# Raider's Coach Display build.



## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

I was undecided about giving this its own build thread rather than simply adding it to the Coach build and decided that I'll be doing enough unique stuff to this to merit its own thread. I hope no one gets upset by my decision.

I'll be using 1/2" Oak plywood to make the display and including a French cleat as a hanger to mount it to the wall in my computer room. It will be enclosed on all sides either by plywood or clear acrylic, have added lighting to enhance the final display and a couple of other display items just for fun.

In case you missed the original build of the coach, here is a link to the build:

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f13/build-thread-raiders-coach-54632/

I hope you guys enjoy this one as much as you did the first. I promise to try to finish this quicker than I did the Coach.

Without further ado....


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Today marks the beginning of the build of a display for my Raider's Coach.










I began my marking a cut line on a piece of 24x48x1/2" Oak plywood and clamping my home made saw guide in place along the mark.










I then mounted a plywood blade in my circular saw and proceeded to cut the sheet into 2 pieces at just under 24" wide.










And here you can see the main reason to always have the "good" side of your sheet goods facing down when cutting with a circular saw.










The bottom piece is showing what was the under side of the cut and has very little ,if any, tear out. The top piece is showing what was the top of the cut and tear out along the entire length of the cut.

With the first cut in the sheet completed and my 48" piece reduced to two 24" pieces, I moved to my table saw and installed my 10" plywood blade.










Wrong blade shown, I know, but I wanted to show youse all the fancy plastic gizmo I picked up to change blades with. The manual for my old Craftsman TS says to jam a block of scrap into the blade to hold it when removing the arbor nut. That works, but sometimes lets the blade slip before the nut comes loose and after bending a rather expensive thin kerf blade I decided I'd had enough of jamming scraps against my blades. This guy holds the blade very securely and the handle position keeps my delicate hands away from any accidental slips.

Anyhow, With the blade changed I ripped my two plywood sheets into 5 strips. One is cut to be 14"x24"x1/2", three are at 8"x24"x1/2" and the fifth is what was left.










With my pieces cut, I mounted my 6" Oshlun Dado stack with enough chippers and shims to make a nice tight fitting dado.










I looked long and hard to find this set because the only sets I could find locally were 8" sets. The manual for my old Flex-drive Craftsman says to use nothing bigger than a 7" dado set and since I'm not yet willing to spend money for a new saw, and because there are no available replacement parts for my old gal, I choose to put as little strain on that flexible drive cable as possible.

Anyway with the stack installed, and the height set to 1/4" using my brass set-up bar, I set the fence to leave 1/2" of uncut material at the edge and proceeded to cut some dadoes.

On the piece that I will be using as a full 24" back panel I used that trusty blue painter's tape (3" wide in this case) and placed it around the end of the panel where the blade would exit the cut. The other piece will be cut into a couple of short side pieces, and so I let the cut just rip through. In this next photo, you will see that was perhaps not the best decision of the day.










Did you notice the tear out? Its a good thing that current plans call for me to cut away the ends of that piece anyway and make my sides from the best looking places in the middle of the panel.

Before moving away from the table saw, I wanted to show you guys one more thing.

My dado set is not one of those really expensive jobs. I think I paid around $45.00 for it plus shipping from Amazon. Yet it makes some mighty nice flat bottomed dadoes!










So, to all you guys who are nursing an old Craftsman table saw and want to be able to cut nice dadoes without an undo strain on the saw, I highly recommend this dado set. The included size chart is off (I need to add a shim to get a half inch dado) but that is no big deal. Just make yourself a story stick and you're all set.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Before shutting things down for the day, I installed a 1/8" straight bit in the router and set the height for just over 1/16" and also set the fence to make a 1/16" wide cut.










I then ran a stick of scrap Walnut through the bit to create a rabbet along both sides.










This will be cut into two pieces along the length of each rabbet.

So I headed out to the band saw and set up to make a few very narrow rips.

Here you see me with my extra thin rip aux fence clamped to the bandsaw and cutting a few pieces of maple that will also be used in the display. In case you are wondering, the aux fence is simply a couple of pieces of scrap 1/2" plywood glued at a 90 degree angle that will fit in next to the band saw blade and allow me to lower the guide bearings close to the cut without having the fence interfere. 










I ripped the Walnut strips from each rabbeted side at the same time using the same setup.

Yes, yes, I know you are probably asking yourself what the heck is this crazy old man going to do with those giant tooth picks? Well I aint telling you, yet. 

With all that done, it was time to get things picked up and put away. I hope to get more finished tomorrow as we are expecting a nice day with temps near 80. :yes:


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

This is gonna be good. Thanks for posting this Johnnie.....I'll be watching.


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## Ted Tolstad (Feb 20, 2011)

I'm in ....will be enjoying this one....


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## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

You know I'm with ya Johnnie.


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## guglipm63 (Feb 27, 2013)

Thanks for going he extra mile johnnie. This looks fun to watch so I'm pulling up a chair to watch


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

I'm definitely in for the show. I see you're already off and running :thumbsup:


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Thanks for deciding to hang in there with me. I'm afraid things are not going very fast. Every year the city holds a "Neighborhood clean-up" day. That means that the city will be hauling away any unwanted junk that is too big for the regular trash day pickup for free. Its a great time to get rid of old furniture, unwanted busted electronics, scrap metal, and boxes filled with all kinds of dust collectors that have been piling up all year. This year it falls on Tuesday of this week. So I've been clearing out all the junk that seems to breed in and around my house and making a nice neat pile at the side of the road for all the metal and electronics scrappers to pick through before the city comes to take it all away.

I did manage to get in some build time today and so:

First I cut both of the side panels at the sliding compound miter saw.










The two sections on the left will become my solid side sections.

After cutting the second, vertical, dadoes in both side pieces, I dry fit all the plywood pieces together and was very pleased by the result.










That Oshlun dado set sure does make a pretty joint. :yes:










All the pieces fit nice and tight so far and I think I shall glue them as they are after some light sanding. Then again, maybe not. 

Moving away from plywood, I decided to cut dadoes in a couple of pieces of solid Oak.

First I cut a couple of dadoes in a wide piece that was left over from another project.










I also cut a dado in a longer narrow piece.










These will be further cut to size and used to make a border along the remaining sides and the front of the display.

That's about all I got done on the main display today. Not yet sure if I'll get to work on it tomorrow, but I promise to keep you all up to date when I get more done.


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## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

Right on man! Keep plugging away!


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## Smith Brother (Dec 9, 2012)

Can't wait for the SHOW to begin, How much is a BIG BAG OF POPCORN, and a COKE?

Sorry, I'm not a beer guy.

Dale in Indy


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Smith Brother said:


> Can't wait for the SHOW to begin, How much is a BIG BAG OF POPCORN, and a COKE?
> 
> Sorry, I'm not a beer guy.
> 
> Dale in Indy


Don't worry Dale. I'm sure several of us are not beer fans either. Non-sweet Iced Tea for me. :yes:


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Well, here goes today's few examples of wood chip making.

First I set up the router with a 3/4" straight cutter and machined enough material from the two side pieces to make rabbits along the tops.










I then trimmed the back panel just over 3/16" to lower the panel so that it could sit flush with the sides, and then fit the top panel.










Here is a look at the entire display up to this point.










Next I ripped those pieces of oak you already saw me add dadoes to. I cut them first to be 1-3/16" wide.










Sorry for not getting the push stick in the photo better. That "almost" pointed piece at the bottom of the photo is the push stick.

Next, using my Gripper and leveling plate, I ripped the oak pieces to the 1/2" width of the plywood. I am using the red oak sold at Lowes for this build, so my raw materials are either 1/2" oak plywood (with extremely thin top veneer) or 3/4" solid oak. Not a big deal provided you don't mind the extra milling to bring the solid pieces down to match the plywood pieces or mind the extra care needed to not bust through the surface of the plywood when sanding.










Next my Mommy called me in and said it was time to eat supper :chef:. Of course I was in the middle of cutting and fitting the side edging and had just gotten the two 45 degree corners cut when she called. So that's all for now, I'll have to post pictures tomorrow when I find time to actually take them. Sorry guys, I really wanted to get the rest of the edging done today.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

That's some seriously clean looking dados Johnnie. Looking great.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

I had to work fast today because we were expecting heavy rains this afternoon. So please forgive the missing photos of some steps. Besides, this would not be one of my projects if it didn't rain at some point to slow things up.

First, I used a strip of carpet tape to attach a temporary ZCI to my Sliding Compound Miter Saw (SCMS).










Using a drafting triangle I double checked that the saw would cut a 45 degree angle.










