Channel: A Concord Carpenter / ToolBoxBuzz

Category: Howto & Style

Tags: how todrawersremodelcubbiescarpentrystoragetoolscoat storagemudroomhow-toreviewsentry waydiystep by stepdesignconstructioncabinet

Description: Mudroom Makeover Mudroom Built In Cabinet With Full Extension Slide Drawers I use a Kreg Jig to make the pocket screw holes in some of the box construction and partitions, as well as later the face frame The drawer unit is paint grade and the only side that would be visible was the far-left end panel. The rest of the unit would be hidden behind the drawer fronts and face frame. This left panel had to be a ¼” longer, with a rabbit cut to hide the ¼” Birch plywood back panel. I built my drawer cabinets to the measurements drawn on the story pole and then moved on to the drawers. For ease of maneuvering and transport, I decided to make the 9-foot-long drawer unit into 2 parts and join them onsite. Making the Drawers The drawers were constructed out Maple with ½” front, rear, and side panels and a 3/8” bottom, dadoed, Maple plywood bottom panel. A dovetail machine was used to create the joints for the drawer boxes. Once complete, I sand and coat the drawers with two coats of lacquer. The lacquer keeps the drawers clean and prevents them from absorbing odor. NOTE: I planned on mounting 16-inch, full extension drawer slides. The slides require a ½” spacing between the drawer and cabinet side, and this measurement needs to be built into the story pole design. Mounting the Drawers in the drawer cabinet Because the drawer units were so deep, I was concerned about weight. The slide unit I purchased supposedly have a 100 lb. rating, but with kids I wanted to be safe, so I doubled up the slide on each drawer. To keep things consistent and ease my installation I created two spacing jigs to keep the bottom slide and top slide at the same locations on all three drawer locations. Making the Face Frames Once the drawers were installed it was time to focus on the face frame. The face frame was long, it carries across the entire drawer unit, so it needs to be installed after the 2 drawer boxes are installed. I used the story pole to get my lengths and vertical style locations correct. I purposely left it ½ long on the right side as a scribe option, against the wall. The face frame was 2” Poplar and was constructed with pocket screws and glue. I then sanded, eased all the edges. The drawer cabinet units were temporarily clamped together to dry fit and test the face frame. The face frame was then clamped to the drawer unit for drawer front fitment. Making the 12-inch Drawer Fronts m[w/grills] The Drawer front was a bit complicated and was going to be a new thing for me. It consisted of a Poplar style and rail design, with metal grilles inside the groove, as the drawer front panel. The drawer front would then secure to the 12-inch-tall drawers via screws. For the style and rails, I used the existing face frame as a reference and cut all my parts to length before heading over to the shaper machine. I cut my rail ends first and then the long groove on the styles and rails. Once complete I dry fitted the style and rail frame in my face frame opening, suing shims to ensure good reveal [gap] spacing all sides. Once satisfied that the drawer frame was close, I cut the metal grill material, with a grinder, to fit inside the drawer front frame, glued the coped ends, squaring the frame and then clamping it. I cut long thin filler strips and glued them inside the groove to make up the spacer between the metal grate and style and rail groove. When dry, I sanded the back site to 80 grit to remove any uneven joints and clean up any glue. I used wood filler on all the front face joints to ensure no gaps, then sanded to 120 to remove mill marks for the painter. Once the drawers were installed to the full extension slides, we removed them and painted the front outside face of the drawer a grayish color. The gray paint was to help make the drawer front side disappear when looking at the drawers the grill attached. Mounting the Drawer Fronts The drawer fronts were screwed from the inside of the Maple drawer front panel. Because the drawer front is mostly metal grill and NOT structural, I made sur to get the handle fasteners into the Maple drawer panel as well as several other fasteners around the handle and drawer front style and rail frame Installing the Drawer Unit After cutting the base trim, we slid our two cabinets in place, secured them together and installed and fastened the face frame with glue and brad nails. To finish off the installation we installed shims between the Oak seat and drawer unit added a cove molding to hide that seam. We tied in the baseboard with new base trim, filled all the nails holes, and re-sanded everything.