Server Rack

 I wasn't sure if I should put this in the woodworking blog or the home improvement one, so it will probably end up in both. For the woodworking portion it will be rather short since it mostly just consists of mounting the wall board and building a box for the rack posts to attach to.

I started with some Baltic birch plywood panels 1/2" thick. Since it is a small rack and I won't have much heavy equipment in there I figured this should be strong enough. I cut the panels to fit four 10U posts and be 24" deep to accommodate a server enclosure.

I joined the corners by using a lock miter router bit. This was my first time using this bit and this type of joinery and also my first time using my new router table I received for Christmas last year. Despite taping around the cut, I still got a lot of tear out on the inside of the joint on all my pieces. This type of joinery is probably better suited for solid lumber and MDF. The veneer is just too thin to hold up. I wasn't too concerned though since it is on the inside and nobody will see it, plus it is just a network rack in the basement.

Glue up of the box.

I had to use all my parallel clamps and a strap clamp to put the box together in a single glue up. I used right angle clamp brackets to ensure it stayed square while the glue set up. After cleaning up the squeeze out and sanding it down a bit I applied two coats of spray lacquer to finish it before mounting. I used my pocket hole jig to drill some screws for actually mounting it to the wall.

Mounted under the new fiber modem.

I first mounted a small rectangle of plywood at the bottom of the wall board (3/4" BCX Tapconned to the basement wall) to give me a third hand to hold the box and also ensure it was level during mounting. I fastened the box to the wall with a bunch of pocket hole screws from the inside and then mounted the network rack posts. That completed the woodworking portion of this project.

Basic Shop Cabinets Pt. 1

After several months, I finally got some time to work in the shop and upgrade my tool storage. Currently, most of my tools are in a mechanic's tool chest and also strewn about the shop. In order to make more room and get organized, I started to build the base cabinets along one of the walls. These are simple cabinets built from BCX plywood. They are 36" wide and each will have two deep drawers for storage. After getting my cutlist determined, I started by breaking down the sheet goods.

Cutting plywood in the garage.

Since the shop is small and crowded, I cut the plywood in the garage on top of a sheet of foam insulation board. This provides workpiece support and allows me to cut all the way through the plywood without cutting into any sawhorses (or the floor).

Large panels sized.

After I had the sides, floors, and backs cut, I could work on some of the smaller pieces. The top frames and nail rail are also plywood and most of the carcass of the cabinet is put together with pocket hole screws.

Top frame and nail rails sized.

Top frames assembled.

With the nail rails cut out and the top frames assembled, I was ready to put the cabinets together. Again, pocket hole screws were used since the floor won't be supporting any weight. The sides will be doing all the heavy lifting with the drawer runners. With the top, sides, and floor assembled I glued and nailed the 1/4" plywood panel on the back. A rabbet was cut in the sides to accept this and the piece will help keep the cabinet square.

Assembled with backs.

First face frame.

I had enough stock on hand to build one face frame. This was assembled using pocket hole screws and will be attached to the carcass with biscuits and glue. After I finish the second face frame I need to find heavy duty drawer slides and build the drawers.

Poppin' Tops

For the wedding, I wanted make my groomsmen something functional that also looks nice. Since we all enjoy a good brew, I made constructed some wall mounted bottle openers from granadillo and patagonia rosewood (leftover from the ukulele stand). I thought the colors contrasted well but weren't too overwhelming. The stock was already S4S so I didn't have to do any milling which is great since I haven't yet bought a jointer. I did start by planing the boards all to the same thickness though.

Thickness planer makes a mess without a vacuum.

Glue time.

After gluing them up I sent them through the planer once more to even up the faces. I then cut the three planks out of the boards and cut the ends square. This gave me my final size for all of them.

Cross cut sled came in handy.

All three planks sized.

I wanted to personalize each one for the guys but I don't have a letter templating kit for the router. I asked the kind folks at Woodcraft and they directed me to a couple that does laser engraving at their home near the 7 Mile Fair. It was a bit of a drive but the results were great and didn't cost all that much. Before engraving, I had to apply a coat of urethane to protect the wood surrounding the engraving area. I'm glad I did because they showed me examples of boards they had lasered without a finish and the wood around the area is charred and has a strange film on it that would be difficult to sand off without affecting the engraving.

One coat of urethane.

Engraved and routed.

After engraving, I used a cove bit on the router to dress up the edges a bit and then applied three more coats of urethane. The finish really brings out the colors of the woods and should hold up to quite a bit of abuse. If it does end up getting scratched I can just sand it a bit and apply a few more coats of urethane.

Several urethane coats.

Next was to work on the backs. I wanted these to mount flush to the wall and to catch the bottle caps when opening a tasty beverage. This meant I had to route out some slots for the mounting brackets and a magnet. I used key hole hangers for the mounting hardware and a 1-1/2" diameter neodymium magnet for the catch.

Burned my stamp in the back.

Testing router setup.

Marked the tape for start and stop points.

Key hole hardware fitted.

Hardware installed.

Magnet installed with Forstner bit.

The last step was to attache the actual opener bracket on the fronts. I made sure to arrange the back hardware screws to not interfere with the mounting screws for the opener.

All three finished.

Close up.

The end results looks really nice and the urethane provides a glossy, smooth finish that should hold up to years of abuse. I attached the magnets with epoxy which I haven't worked with before but I don't expect any problems with it. All the guys really seemed to like the gifts and I had a lot of fun making them.

