This project blog is just a bit late, given that the table we will be looking at today has been in the clients home for 14 months now!

The table was a simple end table, made up of a 22″ diameter top, top and bottom wood rings, and 12 vertical metal bars.

We began by constructing the 22″ round top and adding a small routed detail to the top and bottom edges to give an otherwise simple top a little more sparkle.

The next step was to glue-up and layout two 18″ rings that would accept the 12 metal bars.  We cut, mitered, biscuited, and glued the four pieces together. Then, using a compass, we drew the inside, outside, and center of the ring. After using a straightedge and a square to make a mark every 90 degrees along the center of the ring, we divided each ninety degree section two more times to get twelve 30 degree sections, thereby showing us exactly where we would need to drill for each bar.

Once we marked out the placement for the metal bars, we drilled a 1/2″ deep, 1″ wide hole in both the wooden rings. We also added a small chamfer to the inside edges of the ring an ogee detail on the outer edge.

After we had constructed the three wooden pieces of the table, it was time to turn our attention to the 12 metal bars.  We purchased raw cold rolled steel tube stock from a local metal company, which meant that it still has a slight oily film and other grit all over.

The first step in prepping them for finishing was to wipe them down with xylene to remove the oily residue. We then sandblasted every square inch of all 12 bars. The sandblasting both removed any left over grit and grime and it pitted the surface, which would allow the metal primer to adhere even better.

In the finishing room we sprayed on a metallic primer and an oil-based brown paint. Once the paint had cured overnight, we applied a faux-finish painted detail to the wooden rings and the metal bars.

When the paint had fully cured, we began constructing the base. The metal bars would be sandwiched between the two wooden rings and locked in place using a star nut and a bolt at each end.

The star nut was pushed into the end of the metal bar and, when the bolt was tightened and attempted to pull out the star nut, the wings locked themselves into the bar.

The most difficult part of this relatively simple process was keeping all twelve metal bars perfectly ninety degrees to the wooden rings. We quickly realized that if no attention was paid to how plumb the bars were, we were quickly left with twelve bars that were all parallel, but a few degrees out of perfect alignment.

The final product, complete with the stained top, looks beautiful in the clients living room!

Greg & Patti Bernhardt

Boise, ID – May, 2011

Clients Project

All of these machinery upgrades have been for two specific reasons; to increase efficiency of our operation and quality of our product.  We have been fortunate to work with a machinery wholesaler out of Salt Lake City, UT who has been able to find some great quality used machinery at great prices.  Also, all of these machines have been purchased with cash, making owning these machines even sweeter, since we don’t have a monthly lease payment hanging over our heads.

Now onto the machines!

Last November, in the very beginning of our residential cabinet careers, we quickly realized that drilling the 5mm holes on 32mm spacings, necessary for hinge plates and shelf pegs, by hand with a drill and a jig was a huge time waster and made accuracy very difficult.

So, the first machine we began searching for was a line drilling machine.  We began by looking on Ex-Factory and Wood Webs machinery marketplace, but quickly spotted a used Blum Mini-Drill 7-head line drill machine, on Craigslist, being sold by a local cabinet shop that was closing its doors.  We jumped on it immediately, and after $900 and few days of set-up and tweaking, one bottleneck was eliminated!

Soon thereafter, we realized the next problem that needed to be dealt with was the issue of cutting the profile for raised panels on cabinet doors. We build all of our own cabinet doors, and at the time, we only had a 1.5HP shaper that we used specifically for the cope cut on the rails, and a 3HP shaper that we shared for the stick cuts on the rails and stiles and the profile cut on door panels.

The 3HP shaper was not nearly strong enough to cut the profiles for the raised panels. We would have to send the panels through the shaper 2-3 times, increasing the depth of the cut each time, before the raised profile was fully complete: a real time suck.

