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Tweakers' Asylum Tweaks for systems, rooms and Do It Yourself (DIY) help. FAQ. |
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Tweakers' Asylum Tweaks for systems, rooms and Do It Yourself (DIY) help. FAQ. |
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In Reply to: Re: Help with Flexy rack! posted by Chris_F on March 8, 2005 at 09:51:23:
To start from scratch you will need either raw or paper-backed veneer that is as wide as the widest dimension of your workpiece. 2 double thick pieces of 3/4" MDF, one slightly larger than the top and bottom, the other the sides. 5 Cauls made from 2x4's which you cut slightly longer than the workpiece and then plane or sand the ends about 4" in so that they are very slightly convex. About 3/8" narrower at the ends than the middle. 10 - 3/4" Pipe or Barclamps. A trimmer router. The Ryobi is fine. A flush cutting downshear bit:
Downshear bit small rubber veneer roller which you will NOT use to flatten the veneer but rather to apply the glue. A metal straightedge. A veneer saw. 220 Garnet sandpaper. A wooden sanding block with a cork backing. White carpenters glue. A roll of Butchers or Rosin paperEveryone has their favorite adhesive but these choices eliminate glues that split the wood, weaken with heat, indelibly stain the wood or require additional tools to use.
I buy all my veneer on E-Bay. There are only 3 or 4 sellers found by a search of "wood veneer" and I have bought from all. Great Dane, Woodforyou among others. Or buy paper-backed from Tape-ease or Constantines.
Begin with the sides: back then sides then front. Then bottom and finally top. This conceals and protects the edges.
Squirt the white (you're using it because it has a long open time and is very forgiving) glue on the workpiece and evenly distribute a thin layer that just barely hides the wood with the rubber roller. Place a 1/4" wider than the workpiece leaf on the workpiece and rub it back and forth a little wich will establish a bond. Posiiton the piece. Cover it with the Butchers paper. Place the MDF over it, a caul over that and clamp the ends. Now you will see why you shaped the caul. Clamping the narrower ends puts extra pressure on the middle where a clamp cant reach. Although in this case you can clamp the middle.
Wait 24 hours and trim the edges with the downshear bit. You want to have the workpiece up at eye level so you don't make the rookie mistake of pressing down so that the bit angles into the work and bevels the edge. Very Bad! Also, VERY IMPORTANT, trim counter-clockwise; always begin the cut a little in from the edge of a long grain side then continuing in a single pass all the way down the long side and right arouind the corner into the short grain side. STOP just short of the end of the short grain side and remove the router from the workpiece. Re-enter the workpiece a little in from the adjacent long edge and cut BACKWARDS around and into the remaining short side. Cutting past the end of a short side will result in damaged corners. Always cut INTO short grainm never OUT.
Repeat for all 4 sides and all the shelves.
Prepare the bottom and top the same way but now you will use all 5 cauls in this order: one on each end a few inches in from the edge, another in the center and the remaining 2 evenly spaced between.
If you feel confident now you can switch to Yellow carpenters glue like Titebond II which has a shorter open time but allows you to trim and move on in about 2 hours.
After all the edges are trimmed, use a sharp chisel with the blade lying flat on the workpiece, as tho' it were a plane to remove the beads of dried glue squeeze-out. NEVER wipe the glue wet. It will ruin the finish. Sand the edges down flush with the 220 garnet paper. Finish sand the piece with the 220. Light long strokes slapping the paper after each pass to remove broken grit that will scratch.
See my website for addiitonal info on finishing with dyes, stains and tung oil.
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- Re: Help with Flexy rack! - BillEpstein 18:04:59 03/09/05 (0)
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