Thought either my math or my drafting was failing me.  The inner faces of the legs should  be flat and planar to each other, but they aren't.  How much they aren't even varies from leg to leg.  Was trying to set up CNC toolpaths to cut pockets for the drawer rails at the top inside of the legs and they were resisting common sense and expected measurement. 

I finally took a square to my 4x4 cedar legs and found they aren't square in cross section.   Opposite sides are parallel, but the corners aren't 90 degrees.  If I could have realized this before cutting the stretcher mortises in them I would use my jointer to make the two inside faces of each leg square to each other.  At the worst I'll just have to shorten the length of the tenons after flattening/squaring the inside faces. 

4D 

I did run the offending face across my little jointer a few passes to square that face to the adjacent side.  Clearly the post was twisted along its length.   Now it is aligned with the opposing leg so my drawer rail can sit nice and flush between them.   I'll cut pockets on the top edge of two opposing legs for the drawer rails today.  Then a little M&T joinery for the back end of the rails into the back legs. 

My top has 1" radius rounded corners. To match I'm going to round the outside corner of all 4 legs with same radius. 

 

I can't help but notice this table base will only fit through the door of my CNC room if stood on end.  Once the top is attached and casters added it won't fit through any door.    That means final assembly will be in my utility room where the Taig mill will live.  It also means that when time comes to take the table out of the utility room the casters and top will have to come off.   Oh my!

4D

3 hours ago, 4DThinker said:

That means final assembly will be in my utility room where the Taig mill will live.  It also means that when time comes to take the table out of the utility room the casters and top will have to come off.   Oh my!

Probably should refrain from building any boats in that room then?

Just checked to make sure.  The top can stay on.  The casters will have to be removeable. No way to wind around door openings from the utility room down a short hallway with washing machine and dryer on the left, past a restroom door on the left until the room main basement room opens up.  I could likely stand the bench on end with casters in my CNC shop room, and wind it through the narrower doorway into the main room.  Getting into the utility room would be impossible with the casters on. 

I do like impossible though. Spent the last 4 decades during my teaching career solving previously impossible build or joinery challenges.

 

Am currently think about how to make the casters "snap on and off".  Slide in and snap?  Snap on and twist to lock?  Hinge under to use, then fold back and between the legs to move from room to room?   Maglock casters anyone?  

Just checked to make sure.  The top can stay on.  The casters will have to be removeable. No way to wind around door openings from the utility room down a short hallway with washing machine and dryer on the left, past a restroom door on the left until the room main basement room opens up.  I could likely stand the bench on end with casters in my CNC shop room, and wind it through the narrower doorway into the main room.  Getting into the utility room would be impossible with the casters on. 

I do like impossible though. Spent the last 4 decades during my teaching career solving previously impossible build or joinery challenges.

 

Am currently think about how to make the casters "snap on and off".  Slide in and snap?  Snap on and twist to lock?  Hinge under to use, then fold back and between the legs to move from room to room?   Maglock casters anyone?  

 

No going back now as I've just ordered the Taig CNC mini milling machine. 7 to 10 days they claimed. Sounds faster than a slow boat, so being in the middle of the country I'll bet on 8 days.   

 

When I was teaching I was known for coming up with original wood joinery solutions.   My first job after college was for a company that made metal furniture.  Learned a few clever mechanical metal connections as they avoided welding completely.  I have a few ideas on connecting metal parts with CNC cut details I'm going to try out. 

Hmm.  Would the manager here please delete the post 2 above?  I came back here to start a new post and it opened up with the content of that previous post which I assumed I hadn't saved.   

 

Update on the bench:  I have the drawer rails done including how they'll join to the legs.  I've got a 1" radius (scary looking) round over bit in my garage router table which I'll use to round over the outside corner of each leg.  I don't have a fence I can use with it but I did put a guide pin in the table top to help starting each cut.   I took 1/16" off the two outer faces of all the legs and have to admit the cedar shies up nice.   Tomorrow I'll make a cedar mess in my garage. 

