Travel Tool Chest & Workbench Build Process
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Posted 2nd May 2023
I had a few hours free this evening so I thought I'd get on with a boring job I'd been putting off for quite a long time: making the brackets that will transfer the planing force into the top panel (and also allow me to clamp a to-be-designed fence onto the back as mentioned a couple of posts ago). In some ways it's good that I put it off for so long: if I'd have done it earlier I probably would have only made three of the brackets and would have had to do another session to make the ones for the back!
Anyway, it wasn't very interesting, just lots of drilling and a bit of tapping (done on the mill just because speed control is easier and stainless steel is horrible). One action shot because I've heard you like pictures...
After much oily drilling and a bit of rough tidying up with a file (I'm much too lazy to make metal things look shiny), I ended up with six simple brackets, each with two countersunk 4.5 mm holes and one M6 threaded hole:
With them made, I thought I might as well drill the pilot holes and fix them to the top. My choice of stainless torx-head screws in the right sort of length was 20 mm or 30 mm. 30 mm might have protruded through the top surface so it had to be 20 mm. I've ordered some 25 mm ones and I'll replace the 20 mm ones when the longer ones arrive as I think the strength will help.
They were positioned a couple of masking tape thicknesses away from the edge so there's no chance of them stopping the dovetails from closing.
Et voila:
Page 59 of 144
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