Bath Cabinet Part 2 : Construction Begins

[Mark Singer]

Today I went to Austin Hardwoods and found Shedua and Honduras Mahogany for the bath cabinet. I deliberated over all the great woods , but in the end I liked the Vertical grain and much of it was quilted also. I decided to make the shelves and the cainet top and bottom from the Mahogany and the Shedua for the coopered doors and the cabinet carcass, I made a quick mock up using a Kreg Jig to help visulize the curvature. The 6 degrree angle for the stave rips was too radical and I ended up with 3 degrees varying the width of the staves from 1 1/2 "(ends) to 3 1/2" (center) . this make a more dynamic curve and is far more interesting. It does require laying up the door first to accuratley establish the curvature. The staves are glued in pairs ...after 1 1/2 hours you can release the clamps and add one. I also glue up the cabinet top and bottom from 8/4 Hond. Mahog. The ECE planes got a lot of use. Each stave was cut on the tablesaw and handplaned. The Mahog. was also hand planed after the joiner run with the ECE Try plane monster...a bit hard to push ...there is a full 4' long shaving! Its a great plane. I used the 711 to carefully "spring" fit the staves , but only a touch. I am off to a good start...I have 4 hours in so far and making good progress. The critical work is still to come and I will need to slow down a bit. I also made a plywood scribe template of the wall cavity...it is curved badly and out of square...I will need to carefully fit the top and shelves to the cavity.

[Mark Singer]

More pics of the progress so far...

[Christopher Pine]

Wonderful choice of wood! Can't wait to see more!
Chris

[Jim Becker]

Yea...get that floor covered with chips and shavings!!

Nice start on a great project, Mark. Keep 'em coming! (pics)

[Mark Singer]

I worked another hour this evening and got the coopered doors completely layed up. I also layed up a panel of Shedua which will be the vertical sides of the cabinet.We all have our own special techniques for joining boards...apply a clamp...tap with a mallet a bit more clamp...perfect! Now the glue can dry overnight. Waiting for glue to dry can slow projects down. Since I new all the rough panel sizes , I could complete all glue up at more or less the same time. That way tomorrow I can start hand planning the doors and fitting the components. I have been thinking of one nice drawer within the cabinet. So the design is evolving as I am building it. It is still amazing to me that you leave the lumberyard with rough , beautiful material and within hours magic begins to happen as our ideas begin to manifest and our hands and follow our minds direction.

[Tyler Howell]

Always Like to see a master at work! Thanks


TJH

[Jim Becker]

Waiting for glue to dry can slow projects down.

That's what the Spinny Thing is for...to ease the pain of slow-drying glue!

[Jason Tuinstra]

Mark, thanks for the construction pictures. I'm really going to enjoy seeing how this comes together. Keep up the good work.

[John Miliunas]

Four hours?! Dooooooood...That would've taken me four DAYS! Please, keep a step-by-step picture and text tutorial running for this one! This is just great! Truly, watching a master working his craft.

[Scott Coffelt]

Anxiously awaiting the final shot, but keep up with the step by step pictures if you can. I love watching a master at work.

[Mark Singer]

Well..it is going pretty well, overall. I made one mistake when I layed up the staves I flipped a couple for grain pattern and interest...big mistake! They look great , but I had to resort to some sanding on the concave face....I cheated. I kept reversing and trying to read the grain, but the curve in combiation with a very difficult grain was a bit much. I sharpened the iron and set it light...planed from both sides...It still tore out a bit. I did fine on the convex (exterior) side. I went from a Gents plane to the ECE smaller Jack..I won't get to finished till I cut and fit the parts together. When I got to the other panels...I just ran them through the drum sander.. You know the old and tired thing! .I will give them a final planed finish.with a smoother..that should be much easier than the doors. The door work was time consuming...I am at about 9 and a half hours at the moment. I will start cutting thing to fit...soon

[Mark Singer]

Here are some progress shots:

[Joe Mioux]

....that wood is beautiful.

[Mark Singer]

I cut the panels and finiehed the doweling. What you see in the pics is a dry assembly with the doors sandwitched in...but not hung. The rabbets for the back are cut. I will resaw Shedua for a interior back. I am afraid to use it for a structural back since wood movement will be terrible to this type of cabinet. The doweling needs to be precise...I always drill a couple of shallow holes and check the alignment, before I go for it. I cut the sides and the doors to the same length...when the doors are planned it should leave just enough gap. Now I need to layout for the Brusso knife hinges. I will overlay about 1/2 the carcass thickness. I leave the doors long and plane them to fit once they are swinging.A round 3:00 my back started sending me love notes Then we had a power outage I guess it can wait.

[Mark Stutz]

Mark,
This is absolutely terrific. am amazed at the speed and precision of your work. Thank you for taking the time to document the process. I'm especially interested in the installation of the knife hinges.
Thanks again.

Mark