My 1st stab at cabinet making.

Great effort. Nice face frame cabinet.
The more verities you build/make, the sooner you’ll be at the top of learling curve. And never look back.. LOL.
Thanks for sharing.

-- masrol, kuala lumpur, MY.

the more you practise this craft, the more you realize how little you know

Not bad for a start!!!

Cheers

-- http://www.furnituremann.ca/

Looks like a great start. welcome to LJs.

-- A thing of beauty is a joy forever...

love the shelf supports!!!
a job well done, I’d say!

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Yes you should really consider this a great success especially for a first attempt.You have obviously taken your time, and enjoyed seeing it come along. With both patience, and the really quite remarkable skill, you obviously have. This is a superb first attempt well done. Kindest regards and good luck in the future Alistair

-- excuse my typing as I have a form of parkinsons disease

From the pictures it looks pretty well done to me! All I can see is a little problem with your parts sizing and thicknesses with the doors. But, like you said, doing is a great learning experience. Doors can be tricky, making sure your parts sizes are correct for the style you are looking for. If I am making a door type I haven’t attempted yet I make a test door first to make sure my setup and parts are going to work the way I think they will. That way you minimize your scrap productuion…cause you will make mistakes..no matter how hard you try not to! thats another good argument for buying more material than you need!
Also I wanted to ask…why you chose to use solid material on the carcass? Oak plywood would have been my first choice…for a cabinet carcass …

-- David, South Windsor, CT "I love the smell of sawdust in the morning"

Thanks to everyone for the very kind encouragement. I realize that this is a rudimentary project, but even so, it’s been well beyond my beginner’s skill level which was exactly what I wanted. I’ve really enjoyed it and learned a great deal more than I expected. I’ve made numerous beginners mistakes, but so far I haven’t painted myself into a corner. To this point I’ve been able to salvage any affected materials and recover from some really rookie mistakes all the while grinning stupidly. It’s been great fun, albeit a little frustrating from time to time.

As you noticed Brad, one of those mistakes involved the doors. I was so anxious to get to work on my first attempt at blind mortise and tenon joinery that I simply couldn’t wait to get out and crank up my saw. I carefully layout my materials according to my cut list and went about sizing all the pieces for that days planned work, the door panels. When I had everything cut to size, I pulled out my newly made TS tenon jig, grabbed the rails and headed for the saw. A few moments later I realized that if I cut tenons into these perfectly sized rails they would be a few inches too short. It seems that in my enthusiastic haste, I neglected to factor in the extra material length needed for the tenons. Time to drop back, punt and pull out the back-up plan. And so, today, what had been planned as blind mortise and tenon joinery became mortise and loose tenon joinery. Interestingly, I had a blast and it all appears to have worked out.

And so it continues.  Oh, BTW if I gave the impression that the project is 100% solid hardwood, I apologize, it isn’t. While it is 100% oak, the carcass sides and top are plywood, albeit cabinet grade oak plywood, it is plywood none the less. However, I won’t make that mistake (purchasing expensive plywood at the local high-end lumber yard) again either. This $92 piece of ¾” plywood behaved as I expect any $50 Lowes piece might have. Straight till it hit the saw table, after which it resembled a Pringles potato chip more than the 5 day old high-way road-kill I was hoping for. Live and learn.

-- JMP

I am sad to hear about your experience with the plywood. Do you know where it came from? China? Ho long was it in your shop?

-- //FC - Round Rock, TX - "Experience is what you get just after you need it"

Joe,

Great effort for a first project, I can tell you that my first project was neither that ambitious nor that successful.

One general suggestion acquired from the School of Hard Knocks; since this is just a hobby, try not to set deadlines or short term goals (today I WILL accomplish…...). It has been my experience that this just exacerbates my already ‘too numerous’ opportunities for re-engineering.

For those who golf, I find woodworking to be on a similar plane; one never attains perfection and the only way to improve is to practice. I keep woodworking as the ‘something else’ I would rather be doing…......as apposed to the work I am doing.

-- I can so I wood but why are my learning curves always circles

Joe, For the first project attempt it is looking good. You have the right attitude there as well. Grinning Stupidly at the wood and myself is something I am familiar with. Keep up the great work, love the adjustable shelf support idea, and look forward to seeing more.

CtL

-- Chris L. "Don't Dream it, Be it."