Happy with the setup, I cut the edging for the display from solid Oak.

First I made the edging for the portion of the shelf that extends past the boxed area using those strips of solid Oak that I'd made dado cuts in earlier.










Next I cut the edging for the boxed in area.










I made this edging by ripping narrow strips of solid Oak and then ripping again to get the 1/2" widths I needed for the plywood edging. The photo above shows the strips sitting in place before gluing.

I then moved everything out to the shed and proceeded to glue the edging in place. I'll get a photo of the clamped piece tomorrow. Didn't have time today because the rain came as I was putting the last of the clamps and tape in place.

Moving inside, I took those thin strips of walnut that I made the rabbits in a few days ago, and my small miter box along with that Chinese pull saw I used on the Coach and cut out several photos of the real coach, and the band which I located on the web, then scaled down using a free graphics program called GIMP.










I then created three photos that I will attach to the walls of the display.

This was accomplished by first printing each picture, then cutting them out and covering each with clear packing tape. I then glued each picture to some 3/32" craft plywood using CA glue. Then I made teeny tiny picture frames from the Walnut strips using my small miter box and glued the pictures to the frames again using CA glue.










I chose these three photos for special reasons. First, the middle one is the best photo of the real coach that I could find. The other two show the guys using guitars that are shaped like the pair I made for my model. The color shot shows Drake Levin (the group's lead guitarist) with a double necked instrument and the black and white picture shows Phill "Fang" Volk using his personalized bass that has the same shaped body as the one I made. 

Supposed to have better weather tomorrow. We shall see what happens then.


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## Smith Brother (Dec 9, 2012)

Two weeks ago YOU couldn't even spell ARTIST, now you are one. 

YOU, is good at woodFUNNING...

Dale in Indy


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## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

Looking good Johnnie!


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

The display case is coming along great. But the framed pictures - the teenie-tiny framed pictures - just gave me goosebumps. I don't know why. It must be because the idea is so cool and they just look SO DAMNED CUTE I can't stand it! Yup from start to finish, the coach and its display case are proving to be nothing less that top-shelf awesomeness! :thumbsup:


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Because I promised:

Here is the display all glued up and clamped with the edging clamped and taped in place as outlined yesterday .










And here she is with the clamps and tape removed.










I think those spots you may be seeing are actually dust on the camera lens cause they are not in the wood.

That's all I have for you today. No excuses. It was one of those days where I just had no energy all day. I felt as though I'd not slept all night and I went to bed at what is for me a very early hour. Maybe I'm coming down with a cold or something.

I did do some mental figuring today though. Stuff like how to mount the coach, the lights and the mirrors.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes. I'm having trouble visualizing it right now, but when it all comes together, this is going to be awesome.


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## guglipm63 (Feb 27, 2013)

Looks good. Almost like a stage


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

guglipm63 said:


> Looks good. Almost like a stage



This did belong to a rock band remember. So, you are correct in that the idea is to make a kind of a stage, but also something of a display like you might see at a car show. :yes:


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## Smith Brother (Dec 9, 2012)

With ANGEL HAIR? LOL

Don't for get a WORKING ROTATING STAND, you have PLENTY of spare time, DON'T you? hehehe 



Dale in Indy


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Felt much better today as I did not have to poop 1000 times an hour. :laughing:

So I started out by mounting a 1/8" cove bit in the router.










I then cut a 1/8" cove approx. 1/8" deep in a piece of 3/4x5/8 Oak.










I then set up to make two corner pieces at the SCMS.










Remember how I've hinted at using mirrors in the build? Well these corner pieces are a part of the mountings for mirrors that will be placed to reflect some of the hidden details once the coach has been placed inside the display. The things I'll be trying to show in the mirrors are the keyboard and other details at the back of the coach and the hand brake and gas pedal at the front.

We'll see how it works out together.

You may have noticed that I did not tape a temp. ZCI in place today. That is because I used up all my scrap material on the one I made the other day, and then stupid me threw it out. Of course the garbage truck came by and took it away... so...

Anyhow,, the next item to be made was the French Cleat. I know that over the years I've been a member of this fine forum, we have described the process many times but never actually shown how its done. So I'm about to correct that oversight right now.

First I took a piece of 3/4"x2"x22" Oak and marked the center of the stick. I then made a mark through that center at a 45 degree angle and tilted my table saw blade to match that mark










I then used the stick and the mark to position the fence,










and after setting a feather board in place, ripped the stick into two pieces at a 45 degree angle using a push stick to keep my hands safely away from the blade.










That small tab you see on one of the pieces is the very end of the cut where my saw did not cut through the stick cleanly. I'll remove that later using a chisel.

Next I moved out to the shed and drilled three through holes in the section of the cleat to be attached to the display. These holes were also counter sunk to a depth of just over 1/4".










The reason for making the counter sinks so deep was to bury the screw heads deeply into the wood as I only had 1" screws on hand. By burring the screws in the cleat, I was able to get a full 3/8" penetration into the plywood back of the display. I used both Titebond II glue and the screws of attach the cleat at the top of the display.










I have one more photo to show you of the cleat in position. This is for those of you who have heard of a french cleat but never tried to make one.










Notice how the cleat is attached so that it makes a overhang of sorts? This is what will "hook" onto the part of the cleat that is later attached to the wall where ever the display (or anything else to be hung like cabinets) is going to be.

Another important factor to consider is that the cleat must be the same width as the material surrounding it so that whatever you are hanging will "lay" flat against a wall.

I debated the benefits of making my 3/4" stock thinner and decided that because I had plenty of edging material that actually filled the gap perfectly, I decided to simply make some Oak edging to cover the back.










As you can see, the back edge of the display will now sit flush against most walls and has a very strong device to hang from. 

When the time comes I'll show how the other half of the French cleat system goes together. However, for now, I'll pick up my toys and let the glue dry over night.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Smith Brother said:


> With ANGEL HAIR? LOL
> 
> Don't for get a WORKING ROTATING STAND, you have PLENTY of spare time, DON'T you? hehehe
> 
> ...



Should I make the turn table have 240 Vac or just 120? :laughing:

As for spare time... well yeah, I have nothing but spare time these days but not a limitless supply of money. I'll trade you some time for some money... :laughing:


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## Art Rafael (Apr 17, 2013)

The precision in craftsmanship and detail is as awesome as the coach. I'm with you. :yes:

Ralph


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Art Rafael said:


> The precision in craftsmanship and detail is as awesome as the coach. I'm with you. :yes:
> 
> Ralph


Coming from someone who makes such detailed miniatures as you do that is high praise indeed.

Thanks Ralph.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Looking great Johnnie. Keep it coming. I'm still loving this display case and I'm looking forward to seeing the end results. You've got me thinking about display cases for all of my builds now.
Love the cleat idea.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Today was spent making parts instead of assembling.

First, because I was already out at the shed to gather up everything, I marked, drilled and counter sunk two holes in the portion of the French cleat that will be attached to the wall.










These were spaced on 16" centers so that the screws should hit studs in the walls when I go to mount the cleat. They were also drilled to create a clearance hole for a #8 wood screw. This will allow a #8 screw to pass through the hole freely before needing to be screwed into the wall which is a huge help when trying to hang something like this that will need to be leveled.

Next I ripped a short piece of 3/4" Oak to 1-1/8" wide.










I had left the router setup from the other day with a 1/8" cove cutter and so I cut a cove in this 1-1/8" piece.










This piece was then cut into two corner pieces for the top of the display. Both the bottom and top corner pieces together will be what holds the mirrors in place later in the final assembly.

I've been trying to figure out how to mount the coach and the lights while not having loose wires running every where. That's when I remembered some left over dry erase board from the 2013 charity build I did around Christmas time.

Taking some measurements, I set up my aux. fence at the table saw and ripped the panel to size.










Apparently I must have mis-measured even though I must have measured that dang thing 20 times.










It fits perfectly front to back, but is about 1" too narrow to go from side to side. I can't figure out what went wrong unless I set the fence wrong because of the aux being on it. Oh well, one more lesson in how to fix a screw up will be included n this build. :furious:

That may be a good thing for you guys, but it sure don't say much for me. 

Anyway, I carefully placed the panel in the display and determined where to cut for the corner pieces. Then I used the SCMS to whack off the corners of both sides.










One final test fit of the floor parts and it appears to be coming along nicely.










