# Shop Cabinet build (Gonna take a bit)



## Hubbard (Jan 1, 2012)

Soooooo, I get a magazine in the mail, around the same time I'm thinking about building some shop furnishings, and at precisely the same time my Maintenance Master Chief rips up his office floor due to a water leak... Timing is everything right? His sub-floor was 3/4 ply, and I snagged most of it and cut it into useful pieces.

Well, I'm looking at this plywood and thinking.. "The crap am I gonna do with this?"

So, I started building the cabinets that will hang over the work bench I haven't built yet. I have a metric but ton of oak to face the stuff with so I figured, why not? Lets roll.

This was all done today. 
Built the outside cabinets (enclosed is aforementioned magazine):










Cut the material for the faces and dry fitted it











Then there are two center pieces to go with it. Now I thought the ones in the plan were both silly, and pointless. So I'm designing my own. The plan lays out center pieces for "the man who has some stuff, but has no clue what he wants to do with it". Screw that. It calls for these insertable/removable shelf things that I'm not a huge fan of. I have decided on one of the sections and it will be for planes and chisels. I previously had a place for my chisels, but I've wanted an angled plane shelf for quite some time now and imma build me one!!!!!

Making sure it fits my largest plane...










Now for the chisel rack......











Pause for The Walking Dead...











And then cap the thing off:











That is how it should look next to its mate. The face on the outside piece is just dry fitted. The outer pieces will have doors as well. I work nights so this is gonna be a "mostly weekend" thing, but this is what I,have so far. You can't have the shop of your dreams if all you do,is dream about it. This is a fun, and free, project for me. 

Stay tuned


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## Sarge240 (Feb 8, 2013)

Looks good, sounds fun. I always enjoy improving the shop!


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Great score on the plywood. You'll have fun making what you want how you want. You have a good start going.









 







.


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## mavawreck (Nov 26, 2011)

I really like the cabinet and want to complete a similar project, however the seemingly wasted space under the angled plane shelf has always dissatisfied me. Is there any solution?


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## Hubbard (Jan 1, 2012)

Yeah, you could probably have it higher up, secure it to a cleat directly under the top edge and keep it open so you can still use the space beneath it. I just sort of did it on the fly, it isn't in the original plans, and I'll probably build three center pieces to accomodate whatever I want.


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## thegrgyle (Jan 11, 2011)

Maybe you could work in a paper towel holder/roll in the space behind the planes... access it from the bottom or side? Just a thought...

Looking good though. It is always nice to have THOSE tools within reach, and stored well.

:thumbsup:


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## Hubbard (Jan 1, 2012)

So today is a snow day. Work called and said stay home, OKC is about to get nailed so I rolled out to the shop. 

Decided I would build the little modular guy, and I'm building the pegboard insert piece for it now. I'm going to figure out an insertable Mallet / Saw rack to go there as well. 

Here is what all four of them look like right now :










And here's the pegboard insert glued up for a little while. I need smaller clamps.


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## Hubbard (Jan 1, 2012)

Alright. So I thought about it and figured out what I wanted. I lined it up with the mallets and marked it like so











Then cut some holes in it and finished it on the saw











Then I cut some slots for saws/rules/etc










And bam! Like a glove! I like this modular idea now because if I outgrow it or needs change I just modify it. Now to slide the pieces in it calls for 1/4 inch steel rod. Now I ain't got none of that and I'm a ******* from Alabama, so I had a simpler idea.

Screws












Now the dreaded part. Hinge mortises, face installation, door construction, and I gotta build the decorative caps for the tops.

Ugh. Hinge mortises. More to come


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## Hubbard (Jan 1, 2012)

So I decided the cornices were next. That was fun. I somehow built all four, four different ways. Whatever. The crown, believe it or not, is also salvaged from the old floor. I put a 15 degree bevel on the tops. I've learned some pretty neat tricks along the way also. Like this one....






















Cleats set at 15











Also, remember boys and girls, there is no such thing as "garbage wood". Remember that next time you're near a dumpster full of it, if you are that lucky.....











The bottom of a finished cornice....











