Project: Cherry Vanity For Guest Bath (COMPLETED)

[Jim Becker]

So we're soon to invest a literal fortune in a major home addition. One area that I'm going to "sub to myself" is the cabinetry for two bathrooms and a laundry room. Today, I got started on the 36" vanity that will be in the guest bathroom. Now, far be it from me to go into this project without a plan, so I took about, oh...ten minutes...and made a plan:

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Yea, meager, but at 8 1/2" x 11", it's bigger than a bar napkin.

So...we begin by preparing some thicker stock for the "legs"--this will be a simulated frame and panel construction. One of the cherry slabs I have in inventory (from an estate sale that Alan Turner, um...turned...me on to) has a bit of a crack in one end and is also shaped like a big smile. Perfect for what I need. Mark the section out that I want to work with using chalk...that should be enough.

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And then use the Festool saw and guide to cut it out before further processing. I did need to finish one of these cuts with a hand saw as the material was just thicker than the blade in the ATF-55 could cut.

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Next, it was off to the table saw to rip down a few boards that the legs would eventually be milled from. I intended to use just the outside areas of the slab for the legs (for straighter grain, etc), but one side had a bit more "ancient" bug activity than I was comfortable with, so the front two legs came from the other side and the back legs that will largely be out of sight came out of the middle section.

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Those approximately 6" wide boards were then taken to the jointer and flattened. It's "very desirable" to have flat and true stock for these important cabinet corner components.

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[Jim Becker]

Next, the stock was thicknessed to 1 3/4".

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Four legs were then ripped at the table saw and after jointing one face perpendicular to its neighbor, the stock was run through the planer to make it square.

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These legs (corner columns) are the same height as the entire cabinet, so after crosscutting one end square, they were cross cut to length...which happens to be 32".

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All four legs were ganged together with a clamp and then the layouts were done "story stick" style to account for the tapers, reveals and necessary rebates for construction. Doing it this way insures that everything lines up in the end and it also allows you to keep track of components in such a way that you don't end up with two left sides. (It happens... )

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The bottoms of each leg have a short taper from 1" square at the outside corner to the full 1 3/4" at 3" up. I made a quick and dirty jig to cut the tapers at the table saw from some scrap MDF and plywood strips.

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[Jim Becker]

Using the "quickie" jig, the tapers were cut at the table saw.

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Meanwhile, back at the MFT, I took the cherry veneer MDF panels that I had left over from my mantel capper project and cross cut them to length. After the first cut, I remembered to put the good side down...

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I mentioned earlier that this was going to be a simulated frame and panel construction. In order to effect that on the side panels, I used some 1/4" thick cherry to make the upper and lower "rails", using only one swipe of glue across the middle of the solid stock and 23 gauge pins to hold these appliqués to the veneered MDF panels. This method insures that wood movement will not be an issue.

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Back at the bench, I started working on the various notches and rebates necessary in the legs using "traditional" methods that included a hand saw and a sharp chisel. Here, I make the starting cuts.

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And then move on to the chisel.

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[Jim Becker]

Several of the notches were more difficult as they could only be partially cut with the saw and the remainder of the material worked out with the chisel. Fortunately for me...they will not be visible, ahem...

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Before assembling the panels to the leg columns, I set up the pocket hole drilling jig and provided six screw locations on each side of the panel that will be mating with the legs. The screws and glue will provide some of the strength, but internal blocking will insure things remain strong over time.

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Priror to fastening the panels to the legs, I applied some painters tape to insure that any glue squeeze does not get onto the panels. The reveals would make removal of the same very difficult and quite visible after finishing.

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I placed two 1/8" thick strips of wood on the bench top to hold the panels up from the surface. This would provide the reveal between the rails and the leg columns. Glue was applied on the edges of the panels, everything was aligned and the assembly was clamped to allow for the pocket screws to be installed.

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Last in this sequence, a support was installed that will help hold the cabinet bottom in at the panel sides. Doing this now makes for easy access. Some additional blocking and supports will also be affixed before any cabinet assembly happens for the same reason.

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[Jim Becker]

And finally a couple shots of what the end panels look like after assembly. The one leaning up against Stubbalina is the side that will be next to the potty. I'll hopefully get back to this project next weekend...shop time during the week is highly unlikely...

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[Jim O'Dell]

Yes, you were busy in the shop today!! Very nice. And a good start on this project. You'll have them ready to install long before the addition is finished at this rate! Jim.

[Jim Becker]

This is the easy one, Jim. The master suite bath involves "his 'n hers" vanities as well as linen storage. Those vanities will be more complicated and much larger. The laundy is just utility cabinets, but there will be a lot of them. And I forgot to mention the possiblity of a small wet bar. And some new bedroom pieces. And a hall table... sheesh! I'm just going to have to spend time in the shop. (And teach Nastia how to do some things...she actually asked to help)

[Ted Calver]

Great series of photo's Jim. You make it look all too easy. Thank you for taking the time to share this project with us. I'm looking forward to the next installment.

[John Fry]

Nicely done Jim!

It looks like a great project and sounds like you've got your work cut out for you for a while.

Your photo essay is very well done and written up too. It was enjoyable to "follow along".

[Roy Wall]

Jim,

Thank you for the tutorial.....good stuff and efficient work!

Questions:
The notches in the legs.....lower for the base/bottom panel...and the upper for a drawer divider section???
Also, the front leg has a long rabbet in the front to accept the framing for the drawer and doors?

[Jim Becker]

Roy, the rabbet is in the back of the back legs to accomodate nailers and a back. The notches at the bottom are to make it easier to make and put a bottom in the case during assembly as well as make it lock together better. The notches in the top portion of the front legs/corner posts is to provide a way to lock in a rail under the drawers. This is definitely "non traditional" assembly, but I wanted to try some things out that I might potentially use for the larger vanities in the new Master Bath. I'm even toying with pre-finishing before final assembly, too.

John, one of the reasons I post these projects in the format I do is to show newer (and very part time) woodworkers that it's not really that hard to do meaningful projects. I am by no means a highly skilled woodworker...it's an avocational passion and I don't get to do that much work due to work and family responsiblities. If I can do this...most folks can do it. It's mostly about thinking things through and being willing to fail. Stuff happens. But you can't learn if you don't try. In the past, I rarely picked up a chisel or a hand plane or a hand saw. Now I do when it makes sense to do so. The reason for that is because I tried it out and it worked...what a concept!

[John Renzetti]

Hi Jim, You are getting entirely too much time in your shop. (this coming from me who is off today and tomorrow and should be out there right now. )
When does the actual heavy construction start on the addition. How are they in your township for plans, setbacks, permits etc.
take care,
John

[Jim Becker]

When does the actual heavy construction start on the addition. How are they in your township for plans, setbacks, permits etc.

We are near to contract signing...I'm meeting with the GC and HVAC guy this afternoon to discuss a few things and the architect is working on the final drawings so we can start the permitting process. In the mean time, my surveyor is working on the site/soil conservation-erosion/grading plans to clear that hurdle and the county starts testing for the septic flow updates on Thursday. In other words, money is flowing feverishly despite not even having the project under contract...sheesh!

[Michael Fross]

Jim, thanks for the step by step. It's really interesting to me to see how other folks work and your step by step description was a great read. I look forward to seeing the remainder of this project.

Michael

[Daniel Rabinovitz]

Jim
Yes! Thanks for the step by step.
It makes life easier when you can see what some else did and how they did it.
I had been working on 9 windows, made out of sassafras, 48 x 30 and one 72 x 24 for a maple sugar evaporation building. What fun!
Now working on a cherry toy box.
Daniel