DYI - Dashman DASHBOX Install (1 Viewer)

[cuencanolenny]

Thanks. Came to a screeching halt today. I was preparing to cut the trough plates and got about one inch and the one week old DeWalt DW317 jigsaw broke. The tool less blade holder is plastic and failed. Since I am in Ecuador the 90 day no questions asked money back guarantee does not apply. The vendor will have it serviced, take at least a week, but you can't service to better than new and new is a poor design. In the USA I had an old Skill jigsaw that used a screw to hold the blade. I worked that tool hard for over 12 years and never had a problem. I think I paid $30 for it. This saw costs $99 on Amazon but down here was $165. So my project will have to sit for awhile, bummer, I was really into it and it was going well.

 

[handcannon]

I really feel for you there! I had a Porter-Cable saber saw that let me down right in the middle of a job, although I wasn't in a place that made it harder to get parts. The metal base was attached to the composite plastic body, and that attachment point broke in the middle of a cut. I will have to admit that I had used it a few years previously in my job (installing cabinets), and was in the middle of a plunge cut (helping a friend, not on a job). Everything else still works like it's supposed to, but it's kind of hard to hold and cut with it. And definitely no precision cuts now.

Don

 

[Weber Sarge]

Get a Bosch , be done with it . I have a simple and cheap one , have cut 3/4" steel plate with the right blades .
Sarge

 

[cuencanolenny]

Sarge I agree with you. However, down here the Bosch is pushing $700. But I'm back in business. I ran across a gringo returning to the USA and had some tools to sell. A "Task Force" jigsaw for $25, I bought it. Not a quality tool, low on power. However, it did the job and most importantly it didn't break. So off to the welder today to weld the ends to the sides and three bottom plates. I have an idea on how to form the trough plates. I got all I could get out of the last four feet section. I have the lid set aside but won't trim to size until the box is welded. I have the one short piece of channel left over and I'm thinking of dividers at the ends of the troughs to create a box in the center section. Those would also stabilize the unsupported rear edge where the hinge will be welded.

 

[Weber Sarge]

Uh , wow . I paid $60 here for the Bosch ....
Sarge

 

[handcannon]

Get a Bosch , be done with it . I have a simple and cheap one , have cut 3/4" steel plate with the right blades .
Sarge

That's what I ended up doing. I did not like the older Bosch because changing blades was very unhandy, requiring you to have a long thin shank screwdriver within reach to change blades. But, the new Bosch now has a quick change blade set up that is very handy. After having used a saber saw on an almost daily basis for so many years I am very picky about the quality of the tool, and how handy it is to use (and not just saber saws). My primary use was very precise cutting of wood, but on a very rare occasion I would also cut steel.

Cuencanolenny, it's good that you found a way around your problem. I am always impressed with the quality of your work.

Don

 

[cuencanolenny]

I guess when I read that Sarge was cutting 3/4" thick steel that he was using the more expensive Bosch. I investigated for a week before purchase and saw where the Bosch and Festool were the top units. When I checked on the prices here I was flabbergasted. The first work with the DeWalt was making the jig. Just MDF but using a square head and blade I was able to "guide" the saw and make very nice cuts. It did pretty well on the steel also, not using a guide however. And I was able to just leave the line and use my disc grinder (Makita I brought down with me and a 5/8" Hammer Drill) to dress it down to the line and then draw file to make a nice edge. Today I am making a fixture to try and shape the trough cover plates. So of course I am using the "Task Force" saw. No such luck with nice cuts, the blade wanders around, it isn't a very good saw. But at least the project keeps moving. The DeWalt was $205 at most places. My hardware store charged me $165, Amazon is $99. There is an outfit down here called BP. They sell everything from C clamps to front end alignment machines. All made in China. The jigsaw they offered was 5 amp, hard case, rip guide for $145. I was just afraid that if it broke parts would not be available.
Thanks Don, so you live in the hops capital of the world? I lived in Seattle for 22 years before retiring from Boeing down to Ecuador. My wife is a native. Of course she would have preferred to stay in Seattle. That's just the way it goes.

 

[cuencanolenny]

I asked for enough weld to allow me to radius off the corners. Nice and solid now. The real challenge is the trough plates. Yes, I used a log from the burn pile to start roughing it in. I debated on whether to make a male or female form and went with female since that is what I am mating to. However, I think the male would be better and may make another one. I'm using a Bernzomatic torch to heat the material. The clamps get a little busy and I think on the male that would be improved as well. I had worked on it for awhile, still have much more to go but had to knock off and go get the wife. When I unclamped it awhile ago to re-position I noticed quite a bit of springback. Probably not getting it hot enough.

