Less Is More
When this is all said and done I think these cabinets will less represent fine cabinet making and more represent folk art. It looks nice, but you if get up close you can tell I’m not a trained cabinet maker. Don’t get me wrong, its reasonably straight and level, and it should be very presentable, but its far from perfect.
Upper-Center
Lower-Bottoms w/ Stiles
I have made more progress, though. I finished the upper-center section and I put in the bottoms on the lower cabinets. I also made the face-frames for the uppers (not shown), and I had just enough left over to add the center stiles on the lower cabinets. This means that each door will get its own cabinet latch on the lowers. On the uppers, each pair of doors will share a latch. This was always intended to be that way.
I am really cutting it close on this wood. The only thing left longer than 6-inches from the two big slabs of curly redwood are two end-cuts. The end cuts were the last pieces that were not full thickness. One side looks good and the other is sloped and slanted and varies in thickness from inch and a half down to 3/8ths of an inch.
These last two pieces will be used in the final assembly as almost veneer for the small inset area on either side of the upper-inset panel. I treat them like rare treasured objects which are the last of their kind. They've both been moved to a secured, undisclosed location in one of the garages. I could tell you where I put them, but then I’d have to kill you. We wouldn’t want that.
Tomorrow I’m going to put in the drawer guides and add in a bunch of glue blocks in the corners to strengthen the lower carcasses. I’m also going to glue and brad thick strips of wood behind the longer rails and stiles of the lower cabinets to strengthen them. The undulating grain pattern of the curly redwood means that you some times get grain that moves almost back to front instead of across. This makes for some very weak parts in the wood. The strips of wood attached to the back with glue and brads will add some much needed support.
9 comments:
They are looking great in your photos Greg. The wood is beautiful. Your one comment reminds me of a saying a co-worker often makes.....perfect from afar but far from perfect..
Okay, I can't get past the first couple sentences without posting a comment already. Folk art?! Are you CRAZY?! That cabinet is absolutely gorgeous and shows an incredible level of skill. I can't even put together a piece of cheap furniture from Target and have the edges match up. This piece you're building will look amazing when it's done, and nobody but you will ever notice what you see as imperfections. Okay, now that I have that out of my system, I can read the rest of your post....
Wow, your cabinets look beautiful! You have done a wonderful job. The wood is gorgeous too.
i'm getting almost as psyched as i was as you rounded the last corner on painting the house. another everest-ian project. go you!
I'm with jayne on this one.
Nice job!!! I've built cabinets and unless you're Kraftmaid or one the professional cabinet lines it's nearly impossible to build a perfect cabinet. Nice job!
I'm so impressed. I could not do anything like this-- I can barely mak e a cake.
Greg -- these are nothing short of incredible! Having done a number of DIY projects. I totally appreciate the time and effort you've put into these. i also understand your self-criticism as I know where every one of my mistakes are (and they are many). I'll tell you my theory: someone gets up close and starts pointing out imperfections, they can go the hell home! :-)
I don't know... looks pretty perfect to me! (and I agree with Jayne)
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