Part II - The Cabinet

 

Early in 2021 there was a mouse incident which led to a complete 2nd floor room refurbishment. I was left with a 19.5" cubbyhole in a corner. Wanting a cedar cupboard for blankets, linens, and my stockpile of extra tee shirts, the decision was made to acquire or build the cabinet. Coming off a complete room renovation, this was the beginning of many projects ...

 

The wood: Wow, is lumber expensive. I respond to a Craigslist ad for a $60 cedar wardrobe. Offer $10. Gal says to take it but tell her husband I paid $40. Knock apart, drive right at it, full speed ahead.

 

 

 

This is where it will go. I reuse all of the parts. One side is warped so it gets notched and weighted with my lead bars while shelf supports are screwed into place. Everything is drilled, screwed, and many joints glued as well. I get fancy, go brass with a few exposed screws which will never see light of day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The splintered door lip is fixed in carpentary fashion, cut it big and wedge it into place.

 

 

 

 

 

Top and lower front panel assembled from existing parts. Hinge screw holes repaired.

 

 

 

 

Final trimming then rubdown with BLO. Note clock on wall. Yes, same day. 

 

 

Using Egyptian methods, I get it upstairs, where the back awaits - the original c.1950 cedar plywood. Everything is original to the porch purchase less glue, screws, and boiled linseed oil.

 

 

 

Some shelf assembly. Did not go as planned. The existing finish was not properly removed from my slats. A planer would have made a huge difference.

 

 

 

And here it is in place. Wow, I had to lift it up and pass it into the opening. Another 0.25" wide and I'd of had to remove molding somewhere.

 

 

That is it. The first major project of 2021 and a springboard for a dozen others.  Here is a detail of the door repair; something went south with dissimilar hardnesses of the wood and I tried to 'fix' it.   Plus the story of The Mouse.  All the best, Jim

 

 

Part I - The Mouse

 

Two years ago we were awakened by a ruckus.  Bones was first, belaying her decrepitude with a mighty leap, fixated on the sill, making a low rumbling moaning noise.  It took me a few seconds to understand I was looking at a huge mouse scurrying upon the bedroom windowsill.

 

The following day, rather than lay out traps and shake it off, I proceeded with a solution of wider scope.  Drain the boiler of a few vertical feet of water, disconnect and move that 2nd floor radiator by the windowsill  [WOW, they’ve sure gotten heavier in just 22 years!], and expose three holes in the 1920s fir floor.

 

When I bought this c.1926 brick end-of-row home In ’99 I ignored the bedroom floor. After carpet tear-out in ’04, it received a quickie sand and seal. Beneath the radiator?  I never moved it.  Layers of pre-war varnish-like paint and a few holes from original pipe penetrations, the floor would remain untouched as it has been since the late 1930s.

 

In the attics of these old brick houses are gaps at joist bays known only to the mice. Along the attics, down lathe bays past protruding plaster, into the floor bays, those mice know all the routes. Their favorite into my house was about to disappear forever.

 

First, the mouse holes. Drill a few diagonal holes into the voids, stuff with precious 0000 steel wool, fill with 2-part putty. And FIN-ally remove layers of paint from those last few un-refinished square feet of flooring.  Old paint has a [i]smell[/i].  Depression Era, wartime rationing?  I’m not sure what was used to thin down the paint.  Water, urea, inorganic salts, creatinine, ammonia, and pigmented products of blood breakdown, no doubt.

 

Refinish the floor under the radiator.  Wow, it looks great now.  But what about the rest?

 

Empty the room of all furniture. Begin screwing loose boards [pilot, counterbore, screw] and putty board shrinkage gaps. - pretty much the entire c.1926 floor. Sand everything - 5” palm sander. Refinish the floor.  Time to paint but first fix the roof; muck and tape around chimney. I hate ladders. Then paint. Ceiling, walls, trim. The ceiling took FOUR coats, the walls three …

 

A fifteen minute job turns into two months.  Now how about a cabinet for the corner . . .

Awesome re-purpose of the cedar wardrobe. Jim. Love your vision to see it converted as well as the cost avoidance purchasing new material.

 

Great story behind the reason for the built in. Sorry to hear though Bones was deprived of entertainment.

I see you are/were a scuba diver!

 

Great workmanship on that cupboard. 

Thanks!    The remaining cedar was converted into smaller items (more to come). That table saw bit the dust but the Craftsman 3.0 was better.  Patience increased with the heart pine.

 

That weight ...  I have a 2.5 lb. weight found along the Florida seashore but the 8# weight, not sure where I got it. The 7# bars were cast from a sailboat keel. Being a plumber of sorts, I grab free lead when it's available.

 

Thinking on my difficulties with the chisel, Gerald's bench comes to mind. Awesome vises. With a decent bench vise I could set a file for squaring my card scrapers for a better burr. Secure work for a better scrape. And move into chisel work. 

Getting the varnish off of the exposed exterior parts (without methylene chloride) was a pain. The two sides, front, and top, were completely stripped before assembly.

 

If you salvage one of these - this was my second - the wardrobe bottom is the best piece. A board of narrow unfinished A-grade slats factory-glued, lying flat for 60-80+ years. Similar to the old red spruce drawer bottoms I harvested from the curb in West Philly.

Great work all around Jim!

9 minutes ago, Gunny said:

[Gunny's saluting emoticon

 That's a heck of a happy salute, Gunny!  I'll post some round vessels next.  One just got tapered to accept a standard small waste bag.  And eventually some of the older instrument repair series will get posted. As long as I'm not reported to the Luthier Legation! 

Great post on the wardrobe save.

 

Actually you can do a card scraper with hand screws or create a flat vise with 2x4 and clamps. With that setup then clamped to a worksurface and you have a vise.

11 hours ago, Gerald said:

With that setup then clamped to a worksurface and you have a vise.

Baby steps. Like reversing with a trailer attached, I'm still wonky with the hand screws. Watching the Lie-Nielsen tool demo guy clamp a file into his bench vise and running the card scraper on all of its right angles, that is what I want to do. The 2x4s have a rounded edge. I'll source a couple of very squarely-cut blocks of hardwood for my card support. There is also the immediacy of action, being able to flip the scraper around in the bench vise. But this morning I used this $10 investment in this older Stanley hand screw clamp while fashioning a uniformity to these Mantle Table legs. THANKS for the suggestion and prodding ... Another curio for my MIL to decorate is born.