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Gulf Island Building.

1M views 8K replies 149 participants last post by  Katie Cabana 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi all:
Since the summer of 1997, I have been building a cabin and house on our 1/2 acre lot here. Before I dive into that part, I am going to show a few photos to set the stage a bit. We are remote here. No services of any kind, except that which we provide for ourselves. So don't expect to see any paved roads with big trucks delivering any materials.
We live at the head of a small bay, which is both a blessing and a curse.
When the tide goes out, we have to clamber over hundreds of yards of rocks to get to our boat. When it is in, I can float logs right up to my little railway to move them onto the log deck. Well, not any more, but more about that later.
This is the bay in front of us.
 

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#3,003 ·
I see I managed to forget about viewing the moon...oh, well...that will be for tomorrow night now. And yes, even the moon needs a special filter. Nothing like the sun, but it still needs to be damped down a whole lot so it doesn't blow your night vision away. :eek:
 
#3,010 ·
Jim: I have a question for you - or anyone else for that matter who has done this before.

It seems to me that you could use some sort of simple jig to make it much easier to line up and attach the cabinet slides. Do I recall that someone - Kreg maybe? - has a commercially available one?

Anyway, I just made up a wood jig which clamps to the side of the cabinet to sit the slides on.

So the question is, what did you use for mounting? Something like this, or is there a better solution...thanks.
 

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#3,014 ·
Buddy, that is as good a way as any to get the slide square. One of my nephews who worked for me for 22 years use to use a framing square and make a line where the slide went, he would drive a 4d nail on the line at the front and back so the slide could sit on the nails and be screwed in place. I am with jl, I have the Blum slide jig also but I am not aware of one for the full extension slides.

When I built a unit with full extension slides I would always installed my slides on the cabinet sides before I put the unit together, it was just easier that way for me.
 
#3,012 ·
Thanks jl...I kind of think that most of the better manufacturers might make their own jigs. After all, the easier they can make the installation process, the more product they are likely to sell.

This very simple guide seems to be working, but another little problem has reared its' ugly head.

Now, it seems, that when I did the dadoes for the back end of the drawers, that I might have made them about 1/16" or so too deep. This has had the effect of making the back end of the drawers about 1/8" narrower than the front. Not too clever of me.

So, now I am in the process of making an adjustable jig to make shims to fix that. Should be done very shortly.
 
#3,013 ·
OK, jig is made, just waiting for some glue to set.

I did a test fit of one of the door panels, and it looks about like this. There is just one coat of varnish on the panel so far, just as a sealer more than anything.
 

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#3,024 ·
Once the line is drawn, I clamp the other jig which holds the slide in place on to the divider. Then sit the slide in place, pre-drill the holes and screw it on.

I thought perhaps that the holding jig was not square...but the line and jig are both in the same plane. So, that's not the problem.

I'm going to look at those screws again, that just may have something to do with it.
 

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#3,025 ·
BINGO!!!

Jim...here's what I just tried.

I put a slide on the divider without any drawer attached. Pushed the slide back and forth, and low and behold...the screws interfere.

Jim, you're a GENIUS!!!

So, now what I'm going to try is countersinking the holes just a trace. Let's see if that makes any difference. Either that, or I need to find some screws with really thin heads!
 
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#3,032 ·
Now to go and remove the first drawer, countersink the slides and re-install.

Next up I will see what I can find to make in the way of some drawer faces. And once all the top drawers are in - should be done this evening - I can start on the permanent installation of the top.
 
#3,033 ·
Coco's astronomy tip of the day (No. 7)

Viewing the moon...nothing to it really. Except when you look at it through a telescope, then WOW that guy is bright!

What you need to do is to tame it down so that the light isn't so bright that it can actually hurt your eyeball. Not to worry, it's all been figured out for you.

When viewing the moon through a scope, in order to see the entire moon, you would need to use a low powered eyepiece first of all. Too much magnification, and you will only be able to fit a piece of the moon into your field of view. (FOV).

We use a polarizing filter to cut the moons' very considerable glare down. Polarizing filters come in fixed and adjustable versions. Most fixed versions allow about 13% of the light to pass through, while variable filters may handle between 13 and 22%, give or take...they are not all the same.

There are other filters available for moon viewing as well, and these are designed to keep the colour of the moon as pure as possible. Frequently, you will see a purple looking ring around the edge of the moon, and this is caused by the optics. A minus violet filter is used to correct that.

The small filter on the left fits a standard 1 1/4" eyepiece, and is the adjustable polarizing filter.
 