 

[handcannon]

Yes, this area USED to be the hops capital. My Mom and her family were Oklahoma dust bowl transplants to this area (my grandfather lost his farm due to tornado and dust bowl problems), and did a lot of row crop harvesting to stay alive, hops being one of the crops. It's rare now to find a field of hops. For my generation back in the late 50's and early 60's it was pole beans and raspberries. The pole beans have given way to bush beans and mechanical harvesting now.

I think a male mold would be far better for what you are doing. I'm a cabinetmaker/installer so I don't know what kind of spring back you'll be dealing with. But, a male mold would more easily lend itself to modification to deal with not enough bend because of too much spring back. MDF is an easy to work/cut item for what you are doing. MDF is also a fantastic thing to use for paint grade trim/panels etc. Sands easily, and with some careful application of caulking along seams and joints, paint sprays on real nice and all the properly prepped joints and seams just disappear under the paint.

Don

 

[cuencanolenny]

Interesting story, I thought Budweiser still got hops from the valley. Today was pretty much spent doing the Thursday run, dropping off laundry, dogs for a haircut. Then I went to get a haircut, guy is 80, doesn't do much business anymore, the bed sheet he wrapped over me was freshly laundered. He is a nice man. Anyway I parked across the street from the hardware store where I bought the saw. He whistles me over, I have to take the saw to the shop myself. I did so, they didn't have a new part but he had a used part, no impact to warranty and repaired it then. This morning I had laid out male bucks but didn't have a chance to cut them before leaving. Guess I'll do that in the morning. Curious what you said about the uses of MDF. Of course as a midwesterner I am accustomed to all the hardwood forests and materials available, and prefer working with hard woods. Down here they don't have forests, at least on this side of the mountains that separate me from the Amazon. Cuenca is famous for furniture building, but it is MDF. Beautiful stuff, amazing what a router and CNC machines can do. But I don't think it is durable furniture frankly. Regardless, I have my saw back and tomorrow I will get back into working the steel into contour. Once benefit I thought of with the male buck is that any tool marks or such will be on the non-visible side.

 

[handcannon]

Hop fields were not common during the time I was growing up here in the mid-Willamette valley (south of Salem in the 50's and 60's). Now they are rarely to be seen. That doesn't mean non-existent, but in the recent past (5 years?) I have only seen evidence of hop fields up in the Woodburn area. That still leaves a large area I haven't been in (west of the Willamette River between Salem and Wilsonville) for some time.

Cabinet styles change with the wind. I would install numerous hardwood cabinets, then all of a sudden I would install a few pre-painted and unfinished paint grade cabinets. I much prefer cabinets and house trim that is hardwood with stain and finish when it comes to looks and workability. Much easier to work with than pre-painted cabinets. However, an unfinished paint grade that is painted after install is also an easy to work with product. As far as durability goes, MDF and chipboard are in the same category when it comes to holding fasteners, much poorer than a good hardwood.

I would be interested in seeing pics of what you end up using for forming the metal. My woodworkers background, and general curiosity are coming out to the forefront. Also, I'm very interested in seeing the finished product. I am very much into working with my hands, if you hadn't already surmised that.

Don

 

[cuencanolenny]

I spent the day yesterday validating Einstein's theory of insanity. While I did build the male buck, I can't get one side the way I want it. The other side is fine and can be welded. But the second side is like I need a radius crease and then lay it back and no matter what I tried I just kept ending up in the same place. So, I decided to try the second plate which was still flat. That went nicely on the buck, but on the box it exhibited the same problem. So I'm going to call "Uncle" and see if Carlos can get it to fit. So I now have all the edges filed and raidused. I just finished making a couple of divider plates for inside, have cut the hinge to length and the next step will be to fit the dividers and start looking at the lid for final sizing.
In Southern Oregon there is a different cash crop. My brother has been a State licensed grower for quite a few years, since they started it anyway. So the other night my youngest daughter, married two years in October, tells me she and her husband are moving to Oregon in late September to learn and take over the farm. What a long strange trip it's been.

 

[handcannon]

I'm aware of that crop. I lived/worked in Grants Pass for a couple years in the early 70's. At that time it wasn't a legal crop to grow, and the hippie movement was in full swing then. I got somewhat acquainted with a county deputy and learned that there were places around there where they never went alone.