Assembly











All lined up











I think I'm done for the night but its looking pretty good. I drilled one of the cabinets all jacked. Basically I made three left sides and one right, so ill have a cabinet with stationary shelves, but that's fine, ill use it to store my respirator. Till tomorrow! Or whenever I buy hinges!!!!


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## Hubbard (Jan 1, 2012)

A better look


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## Hubbard (Jan 1, 2012)

So tomorrow I'm going to start on the cabinet doors, with routing out hinge mortises. I've never done this, so it should prove interesting. If you don't subscribe to the magazine, I'll help you out and post pictures. I'm all sorts of intimidated at this point, but that's how you learn. And I'm all manner of good with learning on shop furniture. Stay tuned folks. Btw, has anyone ever put an oil finish on pine plywood? I'm thinking of using Danish oil to finish this bugger, but I have never used it on plywood and wonder if its really worth it or not. It's also many times easier than finishing an already built product. Or I can use just rub on poly. Thoughts?


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## thegrgyle (Jan 11, 2011)

Wow, I'm gone for a couple days, and BANG! you are almost done!

That is turning out great, and you look like you are having alot of fun with that FREE wood.

As far as those mortises for the hinges go, don't sweat it. Like you said, you are learning on your shop cabinets. If you are cutting a mortise on the edge of the plywood, a router is my preferred method, but you have to be careful of tearout. You made me laugh in between posts 8 & 9.... in 8 at the end you said, "Ugh. Hinge mortises. More to come," and then in 9, you said, " So I decided the cornices were next....." in the very next sentence.... Guess you were dreading the hinges. :laughing:

As far as the finish goes, when I built my shop cabinets out of plywood, I didn't finish them at all. I did finish the door frames, only because they were made of oak, and I didn't want them to warp. I have used oil based poly on birch plywood many times and it turned out very good. That was for part of my workbench top. Just don't set a can of Off Mosquito spray on it after you use the spray... That stuff will strip the poly off very easy... I have 2 rings in my workbench finish to prove it.

Keep up the good work.


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## Hubbard (Jan 1, 2012)

Well it looks like I gotta put this one on hold for 2 weeks. Just found out I'm gonna be out of town for the next two weeks in North Carolina. So I guess this is on hold until mid month.


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## Hubbard (Jan 1, 2012)

I've been pretty busy lately with non wood related stuff, but I did manage to get into the shop long enough to do my hinge mortises and install the cabinet faces. 
I used the mortising trick from the same issue of shop notes with the plan in it




















And I got them mounted. I just have to build the doors now. Lookin pretty good


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## Ostie (Dec 19, 2010)

Looking good. I'm planning to tackle shop cabinets soon, and it will be my first attempt as well.


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## MasterSplinter (Jan 12, 2013)

Looks very well done. You should be proud.


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## Hubbard (Jan 1, 2012)

Building the doors now, the center rails were the most difficult so far, I have to have tenons on the end and steps behind it for the glass to sit In, frustrating. The first pic is how the doors will look before I cut the tenons and mortises, the second pic is the center rails.


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## Hubbard (Jan 1, 2012)

Ugh. These doors sucked millions. I learned a lot about how NOT to build a door. Still have to mortise for hinges, that'll be later, but for now, screw it. They fit. My hands are all jacked up from chisels and such, I think it's hilarious. Btw, don't whack your hand with a wooden mallet. It sucks.









Busted hands


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## thegrgyle (Jan 11, 2011)

OUCH! I feel your pain there, bud. I think the doors turned out great. Is this your first attempt at making doors? If so, trying to take on doors with glass panels is a real challenge. It looks like you have really thought about the process and what needed to be done pretty thoroughly.

Well, the good thing is that you are learning while buiding for your shop. Like you said, Now you learned how not to do something... You still learned. I have found in the past, that sometimes its not the process that needs fixing, but the technique that was involved.

Keep up the good work, and thank you for keeping us posted.


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## Hubbard (Jan 1, 2012)

Thanks, yeah it's my first shot at doors. I like to try out stuff on shop furniture before I build it for indoor applications. It's definitely a learning process


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