DIY Prinsu Top Rack Made on Wood Router

Why so cheap?

My time is valuable, I work hard at my day job, do some side work to include uber when I feel like doing it, fireworks and music fests when a slot is open, and some odd and end hobby income from parts I make along with some consulting work.

I do DIY stuff because I like to do it,and I can control quality of the entire process, but because it ends up cheaper. Sometimes, I can make extra to help offset my cost like I have been doing with the 3d printer sold some stuff that helped pay back a good portion of the cost of it.

So if I can have someone else do the work for less than I can make during that time frame then I will take the paid work and pay someone else to do little job

 

Yep...

Running a business is expensive... and I ran. Food based manufacturing bi. So bulk buying had to be balanced with risk of spoilage and keeping freshness. And I did small batches for this reason, and played up the handcrafted aspects with the best ingredients.

My profit margin was razor thin...

 

Yep, but if your opportunity costs for making your own are 5-10 hours of internet, more power to ya and that’s cheap labor.

 

That is just the value that I put on my free time. If I can knock something unpleasant out, like cutting the grass, painting, mods, doing routine maint or repairs, etc., for that much or less, then I do it.

Peeps here in the average suburbs will drop $150/mo for lawn maintenance that equates to less than 1hr/mo of actual labor.

My work rate to make a living is nowhere near that. And if I was attempting to make extra cash, esp if it would involve buying a printer or tools, I would charge accordingly.

Every year, I spend two days in the garage tuning up my Ducati. That's about $40 max at my cost plus about $150 average in parts or $800 min at a shop or $1,200 min at a dealer. The same math works when mounting tires.

 

Brainstorming is definitely the fun part.

 

Will totally do that. Where did you the tslot track cross bars?

 

Nor product liability insurance!

 

Scratch that Just followed your link.

 

I have Been a CFO/Controller for manufacturers for 30+ years. Have done product costing for new products, new equipment analysis, etc. The formula is:

Sales > Material + Conversion Costs + OP Exp. PERIOD or you go out of business.

Sales MUST be greater than the sum of material costs, conversion costs (labor + plant overhead, engineering, etc.) + operating expense (sales, general, admin, legal, taxes, insurance, etc.) While you cannot pass some taxes directly to the end consumer, you HAVE TO indirectly pass them or you will lose money. Every cost has to be covered by sales. I really wish that they taught this more in high school. Every company must make money or none of us would have a job.

That being said, I will follow the same route and make my own since I really enjoy making and building stuff (like the SUP I made last summer for my wife). Plus it will be customized to my needs. So the tradeoff is my time + materials vs. just buying and bolting on.

 

Yeah I bought (7) 47" cross bars. I decided not to pay to have them tapped since I figured for the cost of having them tapped I could buy a tap and do them myself + gain a new tap for future. However randomly they came tapped 1/4-20. Also just a side not 2 out of the 7 bars came damaged so make sure you inspect you package once you receive them.

 

Nope.

I learned the hard way that that is a poor practice. Didn't lose an eye, so I consider it a success (or any other body parts).

 

Yours still turned out great thought! How are they holding up? Like I mentioned in my write up, I have you to thank for pushing my over the edge to give it a go, so thank you.

 

They are holding up well. I didn't use stainless steel hardware initially, so I am switching that out now.

I keep debating on whether I want only 3 cross bars or 5. The good news is, I have 5 cross bars, so I can switch in and out quite easily. I also never got around to painting them, so they are still bare aluminum. Not the most attractive, but not bad either.

I am glad my write-up pushed you over the edge.

@paranoid56 DIY prinsu style shell rack thread pushed me over the edge.

I have very specific needs, and I couldn't find any other way to meet them. I need a 'cage' that sits below thule bars.

I did read some of the discussions going on in here about cost and 'is it worth it', and for me, the making of the thing was definitely worth it. If I could have found something pre-made that would have met my needs, I may have bought it, but given my past experiences, I am always skeptical it will do what I want it to do. When I make my own, if it doesn't work, I can only blame myself, and then work on making it better the next time.

 

Couldn't of said it better myself

 

Bits without bearings are cheaper than those with and since many routers can be fitted with a guide sleeve you can save some coin on bits you will end up trashing anyway. Plus you can stage the cuts by using successively larger diameter bits without having to move the template. With a 1/2”guide sleeve you could use 1/4” then 3/8” bits. Since the sleeve doesn’t spin with the bit you get practically no wear on the template either.

 

My business designs and fabricates displays and other products for museums and businesses. I'm a cabinetmaker first, so your thinking resonated with me, TacomaInn. The bigger diameter flush trim carbide router bits you can use, 1/2" shank if possible (can't imagine going at it w/ 1/4 shank bits, lotta chatter), work best on edging that aluminum. I have a few three-blade bits that seem to really work well for aluminum, but they were pricey bits.

But my main takeaway is if you have a buddy with a bandsaw, you could ask if you could use it, and buy one of the Lennox or other brand blades made for aluminum, and avoid the cluster**** of saber sawing that aluminum. That would be a teeth-gnasher for sure. Of course the bandsaw blade is not cheap. More of an idea if further aluminum part fabbing is in the works....

Really well done and innovative way to get what you needed, TacomaInn.

 

As a cabinet maker, what’s your thoughts on shavings left behind in the router table? I would be concerned with scratching future wood projects or even the table if it’s not cast iron. I’ve been following this thread to kind of see if that ends up being an issue.

btw- Great work OP!

 

Serious vacuuming

 

I have a router table setup with vacuum attachment to my dust collecting system. It's not as easy as catching wood dust though, that's for sure. You could clamp up a separate vacuum nozzle atop the table to catch shavings that don't get pulled down by the main downdraft collector. Have a bench brush handy and swipe the table between passes. Also, keep an eye on the top of your inverted router- you may want to try my technique of rigging up some tin foil to keep the shavings from falling through the motor fan fins and into the motor housing, which would raise serious hell.

 

I just remembered the secret trick for picking up aluminum shavings, and it works for glass too! Now for a long read that tells you today, but only today, you can get the secret offer for $29.99 +S/H!

Use a slice of white bread. Just get a cheap loaf of white bread and kind of sponge up the shavings.