First Cabinet Job Progress - pics

[Dennis Peacock]

Greetings,

I've been working on my very first set of cabinets that I was commissioned to make for our church audio department. I've been working on these cabinets with the gracious help of <B>Mark Cothren</B> and we are getting close to having these babies done. It's been about 7 weeks in progress and I found out in a real hurry that it's NO FUN having to work in the shop every single night after a full days work at the day job. Needless to say, I've gotta cut back on taking commission jobs since it takes away from my family and leaves me precious little time to "enjoy" working in the shop when I want to work in the shop. But then, it's not "work" is it? ;)

Anyway, here are some progress pics of what has been done up through today. These cabinets are Birch Ply with a mix of Birch lumber and Alder lumber. Lesson learned? Never, Ever use solid Birch lumber on cabinets. The stuff is simply to wavey and twisted to use as faceframe or drawer stock. :rolleyes:

The color on these cabinets are Trans Tint alcohol based dye mixed in a ratio of 2 ounces per 1/2 gallon of alcohol and the color name is Vintage Antique Maple.

[Dennis Peacock]

Last couple of pics....

Thanks for looking.

[Jim Becker]

They look great, Dennis. A lot of work, but take satisfaction that you made some beautiful cabinetry for your customer!!

[Frank Pellow]

The cabinets look great Dennis.

Sorry that you have had to spend too much time on the job and sorry that you had problems with the birch. I have have good luck with (Canadian) birch boards.

[Richard Wolf]

Looks like you did a nice job, Dennis.

Richard

[Jim Hager]

Lookin good Dennis. Should do the job in the audio department quite nicely. The birch looks nice with the dye stain. Working as a part timer with a full time job is a full time job on it's own huh?:confused: Been doing that for some time now and I'm gettin fed up with it pretty bad. Think I'm gonna quit my day job:cool: and become a full time sawdust junky. I can get burried up in my shop and forget all the stuff to do with anything at my workplace. I've enjoyed my day job for the last 27 years but it may be time to do something else.


Great job on the cabinets. Hope they fit now:D I've done some that didn't

[Bernie Weishapl]

Good job Dennis. They look excellent.

[Dan Forman]

If you were having a hard time with the birch, it shure doesn't show! Nice job, and nice color. I've been playing around with transtint in water on birch ply without much success. How did you control the blotch?

Dan

[Corey Hallagan]

Dennis, nice job! The cabs look great. Looks like you will be taking a well deserved rest soon!

Corey

[Dennis Peacock]

If you were having a hard time with the birch, it shure doesn't show! Nice job, and nice color. I've been playing around with transtint in water on birch ply without much success. How did you control the blotch?

Dan

Dan,
The trick that I've found is that the WB dye AND the alcohol dye "has" to be sprayed for even consistant color. I tried both WB and AB dye with hand application....no go!!!! It was so splotchy and ugly that the wife wouldn't let me in the house with "that ugly lookin' wood"!!! :eek: Switched over to spraying with a $99 HVLP Gravity fed gun from the local BB store and it works unbelievably well. :D :D Very nice, even, and consistant color and hue. I've come to "really love" using dye instead of oil based stains. Here's a very good example that was done just today:

1. Noticed some chalk on the side of a cabinet that got sprayed over with dye.
2. The chalk shown through like a great big sore thumb.
3. Sanded the chalk and dye of in just those spots with some 220 grit sandpaper.
4. Wiped off the dust with a bare hand.
5. Sprayed on more dye in just the sanded areas and lightly feathered out from the newly sanded/dyed areas.
6. Waited about 2 minutes. Dry as a bone.
7. Shot over that area with lacquer sanding sealer in under 3 minutes from spraying the dye.
8. All done and ready for final sanding and Satin Lacquer.

I have yet to be able to do just that with oil based stains. Besides that? I don't have to wait 12 or 24 hours while I wait for the stain to dry. The dye is dry and ready for clear coating within a few very short minutes. :cool:

[Joe Mioux]

Hey Dennis

Is this the project you were seeking input on those Blum hinges?

How do you like them?

Joe
P.S. The cabinets look great!

[Dennis Peacock]

Hey Dennis
Is this the project you were seeking input on those Blum hinges?
How do you like them?
Joe
P.S. The cabinets look great!

Joe,

Yes it is....and I like them very much so far. I'll tell ya more once I have installed and aligned all 8 doors on the cabinet uppers.

[Chris Barton]

Great looking work Dennis! I love the high level of craftmanship!

[Shelley Bolster]

Looking great Dennis, but 2 jobs for 7 weeks....you must be getting exhausted :(. The alder stained/dyed up real close to the birch Dennis - can't tell them apart and yeah - birch can have a tendency to twist and wave when cut in smaller widths such as a door frame. So, when do you plan on having them delivered and installed - I am looking forward in seeing them all put together! :)

[Jim Fancher]

Love the cabinets. Well worth the effort.

[John Miliunas]

Wow, it's no wonder we don't see as much of you out here as we used to! (Thought maybe you didn't love us anymore!:D ) Anyhow, great job on those cabs! Keep the progress pics coming and, of course, don't forget the final product!:) :cool:

[Dennis Peacock]

Wow, it's no wonder we don't see as much of you out here as we used to! (Thought maybe you didn't love us anymore!:D ) Anyhow, great job on those cabs! Keep the progress pics coming and, of course, don't forget the final product!:) :cool:

John,

I haven't forgotten all my friends and family here at SMC. I've been trying to teach myself a lot of things this year and it seems that I learn better if I take on "real" work to do in order to improve my skills. I would "love" to go to the Mark Adams School of Woodworking, but that takes a lot of money and time away from the real day time job. My dream is to one day, get my Master Craftsman Certificate from the Mark Adams school. Cabinets is just a thing that I've had to learn about and now the LOML and Mark's LOHL are now talking about kitchen cabinets for our houses.!!! :eek: :eek:

Did I happen to mention that I "really" need a bigger shop if I'm going to do casework like cabinets? :rolleyes: :D

BTW, I've still got your templates to make and send to ya....maybe for Christmas? :o :o :o

[Mike Stanton]

Great job Dennis .

[Vaughn McMillan]

Looking good, Dennis. The dye looks real nice. I'll be looking forward to seeing the "installed" pics.

- Vaughn

[Karl Laustrup]

Looking good Dennis. :)

Won't be much longer and you can relax again. And have a little jingle in your pocket as well. :D Maybe a new tool? ;) :D

Don't forget the installed pix.

Karl

[Dennis Peacock]

Don't forget the installed pix.

Karl

Thanks Karl and everyone for the kind comments. As long and hard as this has been? I will NOT forget the installed pics. ;)

It's just that I feel I've found a single project that I can work on until I retire before this thing ever gets done. I need to get this done and out of my shop. It's a total disaster.!!!!! :o

[Steve Clardy]

Looking good buddy.