Wall Cabinet: Almost Done

I have made progress on the wall cabinet in the last week or so, but it has been agonizingly slow. After finishing the hinge mortises I began work on the stop and latch mechanism.

I added a thin stop, 1/16" thick, at the bottom of the cabinet. It's glued to the inside. I measured carefully, marked where it needed to go, and glued it in. And then I had to remove it and replace it. At this point I can't remember why.

The upper stop/latch mechanism is more substantial. It consists of a 3/4" X 1/2" X 3" block with two super strong magnets super-glued into it. The doors each have a magnet washer screwed into the inside corner. I wasn't paying enough attention when I drilled the recess for the magnet washers, and managed to get one on the hinge edge of the door instead of the non-hinge edge. That happened to be the first one and I'd used super-glue to attach it. That boo-boo is now covered with a circle of veneer.

Again I carefully marked and measured the location of the stop block/latch on the inside of the cabinet, and transfered the measurements to the top. I'm attaching the block with screws from the top. The holes are then filled with plugs. So in attempt number 1 I drilled the pilot holes, applied glue to the block, screwed it in, clamped it for good measure and left it to set.

The next day I took off the clamps and closed the doors to check on the alignment. Imagine my surprise when the doors wouldn't shut. I quickly surmised the the problem. When I transfered the measurements from inside the cabinet to the top, I forgot to take into account that the screw holes need to be in the center of the block. The line I'd transferred and drilled along was the marking for the front of the block - not the center.

Fixing this required - drilling out the plugs, removing the screws and sawing off the block. After constructing another block and marking the lines again, I screwed on the block - no glue this time - as a dry fit. The fit was perfect so I removed the block, added glue and screwed it back into place. And just in case I decided to wait before plugging the screw holes. I did super-glue in the magnets, though. All looked good, and I headed upstairs for the night.

Next time I made it into the shop, I discovered that gravity had been at work. The magnets in the stop/latch are recessed into flat bottomed holes. When the stop is attached to the cabinet they are on edge. When I'd left the shop after attaching the stop and gluing in the magnets I'd left the cabinet upright. One of the magnets had not set before I left and had slid out so that it rested at about a 45 degree angle to the block - and then it set. This was just not going to work because the door couldn't shut with the extra impediment of the angled magnet.

My first attempt at a fix was to cut off the portion of the block with the angled magnet and replace just the portion. This proved to be impossible to do well given the limited space inside the cabinet. So I unscrewed and sawed off block #2.

With block number 3, I first dry fit it to ensure it's correct placement. Then glued in the magnets with it independent of the cabinet. And finally glued and screwed it into place in the cabinet. Once it was I added the plugs.

As they say third times the charm.

All that is left to do if finish sizing the shelves. Although I built the cabinet according to the plans, the shelves are too wide! At the current width there is not enough clearance for the doors to shut when the shelves are in place.

Other than finish, and a little sanding, the shelf sizing is the last work to do on the cabinet.

Now I just have to figure out what to do with it. I built it for the experience, not with any plan for its use.

Wall Cabinet Progress

No pictures tonight, I'll try to post some tomorrow.

I've finished the hinge mortises.

Next step was to adjust the fit of the doors, which were too wide. In the grand scheme of things this is a much better option than too narrow.

While taking a break at work this afternoon, I'd read a discussion on the LumberJocks website about jointing the edge of a board with a handheld router as an alternative to doing it with a split fence on a router table. I've never done either but the fence which came with my router table has a split fence option. So, I decided to give it a try. I started on a piece of scrap. That went well, so I took a deep breath and ran the first door through. It wasn't perfect but it's pretty good. The second door looks even better. So now I have a new technique I can use.

After reattaching the hinges (while listening to, of all things, Donny Osmond on the radio!) I began work on the mechanism to hold the doors shut. I'm going to use rare earth magnets and magnet washers (basically thick washers that are attached with screws. I marked the doors, and drilled the holes for the washers with a forstner bit, and attached the washer in the first door. Amy came down while I was working on this and while I was explaining what I was doing I discovered that I had put the washer on the wrong side of the door. This wouldn't be too much of a problem except I'd decided to use a little super glue to help hold the washer.

I finished up the washer on the second door and the second washer on the first door. Now I just have to figure out how to mask the second washer on the first door.

The construction phase of this project is almost complete. I need to finish trimming the shelves for width (they're a little wide), ease edges on the doors and the case, and attach the block with the magnets which will act as the latch. That's it - the end is in sight.

Wall Cabinet: Hinges

I'm close to completing construction on the wall cabinet. I spent most of today (it's Patriot's Day in Massachusetts, so no work) in my shop working on the hinge mortises.

Hinge mortises are one of those things which I do by hand. One of these years I may create a jig to do these with my router, but for now I'm content to do them by hand. I'd started them last weekend (I think). I finished up the mortises on the doors today. You may notice a very small sliver of wood at the back of the mortise in the picture. To prevent this from blowing out I clamped a piece of scrap to that edge to back it up while I was cutting.

I also spent a fair amount of time resharpening my chisel during the cutting of the mortises. The maple that the door frames are made of is hard and dulls the chisel pretty quickly.

After finishing the mortises in the doors I turned my attention to the case, and realized that I needed to plug the holes from the pocket screws that attach the sides to the top, because the hinge mortises extend into that area a small amount. So I glued in the plugs - I already had the maple plugs on hand.

Since I had to wait for the glue to set, I then spent a little time on the stops for the doors. And then there was a small shop accident. While retrieving a clamp from the router table I tripped (not sure if I tripped on the router table or my own feet). I landed on my knee and shoulder on the recently padded floor. See here for the impetus for the padding. The padding helped but I've still got a really unhappy knee. The shoulder doesn't seem too sore. As a result I spent quite a bit of time in commune with an ice pack.

I did make it back into the shop, after promising Amy that I would be extra super careful. I trimmed and sanded the plugs and finished the mortises on the case for one of the doors. I should be able to complete the mortises for the other door on my next trip to the shop. Then I'll be able to determine if any more trimming is needed on the doors. The last bits of construction will be to attach the stop/latch to the inside center of the top and attach the knobs. Then it's on to finishing.

Stool Progress

I'm building two small stools. Wood is hickory and walnut. I've been using stool #1 to test methods before working on stool #2. I finished assembly on stool #1 on Sunday. It's all hickory with a band of darker hickory in the center of the top. The shelf is dadoed into the sides and secured with pocket screws.

The top is screwed into the sides and the screw holes are plugged with homemade plugs. I don't own a drill press so I use a piece of scrap with a hole sized to the outside of the plug cutter to guide the cutter. (I'll post a picture in the next couple of days so this is clearer.) I didn't have/couldn't find enough light colored scrap to make the four plugs for the top of this stool, so I decided to use darker wood and make the plugs a design feature. I cut a bunch of plugs, for both stools, and pulled out four that looked like they offered good contrast.

It wasn't until Monday night when I trimmed the plugs flush that I discovered that I'd used one lighter plug on the stool. The picture to the left shows the offending plug - just to the right of the darker band. Needless to say I drilled out this plug and replaced it. (Sure hope the new one has better contrast.

I haven't gotten back to stool number 2 yet, maybe tomorrow.