanent. I wound up with less than 0.002" difference in the height of the saw top and the router table/wing top. I can easily live with that. I haven't secured the table/wing as yet because I'm working on the fence rail side mounts and securing it to the router cabinet. That's where I'm stuck at the moment because a major problem reared it's ugly head this afternoon.

The height of the table/wing in comparison to the rails is such that I cannot use the angle iron mounts! Well I could but there would be no way to tighten the mounting bolts without major surgery to the mounts. There's also no way I could drill through the rails into the sides of the table/wing because again the table/wing is so high compared to the rails you'd be way too close to the bottom of the mdf sandwich and I'm sure the material would split. So.......... I'm kind of stuck.

That being said I've thought it over and I know what to do. It's going to require more angle iron and some 11/2" flat steel too. I'm going to attach the table/wing to the router cabinet on all four sides of the cabinet using angle iron screwed into the underside of the table/wing and the inside of the top rails of the cabinet. It's not what I had intended to do but it's the safest and most secure way to do it especially as the table/wing is NOT level with the top of the router cabinet because the saw isn't either! Considering both cabinets are square it makes me think the saw itself must be out of whack. Oh well. Anyway the side mounts from the table/wing to the fence rails will now be flat steel screwed into the table/wing with 2" long screws only from the side and attached to the rails with the usual 5/16" mounting bolts and t-nuts.

This is all a bit of a pain in the backside but them's the breaks.

[Expat]

I got some work done on the new mounts for the router table/wing and the saw fence rails. In fact I got more done than I thought I would considering how nice it was outside and the girls wanting out in the sun.

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3446&d=1249608193
Bought some 1/8"T 2" angle iron for the new fence rail mounts. Cut two 6" long pieces and then scribed them and trimmed their height to match the rails. I've scribed where the center of the rail bolt has to go and I'll drill those on a drill press tomorrow. They are a little too important to do by hand. The new mounts fit into the rabbets I cut in the table/wing sides and bottom just perfect so it was time to work on the new table/wing mounts.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3447&d=1249608386
I put the table/wing in place and adjusted it to the correct height then clamped the 1/8"T 11/4" angle iron mount in place. Then I drilled the five mounting holes in place with a lot of clamps holding the mount. Another piece of angle iron of the same size will go along the inside of the top rear rail of the router cabinet but first I have to cut a piece of 3/4"x 11/2" maple to fit as a filler under the rail, between the stiles and against the rear ply panel. That filler piece will give added support to the mount so I can stagger the mounting screws and not worry about the 3/4" thick top rail splitting under the pressure.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3448&d=1249608392
"Look Ma! No clamps!" The table/wing is supported by the two angle iron mounts and nothing else. I have the rail mounts in place but not attached to the rails to check clearance and all is well.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3449&d=1249608400
Now this is more like what I wanted. The router table/wing is within 0.002" all the way down even only being supported at each end.

Tomorrow once I'm back from T.O. I'll attach the filler rail, the mid-mount and the fence mounts and even the fixed shelf for the router cabinet. That has been a long time coming in it's own right! But it can't go in till the final mounting holes for the table/wing have been drilled and the fence rails adjusted to exactly where they need to be. Then the shelf goes in for good and finally the table/wing gets it's full length mounting screws and we're done with it!

Then it's time to reassemble the saw and cut some false fronts for those drawers and make a door for the router cabinet. Still lots to do but it looks a lot closer now than it did two days ago.

[Expat]

Oi vey! What a day. Got a lot done but I feel like sleeping for a day or two after this one. I know I won't get to of course but so be it.

