We wanted a set of upper storage cabinets on the end wall of the kitchen. Although this is temporary I wanted to learn how to build raised panels so with all this new equipment and a wonderful woodworking shop, I headed into this project with great ambition albeit very little knowledge of what the heck I was doing.
This house was originally constructed with maple so I choose this for my wood and will carry this theme through-out the rest of the home.
This house was originally constructed with maple so I choose this for my wood and will carry this theme through-out the rest of the home.
As I dived into this project it was quickly obvious that I didn't have a clue of what I was doing. Thankfully Ken Roberts ( a fabulous woodworker in his own right ) was willing to spend two very long days with me and Daniel helped me every step of the way.
We made a lot of mistakes along the way ( Ken told me to keep a list of mistakes and to log them in a diary to remind me of what NOT to do next time and also as a way to review them with him or others to learn how to correct them ... I ended up with close to 30 things on my list so I can say definitively that I am a raw rookie at this ... ) but did indeed get these cabinets done and installed on the weekend and I'm thrilled with them.
I started building things when I was about 8 years old, a 'manger' for my sister at Christmas, and always dreamt of having a woodworking shop with all the equipment that comes with one. You don't understand how satisfying it is to do this small project and be able to finally 'live the dream' that I've had for coming on sixty years.
These also are temporary so serve as a wonderful project for learning. One thing I would change as you can see from the picture above and the others below ... is better wood selection. That being said one of the reasons you use all natural maple is for colour and grain variations ... it was just that some of the colours are way too different. But hey Daniel and I built these with our own two hands, they look great and I'm quite proud of our work.
Now we are tasked with building a cabinet for around the stove in the island and then we have to install a new countertop along the same wall under the upper cabinets I built. I also have a new countertop for the island that will be installed after we get the cabinet built. The countertops are sitting in my dining room right now so I'm anxious to get on with these projects.
Because these are temporary we built the cabinets themselves out of melomine and covered the bottom with white formica to make it easier to clean and more presentable. When I get to the "real" kitchen everything possible will be made out of solid hard maple or at the very least maple veneered solid core plywood.
The first set done .. not bad eh!
Daniel working on the second set of doors.
The above picture shows the wood variations very well. Some very dark brown, some very light, actually some are pinkish when you see them in good light and one panel actually has a green tinge to it. I need to learn how to read the rough wood better to avoid some of this ... it also may be the quality of lumber I bought .... but hey I like them and that is all that matters.
Three sets down and one to go.
Almost done ... they fit like a glove and make a big difference ... I'm a happy camper.
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