[JayArr]

Another first this weekend. I built a cabinet from scratch. Well the hulk of it at least.

It's mostly 3/4 birch ply with pocket screws and a 1 1/2" x 3/4" poplar face frame (also pocket screws).

I'll be painting it white later so the face frame is glued and nailed on.

It was a fair amount of work to adjust and dial in each piece of 80's Craftsman equipment in the shop as I needed it. I've never worked with this degree of accuracy before. In the end there was one or two joints out by 1/16" but since I'm painting it I can hide the cracks with caulking.

It's a simple one drawer cabinet that goes under a dryer to raise it up so the missus doesn't have to bend so low. The drawer will give a little storage and give me a chance to practice building drawers. I've done cabinet doors and drawer fronts before with my moulding attachemtn so that'll be done last and it'll match the bathroom design.

I stuck it under the dryer for now and once the drawer and drawer front are done I'll paint everything together.

3.68

 

[yomanbill]

Looks good. Nice work.

 

[FirebirdHank]

Looks pretty good from here. I assume there will be another one under the washer.

 

[DrRobert]

Nice job. Yes, cabinetmaking is more difficult than furnituremaking in a lot of respects, the main one being the level of accuracy needed.

I think of cutting cab parts is as close to being a machinist I'll ever get in ww'ing. You have to develop a work flow and system, like cutting as many as you can with one fence setting. Cutlist program can produce a cut diagram, but you (I) can still get parts mixed up. But I'm just a hobbyist.

 

[Rebelwork]

Turned out nice..

 

[JayArr]

Thanks All

The washer is top loading so it doesn't require a 'lift' so this is the only cabinet for that room.

I'll fill it in with a solid wood drawer and drawer front that is flush mounted.

I've also been watching youtube videos on how to professionally paint cabinets with a spray gun.

If all goes well I'll build a couple of single sink, bathroom vanities next.

The secret plan is to show my wife that I'm capable of turning out a good product so that I can convince her to let me built as many of the cabinets our new house needs as possible. I'd rather build my own out of high quality material than buy cheap press-wood flat-packs.

Wish me luck!

 

[JayArr]

Another successful weekend in the wood shop.

I built the drawer for the dryer cabinet. It's all poplar (no plywood) and there are no nails. I used the 1/4, 1/4, 1/4 method of dados and rabbets and glued and clamped it together.

I spent a few hours Saturday just tuning up the bandsaw. I had previously purchased a set of upper guides on eBay that had bearings instead of the OEM guide that used cool blocks. It improved cutting but was very hard to adjust. After watching a half dozen of Alex Snodgrass' videos, including a few where he tuned up the same Craftsman model that I have, I decided to put the OEM Craftsman upper guide back on and align it the way Alex lays out. What a difference! The saw cuts like a champ, I can slice 6" poplar boards like butter. I'm going to get a brand new blade and see if I can resaw maple as well.

So the box started as a single 8 foot poplar 1X7, rough cut from the mill. Cut two sides and front and back to rough lengths. Joint one edge. Trim to 6 1/8 on table saw. Face joint. Edge joint both edges to square and end up with 6". Next I re-sawed the boards so that I had about 5/8 boards and 1/4" leftover which I could quickly see would provide enough material to make the floor of the drawer. Ran everything through the planer so it was smooth and even. I glued the thin pieces together and set aside. I cut the dados and rabbets and then assembled it all with some glue and the two new 36" clamps I got on sale the other day. (never enough clamps!)

At the end of Sunday I came in from the woodshop and the wife asked me what I had been up to all weekend. I replied "I built a box" she rolled her eyes and said "as long as you're having fun".

Things I will change next time: I don't think 5/8" is necessary so I'll make the sides 1/2", it also simplifies the math for the dados and rabbets. I don't know why I thought they needed to be 5/8", that was an error. Make sure I have a nice sharp blade on the bandsaw before I start, don't wait for a bad cut to tell me it needs changing. I'd like to round over the tops of the boards with a router next time for a more finished look.

Next week I will make the drawer front, which I've done before, and I'll mount it in the cabinet base with full extension slides. If the weather warms up I'll paint. It's currently -3C here so heating the garage to spray cabinets is way too much work.