Trimming...

I have the panels for the two cabinets ready for trimming now. They have been hand planed and scraped to a polished texture. This is a step I like to complete before beginning the assembly process as it is much simpler with the panels separate. The individual panels are marked and stacked to correspond to one of the two cabinets. I also fit the stopped rabbet to the back edges of the side panels to confirm the depth of the rabbet on both the top, bottom and sides are uniform. Fitting is to confirm all the panels are square to each other and the side panels are correctly set back in the top and bottom panels.

This part is important to not have any problems with wind in the doors. If, for example, the front edge of one side panel is slightly deeper than the other side panel, the front doors will need to be skewed a little and this is something to avoid, unless absolutely necessary. In the photo at left I am trimming the front edge of this side panel to have it exactly as wide as the other side panel to avoid any issues with the front edge of the sides that meet the front doors not being coplanar. Next I re-assemble the cabinets and begin fitting the doors to the cases. You will notice I take precautions and always sticker all the panels to prevent any possibility of warping due to uneven exposure to ambient air.

Design update (1)...

The design process is an iterative process, with multiples sketches, drawings and just going through the process of fleshing out a design. This design change is a little more subtle in that I am changing one of the dimensions of two cabinet components, namely the thickness of the top and bottom panels. Not a major design change per say but maybe an update... since the major proportions of the cabinets remain the same. Sometimes, at least in my experience, you need to actually be partway through a build to form a subjective opinion of where the project is heading. If a part of it isn't satisfactory to the makers taste, it doesn't make too much sense to continue and and be displeased with the results. I normally create a small maquette or mock up the design to get a better idea of the proportions, but I'm not sure it would have made a difference in this case. The change is subtle and might not be readily apparent on a smaller scale. To the left, this is how the cabinet appears with the new top and bottom panels and a door temporarily mounted.

I left off with having created new top and bottom panels for the cabinets. I haven't finalized the edge treatment I will be creating on these panels, although I am strongly leaning towards simply chamfering one edge of each surface, the edge adjacent to the side panels and doors. As well, I'll likely slightly round over the corners a little and trim back the front length of these panels once the doors have been marked and installed. To the left is another set of side panels and newly created top and bottom panels for the second cabinet... ready to go. I only use two dowel pins for test fitting,, and these are not very tight dowel pins at that. I don't want to enlarge the holes any more than necessary for this phase, since the hole diameters are fairly important to how the dowels capture the surrounding wood.

To the left the second cabinet with new top and bottom panels temporarily installed for fitting of the back panel. The back panel fit this second cabinet without any need for taking a shaving off here or there. I'll need to work on the surfaces of the top and bottom panels a little more now since the fitting is successful in both cases... to plane and scrape them to a reasonable state. Once I have done this, I'll begin to work on fitting the doors and installing knife hinges.

Design update...

I wrote something about dynamic design once upon at time.. about how there is nothing wrong with changing a design mid-stream through a build..and I needed to invoke this recently. After some deliberation, I found the top and bottom panels of each the cabinets a little thin with not enough substance. I've grown to like thicker top and bottom panels in cabinets, it's just more pleasing to my eye and in a second opinion I received. What I therefore decided to do was to increase the thickness of the top and bottom panels. This involved re-creating the panels using a thicker substrate than the one I used previously. I selected some maple from which to resaw veneers, selected the solid wood edging and went through the methodical process of cutting and slicing everything to size as well as preparing the surfaces.

I had a concern about the dowel holes and getting them to line up exactly as on the original top and bottom panels. This was easily accomplished however, since the dowelling jig I used is fairly universal as long as the dimensions of the new panels match the former panels. Another concern I had with the original panels was since the depth was less, the dowels had considerable less wood to attach to, the thicker panels solved this dilemma if in fact it was even an issue.

The steps involved in re-creating these panels were somewhat lengthier than anticipated including the re-creation of the stopped rabbets for the back panels, preparing the veneers, joining them, etc. I am definitely pleased with the results however.. the panels turned out well. The deciding test was to see if the back panels fit the cabinets as they did with the previous top and bottom panels. and they did , flawlessly. I must be getting better at doing all this..

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...