Final Project Day 2

So, day two was actually yesterday. Whoops! Oh well. It was a productive day. I spent the first part cutting the 3/4" plywood to make the body of the cabinet. At some point between submitting my Sketchup model and when I first started making calculations, I switched from having the back piece smaller, allowing it to fit inside the cabinet, to having it span the entire back of the cabinet as part of the outside. Needless to say, this changed the cabinet a bit. With the larger measurement, it was impossible to cut out the right size piece and rip the 3/4" plywood in half. So instead of using plywood for the back, I ended up using luan. The only other problem arose when I was cutting the grooves for the shelves. After cutting 16, I realized the top shelf would be smaller than had been originally planned but, since I was so far along and the selves are able to pull out, I had to make do.

After I had cut out all of the pieces and cut all 18 dados in both side pieces of 3/4" plywood, I drilled pocket holes in the top and bottom pieces (after marking the appropriate locations of course!) With pocket screws and a drill gun in hand, I quickly screwed the pieces together with the help of a bar clamp and another clamp to help hold the pieces flush.

Next, I cut and attached the luan to the back. I had to first measure the perimeter of the cabinet to ensure the correct measurements but even after cutting, the luan was not a perfect fit due to bending in the plywood. To cope with this, I used a spare piece of plywood to push the center out since it was bending inwards and slowly attached the luan using wood glue and 1" staples, ensuring each side was flush. This meant I had to pause every once in a while to push or pull the plywood to fit where it needed to.

Finally, I cut and attached some of the scrap 3/4" plywood to the bottom with wood glue and 1 1/2" staples to allow for the castors to have more to grip. Once the plywood was in place, I attached the castors with 1/4" x 1" hex screws. The last thing I did was roll the cabinet frame backstage and place the large cutting board on top of its new home.

*Halfway through. Am I done yet?

Frame built! 

Look at that beauty!