Playroom toy storage - the build - WIP

[Mike Saville]

So having had a small discussion on the design

[url=https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/playroom-toy-storage-t38659.html]here[/url]

I've made a start on the build of this project. (hammer)

I'm going to begin with the storage bins at the bottom. So first I cut down the full sheets using circular saw and homemade guide rail:

[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3031.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3033.jpg[/img]

I ended up with a collection of boards like so:

[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3034.jpg[/img]

I'm expecting to make mistakes as I build this but didn't expect to make one so early on . On the plus side this project has just taught me it's first lesson - when using a guide make sure it is clamped firmly in place. It wasn't on the piece below and as a consequence the guide slipped by about 4mm on one end.

[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3032.jpg[/img]

Not the end of the world - this board is to make 2 components and I can still get one out of it. The rest I'll use for smaller pieces later in the build.

The next part was a bit laborious but I've again learnt another lesson. I had to make lots of cuts at the same width. I began by measuring each one individually, then checking the guide after it had been clamped, very slow.

I just wish I'd made this 585mm long 'jig' earlier - saved me loads of time measuring. A useful lesson for future in this build as I have lots of repetitive cuts to make :roll:

You can see it here on the left hand side of the board:

[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3036.jpg[/img]

Finally, all parts cut for the five storage bins:

[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3037.jpg[/img]

I'm not going to get a chance to do much for the next few days. That does however give me a chance to ponder the joinery of the bottom bins.

I'm using the parts to basically make some square boxes. I was planning to use glue/screws. However the more I think about it the less I like that idea. (filling/sanding etc). What do members think about just using glue and biscuits for the joints? Will that be strong enough? Any other ideas?

If I can avoid screws around the sides of the boxes it will also save me having to watch out for them when I round corners over.

Another question, in the absence of a table saw that can cut square, straight lines how do others go about making multiple repeated cuts like those above??

Anyhow enough from me. . . .

Thanks for reading.

 

[Mike Saville]

So got a chance to do a bit more on this over the weekend.

First I tried marking out for placement of wheels.

[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3039.jpg[/img]

This didn't last very long - what are the chances of me marking out 80 holes and getting them all in the right place?? Not a lot, more chance of SWMBO bringing a cup of tea to the shed

So a little jig was in order:

[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3040.jpg[/img]

Will get all the holes in the right place with that little beauty!

Next I clamped up a bin dry to mark out for biscuits.

[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3041.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3043.jpg[/img]

I also took the chance to mark each corner so that I can match them up again later. (sorry about quality of this pic!!)

[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3044.jpg[/img]

Next was cutting the biscuit slots - what a tedious job that is . . . . .

[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3046.jpg[/img]

. . . not made any easier by those that needed cutting on the side.

[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3047.jpg[/img]

My method was to clamp a guide piece behind so that I could register the joiner square to the edge. I don't think this was the easiest solution as it meant reclamping for each new edge - 20 re-clamps in all :shock:

Anyone got any suggestions for better way to do this??

Finally drilling a hole for handles and rounding it over.

[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3049.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3050.jpg[/img]

Hope to get more done this week, though will be onto spraying insides of bins which I'm not expecting to be a quick job.

Time spent so far - approx 3 hours.

 

[MikeJ]

Certainly looks like you got a lot of repetitive work to be done! Must be a case for making several jigs.

It is an impressive unit though, hope it'll keep things tidier in the end!

 

[Chems]

Gotta say you've done really well to get that all aligned with all those cuts. Its going to look great when your done.

 

[Shultzy]

Mike S, the best way to tackle repetitive work is to make jigs, and register them against two edges if possible.

Biscuits and glue are more than enough, even just glue and pinned would do.

 

[Mike Saville]

Mike S, the best way to tackle repetitive work is to make jigs, and register them against two edges if possible.

Biscuits and glue are more than enough, even just glue and pinned would do.

Thanks chaps, jigs are certainly something I'm going to do for the rest of the build.

As far as joinery for these bottom bins goes I've decided on biscuits/glue for all the side/corner joints and will be using countersunk screws to attach the bottom - these should all go in from the side, add strength and be on a flat surface so much easier to fill and sand.

