Feb 062006
 

I love the smell of sawdust in the morning. It smells like…cabinet making.
I have form!!! I have glued the base and top sections into the sides. It looks like a real arcade cabinet cab is actually starting to take shape. I am more inspired than ever. I’m finding that there are no true measurements any more. It is now measurements like 5/16’s not 1/4 or 1/2. Once you have enough things that are just a smidge too long or short, it adds up over time. I glued on the rails for the kick plate this morning. I also glued a guide on the actual kick plate itself. Tomorrow morning I will glue the kick plate to the cab. My only issue is that the left side of the kick plate is a smidge above the Control panel shelf while the right side is just under. Looks like I will need to get crafty with the router.

 

Feb 042006
 

I have wanted to work on my cab all week long. I was getting very good at cutting measurements that were actually the measurements that they were supposed to be. Somehow that changed during the week. I was probably way too tired to be working tonight. I just could not get a cut that was 25.5 in wide. With this particular cut, you can only make this mistake a couple of times before you’ve blown a whole sheet of MDF. I can repurpose these pieces for the pieces that need to be just a straight 25 inches. For me, it was the frustration of trying, and trying, and trying, and just kept cutting it wrong. I finally got a piece to the right size. Yay!!! Well sort of.

You see, I have a habit of wanting to see how things I make are going to look. I just had to see it. I put the sides, top and base together. Remember that it is channeled, with angles, so there is some natural strength without any glue or screws. I had assembled it on its side. I then got the harebrained idea of wanting to see it standing upright so I could see it at full height. I really do not know what I was thinking. I started to lift it up from the top. It was holding firmly. I decided to go for it. When it got to about 45 degrees gravity took over and it unassembled itself. Now as you might know, MDF by nature dents easily and crushes when dropped and it lands on a corner. Add to this the laws of Murphy, it dents even more when the object happens to be the above mentioned 25.5 inch piece that I spent so much time trying to get right. Now I have a totally mashed corner, hurt pride, and a wee bit of exhaustion.

Yup, I am done for the day.