We began reading up on what features we would need, and quickly narrowed the list down to a 5HP Powermatic Model 66.  Everywhere we looked, shop owners were singing this shaper’s praise, saying it was reliable, powerful, and priced right.  We also found out that most guys were recommending the older shapers over the newer shapers, saying the models seem to be built sturdier and with better tolerances than the newer models.

We found a nice looking, reasonably priced Powermatic 66, circa 1990, on Ex-Factory, but after a week or so the deal fell through.  That is when I heard about the aforementioned used machiner dealer from Salt Lake City.  So I called Coby, from Advanced Machinery, and told him what we were looking for. Within a week or so, he presented us with the Powermatic 66 seen in the picture above. The machine was a bit older than the previous one, which was more of a benefit than a drawback, and had a top-of-the-line power feed unit with brand new roller wheels!

So, by the end of March, after a few weeks of searching, and $2000, we had a new, more powerful shaper ready to go to work.

We have had our eyes on purchasing a widebelt sander for as long as I can remember.  Since the beginning we have been using a stroke sander, which is incredibly versatile and a great tool, but a widebelt sander beats it hands down in terms of accuracy, ease of use, and quality of sanding.

Once again, Coby of Advanced Machinery was keeping an eye out for a good quality used single-head widebelt sander in the $4K-$7K range. He ended up finding the one pictured above, a 30year old single-head 37″ Timesaver widebelt sander.  Coby could not believe how good this sander looked, especially for being 30 years old. It was meticulously maintained. The conveyor belt, which can cost up to $2,000 to replace, had no cracks or tears, and the sanding drums had absolutely no pits or grooves. Once his technicians gave the machine their approval, we purchased it and had it delivered.

But before we were able to hook this machine up and use it, we had to address one issue: how to power the thing! Most industrial machines, and all the machines seen in this blog entry, are 3-phase machines. Don’t ask me exactly how it works, but normal residential-type power is single-phase, and industrial-type power, which larger machines need, is 3-phase. 3-phase motors tend to be more efficient, longer-lasting, and more powerful. Our shop does not have 3-phase power, but we have multiple 3-phase machines. They are run using a phase convertor, which uses single-phase power to generate the 3-phase needed.  Phase convertors come in many different sizes, and all have max HP outputs. The largest phase convertor we had was a 20HP, which could only run a motor of about 13HP max.  The bad news is, that massive motor seen in the bottom right side of the widebelt is a 20HP motor, which would need at least a 30HP phase convertor to adequately power the machine.

So, while the sander was being shipped to us, we were searching for the best deal on phase convertors.  After scouring the web for used phase convertors, we were able to find a lightly used 40HP phase convertor in Jupiter, FL, via Crazedlist. The phase convertor weighed almost 800 pounds, which meant that shipping on the unit was insane, but the convertor was the best value that we found, so we purchased it.

After purchasing the widebelt for $5,000, the phase convertor for $1,700 + $700 shipping, and paying the electrician ~$1,800 to wire everything up, we had a beautiful widebelt sander.

The fact that we had to acquire a phase convertor made the initial purchase of the widebelt a bit expensive, but given how easy the machine has made our sanding lives, it has been well worth it!

We were not actively searching for a sliding table saw when we found the one shown above. For years we made do with a simple Safety Speed Cut panel saw to cut large 4×8 sheets into more manageable sizes and a cabinet table saw to cut those pieces into their final sizes. But, as our production volume was increasing, the limitations of those two machines were becoming more readily apparent.

One limitation was that the material had to be shifted between two saws to achieve accurate and square cuts. A full day of that work is a huge burden on an operator. The second issue was the fact that the table saw did not have a scoring blade. A scoring blade is a small blade that sits directly in front of the main cutting blade. Its sole job is to cut a shallow groove in the underside of the material before it is sliced by the main blade. This groove prevents chipping out of the material on the underside, which allows for two perfectly clean cuts on melamine and plywood: the two main materials used in cabinetry. The third limitation of the table saw is that the operator had to support and move the material through the machine, which lead to imperfect cuts due to shifting of the material as it passed through the blade, and increased operator fatigue.

