The first is Titebond III I use this as my primary wood glue. While it’s a bit overkill for some things, when I need something that will survive moisture (like glue-ups that will end up in kitchens), this is the stuff. In bulk, it’s not a significant difference in price to non-waterproof glues and I’d rather have one bulk container in my shop that two or three. In the standard household bottle we’re talking $4.99 vs $3.99 which might seem like overkill if you are headed to the hardware store for a bottle of basic glue but given that bottle will get used for projects down the road, the extra versatility is a bargain.

The other glue is not as obvious but even more versatile – JB Weld or JB Kwik. The primary difference in the two JB products is the setup time.

The JB Weld / Kwik glues are actually a resin / hardener combination. There is a tube of each. One reason I like it is that it works – duh. The other is that it can sit in a drawer for years and still be ready when you need it. They advertise this stuff as "liquid steel". I treat it like a "composite welder in a tube". I’ve never used it in some of the examples from the manufacturer – hot/cold pipes, engine blocks, and the like. However I have used in in some high stress and high heat areas like an engine fitting on my lawnmower or to hold a wire in place of a stress relief. I’ve also used it for plastic-to-plastic (as in the plastic housings on appliances, tools, etc). Perhaps the most interesting case for me was bonding a broken cast iron part. When I finished bonding, letting it harden, and then lightly grinding, the part was whole again – more important, it worked and the machine is still running. In all cases, once this stuff hardens, I can work it like it is metal. IF I catching it before it has cured 100%, I can work it likes its plastic. The trick it to let it harden fully before putting the repair into service. If you are less patient, that’ where Kwik comes in <grin>.

I’m sure there are lots of other important glues – like contact cement and PVC pipe compound – but I like multi-taskers so these two glues get me through 99% of my projects and repairs.

The outfeed table was ease as it has 2×4 legs. The contractor saw needed something extra.

I created “leg blocks” using a glue-up of three layers of 3/4″ Advantech. I love this stuff but it’s not cheap so I kept every scrap from the farmhouse construction. These glue-ups were all scraps. Once everything dried, I cut them to match the legs. That required a 10 degree cut on the ends and then a 7-1/2 degree bevel top and bottom. The beveling was not absolutely necessary but it made the next step much easier.

I drilled a shallow hole followed by a smaller but much deeper hole at each end of both leg blocks. This all makes more sense when you see the photo. The two diameters of each hole can be seen in the lower right of the first photo.

The leg levelers are just 4″ long 1/2″ diameter carriage bolts. The smaller hold is just large enough for the shank while the larger hole is just deep enough to receive the nut and quite as large around. The bolts are much longer than needed to insure stability inside the leg blocks. I thread the nut onto the shank as seen in the lower right example of the top photo, then – with the leg block on the floor, not on the saw – drive the bolt into place until the nut seats. The nut will wedge into place and will bottom out. For added insurance, you can add a small amount of epoxy but make sure none gets on the threads.

The completed leg blocks were bolted into place on the saw.

Since the carriage bolt has a square flange near the head, it is easy to use a wrench to adjust the height and level the saw. The oversized outfeed table uses the same scheme directly into the end of the 2×4 legs. The Unisaw has a plywood bottom so it uses carriage bolts with nuts and washers both top and bottom of the plywood.

The saw, is a Rockwell Unisaw. Today that would be Delta (following an acquisition and rebranding). From some casting marks, I conclude the saw is from 1979. The saw has seen a number of significant changes in the past 4-5 years but prior to that, it saw almost no mechanical changes since it debuted in 1944! This saw spent it’s first life in a vocational school and it was a tough life.

The saw was equipped with a three-phase motor. I could care less if it was any good since my shop does not have 3-phase power. From the start, I knew the saw was going to need and get a new motor. I eventually settled on a Leeson 3HP motor. The biggest advantage to this unit, in addition to its power, was that it already was configured with the necessary pivot bracket used by the Unisaw. With the motor on order, I set to working on the saw.

The plan was to refinish the top, check the bearings (and pray they were all right), replace the belts, figure out the electrical system, create some option for dust collection, and build a motor cover.

The frame #1 in filmstrip shows the saw with the fence removed and my first attempts at cleaning the top. Eventually, I went for a substantial tear-down. You can see the yoke and other castings in frame #3. After more effort than I care to acknowledge – and more than a few recitations of "wax on / wax off" – I finished stripping the coating on the top. The mess I was dealing with was painted on urethane. This was most likely applied because a vocation school could not be bothered with enforcing proper tool maintenance by the students. Sadly, it was applied after some amount of abuse had already been inflicted. I used a combination of solvent and variously grades of sandpaper and scotch pads to get down to metal. Then a wipe down with Naval Jelly (now just call "rust remover jelly") to get at the rust in some of the scratches and tiny pits that I could not remove. After washing and neutralizing the (phosphoric acid) jelly, I did a little more sanding with 320 wet/dry. The remaining scratches and machine marks were too significant to remove without rendering the top unusable. I finished with three coats of good old fashion paste wax (frame #7).

