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Man not as easy as it looks ! :(

2K views 41 replies 16 participants last post by  ajaye 
#1 ·
So I have a few threads on, but this is a different one, I'm deciding on making a cd rack, nothing special, as I can't get the right size, so look on amazon and other places and prices are horrendus for what I'm looking for, soo I think, lets go out get some wood,

4 pieces of lumber, 2x 6x5x1 (for the outside) and 2 similar size but 6" for the rungs, making a ladder looking like case, divded by 5 rungs at about 16"
perfect, get the lumber, start cutting

screw up 1, Jig saw not ideal for cutting and matching the "rungs" , so instead of nice straight ends I get wavy lines, I did cut along the lines, but stil
so come to assembling it, which is great fun on your own drilling pilot holes screwing screws, so do one side, ok, but now the other side wont fit, because the ends are all not the right size, in sp far as I've got them wonky,

So look at ways to get them straight, plane, or buy a belt sander, but I also need a vice and belts and all this kinda crap, total it up, same as just going and getting another couple of pieces and havig Home depot cut them up.

So I go to homedepot and pick up the wrong size lumber, they cut it up I go home and wonrg size, DAMN

So then I take a sample go back see the same dude, then realise I told him 12" and not 16" so we begin measuring, double checking
So he cuts 2 boards with his table saw all to 16" BUT there all not the same size, when you stack them some are shorter than others,
by a very small amount, but still it's going to have a problem,

So he puts them all together and tries to shave off all to the same size, wont do it, so I say, ok, take an inch off. Boom

Have to now try a reassemble later but this project is not as cheap as it sounded or as easy.

HATS off to you carpenters man, you make it look so easy !

I don't do this all the time and I don't have all the special tools,

What I don't understand, is if HD guy cut all to 16", how come out of the 6 pieces 3 or 4 were there wrong size, either a shade too long or too short

I guess if I did it at home I would plane them so they would be all the same size
 
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Discussion starter · #8 ·
I'm a very old skool DJ, my 1200's denon, dual cd, sony minidsic :)
1.2k Peaveyand hisys 2's

Thanks, wasted a ton of money but learnt a "LOT", I have a lot of expensive scrap wood now LOL

Thanks for the wishes !

Maybe CD’s are to some, like vinyl is to others? No judgement- I’m still listening to 8 track! 🙂

Edit: OP- good on you for taking on the project and best wishes for a successful outcome!

Scott
 
Discussion starter · #10 ·
well damn if I finished it, The key part was all rungs being same length and true, measured, double checked and made sure the assembly was square.
This time in stead of working on one side at a time, I put the top rung and then the bottom rung, that way nothing moved and it all stayed true, so it was smooth sailing
then on, I kept measuring and double checking.
As said it's a simple project even simpler when you know how ;) cost too much money, but the learning experience was 100%.
There are multiple things I could have improved, countersunk the holes, but this is going to be in a dark party room, so a few coats of paint will cover up a lot of stuff.
I may actually put a bottom rung and then move it up and mount it higher than on the floor that way I can get better access to the bottom,
The table is going to be my DJ table, housing the1200 and cd's laptop etc, CD on the left and on the right my records.
A lot still to do as well as decorating.
 
Discussion starter · #17 ·
Actually, your quite right, last time, many years ago, the HD near me said the same thing, they said, it's a get you home service, any more than 2 cuts and we charge by the cut,
I thought I'd risk it, The guy I dealt with was awesome, never said anything. Mind you I spent 40 bucks on a 6ft oak plank which I ruined and then another 40 one 2 smaller non oaks, so over 80 today, and on the other screw ups was another 80 or so, including hardware screws, mountings etc project cost me around 250-300 (Tax)
So letting me have a few cuts I guess was paid for :) I did a good review on them and told the manager how awesome he was.

I did 3 trips to HD today and it was snowing, and it was a 10k drive each way (so 60km's today just for this stupid project),
((the one up my road is not as friendly and they ran out of the lumber I needed))

Yeah really weird, he measured them afterwards, he was saying "there, hmm, 16" but then stacked them up and you could see they where all marginally off

Without seeing how he did it, it's hard to tell. How he measured or set up, how careful he was, how the saw was set up, etc. Quite frankly, I've never seen table saw service at HD - I though they only did panel saw cuts and wasn't even sure they did that anymore.
 
