A Vanity Build Along
#11
I like reading build alongs, but there haven't been many lately so I thought I'd do one on a small cherry vanity and mirror frame I've just started building.

The vanity is 30" W x 21" D x 34" H at the top of the granite. It's a simple Shaker style in cherry, one of the woods I love to hate, while the inside will be maple. It will sit on a separate base; the plumbing will come through the back. Here's the design:



I roughed out most of the cherry stock from some beautiful wood I bought last Fall, almost 100% heartwood and very few pitch pockets.



The Shaker style frames have a bevel on the inside edge of the stiles and rails. I decided to buy Freud's Shaker style cope and stick router bit set, and it is very nice.



You can make tenons of any length with it by removing the top portion of the coping cutter. Don't know if I'll ever use that feature, but thought I'd mention it. Here's the coping bit cutting some rails ends for the end panel.



And here's the other cutting the sticking on a rail. I actually had some tear out below (above in the photo) where the panel fits in the dado. It won't show because the 1/2" panel will hide it on the side panel, but I'll have to figure out how to prevent it when I cut the door components. Perhaps a shallow pass first, or maybe even a very shallow climbing cut but only as a last resort. Got any ideas?



After some fiddling to adjust the dado width for my 1/4" panel tongue the parts fit together quite well. It comes with the dado set for a 5.5 mm (IIRC) panel so you have to add shims (supplied) for any other thickness.



There's no photo of what router is driving the bits, but it's my brand new Bosch 1617EVS. This is the first full size variable speed I've bought. It's very smooth and the variable speed came in handy as the max. speed on these bits is around 16000 rpm IIRC. The rpm seemed to hold steady as I pushed the stock through the bit, too.

The panels are 1/2" thick and are flat on the front side. I used a bowl routing bit to relieve the back of the panel to fit the 1/4" dado in the frame components.



Here's the end panel glued up:



I moved on to the face frame, using my horizontal router mortiser to cut the joinery, here in the rails:



and also the stiles:



Here are the components ready for gluing:



And after glue up:



Sharp eyes might see that the lower rail is not as thick as the stiles and upper rail. That's because the door and drawer fronts will be recessed 1/8" from the face frame, so I want the lower rail to be flush with them.

I mentioned that the inside of the cabinet will be maple. I looked at buying prefinished maple plywood, but the cost is really high and I only need a small part of a sheet, so I decided to make my own. I started by cutting some veneer from some undersized drawer sides I had left over from another project. Don't you love being able to finally fined a use for stuff you botched in a prior project?



Then through the drum sander to get it smooth and down to 1/16".



Some of the pieces had some curl and bend in them and they kept popping the veneer tape about as fast as I could iron it on. After 3 or 4 failed attempts I finally gave up and used 3M blue tape to tape the seams.



I'm back to using Weldwood Plastic Resin Glue after the heartache I had with Better Bond Cold Press PVA glue last year. The penalty is the temp. has to be at least 70 F and the cure time is really long if the temp. is that low. The bottle of Better Bond you see in the picture was just used to hold down the veneer as I taped it. At least I have a use for it. Here's the panel in my home built vacuum bag:



Not shown, but I put a heating blanket on top of the bag. The temp. gets up to about 100 F and the cure time is only about 4 hours at that temp. Still, I left them in for 8 hours. Next I drum sanded the panels.



and then finished them with the ROS sander.



And that's where I am at the moment.

Thanks for looking.

John
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#12
Hello John , I have always enjoyed your build alongs , thanks for posting them . I have 2 questions . I know you have explained this before but what are you using for your vacuum bags & pump . Next is your drum sander , how well does it work for you by making 2 passes for a wide panel . I am looking for a drum sander as far as my next purchase . Thanks again , Gary
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#13
Hi Gabby. Haven't seen you around for a while; hope all is well at your end. I made the vacuum bag from a piece of 20 mil vinyl that I ordered from McMaster Carr. Must have been 10 years ago or more by now. I have since found a local boat cover maker where I can buy 20 or 30 mil vinyl and I used a piece of the 30 mil stuff when I made a vacuum frame press a couple of years ago.

Vinyl is cheap, seems plenty durable enough, and can easily be glued with regular PVC pipe cement. I found it better to not use the cleaner first, just the glue. I made the bag by folding over the vinyl so I only had two seams to glue, added glue to about an inch wide strip at the edge, and then clamped the seam down to my workbench with a stiff wood caul on top. Never had an edge leak. I have had a couple of little leaks in the main bag, which I've patched with a scrap piece of vinyl. I made the hose connection from a piece of 1/2" thick PVC that I glued to both the inside and outside of the bag. It's tapped for a hose fitting on the outside, and the inside piece has two 1/2" wide dados in an X-pattern about 1/4" deep so it won't seal off against the bottom of the bag. This was before I knew about Joe Woodworker, or any other place where you can buy bag penetrations. The pump is a Gast pump that has about 3 CFM capacity, IIRC. The control system is just an on/off timer, no fancy constant vacuum controller. I might build one at some point, but I've had no trouble so far just setting the on/off timers so that the vacuum never falls below about 18" Hg. The max. my pump pulls is about 22" Hg.

I really like my Delta drum sander. The paper is easy to install and never comes loose even when I've done something stupid and stalled the motor. Sanding panels wider than the drum is easy; you just open the outboard end a few thousandths which is really easy to do with the Delta. I have no experience with other brands, so I can't offer you any comparisons. I bought mine used for $500 about 5 years ago and have put a lot of hours on it. More than I would like, honestly. I had a bearing race come loose last year and gall the shaft, which I had repaired by a local machine shop for $75. I installed new bearings when I put it back together. Other than that it just runs and runs. Of the sandpaper brands I've used I like Klingspore the best; it lasts the longest and clogs the least, by far. The only advise I can offer is to buy the biggest one you think you'll need. I would not want one any smaller than the 18" Delta. I have sanded quite a few things well over 20" and a couple over 30" with it. I rarely have snipe problems but when I do I run a piece of scrap in first and another behind the piece.

