As a picture speaks a thousand words (and that I am very busy!), here are some pics and not a lot of waffle from this weekends efforts.
Its a pretty good moment when you actually start putting one of these together. Looking back at all the old pics, to start creating something like this from 3 sheets of heavy wood feels pretty good!
Here is a better view.
There will be a little bit of filler needed in some areas, but on the whole, its actually not far off. And a nice bonus is that when we stood it up and stuck a spirit level on it, its pretty much even all over!! Yeah!
Thursday, 26 July 2007
Just a real quickie for today...
The paint arrived yesterday! After spending days trying to find a retailer that sold 'semi-gloss' Black paint to no avail, one last web search took me to "The Green Shop" who sell natural products.
I was a bit hesistant at first as the paint contains no dangerous products - so no lead or any other chemicals normally found in paint - its all made from natural goods! The finish is superb though, the paint went on very nicely, no fumes and now its dry, it really looks the part!
All this means that I can now finally assemble the cabinet in my room and the construction of the main cabinet is now over!
More pictures to come on Saturday of a full erection - stay tuned for those!
Though the forecast was for more wet stuff, the skies stayed (relatively) blue and the rain held off - so with a 10am prompt start I was off and running trying to tie up all the odds and ends.
First up, some more minor cuts and trims -plus a bit of sanding to fix some off sizes. So far so good... quick, crack on! Whipped out the router for the first time to router the edges of the cabinet. This is to allow the 'T-Molding' plastic edging to slot into the groove I have made (right).
With all these little jobs finished off, I cut up some scrap wood into 2" x 2" lengths and set about making the supports for the cabinet.
This was pretty straight forward stuff - all about getting the measurements and angles right, heating up the glue gun and then drilling/screwing the wood to the sides of the cabinet.
Doesnt sound like alot, but it was a good days work and left me pretty tired - probably due to me racing with one eye on the skies. Anyway, everything wood wise is finished for the time being.
What a miserable wet day! Due to the lost time in the week due to the weather, I was eager to have a good weekend - but it rained on and off for 99% of the day.
In the small windows of opportunity I did manage to grasp (in between doing 'real work' of webdesign and trips to B&Q) when the rain ceased, I busted out a new tool - the Palm Sander!
This genius little device was the last piece of my arsenal in the assault on cabinet hill (christ that sounds mental!). Anyway, I used the sander to finish off all the pieces and match up any symetrical parts that were not quite exact. Nice tool and again, for about £7.00, shows you dont have to go out and spend loads on tools.
So, with all the bits ready to go, I was about to take the plunge and start putting it all together. Aided by my trusty assistant Claire, we set about lining the pieces up, drilling and screwing together as much as we could.
It turned out to be fairly straight forward and though pieces may be a 1/16th of an inch out here and there, on the whole, I'm very please with how the pieces of the cab are working out.
We had to call a halt to todays proceedings though as I was starving and we also need to cut some scrap wood. Hopefully if the weather improves tomorrow, I can finish the building, take it all apart again, router the edges and prepare for painting! Pretty easy...
After praying for rain for the last 6 weeks, due to bad hayfever - and the gods mostly abiding, I've spent the last 2 days praying for sunlight!
The murky Lincolnshire skies have not been kind to the garden arcade cabinet builder and 2 evenings of showers have brought a semi-halt to proceedings.
Though we had an absolutely torrential downpour about 4pm today, the rain held off this evening and I was straight outside after work to set up the tools. On todays agenda was re-cutting the miss-cut control panel side pieces, taking 10" off of my base supports, cutting some 45-degree angles for the first time and trying out the router for the very first time!
But first delivery news... I ordered a router bit from a company called "Rutlands" in the UK, who promise 'Next Day Delivery on orders placed before 4pm'. Well, I ordered at 7am on Monday morning and obviously my understanding of 'Next Day' is different to theirs as it arrived this morning - that speedy delivery cost £5.95 (would have been 90p with Royal Mail)... still, putting Rutlands to shame were the ever faithul 'Play-Asia', who although sound like a Thai Mail Order Bride service, are actually suppliers of all things gaming from the Far East.
Only ordered last Thursday on a standard delivery, my LCD Light Gun arrived today, so thats very pleasing! Heres a YouTube vid (not mine) of it in action... should be fun!
