Worktable phase 2

17 comments

Started work on my worktable repair again.

Step 1: brace the taller unit: the back-board fell out last year and, as I intended to cut it down to match the height of the other unit, it’d need bracing. I had rescued some backing-board along with the stacks of wood, but none of them was the right width; I cut a piece down, but, typically, cut it just slightly too small (the prob with having to use a marker pen to see the guide-line is, which side of that thick line do I cut? I chose the wrong side). It had already fallen out the day after.

Which led to

Step 2: the board doesn’t have to be in the slots, I thought: just needs to be securely attached to the back to provide the necessary bracing. This time I thought I’d secure the board first and then cut it to size.

Fixing it was hard work, physically; I had the kneeling pad on the ground, and had to z myself so I could get my eyes within inches of the panel pin I was trying to hammer in. I managed to hit it two out of every three times, my thumb got about half of the rest (I was supporting the pin with my thumb alone, so that, if I missed, there was an even chance of the hammer hitting the board the other side!).

But that meant that I didn’t have to put window-blind struts on the back, so that was two jobs in one. Cutting it down was a lot easier, I had the unit side to guide m; still went off-track but that don’t really matter, it’s “wrong” on the right side!

Step 3: the unit would need a new top once it had been cut to the same size as the other unit. I stood the two units side by side and used the marker pen to the height of one against the other. Thought I could put the new top on before I took the old one off; that’d add extra rigidity to the frame while I was sawing. Found a piece that fitted nicely, and used my new drill outside for the first time, both to drill and to screw.

I could have set it a little further down; it was for bracing, not an actual top, but I tried to get it as close to the line as I could; indeed, that was my guide.

That was all done yesterday, and it was enough for one day; the kow-tow position is not a good one to have to be in for extended periods, even with lots of stretches and occasional breaks – I was walking round like Groucho Marx the rest of the day!

The sun was shining today so I thought, go for it! I wasn’t looking forward to cutting the unit down, knowing how good I am with a saw.

First prob was getting into position! Tried laying it on its back so I could get at the fronts of both uprights, that was a bit too low, so I put it on one side and worked on the other; meant I was a bit higher, and that I could put a foot on the bottom and brace my knee against the top to steady it.

I can not cut a straight line! I always veer alarmingly to the right. And the saw squealed like an injurd piglet when I tried to veer it back on track; suppose I was bending the blade.

Took a break and Googled “how to saw a straight line”. After I’d put the “saw” in quotes, to cut the “how to sew in a straight line” I tried a few; the answers seemed to involve a circular saw, a guide clamped to the edge of the cut-mark, or, in one instance, a left-handed saw! I’m pretty sure saws will work with either hand; it’s the body behind the saw. I tried varying my position to get my right shoulder in line with the cut, so the stroke would be straight forward, not coming from an angle, no go.

The only helpful hint was to use the bottom part of the saw rather than the tip; they said it was used less and so would be sharper, but I’m sure a major factor is that, using the part nearest the handle, there’s less room for the blade to bend in use. I had to use both hands to get the necessary force, so the push was coming pretty centrally, and I still veered a bit.

But I’d put the new top so close to the cutting line that I was shaving off the top of it; at least when it was to the right it stopped me veering even further off-course!

I eventually had a brain-wave – or a brainstorm – and got the drill out again to cut the wood – it was done in minutes. The gory details will be in a blog of their own.

Not a bad match, considering …

Very belatedly, it occurred to me to protect the units while they were still open to the elements by putting bin-bags over them, which is what that black bundle in the bottom of one of them is.

All that’s left to do now is to fix the shelves in both units so they add strength to the frame, rather than using the Ikea pegs and putting the shelves on them (not enough pegs to go round, anyway) and then fixing the top, which can wait for another day, and another blog.

And it’s still not noon yet!

Sorry if this is TMI, but it’s mainly for me, so I can look back and see not only what I dun, but how I dunnit, and why.

• 20 Feb, 2012
• 5 likes

More blog posts by franl155