Custom solid wood kitchen cabinet project start!

[Brad Westcott]

Thought I would share. Not often I do solid wood cabinets with no mechanical fasteners. All mortis and tenon work, including the face frames.

Hope to start sanding and staining in a day or two.

Here is a link to more photos.

http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/576396230IFWAIp

This is an A Frame house so some of the cabinets must conform to the 60 degree walls. This explains why a custom cabinet was necessary.

[Paul Johnstone]

Nice work. Wow, those angles do look challenging.

When I get caught up (hopefully 1-2 years), I want to make some solid wood cab for my house too. Thanks for the inspiration.

[Brad Westcott]

Nice work. Wow, those angles do look challenging.

When I get caught up (hopefully 1-2 years), I want to make some solid wood cab for my house too. Thanks for the inspiration.

Thanks Paul. I do not see many solid wood cabinets made any more. Much less without fasteners. Most clients, or builders, for that matter,don't care for the added time/expensive of this old school approach.

I suggest a high quality plywood if you wish to keep your sanity.

A great deal of time is spent jointing and planing and since wood is far less dimensionally stable, one needs to be prepared to handle these incosistencies.

But the client loves this old house and the timbers inside are of wood one just does not see on a regular basis any more.

Thanks for the kind words and good luck with your projects.

[Paul Johnstone]

I suggest a high quality plywood if you wish to keep your sanity.

A great deal of time is spent jointing and planing and since wood is far less dimensionally stable, one needs to be prepared to handle these incosistencies.

.

Thanks for the advice.
Yeah, I realize this is insane.
But I got about 3000 bdft of maple on a "deal"
So the materials cost is basically free.
My plan was to build some of the upper cab out of solid wood first. If I still had my sanity after that, continue.. Otherwise go to plywood :)
Your pictures made me really want to try this. That's some really sweet work.

[Daniel Shnitka]

Your kitchen will look great when finished and what is special is you are doing it in solid wood.
Your view from the kitchen window shows a nice pond that could be used for trianing retrievers?

[Brad Westcott]

Your kitchen will look great when finished and what is special is you are doing it in solid wood.
Your view from the kitchen window shows a nice pond that could be used for trianing retrievers?

My clients house in on Galveston Bay. The estuary, one of many, is created from an inlet behind his house. The kitchen face the back.

I don't know about training a retriever. That water gets shallow and VERY silty. Your dog may not come back. It is that marshy.

I just got back from the final sanding of half the cabinets. I will try to finish sanding tomorrow.

Good luck with your project and be prepared to spend a LOT longer if you go the solid wood route. It adds time to everything, including sanding.

[Brad Westcott]

Thanks for the advice.
Yeah, I realize this is insane.
But I got about 3000 bdft of maple on a "deal"
So the materials cost is basically free.
My plan was to build some of the upper cab out of solid wood first. If I still had my sanity after that, continue.. Otherwise go to plywood :)
Your pictures made me really want to try this. That's some really sweet work.

Thanks for taking the time to say a few kind words. It is appreciated. I can't wait to start the staining. That is when your work really starts to show its true colors.

[Brad Westcott]

Well, after two days of solid sanding, I am ready for stain.

Unfortunately, the weather is turning cold and I really do not want to stain in weather less than 70 F.

I am urging my client to be patient.

Any tricks to laying poly down in this colder weather?

[Gene Crain]

I would think you should be fine above 55 degrees, see if the lable states a "do not apply below...." also it is not best to apply on a falling temp so a mid morning application...can you supply temporary heat?


Gene Crain
plantasymaderas dot com

[Brad Westcott]

I would think you should be fine above 55 degrees, see if the lable states a "do not apply below...." also it is not best to apply on a falling temp so a mid morning application...can you supply temporary heat?


Gene Crain
plantasymaderas dot com

I can but no without stirring up a lot of dust. I do not have enough/large enough electric radiant/space heaters to do the job. There are no warnings for low temps other than it will take longer to dry. Not a problems but my experience with polys is that they flow better in warmer weather. Thanks for the feedback. I like to hear other peoples experiences. Living near Houston, low temps are not the norm.

[Gene Crain]

A lot of finishing rooms in colder climates keep their finishes in a temp stable storage area....maybe you can slowly warm your finish to around 70 and then apply.


Gene Crain
plantasymaderas dot com

[Brad Westcott]

A lot of finishing rooms in colder climates keep their finishes in a temp stable storage area....maybe you can slowly warm your finish to around 70 and then apply.


Gene Crain
plantasymaderas dot com

Preheating is not a problem. I will just store it inside the house until I am ready.

[Brad Westcott]

Well, I switched gears and began the drawer blind dovetail setup.

This is just a test box. They have not been sanded. Looks like they will turn out fine.

I noticed some burning. I realized I had my blade set too low and my feed rate had slowed due to extra caution of cutting 3 1/2" pieces.

Raising the blade fixed the problem.

[Jim Rimmer]

Hang in there, Brad. It's bound to get warm here soon. In about two months we'll be complaining about how hot and humid it is. :eek:

[Brad Westcott]

Hang in there, Brad. It's bound to get warm here soon. In about two months we'll be complaining about how hot and humid it is. :eek:

I hope it did not sound like complaining. I love cold weather myself and anything to postpone summer is fine with me.

You and my client may be neighbors.:cool: He is on Toddville Rd.