| Blog series by Betsy | updated 243 days ago | 14 parts | 3808 reads | 92 comments total |
Part 1: Prototype with questions - always questions!
Finally spending longer stretches in the shop. I have a friend who asked for a small cabinet to fit into a particular spot in her house. Designing things is not my forte. One look here and you’ll agree – probably anyway. This is a pine prototype that I wanted to make to give me a better idea of what the final project would look like. I built it mostly to get an idea on proportions. A drawing simply doesn’t do me much good. So anyway here it is. The final piece will be ma...
Part 2: Back to it on the cabinet.
Yep – I’ve been busy. I can’t do one project at a time. I am really one of those folks that have to have lots of different things going at one time. This is a project that got started a very long time ago. The prototype (see previous entry on this blog) is not very good. So I’ve decided to reacquaint myself with Google Sketchup by redesigning the cabinet and getting better proportions. The outside dimensions are set because the cabinet has to fit between two doors. ...
Part 3: Coming along with my cabinet.
I’m still being very careful about the size of my projects. I still need to get past the fear of hurting myself from lifting or moving something more than a gallon of milk. I’m getting there though. So now I’m back to working on my friend’s cabinet for her Wii console. Right now I’ve got the carcass made and will be starting to work on the face frame tomorrow. I have decided that I like finishing as I go. Sure makes getting those inside corners looking a lo...
Part 4: Face frame on - a few firsts!
I’ve got to be coming up on a record for myself of slowest build to any project I’ve ever done. But at last I have attached the face frame to my cabinet and have the drawer webbing in place. Nothing great to look at—but I’m proud of it all the same. I’ve had a couple of firsts on this project. One being that I managed to put a new burr on my scraper!!! That in itself is big news for me. Then I managed to actually use the scraper to clean up the sides of the ca...
Part 5: Working on the drawer - got frustrated with dovetails :-(
It’s been a while since I’ve been able to do much of substance on the cabinet. But I’ve managed to get the drawer carcass done. I tried several times to do hand cut dovetails and could not get a fit that I was happy with. So in order to get this cabinet done before I can no longer move—- thought I’d switch to box joints. I’m not entirely happy with my job – but it came out OK. I made it just a tad oversized and pared it down with a hand plane to get a...
Part 6: Working on proportions - need some SU help - again!
OK – I’ve overdone a bit this weekend – so I’m resting and working in SU to finish up my friend’s cabinet. I’m not sure if you call this really resting or wrestling. I’m getting a little frustrated actually – I’ve put SU down for quite a while and feel like I’m starting over. I’ve even gone back over my blog and can’t find this issue or it’s solution. One point of confession here—- yes I know that I’m...
Part 7: Poorly drawn - but getting closer
I’m getting closer – no great shakes here. I’d like to think I’m getting better at SU – but got a very long way to go. So now I have the drawer front, door frames and the top. I’ve not put on any edge trim/shaping yet. How do you draw in a raised panel once you have the door frame made? Thanks in advance.
Part 8: Getting ready to do the doors - Math question
OK – so now I’m ready to tackle the doors. I plan to do raised panel doors off the router table. I’m using a CMT set of panel cutters. There is a calculator to determine sizes of the door rails/stiles here http://www.cheyennesales.com/download/rpdcalc.htm However, I can’t get it to work. So I’d rather just do the math myself – but I can’t find the formula to do the math with. If someone can give that to me I’d appreciate it. If I keep at ...
Part 9: Hey, hey, hey --- look what I did boys and girls!!!!
With all the great help and encouragement I have received on LJ’s I managed to make my first set of rails and stiles using a router bit set!!!!!!!!!!!!! Still have to do the panels – but I was so excited about this milestone I had to share! You can see I’ve got a few little feathers on the pieces – but that will not be a problem at all. I also followed Tooldad’s suggestion and upped the width of the parts to 2”. Looks a lot better I think....
Part 10: Got the raised panels done today.
I took a vacation day from work today and spent a glorious day in the shop with a side trip to the lumber yard. Got quite a lot done on the cabinets. Took the door panels out of the clamps, cleaned them up, got them sized to fit and then routed them. They are not perfect, but I think I did OK. This next shot is a little closer up – you can see I don’t have the parts quite lined up for the shot – but they do fit and are flat to boot! I also did some work on the...
Part 11: Started the finish on the last parts. (minus the top)
No pictures this time. I laid my camera down somewhere and I’ve not yet located it – it’s probably will all the pencils I loose having a cook out or something. Any how, I got the feet, the door parts and the drawer front all cleaned up and ready to finish. I’ve put the first coat on and can’t wait for it to dry so I can go onto to the next step. I didn’t like the top that I made, so I’ve chosen new pieces and have got that clamped up. The first ...
Part 12: Almost home -
Well I found my camera. I was at work and it hit me where I put it. I’m terrible about laying things like that down in odd places and then spend hours looking for it. Anyhow – I’m making progress on my cabinet. I’ve got all the door parts milled, sanded and have started the finish work. This first shot shows the door panels with a coat of finish. The finish is Minwax semi-gloss with a 40% mix of naptha and 1/3 cap of Japan dryer. I did not come up with that formu...
Part 13: Don't try this at home :-)
Getting closer to done. Moved to do the final assembly in the living room. Most of you probably should not do that. My cats don’t mind – but your significant other of the two legged variety probably would squawk a bit. Got the drawer mounted tonight and got the foot assembly on. One miter did not come out exactly as planned – will have to fix that. I am going to refinish the door parts as they came out a bit too dark compared to everything else. So here are some shots ...
Part 14: Done!
127 days later——a small cabinet is born! I’ve finally finished this cabinet. First I have to show you my flub up. I was installing the hinges on the door and while I did pretty well with three hinges the fourth one beat me! My method of holding the hinges in place while drilling the pilot holes worked OK – but my left hand is not my dominate hand and it was not a pretty thing to watch. Anyway – I guess I slipped a little so my pilot holes were off a bit. But no w...
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