February 2, 20197 yr I have not built furniture before. My wife wants some cabinets for the sewing room. I am thinking 36" W x 7' T x 22" D. I am thinking of using 1 x 12 pine. It will be painted white. Should I use dowels or biscuits? Is there an easier or better way to do it that I am not aware of? It will also have doors. Thanks for any help.
February 2, 20197 yr Popular Post Biscuits are faster. Remember that biscuits don’t add any strength to the project. They simply aid in alignment during the glueup.
February 2, 20197 yr Popular Post Hello Rusty You might consider using 3/4-inch plywood rather than 1x12 pine. White Melamine is a good alternative also. Nice and clean, and scratch resistant. You can attach a 3/8-inch plywood back in a rabbet with glue and screws. Use 3/4x2 inch pine or poplar for a face frame to add rigidity to the cabinet. I have used 3/4-inch white Melamine with screws in the past with long-lasting results. Mount the shelves with L-brackets. Drawers will require slides. hat
February 3, 20197 yr 7 hours ago, Ron Dudelston said: Biscuits are faster. Remember that biscuits don’t add any strength to the project. They simply aid in alignment during the glueup. i'll have to disagree with you there. I believe that's a myth that's oft-told enough that people believe it. I've made almost 50 bookcases using biscuits alone, half a dozen tall cabinets, a few bunk beds, tool totes, and a bunch of other things I'm forgetting. While some traditional joints are stronger (in certain stress situations) biscuits are often "strong enough" But dowels because of differential shrinkage and mostly end-grain glue surfaces are pretty weak over a few seasons. Every dowel joint test I've seen was done after a couple of weeks and not after a couple of years. I've taken many chairs apart for repair when once I get the corner blocks unscrewed, I can pull the chair apart with my hands or a tap with a mallet.
February 3, 20197 yr Hello Rusty Regardless of the choice of materials, you can help your project a lot by drawing it out in a front, side, and top view, all with dimensions. From that, you generate a materials list of what materials to buy. Then, make a cut list and cut the them out, working safely throughout, starting with the cabinet case (length, width, rabbet, etc). Now, you have the basic top, bottom, sides, and back. Now, do a dry assembly, using clamps and a few screws but no glue. Pre-drill the holes the correct size. If it looks good, take it apart and re-assemble using glue and more screws in the appropriate places. While the glue is setting, you can take measurements for the shelves and face frame. Cut those pieces and assemble as required when the glued case has set. All of us started WWing as beginners, and I have found that making drawings and working sequentially to completion results in good success. Please post progress reports and pictures. hat Edited February 3, 20197 yr by hatuffej
February 3, 20197 yr Popular Post Keith, we’ll disagree on this one which is fine. In my opinion, a biscuit has no intrinsic strength but does keep the boards aligned nicely. I too have bu8ld many tables and bookcases with biscuits but I rely on the glue for strength.
February 3, 20197 yr Biscuit Joinery.pdf 26 minutes ago, Ron Dudelston said: Keith, we’ll disagree on this one which is fine. In my opinion, a biscuit has no intrinsic strength but does keep the boards aligned nicely. I too have bu8ld many tables and bookcases with biscuits but I rely on the glue for strength. There are a lot of variables: Type of joint (i.e., relative grain orientation in the two pieces) I'll agree that on an edge-to-edge joint, a good glue joint is stronger than the surrounding material, so anything added (or subtracted) by the biscuit is irrelevant. The same would not be true of a butt joint of solid wood Type of stress (most tests I've seen do a racking test, but this is only one of five or so types of stress - tension, compression, cleavage, peel, racking, sheer) The material(s) being joined -- hardwood, softwood, plywood, particle board, MDF Biscuit Joinery.pdf Edited February 3, 20197 yr by kmealy
February 3, 20197 yr Popular Post 9 hours ago, RustyFN said: My wife wants some cabinets for the sewing room. got a basic plan or something in particular in mind??? free standing??? wall mount??? thread racks??? shelves??? drawers??? fold outs??? pull outs??? machine adaptable??? here's some images... Edited February 3, 20197 yr by Stick486
February 3, 20197 yr I think 7' is too high, it's just too high to reach. Also, the depth should be no more than 18". That way she will not be trying to dig so deep to get something. I would build it using Baltic Birch plywood not the stuff you get at big box stores. It will make it easier for you to build and look sooo much better. You could put molding around the sides and give it a raised panel look. Your wife is going to be so proud of you.
February 3, 20197 yr 10-4 on the Baltic Birch plywood. Great stuff to work with. And yes the 7' tall is great for the things that needs a place but hardly ever used...Counter sink some lone screws through the back panel. That deep of shelf will have lots of weight when each shelf is loaded so you might put a 1 x 2" up right in the front middle of each shelf... Being your first project and with the doors no need to get too robust and I see no problems. For extra strength add a 1x1" glued and screwed in under each shelf. Baltic Birch comes in 5 x 5' size so you could even go up to that width if you got the room size to handle it?
February 3, 20197 yr I forgot to mention, you might have a cup of water handy for your scroll saw might get over heated cutting the wood....
February 3, 20197 yr 1 hour ago, hawkeye10 said: I think 7' is too high, it's just too high to reach. if a shelf was at 7'.. yes... but 7' tall ... no...
February 3, 20197 yr Popular Post VOE here, think about how much this cabinet is going to weigh once you get it assembled and are trying to move it around while you do all the finishing operations. This one is 36" W x 18"D x 72"H and has been a problem for me trying to pick it up onto the bench, lift it off and then stand it up. Maybe in the old days when I was working in a shop with someone else (or even 20 years younger), but I would make it in two pieces if I had to do it again. While you can probably horse it around to some extent, it gets tricky once you're at the finish sanding stage and need to set it up on the bench for more work.
February 3, 20197 yr Popular Post tall cabinet? build it in place. long cabinet, break it into pieces you can join together later. sewing cabinet, put it on wheels. these are all 3/4" plywood with pocket screw joinery.
February 4, 20197 yr Author Thanks for all of the replies and suggestions?. Plywood is starting to sound like the way to go. I was planning on using pocket hole screws. The inside will be cubicles. She is mostly going to store fabric in it. She doesn't want anything shorter than 7'. The next one will probably be set up to hold fabric, binding, thread and whatever else she needs to store.
February 4, 20197 yr 26 minutes ago, RustyFN said: Yes but with solid doors. For each cube? or for each horizontal section?
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