An oak window seat Part 2

Installation day for the oak window seat.  This one starts out pretty standard with building a platform on the floor and covering it with mdf for a base.  Ive then built a small "wall" with 2x4s and applied the face that I made up and prestained in the shop.  Scribing is a critical skill here, because you want everything as tight as possible to the walls. Even though this house is only 3 years old, the walls are not totally square.

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That Giant Sucking Crushing Sound Part I

My Ridgid blower/vac
ClearVue Cyclone

Hi. My name is Dyami and Im a Vacuumaholic. While Ive previously confessed my obsession with routers (Im now up to 9) I must also confess a somewhat smaller obsession with vacuums and dust collectors.

I have two (2) Dust Boy style dust collectors I picked up off Craigs list. Theyre both in the attic now, but an extension to the woodshop is planned to help fit them in. I also have a Ridgid portable "suitcase" style vacuum, a Shop Vac, a Ridgid Blower/Vac with Clear Vue Cyclone attachment and the requisite Festool CT22. Based on my current quasi completed shop setup, the Ridgid Blower/Vac with Clear Vue cyclone serves as the dust collection for my table saw, jointer & planer. It has a 16 gallon capacity, and I often fill it. Like you, I hate emptying it.

I hate emptying it so much that it got me thinking. While it would be much work to re-purpose the Clear Vue cyclone to fit a bigger container (and for what I paid for it, I dont think I could bring myself to modify it), Dust Deputy cyclones come as a kit and can be attached to any container. I ordered one and set to work.

My elbow assembly to prevent kinking the vacuum hose.

Never one to shy away from over complicating a project, I decided that I needed to make some improvements on the suggest Dust Deputy set up. I began by picking up some schedule 40 PVC pipe and a few Ferncos. I wasnt happy with the idea of a vacuum hose kinking as it exists vertically from the top of the Dust Deputy. With the big elbow assembly I made, the hose now hangs from the PVC, eliminating the possibility of kinking.

My completed initial setup.

I then had to decide on a container. As I own a full complement of sheet metal tools (I used to be a sheet metal mechanic at work) I began with a simple metal garbage can. I had Tom Iovinos tale of the metal garbage can dust collection in my head as I cut the top and fit the Dust Deputy, yet I failed to pay it any heed.

When I finished the metal bodied Dust Deputy setup I connected it to my CT22 and began to vacuum. Instantly I realized than on all but the weakest settings the CT22 would deform the metal can. At this point I scrapped the metal can installation and went looking for a more rigid dust collection bin.

We’ll reveal what I came up with in the exiciting conclusion of That Giant Sucking (and Crushing) Sound. Until then, what sucks so badly in your shop that you had to scrap it?

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Brief Part II

When last I left, we were at this stage:

The frame was assembled on the briefcase, but the panel edges extended all around the frame and needed to be trimmed. 

Here was a little angle I chipped to prevent blowing out the end grain. 

I had a big long explanation typed up to explain what is going on here and what blow out is and the subtleties involved, but honestly it was getting way too wording and I was doing a poor job explaining. So I deleted it. Basically I need to take more pictures and devote another posting to it. 

Whoops! Trimmed a little too deep...

But thats why smoothing planes were invented.

Now it was time to cut the sucker open. The first task is to strike a line all around the box where the cut will be. This is easily done with a marking gauge. Note where the line falls on the dovetail and how the irregular spacing of the joint makes sense now.

My plan was to start each cut in the corners with the dovetail saw and then finish them off with the big (and new to me) sash saw. Here is an initial corner cut:

Remember, on Western saws, the cut is on the push stroke; so here Im cutting to the right. Ive stopped the cut right before the saw enters the tail board. Ive done this so that Im not cutting "uphill" or against the grain. If this cut was to proceed down into the tail board, the saw teeth would be tearing out the grain and leaving a ragged cut instead of shaving the wood and leaving a smooth cut as it has in the pin board.

Moving up to a bigger saw (with a new handle by Yours Truly)...

...and just trying to connect those corners with as straight a line as possible:

This is actually pretty difficult.

Soon one cut...

 ...leads to another:

and another and another and then:

Taa-daa!

Then I just added SOSS hinges...

...and stained it:

Actually I beveled some edges and then I stained it. 

So thats where things sit now. I still need handle and catch hardware but that stuff is easy to install. Im already on the next project actually...you can see a sneak peek in the background of the last picture there. Yeah, thats some wild grain going on up there and its really tough to work with.

Stay tuned.

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