One day a newsletter appeared in the email inbox from none other than Coby at Advanced Machinery, detailing their newest machines. Included in that list was a Grizzly sliding table saw.

Let me take a few sentences to talk about Grizzly tools. Grizzly Industries manufactures woodworking and metalworking machinery overseas. We own seven Grizzly machines, including a bandsaw, an oscillating spindle sander, two shapers, a thickness planer, an edge sander, and a boring machine.  They have performed very well over the years, although, when you use them day in and day out, you see their limitations and lack of engineering in a few areas. But, given their price point, which is easily 30-70% less than the competition, these are things you may decide you can live with. As someone who makes a living with machinery, I also look at factors other than just price when choosing what brand to purchase.

In this case, the Grizzly sliding table saw began its life at about half the price of the top brand sliding table saws, like Altendorf, Martin, and SCMI, and its current used price reflected that. Coby also told us that he rarely recommends Grizzly machines, but he knew the design of this sliding table saw mimicked the design of the more expensive saws, and he knew the factory in Taiwan where it was manufactured, and felt like it would be a solid machine for our company. His advice was enough to sway me. We purchased the saw and had it shipped to us.

But before we could place in in the shop, we had to shift the location of four machines, re-duct a bunch of dust collection tubing, remove a 20′ pony wall, and have our electrician reposition and add bunch of outlets.

Nevertheless, once we got the saw into position and hooked it up to the phase convertor, everything worked smoothly. No more chipping out on melamine or plywood, no more struggling to send a huge sheet through the table saw, and no more transporting dozens of pieces between two saws! Another side benefit to the sliding table saw is the fact that the dust collection is able to capture almost all of the dust created, something our old table saw made impossible.

So, after $5,000 for the saw and $1,500 for the electrical hook-ups, we came to the end of this machinery shopping spree. We purchased all four with cash, and all four machines increased the quality of our product, eliminated a production bottleneck, and made our work lives more enjoyable!

About a year ago we began to actively market and sell custom residential cabinetry along with our usual offering of custom furniture. Before late 2010 we had completed a few cabinet jobs, entertainment centers, office units, and a kitchen, mostly for interior designers and a few retail clients, but we never pursued any cabinet work in the new home or remodeling markets.

That all changed in the latter part of 2010. We first began by compiling a list of every home builder and remodeling company we could find in our area and cold calling them. We ended up calling just about every company out there, but realized that in the current home building market, that approach was incredibly hit and miss. Either the company was out of business, or they didn’t have any projects going on, and may not have had a project for the past year or so, or, if you were lucky enough to reach a company who did have work, they had just awarded the job to another company. Better luck next time.

We decided it was time to find a smarter way to land some jobs, so we quit the random sales calls and instead began to pull building permits and call the companies that actually have projects going.

This method was not without its failures though. Often times the company had already settled on a cabinet company before the building permit was approved and published in the public record. Other times, the home builder, since this was not their first home, already had an established relationship with a cabinet company. But, often enough, we were able to generate some interest, schedule a meeting, send out a bid, and win the contract on a job.

Within a few weeks of sales calls, meetings, and bidding, we were awarded our first job in October 2010.

Ever since, our approach has been much the same: pull a building permit, analyze it to see whether or not it is a good fit for our company, check the builders information against any notes we may have previously compiled on them in our database, and finally, make the sales call.

Little by little, we are beginning to build up a network of home builders and remodelers that will send us repeat business and referalls.

The results of these sales calls have been a more than doubling of our sales, the hiring of one new full-time employee, and the investment in new woodworking machinery.

In the next post, we will talk about our new machinery it is increasing our quality and efficiency for both cabinetry and furniture.

With the construction complete, it was time to move on to the finishing stage!

The top of the dresser was a little tricky since it was going to be a two-toned finish.  The field was going to be clear-finished Mahogany, while the border was going to be stained to match the body of the dresser.  We had to figure out how to stain the border while keeping the seem between the field and the border crisp and clean.