Wedding Keezer

First off, what's a keezer you may ask? It's like a kegerator but with a chest freezer base. Since we were making our own beer for the wedding I felt it prudent to have a proper way to serve it during the evening. We didn't want to have to hire a bartender so I built my own bar. It started with a chest freezer I picked up from craigslist. Though small, I could still fit six cornelius kegs inside with a tall enough collar. Construction started with some 1 by lumber and some 2x3 framing. Because I wanted to be able to easily convert the unit back to a chest freezer I made the collar to be able to simply lift off.

Chest freezer.

I started with a frame of 2x3s the same size as the freezer base. It is about 22"x 34" and joined with some pocket hole screws. In fact, most of the project was assembled with pocket holes to hide all fasteners and give a cleaner look. I made two of these frames, one upper and one lower.

2x3 frame.

I then made the faces out of 1x12 lumber and attached the frames inside. The bottom of the faces stop below the lower frame so as to wrap around the freezer base and prevent it sliding off. Again, this isn't permanently attached to the freezer so this was the best way I saw to fit the collar on temporarily. One thing I did notice about this construction is that such wide boards cup a bit so the corners don't line up quite as nicely as I would like. However, clamps are a wonderful thing!

Creating the faces and adding frames.

I also added 2" rigid foam insulation between the frames for some insulation. I cut this with my drywall saw and it was surprisingly effective. I didn't have to use any sort of glue or fasteners, the foam just fit in with a strong push.

Foam insulation added.

Next was finishing. I used a red oak stain I had left over from some previous projects and then applied three coats of water base urethane. This produced a really nice finish and will protect the wood and stain from abuse.

Stained.

Urethane.

I also added some insulating foam tape to the bottom frame to seal against the freezer base. I just used an entire roll meant for a door which came out to something like 15' or so. It made it around the entire base nearly twice.

Foam insulation.

Added to the freezer.

In order to make moving the keezer around easier I also put it on wheels. To keep this as temporary as possible, I made a base out of 1/2" plywood and fastened the casters to it. This should help distribute the load more evenly. I attached the plywood to the freezer base with a few metal self tapping screws into the small feet on the freezer.

Wheeled base.

Attached to the freezer.

Mostly finished.

Now the lid was the next thing on my list. Since the faces stick out past the freezer base the lid needed a bit of a spacer for the hinges to attach properly. For this, I just ripped a 1x2 down to be about the height of the lid and drilled some holes through it to accommodate the bolts for the hinge.

Attached hinges.

Most of the woodworking was done at this point so the next thing was the gas and liquid plumbing for the kegs. I had to install a manifold to split the gas supply into six supplies for the kegs. Then I installed the liquid faucets by drilling 1 1/4" holes in the front face and insulation for the shanks to pass through. These are what the faucets attach to and they came with 1/4" barbed tails on the back for attaching the tubing.

Manifold installed.

Marking for faucet shanks.

Holes drilled.

Shanks installed.

Faucets attached.

With the manifold and faucets installed I had to next install the tubing. The gas lines are 1/4" inside diameter and the liquid lines are 3/16" inside diameter. These are the sizes recommended for proper throughput and resistance. In order to fit the tubing properly, it helps to heat it up with makes it a bit more flexible.

Heating the tubing.

Tubing attached to liquid and gas disconnects.

Assemblies attached to the faucets and manifold.

Next was transferring the beer from the primary fermenters to the kegs and then fitting the kegs inside the keezer. I test fitted all six empty kegs first just to make sure they fit before having to lift six full kegs.

Kegging in progress.

Six kegs fitted.

The keezer was pretty much done but the dent in the lid bothered me quite a bit. It wasn't very attractive so I decided to make a cover to hide it and dress up the keezer a bit. I just built a frame from some 1x3 square stock and a nice sheet of ACX plywood cut to size. Again, this was constructed with pocket hole screws to hide all fasteners and then finished with the same stain and urethane process as the main collar. Inside the front face of the lid cover I attached a small block of wood to fit inside the lid handle so that lifting on the cover would open the freezer lid as well.

Lid cover.

Inside. Assembled with pocket screws.

Stained. Urethane was next.

Finished project.

Half this project wasn't really woodworking but it started as such a project so that is why I'm putting it on this blog. The lid cap fits nicely and provides a nice flat top for perhaps setting glasses or signs on top of. I also attached some chalk board stickers by the faucets to label the beer taps. I soap tested all the air fittings to check for leaks and ran sanitizer through the liquid lines. All the fittings checked out and the project was complete. Huzzah!

Ukulele Stand

Siri was out of town this past weekend so I took the opportunity to spend some much needed time in the woodshop. One project that has been neglected is a ukulele stand for Siri's instrument. I wanted something nicer than pine and Woodcraft had some hardwoods on sale when I last visited so I picked up a bit of patagonia rosewood. The design I had in mind was very simple and the stock was already milled on all 4 sides so I started by cutting the boards to length.

Cut to length and joint sketched on.

The pieces were joined by a cross lap joint that I cut on the table saw with my miter gauge with a guide board fastened to it. I did a test piece first to ensure the joint was tight but not so tight that it would squeeze out the glue when put together.

Lap joint on the table saw.

Dry fitted.

After dry fitting the boards together I was satisfied with the joint so I glued the pieces up and clamped it over night. I sanded the stand with some 220 grit sandpaper and cleaned it up before applying a coat of boiled linseed oil. After letting it set for a few minutes for the oil to soak in, I wiped off the excess with a new, clean, cloth and let it dry for a few hours. I purchased a guitar hook that I mounted to the top of the stand and adjusted the arms to fit the ukulele.

Assembled stand. 

Minimalist design.

With the ukulele.

This was a fun and rather quick project. I think I spent the most time waiting for the glue to dry and then the finish to dry but that just gave me more time to work on other projects in the shop. Stay tuned for those updates in the near future.