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#3,040 ·
The moon was really too bright just looking through binoculars for me when I was looking a week or so ago. Tonight we have cloud cover so the put a halt for tonight.
 
#3,034 ·
The filter on the right is fixed and fits a standard 2" eyepiece. It might be worth noting that the 2" filter, which of course requires the use of a 2" eyepiece, has over 2 1/2 times the area of the smaller filter.

It is almost a guarantee that any 2" eyepiece will give you better views than any 1 1/4" eyepiece. The possible exception might be some of the extremely costly 1 1/4" eyepieces - many of which can cost much more than your average telescope!
 
#3,036 ·
It certainly makes it very simple to cut narrow tapers up to 44" long. Tapers can vary from zero to two inches in 44". There is an adjustable rod in the business end which permits easy and repeatable tapers.
 

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#3,039 ·
I like the way you made your taper jig Keith, that is really a neat idea. I like the marked piece in the end, that way you can make a repeated cut later without any trouble.
 
#3,041 ·
That is one impressive telescope Keith but I don't have a clue what all of that means, hopefully I will in time. I have a bunch of websites on my home page that tells about what is going on soon and now out there. There is so much to read and see.
 
#3,042 ·
Coco,

Was busy getting all turkeyed up this weekend, so I'm getting to you late, but Lee Valley has a drawer slide screw that is 5/8" #6 with a shallow head specifically for drawer slides.
I can't find them on their site, but if you need the number, I'm pretty sure I can find it out in the shop tomorrow.
 
#3,044 ·
Thanks jl...my solution is to drill out the holes in the slides. And, as I think you can see from the pics the supplied screws (from Taiwan) actually will go flush.

I think L.V. has fallen down on this one. They should have seen to it that the proper screws and/or the proper holes were drilled.

It's not a big deal really, but having to countersink 120 holes in metal does take a little while. So, it's well over two hours wasted for something that should have been right in the first place.

I have all their catalogues here so I'm sure I can always get the number if necessary, but thanks for the offer.
 
#3,045 ·
Someone fell down on the job supplying the wrong screws with your slides, that is pretty sorry, I bet someone complains about it, two hours lost is just wrong of them. Most folks aren't as ingenuitive as you are at figuring how to make the screws work.

Keith, come to think of it screws don't come with the slides when I buy them at the cabinet supply place, screws don't come with the euro hinges either. I guess the suppliers figure there are just too many applications and thickness of materials to include the screws.

The last screws I bought from the cabinet supply are about gone, I may have a hand full left out of something like 10,000 screws, they sure lasted a loooong time though. These screws are the 5/8 inch #6 large thread narrow head countersunk type screw like jl is talking about.

I don't know what a Robbertson screw is, is it like a allen screw or a torx?
 
#3,047 ·
Oh, OK, I do know what they are, I didn't know they were called that. I always called them square drive screws. I hate the SS screws like that unless screwing into soft wood. I really do appreciate you taking your time to show me the screw.
 
#3,049 ·
There ya go, I didn't know one of your fellow countrymen invented that screw. You are right, if some fellow here had invented it it would have been named something else.

Of the three screws my least favorite is the slotted screw, I hate that thing. One thing I see that may need be done on the screw tip for the Robertson is a little more temper, most square drive tips we get here are kinda soft and don't last long at all. Another thing I have noticed with screw tips is the phillips tip, most screw suppliers give with the screws, are the wrong size tips, they are usually too large. The best tips I have found that work for me are the sheet rock screw tips, they fit good and are tempered pretty good to last for a while.
 
#3,050 ·
That's very true...I remember when I was in the boat building game, we used to buy the drywall screws by the box and use them to temporarily hold the cedar strips in place on the bigger boats. As soon as the glue was set, pull the screws and re-use them. Sometimes the epoxy would hold so well on the steel that it would snap the screws off. The trick was to pull the screws just as soon as the epoxy was set and not wait overnight.
 
#3,051 · (Edited)
Ok you older guys, what about Torx screws? I have built my whole house with them, the more surface area on the inside to contact the bit the better. There is also an Assy screw here in Germany that is basically a Torx with even more surface area, like a Phillips is to a PZ. My impact driver kills PZ bits and screws. Torx rock in my book:thumbup:. dorf dude...
 
#3,053 ·
I don't think I have ever seen a Torx wood screw, the only place I have seen them is in a car and machinery.

That is the truth Bud, back then no one had a Torx driver and it did make it hard to get them things out.
 
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