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I was always a metal person, Never seemed to get along with wood everything i did i was never happy with ...... BUT!!

I found this product its called a Kregs Jig, Its made it so easy to do stuff that i remodeled my kitchen made all the cabinets,Drawers,Doors, Etc all out of solid oak & oak plywood not chipboard.

I dont know if you can get the jig in the Uk but its worth every penny. http://www.kregtool.com/

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I'll be investing soon in a rail and stile router bit set for my cabinets, and I use a biscuit jointer for the face frames, had mine a few years now.

I will also be getting a raised panel bit for the router when the missus makes her mind up which style of raised panel she wants..

Dovetail jig for draw sides, last time I cut a dovetail freehand was when I was at school, too hard for me now.

When I make mortise and tenons I use the table saw for the tenons and mark the mortises out and use a drill press to drill the waste wood out and finish with a sharp hand chisel.

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Ayup You must have a lot more free time than me

All i used was a table router, Hand drill, Chop saw ,Gorrilla glue, Wham bam thank you mam.

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I'm pretty well equipped, table saw, radial arm saw, large band saw, jointer, planer thicknesser, floor mounted 16 speed pedestal drill, shaping machine, but the large router has almost made that redundant, lathe, even have a metal cutting band saw, me trusty stick welder, God only knows how many hand held power tools I have....

Took me years to build my shop up.

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last time I cut a dovetail freehand was when I was at school, too hard for me now.

Unlike me my Brother has always been a perfectionist and a brilliant woodworker...I have a blanket chest upstairs that he made over 50 years ago as a lad...Perfect dovetails all round...I remember watching him make it in the garage working with a mallet and chisel.On his knees with the wood wedged between his knee and the wall because he didn't have a vice.

I would have nailed it together... :biggrin:

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Being that i used to build racing engines i have lottttttttts of tools

12/40 metal lathe

CNC milling machine

Drill press

Lincoln 180 Mig with spoolgun for Aluminium

Lincoln 225 High freq Tig Ally or Chromemoly

Large shell blaster cabinet

20 ton press

Plastic injection machine

Vacuum forming machine

Oxy /acetylene welder

Engine Dyno for up to 200hp computerised

Did i make any $ Nope, Even though my engines won 5 of the biggest races in the USA

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If I was ten years younger, I'd get a small metal working lathe, just can't justify the expense of one at my age now.

One exercise we were set during our first year at Tech with the NCB was to set a workpiece with a clock gauge to the lowest tolerance in a four jaw chuck, I managed a quarter of a thou. Our teacher was a tool maker by profession who served his time at The Metal Box Company.

Of course oxy gear would really come in handy!!

I do have two frames to make for two by four solar panels out of angle iron and one inch box section steel before winter, got to freshen my arc welding skills up, used to be pretty good at arc welding, but have got rusty of the years...

I'll post pictures of the frames from start to finish with modules mounted plus the battery house when all done.

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I would rebuild & straighten crankshafts to within 0.0003 or better. I could do one in about 30 mins it took a knack ,Now it would take me a couple of hours to remember where to hit it with the brass hammer

If i was doing a lot of Sq tube i would Mig flux core very quick no gas needed, machines are cheap also

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For the time I'd get out of any machine these days, other than a tractor, I just can't justify the expense, her inside would kill me....

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Sorry Bryan I dont want to ever make another Door or Drawer in my life. Repetetive, Booring.

Sanding & staining wasnt to bad but there was a lot of it.

Ayup the price of the Knobs & hinges & Runners add up way more than you think

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Yeah I know DG, I'm a subscriber to three of the best woodworking magazines on the market, and often get catalogues from supply houses. Good job my oak cost me nowt and is well seasoned, try 60 plus years!!

So our cabinets will be the cost of some router bits, hinges, draw glides and knobs handles and finish.

Try pricing recycled red oak thats over a half century old! Most is over one inch thick and all rough sawn. Bit of work making sure there are no nails left in it, square it up, cut to length plus a couple of inches, then through the planer to make it around 3/4 thick...

Some boards are 12 inches wide, one and a half of each should make a cupboard door raised panel.

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Ryobi is the make of my wood turning lathe, hasn't been assembled since we moved here from "Kalifornia" 12 years back.

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  • 5 months later...

Got mesen a Leigh dovetail jig to make all the joints on the cabinet drawers, after they are all made and installed I'll use it to make a cabinet for the TV to sit on with a shelf for the DVD player and surround sound amp, with two large drawers for the DVD movie collection.

Also should be here when the missus gets home, a rail, stile and raised panel bit set for the router, to make the cabinet doors. Been looking for the parts for my router table.

I'm going to busy right into the next century with the look of things...

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I know, and the list grows daily, and "they" call this retirement!!!

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  • 4 weeks later...

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