Doing this serves several purposes. First it allows me to rout out tracks in the plywood in which I can run the wires to the lights and keep them hidden from view. It also allows me to add wires at the axles to secure the coach without the need to twist and turn the entire display to get everything in place. Just mount it all to the dry erase panel, run the wires in the tracks and glue the entire unit into the display at once. It produces a nice smooth reflective surface that will tend to reflect the light from the LEDs rather than absorb it the way the plywood would. Lastly it almost looks like a nice white tiled floor. So its a win-win anyway you look at it. :thumbsup:

The next group of photos will teach everyone considering how best to set up a shop an important lesson. It also fulfills that promise I once made to all of youse guys to always show you my mistakes and how I fixed them in my builds.

I usually pull my saw far enough away from the screen wall to prevent mishaps, but somehow either I did not do it this time, or it got pushed back into the screen at some point during the day.

I went to cut some 3/4"x3/4" strips from a piece of 48" Oak board.










That picture shows you exactly how far I managed to cut before the board refused to move! I had to turn the saw off and carefully hold the board in place until the blade stopped spinning to prevent a kick back situation as something was actually pushing the thing back at the blade!

Thank God for push sticks, splitters, and large paddle off switch additions on table saws cause my chances of overcoming the screened in carport were not good! So here is that lesson I spoke about. Always set up your shop with plenty or room around all your tools! If you think you'll only need 4 feet, better make it 6 at least. :thumbsup:










After cleaning my underwear, and pulling the saw back away from the screen, I ripped two more 3/4"x3/4" strips and then cross cut them at the SCMS to lengths that will be used to make the front cover of the display.










I'm still thinking about the best joint to use for this. Right now, I'm leaning towards using simple miters with either dowel rod pins or 1/8" splines for added strength.

The last thing I did today was to lightly sand the wall cleat with 220 grit paper and give it a couple of coats of clear poly to seal the wood and help curb warping until I get it mounted in the house.










When the poly had dried enough to handle, I brought this piece inside to protect it from the damp night air and the chance of rain in the evening forecast.

Check back in a couple of days to see what I screw up next. :laughing:


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Kenbo said:


> Love the cleat idea.



Most times I don't hang real heavy stuff out away from the wall. This guy, so far, has an entire sheet of 1/2"x24"x48" Oak plywood and assorted pieces of solid Oak sticking out 14" from the wall and there is still more weight to add plus the coach which is yet another 5 pounds all by itself!

Hence the use of the cleat rather than some other less substantial hanger.


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## mdntrdr (Dec 22, 2009)

This is coming along nicely! :thumbsup:


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## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

Gotta say Johnnie, I've made the same mistakes before. Its all in how you fix em. I'm loving this display man.


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## guglipm63 (Feb 27, 2013)

Looks real good johnnie. I used that same cleat setup to hang my cabinets in the garage. Works great. As for cutting that board short, don't be so hard on yourself. Everyone does it. (I for one) If they claim they don't they're lying. Looking forward to how you make it work


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

It's coming along nicely, Johnnie. I won't admit how many times I've ripped on the TS only to discover I didn't have a clear path on the outfeed.



guglipm63 said:


> Looks real good johnnie. I used that same cleat setup to hang my cabinets in the garage. Works great. As for cutting that board short, don't be so hard on yourself. Everyone does it. (I for one) If they claim they don't they're lying. Looking forward to how you make it work


Not me. Nope, never ever. :shifty:


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## captainawesome (Jun 21, 2012)

Johnnie, I didn't post in the coach build or here yet, but I've been following along the entire time. Let me just say that your projects never cease to amaze me!

I noticed that you are using the f cleat to attach it to the wall. I am using this system in my new garage which I've started a thread about. Take a look at post #19, in particular the part where I take a block plane to the sharp corners on each cleat. This shaves off just enough to make mating the two pieces a little easier, and to ensure that they are fully seated.

Keep up the great work, I can't wait to see the two projects come together!!


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## Smith Brother (Dec 9, 2012)

Yep, EVEN me has not allowed enough room to totally push through. 

Kick backs ARENT' good. 

Looking good youngon,

Dale in Indy


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

captainawesome said:


> Johnnie, I didn't post in the coach build or here yet, but I've been following along the entire time. Let me just say that your projects never cease to amaze me!


Thanks man. I usually push myself past my comfort zone on things. My MIL says its because I just a used up old cripple with too much pride for my own good. My Doctor says its the reason I can stand on my own instead of being wheel chair bound. The wife says that if I ever gave up on anything she'd be wondering if the body snatchers had stolen the real me and replaced me with a vegetable. :laughing:



captainawesome said:


> I noticed that you are using the f cleat to attach it to the wall. I am using this system in my new garage which I've started a thread about. Take a look at post #19, in particular the part where I take a block plane to the sharp corners on each cleat. This shaves off just enough to make mating the two pieces a little easier, and to ensure that they are fully seated.


I have been reading that thread and your idea works great. I've pretty much always just sanded the sharp edge to round it over. I've had very good luck that way and its something I'll be showing later when I start the sanding process in a day or two. All I wanted to do to the cleat right now was protect it the best way I knew to discourage warping as it will still be several days before I hang it.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Short and sweet tonight.

Did you ever have something eating away at your mind so much that you could not sit still until you did something about it? Its like having an itch on your butt during a job interview! :laughing:

I had finally decided on the method I wanted to use to make the cover. So between rain showers today I set up the SCMS to make 45 degree angled cuts and whacked off the corners of all of the cover parts.










This is slightly different from just making a box frame as there will only be wood along the top, sides, and front of the display. So it required making some of the miter cuts on different corners from the normal mitered piece.

Here you can see what I mean.










Notice that the top and bottom corners meet in nice miters while the two sides appear to have a gap. That is where cutting the miters differently from the normal miter joint came in. When finished it will look like a wide "L" that is hollow in the middle.

After I got this far, the rains came in and ended my day. 

I'll try to get the rabbits routed tomorrow (so far no rain in the forecast) and start gluing up the pieces.


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## captainawesome (Jun 21, 2012)

Johnny, you may have posted about this and I missed it, but what happened to the Kobalt miter saw you bought back when your Delta went out? The saw in those pictures looks a little too DeWalt yellow to be Kobalt.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

captainawesome said:


> Johnny, you may have posted about this and I missed it, but what happened to the Kobalt miter saw you bought back when your Delta went out? The saw in those pictures looks a little too DeWalt yellow to be Kobalt.


I exchanged the Kobalt saw for the Dewalt. I could not manage to keep the fence set no matter what I did. Apparently it came with a slight bend in it and continually adjusting it caused one of the main screws to strip out. Lowes took it back and swapped for the Dewalt. The new saw came to me pretty much perfect right out of the box. I'm planning to add a ZCI fence with a stop block soon, but so far its been doing a great job without one and the plastic under the blade adjusted enough to create its own ZCI.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Another quickie tonight.

Today was cloudy all day and the temperature was dropping pretty fast. While it was nothing like youse guys up north are dealing with, for us in Florida it was pretty darn cold at 50 especially when you consider that it was 74 yesterday. :furious: That's a 24 degree drop over night!

However, I pushed ahead and did the best that I could by first setting up a 3/4" straight bit in my router.










Sorry about the crappy lighting. Like I said before, it was very cloudy all day. Anyway, I set the bit to make the cut just under 1/2" tall by 3/8" deep.

Then I set my home made depth stop against the back of the router fence.










The depth stop is just a piece of Aluminum bar with a pair of lock down knobs. I first set up the fence for the depth of the finished cut, then I lock down the depth stop and move the fence forward to make a shallower cut.










Lastly I decided that because of the narrow strips and the rather deep cuts I wanted to end up with, I installed a feather board above the work pieces.










With everything set up, I proceeded to make the rabbits in all of the edge pieces by running each piece through at a shallow cutting depth, and then making a second cut just a little deeper, and finally I made the full cut by locking the fence against the depth stop.

The picture above shows the final set up and a push stick used to keep soft fleshy fingers away from rapidly spinning carbide edged tools. The results were very pleasing to me.










As you can see, this method made nice even and clean rabbits all around the edge pieces and I came away with all my parts still attached. 

Always be safer than necessary cause it only takes one slip, especially when working with such small pieces, to cause major problems. This is a lesson I learned the hard way at the table saw last year. :yes:

I did not attempt to start gluing today because of the cold damp air outside. Plus I have plans to make more features in the edging before I assemble it.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

I have deleloped a weariness of rapidly spinning carbide things. Too late, of course. :thumbsup:


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

You can never have enough clamps.

I'm guessing you've all heard that line a few times since you made your first cut in wood years ago. Well this project has taught me the truth of it. You see, I must own at least 4 different systems designed for nothing other than mitered corners. Only problem is, they all require 4 corners to work from to provide even clamping pressure all around.

So now I own a fifth system.










