xy mosian
Established Member
Hi all, I've been pottering about making a cupboard in the corner of the porch for a few days. Swimbo tells me it is to be painted, so the panels are in MDF. It isn't reall worthy of photo's but here are a few points I came across, with my own solutions.
The door is only 12mm thick, local DIY shed doesn't do 15mm!
Hinges were the first problem. How to screw to the door? The particular type chosen needed fixing to the edge. Now normal practise would be to insert dowels through the door and screw the hinges on through the dowels with longish screws. This would mean either a very accurately drilled blind hole, or a through dowel which could well telegraph its presence in the paint finish. My solution was to insert a biscuit-like strip of softwood into the centre of the edge of the 12mm door, and screw into this. The insert is 6mm wide, 12mm thick and about 75mm long. This afternoon I fixed the hinges, 5/8" no. 3's, and the result was suprisingly secure. Time will tell if they stand up to use.
The door has a fairly standard imitation panel. Now this is often done with a template fixed to the centre of the door which is followed by the router. Looking for a different method I clamped the door blank between battens, on all sides, and followed these with the router. To achieve the correct groove distance from the edge, I made a large washer which fitted snuggly over a standard router guide. The radius of the washer, 56mm, was chosen to place the groove in the correct place. Obviously the washer was thick enough to cover the length of the router guide. The size of the washer provided a decent flat surface for router as it was used. I think I'll use this method if I get around to making new, MDF, kitchen cabinet doors next year, that way I'll not need an assortment of templates.
The other decorative feature, tried as a test, are imitation V-grooves (supposed to represent T&G pannelling I suppose). Again I could have used the router. Instead I sharpened a nail, 2" flat head, and drove it through a 20mm x 44mm x 200m softwood block. I pre-drilled the hole at an angle of about 60 degrees to the long edge, leaning forwards. I used this as a sort of scratch plane, with a suitable fence, and produced results very similar to a routed line. The scratches may need a little more fettling but I would have heard the birds singing, had there been any.
Now these solutions may be old hat to you all, but I enjoyed thinking them out. Let me know your thoughts, and possible improvements.
xy
The door is only 12mm thick, local DIY shed doesn't do 15mm!
Hinges were the first problem. How to screw to the door? The particular type chosen needed fixing to the edge. Now normal practise would be to insert dowels through the door and screw the hinges on through the dowels with longish screws. This would mean either a very accurately drilled blind hole, or a through dowel which could well telegraph its presence in the paint finish. My solution was to insert a biscuit-like strip of softwood into the centre of the edge of the 12mm door, and screw into this. The insert is 6mm wide, 12mm thick and about 75mm long. This afternoon I fixed the hinges, 5/8" no. 3's, and the result was suprisingly secure. Time will tell if they stand up to use.
The door has a fairly standard imitation panel. Now this is often done with a template fixed to the centre of the door which is followed by the router. Looking for a different method I clamped the door blank between battens, on all sides, and followed these with the router. To achieve the correct groove distance from the edge, I made a large washer which fitted snuggly over a standard router guide. The radius of the washer, 56mm, was chosen to place the groove in the correct place. Obviously the washer was thick enough to cover the length of the router guide. The size of the washer provided a decent flat surface for router as it was used. I think I'll use this method if I get around to making new, MDF, kitchen cabinet doors next year, that way I'll not need an assortment of templates.
The other decorative feature, tried as a test, are imitation V-grooves (supposed to represent T&G pannelling I suppose). Again I could have used the router. Instead I sharpened a nail, 2" flat head, and drove it through a 20mm x 44mm x 200m softwood block. I pre-drilled the hole at an angle of about 60 degrees to the long edge, leaning forwards. I used this as a sort of scratch plane, with a suitable fence, and produced results very similar to a routed line. The scratches may need a little more fettling but I would have heard the birds singing, had there been any.
Now these solutions may be old hat to you all, but I enjoyed thinking them out. Let me know your thoughts, and possible improvements.
xy
