The Poet Creek Express - Foamie Hybrid

[KCStudly]

Rocky sends me off out the door for a few hours at the shop.


Here's that cheap a$$ shelf unit with my build tools and supplies. These things are so light gauge, and the long vertical members are in two sections so they will fit into cardboard boxes and sit on the shelves at the big box stores. They are so cheap that the diagonal braces only span a minimal distance near the spliced section, that they will barely stand up by themselves. In this pic you can kind of see the full length slat that I added diagonally across the back, and in a following pic you can see the ones on the sides, sheet metal screwed at each shelf.

The shelf is also screwed to the barn timber for security.

Get used to the loft. This is my new build area. Here is the table saw out feed table loaded down with weighty stuff to try and make it flat again.



The table was built by Ben with just the 4 corner legs and skirting, as a complementary feature for his table saw. When it got moved to Mecca for "storage" it got loaded up with a bunch of heavy stuff and became "sway backed". When Karl started to reorganize the loft (in hopes of insulating and moving me up) he found the curly table sitch, and added the 4 centrally located legs, hoping that by screwing the skirt boards to these that it would pull straight again; didn't work. So he unscrewed the skirt boards and loaded up the ends to make it flat again. All of the stuff in the middle just sort of landed there.

While I had the camera out I took some shots of the rest of my building materials that had been carefully brought up and placed. Gives a little better idea of the work space.



Once I got everything moved off of the table and situated somewhat logically, I found that the table was still curly with the corner legs each lifted about 1/4 inch off of the floor. Unacceptable for gluing up flat assemblies.


Sighting down the table top you can see that some of the curl is in the skirting and some is due to the corners of the laminated particle board top lifting away from the frame at the corners.


I kind of scratched my head for a few minutes trying to decide if I wanted to load the table up again to get it back to being mostly flat; seemed like a lot of work to load again then have to unload after reinforcing. So I ran out to the hdwr store and got some small angle brackets. Started by shimming under the middle legs about 1/8 inch (thinking that some preload in the opposite direction would be good) then anchored the corner legs to the floor.

Note how I left the bottom flange of the bracket a little high so that it would positively pull the leg down.

With the shims under the middle legs the top now had a little "S" shape in it, which I didn't like, so I decided to remove the shims; pry bar made short work of this w/o having to unscrew the corner legs. Next I pried up on the lower skirt boards for some preload and screwed them off to the middle legs, then I added diagonals at each corner made from some scrap 2x4's that Karl had laying around.


Sank a few screws down through the top into the end grain of the legs to pull the top back down and here is what I got.


The edges of the top are a little flared due to moisture absorption, and it still curls up a bit if I unscrew it from the floor, but it is easy enough to screw it back down to the floor if I have to move it around. Spent a few minutes scrapping some old glue blobs off of the top and just doing general cleanup (petting the cat, too).

Weather today was a bit sketchy and the maple stock for the cabinet face frames (that has been stored in my basement) won't fit in the Escape w/o having the rear hatch slightly open, so I decided against trying to move that into the shop today. Went to an open house at the Sixpaca farm and pet me an Alpaca instead.
http://www.sixpaca.com/about-alpacas.html

[RandyG]

Just letting ya know a lot of us are still keeping up with the build. Now you've got a place to work, you can get on with it again. I can't wait to see the outcome of all this so get to it!

[Wobbly Wheels]

Sometimes it's a drag when you've got to do setup/cleanup before you can get productive, but remember that you've got a shop to build n that is the envy of us all !
I'm sure we all wish we had a friend set up up as well as Karl is

As it is, I've been borrowing a buddy's thickness planer for a couple weeks to mill down some cedar for hardpoints in my walls. I haven't told him this yet, but I'm not giving it back !

Would a plywood top on that table would be more dimensionally stable ?
That particle board must be gross as an alignment table when it's humid in the shop.

[Wolffarmer]

Pylwood or MDF would work. The table I built mine on is topped 1/2 MDF. I am amazed how well it is working. I left a bit of over hang on all sides to clamp to and it works very well. And being MDF don't think twice about screwing something to it.

Randy

[KCStudly]

You guys are absolutely correct. I have no room to complain. That's just poor form and rude.

Like WW said, "Sometimes it's a drag when you've got to do setup/cleanup before you can get productive...". Between the commute to the shop; the longer than usual hours at my regular job; missing my deadline and not getting to go to Poet Creek this year; and getting a little off track with the changes around the shop, it has been slow going getting back into the swing of things.

Going up and down the stairs, which I seem to be doing a lot lately, will be good exercise for me, and...Good News... we go back to regular hours at work next week!

