Linen Case & Vanity progress (pics)

[Todd Burch]

I'm making a vanity and a linen case for a client. Both are in cherry and both will be built-in. The stain will be a fairly red one.

As I do, I started with a Sketchup drawing. (The drawing says Mahogany, but we changed to cherry).



First, the vanity (yes, I know - not "vainity"). 6' wide, 24" deep and 34" tall. It will have a dark green granite top with a 1½" bullnose. A smaller, white, undermount sink. That left a lot of room on both sides that we took advantage of with 4 drawers each. In this shot, I am fitting the drawer fronts. The face frame, held on by clamps, will be finished separately and the 3 boxes will unscrew from each other for transport. Once onsite, the face frame will be glued and nailed in place and the holes filled with a wax pencil or covered with trim. The center plywood box is covered with cabinet liner (a pretty thin plastic laminate).



I use playing cards to set the gaps between drawers and on doors. On a door, I'll set the door in place and see how many cards it takes to become snug. I'll then take ½ that number of cards and set them on the bottom rail, with the door sitting on the cards, just as you see them in the drawer front opening. I'll then mark for drilling for screws for hinges, or, in the case of a drawer front, simply hold it in place and screw through the drawer box into the drawer front.

The drawer boxes (vanity & linen case) are all 1/2" thick solid cherry, fingerjointed. They graduate (the vanity) in size from top to bottom, 4", 5", 6", 8".



The drawer fronts are 5 piece. I start with 1/2" stock and apply 1/4" mouldings on top, mitered at the corners. Some glue and pins nails, followed by a little filler make a nice front.



Here is the vanity ready for final sanding. The center hole will get two pullout shelves with door fronts.




Now, the linen case. It's 94" tall and 32" wide, 24" deep. It is in two sections for transport. The upper case, 46" tall, has 2 doors with fixed shelves. I prefinished the inside of the case prior to assembly. I match the piece of curly cherry on the front stiles. Pretty neat.



The lower case, 48" tall, has 3 drawers. Well, 2 drawers and a hamper drawer. It's a BIG drawer - 26+" wide, 22" deep and 19" tall - finger jointed 1/2" birch plywood. All 100% pullout slides that move like they are on butter.



For the exposed side of the line case, I applied cherry trim in a framed effect and chamfered the corners. Looks better than plain plywood, I think. There will be a piece of chair rail moulding that hides the joint between the two cases, and it will be installed onsite.



Thanks for looking. Todd

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Todd, just one word..................drool!

[Nathan Hoffman]

In the shot with the drawers attached but no fronts, Todd, did you attach the slides to the case or to the drawers first? Did you lay them out close to the final spot and then shim the fronts only to get it perfect? If so, how much taller is the drawer front than the box? The reason I am asking is I have my vanity coming up and this looks like a great way to install the drawers. Thanks.

[Tyler Howell]

You're the man!

[John Preston]

aren't you worried about putting the grain at 90 degrees on your drawer fronts? You mention that the bottom drawer is 9" tall.

Or is this built in air conditioning and going to be in a house with a/c and no movement is expected?

[Jason Tuinstra]

Thanks for looking. Todd

Thanks for looking??? Thanks for showing! It looks great Todd. I can't wait to see it installed. Great job.

[Chris Padilla]

That drawer looks cool with the finished cherry edges of the panel and the unfinished raised portion!

Great work as always, Todd.

[Todd Burch]

OK, here's some answers to questions:

Nathan, I have a system down for installing slides to the point that ANYONE could do it consistently perfect. In summary, I attach all case pieces, and I attach the drawer pieces. I'll type up a separate post for how I do it later.


The drawer fronts about about 1" taller than the drawer box. 1/4" to the bottom and 3/4" over the top. (roughly). No shimming anywhere - just using eyeball for left to right and playing cards for spacing. I've tried playing cards for left and right, but they keep falling out... Go figure! I do make my case boxes with face frames so that in the inside edges of the face frames meet flush with the inside edges of the cabinet boxes. That way, no spacers are needed.

John, no I'm not worried about wood movement with this 1/2" solid wood that is a max of 8" wide. The bathroom area does not have a door on it - the whole master bedrrom would have to become a steam bath for the wood to move enough to be concerned with. If, one the outside chance they do swell and rub, I'll have to trim them down and refinish. I suspect a non-issue. They will also be finished both sides with lacquer, so that will regulate movement as well. The cherry trestle table that I made last November is 34" wide solid 1 1/4" cherry. It has shrunk in width about 3/32" since then, leaving the breadboard ends just a little proud about 1/2 that on either side. I consider that allowable for the medium.

[Daniel Rabinovitz]

I'll tell you Mr. Burch -
Those cabinets sure look "cherry"!
Daniel

[Jim Becker]

Having seen the vanity in person during my recent visit to Todd's shop, I can attest to the awesome quality of Todd's work. The finish sample was also very nice. I'm glad to see the rest of the job in these pics as it really puts things in perspective for me.

Regarding the overlay technique on the drawer fronts, I used this method for a number of things in my kitchen renovation and there have been no wood movement issues, whether the substrate was solid stock or plywood. (I had both in that job) And I REALLY like the look of those mitered corners in Todd's design. I may have to introduce some "flattery by duplication" in a future project!

[Chris Pasko]

Wow Todd, that is some really awesome work man!

[Don Henthorn Smithville, TX]

Good show, Todd. You have every right to be proud of what you do. I am sure yur customers are pleased.

[Lars Thomas]

Todd, That's good looking work. I'll bet you'll hate to see it go. Lars

[aurelio alarcon]

Beautiful work Todd! Absolutely Beautiful! That must be a very expensive piece. Something tostrive for. Thanks!

[Joe Bourbois]

Great work Todd! You gonna get us some pictures of the final install?