Too much

I know several days have elapsed since the blog was last updated.  Reader Ade left a comment reminding me almost a week had passed and something must have happened worthy of comment.  Well plenty has happened.  So much that I haven’t found the energy to sit at the computer.  So here is an update.

The bed.  I’ve started assembling the drawers.  When it came to the corners I decided against dovetailing as plywood doesn’t handle that very well.  Actually it tends to splinter.  I decided on 50/50 rebate joints using a combination of glue and the nail gun.  Initially I was going to use the router to make the rebates but in the end opted to use the bench saw.  I really need to make a slide for the bench saw (another project) but managed to cut the rebates using the fence.  I also decided to cut a groove in the sides and ends for the plywood base.  Once the first drawer had been cut I made a jig on the assemble table for a trial assembly.

Everything looked OK so I glued and tack nailed the corners leaving it in the jig to set overnight.

I’ll check it’s square tomorrow and if everything is correct will add more nails to the corner joints.  Jan has decided the drawers are too big and I’m going to rectify that by fitting a vertical divider.  This will enable her to have ‘summer’ and ‘winter’ compartments.  The vertical divider will also provide additional strength to the 4mm thick plywood base.  Only another nine drawers to make!

The Assembly Table    The ‘T-Nut’s arrived from China.  You may recall I purchased 100 for the Assembly Table.  They will be fitted on the underneath side of the top and act as an anchor for my home made clamps.  I started manually fixing each ‘T-Nut’ using a bolt and ratchet socket.  It was slow going and I quickly realised I’d need to add some brain power to the process.  After hunting through my old (and rusty) tools I found a shaft with a square end the same size as the socket.  The other end of the shaft fitted into the battery drill.  This enabled me to significantly reduce the time it took to fit each ‘T-Nut’'.

A ‘T-nut’ can be seen to the right of the bolt.  Tightening the bolt with the drill pulls the ‘T-Nut’ up into the base of the Assembly Table top and the four small prongs on the ‘T-nut’ bit into the timber.

Jarrah Cabinet    I disassembled the Jarrah display cabinet which had been attacked by the termites.  After de-nailing and removing all the screws I ran the timber components through the DeWaly portable saw to remove the termite damaged portions.  Some of the vertical panels had warped in storage and I used the saw to cut them along the joins.

The white pieces in the edges are the original biscuits I used when I joined the planks back in 2008.  All these short planks will now need to go through the electric planer to ensure all the warping is removed.  The damaged back was cut off the long and thick base before I sanded it and then stood it vertically under the shelter of the pergola.

 

The drawers look OK, apart from needing a good clean.  I’d forgotten I’d finger joined the corners.

Computer Desk    I used Jan’s iron (don’t tell her) to fix the heat tape to the edges of the corner computer desk.  My technique is to use a paint scraper or putty knife to remove the excess tape and then sand the edges smooth.  Others use a router but I find using the scraper gives me better control.  The completed components were moved into the lounge room where I assembled them. 

It’s sturdy, but not the best joinery I’ve seen.  With the desk now made I spent most of the following day going through the vast collection of computer CDs and DVDs rationalizing what needed to be kept after 23 years of hording.

Computer Parts    I don’t like throwing things away and therefore wasn’t all that surprised to realise we had four desktop computers in the storage container.  They hadn’t stored well and three of them proved to be ‘dead’.  Well actually all four were dead but I managed to make one working pc from the four.  After that I went through the other three salvaging what might be useful.

This lot need to go to the tip.  However I now have two large plastic containers of cables and ‘bits’.

TV Sound  My hearing is getting worse.  What’s that you say…….. speak up I’m not deaf… yet!

The problem is the TV.  I want to wind up the sound level so I can hear it.  This results in Jan being blasted out of her chair.  Consequentially I don’t watch much TV.   I tried connecting the wireless headphones (purchased in Riyadh) to the TV via the headphone socket.  Whilst that resulted in the headphones working, it also cut out the TV speakers.  Today I went into a hifi shop.  After explaining the problem to the shop assistant he suggested I buy an analogue to digital sound converter.  The little box connects to the TV via the digital optical port and then converts the sound to analogue which goes to the headphone transmitter.  The theory was the sound from the TV speakers wouldn’t be affected.

You can see the converter below the TV screen with the optical input on the left and analogue output to the headphones on the right.  The setup appears to be working which means I can now listen to the TV without blowing Jan’s eardrums.  I now have to tidy everything.

4x4   The 4x4 modifications projects can now start (time permitting) as my brother has kindly given me a piece of thick Perspex with which to make a mounting bracket.  He even loaned me his heat gun so I can mould the Perspex to the required shape.

BBQ Table    I’d love to assemble our nice Jarrah BBQ Table….. If only I could find the bolts which must have been somewhere in the 20ft container.  I guess they will turn up at some stage.

Underside of the table top waiting on bolts

All for now…..!