I started out by screwing the clamps solidly to the work table. 

Then I used the old blue tape on the corner trick to help in aligning the pieces as I put glue on both corners,










folded them into each other and clamped them to dry.










Finally, after the glue had dried for about an hour, I drilled into each corner using a 1/8" bit,










and glued a dowel in the hole which seemed to disappear once it was sanded flush with the edge.










While waiting for the glue to dry on my corners, I drilled a clearance hole in the front piece for a #8 machine screw.










Moving to the carport and the router table, I set up the bit to cut a shallow mortice for a 12" piano hinge and cut the mortice.










Things were going along so well that I decided to get fancy, and totally blew out my front piece! 










So, it was back to the drawing board (or router table in this case) to make a new front piece from my last remaining piece of Oak stock.

With a new front piece made, I decided to fore go the fancy stuff and go with what I had that I knew was good. I brought my angle clamps and corner pieces onto the carport where the sun was not so blindingly bright and I went to work with the blue tape and angle clamps to get the cover frame all nicely glued.










I checked the entire unit for square by measuring across the diagonals of the upper and lower frames and with a trusted trisquare in the corners. Surprising the entire thing was perfect the first time!

I know that in the past I have heaped a boat load of crap on top of Kenbo over the "Kenbo's Famous Canadian Corner Clamps" that a few of us have started using. I hope everyone understands that every bit of it was done in fun, because truth to tell, while it was Kenbo who first introduced us to them, I dearly love them as the following photo will show, they can be very useful and more than just a little customizable to boot!










I bought two of the 24" sets when I got mine as I only planned to use them on smaller stuff and never without a rod on each of 4 sides.

However, this project does not have 4 full sides to it anywhere and putting any amount of pressure against the open bottom could very well destroy the whole thing! Still mitered corners require even clamping pressure at both corner parts to work. Enter "Kenbo's Famous Canadian Corner Clamps"!

By screwing one corner bracket into the threaded rod and hooking that under the far lower corner where the two corner pieces have been glued and doweled together, then placing the sliding corner at the top and tightening the nut, I have applied clamping pressure to the front piece in a downward direction into the side piece. Then by using a large spring clamp at the top, I have added side to side pressure against the front piece. Even when the clamps are as tight as I can make them, there is not pressure across the open space and so no danger of breakage.

I know that was confusing, so take another look at the entire cover frame in clamps and ready to go beddy bye bye for the night.










Come the morning, I'll take the clamps off, drill the top and front corners for dowels and glue in the dowels. Then I'll do some sanding of the frame work and start getting the main display set up for the lights.

Until later then gang... stay safe and happy wood funning! :laughing:


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## Smith Brother (Dec 9, 2012)

I like YOU, and many others, DO SENSE DANGER with small pieces. 

I really DO NOT LIKE flying pieces. We have all seen what a tornado can do with a 2 X 4, like stick it nearly through a grown tree, well dim dare very small cuts off coming from the blade of a TS, NOT A FAN OF DIM DARE MISSILES. 

Looking good my FRIEND,

Dale in Indy


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

Johnnie, I like your aluminum bar fence stop idea on the router table. And I'm glad to see the extra precautions taken at the router table. Pretty much all woodworking is dangerous. But, as you know, small pieces are especially menacing to deal with. That's a shame about the tearout on the front rail. But, luckily, it didn't seem to have set you back too far.

Keep up the fine work. I'm anxious to see the finished display case.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Chaincarver Steve said:


> Johnnie, I like your aluminum bar fence stop idea on the router table. And I'm glad to see the extra precautions taken at the router table. Pretty much all woodworking is dangerous. But, as you know, small pieces are especially menacing to deal with. That's a shame about the tearout on the front rail. But, luckily, it didn't seem to have set you back too far.
> 
> Keep up the fine work. I'm anxious to see the finished display case.


That simple bar has made the task of taking multiple passes so much easier. Set the fence at the full cut, lock down the depth bar, move the fence and take shallow passes until you end up at the final depth already set on the bar. :thumbsup: I've use it a lot since I made it.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Mainly I worked with the clear acrylic that will make up the majority of the cover today, but first, I had to finish up drilling and gluing in the dowels in the corners I had clamped yesterday.










To do this I first removed all the clamps then screwed one of the special corner clamps to the work surface to provide a nice solid fixture to hold the frame for drilling and the pounding to drive the dowels into the holes. Of course I again cut off the extra lengths and sanded them flush with the edge pieces.

The first step after the wood parts were done was to rip a piece of clear acrylic to the correct size for the top and the front panels at the table saw.










Then move over to the miter saw to finish sizing all the pieces.










Then a quick test fit of all the parts.










Nothing to it! The stuff cuts like butter on the table saw and only slightly more difficult at the miter saw. It looks cloudy in the picture because I have not yet removed the protective film.

Now I just have to experiment on some scraps before I ruin these pieces. I've never before tried to "weld" clear plastics into anything other than a model car's windows. So, it may take a day or two before I can actually show you much more except for this final shot of the day. Everyone who is still following this can relax in the knowledge that once I teach myself how to make what I want, I'll share it all with you so you can make your own displays in the future.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

I went ahead and sanded the cover frame to 150 grit by hand instead of machine because I was worried my heavy handed technique with the ROS might damage the frame. Then I gave it a couple of coats of rattle can clear satin poly to ward off any effects of humidity and/or morning dew.










My plans call for the entire display to be finished using the same method of rattle can clear satin poly so that it will not out shine the coach which was finished with clear gloss poly.


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## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

Great job Johnnie. Looking forward to see how you'll do the acrylic. I'm enjoying this buddy!


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

This isn't quite what I was expecting and I'm really looking forward to seeing the final product. This looks awesome so far. Gotta love cutting that acrylic. It's nerve racking for me.


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## captainawesome (Jun 21, 2012)

What will you be using to adhere the acrylic pieces together? I made some guards for a machine at work from acrylic and initially used the stuff they sell at the big box stores to fuse the pieces. It didn't grab well enough and I ended up using regular super glue which held much better.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

captainawesome said:


> What will you be using to adhere the acrylic pieces together? I made some guards for a machine at work from acrylic and initially used the stuff they sell at the big box stores to fuse the pieces. It didn't grab well enough and I ended up using regular super glue which held much better.


I'm trying to get the corners where two pieces come together to be as clean as possible. That means no fillets and no smudges. Two things that I have yet to be able to avoid using super glue.

I'll be using a product specifically designed for this type of operation call WELD-ON. Its something I've never done before and hence the learning curve. I'm also planning to use a torch to clean up the edges. That's another of those never before tried things I have to learn before destroying the real thing.

Anyhow, today is the wife's birthday and I've been asked to spend the day with her... so this will be my last post until later tonight....


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## Smith Brother (Dec 9, 2012)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY you young lady.

Have a great day, well, as good as one could expect with Johnnie, LOL.

Dale in Indy


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## guglipm63 (Feb 27, 2013)

looking great so far and looking forward to seeing the plastic welding. hope you and your wife enjoyed her birthday.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Happy Birthday


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Kenbo said:


> This isn't quite what I was expecting and I'm really looking forward to seeing the final product. This looks awesome so far. Gotta love cutting that acrylic. It's nerve racking for me.


Hummm what were you expecting? 

The first few times I did it, it scared the heck out of me too. Now I've made so many frames and boxes with clear lids (not to mention jigs and other stuff) that it doesn't bother me anymore. The trick is to use a blade with 50 or more teeth and raise the blade higher than you normally do for wood.

BTW

The wife loved your link and wanted me to tell you thanks.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

I'm not sure what I was expecting. I try to look at all the pieces as a build is being posted and figure out where the original poster is going with the build. I'm not sure what I was picturing in yours, but it wasn't what I see now. I'm loving it. Keep up the great work Johnnie.
And you can tell your wife.......she is very welcome.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

I did some testing today to see if I could figure out how to "weld" the acrylic panels together into a clear cover. After a few total failures, I finally got it right.

Step one was to make a spacer to push the outfeed fence of the router table just slightly farther out so that it would act in the same way as a jointer.










I used a piece of 1/32" walnut veneer as the spacer, and after making a couple of slots in the same locations as the bolts that hold the fence in place, I mounted it to the router table.










I then mounted a straight bit with a bearing in the router and adjusted the fences so that they were just touching the bearing.










I then checked that my fence was square to the table.










To make this work, you need to have a very smooth edge. The edge produced by the saws was not terribly rough, but it was not very smooth either. Trying the procedure the first time without using the router to clean up the edge led to one of the very first failures of the day. Thank goodness for scraps!

