Garage cabinet

[curlyoak]

Neighbor emptied his years of junk accumulation and wants cabinets. His design. To be painted white by neighbor. The back is screwed on for ease of painting. 6 adjustable shelves. 2 extra shelves. Soft close blum hinges. So easy to adjust.

above is a shot of the back of a door. The 1/4" plywood is not 1/4". It is 7/32nd. Which leaves a gap . So here is what I will try. First make some shims to force the panel tight on the face. Then shoot in 1/2" brads. Then caulk the gap. Any thoughts on this trick?

First project in a long time. I still enjoy building. I have had a couple of stints in the hospital in the last 2 years. Including defeating prostate cancer. Before that I had covid with Ecoli. That caused rabdomyolysis. Damn near killed me. Defeated that to find out I had cancer.

All better now!!

Neighbor now wants a desk in the garage.

[Mark J]

Nice little project.  Sorry to hear about the recent illnesses, but glad you're on the mend, and back in your shop.

[legenddc]

Glad to hear you're recovered and back in the shop!

I know Darrell Peart uses hot glue for drawer bottoms to keep them from sounding hollow. I think your plan should work just fine.

[Ron Swanson Jr.]

That's a nice looking cabinet Curly! 

 

Sorry to hear about your struggles, and very glad to hear your doing better!!

[fcschoenthal]

On 2/19/2026 at 6:32 AM, curlyoak said:

First make some shims to force the panel tight on the face. Then shoot in 1/2" brads. Then caulk the gap. Any thoughts on this trick?

Curly, I wouldn't even bother with the shims. You'll be spending a lot of time with minimal results. Since it's going to be painted, I would just shoot caulk along the gaps. When you smooth it out, you'll be pushing some of it in to fill and keep the panel held. Hopefully you didn't build in too much slack for the panel to slide back and forth. That will destroy caulk every time. Also, glad to see you're better and building again. Always enjoyed seeing your work.

[curlyoak]

The shims worked perfectly.  I put 2 or 3 tiny shims on each leg of the rectangle. The shims are small enough to push it in the groove past the edge of the door. The caulk was forced into the gap with a putty knife and the 1/2" brads will keep the panel still.

 

 

[gee-dub]

@curlyoak - Excellent.  The locations for our work are rarely perfect.  I have a plastic shoebox full of all sorts of wood and plastic shims and wedges.  During install, it always comes with me. Shims not only close gaps but can also align doors, level teeter-tottering cabinets, and so forth.

[curlyoak]

 

On 2/19/2026 at 12:57 PM, gee-dub said:

Shims not only close gaps but can also align doors, level teeter-tottering cabinets, and so forth.

I set my fence up on the t. saw over 1/16. and ran a jointed of poplar. Tested and made another pass still tight. The last setup was right. My saw fence can slide so the fence gives you a repeatable number but is backed out of the way of the hot zone. it was around 3/16 long. I cut a bunch of them and easily broke it in my hands with the grain. and it fit. And the final issue of a moving panel was on my mind to get my brad gun with 1/2" brads. 8 or 10 brads. the panel is home.

[JustAnotherGuy]

Very nice work! I am so jealous. For now, I can only look at forums and pictures and can't be in the shop. 

[curlyoak]

On 2/19/2026 at 5:19 PM, JustAnotherGuy said:

For now, I can only look at forums and pictures and can't be in the shop. 

Hopefully, for now will change to in the shop soon.Good luck.

[roughsawn]

Keep up the good work curly. I didn't see any shelving standards. How do the shelves adjust?

[curlyoak]

On 2/19/2026 at 8:50 PM, roughsawn said:

How do the shelves adjust?

6 shelves. 2 are sitting on the bottom. 1/4" brass pins. The center divider is a different dimension then the 2 ends. Which means the reference starting point is different in the middle. No wobble in the shelves.

Materials for this project is 3/4" and 1/4" birch ply and poplar. To be painted white.

[roughsawn]

Very nice job on the edge banding. And, thanks for the pic of the pins and holes. I would have to assume shelving standards and clips are out of vogue. I haven't seen them being used for years.

[curlyoak]

On 2/20/2026 at 7:48 AM, roughsawn said:

I would have to assume shelving standards and clips are out of vogue.

The metal shelf standards are a big labor saver. But the look of shelf pins in my eyes is better. Double the labor. Unless you are a factory with a   multiple bit machine.

[Tom King]

The last time I built cabinets with metal shelf tracks was 1980.

[curlyoak]

On 2/20/2026 at 10:15 AM, Tom King said:

The last time I built cabinets with metal shelf tracks was 1980.

The metal standards might be the right choice for one with minimal woodworking experience...

[Ron Swanson Jr.]

I've found that a scrap of pegboard makes for a decent template for shelf pin holes. Though it's been a few years since I've done that.

[curlyoak]

On 2/20/2026 at 12:40 PM, Ron Swanson Jr. said:

I've found that a scrap of pegboard makes for a decent template for shelf pin holes

I like that idea. I have a clear plexiglass jig. Small but accommodates moving it accurately. Old jig. The company I got it from is out of business.

[Tom King]

I've used these for decades.  They're just strips of 3/4" Birch cabinet plywood.  Hole location was marked on a scribed line with dividers and holes that a slide fit for a TIG welding tungsten goes in to prick the hole center location.  A drill press is set up with a fence and brad point bit with roller stands sitting on each side of the drill press table every so slightly higher so the cabinet part rolls easily.

The holes are drilled by eye hitting the little pricked hole with the brad point bit center.

I wasn't sure how it would work to start with, but I never had a wobbling shelf and never did it any other way.

These templates are dirty from handling so much.  I have a few others but these were the only two at the job site back when I took these pictures.

I only built one house full of cabinets a year for the spec houses I built when I was doing that one house a year for 33 years.  I never bought anything special for drilling shelf pin holes.

 

[curlyoak]

On 2/20/2026 at 4:20 PM, Tom King said:

I've used these for decades. 

Brilliant! From reading your posts and learning who you are Tom, I've come to expect brilliance from you!

Thanks for that jig idea, Besides excellent woodworking you show us a variety of skilled disciplines. My guess is you were taught young. 

Thanks

[Tom King]

I don't know about being taught.  I never even took shop in school. I'm just dumb enough to tackle anything.  Most of my building methods were just stuff I figured out on my own.