A Diamond in the Rough: Using Salvaged wood for Custom Cabinets

frame assembly 101

finally i got some assembly going. let me tell you after all that planing and ripping and planing and ripping. it's nice to see something get put together. after drilling all my pocket holes in my face frames with my Kreg jig. i set out to start assembling some frames. i figured while i was at it i would do a mini tutorial so to speak on how i assemble them. this is really basic stuff to alot of us. but i figure if it helps one person out there it was worth the time. SO

I start by gathering up my pieces that go with this frame.

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I have the following things on hand and in reach.

Drill (with kreg square bit)
Tape measure
Glue
Speed Square
Pocket screws
rubber mallet
Kreg face frame clamp

All frames are different of course but i picked this one cause it wasn't too many pieces but it showed some stuff other than just screwing the pieces together. this is what this frame will look like to give you an idea of what we're going for.

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In order to place my center stile i will first grab my top and bottom rail. and place them upside down on the table in front of me. I then mark on one of them the measurements to place my center stile. Then with my speed square i line them up and mark them both.

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This is only rough. i will be checking the stile's placement with my tape before i screw it in.

Next I place glue on the end of the stile and plase it between the lines on the bottom rail. Then I use my kreg clamp (the one that came with my jig) If you don't have one you can use a similiar looking vise grip clamp, just make sure it has the one end with the flat circular part on it. This clamp holds the two pieces in place and also hold them to where the front face is aligned correctly. I check the dimensions on each side of the stile and use my rubber mallet to gently persuade it into position. now i just put my 2 screws in.

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Next I will flip the frame and repeat with the top rail. In this pic I show you how I deal with my small kreg clamp and it's limited throat depth. This top rail is 4-1/2" wide, so the clamp can't reach over the piece. So i turn it to the side and grab it at an angle.

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Now i can turn the frame sideways and repeat those steps to attach the two side stiles. again making sure my joints are absolutely flush.

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And that is basically it. Simple I know. This is what I was able to accomplish last night.

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7 frames. only 8 left. but all of the ones left are my lowers. which need the decorative bracket feet cutout of the bottom rail before i can assemble. I only work half a day today so hopefully I'll finish all of those and begin the cutting of my sheet goods.

Thanks for lookin
Chris
 
chris, try slatherin` some wax on your blades before cutting....if the pitch is building up it`ll cause the cutters to dull prematurely...on my planer i just coat the entire head, knifes-n-all, for tablesaw blades just the outside 1-2" ..tod

yep, that works, but what is even easier to apply is PAM, the non-stick cooking spray, I use it on Big Blue when I'm cutting up green sticky wood, saves the day, and I bet it increases the cutting power of that saw quite a bit.

Is it also all natural, so I've never had a problem with any finishes afterwards.

Great looking wood, you are recycling like mad! :thumb:

Cheers!
 
Rick

i am sure there are tons of katrina "victims". but the sad part is, i'd be willing to bet alot of great wood that could have been salvaged was thrown to the dump in the mass clean up after the storm. i don't get down that way much. still tons and tons of work and construction and remodeling going on down there though.

thanks for your interest
chris


Yes, that is sad. Many of the homes in your area were built from lumber that was actually sent downriver in the form of large flatboats. That was part of the commerce. The boats were designed as one-way vehicles. A lot of very historic wood was, as you say, bulldozed into the dumps.
Save even small pieces of the wood from your project. You will find that items made from your 'historic' wood will be much appreciated in coming years.
 
finally i have some time to post about this project. i have just had way too much going on to even think about taking pictures, not to mention it gets dark so early now that i can never get to that point in time. so anyway, here are some shots after the frames were completed. unfortunately i stopped taking pics after this, the next ones will be of the cabs mostly completed. they are going to be installed this weekend, if my supplier can get my super fancy drawer guides to me before then so i can build my drawers.

these are of the frames and the plywood cutout. to think i was relieved when i got to this stage, now a few weeks later i'm finally almost done.

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more to come

chris
 
ok, so here are the cabinets, semi completed. all i have left to add is a toekick board on all the lowers and build and install the drawers. i made beadboard for the finished ends using a beading bit on my cheap and dirty router table. all those pieces now need to be sanding nicely. i added the posts to the sink cabinet and the stove area. here are the lowers shown how they will be installed together.

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i also need to build a winerack for this upper cabinet, inside where the beadboard is, the other side will have glass doors and the interior will be painted to match the beadboard on the backsplash. i plan to do a very simple large X from one corner of the opening to the other, one in the front and one in the back of the cabinet. that cabinet you see sitting next to it will house the microwave.

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and this is probably my favorite part of the kitchen. the hood. i wish it was my design but it isn't, i saw it somewhere and this is my interpretation of it. the top "door" is removable and will be attached with some type of latches, either magnetic or one of those catch latches (can't think of the name) this cabinet will receive an upper on both sides, that is why the bead board doesn't cover the entire side. i hate to waste this beautiful wood if it will never be seen.

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the rest are of the tall linen/broom closet in the master bath and the master bath vanity.

