Back panels (1)...

The creation of back panel continues... I spent considerable time fitting each of the stiles and rails as well as the individual panels for each of the cabinets. There is hardly any room for error here so this is time well spent. There are different design options for the frame and panel back panel, namely the orientation of the stiles and rails. I could have chosen to extend the rails from end to end and instead have three shorter stiles, but I decided on the longer stile option. Often, my choices in the design of cabinets and their individual components is determined by the wood I have available as well as aesthetic considerations. In this case, the short rails, longer stiles are an alternative approach.

The selection and orientation of the actual panels within the frames was interesting to say the least. I like many of the choices in graphics, each one presenting an exciting view of the fantastic ambrosia maple figure. Unfortunately, the lower section of the inside of each cabinet back panel will be obscured however as I intend to install a set of drawers.. to be decided soon. With this in mind, I selected a particular area of each of the panels to be visible. Each of the photos both represents a different cabinet and a different view of the cabinet. Nothing is glued at this point, all held together with clamps and tape. Next, I begin to create the interior layout for the drawers I will be installing. As well, I will be final trimming the front door panels and installing knife hinges. I'll also probably mock up some cardboard drawer fronts to get a better idea of the layout I feel is right for these cabinets, possibly each cabinet will have a slightly different drawer layout.

Back panels...

In the photo at left, the doors for each of the cabinets are somewhat more trimmed than before and next need to be scraped. The capped outside edges are also visible in this photo. Moving on from the front of the cabinet... next I begin work on the frame and panel back. I milled the frame components, the rails, vertical stiles, center stile and created grooves in each of these components for the ambrosia maple panels. These panels will float within the frames. The frames are divided vertically to add rigidity to the back panel assembly and to create a more interesting aesthetic. I had the choice of dividing the frame horizontally but decided on this approach due to the limited widths of ambrosia maple I had available. I've also had success with this orientation in the past.

The frame itself is marginally larger than the recess at the back of the cabinet, this to allow for final trimming once the frame and panels are completely assembled and glued together for each of the cabinets. In the photo I mock up the frame and slip the panels underneath to get a better idea of how I want to orient the panels with each of the frames. I decided to work on one frame at a time to avoid any confusion and to be able to focus entirely on each frame and panel assembly.

I will be spending some time with this part of the cabinets as I want to be confident that everything fits just right and the panels with each of the frames are oriented to the best of my ability.

Capping the doors...

To fulfill the desired seamless wraparound ambrosia maple aesthetic, I decided to cap the outside vertical edges of each set of doors. Carefully matching some narrow remnants of ambrosia maple to both the side panels and the respective doors for each cabinet, I think I succeeded in this endeavor. The cap edges are a little thicker and wider than necessary, but this is simply to allow for trimming with a hand plane afterwards.

Another reason for thinner cap edging is to not present a grain conflict with the door fronts. Thinner cap edging are not very noticeable from the front whereas they present a full graphic when viewing from the side of the cabinet. In the photo, I am judiciously hand planing the extra width I allowed for each of the cap edges. I use a smaller hand plane to allow me more control of the highs and lows of the cap edge without disturbing the front skin of the door.

The doors...

Since I now have the cabinet case temporarily assembled I took the opportunity to create the door panels. The doors are also veneered both front and back, the front is ambrosia maple whereas the back is a soft maple which matches the interior of the cabinet. There are a few steps involved in veneering as I mentioned when I created the side panels, namely applying bake-ins to the substrate, levelling these bake-ins to match the level of the substrate and applying the veneers. Not quite so simple in reality though... the door panels need to be accurately measured to accommodate the bake-ins and the center part where the doors meet. There is an overlap here and it needs to be done correctly, hopefully I got it right.

Once the substrates are prepared and accurately measured, I spend a little time reviewing my choice of ambrosia veneers for the fronts of the doors. I place them in different orientations to confirm my original choice is correct, and if not change it around. This part is actually fun and I also managed to get a second opinion from someone else. Afterwards, some trimming of all the veneers to slightly overlap the substrates and off to the vacuum veneer press. A few hours later the first of the door panels is ready, aside from the next phase of trimming. At the very least I can begin to visualize how part of the cabinet will look like once completed. I'm confident I have the aesthetics right for each of the cabinets. I can safely say that a veneered cabinet can easily take twice the amount of work to create, in this case these cabinets are sort of hybrids, some solid panels, some veneered panels. You can see some of the tight curl exhibited in the front panels. It's kind of unusual to find figured wood with both interesting graphics and colours as well as other elements such as tight curl. The highly figured woods became veneers and in my small way I make very efficient use of some rare and not so rare woods by using them sparingly throughout the cabinet.

Test fitting...

