MattRoberts
Established Member
So my wife and I were fed up of staring at the god-awful IKEA side board that we had under the TV:
We wanted something similar in size but nicer and sturdier. After designing it in Sketchup, I set to work. First thing to do was glue up a bunch of panels. I'm using Greenheart with pine:
Next was to dry fit the central section which will have sliding panel doors:
I could then cut the legs, taper them and notch out parts to fit the central section and the rails:
I also had to notch out the top and bottom panels of the central section to receive the legs:
Here's a dry fit of the legs on the central section, with one of the rails at the back:
Here's all of the rails. I'm also adding cross bars either side of the centre for structural support and to support the top
Next part was the sliding panel doors. I was given a large oak kitchen cupboard door, so I resawed it quite thin and then edge glued the panels
Inevitably, the panels wanted to cup, so I kept them flat all the time I wasn't using them
I cut a very slight rebate on the top and bottom edge of the oak panels, and then cut two parallel grooves using a router into the top and bottom of the central section to receive them. This was my test piece
And here it they are sitting in the bottom panel. Note I stopped the grooves short of the domino mortices
At this point I was concerned that the panels might cup further and become immovable. If that happened after I glued the piece together, I'd need to smash it to bits to sort them out. I decided to add an additional board which would sit underneath the top panel. That way I could remove it without damaging the rest of the piece. As it happens, I needn't have worried as it runs as smooth as a babies bottom!
This shows one half of the central piece with everything put together. It's actually upside down, so you can see the double thickness at the bottom.
I could then glue up some parts of the main central section, thankfully I have a lot of clamps
The top was glued up in stages to make it easier, and also has dominos to help with alignment and strength
I used Danish oil on the oak panels to highlight the lovely grain. Unfortunately I was limited on wood, so couldn't do much in the way of grain matching. Even though, I think I could have done better if I'd thought about it more.
I finished the rest with walnut Briwax
I cut some handles from the same Greenheart
So I did the main glue up after the finish was applied. I'm in two minds as to whether it's better to pre-finish or not. On the plus side, it's easier to apply the finish and you don't get clumps of finish in the corners. On the down side, you have to be careful to get as little finish on the areas to be joined and in the mortices, which is a pain. Additonally, cleaning up the glue can mess with the finish a little bit, especially if it's wax.
On go the rails and legs
And here's the finished article
And in-situ:
We wanted something similar in size but nicer and sturdier. After designing it in Sketchup, I set to work. First thing to do was glue up a bunch of panels. I'm using Greenheart with pine:
Next was to dry fit the central section which will have sliding panel doors:
I could then cut the legs, taper them and notch out parts to fit the central section and the rails:
I also had to notch out the top and bottom panels of the central section to receive the legs:
Here's a dry fit of the legs on the central section, with one of the rails at the back:
Here's all of the rails. I'm also adding cross bars either side of the centre for structural support and to support the top
Next part was the sliding panel doors. I was given a large oak kitchen cupboard door, so I resawed it quite thin and then edge glued the panels
Inevitably, the panels wanted to cup, so I kept them flat all the time I wasn't using them
I cut a very slight rebate on the top and bottom edge of the oak panels, and then cut two parallel grooves using a router into the top and bottom of the central section to receive them. This was my test piece
And here it they are sitting in the bottom panel. Note I stopped the grooves short of the domino mortices
At this point I was concerned that the panels might cup further and become immovable. If that happened after I glued the piece together, I'd need to smash it to bits to sort them out. I decided to add an additional board which would sit underneath the top panel. That way I could remove it without damaging the rest of the piece. As it happens, I needn't have worried as it runs as smooth as a babies bottom!
This shows one half of the central piece with everything put together. It's actually upside down, so you can see the double thickness at the bottom.
I could then glue up some parts of the main central section, thankfully I have a lot of clamps
The top was glued up in stages to make it easier, and also has dominos to help with alignment and strength
I used Danish oil on the oak panels to highlight the lovely grain. Unfortunately I was limited on wood, so couldn't do much in the way of grain matching. Even though, I think I could have done better if I'd thought about it more.
I finished the rest with walnut Briwax
I cut some handles from the same Greenheart
So I did the main glue up after the finish was applied. I'm in two minds as to whether it's better to pre-finish or not. On the plus side, it's easier to apply the finish and you don't get clumps of finish in the corners. On the down side, you have to be careful to get as little finish on the areas to be joined and in the mortices, which is a pain. Additonally, cleaning up the glue can mess with the finish a little bit, especially if it's wax.
On go the rails and legs
And here's the finished article
And in-situ:
