Alcove Advice

[Bigbud78]

After some more advice, its a bit rambley sorry :lol:

Wife has seen some alcove units and shelves and has put an order in :roll: We're due to decorate the room anyway so I thought I'd give it a go.

Photo of said cove - https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/986 ... .23.56.jpg

We have a lot of pine currently so was thinking of something similar to this,

I was going to make the shelves with softwood battens and finished in MDF but I was wondering if I could light them ? Has anyone got an example and suggestion for light type ? Led strips at the back so it shines up and down or just down lit ?

For the units (both sides of breast) I was going to make Pine Tops and use MR MDF for the units, I've never really used MDF before so was tempted with pine but it would be pine overload :lol:

Shaker doors I was going to laminate but I'm a bit unsure of the best way to do the actually cupboard, should I buy a biscuit jointer ? has anyone got a suggestion on the best way to build up the units (I have looked on forum but have seen anything obvious)

Any help or suggestions gratefully received.

 

[Adam9453]

Building cupboards is pretty straightforward and if using MRMDF you could get away with butt joints, good glue and confirmat screws.
Or you could splash out on a domino :twisted:
Just make sure to elongate your fixing holes through the MRMDF for the pine top.

 

[Bigbud78]

I think looking I've got to decide on an inset or overlay door ? and go from there.

Just looked at the price of the domino xD not a chance lol Might buy a router attachment for biscuits

 

[Mr T]

Dominos would be overkill. Nothing wrong with biscuiting it. Routing for biscuits is a bit of a phaff. You can get a Makita biscuit jointer for under £200.

Chris

 

[Adam9453]

Dominos would be overkill.

Chris

Don't let the festool gods hear you say that, we'll end up with trump getting elected president of america, oh wait!!
even biscuits aren't really necessary for this job though, rub joints will be fine

 

[mikefab]

I'd suggest screwing the carcasses together as it is quick and cheap with entirely adequate strength. I quite like the Spax MDF screws as they don't split it when driven into the edge. Shaker doors can be made from 22 and 6mm MDF. Plenty of examples of this on the forum. I have done a thread on fitted bedroom furniture which shows a shaker door prior to glue up. You just need a router to groove the inside edge of the stiles and 3 edges of the rails and then use some little bits of 6mm MDF as loose tenons.
I wouldn't say there is any need for a biscuit jointer if you don't want one.

Hope this helps

Mike

 

[Mr T]

Biscuits just make life easier. It's not a strength issue they help with alignment of components to maintain accuracy.

They are great for aligning edge joints so you don't have to spend so much time cleaning up. You'll be edge jointing the top.

Chris