[Bob in St. Louis]

"The one who dies with the most clamps wins."

That's when you've got enough.

Bob

[HT cOz]

So if you all were glueing up a Neo3 that is 41.875" long, would you get clamps that were that long? 

[Christof]

So if you all were glueing up a Neo3 that is 41.875" long, would you get clamps that were that long?

If your joinery consists of mitered corners you can just use spline, biscuits, dominoes, etc to align everything and use the band clamps that Hank referenced to pull them tight.

[S Clark]

The LS9 is a big unwieldy box.  It's hard enough to cut 80+" straight with a home table saw, much less trying to mess with miter joints.  I recommend butt joints and lots of clamps.

[Hank]

"The one who dies with the most clamps wins."

Bob wins the prize 

So if you all were glueing up a Neo3 that is 41.875" long, would you get clamps that were that long?

Christof, I think HT cOz was being funny.  But, the correct answer is 41.9", to allow for material variability.    (I'm being funny too.)

[BrianH]

I have a few >60" clamps, clamps are best bought in pairs imo.  Long ones don't really cost a lot more than the shorter ones that always seem to be an inch too short.

The less expensive way for clamping really long stuff
 
http://www.amazon.com/Jorgensen-50-4-Inch-Clamp-Fixture/dp/B0000224C9/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1251401005&sr=1-8 

Then buy some 3/4 black pipe and you have something for occasional use. BTW the 1/2" pipe clamps flex a lot more, 3/4" is better.

With any clamps always use scrap wood to actually put the clamp on so as to not screw up $100 of wood to save $5 on a clamp.

Some more thoughts anyway.

[Christof]

"The one who dies with the most clamps wins."

Bob wins the prize 

So if you all were glueing up a Neo3 that is 41.875" long, would you get clamps that were that long?

Christof, I think HT cOz was being funny.  But, the correct answer is 41.9", to allow for material variability.    (I'm being funny too.)

   I would not put it past some people 

[dgshtav]

Need some advice on clamps?.

Should I get all pipe Clamps:
http://www.woodpeck.com/deepreachpipeclamp.html

OR

A combination of the above pipe clamps (or the likes) and bar clamps below:

http://www.woodpeck.com/slidingarmclamp.html
http://www.woodpeck.com/deepjawslidingarm.html


What is it that a bar clamp does better than a 3/4" pipe clamp with same throat size and pipe length (In this case 2.5" and 30"/36")? (I plan to use a glue that allows me some time to work in case that matters)

So far, I have:
* Ordered the Milwaukee Saw and Hitachi Router
* Got a circular saw guide from home depot and I am going to try a DIY guide design posted here that I plan to enhance and extend on. Will see  how that goes. Otherwise I will definitely buy a rail system like the SGS-1 here (maybe even buy Christof's if his is still around for sale when I get to that point)
* Looking at this and these router bits. Would I need any other?
* Still hunting for wood. No luck with Medite/Medite II yet. Found someone who could get me Medex but it's twice the price of regular MDF. MacBeath in San Jose and Higgins in Livermore are my only hopes now. Otherwise, I will just get the Medex.

[mpauly]

Saw guide - I've made saw guides like the one you have linked and I can definitely recommend you make them out of some thicker material (at least the top part that the saw rides against).  1/4" seems way small and could be easy for the saw to 'jump' over. I'd suggest 1/2" MDF or Plywood.

Router bits - I always recommend whiteside for router bits, but they are pricey.  If you are considering grizzly products, then I'd suggest looking into http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/smarthtml/pages/bt_round_over.html.  They sell import stuff as well, but the quality has always been good for what I've ordered and they have free shipping on everything.    For cutting circles, it can be done with the straight cutting bits like you've linked, but spiral upcut bits will work much easier and can be used to plunge cut.  You'll also need some sort of circle cutting jig for your router.  Either make a trammel or buy one like the jasper.

Clamps - I have some of the bessey clamps you have linked as well as some Jet equivalents.  They are OK, but the longer ones bend very easily and cant put down much pressure.  They are a little more, but I strongly recommend the Jet or Bessey parallel clamps.  For really long clamping, as others have recommended, go with pipe clamps.

Wood - What's wrong with plain old MDF?

[Bob in St. Louis]

Wood - What's wrong with plain old MDF?

Dangerous to cut indoors without proper ventilation (percent of air changes per hour) and dust collection. The outgassing of the chemicals in manufacturered sheet products can not only be nasty, but outright harmful. "Regular" wood can be cut indoors, and depending on the species, can make the house smell good. 
Don't get me wrong, MDF is a wonderful product. For certain projects it's much more desirable to work with than wood. As long as the end user respects what he's working with, and knows how to 'work it'.
I've used both. Each has it's own advantages and disadvantages.
- MDF is more stable, and much more predictable. There are no knots, warps, weird grain patterns to match, etc... However, you don't want to breathe it. Also, the end product will need to be painted.
- "Real" wood can be processed (cut) indoors. The wife might even like the smell. 
Unfortunately, unless you get the finest grade available, you'll have to take into consideration warpage, grain, knots, irregularities in color from one panel to another have to be taken into consideration, etc, etc... when you lay out the pieces...ie: Which is front, side, rear, inside, outside....accordingly depending on the cosmetics of the boards.