I did get another couple of hours on this today but it was all spent sanding and sealing edges with a 2:1 mix of PVA and water.

Total time so far: 5hours. . . . . 8-[

 

[oddsocks]

Mike, rather than hold the MDF in the vice as per your last pic, i tend to cut the joint with the board flat on the table and a 90degree piece of wood as a reference face and then use the jointer vertically....much like pics V3-5 in this manual...http://service.dewalt.co.uk/PDMSDocuments/EU/Docs//docpdf/dw682k_eur.pdf...the way you did it is shown in image S2

Dave

 

[Mike Saville]

Mike, rather than hold the MDF in the vice as per your last pic, i tend to cut the joint with the board flat on the table and a 90degree piece of wood as a reference face and then use the jointer vertically....much like pics V3-5 in this manual...http://service.dewalt.co.uk/PDMSDocuments/EU/Docs//docpdf/dw682k_eur.pdf...the way you did it is shown in image S2

Dave

Great, I knew there must have been an easier way than the cack handed method I've been using :roll:

Got more of these to cut so that will come in useful - Thanks.

 

[chingerspy]

This is great! Someone with what appears to be much the same kit and facilities that I do for building stuff Although I work out the front of our house so the neighbours keep asking for stuff to be built! might be a good thing once I learn a few more things and make fewer mistakes

I will be following this WIP with anticipation to try and pick up any more tips on saving errors or how to's while I build my units for my bedroom

 

[chippy1970]

Mike I was wondering why you went for MR/MDF instead of the normal stuff. It doesnt look like the units will come in contact with any moisture.

I know it does machine better than the bog standard stuff and I suppose its more hard wearing so maybe that was your reasoning.

Also have I got it right you paid just over £15 a sheet for 18mm MR/MDF thats a bloody good price.

 

[Chems]

Its for painting the MR stuff is so much better to paint. The normal stuff raises up terrible on the face when you paint it so you still end up with that flecked texture with out loads of coats.

 

[Mike Saville]

Chippy, Went for MR as others have said it does finish better than ordinary MDF. Also the price I got it at (£15.50 a sheet) meant that there was little difference between this and the standard stuff.

Chingerspy, there'll be plenty more mistakes by the end of this :roll:
As for the tools - I bought a lot of cheap stuff about 10 years ago when doing a house refurb. When something dies now I try to replace with good quality stuff that will last.

 

[chingerspy]

Good, good I look forward to learning from your mistakes then. Gawd knows I make enough of my own!

 

[Mike Saville]

Where was I?? Ah yes . . .

Got some more time on this on friday.

I was intending to prime the bins but weather has been rubbish and drying could be an issue, in any case there's plenty more MDF to butcher before I need to paint.

Here are the components for the base sides:

[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3073.jpg[/img]

Laying out the internal ribs. These will help me get to the chunky look I'm after for the base and will also add some strength:

[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3074.jpg[/img]

Following a previous tip on this thread I found this much easier way to cut all the biscuit slots. Though I did have to scratch my head for a while until I realised the plastic face of the biscuit joiner fence needs removing to use in this position.

[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3075.jpg[/img]

Lots of slots cut:

[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3076.jpg[/img]

Biscuits in:

[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3077.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3078.jpg[/img]

Clamped up:

[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3079.jpg[/img]

Did 2 of these - took a couple of hours.

I was really looking for to making lots of progress on Sat. However not all went to plan. I managed to drop my circular saw on the floor I don't know if you can see from the picture but it put the base plate out of alignment:

[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3085.jpg[/img]

This meant each cut I tried was 3mm out. I had to gently persuade the plate back to square (hammer)

After 3 hours work all I had to show was this:

[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3086.jpg[/img]

Though I do have a lot more components cut now.

Total time spent so far dropping tools and ballsing up cuts: 10 hours

 

[Mike Saville]

Finally got some more time to work on this. . . . .

Construction of the top is pretty much the same as the base sides:

[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3091.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3092.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3097.jpg[/img]

Took a few hours to set that up and cut/glue together. I then had to wait quite a while for a break in the weather to do some spraying. I wanted to spray insides of the base bins first as might be a bit tricky once they're constructed.

It does go on quick though . ...

