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65K views 100 replies 20 participants last post by  RichT 
#1 ·
Construction of Case and Milling Hardwood Parts

My woodshop is in my 3-car garage. Being a garage woodshop I believe as many others do that virtually everything should be mobile. All of my major power equipment are on mobile bases: table saw, jointer, planer, bandsaw, floor drill press as well as my workbench and assembly tables.

I have a few items related to my auto mechanic toolsets, toolboxes, etc that I used to just keep on the garage floor. Recently I have stacked them on a 2 by 4 plywood sheet that I have on a roll around dolly. I have decided to build the Woodsmith Roll Around Tool Cabinet plan. This will be a nice large cabinet in which I can store some of my nice tools as well as all of those items I have stacked on that 2 by 4 sheet of plywood.
Wood Publication Font Book Advertising


One of the reasons I chose this cabinet plan is that it will be my first time building anything using frame and panel construction methods. I have watched others construct frame and panels. It seems straight forward but no one can really judge that well until you do the work yourself. That is how I see this.
Wood Font Material property Rectangle Parallel


Since I have cut, glued and screwed together the case work, I have been milling the lumber parts for the frame and panel work. I can tell all ready that there is a lot of work to it and there are a lot of parts to make. I haven't even started to cut the panels yet.
Wood Shelving Rectangle Wood stain Hardwood


I think this tool cabinet will be a very worthwhile experience to make. One thing I am learning already is that this tool cabinet will not be cheap. The bills are already mounting up.
 

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#2 ·
Construction of Case and Milling Hardwood Parts

My woodshop is in my 3-car garage. Being a garage woodshop I believe as many others do that virtually everything should be mobile. All of my major power equipment are on mobile bases: table saw, jointer, planer, bandsaw, floor drill press as well as my workbench and assembly tables.

I have a few items related to my auto mechanic toolsets, toolboxes, etc that I used to just keep on the garage floor. Recently I have stacked them on a 2 by 4 plywood sheet that I have on a roll around dolly. I have decided to build the Woodsmith Roll Around Tool Cabinet plan. This will be a nice large cabinet in which I can store some of my nice tools as well as all of those items I have stacked on that 2 by 4 sheet of plywood.
Wood Publication Font Book Advertising


One of the reasons I chose this cabinet plan is that it will be my first time building anything using frame and panel construction methods. I have watched others construct frame and panels. It seems straight forward but no one can really judge that well until you do the work yourself. That is how I see this.
Wood Font Material property Rectangle Parallel


Since I have cut, glued and screwed together the case work, I have been milling the lumber parts for the frame and panel work. I can tell all ready that there is a lot of work to it and there are a lot of parts to make. I haven't even started to cut the panels yet.
Wood Shelving Rectangle Wood stain Hardwood


I think this tool cabinet will be a very worthwhile experience to make. One thing I am learning already is that this tool cabinet will not be cheap. The bills are already mounting up.
I agree. You will love it but…it is expensive.
I have had the plans for a slant top tool chest for a couple of years but i never built it due the cost compared to a Craftsman metal tool chest from Sears. I went the the Craftsman tool chest (heck of a sale too) and pocketed the rest of the money for a future project.
I was disappointed that I didn't get to build it but that's just one of the give and takes I guess.

Enjoy your build and keep the pictures coming!
 

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#3 ·
Construction of Case and Milling Hardwood Parts

My woodshop is in my 3-car garage. Being a garage woodshop I believe as many others do that virtually everything should be mobile. All of my major power equipment are on mobile bases: table saw, jointer, planer, bandsaw, floor drill press as well as my workbench and assembly tables.

I have a few items related to my auto mechanic toolsets, toolboxes, etc that I used to just keep on the garage floor. Recently I have stacked them on a 2 by 4 plywood sheet that I have on a roll around dolly. I have decided to build the Woodsmith Roll Around Tool Cabinet plan. This will be a nice large cabinet in which I can store some of my nice tools as well as all of those items I have stacked on that 2 by 4 sheet of plywood.
Wood Publication Font Book Advertising


One of the reasons I chose this cabinet plan is that it will be my first time building anything using frame and panel construction methods. I have watched others construct frame and panels. It seems straight forward but no one can really judge that well until you do the work yourself. That is how I see this.
Wood Font Material property Rectangle Parallel


Since I have cut, glued and screwed together the case work, I have been milling the lumber parts for the frame and panel work. I can tell all ready that there is a lot of work to it and there are a lot of parts to make. I haven't even started to cut the panels yet.
Wood Shelving Rectangle Wood stain Hardwood


I think this tool cabinet will be a very worthwhile experience to make. One thing I am learning already is that this tool cabinet will not be cheap. The bills are already mounting up.
As with most new projects of our own, cost can affect the outcome.

Your toolbox is still going to be nice.

I use a lot of salvage wood as that fits my budget the best. It does limit the projects though.
 

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#4 ·
Milling Hardwood: Ripping to Widths and Cross-Cutting to Lengths

In my previous blog on this project I had fastened the case for this tool cabinet. I had not mentioned how I was able to cut these full 4 by 8 sheets at my table saw. I had made my assembly table prior to purchasing my Saw Stop table saw. I knew from its published dimensioned that the Saw Stop was 34 inches tall. That was the height I made my assembly table. I did that so I could use it as either an infeed or an outfeed table. I also modified my 36 inch tall workbench by removing its 5 inch casters and then building leg supports that would give me a 34 inch tall workbench. To make it mobile I used Wood River workbench caster set. I first used these lever-type casters on my assembly table. I like them. These casters allow me to set my small workbench down on its four legs and allow my bench to be sturdy and still; it will hold its place while I plane parts on its benchtop. I can still move it about by lowering the casters by locking down the levers with my foot. I thought about providing a photo of these casters but the link I provided above to the product will give you an excellent view of they are used.

So with my workbench and my assembly table being the same height as my Saw Stop at 34 inches I can use either or both as infeed and outfeed tables to the saw as shown in the photo below. This is how I was able to cut full sheets; how I was able to handle that cumbersome task by myself.
Table Furniture Wood Building Desk


I also used my Super Sawhorses with the support arm clamped to them to hold the ripped panels at the proper height so I could crosscut these plywood sheets to its specified lengths.
Table Property Furniture Wood Rectangle


I had chosen to deviate from the Woodsmith plan in a couple of ways.

First, I was going to use full dadoes instead of tongue and groove or dado joinery to fasten the case together. In my experience cutting these tongues (especially) on the ends of a sheet is difficult and they can break off if not done precisely. I know, I have seen the Woodsmith trick of using masking tape on the rip fence to make the groove slightly wider. Gee, I would have to rewatch that trick every time I was going to cut tongue and grooves to get it right. I would rather have a rabbet on the ends. Also I cut my dadoes with a plunge router run up against a fence. Next time I will look at purchasing a jig to hold the router with or against the fence so it does not deviate from the fence. I still got good dadoes to use with this case.

The second deviation from the plan was that I was going to use screws along with glue and clamps to fastren thr case together. I was glad I had chose to use screws on this case. Gluing this larger case together with just glue and clamps was going to be a difficult tasks. That presented itself during my dry fit. Once you introduce glue every thing becomes a bit more difficult. The screws helped me to hold things together properly while I glued and clamped this case together. Of course, during the dry fit process I pre-drilled the screw holes and countersunk those holes.. I will fill these countersink holes with shop made plugs.
Wood Flooring Gas Machine tool Automotive exterior


I will continue with my tool cabinet blog entries tomorrow morning…
 

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#5 ·
Milling and Cutting My Poplar Hardwood Lumber

Snow storms here prompted me to purchase much of my poplar lumber at my local big box stores instead of traveling downtown to purchase rough sawn lumber which would have been my preference. I knew by purchasing 3/4 inch thick sanded lumber would give me issues. I became very selective in finding the straightest boards I could find. I was hoping that I would only lose maybe 1/8 inches of thickness instead of typical 1/4 inch with rough sawn lumber. I set my jointer to slice very thin amounts and checked each pass to determine when I reach a flat surface. Of course, to do that I use carpenter crayons to "paint" th surfaces I am jointing or planing.

Table Wood Wood stain Desk Hardwood


I first cut the face frame parts so I could clamp them to the case. I did this so I could measure and check the measurements from the plan to the actual case I fastened together. I had cut the rails for this face frame a bit long. I can always remove more from it length in order to fit it to the case, but I cannot add back its length if I cut them short. By measuring the face frame parts i was satisfied that the case I made was exact dimensioned to th plan so the rest of the face frame and the poplar parts could be cut per the plan's dimensions.

I went about cutting all my my hardwood parts for making the "frame" parts of this frame and panel construction. Cutting the grooves to fit the panels is a step I will take on later. There were many frame parts to cut.
Wood Wood stain Hardwood Plank Composite material


I also milled and ripped to width the drawers parts I would need for seven drawers. Instead of using hard maple for the drawer parts per the plan, I opted to use 1/2 inch poplar. I actually purchased these lumber parts at my local Lowe's store. They sell 1/2 inch thick poplar lumber in 3 and 4 foot lengths. Again, I selected their straightest and flattest boards. The 3, 4, 5 and 7 inch wide 1/2 inch thick drawer parts are included in the image above. I intend to cut through dovetails for each drawer and I will resaw a 8/4 sapele board to use as false drawer fronts to make the drawer fronts look like half blind dovetails.
 

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#6 ·
Loose Tenons instead of Pocket Screws for Face Frame

One other change I am implementing on this tool cabinet build that is different from the Woodsmith plan is how I was fastening the face frame. In the Woodsmith plan they used pocket screws to fasten the face frame together. If I wanted to do it the easy way, I would use my pocket screw jig and supplies to fasten this face frame. In the end I may have wished I done it that way. Instead I want to use loose tenons for this work. I am doing this because I haven't done loose tenons until now. I have built several jigs to route mortises but really I have not put them to use. Now I will. I really intend to learn this process.

I began the process of using loose tenons by cutting the materials. During my prior milling process I had already ripped poplar parts to 1/4 inch thickness by resawing it on my table saw. I determined the widths my my loose tenons by taking the widths of my face frame's rails. With the 1/4 inch thick strips, I ripped the widths I needed for the two tenon widths. Then I setup my router table and used a 1/8 inch roundover bit. After testing this setup with a scrap piece, I rounded over the tenon material. I use a padded sandpaper piece to lightly sand the tenon strips so the small ridges, etc where gone, or smooth.
Wood Gas Bumper Flooring Electric blue


After measuring the maximum length of the 1/4" upcut router bit I could get with the bit seated in my plunge router, I decided on the length of my tenons and thusly the depth of my mortises.
Wood Rectangle Triangle Hardwood Ruler


With a stop block I cut the lengths of these loose tenons using my crosscut sled on my table saw.
Wood Cookie cutter Flooring Hardwood Rectangle


Since this was the first time I have used this router mortising jig, I had a few things to fix with the knobs, etc. Two threaded bolts were a bit long. I marked their flush position on the back of the plate and cut them with my hacksaw. The toggle clamp block interfered with the knob I use to adjust the the panel that holds the rail up and tight against the top panel that houses the plunge router. I trimmed that edge of the block using my Incra miter gauge set at 45 degrees since that edge was at that angle and cut about 3/16 inches off at the table saw. It worked. The knob I needed to turn had its clearance.
Wood Table Workbench Machine tool Engineering


This day was a long one. So far I was only testing the mortising jig on a scrap pieces. I will finish that process tomorrow, Tuesday.

