# Hand painted kitchen



## Karl (2 May 2011)

I have just started work on my first kitchen built from scratch, and thought it'd be good to keep a WIP of how I get along. A lot of this stuff will be mundane to you lot, but somebody may find something of interest.

The kitchen is to go into a newly created extension, which the builder is starting this week. I have 6 weeks until he will be ready for me to come in and fit the kitchen. Better get my skates on then....

I'm attacking it in 3 stages. First off, build all the carcasses. Then construct the face frames. Then the doors. For storage purposes I am going to knock down each cabinet after it's been made, with everything being finally glued up the few days before delivery is due.

Carcasses will be MRMDF, face frame and doors in beech. Here's the stack of beech i've bought - 10cu ft







I've machined a bit of it up, and it comes up really clean. Very pleased with it, although I am a bit apprehensive about movement. Think I will get it rough sized asap and put in-stick.

I've also got 30 odd sheets of MDF in varying sizes, most of which have been ripped down into rough sizes and are stored away in a spare room. 

Made a start on something nice and simple - 7 x end panels with a fake tongue & groove effect. 12mm MRMDF. Clamped a straight edge to the board and used my trusty Ferm router with a V point bit. Very useful little router for small jobs like this.






I had primed the boards beforehand (last night actually) - they are slightly oversize ready for final trimming on-site. I'm going to do as much of the painting as I go along, to avoid the hassle of doing it all in one boring hit. 






I also got some of the components cut for the fridge freezer cabinet - cut to size with the Makita plunge saw - both boards trimmed at the same time to ensure consistency.






I checked the diagonal measurements and the boards are spot-on square - no discernable difference in the measurements.  






Tomorrow's job - get the fridge freezer unit constructed and start work on the next cabinet - 900mm corner unit.

Thanks for looking.

Cheers

Karl


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## rileytoolworks (2 May 2011)

Happy to see you're underway on this one mate.
I take it you talked the customer out of using birch ply carcases then?

Adam.


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## Chems (2 May 2011)

Really looking forward to seeing this one go along. Good luck with it!


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## Karl (2 May 2011)

Aces and Eights":357cynrm said:


> Happy to see you're underway on this one mate.
> I take it you talked the customer out of using birch ply carcases then?
> 
> Adam.



Well remembered !


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## shim20 (2 May 2011)

i will be watching this with great intrest, keep up the good work


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## superunknown (3 May 2011)

Looking good keep the photos coming!


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## Karl (3 May 2011)

Made more progress today, cracked on with getting the integrated fridge freezer unit constructed.

First up, work out the biscuit spacing. This will have 5 biscuits per joint, with a screw in between each. These marks are then transferred to a story stick.











This ensures that all the biscuits are in alignment with the adjoining board. The "F" is placed at the front edge of the board and the marks transferred. Or you can clamp the stick to the board and reference direct off that.






The stick has the marking for the pilot holes. These are drilled from the inside face, meaning that the screw will always enter the centre of the board which is being joined. 






I then use one of these bits once the panels are butted together - it creates the correct size pilot hole and countersinks at the same time.






Fridge unit put together






It was then onto the corner unit. A bit of work with the plunge saw got the top and bottom cut out.






The pieces were cut together for accuracy.

The construction method was similair to before, but I made a separate story stick as all the base units will have a 60mm void behind them for scribing/pipework etc. 






Corner support fitted inside. An adjustable leg will be positioned directly underneath this when it's being fitted.






I was going to create a groove for the back panel to sit inside the side panel. I decided not to bother, and fitted a support strip behind the back panel instead. This will just prevent the panel from moving if it is knocked from inside the cabinet.






Looks Fugly, but it won't be seen once the kitchen is installed anyway.

Everything has now been dismantled and will be given a couple of coats of primer tonight.

Next update in a couple of days - i've got the Larder unit to make which will eventually sit next to the fridge unit. 

Thanks for looking.

Cheers

Karl


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## Hudson Carpentry (3 May 2011)

How do you get on with them counter sinking drill bits? Im forever snapping the drill bits and get fed up of replacing them every few days.


