Paul Greathouse - Norms plan with EZ tools

This thread was originally posted on SMC by Paul Greathouse. It is here with his permission.

This may not look like an EZ post yet but give me a little time. This is the Norm Workshop Hutch that I am building for my shop. I will be using mostly EZ stuff to build it. Typical panel breakdown and some solid stock cutting and routing. There will be several posts to follow as I am a pretty good way into the project. I will be putting 5 pics or less in each post. This first post is just to show what I am building.



Here's the blank slate/wall where it will be built. The wall is 1x12 pine boards that I had bandsaw milled on my property. Mainly from hurricane damaged trees that my dad and oldest son retrieved for me. I used the EZ to straight-line the edges then cut grooves on both sides of the board and used a 1/4" plywood spline to join them. They are nailed through the spline much the same way that you would install tongue and groove.



This is the NYW plan for the workshop hutch.



This is what I have assembled so far. The drawers are stacked up over to the left waiting on some full extension drawer slides. In the next posts I will show some setups that I used to cut and route the parts for the hutch. Unfortunately alot of the pictures that I thought I took didn't come out. The flash on my digital camera was flashing but it wasn't acutally taking pictures bucause the battery was low. I lost some really good shots. I was so busy taking pictures that I didn't look at the view window or I would have realized that the pictures were not being taken???






Cabinetmaker

This is some really basic stuff but the new guys may enjoy it.





Some very basic shots of the cabinetmaker being used to break down some 3/4" birch. In these shots the repeater isn't being used, just the square.





Here's the smart clamping system/18" repeaters being used for some 8' rips.



Not sure how well you will be able to see it but there is no splintering in the birch ply.


After owning the SRK for about a year I am finally getting to use it for some real work. This is a setup where I used the SRK to rout rabbets on the cabinet panels. I was pleased that the SRK was very accurate even when fully extended.

(One of the pictures that was suppose to be here was missing from SMC - Dik)









The next post will show some interesting pics of how I used my repeater, a smart clamp and a non EZ clamp to attach the 64" rail and cabinetmaker for SRK use.

(Sorry, but the two pictures that were suppose to be here were no longer available on SMC. - Dik)

The Non EZ clamp stops the cabinetmaker from moving left and the repeater portion of the cabinetmaker stop the cabinetmaker from moving to the right. There is a smart clamp being used on the other end of the rail but it is not shown. The repeater combined with Non EZ clamp hold the rail surprising solid. What do you think Dino, I haven't seen anyone use this setup yet.

This is several shots of the same setup from different directions that I used to make the half laps for the countertop subframe.

(One of the pictures that was suppose to be here was missing from SMC - Dik)







This my younger son, Nick screwing the halflap frame togeather.



The next post will show some closeups of the halflaps.

Here's the closeups of the previous post.

(Four pictures that were suppose to be here were missing from SMC - Dik)

Bruce Benjamin Posted:

Way to go Paul! It looks like you're giving you EZ stuff a real workout and having fun while you're at it. Unfortunately, a couple of your posts didn't show the pictures. At least they didn't show up when I looked at them. but the ones that did show were cool! It looks like you have a lot of space to work with too. Keep it up!

Bruce


David Davies Posted:

So much space so little tools


Allen Bookout Posted:

Very good thread Paul! I am seeing all of the pictures but unable to see the attachments. When I click on the attachments in post 4 and 6 here is what I get. "Invalid Attachment specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator"

This is good stuff for a new guy like me.

Paul Greathouse Replied:

I don't know why it loaded some of the pictures as attachements. I was able to see them, when I clicked on them. I will try to reload them tomorrow. I just got through setting up a new Dell computer and then getting my email setup with my internet provider. My minds pretty burnt out right now, I spent over an hour on the phone with a woman that had a very thick India or Pakistan accent.

Adam Stone Posted:

Paul,

I've been enjoying your pictoral. I've also learned a bit from some of your clamping ideas which may be useful to us. Most important, even though my children are younger, I enjoy when they spend time with me in the shop handing me a hammer or something. I'm sure you enjoy the time you spend with yours. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience.

Adam

Brad Stoppenhagen Posted:

I have been looking to buy this thing, but I am utterly confused on this product. Your write-up and pictures are probably the clearest explanation of this product I have seen.

Question though, what is the advantage of using the router attachment (SRK) for the rabbits and half laps over just using the router with the guide (as a straight edge) alone?

Randal Stevenson Replied:

On the SRK, you extend the SRK to have parallel rabbit's dado's etc. Pre SRK, if you had a board you had a high spot on (not cut straight across, for example, due to a not long enough clamp), your dado's could be not truely parallel.

