Another Test Machine Cabinet

[jteneyck]

This is the first project I've done since getting back into my shop after the neck surgery.  I've made several of these cabinets over the past 3 or 4 years.  This one is 30" tall; all the others were 20".  A universal mechanical properties test machine will sit on top of the cabinet.  Parts and supplies get stored in the drawers.  



The cabinet is pretty stout.  The hard maple frame is joined with 1/2" loose tenons.  The panels are 1/2" MDO.  The 20" deep drawers are 1/2" BB plywood, finger jointed together, with 1/2" bottoms.  They ride on side mounted, self closing drawer slides from KV.  (3/32" gap around those inset drawers, Doug.) The top is Formica over 1-1/2" thick plywood.  I use 3M's spray contact cement to glue the Formica onto the plywood.  At $12/can it's prohibitively expensive for large projects, but for something like this it's perfect.  No muss, no fuss. The cabinet is finished with BIN pigmented shellac based primer and topcoated with GF's White Enduro Poly.     

John

[shoottmx]

Photo not showing John---

g

[jteneyck]

Photo not showing John---

g

Thanks.  Should be OK now.

John

[Gary G™]

Looks good.
What’s a universal mechanical properties test machine?

[stav]

Looks great. Just curious, is there a reason you didn’t take the drawers all the way down to the floor?

[Tapper]

This is the first project I've done since getting back into my shop after the neck surgery.  I've made several of these cabinets over the past 3 or 4 years.  This one is 30" tall; all the others were 20".  A universal mechanical properties test machine will sit on top of the cabinet.  Parts and supplies get stored in the drawers.  



The cabinet is pretty stout.  The hard maple frame is joined with 1/2" loose tenons.  The panels are 1/2" MDO.  The 20" deep drawers are 1/2" BB plywood, finger jointed together, with 1/2" bottoms.  They ride on side mounted, self closing drawer slides from KV.  (3/32" gap around those inset drawers, Doug.) The top is Formica over 1-1/2" thick plywood.  I use 3M's spray contact cement to glue the Formica onto the plywood.  At $12/can it's prohibitively expensive for large projects, but for something like this it's perfect.  No muss, no fuss. The cabinet is finished with BIN pigmented shellac based primer and topcoated with GF's White Enduro Poly.     

John

Beautiful work, as usual John. Any chance of seeing the detail on those drawers?

Thanks,

Doug

[jteneyck]

Stav, the other 5 of these I've made were only 20" tall, so the drawers did effectively go all the way to the floor.  




When I got this order they asked if I could make it 30" high.  Sure, but do you also want more drawers.  No, just make it 30" high.  OK.  

Gary, a universal mechanical properties test machine can measure most any mechanical property of a material or assembly. MTS in Minnesota is one of the largest manufacturers of this type of equipment, and the ones we have most in the labs I worked in, some of which sit on top of these cabinets.  We use them to measure the tensile, compression, and friction behavior of some products.  Machines like this are what FPL would use to measure the properties of wood, too, as well as the strength of joints, screw pullout strength, etc.  They come in lots of sizes with widely varying capabilities.  Our QA group has several with maybe only 5000 lb load capacity that sit on these cabinets, while we have one in our R&D lab that needs a high door to pass under and has a load capacity of nearly 100,000 lbs, and another that we use to measure the tensile strength of fibers only 2 microns in diameter, which requires only a few grams force but great accuracy.  

Doug, here is a photo of the drawer sides showing the 1/2" finger joints I used and the metal slides they ride on.  I use an original Incra jig on my router table to cut the joints, which allows you to cut the joints for all common parts at once.  Once the jig is set up and the fence positioned correctly I cut the joints for these 4 drawers in about 15 minutes.  You gang all the sides together, make the cuts on one end, flip them over and repeat on the other end, then gang the front/backs together and repeat the process using the complimentary scale on the jig.  As long as you index the jig correctly it's automatic.  I use the same jig for cutting dovetail joints in solid wood drawers.  There are several patterns you can use, too, to create joints that look highly machine cut to more hand cut.  




The first photo shows how the slides are mounted in the cabinet. 

John

[KC]

That basic design could be tweaked for all manner of tables/chests.  

[Mr Eddie]

Really great job!  Very stout and nicely proportioned.  I've always admired the finish on the cabinets you've built.  The white always looks so clean and the edges well defined.

Lonnie

PS  Do you have a picture of the incra jig you use?

[jteneyck]

Really great job!  Very stout and nicely proportioned.  I've always admired the finish on the cabinets you've built.  The white always looks so clean and the edges well defined.

Lonnie

PS  Do you have a picture of the incra jig you use?

Thanks for the kind words.  I bought a pressure assisted spray gun just to spray higher viscosity products like GF's Enduro White Poly and it does a great job.  I add a couple of percent of Extender to it, also, and that helps it flow out really well.  

I couldn't find any photos of the Incra jig when cutting finger joints, but here are a couple when I was cutting dovetails.  Cutting the tails is the same as cutting finger joints; you can gang up parts and cut them all at once.  



There are templates you stick into the bottom half of the jig.  You use the black lines for pins (I think) and the blue ones for the tails.  



You set the jig, make a cut through all the ganged parts when cutting finger joints or the tails of DT joints, then index to the next mark, etc.  



I always use a backer board on both sides of finger joints; it's not required on DT's because the shallow rabbet you first cut prevents tearout.  

The jig indexes in 1/32" increments.  You can develop your own templates, too, if the stock ones don't meet your needs.  I like the Incra jig because you move the work over the router bit.  I tried one of the Leigh dovetail jigs and just didn't like having to constantly hold the router and move it into and out of the fingers.  I have nothing against that approach, it just wasn't comfortable for me.  

By golly, they still make the Original Incra Jig.

John