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3450&d=1249781361
Seeing as I couldn't proceed with much else yesterday I wound up cutting the mitre track groove using my 3/4" dado bit in the router. I crept up on the width and got it nice and snug. Depth wise I eyeballed it using the mitre track and somehow I got it not just close but perfect! I ran the edge of a piece of paper across the transition and it didn't catch in either direction so that tells me I'm good. I'll clean it up side to side once it's epoxied in. Oh once I cut the groove I went back and used a v-groove bit to make a small channel for the epoxy to reside in and not lift the track. I also scored the sides of the groove for epoxy.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3451&d=1249781368
There's an awful lot of red in this work centre! While the Incra 3000se can also be used for the router I bought an Incra V-27 just for use in that track. I'll give it a couple of sacrificial fences for various jobs but I think it's looking pretty good overall.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3452&d=1249781374
Not a big deal really but I put the upper rear filler rail in place to give more support to the router table/wing angle iron mid-mount. The rear rail is 2" x 3/4" maple and the 3/4" x 3/4" maple filler will provide more stability for the angle iron as well as help prevent splitting when I drive the mounting screws into the rear rail.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3453&d=1249781382
And finally here they all are! I checked their alignment and everything is just where I wanted it. All three mounts have holes drilled for the #8 pan head screws that will finally attach the router table/wing but those will not be going in till a number of important details are cleared up.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3456&d=1249783390
One of those details was to get the fence and it's rails set-up properly. It's not just aligning it to the saw top mitre track it's getting it's ride height - for want of a better term - over the saw and router top correct. The rails are attached to the saw top in two places each and to the router cabinet in once location each as you can see here. To get this right requires the router table/wing to be removed and replaced a few times while I adjust the height of each rail with the fence directly above the mounting bolts. The tweaking took a while but eventually I got everything even from one end of the run to the other. You can just place a business card under either end of the fence anywhere along it's run.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3455&d=1249781398
Speaking of the fence's run, it's 431/2" to the right of the blade. I could go further of course because I have enough rail length (60") to move them another 41/2" to give me a full 4' cut to the right but then the ends of the rails would stick out past the end of the router table/wing and you just know they would catch on me and everything else in the place. Besides that would also mean loosening everything up and having to readjust all the ride heights again....... NO THANKS! Anyway this is a right tilt saw so I'd like some more fence space on the left of the blade for bevels and the like.

Tomorrow the two pieces of maple hiding under the router table/wing beside the saw itself will be grooved and used as the front and rear supports for that router cabinet fixed shelf I've been moaning about for weeks! Yes, I actually cut the bloody thing!! I had to finish all the other mounts before it went in because I was inside the router cabinet at one point today! Anyway it's fiddly details time now. I don't really like fiddly details much but I suppose they have to be done. We're not far away now folks. I even bought some spray foam, caulking and velcro today. More on that lot tomorrow.

[artme]

Judging by what you have written and what we see, that will be an excellent and accurate set up. Well done.:2tsup:

[Expat]

Thanks Artme. I'm trying to get this as close as I possibly can to being perfectly aligned. Notice I didn't say square or level. Those would be nice but as I found with the saw top to router table/wing they were not level or aligned and it took some work to get them there. So long as the saw is secured properly - it is - and the table/wing is aligned to the top of the saw - it certainly is - then who cares if they are 1/8" out to the floor or the cabinet tops? Anyway....... here's some info for those folks interested in building one of these.

I've decided to start posting the SketchUp images I did to make each of the elements of the work centre easier to get a look at before I built them. I've added notations to these images with some of my dimensions.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3457&d=1249857571
First up is the router cabinet and table/wing. I haven't put in all the individual measurements or labels here because my build is different in a lot of ways to the original Wood Magazine build so I've just put the highlights in here. I haven't bothered with the cleats for the sliding and fixed shelves, the front and rear rails for the fixed shelf or the pieces for the sliding shelf. There's lots of that info in the previous posts.

One thing I would change if you're building this and you're using the same contractor saw as I did is the height of the cabinet. Either raise this 1/4" or drop the saw cabinet 1/4" unless you want to use a similar mounting system for your router table/wing to what I used. I like mine although it did take some figuring out and lots of back and forth with measurements and adjustments. It's very sturdy and it allows me to change the table/wing fairly easily if and when it gets torn up through hard use.

Next, the saw cabinet but for now it's back to the build.

[Expat]

Wow is that storm outside something! It was so humid working in the garage today it reminded me of home...... almost! The thunderstorm the humidity has brought with it certainly is like some of the little ones we get in Brissie. If only we had a galvanised roof then it's be almost perfect.

Now that I've sweated through the day slowly working on those fiddly bits I hate I thought it was time to post the results of my efforts only to find......
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3458&d=1249865890
"If you like the sound of shufflin' feet he can't be beat"! Okay so these are little feet and it brought to mind Little Feat. Love that band.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3459&d=1249865896
"Obscured by Maddy". Emma reeled off about a dozen shots before Mummy got hold of the camera. I kinda like this one of Mah-Moo.

Anyway back to wood....
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3460&d=1249865904
Thought I'd better align the blade seeing as how the saw has been moved around a LOT the past week or two. Would you believe it's out by less than 0.0005"!!!! Amazing considering what it's been through. So I left it alone. I really like the Align-It. Okay so it's another piece of red equipment.....
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3461&d=1249865912
WOO HOO! We have a motor again. I replaced the original velcro for The Boot with this 2" wide Industrial Strength velcro. I wrapped it around the sides of the saw and down to the bottom of the spacer so that I can take up all the slack in The Boot which is made to fit a lot of different contractor saws and I think mine isn't one of the largest out there.
I also sealed up a bunch of the factory seams in the saw's case with caulking. Once I have the time I'll use the expanding foam insulation around the top of the case under the cast iron top and seal those gaps as well. That will ensure that the air drawn in by the dust collection is coming from the blade area and not from every gap, hole and open area under there. I'd have done it today but it started to sprinkle while I was doing this so I retreated inside and didn't have room to get down under everything.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3462&d=1249865921
Looks like a shelf to me! Once I got inside I installed that fixed shelf in the router cabinet at long last. No brads, screws or any other fasteners needed. This thing is in tight and the glue will hold it nicely. Now for some poly inside the cabinet to seal everything up before I close the lid on this thing.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3463&d=1249865930
With The Boot installed again - after I gave it a bath - I decided it was time to test everything out. So power, dust collection, action. The Boot certainly sucked in when the DC was turned on. Minimal leakage around the edges of it but that's not bad because it means dust won't be escaping there.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3464&d=1249865938
Speaking of dust....... I thought as I had most everything in place I may as well fire the saw up and make some dust. So I ran a 3' long piece of scrap 5/4 poplar through it and this is all I got.
That's not all. The saw was SOOOOOOO quiet! No rattles or vibrations at all. Once it was up to speed it just purred. So, so very much better than before.

I was going to install one of the stamped metal wings on the left till I'd built the downdraft table/wing but would you believe it won't fit!? Too wide to go between the rails. That really tells me something about the metal wings and those stock rails. I'm positive now they've created some bad cuts. Maybe not out by a lot but not as accurate as they should have been. So I'll live with what I have till I build the downdraft table. That shouldn't be more than a couple of months........

[Expat]

It's humid out in the garage but I got something done that I've been waiting for since this time last year when I first thought about building this work centre.

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3466&d=1249929320
Here's the router table/wing clamped in place ready to be screwed down to it's mounts.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3467&d=1249929327
DONE! Okay there's still a bunch of things to do yet but at last now I can do a lot of them using my new mobile work centre! Three false fronts and a door to be made yet but the saw is in work ready condition right now.
Now I did skip taking photos of some steps I took today like applying the poly to the inside of the router cabinet, bonding the router's mitre track in place, rounding over the ends of the mitre track and giving the router table/wing one last coat of poly on the sides and underneath.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3468&d=1249929394
The sliding shelf n the router cabinet is filling up fast so I'd better hop to it and cut the opening for the router lift hadn't I?

I wonder how quick I can build that downdraft table because my niece/nephew will be arriving soon and I have a blanket/toy box to build.

[Christos]

This is really coming together now.

[Expat]

Thanks Christos.

No photos as yet but I cut most of the mdf for the false fronts and door last night once we got home from spending all day at Sick Kid's getting Maddy's cast off. At last. Anyway that's for another time and place, back to the wood things.

I just wanted to say that in spite of my not having the tape measure for the fence yet cutting that mdf was a completely different experience to what it has been previously. Before, even with my shop vac and the same dust plate I'm using now attached to the saw I'd wind up with dust everywhere. There would be piles of it on the saw top as well as in the air and all over me and everything in the garage or the driveway. Not any more! After cutting all the 3/4" I have a tiny - and I mean tiny - amount of dust on the top of the saw and virtually none left inside it. There was NO dust in the air or on me. I was wearing dark clothes out there and nothing wound up on me. I haven't even sealed the underside of the saw table yet so I figure once I've done that the efficiency of the collection should increase dramatically because there is so much pressure loss. I may have to use some more velcro on The Boot to stop it being sucked inside the saw case!

Another thing I am loving is the way the saw starts up and runs. It is like night and day compared to previously. I had that thing set up pretty good with my link belt and PALs all making it better than out of the box but the improvement since it's been attached to the work centre is simply amazing. You'd think it was a different saw. No rattles, no vibrations, no blade pinging of any kind and so smooth when making the cuts. I love it. I haven't added up what I've spent to build this thing so far - and I probably won't - but it is worth every penny. I doubt that even with the initial purchase of the saw I've spent what the Saw Stop contractor would have cost me last year - and I really came close to buying it - but I am so happy with this there is no way I would change...... and I haven't even installed the router lift yet!

So I just want close with this. Any one thinking of building one of these work centres DO IT! You will not be sorry you did and probably you'll be like me wondering why you took so long to build the thing.

[Expat]

In spite of the heat and the fact that most of Thursday and Friday I was falling over when I tried to stand up - loads of fun for all the family let me tell you - I got some work done and today I got quite a bit done.