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## shim20 (3 May 2011)

looking good, a buscuit joiner helps speed things up dosent it, look forward to next update


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## Paul Chapman (3 May 2011)

That's looking good, Karl. Bet you wish you had a larger workshop to store all those units as you make them up.......

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## Karl (3 May 2011)

HC - i've only just bought the DW countersink bit, so haven't had a problem with snapping the drill bit. Time will tell.

Paul - i'd love a bigger 'shop, and renting a "proper" place is a possibility. But for now i'm happy to knock down each unit for storage. If things pick up though, I may well take the plunge.

Cheers

Karl


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## johnf (3 May 2011)

Watching this one with interest as I need to do somthing similar especialy the corner unit


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## goldeneyedmonkey (4 May 2011)

I've never done a kitchen mate, so this is right up my street for ideas/ future reference. Nice one Karl, keep up the W.I.P.

_Dan.


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## superunknown (5 May 2011)

I am guessing you are painting all the carcasses? Are you spraying them of finishing them by hand.

Also why MRMDF and not melamine faced MDF (to save the painting?)


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## Karl (5 May 2011)

superunknown":3g06hmzh said:


> I am guessing you are painting all the carcasses? Are you spraying them of finishing them by hand.
> 
> Also why MRMDF and not melamine faced MDF (to save the painting?)



Yes, all the carcasses will be painted. I don't have spray facilities, so it's all by roller and brush. 2 coats of undercoat primer and 2 top coats. You can see from the fr/frzr unit i've already built that i've started priming everything as I go along.

The customer wanted the interiors to match the exterior finish, so faced MFC/MDF were ruled out. 

Cheers

Karl


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## Karl (5 May 2011)

Got the larder unit knocked together - the bottom section will have 3 drawers, the middle section will be shelved, and the top section left as it is. All will become clear over time. 3 drawer runners will be here in the next few days. It will have a back, I just forgot to put it in place for this pic.






Aside from the units i've already built, there are 5 more base units to go in the kitchen. However, I haven't got the final dimensions of these as the customer hasn't yet figured out what sizes/configuration they want it in. I'm seeing them tomorrow to sort it out.

In the meantime I thought i'd get the side panels prepped for the remaining units. Having ripped the boards to width, I used my trusty table saw sled to square one end.






But then I had to figure a way to cut all the panels to precisely the same length. So I made this little addition to the sled











Not the last word in finesse, but worked a treat!

I should probably put a warning on this next part for all of you who have a nervous disposition with regard to dado blades......

Actually, not a dado blade, but an adjustable grooving cutter which I had bought for the spindle moulder. 






Set up with the 4mm shim gave a 12mm width of cut - ideal for the back panels.
















Used this to create the groove down the side panels to receive the back panel. Test piece here
















I have got a dado blade set, but this adjustable groover just felt safer. And was certainly less dusty than using a router.

After that couple of hours work I ended up with 5 pairs of matching panels for the remaining units






I also machined up a bit of the beech, just to see what it looks like and how it behaves. 






That's all for now - i'm off to do some more priming.......

Thanks for looking.

Cheers

Karl


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## Paul Chapman (5 May 2011)

Very interesting thread, Karl. It looks like it's going well.

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## rileytoolworks (5 May 2011)

Karl, from your last set of photos, it looks like your carcase sides are full length (i.e scribed to the floor). Is that the case? Or are you fitting those little metal adjustable 'feet' that hook around and screw into the side?

Adam.


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## Karl (5 May 2011)

Adam - the fronts of the cabinet sides will be left full length, but the section behind the kickboard will be removed and stubby adjustable legs fitted to aid installation. The kickboard will be removeable - that way just the front 3" or each side panel/face frame needs scribing to the floor.

Cheers

Karl


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## Karl (5 May 2011)

Paul Chapman":zn7sdiu9 said:


> Very interesting thread, Karl. It looks like it's going well.
> 
> Cheers :wink:
> 
> Paul



Cheers Paul. It's a bit picture heavy, but I like reading other threads with lots of pics. Gives an insight into how others work. But the job itself is going fine. I should have the carcasses finished by the end of next week, 1 week for the face frames, 1 week for the doors, 1 week to put it all together = 5 weeks. Which is ahead of what i'd planned.

