Wood Working Shop

Ok, this may be a "duh" question but when putting on NEW hardware to cabinets and drawers that didnt have any prior, how do you measure. Do you put them in the center of the drawer face? And how do you know where to put them on the cabinet doors? I have knobs for the cabinets and handles for the drawers. Or should it be the other way around? Thanks!

Did you know that you can buy a plastic template that perfectly positions the knob or handle on the door. Scroll down until you see the carpenter kneeling down with a green plastic template positioned on the door.

I bought mine at Lowe’s. It puts the knob or handle in the same place every time. No guesswork, no mis-measurements.

This template, alas, didn’t work for my IKEA "two-screw" handle because of the strange width I’d selected.

As far as the drawer, center the knob (left to right) and be consistent for each drawer.

Good luck. I hope your cabinets look great with their new hardward.

I want to make some signs for my wife. I have a router but am not very good at freehand with it. I was wondering if a dremel or other tool would be best. It won’t be fancy sign, just letters and numbers.The wood will be cedar, pine or redwood haven’t decided yet.

Freehanding a router to make a sign is pretty difficult. Results will mostly be unacceptable. If you want that type of sign, a router is the right tool (on a hobbyist budget), it just needs some help from a jig.

You can make your own jigs but it’s very time consuming. A pro to making our own is you get the lettering type and patterns exactly as you want. Draw or print from your computer the letters/patterns you want, transfer to a piece of 1/4" scrap MDF (or the like) and cut the shape out with a jig or scroll saw. Place the letter jig over the sign in the desired location and then using a Template Guide Bushing in your router trace out the jig pattern.

http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyID=1392&wcs=20141&pcs=fam

If you don’t want to make lettering jigs, several companies make affordable lettering jigs you can buy. They are quick and easy but have the downside that you’re stuck with some generic font that may not be the size or type you’d prefer. Google for them.

http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=20141

http://www.rockler.com/articles/display_article.cfm?story_id=58

Good luck.

I have already built a giant wood lego guy with a bunch of accessories for it and it was alot of fun. Any other ideas?
Also if you know of any free plans for a cork gun or elastic band gun that looks kinda like a real gun they would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Landon!
Shop class can be so much fun!
How about a birdhouse/feeder?
Recipe card holder-or cookbook holder!
Foot stool, cd rack, Paper towel holder…these are just ideas for you look for on your own…toy sailboat that works!
(I built a dynomite bird feeder!) Flying airplane (with a rubber band motor)…
Have Fun!

I have a 4′ x 8′ piece of plywood, and I need to cut a lot of pieces out of it. Many of the pieces are pretty big and can’t be perfectly cut using the fence on my little table saw (which can only measure up to 10" straight cuts). Plus, it’s really hard to manage this huge piece of wood on my own. I need to use almost every piece of it, and I can’t just make rough cuts. What’s the best way to make perfect cuts on this piece? I have a table saw with a very small table and no extension, a large circular saw, a small chop saw and a bigger sliding chop saw, and a router.

Personally, I would get a long framing level, the kind that is 48 inches long or more.

Measure your cuts and draw the lines, then secure the level to the work piece with C-Clamps in such a position that when the guard of the circular saw is pushed sideways against the side of the level, the blade lines up with the line you want to cut.

Hope this is clear enough.

1 centered pull (sorry for the word reversal!)

I am a carpenters assistant and from my experience i would say a 2 knob or 2 pull so it wont jam up in the long run hope that helps.

i am doing a school science project and want to test the signal of a 802.11g wireless router, after going through a wall. I need multiple commonly used wood materials for walls, to test.
MZ thank you very much, In that case, what would i test, sheetrock?, metal studs? someone please answer

Try use pinus, or eucalyptus. But don’t worry about the wood type. If one kind of wood absorbs X signal power, other kind of wood will absorb the same X signal power, as long as it has the same density. Woods used in civil construction are very similar!

The size of my shop is 22x15x8. Any suggestions. Want to spend under 200.00. I prefer one I could hang from the ceiling do to space concerns. If I can’t get a good one for 200.00 please make recommendations.
Thanks

The best answer will depend on how much saw dust you create in an average hour in your shop. The more you create, the larger the volume needs to be. I shop built mine, and my shop is similar in size to yours. I used a 20 inch fan fit tightly in a plywood box, using two filters, one furnace filter, and a finer second filter for very small dust. I installed mine is a little used corner, on the ceiling, (in my old shop) clean air flow to the wall. I changed the filters fairly often when they looked like they needed it. There are also portable dust collection systems available for between $100.00 to $200.00, but I doubt you can mount them on the ceiling.

I want to make small items sourvenirs from wood. I need to know what tools should I use.

you can get some small hand held carving tools and I would suggest a dremel type of tool with some wood bits to help get through the tough and deep stuff. Best of luck

As with most things it depends vastly on the quality of the equipment. You’re basically asking the equivalent of "Tell me the worth of cars now". You’ll have to be a little more specific in your descriptions

i am doing a school science project and want to test the signal of a 802.11g wireless router, after going through a wall. I need multiple commonly used wood materials for walls, to test.

2X4′s and 2X6′s are the common studs although some buildings have metal studs. Metal studs may affect you signal transmission.
Most walls inside a building are covered with sheet rock panels either 3/8 or 5/8 thick.
exterior walls may be any thing from plywood and chip board to rigid Styrofoam, brick and vinyl siding just to name a few.