Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Building A Sink Cabinet

So this was my first crack at cabinet making and I really can't complain at how it turned out. I had a rough idea in my head of what I wanted to achieve, but this was definitely a design on the fly project here!

I started out building a base frame with 2x3's - 2 high. This gave me a basic structure to build off of. On top of this frame I added a 1/2 ply board for what will be the botton of the interior of the cabinet. Then a 1x4 baseboard skirt. But then, when I started to add the verticle pieces.... I didn't account for the curved corners of ths sink and so the cabinet corners were going to stick out past the sink. Doh! So a little brain storming and I came up with a 45 degree cut corner design. A few mods and I was on my way again.



I then finished the frame of the cabinet. All joints are made with biscuits and with the 45 corners is pretty rigid for not being anchored to the sink. The sides then received beadboard inserts and I added a piece of trim to the corners to add a little detail to it. Finally I built some doors, added a vintage hardware that matches the other built-ins and there you go... one sink cabinet!

Saturday, January 16, 2010

The Kitchen - Season 3

This could be the year I finish the stinkin kitchen! Of course I say that every year. So in my usual avoidance of drywall sanding I started getting all the trim work finished and there is plenty of it. The wainscoting is the same design I did the powder room in. For the casing, I changed plans and decided to use the same "off-the-shelf" stuff I used on the 3rd floor. It goes with the house and is less than half the price of me milling original casing. The powder room will get the same. The poplar I bought for the kitchen I will use to make original casing for the upstairs hall since the front and back stairs have original casing... so this area will need to match. The bedrooms I decided will get the the new casing as well. I will probably be the only one to notice the difference... and looking at $5000 to make originals for the entire house.. I can live with the new stuff in spots!

So here are some pics of what I have trimed out so far up to the kitchen sink base. I decided to built a custom cabinet under the sink... partially inspired by the one in "A Christmas Story" and part what I think will fit in with the woodwork.















Here's my great-uncle's saw... back out of retirement after 40 years. I gave it a thorough going over and refinished it, new motor, the works. It's an 8 inch Craftman, probably mid 1950s vintage. Just the right size to bring to the project unlike the beast in my garage! Plus it's too stinkin cold to be sawing out in the garage!!