Shaker style buffet

[NICK BARBOZA]

Morning all!

I finished this piece about a week ago. It is a plywood case with poplar face frames, drawers, drawer bottoms and T&G back panels. The top is a piece of maple that I had lying around. The piece was commissioned by my wife to house all of our newly acquired wedding presents, consisting of dishes, kitchen 'stuff' and a bigger 'junk drawer' (go on... admit it... we all have one of these...)

The finish; As a rule i do not like building painted pieces (because i dont like painting...) but i thought the look of this one 'works'. The finish of the paint did not turn out good at all and it was pretty rough. It's the last time i'll use cheap paint from the blue borg. I'll only use the spendy stuff from Sherwin Williams in the future. The finish for the maple top is sanded to 400grit then 2-3 applications of BLO (let dry for a week) and 2 coats of Johnson's Paste Wax, buffed with a lambs wool. This is a finish i am falling in love with! It's glassy smooth!

This started out as just a quick build out of necessity but then I decided to experiment with a few new methods.
-The first was the door style; what I consider very shaker. 3/4" poplar rails & stiles and 3/4" solid poplar panel. Very happy with it. Also the curved to rail and accompanying curve on the solid panel was an added new experience for me.
-Next addition was the solid wood back panels. I wanted to try making my own T&G. So I to some 5/4 poplar and resawed it to get about 15/32" once it was passed through the drum sander.
- Solid wood drawer bottoms. I did my standard half blind DT's in front and through DT's in back. But after reading Garrett Hack's recent article in FWW I figured I'd give it a try. Worked out great!
-Wooden drawer glides. I've done a rendition of these before, but not attached to the bottom of the drawer. Worked pretty well but we'll see how the stand the test of time.
-Another first for me was the use of domino's for shelf supports. I installed 3 shelves and although I didn't add adjustments to each because this piece was purpose built for its contents. The possibility of adjustment is readily available.

Comment/criticisms welcome!
Thanks,
NWB

[Charlie Stone]

It almost looks TOO nice. I went to the pictures before reading the text and was wondering if it was a computer model.

[Kerry Adams]

Looks really nice! Can you share how you did the doors?

Kerry

[Tony Cox]

This looks awesome. Great job!!!

[Jim Becker]

I like that piece, Nick. Very attractive. It would look great in my home in case you ever get bored with it... LOL

[Dave MacArthur]

Very nice, and interesting post. Sounds like you really made good learning/practice use of this project!

[Scott Hildenbrand]

Nice looking piece.. Just my style, though I don't care for that shade of green.

Inquiring mind. WHAT exactly is your floor made out of?

[David Thompson 27577]

Morning all!
{You said some stuff, then you said}

kitchen 'stuff' and a bigger 'junk drawer' (go on... admit it... we all have one of these...)

NWB

Not true for me, and I'll never admit having one. Six or eight maybe, but just one? Who could possibly get by with only one junk drawer?


Seriously, I'm impressed with the piece. I particularly like the inset doors, with the really-well-fit panels.

You commented about the quality of the paint finish, and your disappointment with paint from the blue big box. I have found that preparing a piece for a paint finish is at least as time-consuming and at least as important as prepping for stain and varnish.

Sand to 220, oil primer, sand to 220, another coat of oil primer, sand to 220, first coat of finish paint, sand again, second coat of finish, inspect to see if more is needed................

But I'll strongly agree that paint from a paint store (Sherwin Williams, Duron, Benjamin Moore, etc) is a better choice than the Valspar or Behr brands from the big boxes. Although it seems way to high priced, that $56/gallon stuff is amazing in every aspect.

[NICK BARBOZA]

Looks really nice! Can you share how you did the doors?

Kerry

Kerry,
I first determined a pleasing curve on the top rails, cut it out and cleaned it up. Next i cut the groove in all door parts on the router pit with a adjustable grooving bit with a bearing. The panel was glued and i cut the "tongue" portion on the panel's 3 straight sides. I then dry fit the panel with it's stiles and bottom rail, then overlaid the top rail and traced the traced it on. Next, with a compass i transferred this line (toward the top of the panel) the length that the tongue would be; cut along this line and cleaned it up w/ a spoke shave. I then took two passes with a rabbiting bit w/ bearing to create the tongue along the curved section. After some clean up with a shoulder plane it fit quite well. I'm sure there is a more efficient way to do this process, but for my first try, it worked pretty well.

I like that piece, Nick. Very attractive. It would look great in my home in case you ever get bored with it... LOL

Thanks for the offer Jim! I'll let the wife know too!

Nice looking piece.. Just my style, though I don't care for that shade of green.

Inquiring mind. WHAT exactly is your floor made out of?

I believe it is southern yellow pine. I just finished renovating my bathroom which had the same stuff, not as the sub-floor but as a substrate for the old linoleum (subfloor under that is wider random width boards used as concrete forms as well). And on the back of each piece it was stamped "Southern Yellow Pine Co." and I think it listed a southern state too, but i cant remember it... It appears that they used this material where a sheet good was being installed. The entire rest of the house is oak.

[Dan Karachio]

I like this! Being someone who hates to paint anything, I have used a product that helps smooth out the paint and seems to virtually eliminate brush strokes. Can't recall the name, Flo something I think.

[David Thompson 27577]

I like this! Being someone who hates to paint anything, I have used a product that helps smooth out the paint and seems to virtually eliminate brush strokes. Can't recall the name, Flo something I think.

Floetrol for latex paints, Penetrol for oils.

And yes, it helps a lot with brush strokes. It does that by keeping the paint from skinning-over too quickly. If it stays wet longer, those irregularities (like brush marks) will have a better chance to smooth out.

[Gordon Eyre]

Very nice project with neat clean lines. Well done.

For those worrying about brush strokes in painted projects I agree that preparation is key. On the final coat I have a spray bottle of water and just give a light misting of water on the paint and then "tip" it off with the brush held near vertical and just skim the surface.