Not dust free yet, but better.

I've started the first woodworking project since installing the cyclone dust collector. Not every detail had been taken care of on the DC, though. For example, I need to screw the duct pieces together and caulk all the joints. I need to make a box for the bottom of the filter stack and permanently install that. But anyway, the system is operational and does a fantastic job. It will be even better when the details are complete.

On to the project.
Aunt Lori needs a cabinet. One of things I needed to do this past weekend was take some more measurements as to where the cabinet will go. It will house a wine refrigerator and a collection of wine glasses. Because of the location requirements I also had to have a good idea of how the refrigerator door swings open. Luckily it is not mounted like an internal passage door in your hallway, and does not need additional room when open. So with the measurements solidified the project was ready to be started.

The cabinet is being made from a sycamore tree I cut down a few years ago, so it starts with rough sawn wood. This needs to be smoothed to final dimensions on all sides. First I used PowerPoint to make some drawings and filled in the measurements. From the drawings every piece gets labeled (A, B, C...) and counted. This is called "making a cut list". The cabinet is a frame and panel design and I started with the front, side, and middle divider frames...22 parts to make. Frames consist of "rails" (horizontal) and "stiles" (vertical). At this point the rails (13 parts) are all milled to their final dimensions. The 9 stile parts are rough cut, oversize, and will be worked smooth soon.

Through all of that there would normally have been about a half wheelbarrow full of sawdust to sweep up. But with the new DC doing most of the work there was about 1 dustpan full.

This first picture makes the unfinished "stiles" (on the right) look better than they really are. The finished "rails" are the two stacks on the left.


Looking down from the ends you can see the warps and twists on the stiles. ALL of the rails looked like that too, but they finish up nicely as seen on the left.


Milling wood like this adds many hours to a project, but the end result is the same as buying pre-milled wood from the store. Pre-milled wood is very expensive too and you usually only have a choice of oak, poplar, or maple. For me, there is something more satisfying about turning a tree into a nice piece of furniture.