Beth's built-in: the upper box

Last week, I went to Woodcraft and looked at their quarter sawn red oak. I decided that I would use red oak for the interior of the shelf portion of this project and I would use quarter sawn red oak for the face frame and drawer front. I went to The Home Depot and looked over their inventory of red oak, selecting three nine foot 1 x 8s. But after deciding that these boards would cost $120, I put them back and went with a single sheet of 4 x 8 red oak plywood for $48. More wood at more than half the price equals the best deal for me.

Over this weekend, I got started on the top box of the built-in. Here is what I got accomplished…

Sheet management. I let The Home Depot make the first cuts on the plywood. They make rips creating two 15” wide pieces. In this photo, I am about to use my circular saw to rough cut them to length. The boards have been trimmed to a final 14" in width.

Rough cut. Here I have the two sides and the top and bottom roughly cut to length.

Final cuts. Here I use my panel cutting jig to fine tune the length of a side panel.

With the sides and the top and bottom of the upper box cut to final size, I have to prep the inside of the box before assembly. The inside is sanded using my palm sander and I then add the holes for the shelf pins.

To cut these holes, I use my plunge router and a home made jig. In this photo, I have laid out the items needed to set-up my router for this operation: the collar and a quarter inch router bit which will basically drill the hole (click the photo to enlarge it).

Here, I have the collar installed. I get my caffeine in the morning from Diet Mtn. Dew. This is my second one of the morning.

In this photo you can see how the collar fits around the bit. The collar and the holes in my template are the same size allowing me to precisely locate the router bit. I make repeated plunges along the template, then flip the template over and cut holes along the opposite edge of the board. This makes the holes the same height which is important to keep shelves from rocking.


This process goes pretty quickly. This is the third project I have used my home made jig with. You could also buy one of these and I just recently saw on This Old House a machine that cuts many such holes all at one time. But, you can't beat the fact that my jig cost me nothing.

Ready for assembly. I use the same method to join the sides with the top and bottom as I did with the lower box (see more here).

Starting to take shape. Here I set up the upper box which will have shelves on top of the lower box which will have drawers. Still not much to look at, but you can begin to see what it will look like.

As you can see there is no back on the upper box yet. I am undecided how to do this. I have some left over oak plywood and I am thinking about making a frame and panel back for it. Whatever I decide to do, that will be the next step in this project.

To see all the posts on this project including design aspects, click here.

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Beth's built-in: construction begins

Shop plans. I work out details of the project utilizing a full size drawing on the wall where the built-in will reside.

After taking a few days of vacation in Blue Ridge, Georgia, I decided to quit messing around and get busy on the built-in cabinet for my daughter's small bathroom. After delays trying to complete a drawing of this project using Sketchup, I decided my Sketchup skills were lacking and I took out a pencil, tape and straight edge and drew the project full size on the wall where the built-in will be (click the photo above for a larger view and you should be able to get an idea of what it will look like).

The first step in this project will be to build a box that will house three drawers. I selected birch plywood for this mostly because it is a stable material and the components of this box will be totally out of view. I plugged my iPod into my little shop radio, selected some new Tom Petty and made my first cut...

The first cut. This project finally gets underway by cutting the sides to width. I use a piece of 2'x4' birch handy panel for material.

Cutting the length. I pull out my trusty cross cut jig and cut the sides to length.

Ready for assembly. On the left, the two sides and on the right, the top and bottom cut to width and square.

Simple joinery. Someday, I may use dovetails to make a joint like this, but after much thought, I feel that dovetails are overkill. I use screws and I am thinking about adding a couple of biscuits to each joint. With the back and face frame in place, this box should be plenty sturdy.

Keeping it flush. The clamp I am using is an old, beat-up corner clamp - a hand-me-down from my Dad. It is useful to keep the top and side flush and held in place while I pre-drill and add screws.

About two hours later. The box, except for the back is completed. As I stated, I am thinking about adding biscuits to the joints for added measure.

Not much to look at just yet, but all projects have a skeleton to build upon. The top section will be made in similar fashion, but I plan to make it out of oak and hopefully, some nice quarter-sawn boards if I can find them without too much hassle.

To see all the posts on this project including design aspects, click here.

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Beth's built-in: a SketchUp mistake

Just a quick update: I ran across a problem with my drawing which meant that I had to delete the wall around the built-in and draw it all over again. Removing this wall completely was a challenge. I am not sure why, but some of it wouldn't delete. I have begun drawing components for this project separately and then moving them into place. That way, I can better select the part and make it a component without including other components that are out of view. This was about a two hour process!

In the photo above, I have added the face frame around the built-in and added some shelves. The back was removed to better facilitate the positioning of the shelves and the lowest shelf will have part of the face frame attached to it. This will be the beginning of forming the openings for the two drawers.

I know that as I use SketchUp more, I will become faster with it, but right now it is slow going. I should have the drawing completed over the weekend and I hope to actually start construction this weekend as well.

UPDATE 7/3/2010: After working on this drawing for about an hour this morning unsuccessfully trying to draw the casing that surrounds the built-in, I have decided that I am going about this drawing all wrong and am going to trash it and start over. There are too many errors, mostly from converting something into a component for me to continue with this drawing. :( - I think you get the idea of what I am going to do. I have drawn this thing full size on the wall, being that I am going to cut it out anyway.

UPDATE 9/18/2010: A little at a time, but for much of the day today, I have been working on the SketchUp drawing of Beth's built-in...

Finally! I am beginning to understand SketchUp.

While I am still slow with my illustrations, I am getting the hang of SketchUp. There is still much to learn about drawing components faster, but being able to complete this drawing is a big step forward.

To see all the posts on this project, click here.

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