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3476&d=1250379269
First off I cut a piece of 3/4" mdf to fit the opening for the two drawers and the sliding shelf in the saw cabinet. I left roughly an 1/8" all around.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3477&d=1250379277
Then I cut it into two pieces along the middle of the center panel. That was followed by cutting the piece in front of the drawers (on the right) in half.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3475&d=1250379260
This is all the dust that escaped while cutting the mdf. Am I ever happy with this system and it will only get better as I continue to seal up the considerable gaps that still exist.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3478&d=1250379285
Ran a 11/2"W x 3/8"D rabbet around the inside edges of all three false fronts. This way they all clear the upper and lower front rails and the center panel of the cabinet with room to spare.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3479&d=1250379292
Dry fit of the lower drawer false front. I like.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3480&d=1250379300
Dry fit of the sliding shelf false front along with it's pull. Why vertical? Why not!
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3481&d=1250379308
Back from Mack's to drill the holes for the drawer pulls and final dry fit for all three false fronts is underway.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3482&d=1250379315
And here's the drawer fronts complete.....
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3483&d=1250379323
......followed by all three complete!
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3484&d=1250379330
Oila! Yes I could have mounted the sliding shelf pull horizontally but when I was arranging everything on the top of the work centre to look at the relationship between the three pulls I liked this better. To each their own. You will note from that last photo that my Incra 3000se now has a new home. Fits very nicely. Now I have to put all the rest of that stuff back where it belongs!

If you're wondering what the peg board and 5/8" melamine are doing on top of the saw, well that's for tomorrow! 144 holes to be drilled in the melamine because that's the top of the dowdraft table/wing that goes to the left of the saw. I'll surround it with 3/4" x 2" maple which will be used as the mounts to the saw and the rails. I'm tossing up whether to build the box under the downdraft area as per the plans I have from Wood magazine or simplify things by just installing a 12"x12" dust collection plate similar to the 14"x14" model I have under the saw. I'm leaning heavily towards the plate right now.

[Expat]

I want to point a couple of things out here. The lower drawer front was the first I installed and of course it was the easiest by far. I had the drawer in place and used two clamps to hold the false front on, removed the drawer and screwed the front on. Simple.

The upper drawer was a little more of a challenge because I couldn't use clamps until I got the drawer out of the cabinet. So I used some double sided tape. The problem with that stuff is that sometimes it will allow a little movement. That's not such a good thing when you're trying to maintain precise gaps. Took a couple of tries to get it just where I wanted it but I got it done.

The sliding shelf was a nightmare! No way to use clamps and it's so big compared to the front of the shelf that it moved no matter how much tape I used. So it was a real trial and error job. Not only that but I found why there is a gap between the bottom of the two cabinets and it is in the top of the mobile base! The shelf false front does not sit square to the other fronts if it is square to the base. It's not out by much but a close inspection shows the difference.

So of course that added to the misery of fitting that last false front. I finally got it done but in those photos it's only held on by 2 screws at the moment. I was so frustrated by the time I got it to where I would accept the look and fit that I just packed up and shut it down for the day. The fact that melamine is one of the worst materials ever produced by human hands didn't help my mood either. At least it was only $8 I wasted on that garbage. I knew I should have stuck with ply/mdf covered by laminate and that's what I'll do today. 5/8" ply with a 3/4" x 2" maple edge and a laminate top across the ply and the maple for a uniform look to what I have on the other side.

Oh and while I'm here this is the image with some of the specs on the saw cabinet:
http://www.sppss.com/fence/Saw_Cabinet.jpg
It's important to remember that while the original plans from Wood specified that the 1/2" ply rides in 1/4" deep grooves down the middle of the rails and stiles for both cabinets, we all know that 1/2" ply isn't 1/2" thick! So to keep all the measurements correct what I did was make the grooves 1/2" from the inside of the 11/2" wide rails and stiles and 3/4" from the inside of the 2" wide upper rear rails. I cut the grooves at 15/32" with a router bit made for undersized ply. The fact that the outside measurement was 1/32" larger than the plans makes no difference.

[Expat]

Okay so I've junked the use of the melamine and I've gone back to the drawing board. Well not so much the drawing board so much as I'm making this up as I go along!

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3491&d=1250538174http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3492&d=1250538182
I had more spare poplar sitting around than maple so it got the nod for the rails. I went with 11/2" for the height and I'm planing it down to 3/4" thick. I made the initial thicknessing passes using the table saw because there was so much build up in the surface and I didn't want to wear out the blades in the planer just yet! the bottom surface of the un-planed stock has been jointed so I had two good surfaces to use on the saw for dimensioning.
The cross rails are a tad under 27" long to fit snugly between the fence rails and the short rails - you can call them stretchers if you like - are 16" long. So my left wing come downdraft sanding table will be 27" x 171/2". A good size.
Now I'll put them through the planer and get them down to 3/4" then I'll assemble the frame before I run them around the router to give them a 1/4" x 5/8" rabbet for the ply to sit down in. Once I have the mounting bolt holes drilled and a relief cut in the underside of the ply for those bolts I can mount it up and then laminate the entire top of the wing. That way I have a uniform top surface for stock to ride on rather than be able to see the edge between the laminate and the poplar.

