# Waste not want not



## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

PREAMBLE
Afew days ago a forum friend emailed me seeking ideas on making a portable case to house twelve cotton reels, the dimentions of which he gave me. I emailed him back with an idea. Later in the day, because I had no projects on the go, I decided to make a case as I had described out of MDF so that my friend could see a photo shoot in case he decided on the particular idea. I got as far as shot # 9 at which time I was called to my computer because one of my American forum friends was calling. It ended up a conferance call which lasted until it was feeding time, so the case didn't get finished and I emailed the nine shots to my friend.
Came the next day and I decided to clean the shed and put away the tools from the previous day and picked up the pieces of MDF and whilst deciding whether to keep or dump them, I got one of those sudden flashes of inspiration, why not complete the carcass and make it into a router bit box! So, from shot #10 comes the rest of the project.

CONTINUES


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Members may have noticed over a period of time that I often use unusual colours of paint. The reason is not that I'm colour blind or or have poor taste, it's because I only use one brand of rattle can paint, it's locally made but that isn't the reason which is because they are thinners based meaning very fast drying time, ten minutes in the summer for the next coat and the cans don't ever splutter. These are reasons for buying the colours that I really want at the rather high price of $14.00, however, our local salvage yard from time to time gets these cans usually odd ball colours and sells them at four for $15.00! I'm not stupid!


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

Harry,

Another classic tutorial, thanks..... 

Where did you obtain the felt?

My daughter wants me to make a Lazy Susan for her dining room table and I would like to cover the bottom of the base with felt to hide the access holes/screws.

James


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

jw2170 said:


> Harry,
> 
> Another classic tutorial, thanks.....
> 
> ...


I prefer to get the felt, which is available in many colours from SPOTLIGHT, I'm sure there are branches in all Australian states. Another thing that I often do is to use a hole punch of appropriate size and make some felt dots which can be glued over the screw holes.


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

A great tutorial Harry. Like your bargain paint I have some "mauve nebula" Formica (high pressure laminate) for project use. When the price is 75% off does it really matter?

Just a reminder for beginners: Never lay your bits on a table where they might roll off or in a drawer where they might get knocked against other bits. One of the best first projects can be as simple as a board with holes to organise your bits and keep them safe.


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## Al Robins (Jul 13, 2009)

Harry....you are unreal....and thank you for the time taken for this little project...and a great way of instruction....why didnt I think of the cutter height and the hinge trick.....(bashing head on desk)...oh well...its another day tomorrow...........AL


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## GTVi (May 14, 2010)

Nice one Harry, not sure how secure the bits are in the holes, but a thick square piece of foam on top of them will hold them in place so they don't come loose when handling the box...the photos are excellent and do well to illustrate the step by step procedure...you make it look so easy.


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## dutchman 46 (May 23, 2007)

I feel better Harry, Your more like Me than I thought':dance3: :big_boss:


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

GTVi said:


> Nice one Harry, not sure how secure the bits are in the holes, but a thick square piece of foam on top of them will hold them in place so they don't come loose when handling the box...the photos are excellent and do well to illustrate the step by step procedure...you make it look so easy.


It really is that easy, this is very basic woodworking, all done with power tools, it isn't at all like hand made dovetails which require lots of skill, my tutorials are intended to show various methods that I personally use. I think that it's a bit like someone who can draw, one can look at the pictures and say "that's nice", however if that person is shown various techniques, he/she will be in a position to produce masterpieces. As for the router bits, the shanks drop into the holes about 10mm, most of it a nice interference fit into the Aluminium sleeves. I think that the weight will hold them in place unless the box is upside down! I did suggest a sheet of foam for the original cotton reel case. Thank you for your kind words, that is what keeps me producing these photo shoots.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Just to make it easy to rack your bits up, it can be cut to fit in your shop made box,glue it to your pull out drawer on the router table cabinet, cut it into strips to fit it into your wall mounted router bit storage rack...with glass (plastic) doors...

Foam Router Bit Storage - Rockler Woodworking Tools

Foam Router Bit Tray 
This simple, inexpensive tray stores and organizes up to 100 bits,
Router Accessories

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## TWheels (May 26, 2006)

Wow, another albeit simple project well illustrated! I am sure the entire Router Forums community thanks you! I know I do.


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## BearLeeAlive (Mar 22, 2010)

harrysin said:


> Members may have noticed over a period of time that I often use unusual colours of paint. The reason is not that I'm colour blind or or have poor taste, it's because I only use one brand of* rattle can *paint, it's locally made but that isn't the reason which is because they are thinners based meaning very fast drying time, ten minutes in the summer for the next coat and the cans don't ever splutter. These are reasons for buying the colours that I really want at the rather high price of $14.00, however, our local salvage yard from time to time gets these cans usually odd ball colours and sells them at four for $15.00! I'm not stupid!


Great tutorial Harry. I got a good chuckle outta the term "rattle can", I knew straight away what you meant, just had never heard it before. :lol:


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

dutchman 46 said:


> I feel better Harry, Your more like Me than I thought':dance3: :big_boss:


Howard, we really do have a great deal in common which probably has a lot to do with the way we are enjoying life in retirement.


