Finally got some cabinets done. (pics)

[Jeff Kerr]

Well,

I finally got some work wrapped up in the shop in the last few days. I have been working on some cabinets, both for my shop and also for my church.

Nothing to fancy but I have received some nice comments from some friends that have seen them.

I’d like to thank SMC and all the great posters for providing me with some good advice. I feel more confident each time I get into the shop.

They are all made from 3/4” classic birch ply from Home Depot. I found this plywood to be OK but it has more voids than I like, however the price is not bad. I chose to finish the cabinets with a clear poly finish and it looks just right.

All the boxes are joined with butt joints and kreg pocket screws. Quick, easy and sturdy. One of these days I’ll take the time to work on my dadoes so I can put a cabinet together without pocket screws.

The mobile cabinet is for church. Since it will be used in a multipurpose room I decided to attach it to a cart so that it can be easily moved around. It has one fixed shelf and 2 adjustable shelves. I added a key lock to the door so that they can lock up the supplies. 46344 46345 46346 46347 46348

[Jeff Kerr]

The wall cabinets are 24x24x12 and I decided to hang them from cleats. My dilemma was that my shop walls are not stud framed but rather pole barn framing. Because of that I was a little concerned that the cabinets would put too much weight on the horizontal strapping. So to fix this I basically created an exoskeleton on the outside of the finished wall to spread the weight out over 3 of the horizontal straps instead of one. A few lag screws and it seems plenty strong. Now I have a single cleat rail to hang items on. I’ll probably add another rail for smaller items underneath.
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I still have some base cabinets to complete for the shop. Boxes are all done and the doors are cut, but I still need to build the drawers. I’ll post some pics of those when done.

[Jim Becker]

Very nice, Jeff! And I don't think I've ever seen the word exoskeleton used in a woodworking context before! LOL! :D But that was a great idea to accomplish your goals.

[Rick Doyle]

Nice job, Jeff! The cabinets look great!

I agree with Jim about the word 'exoskeleton' - I'm going to pretend I know what it means!:) Kind of a big word for us woodworkers!

[Lori Kleinberg]

Looking good. I like the natural finish.