The MDF carnage continues...
Thought it was about time to post an update to the cabinet saga. I now have four carcasses built, face frames and all. Now it's time to engineer some doors...
Here are three of the cabinets awaiting some paint:
And the last cabinet, freshly unclamped. This one is going to be the guinea pig for the door making process, which should be an adventure in and of itself... On top you can see the three shelves I made for inside the cabinets...more MDF with a piece of poplar attached to the front with biscuits and glue. Needless to say, the biscuit joiner has seen some serious duty on this project.
I chose to make the face frames out of poplar. As everything will be painted white, I thought that it would be a waste to use oak or another expensive hardwood, but that pine would be too soft to stand up to prolonged usage. The face frames were put together with pocket screws (that pocket jig is cool!) and attached to the carcass with biscuits and glue.
You can never have too many clamps.
Having watched way too many episodes of New Yankee Workshop, I have often heard Norm smile at the camera as he tightens up his 437th clamp and say "You really can never have too many clamps."
Well, he was right.
During the construction of Amy's cabinets, I learned that the hard way. When I started building the cabinets I had two Bessey K-Body clamps, four "Quick-Grip" clamps and a bunch of el-cheapo Chiwanistani bar clamps I bought 4-for-$10 at Big Lots. They got me through some small projects, but as I was gluing up the first cabinet, I realized that my clamp collection just wasn't going to cut it.
Fast forward to October 17th...the date of the of the great Woodcraft Jorgensen Cabinet Master clamp sale. 24", 36" and 48" clamps at about 55% off regular price...I saw clamp nirvana...
It was actually two sales in extremely limited quantities...the first started at midnight on their website. At about 55% off retail price, they didn't last long and their server was pounded. I tried to get my order in to no avail. So I headed to my local store the next morning, hoping to load up. I waited in line with about twenty other clamp hunters all waiting for the same score I was after. Luckily, they had enough on hand for everyone who had waited (I'm sure there would have been a riot if they did not!) and I made out with about $450 worth of clamps for just a few bucks over $200.
Now, I know this is still a rather meager clamp collection, and I actually used all but one clamp when clamping up the last three cabinets, but a guy has to start somewhere. And at about $40 a shot for one clamp at regular price, I think I'll be taking my time.
Now its time to give serious consideration to building a real clamp rack.
I finally got around to taking some pictures of the cabinets I am building for Amy. Not a whole lot to write about here...I haven't put the face frames on them yet, nor have I built the doors yet.
As you can see, these cabinets are made from only the finest sheets of termite puke. They are going to get painted white anyway, so I didn't see the need to go to the expense of using, as Norm puts it, "cabinet grade plywood". They shouldn't be exposed to any moisture, so I'm not too concerned about them swelling up. Besides, if the downstairs rooms get flooded, I have bigger problems than losing a few $20 cabinets.
Also pictured here, making her debut on amateurtermite.com, is Mazy, one of our four cats. She likes to play shop cat, along with her younger sister Emma, at least until either the dust collector or any of the power tools come on at which point the both run for the hills.
Well, after a long break, so to speak, from being out in the shop, I finally made my triumphant return. Amy and I have been busy remodeling our bonus room so that Amy can use it as an office/studio. So, we've been busy pulling up carpet and laying tile in that room and the adjoining hallway.
If you don't believe me, Amy has pics on her blog.
As part of the remodeling effort, we decided to put in countertops along two of the walls, creating a large work area for Amy to do whatever she's working on at any given time. We looked around for cabinets to put under the countertop for general storage and support. Needless to say, most of the cabinets we found were entirely too tall to be of much use. As such, I was commissioned to build four cabinets.
Now, I suppose I should clarify the title of this post...you see, I wasn't technically ruining wood, but rather ruining termite puke, otherwise known as MDF. That being said, I can now continue this post with a clear conscience.
At any rate, I spent the afternoon building the first cabinet. I cut the MDF to rough dimensions outside in the driveway with my circular saw. I then trimmed everything up to final dimensions with the table saw. The cabinet itself is held together with biscuits and glue and a couple of screws.
All in all, it turned out better than I expected. I still need to put a face frame on it and make a door for it, but I thought it best to try to build the remaining cabinets first.
No pics just yet as Amy has been at work all evening and she has the digital camera in her possession. Will post some later.