I had to remove the fence and top along the way so I decided I’d clean up the fence rails even though I plan to eventually replace the fence with a Biesemeyer. I also cleaned the various screws and bolts (a habit I picked up on the clock restoration).

I had to do a bunch of digging but thanks to the Old Wood Working Machines wiki – yes, there is a web page for everything – I found I could use most of the existing electrical system. The control box houses the "Magnetic Motor Starter". I had to switch the step down transformer (which feeds the remote starter buttons and back to the relay) from 200v (part of the 3-phase wiring) to 230v and replace the main power leads and plug. I then used just the first two legs of the system for the new power and motor. Frame #4 shows the electric box with the  motor, power, and remote switch wires left-to-right at the bottom; the 24v relay switch for 3-phase power in the upper left and the step-down transformer in the upper right; the block that looks like it has springs is actually the thermal breaker and those are heavy gauge heater coils that will trip the breaker if they got too hot from too much load.

The new motor arrived via UPS and was install that same night. Frame #5 shows the new motor already installed and the old motor and 3-phase power on the floor. The local industrial /farm supply only had 2 of the belts I needed. The motor drives the blade using three redundant belts. The last had to wait a couple of days.

For dust collection to work, I needed to create a filler panel that is behind the front louvered access door (frame #8) and build a motor cover (frame #6). The cover has a frame contoured and attached to the side of the base cabinet and then, using a piano hinge and latches, the box cover enclosed the motor. Remember, the motor pivots and tilts with the blade so it move quite a bit inside the cabinet – hence the motor cover needs to be spacious.

The finished assemble is seen in frame #8 and you can see the clean and slippery smooth top in frame #7. The blade insert is in bad shape but at $40 each, I’ll make a set out of hardwood. I need to make my zero-clearance and dado inserts anyway so another couple won’t take any extra time. The last step is to align the top to the blade before tightening it all down. Frame #9 shows the dial indicator gauge in position. The first test measures the distance from the track to the blade at both the leading and trailing edges. The second test measures any wobble in the blade. Wobble could be from a bad blade or from misalignment in the mounting arbor disks. Final calibration is not finished yet and I have 0.008 front to back and 0.006 of wobble.

It’s been a fun project. I am really looking forward to setting the Unisaw in place. It will go at one end of the long outfeed table and my JET Contractor Saw will say at the other. The nice part is that the JET Dust Collector has two inlets so I won’t need to switch when I go back and forth between saws (though a remote might be handy <grin>).

The trick is to build a "sled" for the saw and run it on two pipes. The real trick is how the sled is built. It uses angle iron, "U" bolts, and roller skate bearings !

I started with the description from the lumenalb forum.

Here are the parts I used:

• 1@ 21′ black iron pipe – $50
• 1@ 3′ 1-1/2" pre-drilled angle iron- $8
• 20@ 22mm roller skate bearings ($40 for 100 on ebay)
• 1@ 4′x8′ sheet of 3/4" MDF
• 4@ 12′ 2"x6" – $15
• 1@ 4′x8′ 3/4" plywood  $30
• 1@ 4′ of 5/16" clear tubing – $2
• lots@ hardware (U-bolts, carriage bolts, nuts, washers, etc.) – aprox $15
• 1@ 8-1/4" circular saw

The process builds from the inside out, starting with the wood plate that the saw will mount to, then the receivers for the sled, then all of the hardware for the sled. Once that is built, the next step is to glue up three layers of 3/4" plywood to build the top and bottom holders for the pipe. I’d recommend getting 1-1/4" ID rigid conduit pipe but that was not locally available for me so I went with 1-1/4" ID black iron pipe. The iron pipe is a bit rougher exterior than the conduit and weighs a lot more.

The forum shows the sled being built to ride under the pipe rails. I chose to have it ride on top – mostly because it made it easier to access the hardware if/when I needed to work on it. (Plus, I did not build my end blocks wide enough to comfortable accommodate the sled and saw – oops. At some point I may build the sled again to accommodate the recessed saw but to be honest, it works so well, I may just leave it.

You can see in the picture that this thing is huge. The reason is I needed it to handle a full 8′ sheet of stock so the entire panel saw is 10′-6" tall. I have plenty of vertical space so it was not an issue. I could have made it so the saw could be rotated 90 degrees and then slide the stock through but that would complicate keeping everything square and true and that was a priority. Getting the base bed square to the saw rails took some trial and error but better to spend an hour now than to have cuts off down the road when I am building the home office.

The deliver truck driver was very happy to see a 14 foot high door open and BARRETT waiting to unload the crate. One bit of humor. Knowing the delivery truck was going to be big, I moved the truck, trailer and car out of the drive so there would be room to maneuver and turn around. Both the delivery truck and UPS truck saw my vehicles off the side of the driveway and halted right then and there, thinking the rest of the drive was impassable. Both drivers were glad to learn otherwise.

The new lathe is variable speed and setup for 230v so there will be plenty of power and control. I still need to choose the right chuck for turning bowls but at least now the bulk is in place.