Hope that helps.

John
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#14
John, really nicely illustrated build along. I usually remember the camera about the time I get the last finish coat on the piece. I look forward to seeing the finished thing. Ken
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#15
John, I always like the build pics so keep 'em coming.

Do you ever find you need a support board when sanding down to 1/16" on the drum sander? I haven't tried making my own veneers yet, but do have a Ryobi drum sander. Between slices on the BS, you don't joint or plane your board? What size blade do you run on your BS for this?

What do you do to eliminate the mill marks on the ends of your stiles?

What was the problem with Better Bond? I only used it once. I think it came free to try with a Joe WWer order I did years ago. It was only a flat glue up, and that didn't present a problem. It was the kind with ground walnut shells. Now for my flat panel veneers, I use white Titebond PVA, but to be honest it's been years since I've done any veneering. I've been meaning to make my own vinyl bag to replace my leaky, thin polyethylene bag. I have a roll of thick vinyl but is there a downside to using a thick bag over a thinner one?

And what's your beef with cherry? I thought you would have used something you milled yourself but I guess if you don't like cherry, then you don't seek out those logs? I shy away from cherry, too, but maybe for different reasons than you. Mine concern finishing. Even when I think I'm done sanding, etc, there's always some ROS swirls to be found. However, I love how it ages.

Paul
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#16
Hi Paul. No, I don't use a support board under the veneer when I run it through the drum sander. The Delta will close down until the drum paper hits the belt so there's no need. I've sanded some veneer down to 1/32" and it comes out beautiful.

Normally when I cut veneer I start out with a much thicker board. I first joint one face flat and then plane the other parallel. I slice a veneer off both faces and then go back and joint one face and plane the other again. This wastes a little more wood, but it always produces veneer with one perfect reference face for the drum sander. Also, taking a slice off opposite faces as I go helps prevent bowing in the board which makes it much easier to cut when using a fence. I normally use an Olson MVP (bimetal) 1/2" x 3 tpi blade for sawing veneer, but I broke it awhile back so I'm using a 3/8" x 4 tpi one at the moment. I just ordered a Lennox Dimaster 2 blade, 1/2" x 4 tpi to see if that will cut any smoother than the Olson MVP blade. I once tried a Woodslicer blade; it cut very, very smoothly, but I couldn't stop if from binding and I also had some wandering problems at the start of the cut with it, so it is relegated to cutting thin stock only now.

The mill marks on the ends of carcase stiles won't show so I don't do anything with them. The ones that will show on the door and drawer fronts do require a little work, but not a lot. I use a very good Freud cutoff blade with my crosscut sled on my TS. That leaves a finish good enough that hand sanding with the paper wrapped around a wood block will remove any saw marks; 100 grit first to remove the marks, and then on down to whatever I'm shooting for, usually 180 grit.

The problem I had with the Better Bond was the veneer curled up at the seams about a month after I had finished a nice little table for a lady. I had to make a new top for it. I contacted Joe Woodworker, told him the details, and he promptly replied that Better Bond is not recommended for 1/16" shop sawn veneer. OK, but why not put that on the label on the bottle and especially on his website? Everything else you'd ever want to know about veneer is there. I'm sure it works fine on commerical veneer, but I rarely use the stuff so I've gone back to Weldwood Plastic Resin Glue for most of my veneering work now.

I'm sure a thick vacuum bag can't conform to extreme compound curves as well as a thin one, or one made from a more elastic material, but I've never had any trouble with the vinyl and I've made some curved pieces with it, though none with a compound curve. The only other downsides I can think of is the thick vinyl is a little heavy and takes up some space to store it. To me, the positives far outweigh those minor negatives. It's really cheap and you can fabricate any size bag to meet your needs. The 5 x 9' piece of 30 mil vinyl I bought for the press frame cost about $35.

I don't have a real beef with cherry. It's wonderful in so many ways. But it can also chip on occasion, it burns easily if you aren't careful, and it is notorious for blotching. I haven't gotten a good cherry log in a long time. It doesn't really grow much around where I live; you have to be down closer to the PA border. So when I need to use cherry I have to buy it. I bought some really nice stuff a year ago last Fall for a large project I've been working on, and I'm using some of the extra I bought for this vanity.

If you're getting swirl marks with your ROS try a different pad or paper on your sander. If you still can't get rid of them, maybe it's time for a new ROS. I have the Bosch ROS65VC and I can't find any swirl marks after using it. It was a real eye opener for me after only ever using a pad sander before that.

John
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#17
John,
I'm beginning the build on a Shaker-influenced end table-cabinet that will have two inset doors. I see your vanity cab also has an inset door.

If you take requests..as you build it, would you mind detailing somewhat how you mount & ensure a good fit of your inset door(s)? Thx in advance..
Kevin
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#18
Forgot to ask. What was the substrate material for the veneer?
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#19
atgcpaul said:


Forgot to ask. What was the substrate material for the veneer?




Baltic birch plywood.

John
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#20
jteneyck said:


The vanity is 30" W x 21" D x 34" H at the top of the granite.





Hi John,

Is your new vanity at the same height as the old one? My wife is mulling over my offer to build a new one. Our current one is only 32" tall and it's even short for her at 5' 4".

Thanks,
Paul
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