Project Information
First of all; Thank You Honey for your patience. I hope you feel it was worth it.
I've had the vision of an all wood kitchen for about two years. Practicing certain techniques finally allowed me to realize this vision.
The actual build of the lower kitchen cabinets took 4 months.
(You can click on the photos to view them enlarged. Scroll click recommended.)
Layout
We had planned the layout quite a lot with my dearest. Finally I got the plans approved by her. I designed the cabinets to be modular because if we want to move in the future we should be able to rearrange these cabinets to suit any new kitchen.
To ease the production I carefully defined a standard width for these cabinet modules (37"). So one module has the sink and two are basic cabinets - two spacious drawers under the counter and two shelves underneath - I call'em hutch 1 and hutch 2. They're stand-alone.
One narrow (25") module is obviously the fireplace. The other narrow asset is a fridge. It has no actual cabinet - there is only a counter 'bridge' above it. Fridge bridge hereafter. :-D The fridge is between the sink cabinet and the fireplace cabinet.
Hutch one is on the right of the fireplace, hutch two is in the opposite corner of the kitchen. So these cabinets actually surround our table - quite convenient. We just love it!
Materials
100.0000% wood. It's part of my philosophy. ( See my bed post )
The top is steamed black locust. It looks fantastic; it's very hard and strong - perfect for counter top.
I'd had several option for primary (seen) wood surfaces but finally I decided to play with walnut inside-out. So while the panels are walnut on the sides, the doors (front) have walnut frames. Hence the doors run in walnut slides.
Cherry has a similar twisted role. The frames on the sides, the drawer fronts and the toe-kick are cherry.
The door panels are steamed burly red willow - it's just gorgeous and really lightweight - perfect for panels. Besides, the upper cabinets had had the same door panels. I used red willow for shelves, for the back and for drawer bottoms.
The other secondary wood was ash. I used it for drawer sides and for every hidden structural part. The dowels/pegs are beech.
Structure
Counter top
Having had some experience in edge joining by sliding dovetails, I was looking for another (stronger) option. I voted for pegged dowels.
The principle is simple; 30mm thick boards, 20mm dowels, 6mm pegs.
Since I'm pretty much aware of the inaccuracy of my drill press, I routed the mortises for the 20mm dowels. It came out so precise that I didn't need to sand the top at all.
I did give it a 400 grit sanding before finishing, however. The finish is raw tung oil, BTW.
Fridge bridge
20mm dowels on both sides keep the front edge perfectly aligned. Tongue and groove hold it strong. Swinging dominos in the back keep it tight and allow for wood movement. (The bridge has end grain; the fireplace has long grain side.)
Carcass
Frame and panel throughout. Pegged M&Ts.
See here how it's made.
Drawers
Pegged half blind dovetails. The drawer fronts are rounded and a bit proud.
This was the simplest drawer slide I could think of… Almost full extension as well.
Shelves
The lower shelf has actually the door slides as well. Hence, frame and panel.
The upper shelf rests on brackets that are dowelled to the sides.
Since my standard for surfaced stock thickness is 20.0mm, I made the upper shelf look less beefy. I just love this feature.
Doors
Sliding, frame and panel, pegged M&Ts.
Other stuff
Black chalk board latex paint on the wall adds tremendous room for love notes, menus, memos, drawings, etc. We just love it!
The little shelf (red willow) crowned the kitchen job.
And the two fixes I needed…
Thanks for reading along.
I've had the vision of an all wood kitchen for about two years. Practicing certain techniques finally allowed me to realize this vision.
The actual build of the lower kitchen cabinets took 4 months.
(You can click on the photos to view them enlarged. Scroll click recommended.)
Layout
We had planned the layout quite a lot with my dearest. Finally I got the plans approved by her. I designed the cabinets to be modular because if we want to move in the future we should be able to rearrange these cabinets to suit any new kitchen.
To ease the production I carefully defined a standard width for these cabinet modules (37"). So one module has the sink and two are basic cabinets - two spacious drawers under the counter and two shelves underneath - I call'em hutch 1 and hutch 2. They're stand-alone.
One narrow (25") module is obviously the fireplace. The other narrow asset is a fridge. It has no actual cabinet - there is only a counter 'bridge' above it. Fridge bridge hereafter. :-D The fridge is between the sink cabinet and the fireplace cabinet.
Hutch one is on the right of the fireplace, hutch two is in the opposite corner of the kitchen. So these cabinets actually surround our table - quite convenient. We just love it!
Materials
100.0000% wood. It's part of my philosophy. ( See my bed post )
The top is steamed black locust. It looks fantastic; it's very hard and strong - perfect for counter top.
I'd had several option for primary (seen) wood surfaces but finally I decided to play with walnut inside-out. So while the panels are walnut on the sides, the doors (front) have walnut frames. Hence the doors run in walnut slides.
Cherry has a similar twisted role. The frames on the sides, the drawer fronts and the toe-kick are cherry.
The door panels are steamed burly red willow - it's just gorgeous and really lightweight - perfect for panels. Besides, the upper cabinets had had the same door panels. I used red willow for shelves, for the back and for drawer bottoms.
The other secondary wood was ash. I used it for drawer sides and for every hidden structural part. The dowels/pegs are beech.
Structure
Counter top
Having had some experience in edge joining by sliding dovetails, I was looking for another (stronger) option. I voted for pegged dowels.
The principle is simple; 30mm thick boards, 20mm dowels, 6mm pegs.
Since I'm pretty much aware of the inaccuracy of my drill press, I routed the mortises for the 20mm dowels. It came out so precise that I didn't need to sand the top at all.
I did give it a 400 grit sanding before finishing, however. The finish is raw tung oil, BTW.
Fridge bridge
20mm dowels on both sides keep the front edge perfectly aligned. Tongue and groove hold it strong. Swinging dominos in the back keep it tight and allow for wood movement. (The bridge has end grain; the fireplace has long grain side.)
Carcass
Frame and panel throughout. Pegged M&Ts.
See here how it's made.
Drawers
Pegged half blind dovetails. The drawer fronts are rounded and a bit proud.
This was the simplest drawer slide I could think of… Almost full extension as well.
Shelves
The lower shelf has actually the door slides as well. Hence, frame and panel.
The upper shelf rests on brackets that are dowelled to the sides.
Since my standard for surfaced stock thickness is 20.0mm, I made the upper shelf look less beefy. I just love this feature.
Doors
Sliding, frame and panel, pegged M&Ts.
Other stuff
Black chalk board latex paint on the wall adds tremendous room for love notes, menus, memos, drawings, etc. We just love it!
The little shelf (red willow) crowned the kitchen job.
And the two fixes I needed…
Thanks for reading along.