I put all of my equipment and tables back into their storage spots. I drove my vehicles back into the garage so the snow storm coming wouldn't dump on them overnight.
Hood Car Vehicle Motor vehicle Automotive design
 

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#7 ·
Loose Tenons instead of Pocket Screws for Face Frame

One other change I am implementing on this tool cabinet build that is different from the Woodsmith plan is how I was fastening the face frame. In the Woodsmith plan they used pocket screws to fasten the face frame together. If I wanted to do it the easy way, I would use my pocket screw jig and supplies to fasten this face frame. In the end I may have wished I done it that way. Instead I want to use loose tenons for this work. I am doing this because I haven't done loose tenons until now. I have built several jigs to route mortises but really I have not put them to use. Now I will. I really intend to learn this process.

I began the process of using loose tenons by cutting the materials. During my prior milling process I had already ripped poplar parts to 1/4 inch thickness by resawing it on my table saw. I determined the widths my my loose tenons by taking the widths of my face frame's rails. With the 1/4 inch thick strips, I ripped the widths I needed for the two tenon widths. Then I setup my router table and used a 1/8 inch roundover bit. After testing this setup with a scrap piece, I rounded over the tenon material. I use a padded sandpaper piece to lightly sand the tenon strips so the small ridges, etc where gone, or smooth.
Wood Gas Bumper Flooring Electric blue


After measuring the maximum length of the 1/4" upcut router bit I could get with the bit seated in my plunge router, I decided on the length of my tenons and thusly the depth of my mortises.
Wood Rectangle Triangle Hardwood Ruler


With a stop block I cut the lengths of these loose tenons using my crosscut sled on my table saw.
Wood Cookie cutter Flooring Hardwood Rectangle


Since this was the first time I have used this router mortising jig, I had a few things to fix with the knobs, etc. Two threaded bolts were a bit long. I marked their flush position on the back of the plate and cut them with my hacksaw. The toggle clamp block interfered with the knob I use to adjust the the panel that holds the rail up and tight against the top panel that houses the plunge router. I trimmed that edge of the block using my Incra miter gauge set at 45 degrees since that edge was at that angle and cut about 3/16 inches off at the table saw. It worked. The knob I needed to turn had its clearance.
Wood Table Workbench Machine tool Engineering


This day was a long one. So far I was only testing the mortising jig on a scrap pieces. I will finish that process tomorrow, Tuesday.

I put all of my equipment and tables back into their storage spots. I drove my vehicles back into the garage so the snow storm coming wouldn't dump on them overnight.
Hood Car Vehicle Motor vehicle Automotive design
vehicles in the garage…i don't get it :)
 

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#13 ·
My Plan for Tomorrow: Wednesday January 25

What is the plan tomorrow?

Well, here is my list which I will report on after the day's work is done.

1) Sand the face frame then glue, pin and clamp it to the carcase.
2) Make hardwood plugs to fill the countersunk screw holes, glue them in place.
3) With a scrap piece of poplar test the saw blade height of 3/8 inches for cutting the center grooves on the poplar frame pieces. And, then cut those center grooves. First, centered on all parts and then with the rip fence adjusted, widen the center groove so a 1/4 inch Baltic Birch plywood fits snuggly.
4) With the grooves ripped, measure the dimensions for the panels and cut those panels on the table saw.
5) On the table saw cut the stub tenons for the frame parts to fit together with the panels.
6) I will take the 1/2 inch thick poplar boards that have been ripped already to their widths and crosscut them to the final lengths to make my seven drawers.
7) I will layout these drawers for through dovetails.

Wood Gesture Finger Font Wood stain


I will investigate further than I have prior to now on how to cut dovetails on my table saw. There is a Fine Woodworking Magazine article written by Gregory Paolini that explains how to cut dovetails on the table saw. I have been interested in learning and cutting dovetails with that method. Why not do it here with this project? Afterwards I will evaluate if I enjoy this method or not. If I like it and plan to use it more in the near future I will purchase the special saw blade that has its teeth filed to a specified angle so the kerf is flat at the top even though the blade has been tilted at the table saw.

The point of this method is to use power equipment but to make the pins thin so they appear to be hand cut dovetails. I 'll see how well I do.
 

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#14 ·
My Plan for Tomorrow: Wednesday January 25

What is the plan tomorrow?

Well, here is my list which I will report on after the day's work is done.

1) Sand the face frame then glue, pin and clamp it to the carcase.
2) Make hardwood plugs to fill the countersunk screw holes, glue them in place.
3) With a scrap piece of poplar test the saw blade height of 3/8 inches for cutting the center grooves on the poplar frame pieces. And, then cut those center grooves. First, centered on all parts and then with the rip fence adjusted, widen the center groove so a 1/4 inch Baltic Birch plywood fits snuggly.
4) With the grooves ripped, measure the dimensions for the panels and cut those panels on the table saw.
5) On the table saw cut the stub tenons for the frame parts to fit together with the panels.
6) I will take the 1/2 inch thick poplar boards that have been ripped already to their widths and crosscut them to the final lengths to make my seven drawers.
7) I will layout these drawers for through dovetails.

Wood Gesture Finger Font Wood stain


I will investigate further than I have prior to now on how to cut dovetails on my table saw. There is a Fine Woodworking Magazine article written by Gregory Paolini that explains how to cut dovetails on the table saw. I have been interested in learning and cutting dovetails with that method. Why not do it here with this project? Afterwards I will evaluate if I enjoy this method or not. If I like it and plan to use it more in the near future I will purchase the special saw blade that has its teeth filed to a specified angle so the kerf is flat at the top even though the blade has been tilted at the table saw.

The point of this method is to use power equipment but to make the pins thin so they appear to be hand cut dovetails. I 'll see how well I do.
How did the table saw dovetails go?
 

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#17 ·
Face Frame Attached and Plugs for Countersink Screw Holes

Time passed quickly today. I was only able to fasten the face frame to the cabinet case and plug the countersink screw holes today. However, it was a good day. I will use my hand plane to shave some of the excess width of the face frame tomorrow. There is a small fraction that needs to be trimmed.
Wood Floor Hardwood Flooring Wood stain


Automotive design Wheel Tire Wood Automotive exterior


Wood Gas Composite material Flooring Plywood


Also I started to pare flush the plugs. The remainder will be finished tomorrow.
Tableware Wood Finger Rectangle Bumper


Wood Flooring Floor Table Material property


Wood Material property Wood stain Hardwood Automotive exterior
 

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#18 ·
Face Frame Attached and Plugs for Countersink Screw Holes

Time passed quickly today. I was only able to fasten the face frame to the cabinet case and plug the countersink screw holes today. However, it was a good day. I will use my hand plane to shave some of the excess width of the face frame tomorrow. There is a small fraction that needs to be trimmed.
Wood Floor Hardwood Flooring Wood stain


Automotive design Wheel Tire Wood Automotive exterior


Wood Gas Composite material Flooring Plywood


Also I started to pare flush the plugs. The remainder will be finished tomorrow.
Tableware Wood Finger Rectangle Bumper


Wood Flooring Floor Table Material property


Wood Material property Wood stain Hardwood Automotive exterior
Have you found that a flush cut saw doesn't work in this situation?
 

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#21 ·
Frame Parts: Grooves and Stub Tenons

The last few days I have been milling and producing the frame parts for this frame and panel construction tool cabinet.
Wood Wood stain Hardwood Plank Composite material


The frame and panels are placed on the back of the case and the four doors on the front on the case; the two small doors on the top that cover adjustable shelves and the two large or long doors below. Inside these two long doors are seven drawers on the right side of the case and several adjustable shelves on the left side of the case.
Wood Table Wood stain Hardwood Composite material


The drawers consist of a large or deep drawer on the bottom that will be 7 1/4 inches tall, then two drawers on top of that with each being 5 inches tall or deep, then two drawers 4 inches deep and lastly two drawers that are 3 inches deep.
Window Wood Rectangle House Beige


This tool cabinet is being built on four lockable casters 4 inches tall. I am following the Woodsmith Roll Around Tool Cabinet plan published in their Shop Notes Library.
 

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#22 ·
Cut 1/4" Panels and Dry Fit Frames and Panels

I setup my small workbench as an in-feed for my table saw and my assembly table as its out-feed table so I could manage my 4 by 8 foot 1/4" Baltic Birch plywood sheet. First I ripped a strip 18 1/2" wide.
Table Furniture Wood Interior design Desk


With this strip I would trim the width further plus cross the seven drawer bottoms. With my circular saw I crosscut and end from the remaining sheet approximately 30 inches in length. The four 4 inch by 28 1/2 inch panels for the long drawer would be cut at the table saw. Plus I also used my circular saw to cut another end of the remaining sheet from which I would cut the two upper door panels at the table saw.
Table Furniture Wood Desk Floor


The remaining portion of the sheet I cut the back panels for the cabinet. So the image below shows the panels that were cut to lengths and width for the frame and panel structure.
Wood Rectangle Wood stain Font Beige


With the panels cuts I began to dry fit the frame and panels. The imag below shows the two long doors stacked on top of each other.
Table Wood Wood stain Plank Hardwood


The two small doors on the front of the cabinet is shown in the image below.
Wood Engineering Gas Machine Machine tool


The back frame panel dry fitted is shown below.
Wood Engineering Automotive exterior Composite material Gas


After dry fitting all of the frame and panels I began sanding the parts with 120 grit. I will finish sanding these parts tomorrow with 220. From that I will begin gluing and clamping these frame and panels together.

LESSONS LEARNED
There is a lot of work milling and cutting the frame parts for frame and panel construction. The panels cut quickly as long as you know their dimensions. With this Woodsmith plan I had those measurements. Only with the small door panels did I find I had to trim two edges to get the frames to match precisely. The fun or enjoyment comes from fitting the frames around the panels which I did with these dry fits. Since I milled my frame parts in two separate processes, I had some of the frame parts a bit thicker than the others. I notice this during my dry fitting phase. To get the frames to match in thickness, I used my #6 bench plane to shave the top and bottom surfaces until I had it thickness the same as the thinner parts for the frame. There were only a few parts that I had to size in this manner.
Plane Wood Hardwood Flooring Table
 

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#23 ·
Cut 1/4" Panels and Dry Fit Frames and Panels

I setup my small workbench as an in-feed for my table saw and my assembly table as its out-feed table so I could manage my 4 by 8 foot 1/4" Baltic Birch plywood sheet. First I ripped a strip 18 1/2" wide.
Table Furniture Wood Interior design Desk


With this strip I would trim the width further plus cross the seven drawer bottoms. With my circular saw I crosscut and end from the remaining sheet approximately 30 inches in length. The four 4 inch by 28 1/2 inch panels for the long drawer would be cut at the table saw. Plus I also used my circular saw to cut another end of the remaining sheet from which I would cut the two upper door panels at the table saw.
Table Furniture Wood Desk Floor


The remaining portion of the sheet I cut the back panels for the cabinet. So the image below shows the panels that were cut to lengths and width for the frame and panel structure.
Wood Rectangle Wood stain Font Beige


With the panels cuts I began to dry fit the frame and panels. The imag below shows the two long doors stacked on top of each other.
Table Wood Wood stain Plank Hardwood


The two small doors on the front of the cabinet is shown in the image below.
Wood Engineering Gas Machine Machine tool


The back frame panel dry fitted is shown below.
Wood Engineering Automotive exterior Composite material Gas


After dry fitting all of the frame and panels I began sanding the parts with 120 grit. I will finish sanding these parts tomorrow with 220. From that I will begin gluing and clamping these frame and panels together.

