What I’ve been up to, Last weekend of May edition

I do a lot of modding and hacking on my weekends, but I hardly ever talk about it. I figured it’s high time I got some of this stuff documented. Let’s start with the weekend of May 29th. I needed a table router, and only had a freestanding unit. So I ordered a few parts.

Problem 1: The router plate doesn’t have any holes.

Solution 1: I have a drill press. What now, aluminum plate? What? Now?

I had to drill out a total of 6 holes, three for the screws, then three more on the same spots, to recess the screw heads. I could never have done this without a drill press… even a crappy one like the one I have.

All that work with the drill press was worthwhile however. I got a router table for a fraction of the cost. The whole thing can be disassembled and folded flat. The router can be disengaged for normal use or storage.

Why go through all that trouble? Because the cutout in these picture frames is too small. I can’t route them out with a normal router because the upper surface is too uneven. So I had to drag out the big pile of equipment… just to cut some notches.

The frame cutting is part of a bigger project, and here’s some of that project’s aftermath. This is the remains of the lower frame for one of my computer monitors. Three guesses as to where this project is headed.

Scrap wood from cutting the frame down to size. Surprisingly, the frame wood is decent quality stuff. I want to say cedar, but I’m not sure. It certainly smelled ceder-y when I cut it. Given how cheap the frames were, I’d expected barely-dried pine.