Anyway, I ran the edges of some scrap acrylic through my router setup and then positioned the two pieces at a 90 degree angle.

I ran a bead of the solvent along the joint and waited for about 3 minutes before moving them. The result was a nice joint between the two pieces.










After 10 minutes the bond was strong enough to hold together even when one of the pieces was hung without any support.










However, I did notice a small problem...










Those dots are actually tiny air bubbles in the seem. I've searched all over the web trying to find a way to get rid of them and the answer that keeps coming back is the use more solvent or learn to live with the bubbles.

I'll do more testing tomorrow.

Here is a shot of the solvent and the applicator I'm using. I also placed the test piece behind the product in such a way as to put the most stress on the "welded" joint as possible. It held together nicely.










My sincere thanks to forum member Cabinetman who found this and directed me to it when I was trying to figure out if it could be done using acetone.

I ended the plastic work for the day by running all of the edges to be joined through the router to get them as smooth as possible.










I still had some daylight so I began the process of getting the display electronics located.

First off I drilled a hole in the back floor corner of the display using a 1-1/2" forstner bit.










I then squared off three of the edges to to provide enough room for a 9V battery and a switch using a saber saw.










That line is where the inside edge of the mirror mount. It was also a reminder that I had only the area between the corner and the line to work with to hide everything.

Then I cleaned up the area using a rasp and some 100 grit sand paper. I then gave the entire display its first sanding to get things heading toward the finishing stage and brought the two parts together for the first time.










There she sits for now. The "knob" is actually a knurled knob from Lowes hardware department that I found in the drawers marked "specialty parts" The lower mirror mounts are in place. I can now layout where the coach and the lights will be and get the wires run.

It's coming together rather nicely I think.


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## Smith Brother (Dec 9, 2012)

I think so tooooooo!

Yep,coming together nice.

Dale in Indy


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Today didn't go so well. In fact it went very, very poorly.

I figured out how to stop the bubbles, but when I tried to weld the cover parts I forgot to remove the protective coating and the adhesive wicked behind it and ruined the entire thing! 










The plastic isn't cracked, those spider web looking things are lines of adhesive that can never be removed!

I'll get some fresh acrylic tomorrow and try again. :furious::furious::furious::furious:

All is not lost though, maybe I can make a blade guard for my table saw from this thing.


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## Smith Brother (Dec 9, 2012)

Sorry my friend.

We live and learn don't we?

I hate things like that, but you will win,

Dale in Indy


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## wood shavings (Mar 20, 2009)

Johnnie There is a place in Tamp called Custom Plastic Fabricators might be worth it to give them a call they make all sorts of boxes for the food industry at least they did. Might have branched out into other stuff as well. Tell them what you are trying to accomplish and my guess is someone could lend a hand or give you some pointers.
The case looks great the plexi as a cover will really make it pop and protect it for years to come . I too enjoy waiting to see what you will incorporate into the build.

Jerry


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

I learning from your mishaps Johnnie. Good luck with the new pieces of acrylic.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

wood shavings said:


> Johnnie There is a place in Tamp called Custom Plastic Fabricators might be worth it to give them a call they make all sorts of boxes for the food industry at least they did. Might have branched out into other stuff as well. Tell them what you are trying to accomplish and my guess is someone could lend a hand or give you some pointers.
> The case looks great the plexi as a cover will really make it pop and protect it for years to come . I too enjoy waiting to see what you will incorporate into the build.
> 
> Jerry


Thanks Jerry.

I looked them up and their web site says they to all kinds of different stuff now. If I continue to have problems I'll give them a call. :thumbsup:


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## Burb (Nov 30, 2012)

johnnie52 said:


> All is not lost though, maybe I can make a blade guard for my table saw from this thing.


Now that's the spirit of a craftsman. Your doing great and I really enjoy watching your build. I'm confident that with or without outside assistance, you will get this figured out and it will be......wait for it......LEGEND.....DAIRY.....

Mark


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

After the disastrous day I had yesterday, I sat down on the floor and at least marked out where I'll be placing some of the lights for the display and where I'll need to drill for the wire tie downs I'll be using on the coach.










By the time I got home from Lowes today (had to run out for more acrylic) it was too late to try any more plastics so I decided instead to work on something I know more about.

First I cut the remaining mortise in the display for the piano hinge. Only I did it just slightly differently than how you might expect.

Awhile ago I had bought a router base for my Dremel tool. It was one of those spur of the moment things. I saw it and just had to have it along with a 1/8" straight bit for the Dremel. :laughing:

Well as it turned out, that set up was the perfect arrangement for cutting a mortise across the 1/2" wide upper piece of the display.










First I clamped a piece of scrap to the outside of the work area to prevent blowout, and then I went to town with the Dremel/Router.










Once finished, I had a really nice mortise and the small size and light weight of the Dremel made it so very easy to keep everything level as I cut along the mortise area.

I then made a small trap door for the battery compartment,










Next I drilled the marks I made in the floor panel as the light and coach locations and marked the plywood base of the display.

Using those marks, I then made a wire troth into which I will end up placing all of the wiring for the lights. I did this using a trim router with a cove bit, my Dremel (w.o the router base) and a carving bit on the flexible shaft, and finally a handy mouse sander.










And with all of that laid out and cut, I glued in both lower corner brackets and finished the battery compartment.










I'll try to get a better picture once I can get back to work on this.

But for now its food time! :thumbsup: And not a second too soon cause as soon as I got everything picked up and put away, it started to rain :thumbdown:

Its supposed to rain all day tomorrow, so we'll see what happens. I have a fresh idea to maybe help stop the adhesive from wicking. We'll see if it works.


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## captainawesome (Jun 21, 2012)

Looking good Johnnie! Would a thin film of Vaseline just outside the joint on the acrylic stop the wicking?


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## Repliconics (Sep 9, 2013)

Looking great mate.
This is going to be so Kool!


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

captainawesome said:


> Looking good Johnnie! Would a thin film of Vaseline just outside the joint on the acrylic stop the wicking?



You know, that not a bad idea. Except how to get it off without smearing it all over the place. I'll have to think on it a while. Thanks it might just be the answer to my problem.


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## Smith Brother (Dec 9, 2012)

Put some tape up close, then the bedroom butter. You wouldn't have much to wipe off, IMO.

Dale in Indy


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

Looking great, Johnnie. That's aggravating as hell about the solvent wicking situation. I hate that you'll have to redo all the acrylic. Now that you know what to avoid you'll get it just right next time.

Besides that problem, I'm liking your design and how it's all coming together. Very cool. :thumbsup:



Smith Brother said:


> Put some tape up close, then the bedroom butter. You wouldn't have much to wipe off, IMO.
> 
> Dale in Indy


Haha, bedroom butter. I've never heard that one before. Funny stuff!


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## Longknife (Oct 25, 2010)

Looking nice :thumbsup:. Sorry about the problems with the acrylics, but there is a learning curve with everything. I have the same router base for my Dremel and although it looks a bit toy-like I find it very useful for small jobs.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Longknife said:


> Looking nice :thumbsup:. Sorry about the problems with the acrylics, but there is a learning curve with everything. I have the same router base for my Dremel and although it looks a bit toy-like I find it very useful for small jobs.


Between the scrap piece and the actual display edge that needed the mortise I was trying to route a mortise in an area only 1-1/4 wide. Can you imagine what a nightmare it would have been to cut a 12" long mortise in that with a full size or even a trim router? The torque alone on a normal router (plunge or trim) usually wants to yank it out of my hands on such a small piece.

This toy-like Dremel do-dad was perfect! The foot was big enough to stay flat on the scrap and the uncut area while the whole deal was so light to use it was a breeze cutting the mortise. It is definitely one of my better "spur of the moment" buys. :thumbsup:


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Busy day today. Had to replace the headlights in my truck as I noticed one was burned out the other night. I can't really be upset. I bought the truck brand new back in 97 and the light just now burned out. That's not as good as the ones from the 60's, but its still pretty good.... :yes:

Then I cut new acrylic to replace what I messed up on my first try. However, it was too cold to try to "weld" it together. Its going to stay cool all weekend, so we'll have to see how much I can finish.

Like today, I decided that I'd have some lights along the back wall but up in the ceiling. So, I got out the Dremel with the carving fitting and after cutting a piece of scrap white board, drilling the LED locations and marking the ceiling for the display and cut a second troth.










Then I sanded the whole thing starting at 100 grit through 220 grit. I also remembered that I promised to get a better picture of the battery location.










Satisfied with the sanding, I brought the display on the carport and gave the piece a couple of coats of rattle can clear satin poly.










