# my drinks cabinet



## stef (21 Jun 2010)

This is my new on going project: a fancy oak drinnnnnnk cabinet. enough to hold my stash of malts and wines. I'll upload my original plan later, i dont have it at hand ! so here are the WIP pics.
the legs/corners






my router morticing jig.





the top





the sides, dry run




and glued






all straped





planing the plinth





and as of this evening, this is what it looks like


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## Crooked Tree (21 Jun 2010)

Should be able to fit quite a drinks collection into that!


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## stef (24 Jun 2010)

Some progress over the last couple of days:
i used some "aging agent, to bring out the natual aged look of the oak. 
then 3 coats of grain filler (it's for the driiiinkks !), then waxed.
i also worked on the front flat and top.
bottom section will hold 2 drawers, middle bit will have some wine bottles housings.










The more observing amongst you will notice that the bottles are all placed towards the front of the cabinet.
That's because of the "party piece"!.. the back of the cabinet houses a glass rack, 100mm wide or so, which slides up and down, to reveal more glasses as the bottom shelves come into view.
The rack is not in place at the moment, which leaves a gap at the back of the top shelf. could be a disaster, this !
The cabinet is about 1100mm all closed and folded.
the top opens towards the back wall, and the glass shelves pop up (by means yet to be defined) to increase the height of the cabinet by a good 500mm

lets hope it works out.


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## stef (24 Jun 2010)




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## stef (12 Jul 2010)

Almost complete now.
i still have the two bottom drawers to do (only the front is in place at the mo, just to keep aparences up)
and the pop up glass shelves, as per the sketch..


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## MickCheese (12 Jul 2010)

Looking good, very rustic!

Mick


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## Orcamesh (12 Jul 2010)

That's very nice work Stef. How does your glass shelf go up and down, is there some sort of mechanism or what do you plan to make this work? cheers Steve


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## disco_monkey79 (13 Jul 2010)

Looking good. Always nice to make something that's gonna be well-used... ;-)


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## stef (13 Jul 2010)

Hawk Moth":smvc5w4y said:


> That's very nice work Stef. How does your glass shelf go up and down, is there some sort of mechanism or what do you plan to make this work? cheers Steve



cheers.
well, i am working on it at the moment (on paper)
i have a smallish damper, like the ones used to keep car boots up. it has a travel of around 100mm. if i connect this to some sort of cam, i can extend the travel to about 350mm, which should be enough. it's then a question of preloading this with a spring, and hopefully reach some sort of effortless lift.
The trick is that it's going to be dependent on the weight of the glasses.
The heavier i'll make the shelves, the less so.
the shelves will slide on some drawer slides mounted on the sides.
lets hope it all works out.


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## Orcamesh (14 Jul 2010)

That sounds very interesting. I will be interested to see how well this works, maybe you could make a short video at some point? I guess you are going to have to account for different shelf loads otherwise it may spring up too quickly when there are no glasses on the shelf!! Good luck! cheers Steve



stef":z2p786q9 said:


> Hawk Moth":z2p786q9 said:
> 
> 
> > That's very nice work Stef. How does your glass shelf go up and down, is there some sort of mechanism or what do you plan to make this work? cheers Steve
> ...


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## stef (30 Sep 2010)

some progress on the lifting shelve:
I made the shelves themselves from oak. they are not finished yet, as they need a few bits to hold glasses.
as for the mechanical part, it's almost there.
It needs a tweak on the dampers anchor point, but the main idea works.
very little effort is needed to get upwards motion, and little effort is required to get it back down. even less with the shelves on top.
This metal rubbish gets hidden well out of sight, underneath the shelves and behind the bottles and drawers.








the dampers are from a citroen BX hatch...


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## Halo Jones (30 Sep 2010)

What a great project. 

All you need now is a lock to keep the little 'uns off. My dad was always going on how we pinched his whisky. He has always been a "famous grouse" guy, which I cannot stand. I much prefer a Talisker, Laphroaig or Highland Park. Hmmm. The kids are in bed..........


