The Kissel's Locker Cabinetry

Okay, this is now weird. EVERY room you post is quickly being the design and look we are doing on our addition this spring. This is great! I love the different approaches to “crap control.”

One question—are these pictures all from the same house or different projects?

I love the mission-style door. The white maple doors, etc. are also very appealing.

If you were closer, you’d have to bid this addition.

Great work. Keep it coming.

-- Glen, Pennsylvania, Colossians 3:23 "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men."

the shoe storage is clever
thx

-- I am not so rich to buy cheap tools.

pastorglen thank you,

I’m fairly new here so I’m trying to catch up by adding my past projects to create my LJ profile.
The best part is, it motivated me to tweak my shop and clean it real good for the workshop profile.
Still workin on it.

I don’t have a website yet so this has been a nice way to organize my work instead of it just sitting in a file on my hard drive.
Several of the projects are from my house, and the rest are for my clients.
I design and draw all my cabinet work so it may be possible that my style preferences show up.

Also, if I wasn’t set, I’d be making a trip to your area for the work. It’s been pretty slow here in Chicago after all that snow we got (22”).
But, I would feel a little guilty, taking work from your local craftsman that’s just like me and deserves the work.
I hope you find him and your addition experience is everything you’d hope for.

I don’t mind giving my 2 cents for free so if you have any questions, give me a buzz.

-- mark

What a beautiful storage solution! Love the inset doors. Very well done.

Inset doors, very nice!

Why paint over maple ply and solid maple? Wouldn’t it be more economical to use cheaper ply/solid?

good question pshie,

Maple is one of the hardest stable woods available and a good choice for cabinetry. It’s strong at the joints, it really holds a screw, and there is less chance of a dent.

One of my design preferences is to have the cabinet insides clear varnished natural which makes maple look amazing. Very clean looking and better for light.

Poplar is a good choice for paint grade trim like door casing and base board.

When you think about how little wood there is in a 6K cabinet, trying to save 60 bucks is a sure way to end up with cheap results. And no call backs.

Besides, saying that it’s solid clear maple just sounds cool….... compared to foot ball covered AC pine from home depot that’s full of voids.

I just love maple.

-- mark

Great job. I am looking to tackle a similar project for my laundry room. Do you mind me asking the height and width of each opening? Much thanks!

Tom

Hey Tommic72,
Thanks. The cabinet is about 7 ft long by 7 1/2 ft tall. I’m guessing but I believe the finished openings were about 16” wide by 13” deep. With a face frame installed, the opening gets even smaller so I wouldn’t want to go much narrower. At the same time, a huge opening means a huge door sticking out, begging to be damaged.

Last, The inset doors are nice because they can use a full open exposed hinge so you can open the door 180 degrees. A hidden cup hinge is limited to around 120 degrees and the door gets over extended more often on these lockers which can break the style on the door.

That was the plan on this cabinet but the client decided she didn’t like seeing the knickel hinges so we swapped to a typical hidden hinge. So far, no damage. Client is always right….if not, I can fix it.

-- mark

Reedwood – thanks for the response. If you don’t mind I have a few more questions about how you built this project. If you don’t have time I completely understand. I have completed some train tables for my kids and have installed crown throughout my house, but this will be my first real detailed wood working project.

1) Did you build assembly the entire face frame into one large piece before attaching to the cabinet?
2) What type of joinery did you use to assemble the face frame?
3) I assume you attached the face frame to the cabinet with biscuits?
4) How did you go about attaching the rear panel of the unit – did you use a blind half lap joint to hide the rear edge from the visible side?
5) do you know the other dimensions of the unit? Is the seat about 18 inches off the ground? the height of the middle locker area where the coats will hang?

I do appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions.

Thanks again.

Tom

Tommc,

1) Did you build assembly the entire face frame into one large piece before attaching to the cabinet?
Yes. Sometimes, we will leave the outside vertical stile loose that bumps the wall so we can scribe it first but this only works if you are spraying in place – which we did on this one.

2) What type of joinery did you use to assemble the face frame?
I used to use dowels before pocket screws showed up. Even then, I wasn’t a huge fan of pocket screws because I didn’t like the way the exposed pocket looked. But you can’t argue with the speed of assembly and the strength of the joint and the ability to tighten it if it fails. Plus, they make pocket plugs if it bothers me that much. It never shows unless you have a mirrored back. I won’t use them on high end furniture though. I’m still an old school purist.

3) I assume you attached the face frame to the cabinet with biscuits?
Yes. You could glue and nail it with a nail gun considering it’s painted but there’s always a chance of seeing the patch and you can’t beat the hold of a biscuit. I always use a #10 in a #20 slot to allow a little wiggle room.

4) How did you go about attaching the rear panel of the unit – did you use a blind half lap joint to hide the rear edge from the visible side?
Yes. I rabbit the outside panels 5/16” to hide the 1/4” maple plywood edge and give a little room to scribe. (check the wall first to see how bad it is). I also recommend attaching it with little 1/2” screws, 8” on center or a least use a crown stapler. 18 ga. nails won’t hold if the glue fails.

5) do you know the other dimensions of the unit? Is the seat about 18 inches off the ground? the height of the middle locker area where the coats will hang?
yes. the seat is 18” high, the middle doors are around 48” and the door in the top section (24” tall) is about 18” tall. a total of around 90”. We had 9 ft. ceilings on this job so we had the room. If you have 8 ft. ceilings, I would recommend leaving at least 10”- 12” above for possible storage (ugh!) but mainly for a better visual appearance. Cabinets that go all the way to the ceiling tend to make a small room look much smaller.
Lastly, I always avoid a design the makes the upper doors shorter than they are wide. Except over a fridge.

Hope this helps. Good luck with your cabinet and be sure to post it when you’re done. I would like to see it!

-- mark