LESSONS LEARNED
There is a lot of work milling and cutting the frame parts for frame and panel construction. The panels cut quickly as long as you know their dimensions. With this Woodsmith plan I had those measurements. Only with the small door panels did I find I had to trim two edges to get the frames to match precisely. The fun or enjoyment comes from fitting the frames around the panels which I did with these dry fits. Since I milled my frame parts in two separate processes, I had some of the frame parts a bit thicker than the others. I notice this during my dry fitting phase. To get the frames to match in thickness, I used my #6 bench plane to shave the top and bottom surfaces until I had it thickness the same as the thinner parts for the frame. There were only a few parts that I had to size in this manner.
Plane Wood Hardwood Flooring Table
Coming along nicely… It'll be good to see the finished cabinet!
 

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#24 ·
Frame and Panel Back and Doors Glued and Clamped

After sanding all frame and panel parts to 220 grit, I dry fitted the back and doors again. My glue up of the back frame and panel was going to be done on my large assembly table. I knew this glue up would take a lot of time and patience. I selected Titebond III glue for its longer setup time.
Building Wood Table Toolroom Engineering


I would use my long pipe clamps for the long length clamping needs. The pipe clamps would be used to close the frames onto the panels so they would be seated firmly together. Width-wise I would be using my 48 inch long Jorgensen F-style clamps along the frame parts that span the width of the back panel. From my dry-fit tests I knew if I clamped the frames tightly to the panels that the whole back would be fitted together squarely.
Wood Floor Flooring Automotive exterior Composite material


The small and large doors would be glued up on my small workbench. I would be using my parallel clamps for these doors.
Wood Machine tool Gas Tool Toolroom


I did not want to leave these frame and panel doors and back under extreme clamping pressure for very long. I was afraid too much pressure in the clamps would cause some cupping. I did initially apply pressure so the frames and panels would seat well; thus, make the frame and panels squarely formed and glued together. I backed off the clamping pressure once I knew the parts had seated well together.

Wood Automotive design Rectangle Table Flooring


I will let the glue dry overnight before working on them further in order to hang the doors on the case's face frame.
 

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#25 ·
Fastened Frame and Panel Back onto Case

Again rehearsing dry clamping procedure helps to determine the best way to clamp this back to the case. What I learned was that I needed two long pipe clamps in order to make sure the frame and the case went together squarely. Plus I needed about a 1/8" thin shim piece on the bottom right side of the case just below the face frame so enough of the face frame would be proud of the case all along the right side of that case.
Wood Floor Flooring Gas Engineering


Once the clamping solution was determined in the dry fit, I unfastened the clamps, applied Titebond I glue, placed the frame and panel back onto the case, then applied the clamping solution.
Wood Flooring Floor Engineering Gas


I decided to shoot pin nails into the back frame panel so I could remove the clamps.

I also should report that I had done some study on what hinges I should use on this tool cabinet's four doors. The Woodsmith plan used H & L barn door type hinges. From the search I made for purchasing these hinge types their cost could have been at least $16 each. The plan did not specify the size of the HL hinges but from the images it looked like they were about 3 inches in height. I would have to order these hinges sight unseen over the Internet. Instead I made a trip to my local Woodcraft store to survey what they might have that would work with this cabinet. My analysis came down to two alternatives: Euro inset hinges and a sized right butt hinge.

I have installed inset Euro hinges before on other projects. I knew that these hinges would require that I drill a hole 1/2 inches deep into the door's frame. I decided against using Euro hinges. My door frames were made from 3/4" sanded lumber. After milling these boards the thickness of my door frames were probably 5/8 or 11/16 inches thick. I did not want to drill a hole that deep into these thin door frames.

I liked the mortised black butt hinges I found. Their costs was $12.00 each. I bought eight for the four doors.

This will be my first time installing butt hinges. I will be mortising in the hinges. I have watched a Fine Woodworking Magazine YouTube instruction for using a mortising jig.

I have also printed a few articles from their magazine. One of those articles is a Gregory Paolini article for cutting dovetails on the table saw.

I ordered a mortising straight bit with a 1/4 inch shaft. It will be delivered here Monday. I had also bought a similar straight pattern bit but with a 1/2 inch shaft. At this late stage of the project I will need to use my small Bosch Colt router since it has a smaller base that I will be able to mortise the hinge into the face frame that is already fastened to the plywood case. I could use the 1/2 inch shaft bit for mortising the hinges on the doors, but the 1/4" shaft will be needed for the face frame.
 

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#26 ·
Fastened Frame and Panel Back onto Case

Again rehearsing dry clamping procedure helps to determine the best way to clamp this back to the case. What I learned was that I needed two long pipe clamps in order to make sure the frame and the case went together squarely. Plus I needed about a 1/8" thin shim piece on the bottom right side of the case just below the face frame so enough of the face frame would be proud of the case all along the right side of that case.
Wood Floor Flooring Gas Engineering


Once the clamping solution was determined in the dry fit, I unfastened the clamps, applied Titebond I glue, placed the frame and panel back onto the case, then applied the clamping solution.
Wood Flooring Floor Engineering Gas


I decided to shoot pin nails into the back frame panel so I could remove the clamps.

I also should report that I had done some study on what hinges I should use on this tool cabinet's four doors. The Woodsmith plan used H & L barn door type hinges. From the search I made for purchasing these hinge types their cost could have been at least $16 each. The plan did not specify the size of the HL hinges but from the images it looked like they were about 3 inches in height. I would have to order these hinges sight unseen over the Internet. Instead I made a trip to my local Woodcraft store to survey what they might have that would work with this cabinet. My analysis came down to two alternatives: Euro inset hinges and a sized right butt hinge.

I have installed inset Euro hinges before on other projects. I knew that these hinges would require that I drill a hole 1/2 inches deep into the door's frame. I decided against using Euro hinges. My door frames were made from 3/4" sanded lumber. After milling these boards the thickness of my door frames were probably 5/8 or 11/16 inches thick. I did not want to drill a hole that deep into these thin door frames.

I liked the mortised black butt hinges I found. Their costs was $12.00 each. I bought eight for the four doors.

This will be my first time installing butt hinges. I will be mortising in the hinges. I have watched a Fine Woodworking Magazine YouTube instruction for using a mortising jig.

I have also printed a few articles from their magazine. One of those articles is a Gregory Paolini article for cutting dovetails on the table saw.

I ordered a mortising straight bit with a 1/4 inch shaft. It will be delivered here Monday. I had also bought a similar straight pattern bit but with a 1/2 inch shaft. At this late stage of the project I will need to use my small Bosch Colt router since it has a smaller base that I will be able to mortise the hinge into the face frame that is already fastened to the plywood case. I could use the 1/2 inch shaft bit for mortising the hinges on the doors, but the 1/4" shaft will be needed for the face frame.
In order to cut my drawer dovetails on my table saw, I am going to follow a Gregory Paolini article in Fine Woodworking Magazine. This article appeared in the January/ February 2013 issue on pages 46-50. The above reference to a YouTube presentation also demonstrates this article's procedure.

Today I made the two L-shape fences that I will need to cut the dovetails for the side boards and the other fence for cutting the pins on the front and back drawer parts.
Furniture Wood Chair Flooring Floor


Instead of mounting these fences to my Saw Stop miter gauge, I will mount these fences to my INCRA 1000HD miter gauge. I have determined I will mount these fences per the INCRA manual instructions for mounting a sub-fence to the INCRA miter gauge fence as shown on page 7 of the manual. My local hardware store was closed today so I was lucky that I found the socket head screws specified in the manual: socket head 1/4" - 3/4" long 20 tpi. I believe I have some 1/4 - 20 rectangular nuts in my shop from leftover INCRA supplies. I will countersink the drill holes in these L-fences tomorrow.

Also I have begun wondering if I really want to paint this tool chest. I have enjoyed the grain I have with the poplar hardwood I have used. The case is made from nice maple plywood. I have Charles Neil's Color Recipe book. In it he has a recipe for coloring poplar hardwood so it looks like walnut. I am thinking I may dye this tool cabinet with TransTint dye for a walnut color. To do this Charles first dyes poplar to his medium walnut recipe and then follows that directly with his light walnut recipe. I am going to give this some thought. I know that shop projects should be used for testing different finishes. It might turn out well. We'll see…
 

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#27 ·
Made JIGs Today: Dovetail On Table Saw & Butt Hinge Mortising JIG

This roll around tool cabinet is a project I took on so I could learn new techniques and processes. This will be my first frame and panel project build. Besides that I have also chosen to use some new techniques in this build.

CUTTING DOVETAILS ON MY TABLE SAW BY USING L-SHAPED FENCE ON MITER GAUGE
Wood Flooring Floor Hardwood Workbench


I have seen others on the Internet use their table saw to cut dovetails. I will use a Gregory Paolini process to cut my dovetails and pins using L-style fences fastened to my INCRA 1000HD miter gauge. I am following my INCRA miter gauge manual for the instructions to make a sub-fence. I am using those dimensions for drilling the 3/4 inch diameter countersunk screw holes with a Forstner bit to a depth just over 3/8 inches deep and finishing drilling the through holes with a 5/16 inch diameter drill bit.

I expect delivery of the oval flat nuts 1/4" - 20 oval or rectangular nuts I ordered from Amazon.com this Wednesday. Until then I am using extra 7/16" hex nuts I have on hand. I did purchase four 1/4" socket head screw 3/4 inches long - 20 tpi at my local hardware store and additional screws at my local Lowe's store. You can see how those hex nuts are fitted into my aluminum INCRA fence in the photo shown below.
Wood Floor Flooring Gas Engineering


BUTT HINGE MORTISING JIG

I will also be using mortised butt hinges for the first time. So I have studied ways to mortise in the butt hinges. I will be making some simple mortising JIGS, I received my DADO cleaning router bit this morning. I bought it with a 1/4 inch shaft so I could use it with my Bosch Colt router. This router's base is small enough in order to cut these shallow mortises within 1 11/16 inches from the corner of the face frame where the butt hinge will be mounted.

