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Posts Tagged ‘sanding center’
Tuesday, January 10th, 2012
 Whew, the holidays are over! Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed mine, and hope you enjoyed yours too, but all that partying and visiting really cuts into the shop time. I will admit to not getting as far as I would have liked with the Downdraft Sanding Center over the last few weeks, but I did manage to get wheels mounted and the doors ready to mount.
For this project, I chose some better quality casters. I am not so concerned about the weight rating, even four cheap casters at 150 lbs each will handle more than I can lift onto the table. But a sanding center will vibrate a lot and certainly will be pushed from side to side as we sand the edges of parts and such. So I wanted to use casters that locked not only the wheel, but also the swivel. I got a set of four with 1/2″ dia threaded studs for about $40.00
The stud was not long enough to reach all the way through the base frame, so I counter bored the holes and secured them. This was done before finally attaching the base frame. Now the cabinet is complete and can be easily moved around as I continue work. I have avoided building the top because all of this work on the cabinet is a lot easier without the big top.
The final step on the cabinet itself is to make and attach the doors. The doors are frame and pegboard panel, and are built exactly like the sides and back of the cabinet were, but with thinner stock.
 I milled the stock at 3/4″ thick and used the same stub tenon technique to glue them together. A couple pair of simple hinges are all that is needed to hang the doors. In the next installment, we will create the “egg crate” structure that makes up the center of the torsion box top.
I certainly invite you to add your thoughts or send along ideas that have worked well for you. Please feel free to add your comments here on the blog, on our Facebook page, or via Twitter. Let us know what you think! -2Sand.com
Tags: 2sand, 2sand.com, abrasive, belt sander, blog, casters, downdraft, electric sanders, finishing, sanding, sanding center, Sanding Storage, sanding supplies, sandpaper, storage, woodworking
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Thursday, December 8th, 2011
 Cutting Half LapsBase frame attachedBase Frame Attached Here at 2Sand.com our Downdraft Sanding Center build finally moves forward again! Things have been very busy and the build was put on hold for a bit, but since I think Santa will be bringing us some cool new casters for Christmas, I wanted to make sure that the carcase was ready by adding the base frame for the wheels.
Continuing with our theme of inexpensive construction, the frame was made from “two-by” stock, jointed and ripped to 1 1/2″ square stock. Since we know that the downdraft table top will overhang the smaller cabinet body, I wanted to insure that the wheels be set beyond the cabinet front and back to add stability.
So two of the frame members are 24″ long to extend a few inches front and back. The other two are 32″ so that the sides and back of the base are positioned on top of the base frame members for maximum support. These dimensions allow for the fame to be half-lapped together. Half Laps are simple but very sturdy joints that will take the stress of rolling the cart around and working on the top. The ends of the longer parts get half-lapped and the shorter parts are lapped 3″ in from each edge or 18″ on center.
 Base Frame Assembled
A little glue and a few screws and the base frame is assembled. Quick and easy! Now simply set the cabinet upside down on the floor, center the base frame over the cabinet bottom, then drill and screw it them together.
While we wait for Santa to come through with the casters, I will make the cabinet doors and hinge them to the unit. We could begin building the torsion box for the sanding table, but working with the box while it is still fairly light will make these other tasks much easier. Once the cabinet is complete and mobile, building the top in place will be easier. (I am going to attempt to use my dust collector to actually “vacuum veneer” the top during assembly!) So tune in to the next blog for the doors and hinges!
 Base Frame Attached I certainly invite you to add your thoughts or send along ideas that have worked well for you. Please feel free to add your comments here on the blog, on our Facebook page, or via Twitter. Let us know what you think! -2Sand.com
Tags: 2sand.com, abrasive, downdraft, electric sanders, sanding, sanding belts, sanding center, Sanding Storage, sanding supplies, Sanding tips, sandpaper, storage, woodworking
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Thursday, November 3rd, 2011
In the last blog post we got the cabinet sides attached to the back. If you are building along, you’ll have noticed that this sub-assembly is pretty flimsy, so it is time to add a top and bottom deck to secure the parts and finish up the cabinet.