I'll be glad when this portion of the job is done (the carcass building & painting) and I can get onto the face frames and doors. Get to use the new Trend M&T jig bought specifically for this job, and some spindle moulder work too.

Cheers

Karl


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## shim20 (5 May 2011)

looking great, oil based paint or water based?


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## Karl (5 May 2011)

shim20":3o7hlib0 said:


> looking great, oil based paint or water based?



Water based. This afternoon i've got all 10 panels primed, 2 coats. 

Cheers

Karl


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## rileytoolworks (5 May 2011)

Karl":1q477g83 said:


> Adam - the fronts of the cabinet sides will be left full length, but the section behind the kickboard will be removed and stubby adjustable legs fitted to aid installation. The kickboard will be removeable - that way just the front 3" or each side panel/face frame needs scribing to the floor.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Karl



So is each unit going to have it's own plinth then? Or am I misunderstanding?

Looking good so far mate. Bet you can't wait to get that painting out of the way though! What style of face frame/door are you going for?

Adam


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## Karl (5 May 2011)

Aces and Eights":3rp83wfk said:


> Karl":3rp83wfk said:
> 
> 
> > Adam - the fronts of the cabinet sides will be left full length, but the section behind the kickboard will be removed and stubby adjustable legs fitted to aid installation. The kickboard will be removeable - that way just the front 3" or each side panel/face frame needs scribing to the floor.
> ...


 
Correct - each unit will be a standalone unit. The face frames will be flat, 45mm wide stock, with a simple chamfer on the outside edge where units abut each other. Doors will probably be shaker, but that may change as they've mooted the idea of having an applied beading detail fitted round the inside of the panel where it meets rails/styles. 

Cheers 

Karl


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## shim20 (5 May 2011)

that cool, im an oil based person, seem to get more "depth" to the finish


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## Karl (6 May 2011)

Got some of the beech out for machining the components for the face frame on the 2 tall units. All other components will be no longer than approx 1m, so it's nice to get these larger pieces out of the way. The 'shop is only 16' long, so there's not much room to play with when planing these longer pieces.

I selected the straightest boards I could to minimise wastage. I was going to provide YouTube linky to see the Minimax Monster in action 8), but YouTube isn't playing ball at the moment. 

After rough thicknessing I jointed the edge







To check the straightness of the edge I keep an 8' offcut from a MDF veneered board in the 'shop. The 1.8m tables on the Minimax really help with getting the edge flat along the length.






Timber selection - this piece would have had too much wastage/work to get it straight on the p/t (15mm)











Chose another piece, thicknessed and edge jointed it again - two boards side by side.






These will now be ripped down to a shade over 45mm, and then all pieces put through the thicknesser on edge to bring them to uniform width. 

Cheers

Karl


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## rileytoolworks (6 May 2011)

You're making good progress with this mate.
Did the Minimax fit in alright then? I seem to recall you thinking you may have to chop a hole in the wall?
How you getting on with the spindle?

Adam.


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## Karl (6 May 2011)

Hole in the wall!

The minimax is a bit too big if i'm being honest, but it's such a great machine that I think it's worth sacrificing space for. The beds are 1.8m long, 14" width of cut. 

Haven't used the spindle in anger yet. Will be doing so in the next couple of weeks to make the doors/cornice/mouldings.

Cheers

Karl


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## Karl (9 May 2011)

Got to work making the face frames for the larder and fridge units today.

This beech moves quite a bit when it's being ripped down!






All of those pieces are in the same board order in which they were ripped. Thankfully, the two outer cuts remained pretty straight - it was only the centre piece which went banana's.

Having thicknessed the pieces I had a set of components for making the two face frames. 






I set up the Trend M&T jig. I bought it specifically for this job as I couldn't afford Domino  Took about 1hour to get it set up and work out how it works - resulting tenon











Quick work (about 10mins) to get the rest of the tenons cut.






