A 1 Week Project

[jteneyck]

Just about a year ago I built a cabinet for a test machine to sit on for my old company.  Not high end woodworking, just solid construction, good function, and what I think is an attractive design.  Just before I went skiing a couple of weeks ago a former colleague contacted me to ask if I'd like to build two more.  Well, yes, of course.  The deal was he needed them by today, and I was going skiing, so I would have about 2 weeks to build them when I got back.  Sure, no problem.  

I got back from skiing with no injuries (always a good thing) but other things got in the way, and when I finally got started on the cabinets I had just 8 days to deadline.  In the end, I made it, barely, and delivered them this afternoon.  I spent 3 pretty long days to build them, and another day and a half to finish them.  

Hard maple frames, with 1/2" maple ply panels.  Overall dimensions of the frame is 36 x 26 x 17.5" H.  The frame members are all joined with loose tenons, of course.  The legs sit on big honking leveling feet so the machine can be leveled.  KV soft close, side mounted drawer slides, 20" long.  



The finish is BIN shellac based pigmented primer (love this stuff) followed by two coats of GF's Enduro White Poly.  This stuff sprays great, dries quickly, sands w/o corning, and gives a very smooth and uniform finish.  



The 1/2" BB drawers are joined with 1/2" finger joints cut on my router table with the original Incra jig.  I really like it because you can gang up common parts and cut them all at once.  I made the 8 drawers in an evening, and slept really well that night.  The router bit I used was a bit worn, and the cuts must have ended up a few thousandths undersize, because putting the joints together was a hard press fit.  The good news was that I could take the drawers out of the clamps as soon as I had them pulled up tight and square, and move on to the next. I finished the drawers with a coat of SealCoat shellac followed by 2 coats of satin EnduroVar.  



The top is 2 layers of hi-ply poplar plywood covered with Formica.  I used 3M's Hi Strength 90 Spray contact cement to glue it down.  It's $12 per can but very easy to use, no mess, and it grabs like mad.  One can did both tops, which are 36 x 40".  This picture is as I had them loaded in the U-Haul RAM van I used to delivery them.  



My former colleague was pleased I met the deadline.  He also said there might be more in the future, as they are putting together complete test machine packages and shipping them to other company locations.  Would I like to build more?  Yes, why yes I would. 

John

[MikeBob]

It looks nice and functional. Be strong, to ski strong!!!

[MsNomer]

Yep, thought that van looked familiar


And I really like the clean look of those cabinets.

[Phil Thien]

Boy those really look great, no wonder they want to order more!

[jteneyck]

Carolyn, I thought of the build out project you posted on your RAM ProMaster when I realized that's what I had.  Now that I've seen the inside of one I'm even more impressed with the challenges you were faced with. I'm sure there are different trim levels on the RAM van, but compared to the Ford Transit U-Haul van I rented a couple of weeks ago the RAM is not nearly as nice ergonomically.  The seats were poor and couldn't be moved back far enough for my legs and I'm only 5' 11" tall, no power mirrors, and the steering wheel was nearly horizontal and had no tilt feature.  It had plenty of power and I think might be a bit larger than the Transit, but I much preferred the Transit as far as driving it.  Hopefully, the RAM comes in a better trim package than what's used by U-haul.  For transporting those lab cabinets, however, it was just the ticket compared to my Subaru.  I think I might be able to get six of them in there if I had to.  

John

[RedBob]

Well executed and agree completely on the handsome design assertion, John. 

Are the legs solid maple, or glue-ups?

Great job,
 Bob

[jteneyck]

Thanks.  The frame members are all solid, no laminations.  I started with 8/4 stock.  The legs are 3" x 1-3/4", the stretchers are all 1-1/2".  The loose tenons are 1/2" thick and fit into 1-1/2" deep mortises.  

John

[Kansas City Fireslayer]

For a high strength functional cabinet in the workplace, I must say they look better than most furniture I see in the stores. I think I'm going to give the white Enduro poly a try on some laundry room cabinets I'll be building shortly. Very nice work John.

[Joel H.]

Great work John - looks very good.  Nice that you've built one already so you had the prior experience and that you got to make two at the same time (just make double the pieces).  Amazing how fast you can work when you have a deadline, eh?

Joel

[Randy C]

John

Can you explain what loose tenons are? I saw a product in rockler catalog called "beadlock", is this what you are referring to? If not, is it some type of tenon you make? When you say loose, does this mean you don't glue the joint? Ho do you cut the mortise?

Thanks