The material used here is not really important, the top will be covered by the torsion box that will be the downdraft sanding area, and the bottom is nothing more than a fixed shelf since the castors will be fixed to a 2×4 frame. I used a piece of scrap OSB for the top (the hole in the center serves no purpose, it was in the scrap) and the bottom was a piece of 3/4 birch ply I had. It just looks nicer than the OSB.
These parts could be nailed or screwed through from the outside of the panels, but I chose to pocket screw them. Yes, it is just a work station, but I like things to look as nice as possible. For me, it is just more pleasant to use tools that look as good as they operate. Carefully measure your box opening and cut the panels to size, then drill the pockets and screw the parts together.
You’ll notice that I am using a clamp here. The point of a screw tends to separate parts a little before it grabs and pulls them back together. Since pocket screws go in at an angle, they tend to pull along the angle, mis-aligning the joint. clampint the joint prevents the initial separation, and the join remains where you placed it.
The same process is used to secure the bottom. If we were planning to attach casters directly to the bottom deck, then I probably would not trust the screws to hold since the deck is inside the box. This is a work station, and we can assume that it will see a lot of force pushing downward as we work. But since the top will overhang the cabinet, I want to casters to extend beyond the cabinet for stability, so we will be creating a frame under the cabinet to secure the casters. The entire box will rest on top of this frame so everything will be well supported. In the next post, we will assemble the frame and secure it to the box.
I certainly invite you to add your thoughts or send along ideas that have worked well for you. Please feel free to add your comments here on the blog, on our Facebook page, or via Twitter. Let us know what you think! -2Sand.com
Tags: 2sand, downdraft, finishing, sanding, sanding center, wood, woodworking, work station
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Thursday, October 20th, 2011
 With fall here and time opened back up for shop projects, the building of the sanding center can commence! In order to keep this as easy and economical as possible, I am using common stock available at any lumber yard or home center. Building the cabinet that will be the body of the sanding center is the first step. I created the sides and back panels as frames with the pegboard sandwiched in the frame. I used “two by” stock (not pressure treated) planed to 1 1/4″ thick and ripped into 2″ wide strips. The pegboard was bought as 2 x 4 foot panels, so that set the sizes for the box parts.
You will need: 6 Stiles at 2″ x 1-1/4″ x 27″ ; 4 Rails at 2″ x 1-1/4″ x 17″ ; 2 Rails at 2″ x 1-1/4″ x 29″ ; 2 pegboard panels at 17″ x 24″ and one pegboard panel at 29″ x 24″
The rails and stiles get a 1/4″ wide by 1/2″ deep groove centered along one of the 1-1/4″ edges to accept the panels and for the tongue and groove joints. Set your rip fence for 1/2″ from the blade and make two passes flipping the stick in between passes to get a 1/4″, perfectly centered groove. Now the ends of the rails need to get the tongues cut in them. The tongues need to be 1/4″ wide by 1/2″ long. I just set up the dado blade on my table saw, set the stop on my miter gauge to 1/2″ less than the rail length, and trimmed them flipping to center the tongue. Start with the blade set a bit low and adjust until the tongue fits snug in the groove for a good fit right off the saw. This is a stub tenon joint and is used on shaker and mission style cabinet doors. Once the parts have been cut and dry fit to insure that everything is right, the frames can be glued up.
Assembling the panels is kept simple by butt jointing them together with the smaller side panels inside the back panel.  I used pocket screws to keep it looking nice, but you can just screw through the back panel stiles into the sides. this assembly is a bit flimsy right now, but we will be adding a top and bottom plywood deck to lock it all together.
The doors will be built in a similar fashion in a future blog post, but as you can see even now, there is plenty of pegboard space available for hanging your sanding storage units that we designed and built previously. The lower deck will be attached to a 2×4 frame with wheels and the upper deck will hold the torsion box downdraft sanding surface.
I certainly invite you to add your thoughts or send along ideas that have worked well for you. Please feel free to add your comments here on the blog, on our Facebook page, or via Twitter. Let us know what you think! -2Sand.com
Tags: 2sand.com, disk sander, downdraft, sanding, sanding center, sanding supplies, sanding table, storage, woodworking
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