Anyway... all the woodwork went very well today. Took me 30 mins to figure out how to operate the Router! Bloody thing... sorted it in the end and did some testing which went very well (the Router is used to cut a thin slot in the edge of the cabinet wood. Into the slot will fit some plastic molding finsh, called T-Molding). I will Router all the cabinet nearer the weekend.
So then I started the first part of construction finally! The base of the cabinet was assembled today. On the left, you can see how this was done. 4 thin slices of MDF are cut to the sizes you see here, then the edges drawn round with a pencil. Pilot holes are then drilled into intervals where you have marked the wood.
Once enough holes are drilled, the supports are attached using the hot-glue gun and held in place for a minute or two.
Once secure, the whole thing is flipped over and pilot holes drilled back through the base and supports enabling 2" Dry-Wall screws to be used to hold everything together, like this...
Seems very secure and it feels good to be actually building something now!
Next jobs are to put wheels on this base, rout the cabinet sides and then attach the sides to the base... will need some help - "CLAIRREEEEEEEE"...
Against all my expectations, its gone very well today and I (with Claires fantastic help), have cut all the pieces out for the arcade cabinet.
To the right, are all the pieces required to assemble the body of the cabinet and build the control panel.
The two sides of the cabinet have come out really well and are shaped just as I want them. I modified the design in the book, reducing the depth of the cabinet by 10" to allow it to get in and out of my room easier - plus by adding a TFT monitor to the cab, it gives it a nice slim look (although the retro arcade purists will baulk at the look of a TFT screen!)
Anyway, considering before 1030am this morning, I have never operated a Circular Saw, Jigsaw, a workmate and hand clamps, then I've got to be pretty proud of how it has turned out!
Thanks again to Claire - couldnt have got through today without you helping out and putting up with my tantrums! x
Next up is ordering the Router piece on Monday and getting the edges of the cabinet routed (after squaring the matching pieces off) and then hopefully being ready to construct next weekend!
Finally, I promised a shout-out to my boss Sarah at work (JBS Webdesign, the premier webdesign company in the East Midlands!). Sarah braved the town center of Melton Mowbray to pick up my Saw and Router yesterday, (carrying them to the car bless her) to make today possible - thanks again Sarah!
I am absolutely f**ked now though, so just having a cold bottle of Budweiser as I write this, then I'm gonna relax with some Pro Evo!
But I'll just leave you with a better view of the sides of the cab...
Its a pretty good moment when you actually start putting one of these together. Looking back at all the old pics, to start creating something like this from 3 sheets of heavy wood feels pretty good!
Here is a better view.
I was a bit hesistant at first as the paint contains no dangerous products - so no lead or any other chemicals normally found in paint - its all made from natural goods! The finish is superb though, the paint went on very nicely, no fumes and now its dry, it really looks the part!
Though the forecast was for more wet stuff, the skies stayed (relatively) blue and the rain held off - so with a 10am prompt start I was off and running trying to tie up all the odds and ends.
First up, some more minor cuts and trims -plus a bit of sanding to fix some off sizes. So far so good... quick, crack on! Whipped out the router for the first time to router the edges of the cabinet. This is to allow the 'T-Molding' plastic edging to slot into the groove I have made (right).
This was pretty straight forward stuff - all about getting the measurements and angles right, heating up the glue gun and then drilling/screwing the wood to the sides of the cabinet.
This genius little device was the last piece of my arsenal in the assault on cabinet hill (christ that sounds mental!). Anyway, I used the sander to finish off all the pieces and match up any symetrical parts that were not quite exact. Nice tool and again, for about £7.00, shows you dont have to go out and spend loads on tools.
So, with all the bits ready to go, I was about to take the plunge and start putting it all together. Aided by my trusty assistant Claire, we set about lining the pieces up, drilling and screwing together as much as we could.
So then I started the first part of construction finally! The base of the cabinet was assembled today. On the left, you can see how this was done. 4 thin slices of MDF are cut to the sizes you see here, then the edges drawn round with a pencil. Pilot holes are then drilled into intervals where you have marked the wood.
Once secure, the whole thing is flipped over and pilot holes drilled back through the base and supports enabling 2" Dry-Wall screws to be used to hold everything together, like this...
Wow... what a day!
I am absolutely f**ked now though, so just having a cold bottle of Budweiser as I write this, then I'm gonna relax with some Pro Evo!