I am building a few simple mortising JIGs so my butt hinges with be flush with the stiles and face frame where they will be installed. As I was laying out the dimensions for this jig I stumbled upon a standard process that I could use in order to move the jig from corner to corner on the face frame to cut the mortises. For instance, on the upper two doors, I wanted to start the mortise as close to the face frame's corner as I could. For these doors that is 1 11/16 inches from the corners. I can fit my Bosch Colt router's base with the 1/2 inch straight bearing guided bit to that position. I measured the length of my butt hinge to a small fraction over 2 inches. Thus, the 1/2 inch thick plywood plate I would cut the following dimensions: 2" plus 2*(1 11/16") equals 5 3/8 inches by 5 inches. The width of the butt hinge is 3/4 inches; however, my face frame is only 5/8 inch thick. Thus, my butt hinges will extend beyond the width of the face frame by about 1/8 inches. This means the hinges will be mortised across the width of the face frame.
Wood Shelving Shelf Wood stain Flooring


On my table saw I will cut a U shaped hole 3/4 inch deep, 2 inches wide centered along the 5 3/8 inch length. Along this length I will glue and fasten with pin brads a fence 7 1/2 inches in length and 2 3/8 inches in width. Centered along its length I will cut a U shaped hole 2 inches long and a width that accounts for the 1/2 inch thickness of the plywood plus the thickness of the butt hinge. I have set my mortising bit to that distance by taking actual measurement by feel: the butt hinge laid on top of the 1/2 inch plywood sitting on top of the router's base. I set the depth of the bit so the bit was flush with these items layered on the router's base.
Wood Wooden block Wood stain Flooring Hardwood


LARGE BOTTOM DOORS

I decided to start my butt hinges 2 1/2 inches down from the corner of the face frame where my large bottom doors will be hung. Thus, the plywood plate that my router will sit on to route the mortise for the hinge will be dimensioned thusly: 7 inches long by 5 inches wide. The U shaped hole that I will cut on my table saw will be centered along the 7 inch length. Again the butt hinge is 2 inches long and 3/4 inches wide.
Wood Floor Flooring Hardwood Table


The fence that I will glue and pin to the plate will have its dimensions of 9 inches long and 2 3/8 inches wide.
Wood Beam Material property Hardwood Wood stain


Since I have a 1 1/2" spacer glued to the inside of my cabinet so I can mount drawer slides in the lower right hand side of the case, I will need to make one more mortising JIG that will take into account this spacer that is proud of the inside of the face frame.
 

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#28 ·
Made JIGs Today: Dovetail On Table Saw & Butt Hinge Mortising JIG

This roll around tool cabinet is a project I took on so I could learn new techniques and processes. This will be my first frame and panel project build. Besides that I have also chosen to use some new techniques in this build.

CUTTING DOVETAILS ON MY TABLE SAW BY USING L-SHAPED FENCE ON MITER GAUGE
Wood Flooring Floor Hardwood Workbench


I have seen others on the Internet use their table saw to cut dovetails. I will use a Gregory Paolini process to cut my dovetails and pins using L-style fences fastened to my INCRA 1000HD miter gauge. I am following my INCRA miter gauge manual for the instructions to make a sub-fence. I am using those dimensions for drilling the 3/4 inch diameter countersunk screw holes with a Forstner bit to a depth just over 3/8 inches deep and finishing drilling the through holes with a 5/16 inch diameter drill bit.

I expect delivery of the oval flat nuts 1/4" - 20 oval or rectangular nuts I ordered from Amazon.com this Wednesday. Until then I am using extra 7/16" hex nuts I have on hand. I did purchase four 1/4" socket head screw 3/4 inches long - 20 tpi at my local hardware store and additional screws at my local Lowe's store. You can see how those hex nuts are fitted into my aluminum INCRA fence in the photo shown below.
Wood Floor Flooring Gas Engineering


BUTT HINGE MORTISING JIG

I will also be using mortised butt hinges for the first time. So I have studied ways to mortise in the butt hinges. I will be making some simple mortising JIGS, I received my DADO cleaning router bit this morning. I bought it with a 1/4 inch shaft so I could use it with my Bosch Colt router. This router's base is small enough in order to cut these shallow mortises within 1 11/16 inches from the corner of the face frame where the butt hinge will be mounted.

I am building a few simple mortising JIGs so my butt hinges with be flush with the stiles and face frame where they will be installed. As I was laying out the dimensions for this jig I stumbled upon a standard process that I could use in order to move the jig from corner to corner on the face frame to cut the mortises. For instance, on the upper two doors, I wanted to start the mortise as close to the face frame's corner as I could. For these doors that is 1 11/16 inches from the corners. I can fit my Bosch Colt router's base with the 1/2 inch straight bearing guided bit to that position. I measured the length of my butt hinge to a small fraction over 2 inches. Thus, the 1/2 inch thick plywood plate I would cut the following dimensions: 2" plus 2*(1 11/16") equals 5 3/8 inches by 5 inches. The width of the butt hinge is 3/4 inches; however, my face frame is only 5/8 inch thick. Thus, my butt hinges will extend beyond the width of the face frame by about 1/8 inches. This means the hinges will be mortised across the width of the face frame.
Wood Shelving Shelf Wood stain Flooring


On my table saw I will cut a U shaped hole 3/4 inch deep, 2 inches wide centered along the 5 3/8 inch length. Along this length I will glue and fasten with pin brads a fence 7 1/2 inches in length and 2 3/8 inches in width. Centered along its length I will cut a U shaped hole 2 inches long and a width that accounts for the 1/2 inch thickness of the plywood plus the thickness of the butt hinge. I have set my mortising bit to that distance by taking actual measurement by feel: the butt hinge laid on top of the 1/2 inch plywood sitting on top of the router's base. I set the depth of the bit so the bit was flush with these items layered on the router's base.
Wood Wooden block Wood stain Flooring Hardwood


LARGE BOTTOM DOORS

I decided to start my butt hinges 2 1/2 inches down from the corner of the face frame where my large bottom doors will be hung. Thus, the plywood plate that my router will sit on to route the mortise for the hinge will be dimensioned thusly: 7 inches long by 5 inches wide. The U shaped hole that I will cut on my table saw will be centered along the 7 inch length. Again the butt hinge is 2 inches long and 3/4 inches wide.
Wood Floor Flooring Hardwood Table


The fence that I will glue and pin to the plate will have its dimensions of 9 inches long and 2 3/8 inches wide.
Wood Beam Material property Hardwood Wood stain


Since I have a 1 1/2" spacer glued to the inside of my cabinet so I can mount drawer slides in the lower right hand side of the case, I will need to make one more mortising JIG that will take into account this spacer that is proud of the inside of the face frame.
Today I completed making the third hinge mortising jig. This jig was made for the lower right door hinges for the tool cabinet. On this ride side is where the drawers will be mounted. A 1 1/2" thick spacer was glued on the right side of the cabinet, the plywood side so the drawer slides will mount to it. This spacer is 1/4" proud of the face frame; thus requiring its own hinge mortising JIG. The additional 1/4" needed to mortise the face frame had to be taken into account.

So in summary, I needed three hinge mortising JIGs: one for the two top small doors and two hinge mortising JIGS for the bottom doors, one for the left side and another separate one for the right side door.
Wood Shelving Hardwood Bookcase Table
 

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#29 ·
Sixteen Hinge Mortises Routed

With the mortising jigs made, I clamped and routed the butt mortises on the doors.
Wood Flooring Hardwood Tool Wood stain


Once the mortises were routed on the doors, I positioned the doors in the case opening taking into account the gaps I needed when all of the doors were shut. I had shims placed between the face frame and the bottom of the doors to measure these gaps. A few doors I have to hand plane to make the gaps even and the same. Once that was completed I marked the corresponding location of the hinges on the face frame with a pencil.
Shelf Wood Shelving Wood stain Rectangle


Special attention had to be given to the mortises where the 1 1/2 inch thick spacers were placed on the bottom righthand side of the case. This is where the drawer slides will be mounted for the full extension drawers. Since the spacers are proud of the face frame's width, the mortising jig and the router bit was about 1/4 inch deeper.
 

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#30 ·
Dovetails Cut on Table Saw is Possible but Time Consuming

I have spent several hours attempting to cut dovetails on my table saw. I have been using spare milled lumber milled to the same dimensions of my 3 inch tall drawer parts. Cutting the side board dovetails was straight forward. The process was okay. I tilted my saw blade to 8 degrees based on my Wixey digital angle gauge. This angle will be used to cut the dovetails in the side boards. Eight degrees will also be used to angle the fence that will be used to cut the pins in the front and back drawer parts.
Rectangle Wood Table Material property Flooring


Cutting the pins in the front and back parts was a more complicated process for me. The first major issue I discovered was that even though I had not lower or changed the height the attempt to clean out the waste between the kerf edges did not clean out well. I had to use my hand chisels. After working on this it still requires more work. I will work on perfecting this joint more tomorrow. However, I am thinking that the use of a table saw to cut dovetails so the narrow pins can look like their were hand cut will not be a good use of my time.
Wood Wood stain Hardwood Automotive exterior Plank


I own a Leigh D4R dovetail jig. I have used it often. At this stage of this project, I am inclined to abandon the table saw and pick up my router to cut dovetails for these seven drawers. I will sleep on this tonight and confront my issues on this subject tomorrow.
 

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#31 ·
Dovetails Cut on Table Saw is Possible but Time Consuming

I have spent several hours attempting to cut dovetails on my table saw. I have been using spare milled lumber milled to the same dimensions of my 3 inch tall drawer parts. Cutting the side board dovetails was straight forward. The process was okay. I tilted my saw blade to 8 degrees based on my Wixey digital angle gauge. This angle will be used to cut the dovetails in the side boards. Eight degrees will also be used to angle the fence that will be used to cut the pins in the front and back drawer parts.
Rectangle Wood Table Material property Flooring


Cutting the pins in the front and back parts was a more complicated process for me. The first major issue I discovered was that even though I had not lower or changed the height the attempt to clean out the waste between the kerf edges did not clean out well. I had to use my hand chisels. After working on this it still requires more work. I will work on perfecting this joint more tomorrow. However, I am thinking that the use of a table saw to cut dovetails so the narrow pins can look like their were hand cut will not be a good use of my time.
Wood Wood stain Hardwood Automotive exterior Plank


I own a Leigh D4R dovetail jig. I have used it often. At this stage of this project, I am inclined to abandon the table saw and pick up my router to cut dovetails for these seven drawers. I will sleep on this tonight and confront my issues on this subject tomorrow.
I tried that technique as well, based on an article in Fine Woodworking. I quickly abandoned the idea, because it took far too long, and didn't feel safe. You are also cutting to a pencil line for each part, so no more accurate than hand cut dovetails. Well, I suppose you are more likely to get plumb cut pins, but no real control of the pin width.

I have a P.C. 4210, Leigh Superjig, and an Akeda. I use the Akeda.
It makes dovetails that look just like your photo, but they are fun and easy to make.
Rout one, or rout a hundred… it doesn't matter, they all come out great.

Thanks for posting.
 

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#33 ·
Cut Dovetails with My Leigh D4R JIG

Seven drawers that I decided to cut through dovetails instead of using a drawer lock router bit. One drawers in this tool cabinet is 7 1/8 inch tall. The rest come in pairs with the following dept or heights: 5 inches, 4 inches and lastly 3 inches. They are all 17 3/4 inches long and 14 inches wide.

