Woodworking Journey

I’ve embarked on a new journey. Something I’ve always been interested in, but have never had the space, or tools to do it. At some point (late summer) last year I got the bug to go for it and set up a small wood shop. I basically started with a few old tools, a cordless drill, a great electric drill, a old powerless circular saw, a couple hammers, a plastic miter jig and 2 hand saws. Overall it was a pretty dismal tool arsenal for the kind of furniture I wanted to build.

So the journey began. I started off by doing a bunch of tool research. I took many trips to local tool stores, and spent even more time visiting various Web sites, reading tool reviews on Amazon etc. I began with a list of necessary tools for basic cabinet making. At first, I was interested in redoing my kitchen and bath cabinetry…. so, the obvious was a decent table saw, a miter saw, circular saw, router, compressor, and air guns. I have a two car garage with extra space in one corner, so I began a small shop plan as well. This turned out to be a bigger project than I anticipated, but after wiring several new plugs, a few new lights, and putting up sheet rock, my shop started to take shape.

I still had no new tools. There were so many decisions to make. And, I wasn’t sure how much I realistically wanted to invest. Well, I decided to fill up my Amazon cart with everything I thought I would need. I put more tools in my cart, I’d change my mind, add more items, take items out, and read more and more reviews. This went on for a month or so. It was finally time to commit. My cart was full and my head was spinning! Then, with a click of the mouse, I did it. I hit the “buy now” button. Done. 5-7 days later all that “stuff” arrived on my front porch. Just like Christmas! Boxes and boxes… a lift gate truck brought the table saw. Oh boy… I opened boxes, put workbenches together, assembled saws and cutting tables for what seemed like weeks. Since then, I’ve added a few things to my tool arsenal… clamps, more jigs, bits and finishing tools… gloves, respiratory masks, lint free rags and foam applicators, to name a few.

For now, my plan is to design and build custom furniture for myself. And as I get more experience, I might take orders! Until then, I just want to get some experience under my belt. I should mention here that I do have 3 years (in college) of woodworking experience where I repaired and built European Pine antique reproductions. So, I have a pretty decent understanding of the craft. In any event, I decided that I should build a reproduction of something I really liked. I did more research and found a few existing pieces that fit the bill. Below I will show a photo essay of the project.

Believe me, there has been plenty of planning and research just to get this project underway. It took me several hours over the course of a couple weeks to source material (plywood, hinges, cork, finish). It’s not easy for a DIY’er or a small shop to get the same quality material a cabinet shop might get. Big box stores don’t have it and I don’t want to get into doing my own lamination/veneering. There are minimum orders for certain materials and the good plywood is $130 (walnut ply) to $180 (bamboo ply). I’m sure that this process will become easier over time.

Here’s the project. A center piece for my living room. I chose this, not only because I really liked it, but because building it would engage many skills that I wanted to explore. A basic cabinet with shelves, a base structure, edge banding, doors and hinges, working with cork, and a rubbed on poly finish. Building this would utilize most, if not all, of the tools I had invested in. I’ll post the finished product and status updates as they are completed.

This is some of my planning. A good notebook comes in handy!

This table is a must. I read about it on another blog. It’s perfect for cutting full size sheets.

I made these, but have yet to use them.

I built this straight edge jig using a metal straight edge, and 1/4 inch melamine. It makes it super easy to cut long straight cuts.

This is 48″ and can attach to the other 48″ to make a full 8 feet.

My handy Iron for pre-glued edgebanding.

Trimming the walnut edge. Go with the grain!

Putting the base on.

Shelf holes created with a Rockler shelf hole jig and bit. Get one.

A Kreg pocket hole jig works great. I can’t recommend it enough for joining.

The assembled cabinet.

I ordered the cork in 5 different styles. It’s 1/4 inch thick. I’ll mount it to 3/4 inch plywood. So my finished door size will be 1 inch. Blum makes a thick door hinge (inset and overlay).

Taking the time to plan the pattern.

The cork cut easily (after some practice) with a utility knife. Several passes around each piece seemed to work the best. I have a few pieces that don’t fit perfect. I plan to create a glue filler with cork dust.

More cork cutting.

All the cork pieces, ready to glue. I’m hoping the low VOC contact cement is the way to go. I’ve yet to test it.

Began the finish process… 2 coats of wipe-on poly (planning to do 3 total, plus 2 coats of paste).

Stay tuned, I’ll update the post as the project is completed.

The following pics show the final steps to completion!

Gluing the cork to the doors.

Rolling the contact cement on to the door.

Clamping the cork and doors

Just about ready to leave the shop.

Finished and in room

Finished and in room

It looks awesome!