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

BearLeeAlive said:


> Great tutorial Harry. I got a good chuckle outta the term "rattle can", I knew straight away what you meant, just had never heard it before. :lol:


Jim, until I joined this forum, I had to struggle with the word "aerosol" It was here that I first came across the term, which describes it perfectly. That of course is not the only thing that I have learned here, there are so many members skilled in all sorts of areas as well as woodwork.


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

mftha said:


> Wow, another albeit simple project well illustrated! I am sure the entire Router Forums community thanks you! I know I do.


Thank you Tom, now get your health problems sorted out and start making some router dust.


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## dutchman 46 (May 23, 2007)

You are probably right.


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## istracpsboss (Sep 14, 2008)

Brilliant stuff Harry! Better than night school ! I liked the idea of using masking tape to hold it together.
A thought, for when there are a lot of photos, as in this demo. It would be handy if, after showing them all, a zip file of them could be included, so they could all be downloaded together, as otherwise it takes a while to download them seperately for keeping. Is this feasible ?

Cheers

Peter


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Teach me how Peter, and so long as it isn't too complicated I'll be most happy to oblige for all future projects, and past ones if that's possible.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Harry

Just a butt in post,very easy to make a zip file, just tag the same files you are going to upload to forum but this time use them and make a zip file with them..  then just post the zip file on the forum..
You can use WinRar or WinZip to make the files

see below
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harrysin said:


> Teach me how Peter, and so long as it isn't too complicated I'll be most happy to oblige for all future projects, and past ones if that's possible.


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

bobj3 said:


> Hi Harry
> 
> Just a butt in post,very easy to make a zip file, just tag the same files you are going to upload to forum but this time use them and make a zip file with them..  then just post the zip file on the forum..
> You can use WinRar or WinZip to make the files
> ...


Bob, I thought that I had successfully zipped about 20 shots but I can't find where the zipped file is! I'll try again tomorrow when I'm feeling refreshed after a nights sleep.


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## rwyoung (Aug 3, 2008)

Harry -

Quick question about mitered boxes from MDF (it looked like MDF anyway). With a glued on bottom, do you find the box strong enough for knocking about the shop? Have you ever tried splines in MDF?

I'm just curious. I've got several tools that need organizing so their accessories don't migrate. With other tasks at hand I don't have time for the hand-cut dovetail boxes.  But I'm also a little hard on things sometimes so I would worry about the MDF.

Rob


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Harry

Just use your search tool on your machine ,just type in *.zip , the computer will find it for you.

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harrysin said:


> Bob, I thought that I had successfully zipped about 20 shots but I can't find where the zipped file is! I'll try again tomorrow when I'm feeling refreshed after a nights sleep.


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

Hi Harry,

I see that Peter and BJ are talking about a . zip file not a . PDF file as we discussed last night..


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

rwyoung said:


> Harry -
> 
> Quick question about mitered boxes from MDF (it looked like MDF anyway). With a glued on bottom, do you find the box strong enough for knocking about the shop? Have you ever tried splines in MDF?
> 
> ...


This is the first such box Rob and it was made instead of binning the MDF that I used in a demonstration. For heavy use I would use splines, the way that I do them shouldn't make any difference between wood or MDF.


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## rwyoung (Aug 3, 2008)

Thanks Harry. I may get to a little organizing this weekend.


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

bobj3 said:


> Hi Harry
> 
> Just use your search tool on your machine ,just type in *.zip , the computer will find it for you.
> 
> =====


Here is my first attempt at a zip file, I don't think it's quite right yet.


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

jw2170 said:


> Hi Harry,
> 
> I see that Peter and BJ are talking about a . zip file not a . PDF file as we discussed last night..


It was evening James and I really didn't know what I was talking about!

Hopefully I'll receive answers telling me what I've done wrong. Perhaps a photo shoot of screen shots will be required!


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Harry

It's just fine you did it right 

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harrysin said:


> Here is my first attempt at a zip file, I don't think it's quite right yet.


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## Dr.Zook (Sep 10, 2004)

harrysin said:


> It was evening James and I really didn't know what I was talking about!


Hey Harry, did you have more than three fingers of medicine that night????????????:no::nono::yes4:


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Dr.Zook said:


> Hey Harry, did you have more than three fingers of medicine that night????????????:no::nono::yes4:


Nay Dave, it wasn't yet time, in any case, after all these years having a double helping each evening, 
I'm now taking a single topped up with Tonic water which contains quinine and it seems to have stopped the cramps that I was getting most nights.
whilst I'm on to you, the last couple of emails that I sent you were returned marked "ERROR mail refused" I don't know what the problem is, I'm sure that you still care for me and wouldn't consider putting a block on my name!


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## istracpsboss (Sep 14, 2008)

Hi Harry

I get cramp too. Quinine Sulphate tablets seem to work.

Cheers

Peter


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