That said, with the SRK, it's easier (with the additional stops) to do both stopped dado's/rabbits and make wide dado's, rabbits. Example, if your making a 2" dado, for a half lap joint, you put the stops on and extend your SRK out and work back (or in and out). With just a straight edge (ez or others), you make a pass, undo the guide and move it over, make another pass, etc.

Paul Greathouse Replied:

"I have been looking to buy this thing, but I am utterly confused on this product. Your write-up and pictures are probably the clearest explanation of this product I have seen."

Go to ezsmarttools.com and check out the resources area, I think the website will explain things much better than I can.

I like the control that I get with the SRK. There is very little possibility for error if it is setup correctly. In other words, you cannot slip and have the router stray away from the straight edge and ruin the rout. And as Randall mentioned it is also great for parallel work.

Dino Makropoulos Posted:

Paul.
Nice to see the new generation of woodworkes starting with good teachers like you.
Before ez we had to master the "Pushing of the wood" on single task tools.
Your post is a great example of thinking smart and three dimensional.

Good job Paul.

Lets try this again, this is the Half Lap closeups from above that didn't appear as pictures. Maybe it will work this time.











Here is some more of the pics that wouldn't open in a previous post. These are the closeups of the way I had the cabinetmaker clamped down to perform the Rabbet routs. I used a combination of clamps and the repeater on the cabinetmaker to hold one end and a smart clamp to hold the other end of the rail.







Gregory Chang Posted:

thanks for the nice pics for this newbie, will be getting the cabinetmaker and 114 for my speaker building. I am handy with circular saw but want to keep all my fingers (no table saw).

any comments will be appreciate.

gychang

Gavin Codd Posted:

Hi Paul,

I only got my EZ stuff a couple of days ago, so it's fascinating for me to see it in use.
I have a question; I can't quite make it out, but in a couple of your shots it looks like your SRK has a scale on the main sliding piece, is that right?

Thanks,

GC.


Paul Greathouse Replied:

Gavin

I'm not sure what you are seeing but no, there is no scale. I can see where in some situations a scale would be helpful though. Maybe Dino can incorporate that into a new SRK design in the future.

Bruce Benjamin Replied:

It wouldn't be hard to add a stick-on scale to the SRK and I can imagine where it could be useful. But since the SRK is used at any position having a fixed ruler scale would only be useful if you started with the SRK arm at the set Zero position. If the SRK arm had a shallow slot for a sliding tape measure in it or on it the way some T-track has attached to it then it could be very useful sometimes.

Bruce

Gavin Codd Replied:

Just my eyes/monitor playing tricks on me then!

Thanks!

(This is actually from a second thread, but was placed here for continuity. - Dik)

Paul Greathouse Posted:

Progress on the Norm Workshop Hutch

Just a reminder shot from the first post.



The next one is with all the drawers in but no drawer fronts yet. I'll have to take those shots tomorrow if I get time.



The next two show the large amount of storage capacity this project has.





I used the EZ for the majority of the cutting and routing on this project.

Here's some shots of the 28" and 26" GlideRite Full Extension Drawer slides. They are really great quality slides for the best price I've found anywhere. A little over $9.00 a pair including shipping for the 28" but you do have to order in quantities of 10 pair. They sell off of their website and on Ebay.











Raymond Eade Posted:

Nice looking hutch. I built just the lower unit but made the mistake of using construction grade plywood. I am still learning from my mistakes.


Paul Greathouse Replied:

I've made that same mistake in the past myself. The Ply that I used for this project is cabinet grade Birch that I got from my local NON-bigbox lumberyard. It's reallly reasonably priced at $37 a sheet. The drawers were made from 1/2" Russian Birch purchased from the same place for $20 for a 5'X5' sheet.

Workshop Hutch finished

Wanted to bring some closure to this thread. The Workshop Hutch has been finished for a while, I just haven't had a chance to take the final pictures. Hope you all enjoy. It was alot of fun to build and turned out very sturdy and usable.

I suggest these plans to anyone that is interested in building a good set of shop cabinets. I
built according the plans but they could easily be modifed to fit your needs. They can be obtained from the New Yankee Workshop Website or occassionaly you can find used sets on Ebay.









Joe Mioux Posted:

Looks good Paul.

I have those plans and intend on building this hutch when time permits.

A couple years ago, I built the NYW garage/shop cabinets and yes this was also a fun project.

How did you finish the wood?

joe


Paul Greathouse Replied:

Joe,

I haven't decided which finish to use yet, I'm torn between satin Polyurathane or an oil finish of some sort. To me, the poly looks better, but an oil finish might wear better in the long run and be easier to refinish if necessary. Do you have any suggestions?
I almost forgot, the green behind the shelving is as close as I could come locally to the Windsor Green that Norm uses on some of his other projects. It kind of matches the blue in my pine wall boards, I let the logs sit for too long before having them sawed.