Looks like the main body of the display and the cover frame match pretty well. So now we wait for a nice warm day before trying to weld the acrylic again. If it screws up this time, I think I'll call around and have one made to fit rather than cut more acrylic and keep trying to do this on my own.

In the mean time I can get to work on the small stuff like making the light housings and running the wires. I have an interesting hook up planned for the battery and switch that I'll be sharing with anyone still following this thread..... Then I still need stands.... and of course the coach needs to be mounted.


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## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

Looking good. Good luck with the weld.


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## guglipm63 (Feb 27, 2013)

johnnie52 said:


> I'll be sharing with anyone still following this thread.....


oh yea, still here. wouldn't miss this one, looking good


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## Art Rafael (Apr 17, 2013)

Hang in there, Johnnie. You'll get it. Still with you. Have you considered curving the acrylic rather than having a 90 degree corner at the front. I once saw a guy heat a piece over a 4 inch tube by running a heat gun back and forth along the curve line and gently roll it over to put a nice even curve on it. You'd still have the ends to adhere, though. Just a thought. Ralph


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Art Rafael said:


> Hang in there, Johnnie. You'll get it. Still with you. Have you considered curving the acrylic rather than having a 90 degree corner at the front. I once saw a guy heat a piece over a 4 inch tube by running a heat gun back and forth along the curve line and gently roll it over to put a nice even curve on it. You'd still have the ends to adhere, though. Just a thought. Ralph



Yeah I had thought of that, even tried to do it. Made a terrible mess! I also found out that the bend tends to distort things unless you are looking at it at just the right angle. So, I decided that this way will be fine. If I end up having it done at one of the local plastic houses I may go back to the curved front idea.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

It warmed up enough to weld some plastic today. So that's what I did and this time it worked out much better.










So now I'll show you how it was done. Please forgive the pieces of scrap shown in the photo.

First I aligned the two pieces at a 90 degree angle. Then, using a syringe, I applied the "Weld-on 4" solvent along the joint where the two pieces came together.










According to the directions, each joint must be left untouched for 20 minutes. So once the long front joint had set I turned the piece on end to do one side. 20 minutes later I flipped it end for end and welded the other side piece. Finally after a full hour I fit it into the frame where I will allow it to sit for 24 hours to gain its full strength before polishing the edges.










While the adhesive was setting up, I moved on to the next phase by first attaching one side of the piano hinge to the display.










Then I glued one of the 10 LEDs in place in the upper right side mirror holder and mounted both the left and right side mirrors.










I also ran the wires for the upper 5 LEDs and soldered the connection.










I used double sided carpet tape and some 8mm LED panel holders to hold them in place while I applied adhesive to the ceiling and affixed that to the top of the display.

Of course by the time I got everything in place, glued up and clamped long enough to remove the clamps for a photo, it had gotten dark.

Actually I was hoping it would be dark before I quit for the day because I really wanted to give you guys a special treat tonight for being faithful followers of this build.

First, the ceiling lights in total darkness.










And now with the shed's outside light turned on.










In both of the above photos you can clearly see my messy shed/workshop in the left mirror, and the next door neighbor's fence and of course the ever faithful BIC lighter scaling device in the right side mirror.

The floor lights are not yet ready for mounting, so I'll pick up with them next time.


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## Burb (Nov 30, 2012)

That's looking really great. I'm getting antsy waiting for the final shot with the hot rod in that case.

Mark


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Ya think I aint? :laughing:

So far though it is looking a lot like a small room at a show.Which is exactly what I was shooting to achieve. Still need to get the LED mounts made and mounted on the floor panel. Then a couple of small detail things and hang the pictures I framed. :thumbsup:


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## Repliconics (Sep 9, 2013)

I'm trying to think of a way to say how Kool that is!
And honestly mate I'm coming up short!

It's Wicked Kool and that's an under statement!

Rep.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

That looks amazing Johnnie. Those LED's and the mirrors really make it. This is going to be incredible when it is done. I'm interested in the polishing of the glued edges for the plexi that you welded. Some extra pics and explanations would be really really appreciated.
Looking great thus far my man. Keep it up.


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## Art Rafael (Apr 17, 2013)

That looks Great, Johnnie. 
You've given me some ideas on building a display for some of my work. I like the way the LED lights cast a round - spot light glow. What kind of light are you using? Are they 110 volt, and where can I find some such lights?
Ralph


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## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

That's just downright cool! Can't wait to see it done. And it does look like a showroom!


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

NICE! This is looking even better than I had hoped. Good job with the acrylics.


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## Longknife (Oct 25, 2010)

This is looking fantastic. The lights and mirrors and all the extras will make the coach really stand out.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Kenbo said:


> That looks amazing Johnnie. Those LED's and the mirrors really make it. This is going to be incredible when it is done. I'm interested in the polishing of the glued edges for the plexi that you welded. Some extra pics and explanations would be really really appreciated.
> Looking great thus far my man. Keep it up.


I ordered a edging tool and some polishing compound. They are scheduled to arrive via UPS tomorrow. The truck usually delivers in my neighborhood around 5 or 6 pm. So I can't do any of that until Tuesday. I'll be sure to document that part in its own post to this thread with no other stuff to crowd out the polishing.



Art Rafael said:


> That looks Great, Johnnie.
> You've given me some ideas on building a display for some of my work. I like the way the LED lights cast a round - spot light glow. What kind of light are you using? Are they 110 volt, and where can I find some such lights?
> Ralph


The lights are 8mm cool white through hole style (rather than the "chip" type). They also have warm white and various colors. They come with a resistor already installed so all you have to do is run the wires and hook up a power source. I choose to use a 9Vdc battery for this, but they have some that use other power sources.

I got them here:

http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/ledlights1.html

The ones I used came in two kits of 5 lights each, but the lights themselves can go up to 50 lights on a single 9Vdc battery. I could have just bought 10 LEDs but I wanted their battery clip too.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Didn't get everything done today, but I am learning to make my list smaller. :laughing: Lately if I manage to get one or two things completed, I'm happy. Old age, ruined legs, and what appears to be a newly acquired allergy to Oak tree pollen all conspired against me today. If it wasn't my worthless legs demanding that I sit down and my old age screaming for a rest, it was my stupid nose running all over the place! Its hard enough getting sweat off of freshly machined wood. I don't even want to think about getting nose goop off things. :thumbdown::no::thumbdown: 

However I did manage to get a jump on the light fixtures for in front of the coach.

First though, remember these?










I gave them several light coats of clear gloss poly today so that they will be ready to mount. Looks like I'll be playing interior decorator before this build is finished. :laughing:

Between coats of poly I went to work on the light fixtures by selecting the block that I used to make the curtains and first cutting a couple of 9/16" sections from it.










I created a pair of square pieces from these by cutting them again at 9/16"










Now comes the fun part. I rolled this around in my head for a couple of weeks before deciding to try it this way.

Next I marked the centers in the same way you would to mount them on a lathe. Then having set up the router with a 1/8" round over bit, I rounded both corners that will be the tops of the fixtures.










Please note that I used the push pad shown to make these cuts. Small pieces pushed into rapidly spinning sharp things, you know... the fingers you save could be mine! The scrap of walnut was used to hold the pieces for better picture taking. :yes:

So now that I have made a pair of mail box looking thingies, I headed out to the shed where I measured how deep to drill into the face of each piece by determining how deep the hole needed to be to allow just the dome portion of the LED to be exposed.










After double checking this first hole with the caliper, I used it to set the depth for all the rest by lowering the bit into the hole with the motor turned off. Then I locked the quill in place and wrapped tape around the bit to make drilling all of the holes easier by acting as a marker for how deeply to drill into the wood.










I guess I should have mentioned that machinists vice holding the parts for drilling. I use it whenever I need to drill down into small parts and keep the hole running straight into the wood.

With the 1/4" holes drilled deep enough, I changed to a smaller bit and drilled completely through both pieces.










With the proper holes drilled, I want to have these fixtures shine the LEDs up onto the coach. That means that each fixture must be set at an angle. I also want all of the wiring to be hidden, so it must be arranged to have the wires exit the fixtures and go directly under the floor.

I marked off the final size by making a line 45 degrees from square and cut each fixture at the band saw leaving a little extra on each one. I was also able to make two fixtures from each of the blanks that I have machined and drilled.










I than used the disk sander to size each fixture to the line.










This produced the 4 fixtures that I'll be needing. So it was back to the carport to hit them with a couple of coats of clear gloss poly before calling it quits for today.

With luck, tomorrow will see the lights mounted and wired in.


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## wood shavings (Mar 20, 2009)

*lights*

Johnnie Forget the messy shed those lights are beautiful. Nice job on the Plexi-glass.