Quite a bit of my time yesterday was spent cleaning up and reorganising various areas of the garage to try and get more room to work and move about. While I was doing that I wondered aloud what I would do with the old base for the saw and where I could move the spindle/belt sander to.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3495&d=1250538399http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3496&d=1250538407
Then it occurred to me that I shouldn't throw out the old base but instead utilise it as a mobile base for the sander! So I'm going to build a storage box on top of the legs and then mount the sander on top of that. I think two drawers in the box for sanding supplies and an open space at each end for my random orbital and belt sanders should be just about right. That'll shrink two floor space occupiers down to one. I've got plenty more poplar, mdf and ply hanging about for this and maybe a new mobile base for the planer. That old microwave cart is not enjoying the extra weight it's carrying around.

[Expat]

I have been working but just not posting the progress because it's been slow. Lots of appointments this week for the girls so that takes up a lot of time especially with travelling into T.O. and back to the 'Shwa.

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3507&d=1250739830
After cutting and dimensioning the poplar I glued and squared it all up. The work centre makes a handy work area.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3508&d=1250739839
Square and flat it fits snug as a bug.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3510&d=1250739854
I cut 1/4" deep rabbets the same depth as the 3/4" baltic birch ply I picked up. I wanted 5/8" but there was none to be had! I know 3/4" will be a little stronger but it means more work and you'll see why in my next post.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3511&d=1250739901
The ply sits nicely in the opening. I know it's a little proud here but it does sit virtually flush. It doesn't have to be perfect because the whole thing is going through a drum sander to ensure that the surface that the laminate is going on is perfectly even. Method to my madness you see.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3512&d=1250739911
To be able to eyeball the mounting holes into the saw table I used a piece of scrap maple and let the frame be supported by the fence rails. That drops the frame down to where it is just barely above the mounting holes so I could mark their centers and then transfer those down the face of the frame.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3513&d=1250740010
After drilling the holes I used a 3/4" pattern bit and ran it along the inside of the frame to provide relief for the bolt heads and washers. You can see how the 3/4" ply is going to have to be relieved where the bolts are too. 5/8" would have been a little easier because that would have also meant the rabbet wouldn't have been as deep so more poplar would have remained. I don't think I'll be tugging on this wing to pull the work centre along though. I've already drilled the side mount holes and that was all I had time for today. Virtually all day at Sick Kid's for follow-ups and tests tomorrow so no work till we get home and who knows what time that will be.

[Waldo]

Enjoying following your progress. :2tsup:

[Expat]

Had to give up doing much last night because we were blacked out most of the evening after the storm rolled through. Shame what happened to the teenage boy pinned under a tent that collapsed a couple of hours from here. Lots of homes lost roofs as well and spouts were seen all over the region. It was wild. Anyway the enforced lay-off gave the glue time to really set up so it was all for the best.

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3514&d=1250875695
Before the glue was applied and the lights went out I relieved the area around the bolt heads. Gives me enough room to use a ratchet ring spanner - and it is a spanner not a bloody wrench!
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3515&d=1250875702
With the glue dry this morning here it is supported by it's mounting bolts. Time for some drum sanding of the top.
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3516&d=1250875710
Okay I've skipped a few steps ahead here but you'll get the idea. A couple of passes through the drum sander at The Carpenter's Square and the top was level and smooth so on went the contact adhesive and laminate. Into the router for a trim and then an 1/8" roundover. Next up will be the swiss cheese routine using the peg board as my template and then I'll attach the 121/4" x 121/4" dust collection plate underneath. Finally a couple of coats of poly and then mount her up level to the saw top. With this wing in place I'll have a work surface 781/2" x 27" to play with. Nice!

[Expat]

Got quite a bit done today even though it may not look like all that much has changed. It's those fiddly bits again making me look lazy! Anyway there was a change of plans last night after I had finished drilling 144 holes in the new wing. Your mind tends to wander at moments like that and mine wandered off to whether I should change to a larger dust collection plate or stick with the 121/4" one I already had. This morning I caved in and bought the 14" model. I'll find a use for the other one somewhere.

