Shaker Inspired Drinks Cabinet

[Jelly]

I had Huws Grey in Llangefni resaw the paneling for me, took about ten mins, then the best part of an hour with the P/T back here to get it nice and square. cutting the rebates tomorrow and I should be laughing!

Which brings me to the less pleasant realization, that once this project is done, I'm going to have to disassemble and pack up the saw-bench, pack all the hand tools back into boxes and start preparing to move back across to yorkshire, which will most likely involve placing the benches, RAS, P/T, & toolboards, into a storage unit (along with a complete kitchen's worth of white goods, and a spare gas cooker).

 

[No skills]

Sounds less than a pleasent experiance, if your storing in a shipping container long term get some of the anti condensation strips to hang up and cover everything with sheets.

Cant you just delay the project? :wink:

 

[Jelly]

Fitted all the joints and cut the rebates, I snapped my 3mm router bit after 7 rebates (two passes to define the sides and then clean up the middle with a chisel bevel down) and had to switch to a wider bit, which then preceded to tear up several live knots which were partially in the rebated area where the 3mm bit would have passed through, I'm personally irritated by that kind of imperfection even though it's almost entirely hidden, but my friend who commissioned it specifically said he liked the idea of that kind of imperfection adding a slight rustic feel so thankfully no harm done.

Next time I'm faced with cutting rebates for which I lack an appropriate plane, I'll make a jig to turn a chisel into a router plane of the required width or set up the RAS; I'm not sure why so many people have a love affair with routers, for fitting kitchens or cutting hinge rebates (or letting inlays into a workpiece freehand, what mine is intended for) they do a decent job, but for joinery work they're a poor substitute for either the correct plane or a spindle moulder.

Thats one of the sides dry assembled, I left the little piece of paneling out because its such a tight fit, i think i'll flip the second to bottom one to make the heartwood and sapwood segue togther more naturally.

As to packing up, I wish that extending the time taken to complete this piece would justify maintaining my tenancy here; I really don't want to leave Snowdonia, it's just too nice a place to live! In terms of storage I was going to oil/grease all cast iron surfaces and put a couple of caravan dehumidifiers (you know the boxes full of calcium chloride desiccant) in with the equipment; my hand tools should be able to find a home indoors where it's nice and dry.

 

[Jelly]

Right, I'm slowly getting it all glued up; Turns out that not only can one never have enough clamps, but you can never have enough flat surfaces either...

 

[Jelly]

To Illustrate my point about Insufficient clamping surfaces...

Also, the sides are now glued up nice and tight, just gluing little stops to the inside to support the the shelves (hence being on the bench covered in clamps above.

As you can see from the photo's (in fact until i took them, I hadn't seen :/ ) there's a lot of stuff that's fallen off the bench and collected under it; time for a good cleanup once I've sorted this out.

 

[Jelly]

All the interior stuff is coated with linseed oil now... I'm finally cutting the door frames tomorrow morning and that will be one step away from final assembly.

 

[Jelly]

I've had to postpone work on this for nearly a month as I've been sitting my finals, It's been gluing up this afternoon whilst I helped move my friend across the city. I'm now really up against it time wise as there's 2 days until the machines, bench, handtools etc have to leave the workshop (along with the contents of my house other than a fold down bed and microwave (I've still got another week here after that, but I've been able to borrow a 7.5t truck to move with, but only on that Wednesday, which my father has kindly booked off so that he can drive it [He's kept his Class C+E licence up to date]).

So, this is the glue up from the top:

And from the back:

(The sepia effect was the best way of dealing with the shadows in the photos, the lighting in there is awful for trying to get a decent picture).
I've had to put both side-panels on and only glue the right one, so that it would clamp up square, and will then be fitting the left-hand shelves, rear panel and the left side panel as stage 2 of the glue up this evening.

Here's one of the doors, which have been sat in pieces until yesterday...

They're very slightly different, in that normally the stiles have the mortise/female bridle and the rails have the tenon, however I was round at a friend's house and they'd just had a new kitchen done in solid wood, with the same opposite arrangement and I quite liked it so gave it a go.

 

[No skills]

Good progress, best of luck with everything you have going on!

 

[Jacob]

They're very slightly different, in that normally the stiles have the mortise/female bridle and the rails have the tenon, ......

That's a St Jim detail. The bridle is also Jim's and never used normally except in very low grade work. :roll: Shakers would have hated it!
Inset stone - cheaper (and more interesting) to go out and find a free one (you see them on walls all over the place) and then adjust the design to fit. Visit St Davids cathedral for table with inset stone. Why look further afield when you have the rich vernacular of Welsh furniture? Sacrilege!
Hows the shrinkage going?
Glad you like Snowdonia! Wales is Britain's best kept secret IMHO. I lived there for 5 years and would still be there had it not been for circumstances. Mid Wales that was.

 

[Jelly]

They're very slightly different, in that normally the stiles have the mortise/female bridle and the rails have the tenon, ......

That's a St Jim detail. The bridle is also Jim's and never used normally except in very low grade work. :roll: Shakers would have hated it!

That detail on the doors is oddly appropriate then, as the second stage of the glue up went horribly wrong (I needed another pair of hands and couldn't get hold of anyone to come help) the whole thing began to wrack as it was clamped up and I'm concerned I may have damaged some of the tenons... Until I get it unclamped tomorrow, I'm assuming that it is now very low grade... shouldn't have rushed it. In hindsight the composite of carcase and frame construction was always going to be a more challenging proposition to assemble by myself than straight one or the other. I'm afraid the shakers would have abhorred it anyway, as it's far from necessary and only arguably useful.

Inset stone - cheaper (and more interesting) to go out and find a free one (you see them on walls all over the place) and then adjust the design to fit. Visit St Davids cathedral for table with inset stone. Why look further afield when you have the rich vernacular of Welsh furniture? Sacrilege!

The stone was something that was specified by my friend... I don't really understand* why he requested it (and so specifically too), the merchant i spoke to is based at the quarry in Blaenau Festiniog, though I may see if i can get anything from the Pehnryn quarry just up the river from me (as much for convenience as being local)
In terms of furniture, I can appreciate your sentiments, there's a pub in Llanberis (The Heights), which is rammed with an eclectic assortment of surprisingly well preserved old welsh furniture, a veritable goldmine of inspiration.

Hows the shrinkage going?

Once it had acclimatised, not an issue... some of the thinner stock was through and through sawn sapwood which cupped rather more than I'd have liked, but nothing too awful really.

Glad you like Snowdonia! Wales is Britain's best kept secret IMHO. I lived there for 5 years and would still be there had it not been for circumstances. Mid Wales that was.

Looking back 7 years to when I chose to come here, the rugged beauty of the mountains won out over "the city of the gleaming spires" in about 30 seconds flat... took a bit longer to explain turning down that particular opportunity to my parents! I'm gutted at having to leave, but I'm unlikely to end up finding a decent job here and there's no point throwing what little money I have left to the wall on rent just for the sake of being here, when I can move back to my parents house** whilst I'm seeking gainful employment.
I've never taken the time to fully appreciate mid-wales, it always seems pretty but ultimately empty when I pass through on the A470.

*Supposedly it's for chopping fruit for cocktails, only the person requesting it, is more of a lager drinker, who I've never known to drink a cocktail in all the time we've been friends

**Wales is very much home in my mind, so whilst conventionally I'd be said to be "moving back home", it feels like the exact opposite