Shop Cabinets Finished! (PICS)

[T.J. Mahaffey]

They are finally finished!
Thanks to everyone here for your encouragement and your help with the finish! I'm really liking the amber shellac.

http://workshop.tjmahaffey.com/workshop/img/tmp/cabsdone1.jpg

http://workshop.tjmahaffey.com/workshop/img/tmp/cabsdone2.jpg

I can't wait to get in there and organize all my stuff in those drawers. :)

[Dev Emch]

They are finally finished!
Thanks to everyone here for your encouragement and your help with the finish! I'm really liking the amber shellac.

http://workshop.tjmahaffey.com/workshop/img/tmp/cabsdone1.jpg

http://workshop.tjmahaffey.com/workshop/img/tmp/cabsdone2.jpg

I can't wait to get in there and organize all my stuff in those drawers. :)

So when do I get to move in?:D These are nice and I love that amber shellac.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

T. J.............Great work! Those would look great in my shop!:rolleyes: :D

[T.J. Mahaffey]

Thanks, guys.
I meant to mention: As many of you will notice, the drawer faces aren't perfectly aligned, I know. All the little 1/16th or 1/8th inch errors I may have made in the overall construction sort of added up when it came time to put the faces on.

When I had them all attached the first time, I ended up with the left bank of faces being about 1/8" too high. This meant the filler strip above the top drawer wouldn't fit right. When I hand planed it down to fit, the other two top drawers had too much space above them, so it was really obvious when you stood back and looked at the whole thing. :mad:

I was sort of ignoring that while I finished other things on the cabinets. Then, I came back to it and just decided to redo the filler strip and reposition the first bank of faces. I'm really glad I did. It added a couple of hours of work last weekend, but I'm MUCH happier with it.

Now, I'll have to live with the subtle differences in between faces overall, though. What you see now is as darned close as I could get it and I had to stop tweaking at some point and say, "Darn it, these are shop cabinets for crying out loud. Let's get these babies done so I can move on to the next project!" :o

[Vaughn McMillan]

TJ, perfect or not, you'll get a lot of years of good use out of that cabinet. Nice job.

- Vaughn

[Dave Fifield]

Wow!! Awesome storage and a nice worktop too! Good stuff TJ. I hope you made a story stick - you'll want to make another one when you've filled this one! :)

Cheers,
Dave F.

[Pete Harbin]

Excellent TJ!

Pete

[Larry Cooke]

I meant to mention: As many of you will notice, the drawer faces aren't perfectly aligned, I know. All the little 1/16th or 1/8th inch errors I may have made in the overall construction sort of added up when it came time to put the faces on.
T.J., it's called petina! That's what I tell the LOML when she notices a flaw in my work. You see, the drawers are a little out of alignment from all the use... :)

Now, if you really don't want them let me know. I know someone that'll haul them off for you for free. ;)

Larry

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Those look really great, I need to get off my lazy you know what and make stuff like that, but for now hand me downs will have to do...........

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/recycled_storage_units.jpg

I can see a nice set of cabinets like you made fitting right in...

Great Job, thanks for the inspiration!

Cheers!

[tod evans]

nice job tj!

[Gail O'Rourke]

That's a great cabinet. You will get years of abusing it in your shop. Have fun!

[Chris Barton]

Great looking work TJ!

[Keel McDonald]

Shop cabinet??? That would look great in my bedroom. I love all the drawers. Nice work!

[Rich Torino]

Look like another piece of fine furniture too me...

[Mark Singer]

Beautiful work and design!

[Zahid Naqvi]

Nice work man, I need to visit your shop one of these days.

[Shelley Bolster]

Way to go T.J. ! They look fantastic.......and the storage and organization!!! I love having a spot for everything.......even being called anal at times but I can work way quicker and more efficient when I am not wasting time looking for everything! You are going to love it when you get everything put away. Although a whole lot more work, drawers are, in my opinion, THE way to go! You will thank yourself a million times over for the effort you put into this.........now git out there and put some tools in it! ;) :D

[Byron Trantham]

TJ nice execution. I really like the finish.

[T.J. Mahaffey]

Beautiful work and design!

Thanks, Mark. :)
But I can't take credit for the design. I built it from plans in AWW Jan. 05.

[Jason Tuinstra]

Nice shop cabinets. I know that mine add a ton of storage to my shop. Enjoy!

[John Dingman]

T.J.

Very nice job on the cabinets. Simply Outstanding!

John

[Jim Becker]

They look GREAT, TJ!!

[David Duke]

Good looking cabinet TJ, to me drawers are the only way to go for storage. Cabinets with shelves always seem to hide things at :mad: :mad: least mine do while I somehow manage to keep the drawers pretty well organized, I even have four huge drawers for storing all my hand power tools.....don't have to worry about rolling up cords :D :D .