Biggest problem is finding somewhere to store the parts to dry. So I had bits like this lying all over the house:

[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3105.jpg[/img]

We got some sun (yes we did) and I did two more undercoats and 3 top coats on all parts within a few hours 8)

[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3106.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3111.jpg[/img]

So finally could put some bits togther. Hopefully pics are self explanatory:

[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3112.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3114.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3115.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3116.jpg[/img]

Here's the 5 bins together - at least they're all the same size!! I turned my back for 5 mins and they're full of toys already :shock:

[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3120.jpg[/img]

I'll return to these when finishing other sections which need to be the same colour - don't want to mix up paint to spray just one of these.

Had a major error crop up as well in the last few days. I noticed the the top I have glued up was seriously bent! I'd doulbe checked it before gluing and it was all straight/square etc. But now there was a half inch curve from end to end.:

[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3117.jpg[/img]

Hope you can see that - doesn't follow the line of the level at all.

What to do :?: Part of me just wanted to put the crown of the curve up and hope for the best. However most of me reluctantly decided it had to be redone

So apart it came:

[img]http://www.mikesaville.co.uk/images/house/playroom/IMG_3118.jpg[/img]

Checked the parts once I'd taken it apart and all seems to be straight and square again so I can only assume that something during assembly/gluing went wrong. . . .

Anyhow, more to follow.

Total time spent gluing straight bits into bendy shapes: 20 hours.

 

[Chems]

Looks great, what method of painting priming did you use?

 

[Doctor]

Hi,
Seeing as how the original is one of mine, thought I would just throw in my 2p worth.

The boxes look fine but, I groove the bottoms in like drawers and put them together and spray afterwards.

The posts are over engineered, they are only load bearing not side to side, no need for ribs.

Worktop, again over engineered, why all the biscuits on the ribs, just whack a bit of glue in there.

When you put the wheels on, make sure the wheels don't over hang the edge
or they will bash the posts.

Looking good though, one of my guys made 6 boxes in 1 and a half hours, get a move on!!!!!

 

[Mike Saville]

Looks great, what method of painting priming did you use?

I started with some 3:1 PVA mix on all the edges to seal them up. I then sanded to 240 grit and sprayed with some acrylic primer undercoat. 3 coats of that followed by some more sanding and then 3 coats of Macpherson acrylic eggshell.

I find that the acrylic stuff goes on nice and smooth, gives a really good finish AND is easy to wash out afterwards. I suspect it needs more coats than oil-based but for me the cleaning hassle alone makes acrylic a better option.

I guess the pro's would have a spray booth and be able to knock out enough coats within a couple of hours. I need to wait for some decent weather - when we do get it though I can get the coverage and coats very quickly.

Hi,
Seeing as how the original is one of mine, thought I would just throw in my 2p worth.

The boxes look fine but, I groove the bottoms in like drawers and put them together and spray afterwards.

I'd be interested to hear how you'd go about spraying the insides of these boxes? I imagine that would be tricky hence me spraying them first.

The posts are over engineered, they are only load bearing not side to side, no need for ribs.

Worktop, again over engineered, why all the biscuits on the ribs, just whack a bit of glue in there.

Agreed on that - it is overkill and if I were to do something like this again I'd reduce these a bit. As it is I'm re-doing the top and I'm going to lose the biscuits.

When you put the wheels on, make sure the wheels don't over hang the edge
or they will bash the posts.

You can't tell from the pic of the line of boxes but the wheels are all on there - concealed under the bottom edge - all swivelling fine! I did have to check though that they didn't hit the edges of the box frame.

Looking good though, one of my guys made 6 boxes in 1 and a half hours, get a move on!!!!!

I know some of this has been painfully slow - I have however already cut all the rest of the components for drawers and shelves within that time. It would be great to have a lager table saw to cut the larger components with - setting up a guide and circular saw takes a long time. I cut 24 shelves and 60 drawer components in a couple of hours on Sat because they were all small enough to get on my small table saw.

Thanks for the comments & feedback.

 

[Chems]

Nothing is a revolution as much as a big fat table saw with massive tables.

I hate spraying, all the prep etc, you've got really good results there but you've put in a lot of work to get it so you'd expect it. I always try an bash it out quickly and end up unsatisfied.