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## stef (13 Oct 2010)

The shelf mecanism is now in place in the cabinet, bolted solid.
HEre are a few pics with the back panel removed. I had to modify the anchor points a little from the previous pictures, just to make it a little smoother.
















The shelves are only proped up on the lift at the moment, held in place with some clamps. eventualy, they will be screwed. I still have to make all the fittings (glass holders, bits and bobs...) and finish it. The lift works well. very little effort is required to lift it (one finger sets it in motion) and a little (much) more is required to push it down.
I still need to properly weight it down, to make the upwards travel a little smoother, and the downwards push a little easier.. There is hardly any play in the metal work.


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## mtt.tr (13 Oct 2010)

I really like the dark oak isnt seen very much as it is out of fashion but beautiful


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## Pvt_Ryan (13 Oct 2010)

That is wonderful... I want one now..


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## stef (13 Oct 2010)

mtt.tr":23to0z1r said:


> I really like the dark oak isnt seen very much as it is out of *fashion* but beautiful




what is this "fashion" word you speak of ? :lol:


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## mtt.tr (13 Oct 2010)

stef":2o19m8y0 said:


> mtt.tr":2o19m8y0 said:
> 
> 
> > I really like the dark oak isnt seen very much as it is out of *fashion* but beautiful
> ...



Being bleached oak


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## stef (7 Nov 2010)

now 99% complete.
All i have left to do is add a little weight on the underside of the pop up shelves, as they are a little "lively". i need to gently restrain them on the way up, and push hard to get them down. a few Kg of weight should sort this out.






















I also need to complete the second shelves, and include upside down glass holders..


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## Geno (7 Nov 2010)

Hi.

Great job on the cabinet.

What about the addition of a spring instead of additional weight?


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## stef (7 Nov 2010)

yes, it's an idea, but i find it easier to tune with just weight. I'd have to find the right spring (around 60cm extended, 30cm closed, and the right weight...)
whereas finding/fitting the right amount of extra weight is easy.


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## kirkpoore1 (7 Nov 2010)

Stef, that's a very clever piece, and it came out well done. 

I will have to tell you though, not being a wine or hard liquor guy, I kept looking for the beer tap.

Kirk


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## stef (12 Nov 2010)

cheers !
i had thought of fitting a beer pump.. but i was running out of space, and oak.
plus, you would then need to hook cabinet to the mains. and it could get messy. I might do a dedicated beer cabinet sometime.


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## Blister (12 Nov 2010)

Pvt_Ryan":16yc3cfh said:


> That is wonderful... I want one now..



OK deal , you have the cabinet and I have the contents :lol: 

Lovely work , I like it very much


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## Pvt_Ryan (12 Nov 2010)

Blister":2i0bogr8 said:


> Pvt_Ryan":2i0bogr8 said:
> 
> 
> > That is wonderful... I want one now..
> ...



This is about the only occasion that I will say "I think I am getting the better end of this deal" and I am not the one getting the drink..

Stef what was the cost of materials (if you don't mind my asking) & how long has it taken you to build so far?


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## stef (16 Nov 2010)

well, cost was small, since it was mostly made from reclaimed oak (I salvaged a good 20 plates from a barn, all for 70euros. and out of this, i made a dinning table, a desk, and this cabinet)
the most expensive bits were the hinges..
overall, maybe 80 euros ( £60)
as for time.. i started planing in december, started building in april or march, and jsut finished..
but i am nowhere near full time.


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## Mcluma (16 Nov 2010)

question

is the front flap fully horizontal??

I would suggest you put a piece of mirror in the front flap so you can use it to put the glasses on it whilst you poor your drinks

Very nice job =D>


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## stef (18 Nov 2010)

cheers.
Yes, the front flap is horizontal (more or less) enough to use as a pouring area, which is what i use it for.
it is currently finished in an alcohol resisting varnish, but the mirror is a good idea.
I am also thinking about installing some special "hooks" on the front flap, so that i could secure my big service tray on the front flap, without the chance of it falling off. 
I can then prepare the drink on the service tray, and off i go !


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