[Mark Pruitt]

Nice work, TJ!
Mark

[Corey Hallagan]

TJ those look excellent. I used MDF on my cab fronts and wished now that I had used plywood. You did a great job!

Corey

[Chris Barton]

Way to go T.J. ! They look fantastic.......and the storage and organization!!! I love having a spot for everything.......even being called anal at times but I can work way quicker and more efficient when I am not wasting time looking for everything! You are going to love it when you get everything put away. Although a whole lot more work, drawers are, in my opinion, THE way to go! You will thank yourself a million times over for the effort you put into this.........now git out there and put some tools in it! ;) :D

I have seen some pictures of Shelley's workshop and I have to say it is more organized and cleaner than some surgical suites I have been in...

But, she is right TJ, you did a GREAT JOB!

[T.J. Mahaffey]

Way to go T.J. ! They look fantastic.......and the storage and organization!!! I love having a spot for everything.......even being called anal at times but I can work way quicker and more efficient when I am not wasting time looking for everything! You are going to love it when you get everything put away. Although a whole lot more work, drawers are, in my opinion, THE way to go! You will thank yourself a million times over for the effort you put into this.........now git out there and put some tools in it! ;) :D
Thanks, Shelley! :)
I couldn't agree more. For the past year, I've been using a bench I bought at an auction for $12. Its massive, heavy and it has served me very, very well during that time. But the storage underneath was two adjustable shelves and I added two sets of doors to the front. It works, but that space was always wasted because I hated getting in and out of it. Things hiding behind other things... So, at one point recently, it really clicked in my head: Drawers are the way to go. MUCH better, easier to see and more efficient. For me anyway. I like order. Alot. :o

[Steve Clardy]

Looks really good TJ. Proud of ya!!

[Von Bickley]

TJ,
Great Job...:) :) :)

[Joe Chritz]

Those pulls look familar. Care to share how you milled them up. Mine are a 1/2 cove with a round over on the top side but I am always looking for new ideas.

Run out and scratch one to get it out of the way. First one is the worst.:D I didn't even have mine done when I dinged it up. :mad:

Nice work

Joe

[Eric Shields]

T.J. -

Beautiful work brother. Yet again, another example of "what I want my shop to look like one day."

Eric

[Ron Wright]

TJ, that looks great. I would like the dimensions of your cabinet. I will be adding a cabinet to my shop in the near future, and this looks great.
Thanks in advance.

[T.J. Mahaffey]

TJ, that looks great. I would like the dimensions of your cabinet. I will be adding a cabinet to my shop in the near future, and this looks great.
Thanks in advance.
Thanks, Ron!
The top surface itself is 73".
I can get you the other measurements and post them tonight.

[T.J. Mahaffey]

Those pulls look familar. Care to share how you milled them up. Mine are a 1/2 cove with a round over on the top side but I am always looking for new ideas.

Run out and scratch one to get it out of the way. First one is the worst.:D I didn't even have mine done when I dinged it up. :mad:

Nice work

Joe
My pulls are much simpler than the plan called for. I just don't have all the bits called for. Mine aren't as pretty either, but they work for me.

They're just laminated cherry (I didn't have any 8/4) in a rectangular shape with a 1" cove, rounded to 1/4" on the inside, where your fingers touch.

[T.J. Mahaffey]

I thought I would post an update on getting my new cabinets and benchtop set up.

I built a frame 6" above the shelf at the back of my bench top. This leaves room for my new electrical conduit run and 4-way outlets. This puts the outlets right where I need them.

I bought a sheet of that white peg board and I'm very pleased with the result. It really brightens up the immediate area. I'll put some small upper cabinets or just a shelf right above the pegboard. This is where I'll store my finishes.

http://workshop.tjmahaffey.com/workshop/img/tmp/newbench.jpg

I also did lots of re-arranging in the shop, moving my toolbox stack right next to the new bench. Things are coming together, but a complete reorganization of the toolbox and new drawers will be in order soon.

Right now, the new cabinets are just filled with the stuff I had to remove from the old bench quickly when the guy came to take it off my hands. I'll sort through it all soon and really put the organization whammy on it.

I'm very, very happy with how things are coming together and feel it was well worth the time building the new bench and cabinets. WELL worth it.
Those of you who followed the cabinet construction thread here...

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=32055

Will remember me saying: "And I feel like putting all other projects on hold for now, while I do this, will pay dividends in productivity and enjoyment in thend. Here's hoping."

The verdict? Its paying dividends every time I walk in the shop. I love it.