Mount DeWalt DW621 router to Kreg Precision Router Table insert plate

This weekend I finally had some time to mount my router on router table's insert plate. This router table has been sitting un-assembled since April, 2009. It will take me another weekend to finally get this router table fully assembled.



Here are the steps:

Step 1: Mark the edge of the router base plate that you want to face front with a piece of masking tape

Step 2: Place the insert plate face down on work surface with Kreg logo close to you

Step 3: Position the bull’s eye template so that the concentric rings line up with the opening of the insert plate.

Step 4: Remove the base plate from the router and using it to find the correct drill bit size for drilling holes in the insert plate

Step 5: Place the base plate face down on the bull’s eye template and center it on the concentric rings. Use the masking tape to secure the two together

Step 6: Place a sacrificial board on the drill press under the plate to reduce the possibility of blowout

Step 7: With three items secure, drill the holes using drill press

Step 8: Clamp the insert plate to drill press and drill holes into the insert plate

Step 9: After the holes are drilled separate the three items and using a counter sink bit to counter sink each hole on the top side of the insert plate to accommodate the mounting hardware

Step 10: The screw head should not sit above flush or too far below. I used 20mm long base plate screw to connect the base plate to router

I tried to ensure that the router bit stay at the center of the circular opening of the router table's insert plate. One of the mounting screws hole is on the edge
. I used a 14 mm long screw for this lower height hole.

Resizing the length of machine screws

The 25 mm long M4X0.7 finally arrived this week.




Here are the steps to re-size the screws to 20 mm length:

Step 1: Cut router plate screws to proper length

Step 1a: Gather up the necessary tools and materials
(i) Vice
(ii) Hacksaw
(iii)Marker pen
(iv)File
(v)Foot rule

Step 1b: Measure the length of the Router plate screw needed.

Step 1c: Mark a circle on the screw where it needs to be cut.

Step 1d: Setup the screw in a vice to cut it to proper length

Step 1e: Cut the screws with hacksaw

Step 1f: Measure the length of the cut screws and file the bottom

Step 1g: Test the screws on router

Simple Pleasures

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Originally uploaded by countrygirl30

You might be wondering, “What do candles have to do with self-sufficiency?” There is more to self-sufficiency than just surviving off the land. It’s also about freeing oneself from the material world in which makes us unhappy even anxious at times. Two nights ago, my family and I sat on the couch in the living room with nothing more than burning candles to light up the room. As we watched the glowing and flickering candlelight we suddenly felt calmer and more relaxed. Even our oldest son sat still in my husband’s lap the whole time which is a surprise. Normally during the day he’s bursting with extreme energy and constantly running around. My husband and I enjoyed a hot cup of tea over long conversations. It was very pleasant. We blew out the candles at 9:05 PM and I took our son to his room and put him to bed. When I came back downstairs and began working on dishes I noticed that my breathing had changed. It was deeper and steadier than I had ever felt. I had never felt so calm like that before. The next day our son told me how he enjoyed himself and that he wants to have more candlelight time. As self-sufficient people, it is the simple things in life that we enjoy most.

Seed Saving

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Originally uploaded by countrygirl30

In this day and age when job losses are becoming more frequent food is a major concern for everyone. What if one can have food without worrying about having a job to pay for it? That is nothing short of possible. This peach came in a box of six and was purchased at our local farmer’s market. The peach seeds have been rinsed off and pat dry with a paper towel. They sat at room temperature to dry for 1-2 weeks and then placed inside an enveloped and sealed in a glass jar. The day we set up our farm these seeds will be sown and grown for our food. We’ll never have to worry about worry about jobs or income ever again. Our crops are the income that will feed us for the rest of our lives.

Housekeeping the Way It Was Meant To Be

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Originally uploaded by countrygirl30

There have been many commercial cleaning products that I have used to clean the house which doesn’t exactly work the way it was supposed to. To top it all off, I didn’t feel any safer to use cleaning products which had strong, toxic fumes and were not environmentally friendly. The warning labels were just plain scary to read. I had to find a solution to this problem as soon as I could for the sake of my family’s heath and well being. Finally, I found a cleaning solution that put my fears to rest. This solution consists of 1 cup of white distilled vinegar to 1 gallon bucket of hot water. An extra bucket of hot water was used to rinse out the vinegar solution as it would dry out and damage the sponge mop, according to the directions for this vinegar and water solution. With any cleaning process, of course, there has to be ventilation. I began by sweeping away all dust and other particles that were visible. As I started using this solution on my vinyl floor I was amazed at the results. It cleaned much better than any other product I have ever used in my life. I couldn’t even smell much of the vinegar as I was cleaning. Using a pitcher of warm water, I poured a little bit on the floor at a time, mopped up the water, and wrung it into the water bucket, not the vinegar bucket. Then, whatever dampness was left I wiped it up with rags and let the floor air dry. When my job was done there was not a scent of vinegar to be detected and my floor looked better than ever. I can now clean my house with peace of mind. I will continue to search for more environment friendly cleaning mixtures that will keep my family healthy and happy for years to come.

Sunrise in the pot

Sunrise in the pot
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

Watching sun rise over the horizon is a wonderful experience. Today I will use sunrise as a metaphor.
It has been little over two months since I posted my first blog entry on tomatoes growing in pots in our front yard. Today these two tomatoes have completed a full circle. I can see a reddish hue at the bottom of both the tomatoes. These are the first two tomatoes maturing this season. Two months of hard work and we have these two beauties teasing us to pick them up and cook something delicious.
The joy of watching the reddish hue first thing in the morning today was as wonderful as watching the first rays of sun in the morning.
The sun, the rain, the bees, the workers at the planting pot making factory, the makers of Miracle Grow fertilizer and the curious onlookers have contributed to this success. Thank you goes to all of them. We have a great team here. Hope to repeat this success for rest of the tomatoes this season and more in next season.

Metric measurement in a world of US measurement system

I have never thought about the type of screws in my power tools, let alone the measurement system used the measure them.

Things changed this weekend. This weekend I was planning to mount DeWalt DW621 router on Kreg precision router table. I had to get longer screws than the ones originally mounted on router to mount the router to the insert plate of the router table. The insert plate for router is 3/8” thick. Kreg provides a video to install a router on the insert plate.

I have an inch-system micrometer which measures thickness in fraction of inches. I used this micrometer to get an approximate measurement of the screw. I thought the screw is 5/32” thick at its threads. I could not find any odd fractional machine screw at my local Lowes. I picked up a few 8-32 ¾” screws. When I came home and tried the new screws on router, they did not fit.

The next step was to do some online research on this particular screw. eReplacement parts.com has a nice picture of all the router parts for DW621

Fig # 7 in the above link is the screw type I was looking for but twice its original length. The Part Number is: 945121-00. The length is 10 millimeter.

It is a M4X0.7 screw. What is a M4X0.7 screw after all? In the metric measurement world, M is followed by the value of the nominal diameter D and the pitch P, both expressed in millimeters and separated by the multiplication sign “×”.

I need a M4x0.7 screw with 20 millimeter length. I could not find 20 mm M4X0.7 screw online but I found a 25mm long M4x0.7 screw at amazon.com

Once I get this screw, I will use a hack saw to cut it down to the required length.

I also ordered a metric drill bit to drill a hole for this 4mm screw.

Next week I will be experimenting with the metric drill bit and metric screw from amazon.com.

Couple of interesting links on metric measurement system, I came across during my research:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_metric_screw_thread

http://www.france-property-and-information.com/imperial-system-and-history.htm