4D

20 hours ago, 4DThinker said:

I do like impossible though. Spent the last 4 decades during my teaching career solving previously impossible build or joinery challenges.

 

That's the attitude!  Looking forward to the completed project to see how it all comes together for you.

Chickened out running the legs through that 1" radius cutter without a fence.  The angled cut ends of the legs would let the bearing roll around the ends before finishing the straight roundover to the corners.  CNC cut the parts for a fence that will stand over the bit, flush to the bearing, and let me clamp it down.  Glued the two parts together.  When the glue has dried sufficiently I'll take another look at how safe the roundover cuts on the outer leg corners will be.    I have to do this, following my own preaching voice about detail continuity in  designs.  Make the base relate better to the rounded corners of the top.  Leave no doubt the two belong together.

 

Casters are still a nagging detail.    I treasure being able to roll my CNC around when I need space in my CNC room.  The casters I bought may be too big, although I tend to believe "bigger is better" when it comes to the size of wheels on shop tools.  I've had a dovetail mount idea popping in and out of my conscious mind.  Mount the casters to a plywood plate that slips over dovetail edges cut on the bottom of the legs.  One screw then hold the plate to the bottom of the legs.  Not sure I can trust dovetailed end grain of a cedar post though. 

4D

Hmm. Tech failure day.  Monitor died on primary PC. Other newer faster PC likes to lock up after 20 minutes or so.  Monitor on newer PC won't plug into the older PC. This is from my phone. 

Tool stand awaits some veneer tape, but otherwise is done. Love soft close drawer slides.  No word yet on when they'll ship the Taig CNC mini mill.  

Lastly, I hate typing on my phone!

4D

Found an unused monitor so back on a bigger screen for now.  I got a tracking number for the PC I'll use to run Mach3 and the Taig Mini Mill. Veneer tape might arrive today.  Had the drawer box made but wasn't happy with the crappy 1/2" plywood for the front and back, so remade them from some 3/4" thick pine salvaged from a small stand I took apart.  Decided to use finger joints on the drawer corners. Cut them with my CNC. Using -.003" allowance on one side of the joint made for a nice slip fit. Should be room for glue. 

4D

Thought I'd share the fence I made to save me from abuse this large router bit was threatening to make.  Used the bit to round over the outer corner of the 4x4 cedar legs so they would match the corners of the top. Started with the bit bearing flush to the fence face.   After the first leg I noticed the bearing was now 1/8" or so in front of the fence face. Thought for a second I had forgotten to tighten the clamp(s) holding the fence to the metal top. Turned out that the clamps underneath that hold the router in place had vibrated loose.  Tightened them up.  Reset the fence.  Last three legs proceeded fine. Ran the first leg through again just to make sure it had a good rounded corner.  The Dewalt router underneath did the job, but it did struggle a bit. 

 

The 4 legs and 4 stretchers have now been glued together.  No going back now.   A 12mm router bit is due to show up in the mail today.  I'll use it to cut dado slots near the bottom inside edges of the 4 drawer parts.  The 1/2" plywood I've got is of course only 12mm thick, so I'm hoping for a nice slip fit for the drawer bottom.

 

That metal top router table is where I'll cut those dados.  Lee Valley used to sell those router table tops but I can't find them any more.   This was my upgrade from an all-plywood router table I'd made.  That original table still lives under a bench with an ancient craftsman router in it.   The weight of the router was making the plywood sag in the middle if I'm remembering correctly.  Got plenty of use as does this metal topped router table. 

4D

Dados cut.  Took me awhile to find the 1/4" collet for the Dewalt router.  That's what I get for having 2 shop areas to work in.  New 12mm bit cut the pine boards easily.  Ran two passes, one at 1/8" then another at 1/4".  Suspect the bit could have handled it all in one pass.  Had time and patience so took advantage of it to put less stress on an old router. 

Next job will be to put the drawer together and mount the drawer slides.  The base is now completely glued together/assembled.   Just needs mounting the drawer.   The top, more than the base, definitely needs some finish on it.  Already see some checks forming. 

