So our church has decided to convert a small room into a Nursing Room for new moms. room is about 14x10, with a small alcove of 28"x72". They could not find a set of cabinets suitable for their tastes that would fit into that space and had a changing table on it.

ring ring.

hello.

we talk, i measure, i sketch and plan....uh huh, trash can (how about a double pull out trash can?, with drawer above?), mini fridge (it would turn out later that the one they have in mind will just nicely fit under the counter top, no cabinet for that one needed).....counter top, you plan on changing the door to the room...oooooh, that solid maple door could be cut down and make a dandy, and free, counter top, with some solid maple edging.....ok, sounding good.....hmmm....storage shelves above the countertop, how about one vertical cabinet each side, 48" high, some adjustable shelves, say 16" wide? we still have vertical room left, room is 10 feet to the ceiling, how about three 30" high cabinets, each with 2 lazy susans and double doors for storage of things you might need next week? the shelves will be 12" deep, the lazy susan cabinets will be 24" deep and over hang the countertop, providing an excellent place for a built in light (LEDs is what the electrician has in hand, sounds good to me).

so 6 cabinets total, should consume 8 sheets of pre-finished maple plywood and a mess of edge banding (did i mention how boring gluing that on is? really boring).

today was day 1 of building, i did get some pieces cut last week (we'll call that day 0), so today included shelf pin holes, pocket screw holes, edge banding, and some assembly. more another day.

frames for the shelving, to rest on the counter top. do backs and shelves another day.

Good on you, Doug!

1 hour ago, lew said:

Good on you, Doug!

+1. Keep posting the progress.

Looks really good. Thanks for sharing all the progress pictures. Question on using the pre-finished plywood: do you opt to not use glue when joining the parts, or do you sand off or remove the finish at the edge? I really like the idea of pre-finished, but I typically add glue along with whatever fastener (not sure if that's always "necessary" or more of a "just for added insurance"🤔).

13 hours ago, BB1 said:

Looks really good. Thanks for sharing all the progress pictures. Question on using the pre-finished plywood: do you opt to not use glue when joining the parts, or do you sand off or remove the finish at the edge? I really like the idea of pre-finished, but I typically add glue along with whatever fastener (not sure if that's always "necessary" or more of a "just for added insurance"🤔).

just pocket screws are sufficient.

i built our kitchen cabinets the same way 14 years ago. they are still doing fine, even the drawers.

4 hours ago, DAB said:

just pocket screws are sufficient.

My mind says I agree and then my heart says, maybe a little glue too. 🤷‍♀️🤣🤣🤣

Joking aside, I do appreciate the insight on the longevity. With cabinets attached to a wall, or even to other cabinets, there is likely little worry of stress/racking on the joints. Thinking of other scenarios, a mobile cart box/case might benefit from "extra" glue support although even that would need to factor in the thickness and quality of the plywood (i.e., whether the plywood is riddled with voids or is higher quality).

Again- thank you for the added info and for sharing the build. Very helpful as I'm working through the steps on a miter saw station with storage.

got the side cabinets finished up, added backs, cut and edge banded 10 shelves (5 each allowed), and then did some more banding on parts for the next set of cabinets that go over these. tired, so called it a day, more tomorrow, - more banding, assembly, and making the backs for the next 3 cabs.

in this case, the tops and bottoms have the pocket screws, the sides carry the full load from above downward.

Coming along nicely DAB.

today's fun included assembling the upper cabinets, installing their backs, cutting the shelves (which will hold lazy susans), and cutting blanks for the lazy susans. that's enough for me for today. more tomorrow. cutting the circles is the easy part, banding them is what sucks.

and the double pull out trash can assembly arrived (thanks to Rev-A-Shelf and Rockler for having this available, i still paid for it, $180).

the lines on the circle blanks will come in very handy when it is time to attach the hardware. and they'll be on the underside, so never seen again.

Edited March 11Mar 11 by DAB

2 hours ago, DAB said:

that's enough for me for today

Looks like you accomplished a lot!

Did you go with a 3/4 plywood for the back too?

2 minutes ago, BB1 said:

Looks like you accomplished a lot!

Did you go with a 3/4 plywood for the back too?

yes. normally would use 1/4" for the backs, but then i'd still need to make support stringers for the back, so i would have something to screw/bolt thru to the wall. for this, it seemed easiest to just do 3/4" backs attached with more pockets screws. inside depth is not critical. frames are cut to 23-3/4" depth, lose 3/4" to the back, and you have a net of 23" inside depth.

ok, quiz time, why would i cut the frames to 23-3/4" and not a full 24"?

55 minutes ago, DAB said:

quiz time, why would i cut the frames to 23-3/4" and not a full 24"?

Max yield from the plywood 🤔 cut the 48 in "half" but need to account for kerf and clean up the edge.

26 minutes ago, BB1 said:

  1 hour ago, DAB said:

quiz time, why would i cut the frames to 23-3/4" and not a full 24"?

Max yield from the plywood 🤔 cut the 48 in "half" but need to account for kerf and clean up the edge.

Or...4 sections in the opposite direction (same issue with loss of the kerf and typical need to clean the edge).

10 points to BB1

57 minutes ago, DAB said:

10 points to BB1

Is there a prize?? 😉

2 hours ago, BB1 said:

Is there a prize?? 😉

A free ride in the corporate jet!

I was thinking the prize was probably a stale doughnut from someone's stash...if there are any left.

She deserves a prize She had that answer a lot quicker than I could have

got busy yesterday, didn't get a chance to post, so here's the update.

got all the circles cut, 6, as i'm putting #5 down on the stack, i hear an odd noise from the bandsaw, turn around.....crud, blade broke.....one more to cut.

thankfully, had a spare of the same size in hand, installed that, got the last one cut. phew.

then go to start fitting up the lazy susan hardware, and discover i'm low on screws....another unplanned trip to homey depot. while i'm at it, may as well stock up on other screws and toggle bolts for later securing the cabinets to the walls (metal framing, no way i'll ever find a stud). and then i ran out of time.

shot of a circle being cut on the bandsaw with my jib, and a shot of the alcove all this is going into. they still need to install the flooring and paint the walls some shade of white-ish.

Steady as she goes. At least you're making daily gains.