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Thread: Project: "Scrap" Vanity for Guest Bath

  1. #1
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    Project: "Scrap" Vanity for Guest Bath

    The vanity in the guest bath of this "new to us" house (a year ago, of course) is falling apart and was never installed correctly, either. The countertop and fixtures are just fine. It's what's underneath that, um...bites. So in addition to some minor repairs and paint to "freshen the room up", a new vanity is required. The origin of the "Scrap" in the title to this thread can be summed up in this photo about when I went "shopping" in my temporary lumber and sheet goods storage on my property; a tent on a deck and the shed, respectively.

    IMG_1726.jpg

    A little more would be added to this as work progressed, but I think you catch my drift here: use up stuff that's already bought and taking up space so it doesn't have to be moved into the new shop building later in the year.

    I do not do "detailed" plans for something like this, but I do establish the basic design and overall dimensions

    IMG_1728.jpg

    The carcass consists of four corner "posts" that are 40mm square. They were glued up from a bunch of poplar shorts and then milled to what turned out to be the final size. Originally, I planned for 45mm, but the wood decided it wanted to be a hair smaller. It had opinions... To avoid being totally boring, the bottom 125 mm would have a taper on the two inside faces...a quick and dirty jig got whacked together from yet some more scrap materials and the deed was done. The left rear remained square since it will never be seen.

    IMG_1734.jpg

    Various rebates were cut on the appropriate edges to provide glue surface for attaching the sides and back, but those were not cut until the material was chosen for each element. Why? Different thicknesses. Some of the panels are even stitched together smaller pieces of plywood, glued and pocket screwed together...nothing that would be visible and a good use for the material. (thankfully, all but one piece of the plywood was BB or equivalent which is nice to work with, there is one piece of melamine in there, too, to block out the left, inside)

    For this build I used the hand-screw trick to hold the two side pieces vertical while I pieced together the back. It's such a simple thing, but does it much better than other ways that can be attempted.

    IMG_1739.jpg

    Glue, screws, brads, pins...whatever was appropriate for whatever I was doing got used.

    IMG_1740.jpg

    At the present time, the carcass is complete. The next step is to create the two drawers which need to clear the plumbing in the middle. The current, decrepit vanity is similarly designed in that respect. This version has more space on the bottom shelf for towels, etc., than existing. More on this project when I get to the drawers. Too hot in the temporary shop to deal with that now.

    IMG_1750.jpg
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  2. #2
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    Way to rock the scrap pile Jim!
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


    – Samuel Butler

  3. #3
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    Yes, it's strangely satisfying, Glenn. I'm somewhat of a packrat when it comes to material and even though I literally threw out about 1500 lbs of it prior to moving, there's still a lot of very usable stuff just dying to be a project or a fixture or whatever. The one challenge is getting to some of it, particularly the sheet goods that's still in sheets, so using up some of these smaller offcuts will help with that. There are places on this project that look butt-ugly, but that will never be seen, so I'm having at it!
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  4. #4
    Well done Jim. I completely outfitted a 14 foot storage trailer with racks and shelving from my "stock" of oddball part sheets, cutoffs, ripped lengths of 4-6 quarter stuff. So what if it doesn't color match or have the same or similar grain.
    Dave Anderson

    Chester, NH

  5. #5
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    Yea, this just seemed like the right kind of project to "burn some scrap", as it were...one side and the back is completely hidden and it's not a large construction either, at about 910mm wide.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  6. #6
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    Today was drawer day...which started out with a little "shopping" in the shed

    IMG_1792.jpg

    After cutting two pieces of leftover QSWO 12.5mm plywood to manageable size with the tracksaw and taking careful measurements to determine what the drawer bottom size needed to be and creating the basic drawer bottoms, I used the table saw to partially cut out the portion of the drawers that just can't be there because, you know...plumbing. That was followed by a partial plunge cut with the track saw to establish the edge parallel to the drawer for those cutouts. If I took the time to remove the riving knife, this step could have largely removed the material, but for two small cuts....nope, not gonna do that. It was simpler to just finish things out with the jigsaw.

    IMG_1799.jpg IMG_1800.jpg IMG_1803.jpg IMG_1804.jpg

    The remaining plywood was cut into appropriately sized strips to create the various side pieces and those necessary for the "jog". I got the entirety of both drawers out of the equivalent of a half-sheet of plywood with the exception of two small components that I had to draw on a scrap of cherry plywood at the back of the narrow center section. Assembly was frankly really simple...glue and inch and a quarter brads. There is enough structure here with the base glued and nailed to the sides and so forth that you could stand on these things without breaking them. Top edges of all the sides and internals have a tiny round-over to keep them smooth.

    IMG_1805.jpg

    You can see in this shot after the drawer slides were installed how the back of the drawers are configured to "miss" any plumbing.