The image below shows the set of two drawer boxes that are 3 inches tall. The rest of the drawer parts are stacked next to these boxes. I will be resawing the 8/4 rough sawn sapele plank that I bought at my favorite hardwood store. These 1/4 inch thick resaw parts I will fasten as false drawer fronts on all seven drawers. These false drawer fronts will make the through dovetails look like half-blind dovetails.
Wood Gas Hardwood Composite material Flooring


I also took images of the Leigh jig during the process of routing the dovetails and pins.
Wood Rectangle Flooring Gas Tints and shades


The above image shows the depth of cut setting of the dovetail bit.

Rectangle Wood Composite material Soil Artifact

The straight bit was used here to route out the waste on the pin board. You can clearly see where the tails will fit into this front or back drawer part.
 

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#34 ·
Began Hanging Doors and Marked Drawers for Routing Grooves

Finally, I began hanging the doors on this cabinet. After hanging the first door, I decided to change the method or steps of this process. I determined it would be easier for me to fasten the butt hinge first to the case's face frame. Since I have routed the mortises on the doors as well as on the face frame of the case, I was confident that these mortises for the hinges were aligned very close to their final position. I did discover that micro adjustments may have to be made when I hung the first door. Those micro adjustments of position or size of the mortise would be easier made in the door rather than on the face frame. Thus, that is why I fastened all of the hinges on the face frame after hanging the first door. This is shown in the following image.

Table Wood Workbench Wheel Shelving


Tomorrow I will finish hanging the remaining three doors.

i also dry fitted all seven drawer parts before quitting work for the day. I took a pencil to mark the location I will route grooves so the plywood bottoms can be inserted.

Wood Flooring Floor Hardwood Building
 

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#35 ·
All Doors Finally Are Hung

Before hanging the remaining three doors it was clear to me that I should mount the magnetic door catches first. After analyzing the location where I should mount them, I decided they should be mounted out-of-sight on the face frame; not into the doors themselves. I was going to drill a 11/32 inch diameter hole in the face frame above the doors about one inch from the center of the cabinet. The striker plate would be fastened below the magnetic catch on top of the doors. It also became clear that with an indent of the striker plate that I should cut a mortise about 5/16 inches in diameter with my small plunge router. The thickness or depth of this mortise would be the thickness of the striker plate's indent.

The image below shows the four magnetic catches glued into their positions. I used Gorilla glue. As may be noted I turned my cabinet upside down so I could manage drilling these holes easier. I used a drill bit guide with my handheld drill to make sure the hole I made would be perfectly vertical. I began drilling with a 5/16 inch diameter drill bit. I used blue tape to mark the depth I wanted to use as a stopl I finished drilling these holes with my 11/32 inch diameter drill bit.

Pneumatic tool Handheld power drill Drill Hammer drill Tool


I needed an extra pair of hands to hang these doors with the mortised, inset butt hinges. I did try using double-sided tape, but that didn't work. I thought about using my hot glue gun, but it wasn't in my shop. Maybe I should have searched my storage area in my basement , but asking for my Annie's help was the easiest thing to do. She was great.

When it came to adding the last door, it became clear that I needed to trim the width of the door so it could fit into its space. I kind of penciled marked the edge that needed trimming and noted mentally how much should be trimmed with my bench plane I chose to use my #6 Woodriver plane in order to make sure I planed a flat and even surface. I also decided that I would angle the plane's blade so more of the inside edge would be removed. By planing it this way I would be angling the edge to give clearance to close the door without rubbing the other door.
Wood Tool Workbench Hardwood Wood stain


Tomorrow I will need to add more screws. I will also begin to work on the castered bottom and the breadboard ends top plate.
Wood Gas Workbench Hardwood Engineering
 

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#36 ·
All Doors Finally Are Hung

Before hanging the remaining three doors it was clear to me that I should mount the magnetic door catches first. After analyzing the location where I should mount them, I decided they should be mounted out-of-sight on the face frame; not into the doors themselves. I was going to drill a 11/32 inch diameter hole in the face frame above the doors about one inch from the center of the cabinet. The striker plate would be fastened below the magnetic catch on top of the doors. It also became clear that with an indent of the striker plate that I should cut a mortise about 5/16 inches in diameter with my small plunge router. The thickness or depth of this mortise would be the thickness of the striker plate's indent.

The image below shows the four magnetic catches glued into their positions. I used Gorilla glue. As may be noted I turned my cabinet upside down so I could manage drilling these holes easier. I used a drill bit guide with my handheld drill to make sure the hole I made would be perfectly vertical. I began drilling with a 5/16 inch diameter drill bit. I used blue tape to mark the depth I wanted to use as a stopl I finished drilling these holes with my 11/32 inch diameter drill bit.

Pneumatic tool Handheld power drill Drill Hammer drill Tool


I needed an extra pair of hands to hang these doors with the mortised, inset butt hinges. I did try using double-sided tape, but that didn't work. I thought about using my hot glue gun, but it wasn't in my shop. Maybe I should have searched my storage area in my basement , but asking for my Annie's help was the easiest thing to do. She was great.

When it came to adding the last door, it became clear that I needed to trim the width of the door so it could fit into its space. I kind of penciled marked the edge that needed trimming and noted mentally how much should be trimmed with my bench plane I chose to use my #6 Woodriver plane in order to make sure I planed a flat and even surface. I also decided that I would angle the plane's blade so more of the inside edge would be removed. By planing it this way I would be angling the edge to give clearance to close the door without rubbing the other door.
Wood Tool Workbench Hardwood Wood stain


Tomorrow I will need to add more screws. I will also begin to work on the castered bottom and the breadboard ends top plate.
Wood Gas Workbench Hardwood Engineering
ISSUES WITH DOORS CLOSING

I continued working on the doors today. I installed the striker plates or buttons on the topside of the doors since I drilled and installed the magnets above the doors. As I stated in the previous entry I turned the cabinet upside down to make the drilled holes.

I chose to use my Bosch Colt 1 hp router within its plunge holder. I determined the plunge depth based on the thickness of the metal buttons thickness. Pinpointing the location of the hole you would think it would be obvious and easy, but there are always issues. At least these holes would b covered by the metal buttons.

What was disappointing is that the doors do not close easily. I need to find a source of help giving me instructions of how to adjust insert butt hinges so I can solve the door closing issues. This is so frustrating. Is it a situation where even if you perfectly mortise the butt hinge so its surface is perfectly flush to the face frame that holds it and then for some mystery the door will not close? It seems that way because I spent so much time cutting the mortises and getting the butt hinges to fit perfectly flush to the face frame.

Like anything that frustrates me; I will sleep on the issue. Maybe in a dream or a flash of revelation I will find instructions of how to adjust the hinges so the doors will close better.

One thing for sure I will be looking for stronger and large magnets to hold and catch the doors tightly. Heck, I may need a hook to hold these doors shut.

Tool Wood Flooring Floor Gas


The image above was my first idea of how to add support for my router to plunge 5/16" diameter holes for the button plates to fit into. Since I added a fence to the plunge holder I decided to use the thick MDF only; this is the second block from the top. This way one setting for the plunge router's fence was needed. All I had to do was move the MDF block support to the next door I was going to route.

ADDITIONAL STEPS TO COMPLETE TOOL CABINET

Besides working on the magnetic catches, I also ripped the 3/8" poplar that I will use to cover the ply edges of the cabinet base. I will miter these ends.

The plan called for 4 inch casters. I have 5 inch swivel lock casters on hand. I will use those for this roll around tool cabinet.

The plan calls for 16 #14 - 1 inch panhead screws used with washers. I have nine of these 1 inch long screws. I may purchase the additional seven, but I do have sixteen #14 - 3/4 inch panhead screws. I may use those if I can determine if I can get enough threads into the base plate to hold the casters firmly.

I also studied how I might cut the grooves on the top plate where I will fit poplar breadboard ends. I already have the breadboard ends milled and cut along with their stub tenons. I could use a router bit to cut the 1/4 inch thick grooves, but I doubt I could get it perfectly centered on the plywood base. Micro-adjusting the router in my router table would be an ever ending process, I think.

An easier solution, I think, would be to cut the grooves on my table saw. With a tall fence and a rip blade on my table saw and adjusting the distance between the fence and the blade I can get a centered groove easily. I just need to get that distance set with a sample plywood piece first. This is what I will do.
 

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#37 ·
After Today, What's Left? Glue and Some Screws...

Let's see, what did I get done today?

The corbells… I had to draw the shape of the corbell. All of that was straight forward. With a photocopy of my scaled drawing, I glued it to 1/4 MDF. With my spokeshave I smoothed the curved surfaces. I had already cut four poplar blocks to the same dimensions. Since they were all the same size I used double-sided tape to hold the four parts together. Then I cut the corbell shape out on my bandsaw. Some more spokeshave sork and then the use of a sanding block and a sanding disk on my floor drill press I had the shape refined and ready for glue and fastening to the cabinet tomorrow.


I did use my table saw with a combination blade to cut the grooves in the plywood top in which I will install the breadboard end stub tenons. I worked out the distance from my tall fence to the blade with a scrap piece of plywood. I determined to get a tight fit with the scrap plywood piece. I would make necessary adjustments with my shoulder plane on the stub tenons in order to fit the stub tenons into the grooves.



I have already glued on poplar hardwood to cover the plies on the top plate. Therefore, I will make the stub tenons a tight fit into the grooves in the plywood top. Therefore, I will either hand plane the excess thickness from these hardwood strips or rip the thickness on my table saw and then hand plane to match the breadboard end widths to the width of the plywood top with the hardwood strips glued on. There is enough thickness in the hardwood strips to get these widths the same as the breadboard ends.



I also cut the 45 degree miter ends on the 3/8 poplar strips I had ripped last evening. I have cut these miter strips to their final lengths so all I have to do tomorrow is glue and clamp them on to the bottom plate. After that I will fasten the four 5 inch swivel locking casters to the underside of the bottom plate. Then it will be ready to glue and screw to the bottom of the tool cabinet.


The top plate with the breadboard ends will also be ready to glue and clamp to the tool cabinet tomorrow.

The corbel's will be glued and rubbed fastened into place under the top plate after it is in place.
 

Attachments

#38 ·
Final Stages on This Tool Cabinet

Today I glued and clamped the poplar breadboard ends to the the top plywood plate as well as the 3/8 inch thick trim around the base plate to cover its plies. Tomorrow I will need to trim the sides of this breadboard top. I will do that at my Saw Stop or I may use my #6 WoodRiver bench plane. We'll see what will work best; maybe both.

Wood Floor Table Flooring Hardwood


After I completed the steps listed above I determined my next step would be to resaw the large Sapele plank. I calculated that about 1/4 inch thick veneer would give me nice drawer fronts for my seven drawers. At MacBeaths Hardwood I selected a very nice plank of 8/4 rough sawn Sapele for this very purpose.

Wood Rectangle Table Flooring Floor


Since the plank was very flat and straight and about 8 1/2 inches wide (my jointer is 8 inches), I decided to scuff plane this plank in my Grizzly 15 inch thickness planer. I got one side nice and flat. I actually scuffed planed lightly both surfaces that were opposite of each other. I eventually concentrated on one surface and got it nicely flat. I took the plank to my jointer to get an edge square to this surface. With an edge square I ripped the other side on my table saw so I would have a four square and flat plank to work with at my bandsaw for resawing veneer.er seemed like a good process to take. Once I flatten one surface flat, I took the plank to my jointer to get an edge flat and 90 degrees to the flat surface. With an edge square to the first flat surface, I got the opposite surface planed parallel to the first. Then I ripped the other edge on my table saw.

I used my yellow shop pencil to etch out several lines on the edges to approximately 3/8 inches apart. These were guide lines for resawing these parts at my bandsaw. I have a 1/2 Wood Slicer resaw blade that I bought from Highland Woodworking. I also have a 3/4 inch Wood Slicer blade in my shop, butBI felt this 1/2 blade would work nicely, and it did!

Wood Table Wood stain Hardwood Workbench


Oh, I do have a tall resaw fence on the other side of this plank. Really, I do. I bought the Grizzly resaw fence with the bandsaw. It was an option that I added to the price of the Anniversary edition. Hint: don't be a dummy like me if you are going to add the resaw fence option. I could have upgraded the bandsaw with the resaw fence and an additional feature or two for the same total price that I paid. I think the upgrade, if I had done that, would have been better bearings, or something like that. Oh, well. So it goes.

After resawing each 3/8 thick plank, I would take the large plank back to my planer to smooth plane the just cut surface so it would be flat and parallel to the original reference surface. I did this so I could continue resawing drawer front veneers at my bandsaw. I ended up with four planks about 1/4 inch thick. Three of these are needed to cut seven false drawer fronts.

Once I completed the resaw process, I added my "thin stock" table insert in my planer so I could get the resawn surface flat and smooth. I did that for all four resawn 1/4 inch thick planks. That thickness dimension is approximate. I calculated I had up to 3/4 inches that I could add as drawer fronts and still have room to do so in my cabinet. These drawer fronts will give me plenty of space.

I will use a 1 1/2 inch Forstner bit to cut "finger pull holes" in these veneered drawer fronts. Before gluing the drawers together, I will double tape the Sapele false drawer fronts to the poplar drawer fronts and then make a jig that I can clamp to my drill press' table so I can drill each finger pull hole. Only a half circle will be drilled into the drawer fronts for these finger pulls. If I do it right, these fronts should look very nice and simple.

Furniture Table Wood Wood stain Plank


When glued onto my drawers the through dovetails at the drawer front will look as though they are half-blind dovetails. Apparently, Gregory Paolini is given much credit for this techniques at Fine Woodworking Magazine. I doubt he was the first to think of this technique, but they do give him credit for it; so I will too.

Before I cleaned my shop to return it to a garage to park my vehicles in for the night, I decided to route the 1/4 inch grooves in my drawer parts. I made sure I marked on my router table and fence the start and stop location for the grooves I would cut in my drawer fronts and backs. I may cut the backs off at the top of the groove location, but for now I used stopped grooves for the fronts and backs for these drawers.

Yes, the position and locations of these grooves were pre-planned and incorporated into the layout of my symmetrical dovetail design. The pin width at the corners were designed to cover the grooves needed to insert the drawer plywood bottoms. Hopefully, I started and stopped the grooves at the correct positions so I do not need to do any bench chisel work. I messed up grooves like these on a previous project. Hopefully, I learned my lesson then and won't repeat it with this project.

I own a Bosch 1/2 shank set of router bits to cut grooves to fit 1/4", 1/2" and 3/4" plywoods. I like this set because of their 1/2 shanks.

Wood Office ruler Rectangle Floor Flooring

I took a photo of the start and stop locations that I had marked on the table and fence with a pencil. I did not take a photo of the grooves I cut in all seven drawers. Maybe I will get that tomorrow.

Wood Wood stain Flooring Hardwood Varnish


So on my schedule tomorrow I will fasten the breadboard top to the cabinet. I may run screws up from inside the cabinet to hold the breadboard top to the cabinet. I think that would be a good idea rather than just trust I could glue and clamp it well enough to hold the top on tight. I will probably screw the casters on the bottom base before fasten the base to the cabinet with glue and screws. I will use screws for sure in the bottom since I do not have to worry about the screw holes showing from the outside of the cabinet. Then I will glue the corbels in place with yellow glue with a "rub" joint.

Once all of the above is completed then I will turn to the remaining tasks needed with the seven drawers.

Of course, after all of this will come the finishing stages of this project. I will sand all surfaces thoroughly before ragging on my dye mix. I am using Charles Neil's color recipe for Red Cherry Mahogany. I am using TransTint water based liquid dyes for my mixtures. I will note that Mr Neil in all of his TransTint dye recipes that he adds 2 ounces of distilled water for every 2 ounces of the TransTint dye. Note: TransTint dyes comes in 2 ounce bottles. From there he specifies "parts" for the color recipes. I like that he does it that way rather than asking me to count drops. I cannot, like he said, see me counting 140 drops of dye. I use graduated containers and syringes to measure my "parts".

I have designed a spreadsheet listing all of the color recipes that Charles has in his book "Custom Colors". What I can do with this spreadsheet is specify the total volume of the color I want to mix. So I can enter say 16 ounces or say 500 milliliters of Red Cherry Mahogany and the spreadsheet will calculate how many ounces of this or that of TransTint dye diluted with distill water 1:1 that I need to add to so many ounces of distilled water to get Charles' color.

I can also use my spreadsheet in a different manner. If I have a certain amount of a TransTint dye left, I can take that amount and apply it in the spreadsheet to tell me how much of the other TransTint colors and distilled water I should use and mix. Does that make sense? An example to illustrate could be this: I can calculate how much Red Cherry Mahogany I can make if I only have say 1 ounce of Bright Red (1:) remaining on my shelf. With the calculated amount of Cordovan and distilled water with the remaining one ounce of bright red, my spreadsheet would tell me the total ounces I would make of Red Cherry Mahogany…

I mix all my dyes in an appropriate sized glass jar.

To protect Charles Neil's recipes I won't give his recipe for his Red Cherry Mahogany, but it does require so much distilled water along with his 1:1 dilution of TransTint colors of Cordovan and Bright Red. My spreadsheet takes Charles' "parts" of distilled water, Cordovan and Bright Red and mixes them all together to make his Red Cherry Mahogany dye. His book shows examples of his dyes on several species of hardwood. I liked what I saw for this dye on maple. I am hoping my poplar will look good as his walnut color did on poplar. I am excited to see how my shop tool cabinet will look after I have ragged on the dye, sealed it with a spray can of Shellac and then whatever top finish coat I decide to spray to finish it.

I am getting close to finishing this project. I am actually very excited. I can temper that by acknowledging that I have an article to read so I can fix my butt hanged doors. The magazine article that I found in which I hope will contain the answers I am seeking to fix my butt hinged door issues was written by master woodworker Christian Becksvoort, "Frame-and-Panel Doors made Easier", Fine Woodworking Magazine, March/April 2011, pp. 54-57. I have homework tonight…
 

Attachments

#39 ·
Final Stages on This Tool Cabinet

Today I glued and clamped the poplar breadboard ends to the the top plywood plate as well as the 3/8 inch thick trim around the base plate to cover its plies. Tomorrow I will need to trim the sides of this breadboard top. I will do that at my Saw Stop or I may use my #6 WoodRiver bench plane. We'll see what will work best; maybe both.

Wood Floor Table Flooring Hardwood


After I completed the steps listed above I determined my next step would be to resaw the large Sapele plank. I calculated that about 1/4 inch thick veneer would give me nice drawer fronts for my seven drawers. At MacBeaths Hardwood I selected a very nice plank of 8/4 rough sawn Sapele for this very purpose.

Wood Rectangle Table Flooring Floor


Since the plank was very flat and straight and about 8 1/2 inches wide (my jointer is 8 inches), I decided to scuff plane this plank in my Grizzly 15 inch thickness planer. I got one side nice and flat. I actually scuffed planed lightly both surfaces that were opposite of each other. I eventually concentrated on one surface and got it nicely flat. I took the plank to my jointer to get an edge square to this surface. With an edge square I ripped the other side on my table saw so I would have a four square and flat plank to work with at my bandsaw for resawing veneer.er seemed like a good process to take. Once I flatten one surface flat, I took the plank to my jointer to get an edge flat and 90 degrees to the flat surface. With an edge square to the first flat surface, I got the opposite surface planed parallel to the first. Then I ripped the other edge on my table saw.

I used my yellow shop pencil to etch out several lines on the edges to approximately 3/8 inches apart. These were guide lines for resawing these parts at my bandsaw. I have a 1/2 Wood Slicer resaw blade that I bought from Highland Woodworking. I also have a 3/4 inch Wood Slicer blade in my shop, butBI felt this 1/2 blade would work nicely, and it did!

Wood Table Wood stain Hardwood Workbench


Oh, I do have a tall resaw fence on the other side of this plank. Really, I do. I bought the Grizzly resaw fence with the bandsaw. It was an option that I added to the price of the Anniversary edition. Hint: don't be a dummy like me if you are going to add the resaw fence option. I could have upgraded the bandsaw with the resaw fence and an additional feature or two for the same total price that I paid. I think the upgrade, if I had done that, would have been better bearings, or something like that. Oh, well. So it goes.

After resawing each 3/8 thick plank, I would take the large plank back to my planer to smooth plane the just cut surface so it would be flat and parallel to the original reference surface. I did this so I could continue resawing drawer front veneers at my bandsaw. I ended up with four planks about 1/4 inch thick. Three of these are needed to cut seven false drawer fronts.

Once I completed the resaw process, I added my "thin stock" table insert in my planer so I could get the resawn surface flat and smooth. I did that for all four resawn 1/4 inch thick planks. That thickness dimension is approximate. I calculated I had up to 3/4 inches that I could add as drawer fronts and still have room to do so in my cabinet. These drawer fronts will give me plenty of space.

I will use a 1 1/2 inch Forstner bit to cut "finger pull holes" in these veneered drawer fronts. Before gluing the drawers together, I will double tape the Sapele false drawer fronts to the poplar drawer fronts and then make a jig that I can clamp to my drill press' table so I can drill each finger pull hole. Only a half circle will be drilled into the drawer fronts for these finger pulls. If I do it right, these fronts should look very nice and simple.

Furniture Table Wood Wood stain Plank


When glued onto my drawers the through dovetails at the drawer front will look as though they are half-blind dovetails. Apparently, Gregory Paolini is given much credit for this techniques at Fine Woodworking Magazine. I doubt he was the first to think of this technique, but they do give him credit for it; so I will too.

Before I cleaned my shop to return it to a garage to park my vehicles in for the night, I decided to route the 1/4 inch grooves in my drawer parts. I made sure I marked on my router table and fence the start and stop location for the grooves I would cut in my drawer fronts and backs. I may cut the backs off at the top of the groove location, but for now I used stopped grooves for the fronts and backs for these drawers.

Yes, the position and locations of these grooves were pre-planned and incorporated into the layout of my symmetrical dovetail design. The pin width at the corners were designed to cover the grooves needed to insert the drawer plywood bottoms. Hopefully, I started and stopped the grooves at the correct positions so I do not need to do any bench chisel work. I messed up grooves like these on a previous project. Hopefully, I learned my lesson then and won't repeat it with this project.