I spent some time creating the rabbets for the frame and panel backs. These rabbets run along the inside rear of the side panels as well as along the backs of the tops and bottoms for each of the cabinets. The rabbets for each of the tops and bottoms are stopped, this to create a rectangular recess in which to fit the frame and panel back. I typically use the router to create these rabbets and I need to square the ends of the stopped rabbets to fit the vertical rabbets which run in the side panels. A picture is worth a thousand words here and the picture at the left provides the best explanation for what I am accomplishing.

Once I have completed this I was anxious to test fit the components of each of the cabinets to physically see what the cabinet begins to look like. I assembled the sides and tops and bottoms for each of the cabinets carefully marking each component for both orientation and to associate the component with the correct cabinet. You can see I am a big believer in liberal use of markings. The issue isn't any confusion while one is in the studio but rather when one comes back after a day or two and then trying to remember which part goes where.

Everything is fine at this point and next I temporarily clamp each of the cabinet components together. This temporary clamped state will remain for a while as I now begin to take exact measurements for the next set of components. I begin with the cabinet doors. These doors will also be veneered and I need to determine the size of each of the substrates while allowing for bake-ins and top and bottom edging. I also need to allow for the door rabbets, the ingenious method of having cabinet doors close onto themselves through the use of a lip and rabbet. This temporary clamping also allows me to begin measuring the frame components for the frame and panel at the rear of each of the cabinets.

I also now have the opportunity to better match the ambrosia maple door fronts with the ambrosia side panels, while seeking continuity in grain, graphics and also colour variations. The top and bottom edge treatment I have not decided on yet, this will likely be a very small chamfer around the periphery of the cabinet. There is an alternative approach to all this.... to create the doors first and build the cabinet round the doors. I've never done it this way, but it's like any other process, a matter of becoming familiar with it...much like the tails vs. pins approach to dovetail joinery. Next I create the substrates for the veneered door panels.

Cabinet joinery...

I tend to use dowel joinery for this type of cabinet. This is to allow for any overhang of the top and bottom of the cabinet over the sides. I'm also a close follower of Krenov principles of furniture design and construction and James Krenov was an advocate of this type of joinery for small cabinets. At first it can be intimidating to get all the dowel holes perfectly lined up on both the vertical sides and the horizontal tops and bottoms of the cabinets, but over time this process becomes less threatening and I should dare say enjoyable. As with most types of joinery, one needs to be extremely methodical, develop a process and be very liberal with developing a marking strategy for the individual components and their orientation. This combined with a good ruler, long straightedge and sharp pencil is all that is needed really.

In the photos I use a small jig I created for these cabinets to drill the dowel holes and transfer the same holes to both the sides and the top and bottom components. No problems were encountered but I needed to re-drill the holes in one side since the jig skewed a little on me, I did this after plugging a few of the holes. I have all the cabinet case components drilled and ready to go now and am currently creating the rabbets at the back of each of the cabinets to house the back panel. I also assembled the cabinet sides and top and bottoms to determine if everything is fitting well together as well as determining if the aesthetics of each cabinet is pleasing. I'm happy so far, I will be even happier once I create the doors and view them as part of the cabinet. My goal is to have visual cohesiveness of the side panels and the front doors for each of the cabinets.

Side panels done...

I've gone ahead and applied the veneers to the side panels for both cabinets. The process I use for this is vacuum veneering. I used to use a large mechanical assembly with many vertical threaded rods and a series of horizontal cauls, but moved on to the vacuum press as it is somewhat more convenient and versatile. I still use the small mechanical press for very small flat veneer panel work, but the vacuum press excels at larger flat panels and curved veneering. It is important to mark and orient everything before correctly placing in the vacuum veneer press because once the glue is applied there is not much open time to sort things out. The process needs to be planned beforehand. The vacuum veneer press applies pressure uniformly so no worries about this aspect of veneering.

Once the veneering for each of the side panels was complete, I applied vertical ambrosia maple caps to the sides of each of the panels. They are a little fatter than the intended size and this is intentional to allow for trimming in both thickness and depth afterwards. I also orient the grain of each of these caps to follow the grain of the ambrosia and soft maple veneer, this makes life so much easier since any reversed grain issues are eliminated. After a little hand planing to bring the cap surfaces down to the level of the veneer, I scraped the complete surface of the front and back of these side panels. The ambrosia maple surfaces look seamless now and this is the ultimate goal. You can see the pink hues I was referring to earlier in this panel at the left. You can also see the layers and components which comprise these side panels; the substrate, veneers, bake-in, caps. The remaining operation for the side panels is to trim them in length, but I have yet to come to a decision on the exact length so they will remain a little long for a while. Next I am preparing the tops and bottoms for each of the cabinets.

Bake-ins...

