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Dan Mages
02-19-2005, 11:15 AM
Good morning everyone.

I was approached by the editor of Cruiser Quaterly, a PT Cruiser enthusiast magazine, to write an article on how to make a wood cargo shelf for the PT. She saw the others I have made and was quite impressed. The target audience for this article are PT owners with minimal woodworking skills. I am as good of a writer as I am a woodworker, so if you don't mind, please critique the woodworking instructions in my artlce. This is still an early draft, so I apologize for how rough it is.

Thanks!

Dan
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v647/DanMages/P1010163.jpg

Dan Mages
02-19-2005, 11:16 AM
Making your own wood shelf in a week

This article will go though the steps on how to create a wood shelf for your PT. A shelf requires a little wood working knowledge, but should be a fun challenge for any novice. The tools that you need for this project are a compound miter saw, jigsaw, sander, paint scraper, and a few clamps. So, you don’t have any power tools? That is not a problem. This project can be done with a miter box and backsaw, a coping saw, and hand sanding. A router is optional if you wish to shape the sides of the shelf.

The first step is to go shopping for wood at your local supply house. Most large wood suppliers will have a dizzying array of domestic and exotic woods. For the shelf, you want to stick to the wood that is labeled S4S, or surfaced on four sides. What is means is that the wood has been prepared on both sides and the top and bottom so that it is flat and square. Most shops will offer poplar, red oak, cherry and maple in their S4S section. If you find something else that you like, most shops will prepare wood for you for a nominal fee. For this shelf, I am going for a two-tone effect using cherry and maple.

Make sure that you measure the wood carefully. For my shelf, I selected two pieces of 1”x5” wood. This measurement is the precut dimensions of the wood (think of the precooked weight of a hamburger). The actual dimensions are ¾”x4.5” This will give me a 19” deep shelf, just what we needed. The width of the shelf is approximately 41”, so I need to grab at least 82” long pieces of wood.

Before we talk shop, lets talk about safety. Make sure you read and follow all of the safety instructions that come with your tools. Always wear safety glasses when you are working in the shop.

Back at home, I set up my tools in my garage and cut the boards to 41” long pieces. Then I apply a generous bead of glue to the sides of each piece and set them in my clamps. Tighten the clamps so that you get some resistance, but be careful not to squeeze out all of the glue. Using a ruler or a level, make sure that the boards are laying flat and level with each other. If necessary, unclamp the shelf and adjust the pieces to make sure they glue flat. Except for cleaning up the shop, that is it for day one.

On day two, you want to start the morning by removing the glued up boards from the clamps. Using a paint scraper, remove as much of the excess glue as possible. Sand the board with 120 grit sand paper to remove the rest of the glue and make the shelf as smooth as possible. Take the shelf that came with your Cruiser and lay it cloth side down on the board and trace the outline. Using your jigsaw or coping saw with a fine toothed blade, carefully cut out the shape of the shelf. Go back to your sander and smooth out the cuts that you made. You may need to hand sand in some of the tight corners. If you wish, use a router and shape the edges. Sand the whole shelf again with 220 grit sand paper. It should now be very smooth. Hopefully, your project should look like a shelf for your PT.

Fishing the shelf

There are many ways to finish your shelf. You can go with a stain and then a few coats of sealant, like polyurethane, or you can try a one step finish like an oil or stain and varnish mix. For my project, I am going to use an oil and varnish mix. The first step in finishing the shelf is to make your work area as clean as possible. Using a tack cloth, I cleaned off all of the dust from one side of my shelf. Following the instructions on the can, I wiped on the finish with a sponge brush. After a few minutes, I wiped off the excess. When it is time for the second coat, I used 0000 steel wool and tack clothed the shelf again before adding the next coat. Over the next four days, I added a total of three coats of finish.

I hope you enjoyed working on this project as much as I have. This is a great project and should provide many years of enjoyment.

Cecil Arnold
02-19-2005, 1:16 PM
It looks pretty good, but one thing I notced is that you reverted from active voice to passive in the last instructional paragraph--"I wiped on the finish," "I cleaned off all of the dust," etc. Wipe on the finish, clean off the dust is what they teach in J school.

Ted Shrader
02-19-2005, 6:13 PM
Dan -

In the required supplies section add the finishing stuff - sandpaper, stain, varnish, brushes, thinner, etc.

When gluing up the boards, specify glue type - yellow wood glue like Titebond I. Sure as shooting, somebody will try model cement. :)

Ted
Ted

Doug Shepard
02-19-2005, 7:34 PM
Looks pretty clear and easy to follow to me. One thing I wonder about. I don't know much about PT Cruisers and whether the shelf they have to trace is symetrical or not. I'm assuming when you tell them to lay it cloth side down, that it's actually upside down. If the shelf isn't completely symetrical, you might want to tell them to pick the better looking side of the glue up and face it downward as well. That way the best side would show after cutting. If it's symetrical, you don't need to confuse them with the added info.

Dan Mages
02-19-2005, 9:27 PM
Thanks for the advice so far. I will add a new draft some time tomorrow.



One thing I wonder about. I don't know much about PT Cruisers and whether the shelf they have to trace is symetrical or not.

The shelf is symetrical. The cloth side of the shelf is flat, unkike the bottom, which makes the tracing easier to do.

Dan

Lars Thomas
02-23-2005, 1:55 AM
I'll re-read in the AM, but I did notice you have 'FISHing the shelf' instead of finishing.