Bob

[mpauly]

Bob,

I hear what your saying about dust collection and the dangers of inhaling fines (i have a full woodshop with a cyclone and DC at every tool as well as filtering ambient air).  The OP was looking for Medite which is very similar to MDF but made with formaldehyde free glues.  The amount of off gassing from a single sheet shouldn't be significant.  If the concern is 'being green', then that's the answer...

I don't think anyone would recommend an entire enclosure be built of hardwood.  Regardless of grade, the natural shrinkage/expansion would very difficult to account for.

Michael

edit: wow, my 100th post....

[dgshtav]

Wood - What's wrong with plain old MDF?

Nothing actually!

Just that the Medite II/Medex products have better physical properties than "regular" MDF.

* Slightly higher density (48 Lbs, while regular CAN be 44 to 46, though many are 48 as well)
* Higher internal bond and hardness: machines well and seems to better resist resonance
* Lower moisture content with slightly better swell, expansion and resistance to water absorption characteristics. Less prone to flex/deform due to environmental factors.
* Much, much better screw holding capabilities than regular MDF. I don't know yet if I would be using screws in addition to glue on the LS-9 project. Probably not. But I do intend to use left overs for some furniture projects around the house that I would used screws on!
* NAF, Green

Many sources don't know (and I mean it) what regular they are carrying, let alone it's specs! I have had an extremely hard time on learning more (brand, product, specs. etc.) about the regular MDF that local stores carried. I have even heard staff at leading national distributors speak about $20 per sheet regular MDF as if it was Medex or some other premium MDF. Drill them and then they start moving you around. Persist and then ultimately one gets to a "wood expert" who confesses that it's not a premium product.

BTW, I ended up ordering Medex which is the top of the line Sierrapine product when it comes to physical properties in NAF MDF. For a marginal cost increase (in the grand scheme of things, coz. in absolute terms the premium MDF is almost twice as expensive as that of regular MDF), I would rather get the premium MDF product and feel good about it. Any benefits, even if debatable in the LS-9 application, drawn from it's superior physical properties would be a bonus! 

[stevenkelby]

* Much, much better screw holding capabilities than regular MDF. I don't know yet if I would be using screws in addition to glue on the LS-9 project. Probably not.

I'd think you'd use screws to hold the drivers in?

[mpauly]

Wood - What's wrong with plain old MDF?

Nothing actually!

Just that the Medite II/Medex products have better physical properties than "regular" MDF.

....snip

Thanks for the explanation.  I didn't realize there were such significant advantages.

Does it cut and machine the same way as plain old MDF? 

Michael

[dgshtav]

Thanks for the explanation.  I didn't realize there were such significant advantages.

Does it cut and machine the same way as plain old MDF? 

Michael

Go ahead! Make fun of a noob!   

[dgshtav]

Have been working on my DIY Circular Saw Jig.

Here's what I have so far (and I'm pretty pleased with the results so far!). Made out of 1/4" MDF and used a reference cut instead of factory edges.

8' Long with an cut slit of 84".







Fit's snug in the channel (How I wish I could say "Rail" -:))




Left and Right Edges of the channel. The "gaps" you see are not really gaps. The base plate on the saw has a very slight bevel on the top. The saw sits extremely snug in the channel.
 





Slit aligns perfectly




Rear view showing the full view of the saw in the channel with the blade over the slit

[dgshtav]

I am very excited about the DIY circular saw jig.

Even though I have no access to precise measuring instruments and hence haven't actually measured the precision of the jig; a check with guides doesn't show any variance to the human eye! So, to me, it appears that it could easily be within  ~1/64th of an inch on a variance!

For setting up the jig on the work piece, I intend to use the see through slot to align the jig for the cut.

I think my biggest challenge is to get precise control over the simulated plunge action as the saw I currently have doesn't have a built in plunge feature (I am using the blade depth adjustment feature to simulate a plunge). But if my see through blade slit works as expected, then I could just mount the jig such that I don't have to use the simulated plunge.

I also have to put the slide stops at both ends so that an user error doesn't cut through the jig all the way ruining it.

I can't wait to try it out. 

- Dinesh

[mpauly]

Progress.....nice.

I've not seen anyone make their jig with a 'channel' like you have.  That is to say with a rail on both sides for the saw's plate to ride between.  Most have a single rail and just cut off everything to the other side of the saw blade.  I'd think it would be easier to line up the edge of the jig to your cut line (don't have to look through a 'slot') and you don't need to plunge into anything, just run from end to end.

[dgshtav]

Hi Michael,

Initially, that's exactly what I had in mind.

This is what I had looked at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CH5dW-QcgeI&NR=1

But then I decided that an adaptation of the above into a channel system would be better than just a "guide" on one side as I wouldn't have to worry about any lateral movement then giving me most of the functionality of the expensive rail systems (albeit in a not so elegant way). If the narrow slit presents challenges in aligning the jig to the cut line, then I can always widen the blade slit for increased visibility.

Mounting the saw such that the the edge of the panel to be cut begins a foot into and under the slit eliminates the plunge issues too as the blade can then be "pre-plunged" before the cut starts. It just reduces the workable length of the jig.

Anyway, this one is only for the long panels. I have couple of other 4' versions (both channel based as well as just the guide on one side) for quicker cuts.

I think I should be able to start the cuts today.

I appreciate your inputs and perspectives.  -:)

Thanks,
- Dinesh