Slow slogging kitchen cabinets

[D_W]

I can never work maple always tearout, any tips would be grateful thanks

Look up any tutorial online for setting the cap iron close. I think the English woodworker has a nice video tutorial on YouTube. Should make planing most maple pretty easy.

Thanks for that much better results today

A great technique to use on every inexpensive plane that has a cap iron on it, and one that will serve you an awful lot in woodworking by helping to avoid disasters on near finished surfaces.

 

[D_W]

Nice work gents! Chippy I like the style of that kitchen quite a bit.

David, coming along beautifully, and you're certain to have the only kitchen with hand cut dovetailed drawers in the area.

My major gripe with stone counters are those awful round-overs, when I do my kitchen, if I'm restricted to keeping our current granite counters, which is likely, I will bring them to a fabricator and have them cut back to zero overhang, squared off and just very light 1/4" round-overs on the top edge.

I'd rather architectural soap stone counter. If/when I do the bathrooms I will use soap stone, since we currently have some plastic rubbish that no one will shed a tear over when I saw into pieces and put it on the curb.

100% agree on the counter tops. I guess they might not be better for kids' heads if they are cut sharp like that, but they'd sure look a lot better than they do rounded.

 

[Corneel]

Here is my kitchen I finished in 2012. It took me 2 years (!) to build, but it was treated more like a furniture project and I fussed like usual.

Anyway, it was a fun project. Style is somewhere in between shaker and those modern ones. I copied an Italian design and used maple for the doors and drawer fronts and plywood for the cabinets. The countertops are some kind of composite that looks like Belgian blue stone, but isn't as vulnerable. Edges minimally rounded over, and just enough overhang to cover the handles. The handles are made by a friendly collegue who is an ace welder.

 

[Corneel]

BTW, my drawers are dovetailed by hand too

 

[Racers]

My kitchen has birch ply doors with chamfered edges and the handles are 35mm chamfered holes with oak worktops.

Pete

 

[custard]

BTW, my drawers are dovetailed by hand too

I used ply drawer boxes with false fronts banged together with 4mm Dominos.

Horses for courses, besides which it'll all be ripped out in twenty years time.

 

[DTR]

Nice kitchens =D>

I'm dreading doing ours :roll:

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Hi Kees

I was thinking about your kitchen yesterday, and about to shout out to you for a showing. Well done!

Can you say a bit about its construction, and what tools you used?

Regards from Perth

Derek (who completed the 16th door today)

 

[Corneel]

If you can read Dutch, you can read the early years my blog on http://seekelot.blogspot.nl/
But just looking at the pictures might be helfpfull too.

I made the doors and drawer fronts first. Classic panel and frame construction with mortise and tenon joints. The panels are glued up panels with a narrow strip of wallnut in between the wider (soft)maple strips.

The drawers are dovetailed boxes, the drawer fronts are applied to these. The drawers are gliding on Blum hardware. The top cabinets have quite elaborate Blum hinges so they swivel upwards, and close smoothly.

The cabinets are simple plywood boxes, euro style, not face frame. I used cookies to make them with the backpanels about 3/8" thick in a groove. That gives the boxes a lot of extra stability compared to the usual commercial cabinet with nailed on chipboard in the back.

For tools I have a simple contractors saw, a very cheap planer/thicknesser combination and a drill press. In adittion the usual handtools. My love for handtools rised rapidly during that project, but I wouldn't have liked to do it all without some help from the powertools.

 

[BHolcombe]

Kees, that kitchen is beautifully done and I like the style.

I may have a kitchen project coming up, with a bit of free reign WRT my design decisions, so if I get the job I'll likely blog about it. I'll probably build it by stacking;

Plinth on floor, frame above which supports plywood uprights, frame on top to tie together and stone counter.

Upper cabinets will just be my usually furniture type with miter dovetail edges and sliding doors.

Since it is a job and can't take so long (a few months perhaps) I'll likely buy a Jointer/planer machine for it, then finish the sticks by hand plane.

 

[miguelgarbutt]

Hi chippy1970, really beautiful.

 

[swagman]

DW; have you given much thought into how your going to secure your draw slides.

https://s24.postimg.org/aely2nkth/P1100022.jpg

 

[D_W]

Much thought? Not really, it's not that kind of job.

Just side mount ball bearing slides. I would like to have skipped them, but my wife demanded them, and it's one of those things that I'm not about to pick an argument over.

https://s7.postimg.org/kun1of5tn/P1100045.jpg