# Cabinet coming along nicely.



## Taylormade (Feb 3, 2011)

So I've been asking questions about techniques lately, and I thought I'd share what I'm doing. I've been asked to build a credenza type cabinet to match, as close as possible, a china hutch the customer already has. I explained to him that I wouldn't be doing the carving, but I'd do my best to match the rest as close as possible. It will have three drawers up top and then three storage areas beneath. 

Original









So far


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## Brink (Nov 22, 2010)

Nice!

Keep the pics coming


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## cody.sheridan-2008 (May 23, 2010)

Cool! Keep the updates coming!


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## Wheathills (Aug 23, 2011)

Looking good, carving looks bang on so far.


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## Taylormade (Feb 3, 2011)

update: got the upper drawers finished tonight along with a LOT of sanding.


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## Taylormade (Feb 3, 2011)

lots more sanding to come


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## Fudwrecker (Jan 27, 2011)

very cool flutes

nice job matching - sure customer will be happy!


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## lawrence (Nov 14, 2009)

you are the man...cant wait to see the base.......


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## Itchy Brother (Aug 22, 2008)

Taylor,It looks sooooooooooooo nice,Itchy:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## mdntrdr (Dec 22, 2009)

*Lookin good!*

Were those drawer fronts cut from the same board?

If so.. orient them that way.


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## Taylormade (Feb 3, 2011)

mdntrdr said:


> Were those drawer fronts cut from the same board?
> 
> If so.. orient them that way.



Errr yeah, they were and they actually are oriented that way believe it or not. I made darn sure and even labeled them, ha!


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Looking really good so far. The mans got some skill for sure. Nice work.


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## lawrence (Nov 14, 2009)

Taylormade said:


> Errr yeah, they were and they actually are oriented that way believe it or not. I made darn sure and even labeled them, ha!


 kinda looks like drawer 2 and 3, that is center and right maybe got mixed around


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## Taylormade (Feb 3, 2011)

lawrence said:


> kinda looks like drawer 2 and 3, that is center and right maybe got mixed around


I see what you're saying but I REALLY believe I did it right, lol. Maybe, just maybe, one's upside down or something :wallbash: Thankfully (if it's just that) I'm ok as they're only held with brad nails right now. 
The center drawer is wider than the surrounding two, so it wouldn't be as easy as swapping them around until I found the right combo. If it bothers me too much, I'll mill another piece and start over again... 

I didn't get a whole lot accomplished tonight, but I did get two drawers fit and installed. They wanted pull out shelves on two of the cabinets and a pull out trash can in the middle. I'm thinking of doing a face frame type piece to cover the unsightly rail ends as well as give something to pull on (giggity) when extending the shelves. 



















Thanks for the encouragement guys, this is my first "real" piece of cabinetry and I'm very excited if you couldn't tell, ha!


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## lawrence (Nov 14, 2009)

the piece is great and your attitude is fantastic....I hope you always look at it that way


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Taylormade said:


> I see what you're saying but I REALLY believe I did it right, lol. Maybe, just maybe, one's upside down or something :wallbash: Thankfully (if it's just that) I'm ok as they're only held with brad nails right now.
> The center drawer is wider than the surrounding two, so it wouldn't be as easy as swapping them around until I found the right combo. If it bothers me too much, I'll mill another piece and start over again...


Cabinet looks great...well done. Nice use of the trim. It's easy to get fronts (or doors for that matter) mixed up. I've made that mistake plenty of times. What's a heartbreaker, is to screw up doors, and drilling the hinge holes on the wrong side. With marking, if they are laid out in order (with the face up), turn them over and mark one at a time. Or, lightly pencil mark the face, or on a piece of masking tape. 

I've made a habit of making a master drawing of the project. Every piece has either a letter or number right on the drawing. These numbers and letters go on my layout list for materials, and on my cut list. So, every piece gets accounted for as they are marked when cut. No mixing up of pieces. Plus, I mark off on the cut list once that piece is cut, so in the end, I'll know what is cut, and where it goes. This applies to every panel in the box, including shelves.



Taylormade said:


> I didn't get a whole lot accomplished tonight, but I did get two drawers fit and installed. They wanted pull out shelves on two of the cabinets and a pull out trash can in the middle. I'm thinking of doing a face frame type piece to cover the unsightly rail ends as well as give something to pull on (giggity) when extending the shelves.


You could just cut a thin (1/4" - 3/8") piece to tack on the front edge of the pull out, the height of the cabinet member drawer slide. Or, if you make it a bit taller, make a hand cutout scoop in the middle like these (but shorter). You will likely have to move the slide back a bit to clear the added front. On pull outs like that, I pilot the screw holes for the slide member, and use at least a #6 x 1" coarse thread screw.












