Working in the Garage

  On Saturday it warmed up enough to work in the garage on the rolling glass storage cabinet for the Ancaster Seniors Achievement Centre. All the the plywood came from the Box Store cut into 20 x 48 x 3/4 sections. (two 4 x 8 sheets)   Those sections fit easily into the back of our station wagon and only needed to be cut to length at home.   The unit is 20 inches deep, 43 inches wide, 42 1/2 tall. 

  I had two circular saw jigs in my shop, one designed for cross cuts up to 16 inches and the other for cutting plywood sheets in half. You get the picture, one jig too long and awkward, the other too short. The first thing to do was make another jig for cutting the 20 inch widths.  Initially I made this jig as a throw away . I the end the jig I made served my needs better than expected.  

  The jig is made out of left over plywood from the bin and I opted to leave the pieces large since I planned to take the jig apart once this job was done.  I found the large top section was a boon,

I was able to use my anvil to hold the jig in place while cross cutting, it acted like a quick clamp. Since the jig was so large the anvil, or any clamps used were not in the way while I was doing the cutting. 

    My plan now is to clean up this jig, and paint it red. (keep it, with the other jigs.)

  I cut all the wood in my shop then took it up to the garage for assembly.  I got a bit of a work out going up and down stairs with tools and wood, more than I had planned upon actually.  The light is still better in my shop and made for easier and accurate cutting. 

  I used my Makita circular saw with a Freud 7 1/4 inch 60 tooth plywood blade LU79R007. The quality of finished cut is excellent, smoother than the cut ends from the Box store panel saw in fact.

 

  Since this cabinet will soon hold nearly 16 cubic feet of stained glass panels I made it heavy duty. The first and second shelf are supported on the ends as well as the middle. 

   

  The shelf dividers are 16 inches instead of the full 20 inches but will still provide tonnes of support. There is a full back on the cabinet as well as 5 casters.  I put an extra caster in the middle so that there will be no chance of sag if the glass panels migrate from the sides and place all the weight in the middle. I don't know how much rolling this cabinet will do but I glued, screwed and braced everything so there is less chance of twist or racking as it it rolled around the studio.  There are nearly $200.00 worth of materials in the unit and I used sheeting grade plywood to keep costs down.

  In this build there were few times I  missed  my table saw.  My shop set up wouldn't have enabled me to cross cut the plywood on the table saw anyway.   A couple of little rip cuts  would have gone quicker on a table saw but I am pleased with the accuracy possible with well made jigs and a circular saw mounting a quality blade.

  All that is left is sanding and delivery.

cheers, ianw