Rob Russell
02-23-2005, 7:57 AM
Dan,

I feel the area that most people could get into trouble on is the glueup. I'd suggest:

Referring to the parts of the board you glue together as the "edges".
Discuss the fact that the clamps are squeezing the boards together from opposite edges. I could see a novice trying to edge-glue 2 boards by putting glue on the edges, banging them together and then trying to hold the boards together with a c-clamp at each end of the glue line.
Add "clamps" to your tools list. If someone doesn't want to buy clamps, can you think of an alternate way to press the boards together?
Describe the important of keeping the surfaces lined up. That's the biggest benefit of biscuits - registration of one board to another. What's your alternative based on the assumptions of 1) no biscuit joiner and 2) little experience gluing up boards? Cauls? How you you keep the cauls from sticking to the glue?
When they buy their stock, they need to make sure the individual boards are truly the same thinckness.


Overall, assume that the person building the shelf will be a novice and write the story for that level. You're better off explaining steps in more detail - both "how" and "why" - than leaving things to people's imagination.

Rob

Lars Thomas
02-23-2005, 3:32 PM
Dan, I took a crack at editing it.



Strolling through any Cruiser gathering, it’s immediately evident that nearly everyone loves to personalize their ride. An increasingly popular customization is the versatile rear shelf. This article will go though the steps to create your own custom wood shelf for a PT.

The shelf requires a little wood working knowledge, but should be a satisfying challenge for any novice. The tools that you need for this project are a compound miter saw [Note: why?], jigsaw, sander, paint scraper, and a few bar-style clamps. So, you don't have any power tools? That is not a problem. This project can be done with a miter box and backsaw, a coping saw, and hand sanding. A router is optional if you wish to shape the sides of the shelf.

The first step is to go shopping for wood at your local supply house.
Most large wood suppliers will have a dizzying array of domestic and
exotic woods. For the shelf, stick to the wood that is
labeled S4S, or surfaced on four sides. This means the wood
has been prepared on both sides and the top and bottom so that it is
flat and square. Most shops will offer poplar, red oak, cherry and
maple in their S4S section. If you find something else that you like,
most shops will prepare wood for you for a nominal fee. For this
shelf, cherry and maple was selected to create a two-toned look.

Make sure to measure the wood carefully. Two pieces of 1"x5"x82” wood were selected for this shelf – one maple and one cherry. This measurement is the precut dimensions of the wood (think of the precooked weight of a hamburger). The actual dimensions are ¾"x4-1/2"x82”

Before we talk shop, lets talk about safety. Make sure you read and
follow all of the safety instructions that come with your tools.
Always wear safety glasses when you are working in the shop.

In the shop cut the boards to 41" long. Then apply a generous bead of wood glue to the inside edges of each of the four pieces of wood and clamp. Tighten the clamps so that you get some resistance (a thin glue line should squeeze out), but be careful not to squeeze out all the glue. Using a ruler or a level, make sure that the boards are laying flush with each other. If necessary, loosen the clamps and adjust the wood to make sure they glue flat. If each piece of wood is not flush with one another, day two becomes far more time consuming. Except for cleaning up the shop, that is it for the day.

On day two, start the by removing the glued up panel from the clamps. It should be approximately (18” x 41”). Using a paint scraper, remove as much of the excess glue as possible. Sand the board with 120 grit sand paper to remove the rest of the glue and make the shelf as smooth as possible.

Lay the OEM shelf that came with the Cruiser cloth side down
on the board and trace the outline. Be sure to hold the pencil vertically while tracing. Using a jigsaw or coping saw
with a fine toothed blade, carefully cut out the shape of the shelf. Test fit the new shelf in the PT. Modify the shape as necessary.
Go back to the sander and/or files to smooth out the profile. It may
Be necessary to hand sand in some of the tight corners. If desired, use a router to shape the edges. Sand the whole shelf with 220 grit sand paper. At this point, your project should look like a shelf for your PT.

Finishing the Shelf

There are many ways to finish the shelf. A stain followed by a few thin coats of sealant, like polyurethane will provide a durable finish. Alternatively, try a one step finish like a stain and varnish mix [Note: you may want to mention some widely available brand names to help novices select their finishing products].

The first step in finishing the shelf is to make your work area as clean as possible. Using a tack cloth, clean off all of the dust from one side of my shelf. Following the instructions on the can, wipe on the finish with a disposable sponge brush. After a few minutes (10 or so), wipe off any excess finish that wasn’t absorbed. Both sides of the shelf need to be finished. When it is time for the second coat (see manufactures instructions for re-coat times), use 0000 steel wool wrapped around a piece of scrap wood to get rid or any surface imperfections (i.e.: dust nibs). Be sure to wipe down the surface with a tack cloth between each coat. Generally, three coats provide an attractive, durable finish.

This is a great project to make your PT truly a one-of-a-kind and will provide many years of enjoyment.

Ray Bersch
02-23-2005, 5:03 PM
Dan, I was going to attempt a quick re-write myself until I came upon Lars' version - great stuff - notice what he did - first he grabbed the reader with a short intro paragraph, then he led the reader along and moved through the process in a light and informal way without the dreaded changes of person, tense or the like and he finished with a reinforcement of the first paragraph and initial premise of the article- use it, you will get rave reviews.

Ray

Dan Mages
02-23-2005, 8:31 PM
I am sorry i have not posted my updated article. it has been a very long week of 12 hour days. Thanks again for all of the input. Lars, thanks for your crack at it. I will look over your changes carefully and see how well it works with my final draft.

Dan

Lars Thomas
02-23-2005, 8:50 PM
Good luck with it Dan. Let us know how it goes. Lars