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I happen to be a woodworker when I'm not a software developer and FWIW, and building an traditional-style 90's plywood cab (with some affordances; how you mount

I happen to be a woodworker when I'm not a software developer and FWIW, and building an traditional-style 90's plywood cab (with some affordances; how you mount the panel is an Open Question) is pretty trivial stuff with a drill, a jigsaw (if you want rounded corners), a few pieces of sandpaper, and a circ saw (you'd need a router for traditional T edge banding but you can get flat edge banding right on Amazon). You can get the tools on Craigslist for $40 to $60 if you look hard enough. The consumables (hole saw, drill bit, screws, dowel, glue) are maybe another $20 to $25), and a couple of sheets of plywood are the most expensive at about $60 per. Not the cheapest thing in the world, but firmly in beer-money territory if you've got interested friends. (And then you've got folks like me who drop a thousand dollars on a gizmo to not have to think about the construction process nearly as hard, but shhh, we're cautionary tales.) I can't help you with the not wanting to learn part, but, having never built one, I'm pretty confident I could do it in a day. Pretty confident that it's a weekend project for a couple of college kids. And learning how to use your hands is a pretty rewarding experience, I find.

unwind 5y ago
As an armchair woodworker with a tool buying/daydreaming complex, please share what gizmo(s) you refer to. Thanks. :)
- kd5bjo 5y ago
  At a guess, it’s probably something like a Festool Domino. You dry-fit the pieces and draw a line across the joint surface wherever you want a tenon. From there, the whole process is pretty automatic.
  - JKCalhoun 5y ago
    I assumed large CNC machine, ha ha. (I'm not there, yet.)
    - eropple 5y ago
      CNC is the one thing I have trouble getting my head around. It's cool, it's absolutely cool. But it doesn't fit my conception of "woodworking" very well. It's more of that "wood machining" side of things, which I respect but I'm not into. I like the Domino because it makes easier a process I know I can do through slower means. I have used a dowel jig, I have used pocket holes, I've chopped mortises. But usually I just want to put two pieces together so I can clamp them and glue them and get on with the next thing. But most uses of CNC with wood seem to be "do things a person can't really practically do in a home shop" and I don't dig that.
  - eropple 5y ago
    That's the one. The Domino is magic. And the after-market accessories are nice--the 3D printer people have gotten to work on this. I have an imperial conversion depth gauge for mine and stopped eyeballing millimeters. It also cost a thousand dollars. But it's the sort of tool that has the obvious design and affordances to make me happy to pick it up and use it, and the things are unkillable--they last twenty years at a minimum. Festool is the sort of company that recognizes that customers are for life and they do a lot to support customers, too, even with thoroughly out of warranty stuff.

unwind 5y ago

As an armchair woodworker with a tool buying/daydreaming complex, please share what gizmo(s) you refer to. Thanks. :)

kd5bjo 5y ago
At a guess, it’s probably something like a Festool Domino. You dry-fit the pieces and draw a line across the joint surface wherever you want a tenon. From there, the whole process is pretty automatic.
- JKCalhoun 5y ago
  I assumed large CNC machine, ha ha. (I'm not there, yet.)
  - eropple 5y ago
    CNC is the one thing I have trouble getting my head around. It's cool, it's absolutely cool. But it doesn't fit my conception of "woodworking" very well. It's more of that "wood machining" side of things, which I respect but I'm not into. I like the Domino because it makes easier a process I know I can do through slower means. I have used a dowel jig, I have used pocket holes, I've chopped mortises. But usually I just want to put two pieces together so I can clamp them and glue them and get on with the next thing. But most uses of CNC with wood seem to be "do things a person can't really practically do in a home shop" and I don't dig that.
- eropple 5y ago
  That's the one. The Domino is magic. And the after-market accessories are nice--the 3D printer people have gotten to work on this. I have an imperial conversion depth gauge for mine and stopped eyeballing millimeters. It also cost a thousand dollars. But it's the sort of tool that has the obvious design and affordances to make me happy to pick it up and use it, and the things are unkillable--they last twenty years at a minimum. Festool is the sort of company that recognizes that customers are for life and they do a lot to support customers, too, even with thoroughly out of warranty stuff.