 







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## Taylormade (Feb 3, 2011)

C-man, that's EXACTLY what I was thinking about doing with the drawer fronts, thanks! I don't have a problem moving the rails as I planned on removing them before staining the cab anyway. And I've started using cutlist plus (software) to try to identify how much wood I really need and it forces you to label each piece, so I've been doing that too! I'm encouraged by the fact that I'm doing things the right way (albeit unintentionally, ha!). I can't see how I screwed up the orientation on the drawers, because I was so damned careful to make sure I did it right. Oh well. 

Thanks for the advice on the screws for the rails, I was using the included ones that are really suspect. I'm not going to get anything done today, as it's opening day for college football and I've been drinking but tomorrow am, I'll be building doors. 

I'm going to have to joint two 1x10s and then trim to size... any advice or tips on what I should do there? I bought a raised panel bit set for my router table. I was planning on using my table saw jig to create the initial raised panel and then the router to clean it up and make it pretty. Any other words of wisdom?

Thanks!!


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## Taylormade (Feb 3, 2011)

Alright, I spent a lot of time today doing detail work... punching brad nails in, backfilling them, sanding sanding and more sanding. I placed the fronts on each of the shelves as well, that looks TONS better. Oh and gluing. Glued up the three panel doors and the top. Got frustrated with the lack of a 1/2" collet for my router table, so I went out and bought another PC router and used the collet from it, thankfully it fit perfectly. I got the three doors routed (raised panel) and tomorrow I'll tackle the stiles and rails and perhaps the feet as well.


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## mitch (Aug 19, 2011)

Wow..well done! Those are some cabinet making skills all right.


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## Capacity Workstation (Jun 6, 2011)

Fantastic job so far!
I can't wait to see it finished.
Have you chosen a stain... that is if you intend on staining it?


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## Taylormade (Feb 3, 2011)

Capacity Workstation said:


> Fantastic job so far!
> I can't wait to see it finished.
> Have you chosen a stain... that is if you intend on staining it?


Thanks! I'm trying to match an existing piece (up top) so I've narrowed it down to a golden oak and a pecan colored stain.This morning I got the doors routed and assembled. I'm really pleased with how they came out. I'll be routing out the hinges later on (hopefully), time now to spend some time out on the lake.


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## Taylormade (Feb 3, 2011)

Got the top mounted and the back ply on tonight. I'm really happy with how it's coming together. I sat the doors up just to see how they were going to look, tomorrow I'll route out the hinges and hang the outside doors.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Geez buddy, this one is coming along very nicely. Great work.


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

It really does look great!

~tom ...it's better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt...


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## Marineloady (Sep 6, 2011)

Looks good. I hope to build some cabinets sometime in the near future.


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## Brink (Nov 22, 2010)

Looking good!

I like the way this one is progressing.


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## Taylormade (Feb 3, 2011)

alright... approaching the home stretch. I'm about to attach the feet I shaped and finish sanding this beast. I'm ready for it to be delivered. I ran into some pretty big challenges throughout this project and have been very happy so far with the results. Hopefully more to come tonight.


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## Brink (Nov 22, 2010)

TM, it's beautiful! Well done.

Cut the coves for the feet yourself? They joined wonderfully. 

It's after 8, get to work


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Wow, if this were me that was making this, I don't think that I'd want to give it up to the customer. This is a really nice piece and you are doing some fantastic work. Thanks for taking the time to post pics. They're awesome.


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## Taylormade (Feb 3, 2011)

Brink said:


> TM, it's beautiful! Well done.
> 
> Cut the coves for the feet yourself? They joined wonderfully.
> 
> It's after 8, get to work


Yeah, I did. That was quite the pain. I'm happy with how they turned out but it was ugly there for awhile. I think my neighbors' kids learned some new words through the garage door, heh 



Kenbo said:


> Wow, if this were me that was making this, I don't think that I'd want to give it up to the customer. This is a really nice piece and you are doing some fantastic work. Thanks for taking the time to post pics. They're awesome.


Thanks Ken! When it's done, I'll explain who it's going to and why I'm doing my best to take my time and do this right. I've put the first coat of stain on and will sand and apply the second tonight.


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## mdntrdr (Dec 22, 2009)

Taylormade said:


> I've put the first coat of stain on and will sand and apply the second tonight.


 
Why are you sanding the stain? :smile:


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## Brink (Nov 22, 2010)

Taylormade said:


> Yeah, I did. That was quite the pain. I'm happy with how they turned out but it was ugly there for awhile. I think my neighbors' kids learned some new words through the garage door, heh
> 
> Thanks Ken! When it's done, I'll explain who it's going to and why I'm doing my best to take my time and do this right. I've put the first coat of stain on and will sand and apply the second tonight.


