oak dresser

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Comment by justin waldron on September 7, 2010 at 10:08am

I was also digging through my magazines last night, I knew I had an issue with cabinets in it, thanks to norm abram. Fine Woodworking from August 2008 has them in there, it's a great issue, may want to see if you can get the back issue.

Comment by justin waldron on September 7, 2010 at 10:01am

Mlcs is great, they even have the stuff for mitered doors etc. Also, on the vertical faceframes you'll have to route a 3/4 in. slot in the side where the top and bottom intersect to allow it to snap on, the horizontal faceframe will cover that up. Honestly it takes longer to cut all the material than it does to build, but if you cut and mill all the sides etc. first you insure that it's all uniform.

Comment by William Burton on September 7, 2010 at 7:13am

That's a very well thought out process. I would have never thought of attaching the face frames like that - pretty clever. Thanks for the tip to eliminate waste in the plywood cuts. I haven't dealt with mlcs woodworking before either - I get most of my stuff from Rockler, Woodcraft or Klingspor. Always good to have another source.
I will let you know when I get started on a cabinet project. I do most of my work in the winter - my shop is my garage and it stays too hot this time of year. Thanks again for all the great advice.

Comment by justin waldron on September 7, 2010 at 6:00am

Almost forgot, for the doors I used the shaker style door set from mlcswoodworking.com. I bought a setup block and these were a breeze to do. I mill all my lumber like you and that's the hardest part from all this, but worth it I think.

Comment by justin waldron on September 7, 2010 at 5:58am

Ours were the builder cabinets too, all particle board etc. For an upper cabinet I cut sides 12 in wide and 36 tall, cutting them 36 tall leaves a 12 in. x 96 in. strip out of the ply and theres no throw away. I set my dado blade in my saw 1/2 in away from the fence and run a groove in the top of the side and the bottom and without changing anything I run all my faceframes through. Also the backs of the cabinet are run through at the same time, once the backs, faceframes and sides are done I add a sacrificial fence and run a groove along the back edge of the sides to allow the backs to recess, after all that milling is done you can cut your top and bottom pieces that you need and you'll have an airtight box. The faceframes are glued in place and this is much easier to have a groove run, because they just snap on, easier than pocket screws and biscuits. On the interior cabinets that aren't going to be seen I predrill holes from the groove out and screw everything together and that's it.

Comment by William Burton on September 6, 2010 at 9:31pm

I appreciate it. Our cabinets are the cheapest ones the builder could put in when this place was built about 25 years ago. I will take you up on your offer of advice if/when I decide to try it. Looking at what a set of cabinets costs at Lowe's makes me think I should try to at least build a prototype.

Comment by justin waldron on September 6, 2010 at 8:17pm

Thanks for your comments, I appreciate them. I actually built cabinets long before I ever attempted furniture if you can believe it. I haven't finished all of mine yet, beds and dressers got in the way. The project is going well though and trust me, you can built cabinets, especially after seeing all that you've done so far. I would be more than happy to give you some pointers if need be to get you started.

Comment by William Burton on September 6, 2010 at 8:00pm

Hey, thanks for the kind comments on my chests of drawers. Just looking through all your projects - looks like you do a lot of nice work yourself. I noticed that you had some pics of kitchen cabinets and doors - how did that project go? I have been trying to convince myself that I could undertake a project like that. What was your experience with it? Great job on the dresser!