I think the saw table will actually be better for the cabinet work. The steel tables downstairs tend to stain and smudge grime into the wood. That hasn't been a problem yet because all of the work so far will be covered later (except the inside floor and bulkhead skins, which I took special care to protect). It will be much more convenient with the chop and table saws right there at hand, and now that the temps are cooling off it is much more comfortable up there. May have freezing issues if the insulation doesn't happen, but Karl plans on being productive all winter, so there should be heat enough, schmaybe...

The laminate on the MDF and lack of metal fab grime will be great for doing the finish work of the cabinetry. The inner wall skins and profile work will still need to be done downstairs on the big bench, but I can use the big spray booth plastic sheet to protect during that work.

Again, the work schedule is strategic in order to have everything ready to support cabin erection, and to remain productive without choking space in the shop unduly.

Karl has been more than accommodating (as usual) and a constant source of encouragement. I can not thank him enough for his support. I'll say it again, if it was not for his support and encouragement I would have never started this project.

[KCStudly]

RandyG, Thanks for the kind words of encouragement. They are greatly appreciated.

WW, other than a little thickening right at the edges, I don't think the big issue with the MDF was swelling. I think it was mostly the fact that it was overloaded/under supported. It wasn't built for storage, just catching plywood and as a light assembly table. Warping really shouldn't be an issue now that we are coming into our dry winter months.

Randy (Wolffarmer), I do have a 4x8x3/4 thk ply hobby table at home that has 2x4 strong back frame and is reasonably portable (just sits on folding saw horses), but it is buried under a pile of crap in my basement and would be almost as much work clearing it off and getting it to Mecca as it would be to just build another. I really think this saw table will be fine now that I have tuned it up and stablized it.

You guys are great. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

[Wolffarmer]

If it doesn't straighten up just go ahead and build on it and call the curve in the trailer a "Design feature".

Randy

[Wobbly Wheels]

...but it is buried under a pile of crap in my basement and would be almost as much work clearing it off and...

You've seen my basement, apparently ?...
One of the worst things I ever did down there was to make up 2 work benches from the pallets that 4X12 countertop is shipped on: doubled 2X4 stringers, 1/2" ply top and bottom.
Great workbench...unfortunately, an even better horizontal surface for "short term" storage !!

I'm enjoying following this build because you're combining the design and engineering side of things with a low tech traditional finish (coated canvas) on a bombproof chassis. And to tolerances that suggest a labour of leisure.

I don't post much here, but be assured I'm enjoying watching your build unfold.
I've gotta try and avoid your foodie posts though...I always seem to be hungry afterward

[Wolffarmer]

ffffffffffffffffffffffffffooooooooooooooooood porn

[KCStudly]

Started in on the cabinet face frames last night. Got all of the rails cut to rough length and the bottoms dado’d for the shelf/cabinet floors to fit in. Got all of the verticals (stiles/mullins) cut to exact length. Will route the corner radii where called for this evening.

Land phone and internet connection has been down at home, so no pics for now, but should be back up and running tomorrow after tech comes. Have to take time off work for that.

[Fishingtomatoseed]

Man what a Loft!!!! Looking good. Thanks for help on my problem.

[KCStudly]

Double post.

[KCStudly]

Thanks FTS, that's the great spirit of this board. We should all pay it forward as best we can.

I'll be keeping an eye on your thread to see what you end up deciding to do, and your thoughts on the outcome. Good luck.

Okay, let's get back into the swing of things.

Pre-post check list:
1. Land line/Internet service repaired (technician found corrosion in a junction box out at the pole) - check
2. Ford Emission test complete (passed) - check
3. Various errands complete - check.
4. Acid blocking reflux medicine - check.
5. Adult beverage (a couple of fingers of a very nice Jameson 12 yr reserve Irish whiskey plus two small ice cubes, strictly for sipping) - check.
6. Pictures downloaded from camera and uploaded to gallery - check.
7. Double check TPCE thread for replies (11k hits and rising) - see above reply, check.

Yup, we're good to go!

So I had previously posted that I had bought 1x2 maple and stashed it in my basement, then had staged it at Mecca. Here it is, hand selected by me from the big orange for straightness, minimum discoloration and flaws, and quantity; 5 at 8 ft, 1 at 7 ft, and 1 at 9 ft. Had to pick over quite a few boards to get enough clean and straight stock, and this stuff was graded as "select".


The camera, humidity and crinkles from having been rolled up and toted around in the back of my TV wreaked havoc on the picture, but here are the plans of the face frames. I didn't bother with a cut list; they're all fairly uniform and readily apparent on the plan (thumping own chest, part of being a good designer/draftsperson is the ability to standardize plans and make them easily read...I've been doing this for a very long time and it is easy for me to read my own plans!)