Discussion starter · #22 ·
you can't beat MP3's for portability, in fact on my BMW, I've imported my playlist on to it, no noticeable loss, and also for capacity, you can have a hard drive full of music,
only what happens when you laptop crashes at a party :) never knew a turntable to crash ;)
 
Discussion starter · #25 ·
The other thing I just realised, the dimensions, it's so low profile and design it's almost ladder like, I need to save the space and there isn't anything that comes close to the sizing I needed, I mean there are cupboards or media towers but none that really fit where I needed it. Which really drove this.
As they say Necessity is the mother of invention, I probably would have bought something,
but I do have a higher regard for tradespeople who do this for a living, it's an art, anyone who says's "man just build a <box/shelf> easy peasey" errm no it aint.
LOL
 
Discussion starter · #29 ·
Thank you sir for your advise !
(easy when you know how ;) )

DOH on 1st point, for sure that would have helped !

Thanks again, will adopt thoes


You could have clamped a straight edge to the piece for the jigsaw foot to ride a long which would have minimized if not eliminated the saw wavering.


We all started where you are, trying to make relatively simple projects and making mistakes. The important thing is learning from those mistakes.
The one advantage you have that many of us did not when we started was the “internets” :D. There are a plethora of web sites and videos to help people new to woodworking learn techniques and develop skills.


You would be surprised at what you can accomplish with basic tools. When I was a teenager, my dad and I built a whole kitchen using a circular saw, jigsaw, drill and block plane. Lookup YouTuber Paul Sellers. He does all his projects with hand tools. I watched a series where he built a Roubo style workbench all by hand including the mortis and tenon joinery. I myself built my workbench with nothing more than a circular saw and drill.


Because he failed to follow a cardinal rule of woodworking… ,”Measure twice, cut once”
 
Discussion starter · #34 ·
The loss, is minimal, even probably minute, I convert from CD to Mp3 or Mp4 to mp3, even casette tape, run some software to equalise, it's barely minimal. It's not worth worrying about. Of course it depends on your source. I would rather use MD or CD, but the BMW CD doesnt read track names and titles, at least mine doesn't so it just says track 1, track 2,
but for my home set-up, all the formats I use are perfectly fine, they are equally perfectly fine for Radio and DJ'ing at parties.

But I think the original point was, I'm using multiple sources and I'm not transferring everything to Mp3, hence why I needed a CD rack, for my CD's and have a record rack for my records.

DJ'ing for 40 years, never seen it once, maybe I go to the right type of parties ;)

Laptops have got better and more portable, but still you run the risk of, BSOD, restart, crash windows exception errors and inevitably need a spare laptop in case.
At least with T.Tables you have 2, the worst that can happen is you bust a needle ot blow a fuse, highly unlikly for 2 turntables to go down. in 40 years , never have
never even broken a needle, well not at a paying gig.

When Microsoft or Apple come up with something to better my 1200's I'll consider it :)
<giggles>

As racinmason noted, there is a drop in quality on MP3s, whether you notice it or not is another matter and depends on your gear, acoustic environment, and ears/experience. I think what you mean to say is you can't beat digital music for portability. MP3s specifically are lossy music, meaning that it's compressed and you lose musical information by definition. It's better to have lossless music. The files are larger, but they are obviously equally portable. However you carry your MP3 files you can carry lossless files. There are many other ways to carry the files other than a laptop, of course.

And by the way, if you've never seen a turntable crash, you haven't been to the right parties :)
 
Discussion starter · #36 ·
DJ'ing small & large gigs, radio programming, car, headphones, no noticeable difference, (I play piano & guitar- so I'm a musician) my ears listen, I have to, never noticed a difference any time I've converted or played an MP3, have I heard bad MP3's yes, have I heard a bad record yes, all depends on the source, would I notice it on Audio Note, Kronos, Nagra or NAD kit yes possibly but music to me is fluid and played in real world not in reference rooms.

Well, like I said, it depends on your gear, acoustic environment, and experience. It can be quite noticeable. In a car driving down the road or with earbuds? Not so much.
 
Discussion starter · #38 ·
If I had the tools I would have cross checked, double checked and triple checked.
I mean if you measure a piece of timber at 16" and cut it at 16" it should be 16", if you cut 4 they should all be the same.
there was a lot of variance on the cuts, only sorted when he put the 5 together and cut them at the same time.

He told me he's not supposed to do that, but did want me to leave happy, so I'm glad he sorted me out
 
Discussion starter · #42 ·
I had to google up Kerf, yes, that would make sense
The guy is not supposed to make precise cuts, its a free service (though I'm happy to pay for accuracy)
I guess a few mills out is not an issue, unless your making a bookshelf cabinet
which is why I needed some finishing tools, maybe like a electric planer,electric sander tool thingy

and yes he measured by tape

understand now why you guys are professional !

gotta lot to learn txs again kind sir

Seems to me the lengths were measured with a tape and cut lines to cut by . OOPs , he forgot about kerf width . As mentioned previously , a stop block is the answer for all to be 16" .
 
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