Extraction, it sucks.

The workshop where I do a good deal of the work on here has been in dire need of some better means of collecting the dust. There's a large shop-vac at one end, but the hose for it is just flex. The flex itself loses a lot of power and efficiency and generally gets in the way of every other machine down that side.

so, with the following pile of parts (and some drain pipe) a better solution is sought.

The intake to the machine is annoyingly on the furthest side from the machines, pointing to the window, not ideal so half of the parts are just to make this section to get the flow to the wall.

There's a pipe mounted in the wall which helped immensely to hold this first part in place and position the next section. The joining piece

Speaking of which, the next section is a single 3m length of drain pipe with T sections for two down pipes for the radial arm saw and the table saw. A shelf had to be cleared out to make space, but it was replaced with a wider one for all the same stuff to go back on to. no space lost fortunately.

The joining part between the two pieces will wait until the end in case things have to be shuffled around.

Similarly, the next piece goes around the garage door, working backwards towards the longest section above the shelf and work bench.

After that, the long section was extended around the corner and the ends connected with a rubber sleeve to account for the slight change in pitch.

The other end was done the same way and connected in to link all three parts.

The next parts to go in are two down pipes to lower the end to a workable height above the main bench and table saw, with a flat gate to block the holes not being used and improve suction. After that, another run down the other wall.

At one point the plan was to run two pipes in separate runes feeding into a Y shape at the vac end, instead a single loop should keep the flow of air smoother and if two tools are in use at once, the flow is unidirectional rather than being split and help keep the dust moving freely to the bag.

LAN In A Box - Part 5

The next thing to tackle is the front and top of the box. Ideally this needed to be hinged in two places, but also lightweight enough to open easily and not add too much weight.

With that in mind, using 1/8" plywood keeps the weight down, but it has a reasonable amount of flex. Fixing piano hinge to the back keeps the whole length of the top piece supported, but fixing it isn't that simple as it's not got enough depth to screw into.

To get around it, pop rivets with washers at every hole hold it in place securely and stiffen the top of the back panel.

The front and top are hinged the same way before they're attached to the box itself. The downside of this method is that removing the 'door' is extremely difficult, but it shouldn't be necessary.

When the Box is in use the door needs to stay up, propped on the top edges as the cables will come through the front as the server and switch will need airflow.

The door also has a hole in the front to make opening it easier, Another 1" forstner hole is enough for the weight of the door.

And a couple of notches in the top stop the door sliding down onto the cables.

With airflow in mind, the back also needs to be cut for exhaust to allow air from the switch out and power and uplink cable ingress.

Once again, the router makes short work

Not much more to do now (at least not on the list anyway, many hours) and it'll be finished*
(* Finishing is neither guaranteed nor 100% likely to avoid a v2 being made)

Last job for this visit to the workshop is some wheels, this'll make it far easier to load into the car, as well as the cupboard.

Finally, fully loaded ready to be packed in the car and brought home.

LAN In A Box - Part 4, Handle it!

It's all well and good having everything in a box for convenience, but if you can't move it some where easily, then it'll never get there. As always, the amount of effort to do something will eventually put you off doing it, so making things easier at the start is always a plus.

With this in mind, and knowing that the box would be easily a two-man lift, handles were always going to be important. More so how they're added as space is limited for both storage and transportation. 

Fixed handles screwed/bolted to the side work, but they'll almost certainly get broken, or break something when they come together with some other object, like a wall, a door frame or a shin. So I opted for cut outs in an arc shape to mirror the inside of the hand. 

First up a template, a 1" forstner bit to make a couple of holes in some plywood...

Then a jigsaw to cut the arc's free hand after a bit of rough marking.

The template clamped onto the side of the box and some swift work with the router to clear the center, followed by a round over bit to smooth the edges...

And it's done. Feel comfy in the hand and should make moving it a lot easier. If I did it again, i'd probably consider some recessed handles like you'd find on a flight case which pop out, but even those aren't perfect for every situation.

Next up power. with the switch roughly where I wanted it, the space to the left had ample room for two 4-ways, 7 sockets total for a single external plug. And there's enough height for a socket mounted power-brick to fit.

I remembered an awesome trick from the internets for this. Photocopy the back of the 4-way, receive scale drawing of the holes to mount with. Genius!

There should almost certainly be another picture here, but I can't find it, you'll just have to accept that they fit for the time being and everything is fine. :)