Apothecary Media Console Cabinet: Part 2, The Cross-Cut Sled

Another few days of work down, and we are steadily making progress on the media console.  One aspect of this whole furniture-making thing that I did not comprehend previously: the importance of 90-degree cuts.



Sounds simple - make a cut here, make a cut there, screw a few boards together, and voila--you've made a box/drawer/cabinet/etc.  As it turns out, even very slight errors make for very wonky, sloppy furniture and very frustrating afternoons.  

So we spent several hours the other day constructing what is called a "cross-cut sled" to help us make perfect 90-degree angle cuts with the table saw.



The basic construct of a table saw is just a flat surface with a stationary blade that comes up through it, and then you run your boards across the blade to make cuts.



Do you see the 2 slots that run parallel to the opening where the blade comes up (above)?  Those are "miter slots".



You can take advantage of the miter slots by making a sled with runners that fit snugly into the slots and then affixing a "fence" (described 2 posts ago) to the sled to hold the board you are cutting perfectly still and straight.

So without further ado, here are the steps we followed to make our cross-cut sled:



1.  Acquire a big piece of plywood or MDF to be your "sled" (ours is 3/4 MDF, about 22 x 26")



2.  Mark where the runners will go and get some appropriate length screws.




3.  Screw the sled to the runners. (we made our runners from 3/4 inch plywood strips, but you can also order them online or buy aluminum ones from a specialty woodworking store)



4.  Start the table saw and bring it up into the middle of the sled, cutting a slit in the sled to let you know where the blade is.



5.  Measure 90 degrees from the blade cut, and place a fence there (click here to see how to make a fence).



6.  Screw the fence into the sled.



7.  Bring the blade up only high enough to cut through the rest of the sled, but not through the fence.  Thus, the fence acts as a bridge, keeping the 2 halves of the sled together



We also affixed an additional bridge at the other end of our sled to provide additional support to the sled.

 

Now you can put your board right up along your fence and be confident that it won't move and you will get a nice, 90-degree cut; very important.



And that is all I know about making a cross-cut sled!  And now you know it, too.

Lucy's First Solids!

With the 6-month mark a week behind us, it is finally time to start introducing some solids into Lucy's diet.

 

"Solids" is a relative term, actually referring to pretty much anything that isn't milk.

 

But babies (at least in the US) usually start with rice cereal, so that's what we're going with.

 

What a face, right?  You'd think she hates it, but actually she kept opening up for more.

 

Can't wait to introduce fruits and veggies!  

Apothecary Media Console Cabinet: Part 1

We are mid-way through the first week of our 4-week planned building of our new apothecary-style media console.  

 

Lucy has begun turning over onto her tummy very reliably and looks to be only a few weeks from crawling, so the heat is on for getting the cabinet all built and baby-proofed before she gets mobile.



After drawing out all the cuts we'd need, we went to the big orange box to get our plywood. We're using oak-surfaced 3/4 inch plywood for the carcass of the console and oak-surfaced 1/2 inch plywood for the drawers and top of the console.  Funny - the guy who works at Rockler and helped us the other day was also at Home Depot buying wood!  So he helped us Daniel get our plywood (while I held Lucy) and then we helped him get his.  If you don't know, plywood is sold in 4x8 foot pieces and is too huge for one person to mess with.



So then we had our boards (thanks for the use of your mini-van so we could get them home, Mom :) and it was time to start on the cabinet.



On our first day, we spent about 6 hours cleaning up and de-cluttering the garage.  When we finally had a usable work space and table surface, the first thing on our to-do list was to make something called a "fence." 

 


The fence, I learned, is a most helpful accessory when it comes to sawing boards with straight lines.  You make a fence by screwing two boards together, like this:



Daniel got some new special counter-sinking bits last week that are awesome. 

 

Whereas usually you have to use two different bits (one small, one large) to make this pilot hole, the counter-sinking bit does both jobs.



See how nice and flush the screw ends up being in the board? Nice.



With the fence built, it was time for some plywood cuts.  We used a circular saw to make straight cuts b/c the pieces we were cutting were way too big to be cut with the table saw.  Here was our process:





1.  Remove any infants to an indoor setting.



2.  On the plywood: mark where the cut would be

 

3.  Align the fence 1 and 3/4 inches away from the mark where the cut would be (the circular saw obviously does not cut exactly where the fence is, but rather there is a metal perimeter that surrounds the blade.  The perimeter is what actually maintains contact along the fence).

 

4.  Clamp the fence to the board.

 

5.  Saw the board with the circular saw, going along the fence to maintain a straight line.

 

6.  Shop-vac up all the sawdust.

 

7.  Repeat steps 2-6 until all the boards are cut.

With the boards all cut, it was time to start assembling the carcass.



This part took a long time, b/c we wanted to make sure all the boards were at perfect, 90-degree angles from each other.



We used Daniel's new Kregg Jig to make pocket holes.



The pocket holes allow for hidden screws (drilled at angles) to make nice, neat joints between boards.  Otherwise, screws can end up messing up the appearance of the finished cabinet.





All of the above represents 2-3 days of work.  I think we have many days left.  But at least we've made a good start!  

Christmas Catch Up

Okay, it took me a week--but here are the photos from Christmas Eve and Christmas day.  Oh and Christmas Eve Eve. 



Christmas started a little early this year, with a McKinney Christmas Party on Christmas Eve Eve (Friday).

 

We enjoyed "Christmas Tacos" (sort of a tradition in Daniel's family) and seeing some relatives from out of town.



Daniel's grandparents live in Houston, so we don't get to see them all that often.

 

One of Daniel's aunts put together this calendar with everyone's photos in it - and it came out really well!



Actually, my parents put together a similar style of calendar of my side of the family, and it turned out lovely too.  These calendars must have been huge sellers this season.   



We had a good Christmas this year.  It went by quickly, as it always seems to do. 

Part of why it went by quickly this year was that I worked most of the day on Christmas Eve before we headed to church with my parents.




Then back to their house for dinner, presents, and visiting.

We enjoyed an uneventful Christmas morning followed by a quick whipping up of garlic cheddar biscuits and creamed spinach and a trip over to Daniel's parents' house for lunch.


 

One of my favorite parts of the weekend included my baby niece Abby saying in a low, gravelly voice, "Puppy daaawg."  I can't believe I didn't get a picture of her.




Daniel's grandparents are quite the photographers.



It's funny... even though it was Lucy's first Christmas, it didn't really feel like Lucy's first Christmas.  She napped through most of lunch and gift-opening, and she's not yet to the stage where she loves boxes or bags.



So she was somewhat of a nonparticipant, when it came to unwrapping gifts.  She got a big(ger) girl bathtub that I love, as it is much easier to use (for me) than the tummy tub that we have been using.



I also am in love with the small space heater Lucy got for Christmas.  Her nursery is now my favorite room in the house.  It's like a womb in there.

 

Lucy with her Nonnie (above) 



And I will have to post more about this later, but we got a new camera lens that I am super excited about!*  More on that later.


*correction for dangling preposition: ...about which I am super excited