Category: The Garage

This is really pretty self explanatory, see the gallery below. Also, my original plan failed miserably as it was a terrible idea (with the bearing and plywood spindle. In the end I made it much simpler.

The plan was to make a base that fits in the boot with a small table that pivots out of the boot, providing some space to prepare milkshakes.

I thought perhaps I could crush the plywood spindle with a bolt, squeezing the plywood out, holding it in the bearing. Terrible idea.

After giving up on that idea, I just stuck some bolts in the side of the original support, ripped some strips of plywood and stuck em on the table.

I need a simple way to divide and organize drawers, especially those filled with small items. I’m currently thinking a system of 3d printed clips, that attach to strips that can be cut to length to suit any drawer. The clips could be 90 degree corners, “T” pieces, and + pieces.

Key requirements…

1. Quick & easy to make
2. Modular
3. Use minimal filament*
4. Use off the shelf parts where applicable

* I really don’t like solutions that require hours upon hours of 3d printing, wasting tons of filament on things that could be better made from other materials

Material Choice

I have a couple options here, plywood, plastic, 3d printing, MDF, hardboard.

I went to bunnings as I figured anything they have there could be considered common. My first thought was thin plywood, maybe 4mm if it’s available. One thing I noticed really quickly is how wonky all of the sheets were, even the slightly thicker pieces were extremely crooked. That rules out plywood.

The hardboard is my next stop, but one downside is one side is smooth, the other side is furry. Not a big deal but I’d rather a uniform surface.

MDF looks like a good choice, pity about the yuck colour though. I guess I could paint it, or maybe buy black MDF if I can find it. On a positive note, it’s very straight and both sides are smooth.

I have a brief look at the plastic panels, but they were very expensive.

4.8mm MDF is the clear choice. I’ll worry about the colour later.

Designing & testing the clips

First test fit

I bought a small piece of Mdf from Bunnings, 4.8mm, I cut it into strips, cut to length and popped it in the drawer.

Well, not much more to say, they work pretty well. Easy to assemble, they stay in place, look pretty tidy. I’m rather pleased with the outcome.

I may make some minor changes to the design to save on filament, and maybe change the spacing slightly. At the moment they’re quite a tight fit.

Making the mirror fit the frame

Now that the frame is back together in one piece, the mirror doesn’t fit. As carefully as I could, I took the trim router and removed a few millimeters from the inside of the frame.

If I had to do this again, I’d probably buy one of those flexible router guides and stick that down as a guide, or better yet, made an actual template. Not sure why I didn’t think of this first to be honest.

I need to cut a new backing piece, as previously it was just a piece of thin cardboard that hasn’t lasted well. I bought a thin piece of hardboard, 4.8mm.

I traced the inside of the mirror onto the hardboard, cut it out on the bandsaw and cleaned it up with the belt sander until it fitted nicely.

Next I need a way of securing the mirror in place, along with the new backing. I found some old brackets that I can cut down, round over and use to secure the mirror and backing.

With these little metal bits cut out, I can mark the locations on the back of the mirror, and go to work with the router again. A quick tidy up with the chisel and they’re ready to go.

Finishing touches

I predrilled the holes for each of the new metal tabs. I don’t want to risk splitting the frame now. To reduce the length of the screws, I snipped the end off each one. This means I can have maximum thread engagement right to the bottom of each hole.

Next up, a very light sand and a quick once over with some wax. Attach the old chain with some screws and it’s done!

The result

A family member asked if I could have a go at fixing this as it has sentimental value, so I figured I’d give it a go.

I believe it’s split for two reasons, the first is that this is cut from one solid piece of wood, so the two places where it’s cracked has extremely short grain, ie, it’s very weak.

Second, I don’t believe it was built in such a way that allowed for the wood to expand, and more importantly, contract. I think over time as the timber has continued to dry, it’s shrunk, whereas the glass has not. Something had to give way.

Clean up

First I removed the backing, then the glass. I could then remove the old repair, along with various nails and also the chain.

How to clamp it?

I first had to figure out how to clamp this unusual shape, all while keeping it on the same plane as I obviously want it to remain flat.

Below is what I came up with. I sandwiched the piece between two bars on each side, then twisted some thin rope in the centre where I could adjust the tension fairly easily. A test clamping proved successful.

Gluing

After the clamping test, I masked off any areas I didn’t want epoxy (to save myself some clean up later) and I mixed up a very small batch of epoxy resin, separated the two sides, applied the epoxy and let it set overnight.

This first step didn’t fill the void, so the next step was a thickened batch of epoxy, which I then used to fill the gaps.

What it looked like after the thickened epoxy. From the side you can see the repair obviously, but from the front it’s only visible if you know what you’re looking for. Fortunately the grain pattern is quite forgiving in this regard as it hides it well.

Click here for part 2.

I really wanted a dowelling jig. I didn’t want to spend hundreds on the exact one I wanted. I didn’t want to compromise on a cheaper one that didn’t quite fit what I wanted. So in order to save some money, I decided to spend 50+ hours designing and printing my own.

Requirements

1. Accurate. This means it should be easy to line up with pencil marks from any direction. And be able to make repeatable dowel holes. Must include measurements on the design. These measurements should 3d print nicely.
2. Flexible. Should be able to add dowels to small pieces as well as large, for example in the center of a panel where no clamping edge exists.
3. Adjustable fence. Many of the existing 3d printable designs online have a fixed fence.
4. Easy swap fence. If needed, I want to be able to swap the fence out to suit whatever i’m working on.
5. Availability. Should use off the shelf parts where they are needed.

Designing The Features

I very quickly realised it was far more efficient to print only small parts of the model to test sizing etc, rather than printing the entire thing each time only to find one small part doesn’t work as intended.

The various features I printed and tested included the markers that feature on all sides of the main body, the sliding mechanism, the holes for the threaded inserts, plus any printed text needed to be clearly visible.

I also briefly experimented with a slightly larger overall design, based on 25mm centers (as opposed to 20mm centers) but decided it felt far too cumbersome.

Once I was happy with all the individual features, I combined them all into the main model and start printing tests. Most of them were at 20% infill. I decided to print one at 100%, but something went very wrong with this, the top few layers were massively over extruded. In the end, I decided on a 90% infill, with all but the top 4 layers printed at .2mm and then the top 4 or so layers printed at 0.08mm which improved the quality of the text.

Scaling and accuracy

One of my early concerns was the dimensional accuracy of the printed part. I printed a number of tests, measured the result and scaled the following printed accordingly. Improving it through each iteration.

The result is a product that measures 139.98mm, where it is expected to measure 140mm. That means that over the 70mm distance of the measurement markings, it’s 100th of a millimeter out, which I feel for woodworking is perfectly fine.

I may try and improve this further if I have time, but I don’t think it’s necessary.

Part 2 coming soon.