Strange title I agree.. Also known as solid wood edging for substrates. The name probably originates from the fact that the solid wood is baked or veneered in with the rest of the substrate. Provides a solid wood surface to attach another layer of hardwood edging to the edges of the substrates. This step is in preparation for the veneering to follow. I normally use a softer, inexpensive hardwood such as poplar but in this case have gone ahead and use some of the remaining wood strips from the ambrosia maple. Once the veneer sheets are applied to these baked in substrates I will cap the horizontal edges with narrow strips of ambrosia maple.

All this to provide a strong, flat seamless surface with the illusion that the panel is a solid board of hardwood. As I mentioned earlier, since one side of these panels is ambrosia maple and the other side soft maple, the only real way to accomplish this is through veneering. The bake-ins are thicker than the substrate once I glue them to the sides, but a sharp, standard angle block plane makes quick work of bringing the surfaces to an even level. I tend to use smaller planes for these scenarios as I have much better control and can see where I am going. Planing the substrate is a no-no at this point, so I perform the planing very carefully. I might have forgotten to mention that the substrate I use is approximately 1/2 inch baltic birch... fairly stable, flat material. Sandwiching two layers of veneer around this substrate essentially creates a very flat surface. More about this later...

Ambrosia veneers...

The exterior side panels and door fronts of each of the cabinets will be of ambrosia maple although the top and bottom panels of each cabinet will continue to follow the soft maple theme. I have chosen ambrosia maple because it is a wood I have worked very little with in the past and am intrigued by the subtle variations in color throughout the boards. The grain graphics can be summarized in one word...wild. In one of these particular planks I am using to create veneers there are also traces of a pink colour throughout, the traces take the form of swirling areas which run the length of the planks. It is this particular color which caught my eye, and these planks beg to be used on a cabinet. I have paired the boards into two sets, one set for each of the cabinets.

Each set has slightly different characteristics. The second set of cut boards exhibit a darker chocolate colored swirling area which when set against the lighter background provides dramatic effect. Another unusual characteristic of each of the boards sets is that they exhibit curl, and tight curl at that. I usually look for either interesting figure or curl in planks, but these boards exhibit both characteristics together.

To the left are the resawn sets of veneers, one set per cabinet. I make sure to keep the sets separate from each other and mark them as much as I can to identify them once I begin creating the veneered panels. These particular planks from which I resaw these veneers are very wide and this allows me to use the veneers as a whole instead of gluing two halves together as I did with the soft maple veneers. Slicing these veneers was somewhat of a challenge for my bandsaw, but I took my time. I also sliced them a little thicker than normal to accommodate any blade wander which might occur.

At this stage, I am very pleased with how these veneers have turned out.

Taping veneers...

I left off with clamped veneers. This photo illustrates how I tape two veneer slices together to form a wider veneer sheet. These particular sheets are destined to the interior of the cabinet as well as the inside of the doors for the cabinets. My resawing setup is not ideal and I make do with a too small bandsaw for the operation. This introduces some issues as some of the veneers are not quite the same thickness as others, although all the veneer slices are thicker than necessary. I need to use a very slow feed speed to make sure the waste is cleared from the bandsaw blade gullets, this keeps the blade tracking straight and true, otherwise the induced stress of clearing the blade gullets might cause the blade to wander or even worse bow or barrel.

These particular veneer slices I am taping are marginally under 1/8 inch overall and are slightly too thin to clamp. I joint them straight and true using the technique described earlier and use the tape process to clamp them together. This process works surprisingly well with a practically non-existent glue line resulting afterwards. Working with veneers introduces another element of time into any project as the veneers sheets need to be sawn, dressed, glued together, and prepared for use... whereas using solid wood uses considerably less time. In my case, I need to resaw these veneers as the exterior and interiors of the cabinet panels are of different woods.

Clamping veneers...

I left off with jointed veneer slices. I usually use two different methods to create wider sheets of veneer from narrower individual pieces. If the veneers are 1/8 in. or greater in thickness, I clamp them using very light clamps and weigh the sheet down afterwards to keep any of the veneer slices from buckling. This method works well for me and the photo illustrates how I do this. The other technique I use is to tape the two halves of veneer together and use the tape as the clamp. I place blue tape at regular intervals along the length of the veneers halves and make sure to do this on both sides of the veneers. This method works well with thin veneer slices as they cannot be easily clamped together any longer.

Another technique I sometimes use is to spring the joint, that is each side of the joint is so very slightly concave, there is a minuscule gap at the center of each of the slices. This technique only really works when clamping veneer halves together, veneers which are thicker than 1/8 in. The reasoning behind this is that when the center portion of the slices are clamped together, the ends of the slices are so much tighter there is little opportunity for the joint to open up. This is purely cautionary though, as once the veneers are laminated to the substrate there is little chance any of the joints will open up anyway.