Cabinet making

Coffee table. Plywood and backer board base. Redwood edging.

Learnings.

• Design drawings are made to be consulted.
• 779 tiles is not a lot.
• Should one be interested in obtaining a table of an improved design and execution, please get in touch with me.

Kitchen cabinets. Carcass: plywood, doors and drawers: pine, worktop: oak.

Learnings.

• Gray paint is not always as light as advertised. Tester pots were inveted for a reason.
• It is worth spending time on truing timber.

Mould for shower tray. Plywood, screws.

Learnings.

• Try to envisage the final product in use when designing the woodwork.
• Pause and think through the following steps critically.
• 70 kgs of concrete is a lot.

Office desk. Screws, dowels, glue.

Learnings.

• Try new techniques out on bits of scrap wood.
• 36 metres of studs is a lot.
• Future learning: buying second hand furniture saves time and the planet.

Bookshelves with boxes.

Learnings.

• See below!

Bookshelves with boxes.

Learnings.

• See below!

Bookshelves. Fixed by dowels (shelves) and screws (feet)

Learnings.

• Keep all components as symmetric as possible all the way.
• Again, fractions of milimetre inaccuracies will result in a larger misalignment eventually.
• Future learning: holding the camera properly.

Bookshelves. Fixed by dowels only.

Learnings.

• Make sure that the shelves fit in the frame before assembly.
• Do not be afraid to dowel planks together to fashion out shelves.

Bookshelves. Fixed by dowels (shelves) and screws (feet).

Learnings.

• Sanding makes a substantial difference to the surfaces.
• Always set and try the router depth on a pieace of scrap wood before moving to the main object

Boxes/stools. Held together by screws.

Learnings.

• Sometimes it is worth, discarding parts of the project and restart. In this case, the slats needed to be redone.
• It is not possible to overestimate the number of scews required.

Boxes/stools. Held together by screws.

Learnings.

• It is worth spending some extra time on setting the angles right.
• Measure twice with a few minutes apart, then cut.

Clothes rack. The studs are joined by dowels.

Learnings.

• Ensure that the dowel holes are perpendicular to the face of the stud with less than one degree tolerance.
• Make sure, if using dowel pins, that the appropriate studs are pressed together.
• Rubber mallet is your friend.

Clothes rack. Detail.

Learnings.

• 160 metres of twine is a lot.

Cabinet for gas meter. Timber is fixed by wood screws.

Learnings.

• Never assume that the walls are vertical or parallel.
• Ensure that the blade of the mitre saw is perpendicular to the surface to be cut. Even a degree of deviation results in several milimetres of mismatch between the opposing joining ends.

Cabinet with glass doors. Timber is fixed by wood screws.

Learnings.

• Buy good quality wood which is barely wet to avoid warping.
• Only sand the part numbers off after assebly.