Jerry


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## guglipm63 (Feb 27, 2013)

I like the way the lights look. more like miniature light fixtures. your not just lighting it to view it, your setting a realistic setting. I'm impressed


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Didn't go far today as I was waiting for UPS to deliver a package with the polish I ordered for the display.

I got the floor lights finished up and installed on the white board using gel type super glue.










Then I flipped the floor over and soldered the wires and applied heat shrink to the joints.










The blue strips are indoor/outdoor carpet tape which will hold the floor in place.

Finally I tested the newly installed lights to see how the looked with those already in place in the ceiling.










All that remains is to mount the pictures and wire the switch before polishing the plastic, mounting the cover frame, locating the coach, and hanging it on the wall. 

Looks like we'll be bumping up against the end of the combined coach and display build pretty soon.


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## mdntrdr (Dec 22, 2009)

Very cool! :thumbsup:


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

I'm glad youse guys are enjoying this. Its taken a lot of effort to get to this point and there is still more to come.

So let's get started with some actual woodworking.

Remember when I was making the wheels for the kart and how I first cut the round parts from some square pieces? Well there is an old saying, "Waste not, want not."










I saved all the cutoffs from the tires. Ebony is too expensive to throw away when you can figure out a use for it. After a little shaping at the band saw and the sander, I created these from two of the tire cut offs.










Any ideas about what these are going to become?








Maybe this will help.










:laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:

Now I can stand the guitars on their own instead of leaning them against the coach.

I also tried my hand at interior decorating today and hung the framed pictures I made a few weeks ago.










That picture isn't turned on end, the display is what is turned. Here is how its looking with all of the pictures hung and the cover sitting in place.










I may decide to make up another small picture to hang just to even out both walls.

That's it for this post. I'll be doing the wiring in the next post.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

One almost feels like he could walk right into that room!:thumbsup:


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Good lord Johnnie, this is awesome. I certainly wasn't expecting this display case to be as imaginative as it is. I love everything about it so far. I don't know how else to say how awesome it is, other than to say how awesome it is and it IS awesome!!!!!


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

This next part has nothing to do with wood working. So if you decide to skip over this post I'll understand.

The biggest part of today was spent doing the wiring for the LEDs so that I can turn them on and off at will and also easily disconnect the battery and switch from the light circuits for battery changes without having things hanging from the wires.

I began by setting up my soldering iron and gathering the tools I'll be using.










Not everything is shown in that photo. I also set up my heat gun and a small modeler's holder.

First thing was to solder the red and black wires from both sets of LEDs together to make two main sets. One red, the other black.










Next I arranged the pins for the connector and soldered the wires to the pins after folding the built in wire holders against both the bare and the insulated areas of the wires.










You should note that I have added pieces of heat shrink, one larger than the others. These will come into play once the pins are installed in the plug.

With both pins pressed into one of the plastic plug parts, I used the heat gun to activate the heat shrink on both the pins and covering the wires coming from the display.










I do this to act as a stiffener to help secure the wires to this female end of the plug as it will be under the most stress when it comes time to unplug things for a battery change.

Following the same procedures, I soldered the black wire from the battery clip directly to one of the remaining pins and a loose piece of red wire to the other.

These were pushed into the second (Male) plastic half of the plug.

The loose piece of red wire was soldered to one terminal of the micro switch while the remaining red wire from the battery clip was soldered to the other switch terminal. Then the switch was installed into the wooden battery trap door.










This completes the wiring. All that is left now is to push everything inside the display, slide the trap door in place and close the latch.










With the trap door in place, all of the wiring is hidden behind the left side mirror and completely out of sight when viewing the display.

BTW, I did test the lights before closing everything up and they all worked just fine. Testing after the trap door was closed also produced satisfactory results.

I would have taken a picture of the test, but the bright sun prevented doing that as I had to hold my hand in front of each light to verify it was lit. Besides youse guys have all seen the lights lit up already.

Kenbo, I know I promised to show the polishing of the acrylic today, but I really want to make that the last post in this thread so it will be easier for folks to find later. I just listened to the weather report and they are talking rain again for tomorrow. It may end up being the weekend before I get to the polishing part.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Kenbo said:


> Good lord Johnnie, this is awesome. I certainly wasn't expecting this display case to be as imaginative as it is. I love everything about it so far. I don't know how else to say how awesome it is, other than to say how awesome it is and it IS awesome!!!!!


Thanks Ken. That means a bunch and makes all of this worth it.

As a much younger person, one of the most funnest parts about H0 railroading was building realistic scenes with my Dad to display around the track. I also used to make dioramas for most of my model cars.

I guess that bug has never gone away. No way could I have settled for just a shelf with a dust cover. :laughing:


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

landman said:


> One almost feels like he could walk right into that room!:thumbsup:


Thanks landman.

I'm hoping that the end results make the coach stand out like it was being displayed at a car show. So if it looks like a real room now, I must be getting close. :laughing:


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## Smith Brother (Dec 9, 2012)

I think you are have found WoodFUNNING. 

I guess you didn't model the stage after the one that collapsed here in Indy a couple years ago, huh.

Looking good,

Dale in Indy


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Smith Brother said:


> I think you are have found WoodFUNNING.
> 
> I guess you didn't model the stage after the one that collapsed here in Indy a couple years ago, huh.
> 
> ...


Hush up Dale! I still have to mount this to a wall in my computer room. No telling how well that is going to work out once the wife starts piling stuff on top of the wooden section. :laughing:


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

johnnie52 said:


> Hush up Dale! I still have to mount this to a wall in my computer room. No telling how well that is going to work out once the wife starts piling stuff on top of the wooden section. :laughing:


 You wife allergic to flat surfaces too?


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

The pictures hanging on the wall are just too darned cool!


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

landman said:


> You wife allergic to flat surfaces too?


Yeah. She hates to see any flat surface without a bunch of stuff piled up on it. :laughing::laughing:


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## captainawesome (Jun 21, 2012)

johnnie52 said:


> Yeah. She hates to see any flat surface without a bunch of stuff piled up on it. :laughing::laughing:


My wife caught that bug too, must be going around!

This is looking amazing Johnnie. I love the look of those LED's and all of the little details you are putting in!


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Tonight I am going to post things out of order. This post will cover the final assembly and hanging of the display. The next post will cover the polishing of the acrylic cover.

So let us begin.

After all the shaping and polishing of the clear acrylic I set it in place in the cover frame and used a chalk like adhesive to secure the plastic to the wooden frame.










I placed a bead all the way around the acrylic and waited a full hour before handling anything. The tube says 15 minutes is all it needs to set up, but I decided to play it safe and wait for the hour.

Then I attached the cover to the display by screwing in the remaining leaf of the hinge.










After dinner tonight I hung the first half of my French Cleat against the wall in our computer room over our printer.










Then it was an easy task to slide the display onto the cleat and mount the coach inside.










The display allows for the cover to be fully opened without hitting the wall, and the white board flooring made positioning the coach a walk in the park.

So all that is left is to close the lid and turn the LEDs on.

First a look in the mirror to make sure the sections of the key board are visible.










Then a check on how the entire coach looks with just the LEDs for lighting.










It looks much better than my crumby picture taking shows. After a full 24 hours, when the adhesive has cured that is holding the acrylic to the wooden frame, I'll go over the cover with a special plastic cleaner to remove any finger prints and give the cover a glass-like shine.


I had to visit the boys room and when I got back the wife had already claimed some of the display!



















Technically this should have been the last post in this thread. However, as a special favor to Kenbo there will be one more post tonight showing the steps I took to polish the cover to bring out the beauty of the plastic against the Oak.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Kenbo, Ole Buddy, this post is for you. Although I must tell you that this was much easier than I thought it would be.

First off I decided to get rid of the sharp edges around the top and down the sides of the plastic. So, after once again calling on my piece of scrap, I set up the router table with a 45 degree chamfer bit and raised the bit enough to take 3/16" off of the edge.










Satisfied with the results of my test cut, I next used strips of painter's tape along the surfaces of the cover to protect the plastic from damage as I passed it across the router table and through the bit.










I'm not real sure that you can see the "broken" edges in this next photo, but you can surely see the milky appearance of the joints. That color is due to the tool marks left by the bit as it cuts the relatively soft plastic. 










I'm ready now to start the edge polishing, but first I'd like to show you all something. Look closely at this next photo and you will see a smudge near the upper left of the cover.










That was caused by me getting some of the solvent on that spot while handling the piece. :thumbdown: Sometimes I amaze my self with my stupidity! :furious:

After checking around, I ordered a three part scratch remover and cleaner/polisher designed specifically for acrylics.