4D

Photos of one drawer end being glued, and the drawer rails being glued to the base.  When this end of the drawer has dried I'll knock off the other end and apply glue to both ends of it.  This drawer box will slide between the drawer rails in the second photo. 

4D

Looking good 4D. I like the large radius on the outside corner of the legs. Gives it a very clean look.

Thanks Grandpadave52.   A small  detail that would have nagged me if I hadn't done it.  Getting my students to consider such details if they hadn't thought of them was usually a positive eye opening educational discussion.  I spent one summer week in 2007 as a judge for the AWFS Fair student furniture design competition.  To discern between the good and the exceptional projects  it was the subtle but effective detail continuity in the designs that made them memorable and impressive.  One simple chair design used red strapping as the seat and back membranes.  Nothing much stood out except the wedged through tenons on the stretchers that had what looked like bloodwood wedges. A little red slice that tied the craftsmanship/joinery to the comfort of the design.  That chair also happened to be the only one among the students projects that every judge wanted to sit in while we filled out judging forms. 

Drawer is glued up and finger joints cleaned up/sanded flush. Today I'll tackle mounting the drawer slides.  They sit at 8 degrees relative to the drawer sides, and the drawer sides have been 3D carved to have a parallel 8 degree section where the slides mount. 

Considering how to divide up the drawer space.  Not even sure how much gear I'll end with that goes with the Taig CNC mill.  Bits, clamps/bed fixtures, etc..   Thinking I'll wait and see what accrues as I use the mill before I figure out how best to store it in the drawer.  

The refurbished PC I ordered from Newegg is due to arrive today.  The spare monitor I was using will be demoted to that PC.   I received a new 1080p 22" monitor for my main PC yesterday.

Edited February 15, 20233 yr by 4DThinker

Got the drawer slides and drawer mounted.  First look tells me the base frame is racked a bit as the drawer doesn't close evenly. A belt clamp across diagonally opposite legs corrects that, but wasn't supposed to be part of the design.  Working with compound angles and less-than-perfect materials shows its ugly side.  Hoping once I mount the top the frame may stay square, but know that mounting to allow for expansion/contraction of the top leaves some movement freedom of the base.   Base may need a turnbuckle diagonal tension member.

PC I ordered for the Taig CNC mill arrived.  Only problem was that it didn't come with a parallel port which was the reason I bought it.  Specs included stated clearly that it had a parallel port.   Sent Newegg a note, but went ahead and ordered a PCI port from Amazon which should be here Sunday. 

Got the utility room cleared  out enough for the mill and a workstation.   I have a spare shop vac in the garage I'll put down there.  Thinking about an enclosure for the mill, or at least a divider between the mill and where the controller PC station is. 

Metal storage is on my to-do list, as is a place for my metal cutting chop saw and the 3-wheeled bandsaw with a metal cutting blade on it. 

Projects to make as I learn about it will include a good brass version of my push butting depth gauge.  Then an aluminum version of my low profile vise design: https://4dfurniture.blogspot.com/2016/12/low-profile-cnc-table-vise.html. Then something simple in steel. 

I haven't heard yet from Taig about when they'll ship the mill. Hope it comes when there is no snow on the ground,  I have a cart I can roll it around the house to my basement on if the ground is hard.   

4D

Mounted the base to the top today.  Thought it was time to drag it into the  utility room.  I got as far as the 30" wide door between hallway and laundry nook and realized the top had to come back off. Together the legs and top are 33" right now.   Took the top off, took the door off it's frame, and the base wiggled through with 1/4" or so to spare,  I reunited the top to the base and stood it up in the corner where I think it'll hold the Taig mill.  Mounted an LED strip light above.  Installed Aspire on the new (refurbished) PC.  Screwed down an outlet strip for the plugs.  Surge protector strip for The mill and controller when it arrives. 

4D

Edited February 16, 20233 yr by 4DThinker