What I really like about this jig is that, once it's set, you don't make any adjustments to it to make the mortices. You simply change guide bushes and router bits. Here you can see that the mortice is pretty well centred on the stock











This meant that it wasn't vital to reference off the same side for all the longer pieces - I only had 1.7m to the left of the jig, and the longest pieces were 2.2m.

Anyway, dry fit of the face frames for the units






That's it for today. 

Cheers

Karl


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## petermillard (10 May 2011)

Looking good. I think if I was building a complete kitchen from scratch I'd also build the cost of a Domino into the job, personally, but that Trend jig looks like it's doing the job nicely.

Cheers, Pete


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## Karl (10 May 2011)

Not much progress today - child minding commitments got in the way.

Got the sink unit made up, with the face frame put together ready for glueing up. 






The rear panel has been split into two and is fixed to two beech batons which run on the top/bottom shelf. 






There will be supporting pieces mounted underneath the sink shelf to the left and right. Obviously it will be supported at the front by the face frame, and at the rear it is all screwed together with the back panel. Hopefully that will give adequate support.

Cheers

Karl


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## Karl (12 Jun 2011)

There's been a few weeks hiatus to this job whilst a couple of design issues were ironed out, which couldn't be resolved until the steels had been put in by the builder. This opened up the space and the customer could see what layout they wanted, which was a good job as it changed quite a bit!

Anyway, no real pictures as it's more of the same as has gone before. All base cabinets now built and 2 coat primed, this week is building the 3 wall units and finishing the face frames. 

More pics this week.

Cheers

Karl


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## DOOGYREV (12 Jun 2011)

Very nice work Karl

Makes me feel like I am still working in the dark ages, I must get and adgustable groove cutter, a trend M&T Jig, some digital calipers and I dont even want to know what or how much Domino is.


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## Karl (20 Jun 2011)

With all the cabinets built and primed, I got a good day in today - started by raiding the Beech stack






And prepping the stock for the remaining face frames






A few hours work on the Trend M&T jig gave me all the components cut and ready for assembly






Then started putting them together with 10min PVA - once they were clamped up square I fired a 15mm brad through the back of each joint. This saved on the need for clamps.






Tomorrow I will get the remaining frames put together, then sand and prime them. I'll also get a start on prepping the stock for the doors.

Thanks for looking.

Cheers

Karl


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## doctor Bob (24 Jun 2011)

looking good Karl, are you still on schedule?


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## Karl (27 Jun 2011)

Schedule is fine thanks Bob. Should be finished this week.

Anyway, slight change of plan. I decided to get the cabinets painted and built before I make the doors - that way I can shoot them in as they've been built. 

So I got to with a couple of days painting - two coats of primer had already been done, then the internals of the cabinets had 2 coats of Dulux diamond eggshell, whilst the outside (ie the non-seen surfaces) got 1 (there's a few more cabinets out of photo shot). 






I also got the drawers made up for the 2 drawer banks






Face frames were fixed in place with PVA and brads. 2 pack filler for the pin holes and then ready to be painted.

Cheers

Karl


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## Paul Chapman (27 Jun 2011)

Looking very nice, Karl.

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## Karl (6 Jul 2011)

Sorry for not keeping the thread upto date - I lost the charger to my camera. 

Made a start on fitting the units yesterday. Got the d/w, fr/frzr and sink plumbed in too.


























The granite is being templated tomorrow morning.

Cheers

Karl


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## Chems (7 Jul 2011)

Thats a pretty big kitchen, I imagined it to be much smaller. Have you made all the doors etc? What goes on the back of the island bit that you can see the rear of in the one from last picture?


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## Karl (7 Jul 2011)

All components for the doors are done. I am gluing them up today and painting them up this weekend.

There is a T&G panel going on the back of the breakfast bar units as well as on the end of all exposed units.

Cheers

Karl


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## Karl (12 Aug 2011)

Just a quick update on this thread. I am going back on Tuesday when the customer is back from holiday to take some pics of the kitchen and deliver another couple of things which they asked me to build. I've been working on these since yesterday morning.

