ChrisFaulkner Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 Hi All. I am a long time WoodTalk Forum lurker and have always gotten so much from this forum. I have decided that I should contibute and be more of a participant and not just a taker. I am a fairly new wood woodworker and am only 30 years young, but my dad taught me to swing a hammer and frame a house, so I am not new to using tools and building things. I started this project journal to document building a Shaker Chimney Cupboard. This project is for my most important client (my wife). It will be made from poplar and the design came from a Fine Woodworking article that was in the magazine a couple of months ago. I began the work on this a few weeks ago just after Christmas when I had some time off work, and got quite a bit accomplished. Now that I am back to the grind the progress has slowed way down. First step was picking out the lumber and rough layout to determine what piece would come out of what board. Next was milling up all of the wood for the cabinet case and shelves. And since I only have a nine inch planer, I had to cut the boards for the sides down and then glue them back together after milling. This is a picture of one side glued back together and the second side waiting for the clamps. I used biscuits to help keep things lined up. After cleaning up the glue squeze out, I was happy with how the case sides turned out. Then all of the panels that will make up the shelves were glued. Then it was time to cut all of the pieces to final size. I used a panel cutting jig and stop blocks for consistency when I made the crosscuts. Most of the joinery in the cabinet is dados, and then the shelves get a rabbet to fit into the dados. This was really quick to do using the table saw and a dado stack. Then I could do my first dry fit and get to see how big it is going to be. The subtop rails get a half blind dovetail, so I cut the tails first. Transfered the tails to the top of the case sides. I then cut it out using a saw to first define the pins and then routed out the bulk of the waste, and then used my chisels to clean up what I did not get with my router. Next, it was dry fit time again, now with the face frame stiles and subtop rails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 Chris,Welcome as an active poster/member.You apparently picked up quiet a bit from lurking and from your dad. This thing is looking great!Good work on your glue-ups and your dt's.Keep the pics coming as it progresses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisFaulkner Posted January 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 The next step I took was to cut the feet into the bottem of the case sides. I then made sure that everything was completely ready to go. This pictures shows all the dados really well right before I glued the case up. And talking about the glue up, that was next. I was a bit stressfull (what big glue up isn't) and I was scrambling to get everything together and making sure it came out as square as possible. Then, I took a short break from the project and made a tenon jig for my table saw. Becuase I needed it to cut the tenons for the frame and panel back. The odd spacing of the middle rails are so that they line up with the fixed shelves and they can be screwed right into the back of the shelves. This picutre shows the dry fit with the haunched mortice and tenons. They still need some work with a chisel to fit better. This is where I am now. The next step is to resaw boards to make the panels. I am making the frame and panel back first as kind of a practice run before I make the doors for the front of the cabinet, which will be made almost exactly the same as the back. When I resaw the boards, I plan on making all of the pannels for the back and the front doors at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisFaulkner Posted January 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 Thanks K COOPER! I have picked up all my woodoworking from YouTube and this Forum. Surfing YouTube is where I first stumbled accross Marc making a sculpted end table, and that is what started me down this weird obsession with making fine furniture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 Looking great! Very nice journal of the build! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted January 14, 2015 Report Share Posted January 14, 2015 Nice job, Chris! Glad to have you participating with us! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisFaulkner Posted January 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2015 So I got some shop time tonight and made some more progress. First I lightly milled some rough 4/4 poplar, and squared the edges. Then I resawed them down the middle on the bandsaw. I used a feather board to keep it as tight as possible to the high resaw fence that I built. It is always so cool to see what the boards look like after they are resawn. So next I laid out all the parts and decided what piecies would make what panels. Since the board was 9" wide when I started, after it was cut I had about 18" to work with and I only needed 10" for the door panels and 11" for the back panels. The last thing I did before calling it a night was to glue up the three panels for the back. I do have one question, hopefully someone can help me out. When I cut my panels to exact size, how much expansion room should I leave? The panels are 3/8" thick. The wood has been in my shop for about five weeks, is kiln dried, and was purchased from a hardwood dealer who stored them inside. I am unsure if the wood is growing or shrinking right now, and since I live in the very wet Pacific Northwest should I expect expansion in the summer? Or with all the rain we have gotten lately is the wood already expanded and will primarily shrink from now on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted January 14, 2015 Report Share Posted January 14, 2015 Hi Chris welcome to forum active. Wood always moves. It takes in moisture from the air to achieve equilibrium. It also gives up it's moisture as the relative humidity of the air around it changes (when RH goes down). However it expands/contracts more across grain rather than length. Panels are normally placed into grooves in the surrounding structure and are not glued. They float freely. The grooves cover up the edges of the panels and give it sufficient clearance to expand/contract independently of the surrounding structure (which also will expand and contract). On solid panels like backs there are many techniques and designs to minimize problems with expansion and contraction. These can range from using ship lapped boards to tongue and groove boards. Rather than using solid wood panels (although you can with sufficient clearances - but be prepared for the possibility of the panel warping) nowadays it is more preferable to use stable plywood with a decorative veneer of the desired species on one or two faces. I'm not sure of the sizes of your panels and whether you intend laying them in grooves. Maybe you could let the community know and we can advise on clearances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisFaulkner Posted January 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2015 Yes, these panels are going into groves that are about 5/16" deep. The panels are around 10" wide and about 25" long. There was never any intention to glue them in, that is why I was asking how much clearance others would recommend. All of the other doors I have made for other projects used plywood, this is my first time using a solid panel and letting it float. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted January 14, 2015 Report Share Posted January 14, 2015 Nice progress.. Resawing on the table saw scares the poop out of me! Glad it worked out for you.