So like I said I drilled a lot of holes all of which required a little chamfering to make sure they weren't going to catch on anything. I chamfered both sides so that was 144 holes drilled and 288 chamfers...... my hands hurt after that. Would have been easier with a drill press but of course that hasn't magically appeared in the garage as yet. Maybe after the Woodstock Wood Show?

So without further ado here's where I am as of right now:
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3517&d=1250968632
Okay so I haven't rounded over the false fronts which means they aren't poly'd yet either! Fiddly bits!!! At least I finally found a home for that Cubs decal I've been hanging onto all these years. I wound up mounting the start/stop box using the front rail bolt. THAT was an ordeal! Because the Red-Line uses a channel that a t-nut runs in you would normally mount the bolt and nut first and then feed the rail on which is how I initially installed the rails. To pull the bolt to mount the start/stop box and then feed it back into the t-nut was a complete pain until I utilised a piece of scrap maple less than 1/8" thick. The t-nut has a small raised area around the threads that sits inside the opening of the rail track so by squeezing the maple behind the nut I was able to locate it where the bolt would come through and it wouldn't move as I clumsily tried to start the bolt!
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3518&d=1250968638
Yes I haven't made the door for the router cabinet yet either! More bloody fiddly bits!!!!!!!!! At least the template for the router lift will be here on Monday direct from Jessem. Busy Bee and their 6-8 weeks, pppppttttt!
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=3519&d=1250968644
This is what's under the downdraft table/wing. Like I said I went for the 14" square plate instead. I used a little bead of caulk to seal it off to the underside of the table/wing and it certainly sucks! I plan to semi-permanently attach dust hose to this and the saw plate running along the rear of the work centre where it can then be attached to the dust collector. The motor hangs out the back anyway so it's not like I'm making this any wider or less manoeverable.

So there's the last of the dust collection, the false front and pulls finishing, the router lift and the router cabinet door to be done and then it's all over. Doesn't sound like much....... yeah, right!

[stevemc32]

Looks great Expat. :2tsup:

Really enjoying your WIP, well done!

[Al B]

Excellent job Expat,:2tsup: I'm also enjoying your WIP, good stuff mate!

[Expat]

Not much has been done these past few days but there's a good reason for that. I've been playing with my girls in the backyard and today we all went round to see my beautiful new niece Isabella. It's my first time being an uncle and I was so happy for my wife's brother and his missus. Bella is so beautiful and so tiny. Seems funny to think our two were that small not so long ago. Actually they were both A LOT smaller! Oh and on the way over we stopped at Busy Bee to pick up some more dust collection parts and a router bit..... yes, I got the "stare"!

Now in spite of the lack of real progress I thought I should post something this evening - GTA time - as it's 8 weeks to the day since I finally started building this darn thing! At times it's felt like a lot longer and at others time has just flown by. All in all it's been a lot of fun. I've been able to use this project to shake off the dust of the past 11 years idleness and have tried a few things I've never done before. Some things worked great and others not so much. But as I said in a previous post I am very, very happy with the result so far and am just sorry I didn't start this sooner.

http://www.sppss.com/fence/template_door.jpg
Now what I did manage to do over the past two days was cut the door for the router cabinet and then moments later the delivery man appears in my doorway with a parcel from Jessem! MY TEMPLATE!!!!! Yay! I cut a piece of scrap mdf to sit inside the template so the router has plenty of surface to balance on. I picked up a 1/2" cutter while I was at Busy Bee to use in conjunction with the 3/4" bushing I have to make the rabbet for the router lift/plate. Tomorrow I'll drop by Michaels (craft store) and pick up some double-sided tape to secure the template and piece of scrap to the surface and then it's plunge time!
http://www.sppss.com/fence/dust_collection_1.jpg
The other thing I've been doing while waiting for the template and other little bits (literally) to materialise was setting up the dust collection system. I'm grounding everything as I go so there's no sparks. Here's the 4" hose from the downdraft table running to the rear of the work centre and it's blast gate. The two blast gates - downdraft table and the saw - are glued to a Y connector which is then held to the back of the cabinets by the same type of clamp that's holding the tubing from the downdraft table. In this photo it's not secured because it's easier to set everything in place before I attach it to the cabinet.
The copper lines are secured at each end by ring clips which are screwed to the outside of the plastic parts or the metal hose clamps and each other so there is a continuous circuit to earth everything. The dust hose from under the saw has a copper line running to the saw itself so the whole system is grounded at the saw and at the dust collector. Only the router and downdraft table are not directly connected into the circuit. I just have to run the last of the hose from the saw to it's blast gate and then attach another Y connector for the router hose take-off and dust collection will be done.
Oh, do you like the cord clamp on the rear of the work centre? I've got a couple of these holding my extension cords in the garage and in my backyard shed and I love 'em. Gotta get one for the router switch and another for the sanding station too.