A computer unit, in a matching style to the kitchen units. Here i've built and primed the carcass, ready for the doors and face frame to be made up this weekend







I bought some more Beech - 6 lengths between 6" & 8" wide, 8' long. £43 inc VAT, which I thought was pretty good. Nice stuff too






I also have a wine rack to build - this image shows the carcass and the horizontal dividers






And here are the vertical dividers






Again, a face frame will wrap round the front of the unit. T&G end panel. Granite top. The storage section needs to be removable as the stop cock for the water supply is situated behind the unit #-o 

Thanks for looking

Cheers

Karl


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## Geno (16 Aug 2011)

Karl, 

Great job on the kitchen. Simple query though. Most of my kitchen jobs have been assembly and fit of kitchens from the likes of b&q etc and wall cabinets come with adjustable hangers and very thin back panels.

How do you go about securing your own cabinets? 6mm backs and screwed through or do you also use some type of hanger to aid fitting and adjusting?


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## doctor Bob (16 Aug 2011)

looks good Karl


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## gc (17 Aug 2011)

Very nice. I was also wondering about the fitting of the wall units as mentioned above.


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## Karl (7 Sep 2011)

Sorry for the delay in replying - i've only just got back from holiday.

The wall cabinets have an 18mm void in the back, to which a piece of 18mm MDF is attached. A piece is also attached to the wall so that the cabinet rests on it - a sort of french cleat, but without the chamfer. The cabinets are then fixed to the wall with 4 screws through the back panel (12mm panel and 18mm void filler) with a nice stainless screw and cup washer.

Some pics of the kitchen - these were taken a while ago (before summer holidays started to interfere with schedules!) 





















There was some debate about whether there was to be a cornice fitted. First yes, then no, then yes, then which style etc etc. Anyway, the cornice design has now been agreed and i'm waiting for some knives for the spindle moulder.

I'll update with some final pics once the cornice is done.

Cheers

Karl


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## Paul Chapman (7 Sep 2011)

Looks very nice, Karl.

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## Chems (7 Sep 2011)

Thats a much bigger job than I thought it was from the wip pictures. Looks fantastic level of finish.


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## RogerM (7 Sep 2011)

That's looking brilliant. I've bookmarked this thread for reference when i start my own kitchen build in about 6 weeks!


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## jimmy rivers (8 Sep 2011)

Looks great Karl! Nice work, excellent finish 

Quick question - The rail beneath the intergrated dishwasher door. Did you have to put a large chamfer on the back top edge to allow the door to open? I only ask as it's something that caught me out and I had to do it on fitting. I was wondering if there was a way around it.

Cheers, Jim


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## Karl (8 Sep 2011)

jimmy rivers":otpzjc0w said:


> Looks great Karl! Nice work, excellent finish
> 
> Quick question - The rail beneath the intergrated dishwasher door. Did you have to put a large chamfer on the back top edge to allow the door to open? I only ask as it's something that caught me out and I had to do it on fitting. I was wondering if there was a way around it.
> 
> Cheers, Jim



Yes - a large chamfer on the back edge gives clearance for the d/w door. It also had to be removeable so that the d/w could be removed if needs be, so it is held in place with some angled screws through the bottom and into the side face frame pieces, and a couple of tabs were attached to the rear with some double sided tape pads attached to hold it to the rear of the face frames.

Cheers

Karl


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## AndyC Longwood (8 Sep 2011)

Really great looking job, could I ask what the colour and type of paint you used for the exterior it looks great against the worktop and white walls.

Cheers.


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## jimmy rivers (8 Sep 2011)

Cheers Karl.



:-$ ...I used modesty blocks to hold my rail on :-"


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## Karl (19 Sep 2011)

My cornice knives came at the weekend - big thanks to Doug Perry at Cutting Solutions for all his help in sorting them.

Grabbed a couple of hours this afternoon to make up a sample - both to see how it turns out, and to refine the process. It is made of MDF strips laminated together, then ripped into a triangular section 65mm square (if you know what i mean).

