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by
Dave Bond
photos: Tracy Cox
illustration: Len Churchill |
BATHROOM WALL CABINET (part 2) |
Bringing
the Parts Together
This is the step in which things have to go smoothly, or there’s
a big mess to deal with. Having just dry-fitted and labelled
all the parts, make sure you have the necessary clamps on hand,
pre-adjusted. When everything you need is within reach, apply
glue to all the slots in one side and the corresponding slots
in the shelf ends. Now butter up enough biscuits to fill these
slots and assemble this part of the framework. A clean flux
brush is ideal for spreading glue here.
Next, apply glue to the slots
in the other side and the slots in the other ends of the shelves.
Butter up more biscuits to fill these slots, nestle the second
side in place, and then clamp everything together while making
sure that the back edges of the shelves line up correctly with
the sides. Don’t worry about alignment of the front shelf
edges for now, since everything can be made flush here after
the glue dries. Check and adjust the framework for square, then
install the central drawer divider with glue and a few small
finishing nails.
Doors and Drawers
As with the sides, I like to use thicker material for doorframes
too. It stays flatter than 3/4" stock, and it looks better
too. With the framework assembled, you can now measure accurately
for the doors. The overall door opening should be 18" x
23 1/2", so you need to build a pair of doors measuring
11 3/4" wide x 18" high. You’ll need to plane
these later for an optimal fit. Notice that the top rail and
the side stiles are two inches wide, while the bottom rail is
2 1/2" wide. A little extra wood along the lower part of
each door gives more traditional proportions.
The doors I designed include simple
1/4"-thick flat panels cut from solid stock and bookmatched
so they look great. Being split from the same piece of wood,
each side of the grain pattern is a mirror image. You could
use a plywood panel or a raised panel, depending on your taste
and patience.
Prepare wood for door stiles and
rails, including a 1/4"-wide x 1/2"-deep dado along
all the inside edges of rails and stiles. Since this groove
is made to accept the door panels, you may need to tweak the
dado width depending on the stock you’re using. So-called
1/4" plywood is often substantially thinner than 1/4",
so check before you rout.
The plans show how the rails are
joined to the stiles with 1/4" x 1/2" stub tenons.
Prepare these now and dry-fit the door frames together. Check
for square and overall size, and then measure for the door panels.
The door-panel height can be fairly tight at the top and bottom,
but you should leave 1/8" of space for seasonal movement
along each side of the solid panels. Plywood panels can fit
tight all around because they’re immune to moderate humidity
changes.
Sand the panels and the inside
edges of the frames with 120-grit sandpaper, then dry-fit the
door parts to make sure they come together properly. This is
a great time to prefinish the panels so they don’t show
any unfinished areas if dry weather causes them to shrink. When
you’re ready for final door assembly, apply glue to the
stub tenons and also to the corresponding grooves in the stiles.
Whatever you do, work neatly. You must avoid getting glue on
the panels since it could interfere with seasonal movement and
cause cracking. Clamp each door immediately after assembly and
check to make sure that the corners are square and flat. |
| You
will need: |
| FOR
THE CABINET |
SIZE |
QTY |
| Sides |
1"
x 7 1/2" x 72" |
2 |
| Bottom
shelf |
1"
x 7 1/2" x 23 1/2" |
1 |
| Wide
shelves |
1"
x 7 1/8" x 23 1/2" |
3 |
| Narrow
shelf |
1"
x 6 1/8" x 23 1/2" |
1 |
| Central
drawer divider |
1"
x 4" x 7 1/8" |
1 |
| Back
slats |
3/8"
x 3 1/2" x 41 3/8" |
7 |
| Crown
moulding |
9/16"
x 3 1/8" x 60" |
1 |
| Crown
filler piece |
2
1/4" x 2 1/4" x 60" |
1 |
| Cap |
3/4"
x 9 7/8" x 30 1/4" |
1 |
| FOR
THE DOORS |
SIZE |
QTY |
| Stiles |
1"
x 2" x 18" |
4 |
| Top
rails |
1"
x 2" x 8 3/4" |
2 |
| Bottom
rails |
1"
x 2 1/2" x 8 3/4" |
2 |
| Panels |
1/4"
x 8 5/8" x 14 1/2" |
2 |
| FOR
THE DRAWERS |
SIZE |
QTY |
| Drawer
fronts |
3/4"
x 3 15/16" x 11 1/8" |
2 |
| Drawer
backs |
1/2"
x 3 15/16" x 11 1/8" |
2 |
| Drawer
sides |
1/2"
x 3 15/16" x 6 1/2" |
4 |
| Drawer
bottoms |
1/4"
x 6 1/4" x 10 5/8" |
2 |
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PART 1 | PART 2 | PART
3 |
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