At almost $5.00 per bottle, the stuff aint cheap, but after maybe 15 minutes of working on that nasty smudge and it soon became apparent that it was well worth the cost.










The smudge is GONE!!!! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: 

The polishing compounds shown above are used in reverse order from the numbers on the bottles. IOW, you start with number 3 and work down to number 1.

So now to polish up those milky edges. 

The first thing you will need is a MAPP gas torch. 










If you think you can do this using a plain old propane (blue) torch, forget it. Propane does not get not enough to give you anything but a really nasty mess!

Now, with the torch lit and a good flame being produced, pass the tip of the flame quickly along the edge you wish to polish.










I do hope that last picture lets you see how nicely the edge polished by just passing the flame along it. 

Always "weld" the pieces together before using the torch! The solvent will not work correctly if applied to a already flame polished edge. Also, allow at least 24 hours for the "weld" to reach its full strength before using the torch.

Apparently the only way to totally get rid of the milky edge of the part that is welded to the inside of the joint is to have the entire thing cast as a single piece. IMO that is simply too expensive to justify a one time shot for a back yard project.

Armed now with a new skill set and plenty of left over acrylic, I can see several plastic projects in my future.


Well guys, its time for this thread to come to an end. I want to thank everyone who followed along. Its knowing that maybe someone out there might just learn a new trick or maybe even a method that they want to stay very far away from themselves is what makes writing up all this information worth all the time and effort. I sincerely hope you were not disappointed.










Till next time fellows...... :rockon:


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## Longknife (Oct 25, 2010)

Wow, this came out absolutely amazing :thumbsup:. The coach was indeed very cool itself but the display and all the extra details made it outstanding and very unique. The mirrors is a very clever idea to make it possible to view all the details that would be difficult to see otherwise.
Thanks Johnnie for letting us follow this great build and for your detailed descriptions of your methods. It's also good to know we have a plastics expert on here if one ever should have to dabble with that.


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## mdntrdr (Dec 22, 2009)

*That is way cool...*

Great job! :thumbsup: :smile:


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## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

Out-freaking-standing. I love your display as much as the coach. Definitely took it to a whole 'nother level. I bet Paul and the Raiders would love it too! Great job Johnnie! Thanks for sharing this whole evolution with us.


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## guglipm63 (Feb 27, 2013)

Holy smokes. That's awesome!!!!!


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

I



AM



SPEECHLESS!!!!!







:thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## Jeff Shafer (Nov 16, 2010)

Wow Jonnie very cool, not sure how I missed this thread but I was great to catch up on!


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## GROOVY (Apr 27, 2008)

Thank you Johnnie, I have enjoyed this build/ride it was awesome................


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## Smith Brother (Dec 9, 2012)

*Build*

I remember Jhonny Ray's "CRY”?

I think that's what I will do.....

Dale in Indy


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## tc65 (Jan 9, 2012)

What an incredible pair of builds:thumbsup: 

Thank you so much for taking us on the journey and sharing the good, bad and ugly.:laughing:

As stunning as the final product is, the real value (for me) is your documentation of the steps, processes and many, many tips. 

Build threads like these are the heart of this site.:yes:


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## Art Rafael (Apr 17, 2013)

Whoa!!!, Johnnie. You really hit it out of the park with both of these builds. Both are incredibly impressive. Together it certainly looks like a museum display. Your talents sure went across several disciplines - wood working, glass work, electrical and beyond. You are incredible. Thanks for sharing the total experience. Ralph


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## Al B Thayer (Dec 10, 2011)

Really cool. Thanks for sharing it with us.

What's next?

Al

Nails only hold themselves.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Al B Thayer said:


> Really cool. Thanks for sharing it with us.
> 
> What's next?
> 
> ...


I honestly don't know. I've got a couple of storage things (spelled small boxes) coming up for the shop. Nothing worthy of a build thread.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Art Rafael said:


> Whoa!!!, Johnnie. You really hit it out of the park with both of these builds. Both are incredibly impressive. Together it certainly looks like a museum display. Your talents sure went across several disciplines - wood working, glass work, electrical and beyond. You are incredible. Thanks for sharing the total experience. Ralph



Thanks Art.

Coming from someone who makes such beautiful miniatures from raw metal I take that as extremely high praise. Did you check out the link to the LED's?


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

trc65 said:


> What an incredible pair of builds:thumbsup:
> 
> Thank you so much for taking us on the journey and sharing the good, bad and ugly.:laughing:
> 
> ...


Thanks Tim.

If some thing I do helps anyone to improve their own process and become a better and/or safer woodworker then all the work is worth it.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Jeff Shafer said:


> Wow Jonnie very cool, not sure how I missed this thread but I was great to catch up on!



Did you find the first one where I made the coach and kart? Some day when you are bored skim through that one. There is a link in this one back over to that one.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Never one to leave well enough alone I made another slide show of this build to go along with the one for the coach.

You can view it here if you want.





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCJTtdIi8SY&feature=youtu.be


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## Repliconics (Sep 9, 2013)

Just fantastic Johnnie!
Really top shelf.

Rep.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Great build and another great video. I don't know how you get away with it Johnnie. Every time I post a video with someone else's music in it, the youtube police pull it from the internet under copywrite laws and I can't repost until I change or remove the music. It really ticks me off. Either way, I love the video and the build was awesome.


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## Smith Brother (Dec 9, 2012)

*coach*

Hey, Johnnie, regarding the small lights,,,,,, I don't recall your commenting on where you purchased, and would they work in a 30" square cabinet to highlite some glass ware?

Liked the new video. 

Thank You,


Dale in Indy


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Kenbo said:


> Great build and another great video. I don't know how you get away with it Johnnie. Every time I post a video with someone else's music in it, the youtube police pull it from the internet under copywrite laws and I can't repost until I change or remove the music. It really ticks me off. Either way, I love the video and the build was awesome.



Have you noticed the statement about the US Copyright Act of 1976 that I have in both the video and the description? So far that is what has kept me safe because it makes it clear that I'm not making any money on the video because of using the songs. You being up in Canada may make the rules different for anything you post. You might try using less than the full song and instead just have a little bit of a few different ones by the same band.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

smithbrother said:


> Hey, Johnnie, regarding the small lights,,,,,, I don't recall your commenting on where you purchased, and would they work in a 30" square cabinet to highlite some glass ware?
> 
> Liked the new video.
> 
> ...


In post #87, on page 5 I provided a link to the LEDs. It was to answer the same question asked by Art.

Here is the link again.

http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/ledlights1.htm

As far as highlighting some items in a cabinet, I guess you would need to experiment to see what happens. That is how I determined the number of lights I wanted in my display and where I wanted them placed. I do know that the further away from the LED, the less it highlights things and the more it just makes for a sort of a glow in the whole area.


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## Smith Brother (Dec 9, 2012)

*Coach*

Thanks, I have sent them a note.

Dale in Indy


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## tc65 (Jan 9, 2012)

Dale, another place I have used for component LED lights is: http://www.superbrightleds.com/ 

There are literally hundreds of different options varying from wavelength to angle of illumination, to lumen. You can get ones that will will act as a spot (8* of illumination) all the way to floods (360* of illumination). 

I've always bought individual components and wired them up for my needs (haunted house), but they have many that are pre-wired as well. They also sell complete "solution" type packages if you don't want to mess with wiring up individual components.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

trc65 said:


> Dale, another place I have used for component LED lights is: http://www.superbrightleds.com/
> 
> There are literally hundreds of different options varying from wavelength to angle of illumination, to lumen. You can get ones that will will act as a spot (8* of illumination) all the way to floods (360* of illumination).
> 
> I've always bought individual components and wired them up for my needs (haunted house), but they have many that are pre-wired as well. They also sell complete "solution" type packages if you don't want to mess with wiring up individual components.


The reason I got the ones I did was to avoid having to solder on the resistors to each LED. I bought the LEDs pre-wired with the resistors and about 14" of lead wires on each one. If you can do the math to get the right resistor and the extra soldering to put it in line on the power lead, then getting them separately is the way to go.


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## tc65 (Jan 9, 2012)

You are right about the math and the soldering, it can be a real pain. 

I went with components because of the large variety of colors and angles that were needed. It was also a project for the Boy Scouts so it was a good beginners lesson for them in electronics. 

I would probably never go that route again, just takes too much time for the small cost saved.


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

You've done an incredible job on the coach AND the display. I've sure enjoyed the whole process and may have even learned a thing or two along the way. Very, very well done, Johnnie. The results are amazingly cool on many levels.


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