Now if I can only secure a bit of Herbie to make a new family heirloom …

The typical solution under the kitchen sink is to install a set of doors and just hide everything. However, if you want some organization and you are installing drawers in all of your base cabinets, you might consider a split drawer design. The idea is to install two narrow drawers that fit to either side of the plumbing. In my case, I designed the plumbing under the sink to all line up front to back and thus maximize the available space to either side. In keeping with the look of the other cabinets, I wanted a single drawer front. As you can see in the photos, the large drawer front is attached to two narrow drawers.There is plenty of drawer space and it still leaves clearance for the plumbing.

Concealing the dishwasher is personal choice. Some people want the front to match the cabinets while others want it to match the appliances. There are special dishwashers with unfinished fronts designed to take a custom panel. This may seem strait forward but there are some caveats. Not all panel designs will match up to the dishwasher attachments points. I would go further to say *most* cabinet designs will require the installer to get creative. For example, to insure clearance when opening the dishwasher, the bottom of the panel front was beveled on the back side and the supplied metal cover was lowered.  The larger issue will the the handles. The dishwasher requires a reasonable amount of force to release the spring loaded catch when opening. The typical panel front dishwasher does not allow for pull hardware that mounts from the back; however hardware that mounts to the front is weaker. Add that a panel front (rails, stiles, and a panel in the middle) has only a thin layer of wood for the hardware attach points. All this is to say that you might experience some additional costs from your cabinet installer or some grumblings or a less than perfect job … hopefully not all three and ideally none at all. My solution was to two fold. First, I used a urethane glue and add a filler band of thin material to the back of the panel where the hardware would install. Note: The material must not extend beyond the back side of the rails and stiles holding the panel. Second, after pre-drilling the panel for the bin-pull hardware, I used a slightly smaller bit and predrilled into the metal face skin of the dishwasher. Note: Be careful to just penetrate the metal so as not to hit anything that might be inside.

After installing the panel to the dishwasher front, I then installed the pull hardware with the screws now having a good "bite" into the panel, the filler band, and the face skin of the dishwasher.

I definitely learned a lot. And for anyone who is considering building pantry cabinets as large as these, here are a few tips …

• If you are going to paint them, definitely use MDF for it’s superior stability. All three of the pantry doors had an 1/8" warp. Two bow out in the middle so the latch resolves those. I’ll need to add a back stretcher to the third door.
• Add a fixed shelf in the middle of the carcasses for stability. At a full 8 feet tall, there is just not enough stability in the sides of the cabinets. Keeping everything square and true is nearly impossible and an 1/8" error will show if you are building inset doors.
• Seriously ask yourself if you want inset doors rather than overlay doors. If you want inset doors, repeat this bullet point. An 1/8" error shows and while it’s easy to get get your lengths and widths accurate, consider an 1/8th of an inch error over 8 feet is only 0.075 degrees !
• Rather than one full height door, consider two doors, one above the other. They will work well with that fixed middle shelf.
• Invest in joint connector screws and nuts. There may be other ways of pulling adjacent cabinets together but these are easy and can be added as needed during the installation process.
• Get help on installation day. The larger the cabinet, the more likely of bumping something and scratching that finish you worked so hard to achieve.

Given how small the kitchen is relative to the amount of cooking I do, the pantry is a great addition. Storage is the key to shopping on a budget because you can buy extras of non-perishable items when they are on sale and you can take advantage of big box shopping – especially when that big box store is a half day trip away.

I built a wide shallow pantry. This has a few advantages. First, the light from the kitchen is more than enough for the pantry and there are no dark deep places. Additionally, shallow shelves prevent stuff being pushed to the back and getting lost. Even with my wide stiles, I have about 76 inches of usable width. Each pantry has 8 shelves and could easily accommodate two more. That provides over 60 feet of shelf space. When it comes to canned goods, I can go 4 deep with bulk items. With shallow shelves, it’s not necessary to put different items in a row.

I still have the "bulkhead" cabinet that goes above the pantry. Then I will add the base trim for both the pantry and back side of the peninsula cabinets plus the toe kick for the rest of the base cabinets.

The next project is the large spiral staircase !

Since the pantry will have inset doors rather than drawers, I used a trick I learned from a cabinet making shop. I lowered the face frame about 1/4" so the door would close against the bottom of the carcass. This required I cut the bottom of the carcass 1/2" shallow and then install a 1/2" piece of finish wood. I glued and screwed a complement piece of finish wood to the back side of the face frame at the top such that it hung down 1/4". When a pantry door is closed, it is now fully supported along the top and bottom so it will remain square and flush. At the bottom, it is advisable to add an extra strip of carcass material below the finished edge so there is something for the biscuit joints. Technically it is possible to get by without it but with a 1/4" reveal, that only leaves 1/2" of the carcass for the slot and biscuit joint and that was not enough for my comfort. (The insert at the bottom of the photo is a zoom of the bottom of the center pantry cabinet and highlights the technique.)

Next weekend, I will build the three large doors. If it stays warm enough, I might be able to cut all the parts over the course of two or three evenings. The rail and stile material has already made a pass through the router table to receive the panels. However, the panels are large so cutting them will be a task for when I have patients and am not tired. They will also need to be rabbited just a little since the plyboo is true 1/4" and the shaker panel bit set is made for undersized stock. (such is life)