Our solution, as seen in the picture above, was to mask off the border and apply the first coat of sealer to the field.  This ensured that, when we stained the border, the stain would not penetrate the mahogany of the field because it was already sealed.

Just for safe measure we still taped off the seam when it came time for us to stain the border.

After staining the border and adding another coat of sealer and a top coat of catalyzed lacquer, this is what the top looked like.  The seam between the field and the border came out perfectly crisp and clean and the juxtaposition between the two colors really makes the grain of the natural mahogany shine!

We also stained all the drawer fronts and the dresser carcass with the same color stain as the border of the top.

The final product looks like this, without any drawers installed…

…and like this with all the drawers installed!

One last parting side shot!

Jessica & Adam Petty

Boise, ID – January, 2010

Clients Project

Suzie Hall
Cornerstone Interior Design

Boise, ID – October 2011

Project #1 – Project #2 – Project #3 – Project #4

Blog entries for the client’s PROJECT #1 and PROJECT #2 and PROJECT

With the completion of the main body of the dresser, we began the eleven drawer fronts.

Each drawer front consisted of a panel of 3/4″ African Mahogany plywood framed by solid African Mahogany.

We milled the 44 rails and stiles to a final dimension of 1.25″ wide and 1″ thick.  We then ran each piece through our router to create a beautiful and ornate detail on the face of each piece.

We then sent each piece through the table saw, equipped with a dado blade, and cut a small notch in the side of each piece, which would allow the framework to overhang the face of the plywood.

Then, after mitering each corner, we framed the pieces of plywood with four pieces of trim.

Once the framing was complete, the drawer fronts were sent to the prep room for the final sanding stage.

Here is John, finding some more camera time!

The next stage in this project was to begin the fabrication of the drawer boxes.

We milled the drawer box sides, fronts, and backs from solid alder to a final thickness of 5/8″. The holes were drilled to accept 1/4″ dowels and a dado was cut in the bottom of each piece to accept the drawer box bottom.

Finally, we sanded and sprayed two coats of lacquer on all the pieces prior to assembly.

Here, Colby is assembling the eleven drawer boxes using some glue, dowels, and parallel bar clamps.

Yet more people inserting themselves into the shop project pictures.  Seen here is the big boss: my father!

Once the glue dried and the drawer boxes were ready to handle, we attached the other half of the ball-bearing drawer slide to the sides of the drawer boxes, and installed into the dresser.

We next turned our attention to all the trim work that was still waiting to be completed.

We began by adding a decorative skirt around the base of the dresser.  The bump out in the skirt will follow the perimeter of a half-column that will be added to the front of the dresser in the following steps.

We also drilled a hole through the skirt and into the body of the dresser and doweled and glued on four decorative furniture feet.

Here is a shot looking down on the skirt and foot that were added in the previous photo.

We also added the half column to the front of the face frame of the dresser.

With the base of the dresser complete, we looked upward.

We milled and added a small trim detail which began at the far left side, continued forward, intersected the left column, bisected the first and second rows of drawers, intersected the right column, and continued back down the far right side.

Here is an overall shot of the dresser with all the detailed trim work completed.

The drawer boxes had to be removed once they were fitted, because eleven solid wood drawer boxes made the dresser weigh about a ton and a half! They will be added back in once the staining and lacquering has been completed.

The top of the dresser was the last part we had yet to tackle.  We constructed the top using a piece of 3/4″ Mahogany plywood and 1″ thick solid Mahogany.  We butt jointed the side trim to the back,  and miter joined the front to the side trim.

In the early part of this year, 2011, we built a dresser for a friend’s wife as a birthday gift.  We began with an inspiration picture, which showed a dresser with four rows of drawers, ornate detailing around the drawer fronts, turned columns, furniture feet, and a dark red stained carcass with a two-toned stained top.