    IMG_1807.jpg

    At the end of the day...all that is left from a construction perspective is the drawer fronts. I'm still considering how I want to design them, whether they be flat or emulate frame and panel. We'll all know the answer once I actually make a decision and make them. But that will be soon as the table saw is leaving next weekend to make space for a very large crate that is arriving two months early from Italy. First world problem...

    IMG_1806.jpg
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  7. #7
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    So I can officially say that I've scraped together enough of the scrap to create the whole Scrap Vanity and no more scrap scraping is required. It's built. I may or may not add some kind of shadow line "something or another" on the drawer fronts with the CNC, but otherwise, it's on to finishing in my copious free time. Oh, and I love those little plastic shims that someone on the 'Tube recommended awhile back. They really worked great for setting the drawer fronts. The drawer fronts, BTW, were made from a couple of old MDF utility shelving pieces that were hanging out in the shed.

    IMG_1812.jpg IMG_1813.jpg
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  8. #8
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    Shot the primer today in my "expansive" finishing booth, AKA, the side driveway extension. I found that my good gun was having an issue with the onboard regulator for the PPS system, so I pulled out my old Wagner HPLV conversion gun just to get the primer on since I had done all the prep work and setup and so forth. It worked fine, but being back on a "suction pipe" in the cup really limits gun positions when trying to spray inside something or even vertically like is necessary on a piece like that. It worked out...I just kept the gun full of the primer.

    IMG_1840.jpg IMG_1841.jpg

    I ordered the replacement part assembly I needed from Jeff Jewitt and will get the top color coats on once I have the good gun working properly. The final color will be a deep, but still creamy green which we chose for this particular room to compliment other design plans. If I spray outside again, I'm likely going to put up my canopy to keep the direct sun off for that operation.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  9. #9
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    Just an update on this project...the "scrap vanity" is essentially ready for installation at this point after I take care of some plumbing upgrades for the bath tub and shower.

    IMG_1963.jpg

    Color got sprayed inside since the space was freed up when the PCS went to its new home

    IMG_1928.jpg

    When I designed the drawers, I had moved from using the existing vanity top with integrated sink to an above vanity sink arrangement like we had at our previous home. When I changed my mind about that a few days ago, it necessitated a little redesign of the top drawer as there was no longer any room for an actual usable drawer. So today I cut out the "offending" parts of that construction so it could still go in using the slides and easily be removed should plumbing maintenance be required. After installation, a couple of small L brackets will make it a "non functioning drawer" under normal circumstances, but still allow it to easily come out if needed.

    IMG_1964.jpg

    The bottom drawer operates normally...note the accommodation for the sink drain

    IMG_1965.jpg

    To install the drawer handles, I made a quick and dirty drilling jig from some scrap plywood...it's nice when everything lines up exactly!

    IMG_1962.jpg

    I'm well on the way to completing the whole guest bath refresh over the next couple of days and will make a final post at that point that shows how everything came together. Although the general intent here was "spend as little money as possible since there's big building about to go up in the back yard", sanity prevailed and all new fixtures have been acquired so everything matches. That included the vanity light and some electrical things because the originals were just not going to work out, especially the light as it was impossible to get all the paint splatters off of it without causing noticeable damage to the ORB-like finish.
    Last edited by Jim Becker; 08-31-2022 at 7:46 PM.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  10. #10
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    Looks great. I never would have thought about building drawers like that, I guess that's why you get paid the big bucks.
    Army Veteran 1968 - 1970
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  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Von Bickley View Post
    Looks great. I never would have thought about building drawers like that, I guess that's why you get paid the big bucks.
    LOL! The master bath vanities I built at our old property for the addition project had a similar accomodation for plumbing, but it was actually simpler there as there were three drawers along the top with a top mounted bowl. So for that situation, I could make the actual two drawers that bisected the drain location narrower, but keep the drawer fronts a consistent third of the space. I don't have a photo with an open drawer, but you can see from this photo how that worked out. Each drawer front was about three inches wider than the actual drawer for those two below the sink bowl.



    For this "scrap vanity" project that used a single width drawer design, the space division had to be incorporated directly into the drawer. Interestingly, the old crappy vanity from some homecenter that the previous owner put in also had the drawers set up this way. So I'm not really doing something completely innovative here.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  12. #12
    Well done Jim. I like the shallow middle segment. I hate to think of how much ends up "lost" in the back of deep drawers at my house.
    Dave Anderson

    Chester, NH

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave Anderson NH View Post
    Well done Jim. I like the shallow middle segment. I hate to think of how much ends up "lost" in the back of deep drawers at my house.
    Yes, I agree...if this was not a guest bath, I'd probably put additional dividers in the usable drawers, at least on one side, for normal organization after considering what the actual need is.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  14. #14
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    Just now seeing this tread. That turned out great, Jim.

  15. #15
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    The "scrap vanity" is now fully installed in the guest bath and completely functional. The whole room renewal only has a few more little things to go and I'll post a few photos at that point that bring everything into perspective.

    IMG_2014.jpg
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

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