Companion Bath Cabinet and Frame - Build Along - Part 2
#11
Here's a link to Part 1.

Yesterday I continued by gluing the side panels into their rabbets, and a filler panel at the bottom as well. I used my workbench as a flat reference surface to help assure the panels would remain flat.



After an hour or so I cut dados in the sides and faceframe for the shelves and a dust panel below the drawer.



Curiously, I got chip out only on one side, not on every cut, but some.



The dado stack had been recently sharpened and cut beautifully prior to this. Maybe it was the plywood and not the blade. Thankfully, it's paint grade, but also justifies why I often use biscuits to join shelves to the sides of cabinets - no danger of chip out.

Next I cut rabbets in the sides for the back panel, using the dado stack buried in a sacrificial fence.



Finally, I cut 45 deg bevels to join the front to sides. I have a right tilt TS so I used a floating fence that J. Grout has shown several times. It allows you to cut the bevels without trapping the work between the blade and fence. The floating fence is set so that the off cut falls harmlessly underneath. The blade is buried in the fence and its height is set so the point where it enters the fence is equal to the thickness of the work piece. Here's what my test piece looked like:

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After the bevels were done I cut biscuit slots in the beveled edges.



then did a test fit:



I cut the shelves from 1/2" plywood using my "slightly" over sized but oh so accurate crosscut sled.



It has two features that are really important to me. It has a top guard of plexiglass to keep sawdust out of my face and, more importantly, to remind me where not to put my hands. And at the back is blade guard.



I slid the shelves into place and checked to make sure everything fit properly.



Then I glued it up, but only glued in the two lower shelves. I don't think I would be able to spray very uniformly into those openings with the top shelf in place. The lower opening won't matter because that's where the drawer goes. I'll slide the upper shelf in after finishing.

I should have made some clamping cauls, and I should not have put glue in the biscuit slots. I didn't and I did, and I had to use way too many clamps to close up the bevels, with several choice phrases uttered along the way. Pretty, isn't it.



That's a poster child of how not to go about a smooth glue up. Fortunately, it came out OK. At that point, I stopped and went to find a beer.

John
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#12
You must have been one busy guy getting all those clamps on before the glue set up, especially in your cozy-warm shop. if you tried to glue something up in my unheated shop in Feb., you could take your time--until May if you wanted. Thanks for taking the time to do the tutorials so well. Ken
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#13
John
thanks for the tutorial
I also use the method that Joe posted to cut nice 45's on the mitered corners seems to work really well
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#14
Thanks for the process posts, John. Is that cross-cut sled your design, or available elsewhere? Would like to see details on it's construction, if available.

Thanks,
Bob
"All that I do or say is all that I ever will be"

Billy Joe Shaver, Old Five and Dimers Like Me
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#15
No, not my design. It's from the late Jere Cary's book "Building your own Kitchen Cabinets" There were a lot of useful tips in that book for a guy like me who new next to nothing at the time about building cabinets.

I could make a SketchUp model of mine if you'd like. The only two important parts are getting the runners to fit properly and making sure the work fence is absolutely square.

John
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#16
John,
Nice tip to plan ahead and consider how you are going to be able to access all the areas for spraying the finish. Easy to forget when you're working away on the build part.

Lonnie
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#17
Thanks, John. I'll take you up on the offer of a Sketch-up model when you have time.
Bob
"All that I do or say is all that I ever will be"

Billy Joe Shaver, Old Five and Dimers Like Me
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#18
nice project! If you don't mind me asking...what was your finishing process for the white? I am not a painter, honestly I don't want to ever paint wood but my dear wife is insisting on white kitchen cabinets. Thank you for your time
Keep your mouth shut and nobody will know how stupid you are........I should have listened!
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#19
I used BIN pigmented shellac primer followed by General Finishes Enduro White Poly on the make up vanity. I'll be using them with these projects, too, and will cover that in the next installment.

The Enduro White Poly is KCMA rated so it should be fine for kitchen cabinets. It sprays beautifully with my pressure assisted HVLP gun. It flowed out beautifully and dried to a hard film with a uniform satin sheen. Without pressure assist you would need a large N/N and probably have to thin it some, too. I bought the pressure assisted gun specifically so I could spray thicker products like this w/o having to thin them.

John
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#20
RedBob, I sent you a PM with the link below, but if anyone else is interested in looking at the design of my crosscut sled, you can find a SketchUp model at this link. You can download the model by clicking on the little downward arrow near the right margin.

John
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