Thread: Mid Week Therapy

Part two:

To rout the grid I just used a clamping bar and a hand-held router. Unfortunately, all that MDF dust (of which material the top is made) made me sneeze mid cut - see last pic .

I've coated both the top and underside of same with a couple of coats of FW's Floorseal to make it more durable, and less prone to breaking up.

It seems to work pretty well judging by a quick trial run with a ROS and some Crapiata. Somewhat surprisingly, there seems to be about as much dust extraction capacity at the far end as to the near end to the vacuum hose.

Good use of a bit of spare time.

Just a tip about working with mdf.
Put an old household fan on the bench to blow the dust away from you.

Originally Posted by echnidna

Good use of a bit of spare time.

Just a tip about working with mdf.
Put an old household fan on the bench to blow the dust away from you.

He should have been using a dust extraction system.

Originally Posted by chrisb691

He should have been using a dust extraction system.

SmartAr$e

Whats the bit of masking tape on the throat insert plate for?
Good productive time wasting!

Originally Posted by Auld Bassoon

Hi all,

I've been a bit crook the last couple of days, and had to go for a medical examination earlier today (following a dose of Colon-Easy last night :eek: ).

Doesnt sound too enjoyable. Hope its not too serious mate.

Cheers Martin

Like the dust extraction unit , hope theres no patent on it as will proberly steal the design
Rgds

Like the sanding station Auld. Midge has something similar but a grillage of battens each way with an extraction fan at the underside - looks effective - whether or not the fan is better than a vacuum - not sure. But worth mention is the use of this two way batten topped box on the drill press to collect the drill shavings - now that I must do sometime.

Cheers

Nice work Auldie.

I really like the vac sander.

Must do that myself one day...

Cam

Steve,

Can you please post a plan for your tenon jig? It seems a little different to others in the forum. I hope you don't mind me copying these.

Hope your'e much better again.

Isn't it just wonderful therapy to make sawdust in the shed for a few hours?

Nice Work Auldie!

Question: How does the downdraft table work?

(I'll finish mine soon and let you know!)

Originally Posted by TEEJAY

But worth mention is the use of this two way batten topped box on the drill press to collect the drill shavings - now that I must do sometime.

Teejay, I don't know if you noticed, but I've got a one-way batten thing happening...there's a pic round here somewhere.

Mine connects to the dusty, and works fine, but it still likes an above-table sucker as well. Don't forget if you are contemplating this, that big holes generate big chips. So Auld's downdraft model won't work, it has to be big gaps for the drill press.

Cheers,

P

Originally Posted by Knurl

Steve,

Can you please post a plan for your tenon jig?

Hi Dave,

I'm afraid that for this I didn't make any plans, just looked a few pics of other folks' efforts.

If you wish, I can, tomorrow, measure the thing up, and sketch out a basic layout, but all that is really needed is a sled that's free from wobble and that rides smoothly in the T/S's mitre slot; a panel above and co-planar to the sled, riding on a nylon (or such) slider that is laterally adjustable and that can be clamped down (to achieve repeatable breadth of tenons), and a vertical (exactly 90o to the table) element attached to the moveable horizontal element, and against which the workpiece can be clamped.

For this jig and for my copy of Rockers Morticing jig, I just used a high density nylon chopping board (about $6 at the local supermarket), cust the requires strips slightly oversize on the T\S and then hand planed them to the precise dimensions required, as determined by the straight router bit(s) available.

I also applied Floorseal to seal the surface and make the MDF less prone to break-up. Gee, does that stuff soak up the good oil

Originally Posted by TEEJAY

Midge has something similar but a grillage of battens each way with an extraction fan at the underside
Cheers

Yep - I've seen that on the "Best of the Best" thread.

By using 5mm deep 'V' slots and 5mm holes at the intersections of the 30mm x 30mm grid I think I can achieve a more uniform airflow across the whole rig. If needs be, I can always enlarge the holes a bit. Much as I just so much enjoy drilling 406 holes in succession .

I did think about using a take-off from the 2HP D/C, but having a 100mm "elephants trunk" flapping around seems to be a nuisance; in any case I think that air flow from the shop vacuum will be enough.

One mod that I have made is to glue some naff old belt sander abrasive strips on the rig's bottom. If that isn't enough to stop the bugga scooting about, I'll attach some edge strips that will facilitate the clamping of the beast to the bench.

Originally Posted by bitingmidge

So Auld's downdraft model won't work, it has to be big gaps for the drill press.

P

Hi Midge!

As you've noted, my table is only good for sanding dust collection - wouldn't be any use at all on a machine that produces chips...

Er mate... Your grid thingy was posted in early 2005 - and not finished yet eh? :eek: :eek:

How it works? I've thus far only had a couple of small trial runs, but it seems to work as well, or better, than having the ROS connected to the vacuum - and allows much more freedom of movement for the sandee (moi!). It also works with hand-sanding in that it prevents the bench and surrounding area becoming buried in dust.