I then set up the spindle moulder, with a false bed and a break through board. 






The stock is then run against the fence as shown below - note this is a retro picture to show how the profile works. I had a overhead guard in place and used a pushblock and pushstick to guide the piece past the cutter. 






Once one edge has been profiled, I flipped it and ran the opposite edge. This gives a nice symmetrical profile.






After a little sanding to remove the shadow lines where the curvature overlapped slightly, this is the end result (I primed it first to clearly show me where it needed sanding back).






It will be fastened in place using some blocks attached to the back - pics to follow.

I'm happy with this, and think it'll go well with the kitchen. I will be on with making the rest of it on Wednesday, ready to be fitted on Friday when, hopefully, i'll be able to take some final pics.

Cheers

Karl


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## chippy1970 (19 Sep 2011)

Nice job Karl, 

Not sure if anyone's already asked this but why did you go to all the trouble of m&t'ing the face frames when you could have just used pocket hole screws ?

Chris


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## Karl (19 Sep 2011)

Thanks Chris.

On the face frames, I principally did it this way 'cos I don't have a pocket hole jig  I had bought the Trend jig as a way of doing the doors, and it really didn't take that long to do the joints on all the face frames. I reckon that in total the m&t's for the face frames took a couple of hours - it's very quick with the Trend jig. One setting serves both mortice and tenon. 

Cheers

Karl


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## Karl (21 Sep 2011)

It was pointed out to me over on WWUK that there was a problem with the cornice being made up of laminations (joint lines showing in the future), so an hours work this morning, and this is the revised moulding











Little pile of cornice ready to be sanded and painted






Also made up some blocks to attach it, using the offcuts from the aborted attempt






Cheers

Karl


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## Karl (21 Sep 2011)

AndyC Longwood":2iezgv8r said:


> Really great looking job, could I ask what the colour and type of paint you used for the exterior it looks great against the worktop and white walls.
> 
> Cheers.



Sorry, this Q slipped by unanswered.

The paint is Dulux diamond eggshell, not sure of the colour. It was from a Farrow & Ball sample, "Bone" springs to mind. I can find the paint code though if you need it.

Cheers

Karl


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## Karl (22 Sep 2011)

Cornice fitted this morning - easy peasy with the little blocks i'd made






This is the computer unit i'd made reference to earlier






I've got some alcove doors to fit tomorrow, so i'll take all the final pics then.

Cheers

Karl


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## the_g_ster (26 Sep 2011)

Great build!!

Having done my own then I found it easier to paint the sheet stock before I made it all up, then ws very careful not to damage. That Diamond Eggshell is not cheap but works well.


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## Karl (13 Oct 2011)

Well I finally got back to take some final pics today.














































Computer unit
















Thanks for looking

Cheers

Karl


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## Paul Chapman (13 Oct 2011)

Looks lovely, Karl.

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## ScouseKev (19 Oct 2011)

Hi Karl.

Ive followed this thread keenly since we met about May this year.

Well done that kitchen looks first class, i bet the client is well pleased.

Im planning my own new kitchen so i have a few questions if thats ok.

1. Is there any reason why you didn't make the face frames from MRMDF.
2. Did you need to sand between the egg shell coats or the primer coats.
3. On the carcasses you have used biscuits, but would dado grooves have worked just as well?

Thanks for all the advice mate, whats going to be your next WIP?

cheers Kev


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## Karl (21 Oct 2011)

Thanks Paul & Kev

Kev -

1 - I could have used MRMDF throughout, just the customers preference for hardwood for the face frames and doors. 

2 - Yes, cut back with some 240 after each coat. 

3 - You could use a dado cutter to create grooves - that would be stronger than biscuits. Still reinforce with screws though (saves on clamps whilst glue is going off).

Next WIP - a small TV cabinet, but then I think i've got another one of these kitchens to make - I have shown it to a customer who wanted a freestanding kitchen building, and they loved it. I think theirs is going to be in solid oak, ie no paint. Probably use veneered MDF cabinets. 

Any other questions, just shout.

Cheers

Karl


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