I own a Bosch 1/2 shank set of router bits to cut grooves to fit 1/4", 1/2" and 3/4" plywoods. I like this set because of their 1/2 shanks.

Wood Office ruler Rectangle Floor Flooring

I took a photo of the start and stop locations that I had marked on the table and fence with a pencil. I did not take a photo of the grooves I cut in all seven drawers. Maybe I will get that tomorrow.

Wood Wood stain Flooring Hardwood Varnish


So on my schedule tomorrow I will fasten the breadboard top to the cabinet. I may run screws up from inside the cabinet to hold the breadboard top to the cabinet. I think that would be a good idea rather than just trust I could glue and clamp it well enough to hold the top on tight. I will probably screw the casters on the bottom base before fasten the base to the cabinet with glue and screws. I will use screws for sure in the bottom since I do not have to worry about the screw holes showing from the outside of the cabinet. Then I will glue the corbels in place with yellow glue with a "rub" joint.

Once all of the above is completed then I will turn to the remaining tasks needed with the seven drawers.

Of course, after all of this will come the finishing stages of this project. I will sand all surfaces thoroughly before ragging on my dye mix. I am using Charles Neil's color recipe for Red Cherry Mahogany. I am using TransTint water based liquid dyes for my mixtures. I will note that Mr Neil in all of his TransTint dye recipes that he adds 2 ounces of distilled water for every 2 ounces of the TransTint dye. Note: TransTint dyes comes in 2 ounce bottles. From there he specifies "parts" for the color recipes. I like that he does it that way rather than asking me to count drops. I cannot, like he said, see me counting 140 drops of dye. I use graduated containers and syringes to measure my "parts".

I have designed a spreadsheet listing all of the color recipes that Charles has in his book "Custom Colors". What I can do with this spreadsheet is specify the total volume of the color I want to mix. So I can enter say 16 ounces or say 500 milliliters of Red Cherry Mahogany and the spreadsheet will calculate how many ounces of this or that of TransTint dye diluted with distill water 1:1 that I need to add to so many ounces of distilled water to get Charles' color.

I can also use my spreadsheet in a different manner. If I have a certain amount of a TransTint dye left, I can take that amount and apply it in the spreadsheet to tell me how much of the other TransTint colors and distilled water I should use and mix. Does that make sense? An example to illustrate could be this: I can calculate how much Red Cherry Mahogany I can make if I only have say 1 ounce of Bright Red (1:) remaining on my shelf. With the calculated amount of Cordovan and distilled water with the remaining one ounce of bright red, my spreadsheet would tell me the total ounces I would make of Red Cherry Mahogany…

I mix all my dyes in an appropriate sized glass jar.

To protect Charles Neil's recipes I won't give his recipe for his Red Cherry Mahogany, but it does require so much distilled water along with his 1:1 dilution of TransTint colors of Cordovan and Bright Red. My spreadsheet takes Charles' "parts" of distilled water, Cordovan and Bright Red and mixes them all together to make his Red Cherry Mahogany dye. His book shows examples of his dyes on several species of hardwood. I liked what I saw for this dye on maple. I am hoping my poplar will look good as his walnut color did on poplar. I am excited to see how my shop tool cabinet will look after I have ragged on the dye, sealed it with a spray can of Shellac and then whatever top finish coat I decide to spray to finish it.

I am getting close to finishing this project. I am actually very excited. I can temper that by acknowledging that I have an article to read so I can fix my butt hanged doors. The magazine article that I found in which I hope will contain the answers I am seeking to fix my butt hinged door issues was written by master woodworker Christian Becksvoort, "Frame-and-Panel Doors made Easier", Fine Woodworking Magazine, March/April 2011, pp. 54-57. I have homework tonight…
This is my first time using 1/4 inch Baltic Birch plywood for drawer bottoms. Hey, I should have realized that this plywood is full thickness unlike the domestic plywood I have used for drawer bottoms prior to this project.

Table Wood Desk Hardwood Engineering


So I have setup my router table and fence so I can reroute these grooves with a,full sized 1/4 inch uncut router bit. Setup should be easy. After this I will cut my Sapele false drawer fronts. I will use double sided tape to fix them to the poplar fronts so I can drill the fingers holes.

That is my mission this morning.
 

Attachments

#40 ·
Router a Recess Area for a Drawer Finger Pull?

Below is an image I took of the seven drawers stacked upon each other. In the image the drawers are just dry fitted. The dovetail drawer material is poplar with sapele hardwood fastened to the drawer fronts with double-side tape for the moment. I have not used any oil or finish on the hardwood as yet so its grain is not showing off as well as it will when oiled. However, it is already beautiful.

I liked this look so much that I decided not to follow the plan I am using by drilling semi-circles as finger holes to pull the drawer open. Instead I hope to use my router with a cove bit to route a recess on the top backside of the drawer front. That recess along with my calculation of 5/8" gap between each drawer should be enough to stick a finger in to pull open each drawer in this tool cabinet I am building.

Shelf Wood Shelving Wood stain Flooring


My search on the Internet to find a solution that I could follow in order to route a recess area on the upper backside of my drawer fronts found this link below. The AskWoodMan uses a shop-made router guide to make his recesses.

AskWoodMan Uses Router Guide to Create Recess Area for Finger Pulls.

After I posted the above link I found a better and easier process for routing a finger recess area under the bottom edge of my drawers. I will experiment with with some scrap pieces of wood first.

My most likely method to use on my drawers...
 

Attachments

#41 ·
Router a Recess Area for a Drawer Finger Pull?

Below is an image I took of the seven drawers stacked upon each other. In the image the drawers are just dry fitted. The dovetail drawer material is poplar with sapele hardwood fastened to the drawer fronts with double-side tape for the moment. I have not used any oil or finish on the hardwood as yet so its grain is not showing off as well as it will when oiled. However, it is already beautiful.

I liked this look so much that I decided not to follow the plan I am using by drilling semi-circles as finger holes to pull the drawer open. Instead I hope to use my router with a cove bit to route a recess on the top backside of the drawer front. That recess along with my calculation of 5/8" gap between each drawer should be enough to stick a finger in to pull open each drawer in this tool cabinet I am building.

Shelf Wood Shelving Wood stain Flooring


My search on the Internet to find a solution that I could follow in order to route a recess area on the upper backside of my drawer fronts found this link below. The AskWoodMan uses a shop-made router guide to make his recesses.

AskWoodMan Uses Router Guide to Create Recess Area for Finger Pulls.

After I posted the above link I found a better and easier process for routing a finger recess area under the bottom edge of my drawers. I will experiment with with some scrap pieces of wood first.

My most likely method to use on my drawers...
Well, of course there are many more options for routing finger pulls or holes for drawers.

Click here for a link to other images....
 

Attachments

#45 ·
Detail Work: Drawer Fronts and Breadboard End Top Layout

Today I worked with detail finish work. For instance, I sprayed three layers of Shellac clear to seal the dye that I had applied to the poplar drawer front backs. With each of these drawers I had taped prior to applying the dye. However, the tape did not keep the dye from finding its way to where I did not want it.

Wood Rectangle Flooring Hardwood Wood stain


I decided that I would use my #4 smoothing plane on the sapele to clean the surface by removing the wood that got some of the dye on it. This included using one or really both of my shoulder planes to clean the dye from the edges of the sapele. I also cleaned the end grain with my smoothing plane. I lied the way the drawer fronts turned out form this hand plane work.

To clean the drawer front sapele I used the planing stop that can be seen in the image below. Sorry that I did not get an image of how this stop was used with each drawer front. Maybe I can enter an image later…

Wood Wood stain Gas Machine Hardwood


The image below shows how I cleaned th end grain with my smoothing plane.
Table saws Wood Table Workbench Hardwood


Wood Beehive Wall Insect Natural material


Wood Natural material Arthropod Wood stain Insect


I also worked some on the breadboard end panel top. What I did first wast setup my table saw to cut the trim I had glued on to cover the plies. After cutting with the table saw I also used my #7 jack plane to get the surfaces flush and smooth.

Wood Floor Workbench Hardwood Flooring


I was adding some wood putty to fill th edge between the people breadboard end and the maple plywood panel. In fact I added more putty into cracks that I saw in th case and doors. I will clean these puttied areas tomorrow with sandpaper.

I also marked the case and the top panel where the middle points where so I could match them up later when I am ready to glue and fasten the top to the case. When I do that I will use screws from the inside of the case to hold on the top panel to it.

Wood Cabinetry Table Shelf Shelving
 

Attachments

#46 ·
More Fixing Details and Thinning my Dye Mix

I spent more time inspecting my cabinet and its joinery. I used more putty to fill some of the gaps I found on the doors, etc. After the putty was dry I sanded those spots with my hand sanding blocks. The image below shows the inside surface of my drawer front. This is the original mix of TransTint dyes to make Charles Neil's red cherry mahogany recipe. It goes on very thick so it nearly makes the wood grain disappear. That worried me some so I began thinking of thinning the recipe.

Table Writing desk Wood Shelving Computer desk


After wiping on my dye mix made to Charles Neil's recipe for red cherry mahogany, I became worried about its deep color masking the wood's grain and the hue of it being too red or even purple. I decided with help from family members to thin the dye. I decided to take 3 parts RCM and one part distilled water and wipe that on the cabinet caster's base panel. That part is mostly covered by the cabinet that it is fastened to as well as the bottom would never be seen unless the cabinet stood on its head.

Table Wood Desk Computer desk Floor


Table Bottle Wood Ingredient Salt and pepper shakers


Food Table Tableware Furniture Ingredient


Thinning the dye did help show the grain more that was on the plywood panel.

Brown Wood Rectangle Flooring Door mat


I know I could add more brown dye to this mix in order to rid the dye from its redness or purple hue, but that would be just trial and error. The test would not be guaranteed to be better than what I have. Again, I will sleep on this issue.

In addition to this work I also noticed some gap in the face frame to the case. I slipped in more Titebond I glue into those gaps and then clamped the area with four parallel clamps. I am leaving the clamps on over night. I will check how well the glue and held tomorrow.

Wood Automotive design Flooring Gas Tool
 

Attachments

#47 ·
More Fixing Details and Thinning my Dye Mix

I spent more time inspecting my cabinet and its joinery. I used more putty to fill some of the gaps I found on the doors, etc. After the putty was dry I sanded those spots with my hand sanding blocks. The image below shows the inside surface of my drawer front. This is the original mix of TransTint dyes to make Charles Neil's red cherry mahogany recipe. It goes on very thick so it nearly makes the wood grain disappear. That worried me some so I began thinking of thinning the recipe.

Table Writing desk Wood Shelving Computer desk


After wiping on my dye mix made to Charles Neil's recipe for red cherry mahogany, I became worried about its deep color masking the wood's grain and the hue of it being too red or even purple. I decided with help from family members to thin the dye. I decided to take 3 parts RCM and one part distilled water and wipe that on the cabinet caster's base panel. That part is mostly covered by the cabinet that it is fastened to as well as the bottom would never be seen unless the cabinet stood on its head.