After some initial designing to get us pointed in the correct direction, we jumped right into cutting out the carcass of the dresser.

We cut out the sides, which were the only visible portions of the carcass, from 3/4″ African Mahogany plywood, while the back and bottom, which are unseen, were cut from 1/2″ and 3/4″ MDF.

After running a few dadoes in the sides and the back, we glued and brad nailed the pieces together.

With the glue drying, we turned our attention to the front framework of the dresser, which was constructed from solid 3/4″ thick African Mahogany.

Here, Colby is jointing a rough board of Mahogany prior to sending it through the planer, and Jonathon is in the background working as hard as ever!

After adding both the left and right columns, Colby fine tunes the fit of the horizontal rails and marks the exact placements of the corner notches.

We used a dado blade and a sled to cut a notch in each corner of the horizontal rails. The notch allows the rails to fit behind and between the vertical columns added in the previous step.

The horizontal rails are connected to the dresser using glue and pocket screws.  This picture shows Colby drilling the pocket screw holes using a special jig and drill bit.

Using pocket screws, we connected the rails to the carcass of the dresser. Spacers were also used to ensure exact spacing between each rail.

With the front rails connected, we turned our attention to the rest of the internal framework, which consisted of the back rails and the vertical spacers. Each piece was glued and screwed into place.  Next, we added eleven pairs of full-extension ball-bearing drawer slides into each space.

A few months ago Suzie Hall, owner of Cornerstone Interior Design, came to us and ask for a 51″ diameter round dining table that could extend to 108″ total!  An extension of 57″, which is greater than the diameter of the original table, seemed like a tall order, but we figured most anything is possible if designed correctly.

After some internet searching, we discovered metal and wood table extensions that confirmed our hunch that it was indeed possible and is actually quite common.

The 3D model above is the overall look of the table in the closed position.  Each half will have a leg assembly that is able to hold itself upright and slide along the floor when the table is opened up.

When the table is pulled apart, the user can install up to three 19″ leaves, allowing the table to extend to lengths of 70″, 89″ and 108″.

We began by milling the two half-round tops, the three leaves, and the skirt that wrapped around the entire underside of the table.  With the tops and skirts milled, cut to length, sanded, and screwed together, it was time to join all five table top pieces using table pins and alignment locks.

In the picture above, after installing the table pins into the edges of the table tops, we laid the table tops upside and added the alignment locks.

The table pins ensure perfect alignment between two tops since the pin fits perfectly into its corresponding hole without any play.  The perfect fit is great when it comes to the finished fit and function of the table, but aligning and drilling the holes perfectly opposite each other is incredibly difficult!  Thankfully we were having a very good day and all 12 pins were perfectly aligned!

The alignment locks were quite a bit easier to install. Just lay the top upside-down, center over the seam, and attach with four screws.  The alignment locks, as the name implies, provides some alignment benefit, but we decided they were not good enough to be used on their own for that purpose, which is why we used the table pins for the alignment issues.  The alignment locks were mostly used to lock the tops together and prevent them from pulling apart once they were brought together.

With the pins and locks installed, it was time to turn our attention to the star of the table, the piece of hardware that was going to make the entire table function, and that was the table extension.

I mentioned earlier in the post that we found metal and wood table extensions online, which showed us that this kind of project was indeed possible. It also showed us that we would probably have to make our own extensions because none of the metal units would fit in the space we had available and we did not trust a wood-only extension to provide enough vertical support or stiffness.

So we made our own table extensions from three 20″ 200lb. rated ball bearing drawer slides. The resulting assemblies were incredibly heavy, silently smooth, and functioned perfectly!

We attached the legs and gave the table a test run!

The final table was stained a beautiful, warm, rich brown and finished with two coats of dull-rubbed conversion varnish.

The final table with all three leaves installed.

The table is sitting on a sheet of melamine to help even out some of the inconsistencies of the concrete shop floor.

The final table with one leaf installed in the clients home.