They are all 1x2 (although it would be aesthetically pleasing to make the bottom rails a little wider ...ever notice how picture mats are wider at the bottom of the frame? The standard width being a simplification and nod toward space and weight saving (yeah right, everything is a design consideration, light where possible, not where rugidization and my non-compromising eye dictates TLAR).

I used this sort of pointy stop block clamped to the miter saw fence to set a rough length for all of the longitudinal rails (face frame lower and upper rails, and shelf fronts. The not square block is preferred. If a squared block was used saw dust accumulating in the corner would be more likely to effect the proper placement of the stock. The relief of the pointy block helps prevent that being a factor.


Here are the long cuts. The shorter one on the right is the under counter rail that stops short at the bay for the cooler (my off road high chassis clearance and desired 36 inch counter height dictated no rail in the cooler bay). The ones in the middle are the long rails that will span from side wall to side wall at the bottom and top of the front, rear upper, rear lower cabinets, and the two galley shelves. As I write this I am realizing that I have forgotten the front shelf under the front cabinet where glasses and keys and cell phones will go (it only needed an end profile, so there was no front elevation view, which is probably how I missed it... not that cell phones will be of any use at "the crick", it is remote there). The pieces to the left are the drops that will become the stiles and mullins.

The miter saw table with in and out feed fences is shown again in the back ground. Man did I get lucky having Ben's equipment here to use. Very professional/high end hobbyist set up. No better friend than Karl to help and encourage; would be much much more difficult to achieve all of this w/o this level of support and tooling...my hat is off to those of you who do it w/o all of this capability. It is doable, and with a high degree of quality, but I can not imagine myself achieving the same result w/o 10x the level of effort. My hat is off to all of the builders out there that are slogging it out in the trenches. You are warriors!

I have a few more pieces of maple from the incomplete built-in desk project (mentioned previously) and can make that piece up.

Here is the obligatory saw dust pic, just to prove that I have actually done something.


Okay, here are the same long pieces on the left, and rest that have now been cut up into the stiles and mullins. The three (3) shorter pieces at the top are the left hand stile and mullins for the under galley counter dividers. The four (4) medium length pieces in center are the stiles and mullins for the rear lower cabinets. The longer ones to the right of those are for the rear uppers. The four (4) shorter ones to the right of those are for the front upper cab, and the single short unit is one of the two needed struts that tie the two upper galley shelves together. I need to scrounge another 7-5/16 long piece out of the other maple I have on hand. The little bits near the measuring tape are the left over drops; pretty good yield I'd say.


So the next operation is to cut the dado slots that will receive the cabinet bottoms and shelf panels (5 mm ply). Need some feather boards to hold the long skinny stock against the saw fence and down to the table, and will need them again for the router operations to round over the exposed corners on the shelves and cabinet lower edges. These were made by setting the table saw blade relatively high, adjusting the fence to 1/8 inch, and plunging the single 1x3 pine board (previously mitered to 15 deg on both ends) in on all four (4) corners. Then I adjusted the fence out 1/4 inch and plunging all corners again. Repeat, repeat, etc. until the feathers are all cut. Then cut one long and one short by bisecting on the miter saw.


In the following pic you can see that I shortened the shorter one some more to suit clamping it to the table saw fence (miter cut the fins very slowly and kept all of the little bits to use as shims in the future). The location of the top feather relative to the blade was later shifted forward some to keep the work piece from climbing off of the blade at the end of the cut, despite using a push stick to try and hold the piece down. The short scrap shown under the feathers is just being used for set up.


Here you can see the long sticks (scrap siding trimmings from the barn construction) that I screwed into the sides of the long feather board. This allows me to clamp the feather board to the edges of the saw table with plenty of room for adjustment and a wide base to resist torquing out of adjustment due to the relatively long spans between clamps and point of force (torque) reacting against the clamps.


Here I have made a pencil mark at 1/4 inch depth on one of the 1x2 maple scraps, and am using it to set the table saw blade depth.

(Photo shown out of sequence.)

Then I set the fence 3/8 inch out and ran all of the lower cabinet and shelf rails through. Reset the fence a couple of times (thin blade) and ran them trough again a few times to get dado slots.



With all of the distractions and errands this evening, I did not get to Mecca to do the round over edges. Until next time, hope you enjoy my "exhaustingly detailed documentation".

[GPW]

So Good it was worth saying TWICE ...

[Oldragbaggers]

KC, I really wish I had your tools, and your skills. I cannot wait to see your finished product. I'll bet it's going to be stunning.