Did you see/use this thread?

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f27/nice-table-saw-trick-tip-27903/


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## Taylormade (Feb 3, 2011)

Brink said:


> Did you see/use this thread?
> 
> http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f27/nice-table-saw-trick-tip-27903/


:furious::furious:


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## sawdustfactory (Jan 30, 2011)

That looks great so far. Don't listen to the others in regards to the drawers, I can see how they came from the same board and you do have them oriented correctly.


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## Brink (Nov 22, 2010)

Taylormade said:


> :furious::furious:


Uh oh, sorry


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## Taylormade (Feb 3, 2011)

mdntrdr said:


> Why are you sanding the stain? :smile:


errr that's not normal? I've always used a 320 grit sandpaper lightly over the first coat of stain? Perhaps I just use too much stain, lol


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## Taylormade (Feb 3, 2011)

Brink said:


> Uh oh, sorry


Nah, that's ok. I know now I suppose. I used a cove bit and plunge router and a lot of sandpaper. Ha


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## mdntrdr (Dec 22, 2009)

*Normal? IDK*



Taylormade said:


> errr that's not normal? I've always used a 320 grit sandpaper lightly over the first coat of stain?


 
I've never sanded my stain. :no:


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## Taylormade (Feb 3, 2011)

sawdustfactory said:


> That looks great so far. Don't listen to the others in regards to the drawers, I can see how they came from the same board and you do have them oriented correctly.


Thanks, maybe the stain will bring out the grain and confirm my (our) thoughts.


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## Taylormade (Feb 3, 2011)

Ok , first pic is after two coats of stain and poly. 









After this, I took 0000 steel wool with paste wax and knocked off some of the gloss.


















To say I'm happy is quite the understatement. Uhhh does anyone notice the drawer fronts match after all? WHEW! I just knew I hadn't blown that, ha!

I really appreciate the kind comments and words of encouragement everyone's given me along the way. When I started this project I wasn't sure I had what it was going to take to finish it. Now I have just a bit of minor touch up work and to add the hardware, which the customer is supplying.


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## Brink (Nov 22, 2010)

Sharp, very sharp.

And the drawers, too


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## thegrgyle (Jan 11, 2011)

Very NIce Job on matching that cabinet. I hope someday I will be able to make something that nice. Beautiful job!

Fabian


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## Joe Lyddon (Mar 13, 2007)

Beautiful work... The customer will LOVE it!

I thought you were shaping two rows of legs out of that one rough-shaped piece... but then that "curve-up" for the bottom, threw me...  If you did get two rows of legs out of it, how did you do it? 

Did you cut the big curve on the TS?

Really COOL legs...

Did you make the molding around the top? If you don't mind, How did you do it?

Very nice project! Thank you for showing it!


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## Taylormade (Feb 3, 2011)

Joe Lyddon said:


> I thought you were shaping two rows of legs out of that one rough-shaped piece... but then that "curve-up" for the bottom, threw me...  If you did get two rows of legs out of it, how did you do it?
> 
> Did you cut the big curve on the TS?
> 
> ...


Good catch Joe! That was the first piece that ended up getting tossed due to ridiculous mistakes on my part. I didn't take pics of the second piece, however, so I used the pic from the first one and I honestly wondered, as I was posting it, whether or not anyone would catch it. 

I did make the feet. I used my core box bit and tried to remove as much material as I could and used a quiver of sanders to smooth it out. That was painful, to say the least. 

The molding (both the bottom and top) are store bought. I had to buy an extra piece of each because I was 1/2" too short with an 8' piece. Sigh.


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## Joe Lyddon (Mar 13, 2007)

*COOL!*

*Thank you!*

I can see how you made a little goof... and corrected (redid it)...
COOL JOB, PROCEDURE, everything!

*Thanks again for sharing such a BEAUTIFUL piece!* :thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## Kirkus (Dec 19, 2010)

Dude! I've been watching this thing progress. I have to tell you, I think it's wonderful! Especially considering it's your first of this kind. I'd be proud. Good job!!


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## sawdustfactory (Jan 30, 2011)

O told you those drawer fronts were right! ;-)


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## Chancewoodchuck (Sep 27, 2011)

nice bead work


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## GWEE (Aug 30, 2009)

lovely work i like the drawers


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## DWalls11 (Nov 1, 2011)

Good job. I turned out beautiful.


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## Taylormade (Feb 3, 2011)

Thanks! Here are a few pics of the completed piece with the hardware installed. The customer loved it.


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