timber size

[tender foot]

Hi to everyone, i am anewbie so i am hoping you can offer me some advice.

I got some plans from a woodwork book to make some storage units, the plans state to use 4" by 1.5" for all the end and centre panels, and to use 2" by 1.5" for the front and back rails (all PAR softwood).
All i could get from the merchants in my area was 4" by 2" and 2" by 2". After speaking to a experienced carpenter he told me to just get the 4" by 2" and 2" by 2" then router the edges (to make the frame look less bulky and give a decorative finish). I have got the timber and cut it to size but now i am starting to worry about the final apperance (wheather the frame will look to bulky :? ).

What do you think? Will it look ok once the edges are rouered? Or should i take another approach? I want to get the best finish possible.

I dont have a thicknesser or table saw so i cant really cut the timber down, but if you think the best option is to get smaller timber then so be it. All advice much appreciated, thanks in advance.

All the best

Tender foot

 

[SketchUp Guru]

Can you post a picture of what your project is supposed to look like? That might help us help you.

Beveling edges is a commonly used trick to make things look less bulky. Table tops for example sometimes get a bevel on the under side to make the table look lighter without sacrificing stiffness and solidity.

Depending upon the design of your project, beveling the edges might be just the ticket.

 

[tender foot]

Hi Dave R,

I am new to this website and i am not sure how to go about posting pictures , so if you could take the time to explain how to do so or post a link explaining how to do so, i would be more than happy to post a picture.

Perhaps if in the mean time i give you some more information about the project that will help, which is what i should of done in the original post.

I am making storage units / wardrobes. They are 610mm deep, floor to ceilig height spaning the length of the wall. That will comprise of three double wardrobes connectd together (one for clothes, the other two for storing toys etc).

The end and centre frames are made of 4" by 2", the end and centre frames with have two stiles and three rails each (one rail at the top of the frame, one rail at the bottom of the frame, and the third rail abut 3/4 the way up the frame). The two end end frames will have decorative ply rebated into the frame to make end panels, then all the centre panels will be left open (no panels). The two end panels will also be about 2" deeper than the centre frames, to house sliding doors.

The end and centre panels will then be joined together using front and back rails 2"by 2". The clothes wardrobe will have three rails front and back(one rail at the top, one rail at the bottom, and one rail for a second shelf above hanging rail. The two other wardrobes for storing toys wil have four front and back rails (one rail at the top, one rail at the bottom, and two rails for shelves evenly spaced).

Then for the doors i will be using sliding doors, with the tracks fixed to the floor and ceiling.

I hope my explanation makes sense you, i will try and find out how to post picture. All advice much appreciated.

All the best

tender foot

 

[SketchUp Guru]

I'll have to see if I can work that out but in the meantime here is how you post an image on the forum.

First the image must reside on the internet someplace. If you have it on your computer, upload it to a photo hosting site such as Photobucket.com.

Next, copy the URL for the image and paste it inside image tags with no spaces. It would look like this:

Again no spaces between the tags and the URL.

Photobucket is nice because they give you the URL enclosed in the image tags so you can copy and paste directly.

 

[Shultzy]

tender foot, your ideas seem similar to the wardrobes I built. 2x2 frames, sliding doors top and bottom with dressing table in the middle

 

[Wanlock Dod]

tender foot,

I recently managed to post my first image following some absolutely luddite-proof instructions (well I managed didn't I ) posted by ALF. Have a look here and follow ALF's method.

Cheers,

Dod

 

[tender foot]

Cheers for the advice Dave R and Wanlock Dod, i will figure it out tonight hopefully :roll: , and then post pictures tomorrow.

Shultzy that is a nice job you have done, the project i am doing is similar.
Except that the dressing table in the middle would also be a double wardrobe. The doulble wardrobe on the right will be the clothes wardrobe, and the middle and left double wardrobes will be the storage units.

Did you router the edges of the 2" by 2" framework? If not did you find that the framework looked to bulky?

All the best

tender foot

 

[Shultzy]

tender foot, I made these back in '74 or '75 when routers were very expensive and no the edges are untouched, and they don't look too big for this project.