[Expat]

........and my wife's voice cried out from the kitchen "Is it done yet!?"

http://www.sppss.com/fence/it_is_done.jpg
You tell me?

Still got to fit the router cabinet door and the drawer fronts need rounding over and sealing up plus I have to install the router switch/speed control and it's dust tubing but for all intents and purposes.......

IT'S DONE BABY!!!!!

[kekemo]

Will it wheel up stairs.......LOL....??????
I can see it will do nearly everything else.... so bloody fantastic job... now more attention can be lavished on your other mistress again....LOL...
cheers KEKEMO

.... found your glasses yet????
.... they're a few messages back....
.... thought they where mine... usually what I do... take them off & put them somewhere safely out of the way..... again!

[paininthe]

Great stuff and I have really enjoyed your wip. It has provided inspiration to get me off my **** and get somehing done. Thanks again

[Expat]

Will it wheel up stairs.......LOL....??????
I can see it will do nearly everything else.... so bloody fantastic job... now more attention can be lavished on your other mistress again....LOL...
cheers KEKEMO
Thanks mate. I've enjoyed building it and now using it. I'll post a final set of photos once I finish the fiddly bits and have all the pieces installed. I wish it would climb stairs or at least move itself about. It's heavy mate!! I'm actually regretting going with four swivel casters instead of the original 2 fixed, 2 swivel. It's a pain to have to correct the sideways movement if the far end casters have taken a set.
As for SWMBO I've got to get to work on the build list now although our old microwave stand has cried "Enough!" so I may have to build a new stand for the planer before I can do anything else. First up is the blanket/toy box for my first niece who came along a week ago and then SWMBO wants a computer desk come storage for the kitchen. She also mentioned something about a kitchen table and beds for our girls so all that's been added to my list. It never ends...........

.... found your glasses yet????
.... they're a few messages back....
.... thought they where mine... usually what I do... take them off & put them somewhere safely out of the way..... again!
Those are my $C3.00 specials! Actually they are safety rated cheapies that I use in the shop only. My good readers I keep in my office and my Carrara Markets $2.00 specials reside on my side of the bed.


Great stuff and I have really enjoyed your wip. It has provided inspiration to get me off my **** and get somehing done. Thanks again
It surprising how many people have said they enjoyed this long winded effort of mine. I thought it would have bored people to sleep by now. I worried that I was going into too much detail but a lot of the pm's and posts have been so kind about this I'm glad that I did go into things the way I did. If it's inspired anyone to do something like this for themselves then that's a good thing. I found it very relaxing during a time when there were a lot of things going on around here that were guaranteed to keep me awake at night.
Anyone looking to build something along these lines wanting more info on measurements and maybe even cutting lists etc... just drop me a line. I'm happy to share my Sketch-Up, text and jpeg files for all of this. I can't share the pdf files of the original Wood magazine plans of course for copyright reasons but most of my files cover all you'd need to know.

[Christos]

....

IT'S DONE BABY!!!!!



No it's not. You still have all those fiddly bits to do. So you are not done. :)















Ok Ok Ok Ok It's done. As you said. Your done. :D

[Expat]

No it's not. You still have all those fiddly bits to do. So you are not done. :) Ok Ok Ok Ok It's done. As you said. Your done. :D
Please don't remind me!:doh:

[paininthe]

I have never used a router table, will you be routing from one side and sawing from the other? If i was to fit an Incra posistioner would that go between the saw and the router?

The ruler and guide, is that part of the your posistioner system?

[Expat]

I have never used a router table, will you be routing from one side and sawing from the other? If i was to fit an Incra posistioner would that go between the saw and the router?
The ruler and guide, is that part of the your posistioner system?
I like Incra products but I looked at the positioner system last year and said "Not for this little black duck!" I suppose you could use it but the router table would have to be in the left wing which wouldn't be that big a step over really. Then you could have a pocket hole assembly table to the right of the positioner. See that's one of the drawbacks to that system I think - apart from the price - the fact that it takes up so much room to the right of the saw blade. And what if you need to make bevel cuts from the other side of the blade? I was doing that this afternoon while I made some clamp racks. My saw is right tilt so I cut bevels with the fence to the left of the blade so I'm not trapping the work.
I also got to use the router table for the first time on the clamp racks to round their edges over. Didn't need the fence for that and the whole thing worked great. Lots of room for long pieces to be supported on. I do need the external speed control and power switch though!
Plus the area to the right of my blade is very handy for assembly and also for stacking board and sheet stock that's just been cut to size. You put an Incra there and now you have to find a new place to stack everything. Like I said, it's not for me!
The ruler that's on the fence front rail is a guide and that's all just like on most saws. I have it zeroed in on the back of the blade but for real accuracy I'll be adding a Wixey digital readout down the road. I already use digital measuring devices on all of my work - planing, cross and rip cuts and even determining angles. Depending on how you're standing and looking at the marks on the tape and the pointer you can be out on each cut by quite a way. That's the one thing I really like about the Incra and why I like using my 3000se mitre gauge, accuracy. The first thing I built for the new set up was a fine adjustment jig that attaches to the front rail and will move the fence along more accurately than tapping it with my palm! Combined with digital measuring and memory sticks on each project I can be sure of what I'm cutting down to way better than 1/128" every cut.

[paininthe]

Thankyou for taking the time to post my answer, aswell as being that, it has asked me some new questions. I am an engineer by trade and that is what made me fancy Incra.

Space is a bit of an issue that is why looked with interest at this thread.

[Expat]

I've only got 13'x18' to play in and there are some items in the garage that have to be there so I'm more limited in what I can fit in than the dimensions would make it appear. It was a year of research before I started collecting the tools I want/need for the "shop" and because I have two little girls who get first bite of the cherry around here my budget was also limited. So as much as a SawStop would have been nice the Delta ts is what I could justify to SWMBO and I built the work centre to get better peformance, better mobility and more flexibility out of it and the router along with more storage.

I think Incra make some great tools for the workshop. That's why I have a few laying around! I just looked at the Positioner and photos of it installed in various workshops and I just couldn't see ways around the limitations it would have imposed on me. Then there's the cost factor as well. Right now I have 431/2" rip capacity to the right of the blade. So to get that with the Incra I'm looking at the 52" Positioner and that's well over $C700! The Red-Line 60" costs $C337 with taxes and a Wixey digital read out is $C123 with taxes. Plus I can use them with the Red-Line router fence ($C113 w/taxes) for the router table and all I have to do is zero the Wixey on the spindle. That's still in the region of $C570 but for that - and what everything else cost me - I get a digital saw and router fence system and I still get a 791/2" x 27" assembly/work table with a downdraft sanding area, a table saw, a router table and storage all in one!

I think if you have the room and a work/assembly bench then for some people the LS Positioner is a great tool. For me it wasn't.

[Expat]

Those of you who have read this epic from the beginning will know that I planned to use the Red-Line Router Fence on the work centre. Well at the recent Woodstock Wood Show I went and picked one up from Mary and Dave Wooland of The Saw Shop. It's been nearly 2 weeks since then and I finally opened the box and installed it! I've been busy okay.
http://www.sppss.com/rlrf1/001.jpg
This is what you get when you open up the box for the RLRF-1.
I have to say that before you use one of these take the time and clean up the edges of the UHMW plastic a little. I used a scalpel and a small fine sanding drum to clean everything up but I still have to do some final cleaning of little "tails" here and there.
http://www.sppss.com/rlrf1/002.jpg
The outfeed side can be adjusted to allow for jointing operations on the router table. Whether you use brass shimming stock or some other method to adjust the router fence away from the saw fence be sure you check your alignment carefully
http://www.sppss.com/rlrf1/003.jpg
One complaint I have with this design is that the dust chute can only be mounted with the spout facing left or right and not to the rear of the fence. I prefer to have the dust hose - whether it's from a shop-vac or a dedicated dust collection system - running away from me so the hose is completely out of the way of stock I'm feeding into or moving away from the bit. A minor point I know but something that is important to me.
Another thing that irked me were the two knurled nuts on the right side as I have the dust fitting installed. They are very difficult to tighten with my clumsy fingers. Anyone with joint problems or sausage fingers is going to be in strife with these. Because of the angle of the dust port these nuts sit just a bit too high. A lower profile nut would have been better. Again just a small point.
http://www.sppss.com/rlrf1/004.jpg
All assembled and ready to rout! I ran a straight edge across the faces and everything was good as gold. It's easy to make a set of zero clearance faces for the fence if you're going to use bits that benefit from that kind of thing but it would be nice if they were offered as maybe an optional accessory by Red-Line for those folks who just want to get on with routing and not take the time to do it themselves. Same can be said for a pair of high profile fence faces for routing taller pieces. Maybe some time in the future?

So far it feels very solid and easy to adjust with everything fitting together as it should and only minor cleaning up of the plastic's edges needed before it was assembled. It's easily removed from the saw fence and stowed away in the router cabinet of the work centre and reinstalled in less than a minute. I haven't had a chance to use the fence as yet but all indications are it'll work just the way I want it to.