I'ma Cut You Foo!

DIY Road Case Instructional DVD

It arrived!  My bestest bud Craig ordered me the instructional DVD from the DIY Road Case web-store.

There are a number of free instructional video series available on YouTube that offer the basic information needed to begin crafting your own case, but they aren't quite as comprehensive as the educational suite offered by the DIY Road Case site.

The weather tonight was absolutely gorgeous, and my wife ended up going out to dinner with a friend, so I took the opportunity to begin cutting out some of the panels while I still had daylight.

Safety first!

Remember: before you ever begin working with any sort of power tool, safety is key!  Even though I wear eyeglasses and technically have sufficient eye protection, I still opted to wear plastic safety goggles anyways.  This helps prevent any debris from flying at my eyes and causing any injuries.

While the jig saw that I am using is only 4.5 AMP and doesn't make nearly as much noise as a full size rotary table saw, it's still a good idea to wear hearing protection.  I've done enough damage to my ears from attending multiple Rush shows sans ear plugs, which is something that any good concert-going fan should do to preserve their hearing, so I don't have any desire to cause further harm.  What good is building a road case for my drum hardware if I won't even be able to hear my own drums when I play them?

Work Area

Like I said in the previous post, our garage floor is unsuitable as a level work area.  This means I have to drag everything I am working on out onto the driveway.

Since I don't have a proper workbench at the moment, I'm using two 6 foot folding tables to support what I am working on.  After clamping down the panel, I marked out on the board where the shoe around the blade on my jig saw sits, and clamped down the aluminum guide that I am using as a cut rail for the saw.  This ensures that I will get a good, straight cut.

It took a few adjustments to get the cut all the way through the four foot width of the board.  The clamps I have had to be rotated a few times to allow clearance for the saw to pass.

The warp of the panel has posed a minor problem in keeping the piece flat while I cut.  The smaller panels have way less bend to them, but I will probably switch to using the ratcheting band clamps to strap the second large panel flush with the table the next time I make some cuts.

I made three cuts total; one down the middle of the board width-wise to more or less cut it in half, and two shorter cuts to separate the three pieces I needed - the top of the case, the bottom of the case, and the panel for the front of the case.  Two of the panels came out perfectly square; the third panel has a deviation of about 1/32" in width from one end to the other.  I don't think this will ultimately pose too large of a problem; the panels are being riveted to the aluminum extrusion rails, and do not need to sit perfectly against the rails the entire length of the case.  If I was making mitre cuts for the panels to join together, this deviation would be unacceptable, and I'd have to re-cut a new piece.

Three Little Panels

All told, it took me about an hour and half to get everything done, between setting up the tables, clamping my pieces down, drawing out the guide lines to cut, and making the cuts.  This first set of cuts taught me a number of lessons; namely how to better secure my pieces to the work surface and what the best angles of approach are for cutting into pieces.

Assuming the weather is good tomorrow evening, I will be back at it again - cutting the other three panels that I need: the back of the case, and the two sides.  Once those are done, the front, back, and two sides will be cut once more; three inches of material will be removed to make the side panels for the lid.

With any luck, my aluminum extrusions will arrive tomorrow and I'll be able to begin cutting the rails down to size to fit.