Table Wood Desk Computer desk Floor


Table Bottle Wood Ingredient Salt and pepper shakers


Food Table Tableware Furniture Ingredient


Thinning the dye did help show the grain more that was on the plywood panel.

Brown Wood Rectangle Flooring Door mat


I know I could add more brown dye to this mix in order to rid the dye from its redness or purple hue, but that would be just trial and error. The test would not be guaranteed to be better than what I have. Again, I will sleep on this issue.

In addition to this work I also noticed some gap in the face frame to the case. I slipped in more Titebond I glue into those gaps and then clamped the area with four parallel clamps. I am leaving the clamps on over night. I will check how well the glue and held tomorrow.

Wood Automotive design Flooring Gas Tool
Instead of adding brown dye to make this mix more brown I got a suggestion to add green to make it more brown; I guess red and green makes brown. I need a lesson in color wheels and mixing colors. So I made a trip to Woodcraft where I bought green TransTint. I diluted that 1:1 with distilled water cause that is how Charles Neil does for his TransTint dye recipes. I guessed at 1/2 part green relative to the water and dye colors that i mixed for the Red Cherry Mahogany plus I added an additional part of water to thin this mix down some. What i got was a browner hue. I liked it after testing it on a spare plywood piece.

This image is of the base panel with the sample dye changes I made on Saturday. It was a bit too dark for my liking.
Brown Door mat Wood Textile Rectangle


I went back to my original formula and came up with a new recipe by adding 1 more part of water and 1/2 part of TransTint green. The sample from mixing the water and green in the red cherry mahogany is now what I am calling brown cherry mahogany mix. A sample of this mixture I wiped on this scarp piece of baltic birch plywood. I did not get the mixture even, but I did like the upper right hand corner of this block.

Rectangle Wood Floor Flooring Wood stain


I also applied this hue to the bottom of the case. This surface will never be seen so I figured I would test wiping it on and see again how it looks in the morning. If everything is okay in the morning then I will glue, clamp and screw the bottom caster panel to the case.

Automotive tire Tire Wood Tread Shelving


I also will pre drill through the top of the case so tomorow I can also glue, clamp and screw on the breadboard end top panel to the case.

Thus, after inspecting the surfaces to see if they are ready for finishing I will wipe on the "brown cherry mahogany" dye mix on all surfaces.
 

Attachments

#48 ·
Glued and Screwed Caster Base and Breadboard End Top

I placed the case up on its head so I could pre-drill screw holes from inside the case so the screws would be hidden when I glued and screwed the top on to the case.

Wood Automotive tire Shelving Tread Floor


I had marked the sides of the case to match the location of the caster base so the caster base would be centered on the case. I also used a rule to mark the locations where I would pre-drill screw locations in order to fasten the caster base onto the cabinet case. I was using #8 - 1 1/4" square head screws to fasten the base panel. I did that after I applied a good amount of Titebond I glue.

Wood Flooring Floor Hardwood Gas


I had some poplar plugs left over and i used them with glue to plug the pre-drilled holes.

Wood Hardwood Table Wood stain Gas


Once the base panel was fastened I flipped the case over right-side up, onto its casters. Once that was done I double-checked the marks I had made so that the top panel would be centered left to right on the case. This time I poured out more glue onto the case's top. I placed the breadboard end panel top on the case and tried to clamp it in place while positioning it as it slipped and slid as it would with the slippery glue between the top panel and case's top. Once I had two clamps on this top to hold it in placed I began fastening the top panel to the case with wood screws,

Cabinetry Wood Wood stain Flooring Hardwood


Before I finished for the day, I used some maple wood putty to fill in some of the gaps on the case.

Wood Bookcase Flooring Floor Shelving


Tomorrow I hope to glue together my seven drawers. I noticed my bottom drawer false front was not installed centered on the drawer front. It is skewed to one side. My best solution at this stage is to trim the side that has 1/4 inch more added to its side as viewed from the front. I may be able to take this trimmed part and glue it to the short side by using a thin spline. I will analyze this option further.
 

Attachments

#49 ·
Wiping on My Dye Mix

I had used Charles Neil's recipe for Red Cherry Mahogany but after wiping this dye on the drawer fronts poplar parts, I decided to change the formula a bit. I wanted a lighter and more brown recipe. After consulting Charles Neil he suggested that I add green TransTint to the recipe. Green and red, he said makes brown. What I did was to test the recipe on some scrap pieces of timber. I settled for adding 1/2 part of green plus 1 part of additional distilled water to the existing 17 ounce mix of his Red Cherry Mahogany. With the additional 3 ounces of distilled water and 1/2 part of green TransTint I ended up with over 20 ounces of dye mix.

Cabinetry Wood Wood stain Flooring Hardwood


Wood Bookcase Flooring Floor Shelving


I tested the mix on the caster bottom panel that I was going to glue and screw to the cabinet case. I was satisfied with the result. I began this evening by adding the recipe to a red plastic cup. I also picked out a couple of rags to use for wiping on the remaining dye mix.

Since my dye mixture is a deviation from a Charles Neil recipe, I have decided to call this mix my Brown Cherry Mahogany recipe. I wrote notes of my tests and final recipe in my woodshop journal. This way I can repeat the mixture since it is now written down.

Wood Floor Wood stain Flooring Hardwood


I worked from the inside top bays first. Then I moved to the bottom inside bays, then the top doors, the face frame top, then the bottom doors and then the face frame bottom. I was concerned that I might run out of dye so I calculated I would lastly apply the dye to the back of the cabinet. This mean that I wiped on the dye to the ends after completed the doors. Once I started wiping on the dye I stayed on the project late into the evening to complete this work. Even though it is Spring here with cool temperatures, I went through a lot of drinking water and sweat. The hot shower afterwards got the dirt and smell off…

Wood Wood stain Flooring Floor Varnish


I used every drop of the dye mix to cover the remaining frame and panel back parts.

Wood Naval architecture Floor Flooring Wood stain


My next step will be to spray clear Shellac in order to seal the dye before spraying on the finish top coats.
 

Attachments

#50 ·
Wiping on My Dye Mix

I had used Charles Neil's recipe for Red Cherry Mahogany but after wiping this dye on the drawer fronts poplar parts, I decided to change the formula a bit. I wanted a lighter and more brown recipe. After consulting Charles Neil he suggested that I add green TransTint to the recipe. Green and red, he said makes brown. What I did was to test the recipe on some scrap pieces of timber. I settled for adding 1/2 part of green plus 1 part of additional distilled water to the existing 17 ounce mix of his Red Cherry Mahogany. With the additional 3 ounces of distilled water and 1/2 part of green TransTint I ended up with over 20 ounces of dye mix.

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I tested the mix on the caster bottom panel that I was going to glue and screw to the cabinet case. I was satisfied with the result. I began this evening by adding the recipe to a red plastic cup. I also picked out a couple of rags to use for wiping on the remaining dye mix.

Since my dye mixture is a deviation from a Charles Neil recipe, I have decided to call this mix my Brown Cherry Mahogany recipe. I wrote notes of my tests and final recipe in my woodshop journal. This way I can repeat the mixture since it is now written down.

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I worked from the inside top bays first. Then I moved to the bottom inside bays, then the top doors, the face frame top, then the bottom doors and then the face frame bottom. I was concerned that I might run out of dye so I calculated I would lastly apply the dye to the back of the cabinet. This mean that I wiped on the dye to the ends after completed the doors. Once I started wiping on the dye I stayed on the project late into the evening to complete this work. Even though it is Spring here with cool temperatures, I went through a lot of drinking water and sweat. The hot shower afterwards got the dirt and smell off…

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I used every drop of the dye mix to cover the remaining frame and panel back parts.

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My next step will be to spray clear Shellac in order to seal the dye before spraying on the finish top coats.
I like the results; very nice.
 

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#54 ·
Sprayed Shellac to Seal Dye. What Finish Coat to Use???

I sprayed two coats of Zinsser's clear shellac today in order to seal the dye I wiped on all surfaces of this cabinet last night.



Now I need to make a choice for the top coat finish. I have several cans of lacquer and polyurethane in my shop. Which should I use. This cabinet is a shop tool cabinet so durability is probably my biggest concern. I will study a couple of my finish books tonight.

QUESTION
What finish coat should I spray tomorrow? Lacquer? Or Polyurethane?

I also stacked the drawers that I also glued and clamped yesterday. I stacked them on top of each other in the cabinet bay where they will be mounted on metal slides. I measured the gap from the top drawer to the bottom of the face frame rail that crosses overtop of them. That gap is 3 1/2 inches. There are seven drawers and seven gaps to equally position. That calculates to 1/2 inch gap between each drawer. So I believe 1/2 inches will give me enough space to pass my fingers through in order to pull on the finger latch I routed into the top back of each drawer front. I did not want to cut semi-circle holes in this beautiful wood. I am trying to show off all of the sapele hardwood that I can in this project. I resaw cut 1/4 inch thick drawer fronts; actually they were probably 5/16" before hand planing the surfaces smooth.

The resawing was done on my bandsaw from the 8/4 sapele plank I found at MacBeaths Hardwood. It was like the perfect match for my cabinet. It was fate. I could not pass on its purchase. And, this plank ran like butter through my 1/2 inch bandsaw blade. I have temporarily forgotten the brand name of the blade but I bought it from Highland Woodworking. Someone on this site will know its brand name. Its now my favorite bandsaw blade.

 

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#55 ·
Sprayed Shellac to Seal Dye. What Finish Coat to Use???

I sprayed two coats of Zinsser's clear shellac today in order to seal the dye I wiped on all surfaces of this cabinet last night.

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Now I need to make a choice for the top coat finish. I have several cans of lacquer and polyurethane in my shop. Which should I use. This cabinet is a shop tool cabinet so durability is probably my biggest concern. I will study a couple of my finish books tonight.

QUESTION
What finish coat should I spray tomorrow? Lacquer? Or Polyurethane?

I also stacked the drawers that I also glued and clamped yesterday. I stacked them on top of each other in the cabinet bay where they will be mounted on metal slides. I measured the gap from the top drawer to the bottom of the face frame rail that crosses overtop of them. That gap is 3 1/2 inches. There are seven drawers and seven gaps to equally position. That calculates to 1/2 inch gap between each drawer. So I believe 1/2 inches will give me enough space to pass my fingers through in order to pull on the finger latch I routed into the top back of each drawer front. I did not want to cut semi-circle holes in this beautiful wood. I am trying to show off all of the sapele hardwood that I can in this project. I resaw cut 1/4 inch thick drawer fronts; actually they were probably 5/16" before hand planing the surfaces smooth.

The resawing was done on my bandsaw from the 8/4 sapele plank I found at MacBeaths Hardwood. It was like the perfect match for my cabinet. It was fate. I could not pass on its purchase. And, this plank ran like butter through my 1/2 inch bandsaw blade. I have temporarily forgotten the brand name of the blade but I bought it from Highland Woodworking. Someone on this site will know its brand name. Its now my favorite bandsaw blade.

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Is your Zinsser's clear shellac wax free? To my knowledge, the one in spray can has no wax, the one in a quart can contains wax.
 

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