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisFaulkner Posted January 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2015 TIODS, that is a fourteen inch bandsaw! No more table saw resawing for me. Bandsaw is the way to go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted January 14, 2015 Report Share Posted January 14, 2015 Well crap.. No more comments before my coffee.. I see it now.. Can you tell I'm not awake yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisFaulkner Posted January 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2015 Coffee makes everything better. Waking up and reading about woodworking while drinking coffee sounds like a pretty good morning to me. This is my first time resawing on the bandsaw and I was happy with how they came out. I don't think I'll ever go back to doing it on the table saw. I'm hoping that they don't cup today while they dry out and I get home from work to find a couple of potato chips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted January 14, 2015 Report Share Posted January 14, 2015 You might get a little movement but, should be good.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted January 14, 2015 Report Share Posted January 14, 2015 For a 10" wide poplar panel 3/16 total undersized should be plenty, that's a 3/32 gap on each side. I only cut the width because the height of a panel shouldn't change in relation to its frame. Put a center Mark on the back side of the frame and a center Mark on the panel, get them lined up when you glue up the frame. I use a single small brad(centered) from the back side to keep the panel from shifting. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted January 15, 2015 Report Share Posted January 15, 2015 Good advice from Steve. The panels are relatively skinny in width at 10" and are not bad at all for movement. I initially had visions of 3 foot wide panels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisFaulkner Posted January 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2015 I got a good weed end of woodworking and have some more progress to share. The frame and panel back is glued together. While that was drying I made up a couple of test pieces to work on how I plan on finishing it. My wife wants it painted white on the outside and a clear finish on the inside. I thought this would be a good project to experiment with milk paint. The first sample panel I made I used a off cut from the 3/8 panel. The finish looked good, but the water from the milk paint really warped the panel. The next one I tried I painted shellac on the inside of the panel the same time I painted the outside with milk paint. These still warped, but not nearly as bad. I'm hoping that since the actually panels will be held in the grooves, this method should keep them flat. Does anyone have experience finishing the two side of panels differently like this? Does my plan would like it will work? The last thing I did was glue up the doors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted January 19, 2015 Report Share Posted January 19, 2015 You could shellac the whole thing, sand the outside lightly and then milk paint it. Or use BIN pigmented shellac as a white primer on the outside, it's sold to prime over stains that might bleed through housepaint. Zinnzer makes it. It's all about balanced finishing, do the same thing to both sides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisFaulkner Posted January 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2015 I am still plodding along on this project. I appreciate the advice about treating panels the same on both sides. I tried a number of different test panels and all of them ended up warping pretty bad. So I decided to take another approach and showed my wife how it would look with just a shellac finish. After looking at all of the pieces dry fit, she changed her mind and said no milk paint! Here is a picture of the doors and drawer fronts in place. So the next step was to mill all of the drawer parts and start on the dovetails. I have one drawer done and am working on drawer number two and three now. I was having some problems with the half bling dovetails and cleaning out the pockets, so I grabbed a couple of old 1/2 Harbor Freight chisels and made a pair of skew chisels. Not bad for half an hour or so on the slow speed grinder and Waterstones. They make it so much easier to get into the corners. Next step is to finish the drawers and then trim the doors to fit better. Do doors usually get a bevel cut on the latch side? And if so, what angle do people use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted January 26, 2015 Report Share Posted January 26, 2015 For an inset door the bevel on the latch side is very slight. Draw a curve the radius equal to your door width, Mark a 3/4" section of the curve and set your bevel to that. My guess is less than 5 degrees. Depending on how tight the door fits into the frame no bevel may be needed. A 1/16 to 1/8 gap on all sides is fairly typical. The smaller the gap the harder it is to acheive and the more likely you would need to bevel the edge. If your cabinet is not extremely ridgid a small gap on an inset door will eventually cause the door to stick. I would shoot for around a 1/8 gap especially if this is your first inset door. I make the door slightly oversized and trim it to fit the opening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisFaulkner Posted January 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2015 Thanks for the quick advise Steve! I made the doors so that they fit exactly right, but I know that I needed to trim a bit off. I was over thinking it (probably since I am stuck at work and can't woodwork right now). I will shoot for an 1/8" gap all the way around, this cabinet is anticipated to see daily use, so its important that it opens reliably. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisFaulkner Posted February 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 I am almost finished up with this project. However, all the little details take lots of time, so it seems like I have been almost done for a couple of weeks now. It took me about two hours per drawer, but I finished dovetailing all three of them. Next, I trimmed the doors and mortised for the hinges. Then it was on to every woodworker’s favorite part, sanding and finishing. Since I work in a small garage workshop, finishing a project takes a bit of time since I usually cannot finish an entire large project at one and have to break it up into pieces. I am using Shellac and am brushing it on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisFaulkner Posted February 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 The next step was to turn the Shaker Pulls. I am no world class woodturner, but I have enough skill to make five small hardwood pulls. First I cut some maple turning stock to rough size. I then turned all five pieces between centers to about a 7/8" cylinder. Then I used my scroll chuck to grab the cylinders and turned the pull, using calipers to make consistent diameters. The largest part of the pull is 3/4", and the post is turned down to 3/8". They seemed too small and delicate to me when they were on the lathe. But I went ahead and followed the plan and on the doors they look right. Here is a picture of all five of them together. They are not all exact matches, but at least you can tell they are all supposed to be Shaker Pulls. The last step was to cut a kerf in the posts and install them on the drawers and doors using glue and wedges. After the glue dries, I can trim the posts and wedges flush to the inside and then the only thing left after that will be final assembly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisFaulkner Posted February 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 This project is done! I finished final assembly and moved it into the house and it is already being used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted February 12, 2015 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 I see a dryer, a window and some pantry shelves...not a chimney in sight ! Cupboard came out nice ! Be proud, sign it and date it ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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