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thanks for checkin in
chris
 
thanks tod

well, looking at the pics made me realize a mistake i made, luckily a small easy fix. in the first set of 3 pics, the last one shows the stove area. well when i attached the posts to these cabinets i did it exactly as i did on the sink cab (first pic). well this didn't look right because the sink connects to another cabinet on each side so what i did there was make sure the stiles on both side of the post were even. well when i did this on the stove cabs, it just looked stupid. so basically i just unscrewed them from underneath and moved them over and reattached. glad i hadn't glued them on there.

looking forward to putting these guys in friday. i should have some pics up by saturday or sunday.

thanks for lookin
chris
 
Thanks for the update, and pics, Chris. Awesome cabinets, and a great thread. I agree, the hood is Kewl!:thumb:

Look forward to the installation, pics and story.
 
after about 11 hours of work friday and 12 on saturday i finally got the cabinets installed. i did have to go back for 6 more hours monday night to finish trim and hanging doors. thanks to the help of my dad who is basically working for free just cause he likes to help me, i was able to get it all done, with the exception of about 5 small pieces of molding (ran out) and a couple of doors that need to be tweaked. all in all for my first full set of inset beaded face frames i think it went pretty well. things are not perfect by my standards which i admit are usually waaay to critical, but i am happy and the homeowners are absolutely thrilled with the out come so that helps ease the pain. i did make a few bonehead mistakes during constuction and install, the first became evident as i placed the cabinets in position to test fit, i realized i forgot to account for the 1" cypress boards on one wall, so my cabs were to big along the window wall that were not there when i measured. this was easily fixed because i leave at least 3/8" overhang for instances such as this.

i fixed it by roughing off the strip with my skil saw and routing it flush with a flush bit. i need two of the four frames to have a slight reveal left so a framers square provided just enough clearance for the bearing to ride on leaving me just over 1/16"

got those cabs in place and went to cut the drain hole in the bottom of the sink cab, the pipe was offset, bonehead me decided to measure from the wrong side, product of rushing myself and not taking my time. so i now had a hole in the shelf that didn't belong, the homeowner begged me not to fix it and was very persistent about it saying he didn't care, so i did a bad patch job and went on my way, but now i think i need to fix it, it's gonna bug me if i don't.

next mistake was cutting in an outlet in the microwave cab (small cab next to glass doors) once again, trying to hurry. luckily the micro fits tight and it isn't an issue, but it does bug me.

then if you've seen the glass door cab, you've seen i forgot to make sure the shelf was centered in the cabinet. no one noticed but me. and yes it bugs me also.

i think that was all my stupid mistakes. thankfully

so without further delay...here they are. you will notice the bluish colored beadboard, that is salvaged off the same house as the wood for the cabinets. and it will just receive a clear coat. i think it adds a ton of character. anyway.....

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thanks for lookin
chris
 
Chris,

Absolutely awesome! :thumb: Looking back at the first pics....who would have ever thought you could make something that looks so good! Just unreal!!

I will never look at an old house the same way! :rofl:

Thanks for posting, the updates and look forward to the next step.
 
Chris

Thanks for the posts and pics this is a great thead, the cabinets look great --

I'm curious what is going to happen to the floor. Why didn't the homeowners take care of that before you installed the cabinets?

Jay
 
I hadn't been keeping up on this thread Chris, but all I can say about the finished product is WOW! You did a great job. Like Greg said, who'da thunk that old wood would end up that nice. :clap:

BTW, I see you and I have much the same taste in tools. Like you, I have the TS3650, the Delta 12" Snipemaster planer, and the Ridgid MSUV to put the planer on. Now of you tell me you have a Sears lathe and a Shop Fox bandsaw, I'm gonna start worrying that you're spying on me. :D
 
greg,
thanks so much. it is hard to believe that such an ugly looking wood can turn out so great. i really wish you could see this stuff in person. it is so much better that way, but then i guess everything is. thanks for taggin along on my journey, glad you enjoyed it. it's funny because i look for old houses and barns all the time, mostly because i know what i can get from them. that type of wood is at a premium price around here.

thanks again

jay,
thanks, glad you like the thread, i really wish i had time to post more often but between my day job and this and trying to keep LOML happy, it's just too hard.

as for the floor, it will be refinished entirely, it is old growth heart pine. the reason you see the lighter section near the cabinet bases is because the homeowner passed the belt sander on the floor so he wouldn't need to get close to the cabs later. that floor is gonna look incredible when it's finished.

thanks for the nice comments guys
chris
 
vaughn,

i have noticed in some of your posts you have the TS3650, that one in the pics is my dad's. i work out of his shop till i can get mine built (if the rain will ever stop around here) i am still contemplating my table saw purchase for when i start my business sometime next month. i really like the ridgid and it's hard to beat for the money, it does almost everything i need. i would like a 50" fence because i occasionaly crosscut ply over 36". my plan was to buy the TS3650 at first and get a few jobs done, then buy a cabinet saw and move the Ridgid into a dedicated dadoin role. i get tired of changing back and forth all the time and if i forget to dado something i gotta switch the blades again, it's frustrating. Since my dad will be helping me i am seriously looking at the sawstop now for when i get that cab saw. still trying to make up my mind though, might buy the cab saw first then get the ridgid for dadoes, who knows.....what to do what to do.

thanks for checkin out my project, glad you enjoyed it. oh and i love that MSUV, it's so great on installs

take care
chris
 
thanks tod, i appreciate it

kirk,
i guess it has to do with what you've trained your brain to do. i have to stop myself alot on cabinets because i try far to hard to make them perfect like i would building furniture....(disclaimer....stressing the "try" part) ;)

building furniture is much more interesting to me. but cabinets pay the bills, and as long as they are of a nice design i enjoy doing them.

thanks
chris
 
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