Don

 

[Weber Sarge]

Just fyi - the biggest factor of why the Bosch is superior is that little guide wheel behind the blade - it forces the blade to ride straight against the material instead of trying to bend , big difference . I amazed at tool prices where you are , used to pretty cheap stuff here overall in comparison .

I worked for several years for a local high-end cabinet shop that did nothing but custom work . We built trim , cabinets and some specialty furniture all out of red oak , cherry and walnut . Some parts were done in high quality veneer cabinet plywood , but everything else was solid hardwoods . Made some insanely expensive builds in multi-million dollar homes - those people have zero taste , all I can say . I was the finishing department and general build carpenter , still have some issues from all the chemicals and stains we used ....

Sarge

 

[cuencanolenny]

Don: I had some use for that stuff after the war in the late sixties but pretty much came to the conclusion all it did was make me stupid.
Sarge: Bummer about the chemicals. When I get around the two part epoxy paints used on floors in the factories that stuff sends me off like a rocket and drops me like a rock. Hate that stuff. I was a journeyman tool and die maker for years. Got to the point where I couldn't stand the smell of coolant on Monday morning. My woodworking was not as extensive as yours, but I can relate to "no taste." I worked mostly with oak, hickory and rock maple. Locust is just too stringy and nasty, but sure makes a pretty product.

I have the lid fitted and will head for the welder again tomorrow to see if Carlos can get these trough plates fitted and welded. Will install the two dividers, end plates on the lid (unhappy with the way the flanges were forming). Then I will do some more finishing. I wonder if powder coating is an issue for the piano hinge? Since that piece would be welded into place it is not removable for the coating process.

 

[cuencanolenny]

Success! Carlos took a look and just shrugged his shoulders. He looked at my new male form block, saw the plates fit it, saw that the form block fit the box, saw that the plates didn't and set to work. He was using a three inch long piece of train rail! And tapped around on them and pretty soon he set to welding them in place. So I have some more weld clean up to do, again. The ends are on the lid and the dividers are in as well. I have already fitted the hinge but need to find out if powder coating would mess it up. I don't see a good way to screw them together without it looking funky. The store bought units do not exhibit any fasteners on the hinge so I don't know if they are powder coated or painted. You can see the male form block I went to, worked much better but the railway rail or a body dolly, would be the required tool if roll forming on an English wheel didn't do it. So Carlos charged me $25 today so I am at $95 total so far. I can say that the USA made units at $300 is a fair price.

 

[antFJ]

powdercoating might be fine on the hinge, but what I would do is take a razor blade between all the hinges to prevent any peeling.

 

[cuencanolenny]

Thank you, I understand what you are suggesting.

 

[handcannon]

Cuencanolenny, it's absolutely fascinating to me to watch an expert in their field do their work, I don't care what the product is. The expert will make a few moves that look simple (but really are not), and suddenly you end up seeing the beginnings of what the end product will look like. It's just absolutely amazing to me. I love to watch an expert like that do their work.

I can understand where Sarge is coming from. I started part time in a cabinet shop in my senior year in high school, and then went through the state cabinetmakers apprenticeship program. I did not like doing the stain and finishing, so I managed for the most part to avoid it. One of my favorite looking woods was knotty calico hickory with a natural clear finish on it.

Don

 

[cuencanolenny]

After the Marine Corps. I knocked around a few jobs and then started going to college. I paid my own way and was going to night school. Decided that would take forever and went looking for a second shift job so I could school full time. Ended up in a piston ring factory in St. Louis. After about six months a fellow came into the cafeteria all excited about a posting on the board for Tool & Die Apprentice program. I had no idea what it was but if he was so excited it must be something good. I applied, I was accepted, he wasn't and he never spoke to me again. Shortly after I finished the Apprenticeship the oil crisis of '74 hit and there were many layoffs at the plant. I was next on the list and met my wife who was going away to college. I left as well. Six months after that, work was really scarce, I ended up in Wichita, KS where I stayed for the next five years. I worked in aircraft for the remainder of my career either in Tool & Die, Jig & Fixture or Tool Design for the last 28 years in nearly every aircraft factory in the USA. Woodworking was a hobby for me. Like you I appreciate hickory. My two older brothers are also quite talented with wood, better than me. I lamented that when the highway department was going to raze my mothers home for an exit ramp that the trees would be lost. Beautiful stand of huge oak, walnut and shag bark hickory, bull dozed into a pile and set afire.