Aligning Drawer Fronts

Continuing my kitchen cabinet project, I've just finished the middle cabinet section which hold three containers for trash and recycles. There are two drawers on the top of the cabinet. In this posting, I will describe aligning drawer fronts to achieve a minimal gap. On the left is the completed center section of the cabinet. Additional cupboards and will be attached on both sides using sliding dovetails.

For the drawer runners, I wanted to use some inexpensive Blum rails that I had purchased but never used. The drawer front needed to be inset in the cabinet frame but the Blum instructions didn't show this.  By recessing the rail by the thickness of the drawer front into the cabinet, I was able to accomplish the look I wanted.

The challenge is mounting the drawer front to the drawer with a uniform gap around the drawer. The two screws of the drawer handles hold the oak face to the drawer. I use playing cards as shims to create the required gap around the door. Playing cards are remarkably consistent and accurate. Six cards is very close to ¹/₁₆". I first drill two holes for mounting the handle and then use the cards to center the front in the frame (right). Then, I use the holes to align drilling two holes into the drawer.

Only drill a shallow hole just for alignment purposes. Clamp a scrape piece of wood inside the drawer to prevent blow out from occuring and then finishing drill the holes all the way through. 
Next, I will install this section in the kitchen and then construct and install the cupboards.

Sliding Dovetail Update

For my kitchen cabinet project, I wanted to use a modular approach to installing cabinets. Typically each cabinet is standalone, and are bolted together as they are installed. This means that between the cabinets are two walls, the right side of the cabinet on the left and the left side of the cabinet on the right. In furniture cabinets, only one wall would be used. I'm using sliding dovetails to allow cabinets to be interconnected while sharing a common wall.

The final cabinet will consist of five interconnected cabinets. The center cabinet shown below will hide trash and recycle containers on a pull out shelf. I plan to install this cabinet into the kitchen and then connect additional cabinets by sliding their walls into the corners of the installed cabinet.

  

The jig that I described in my sliding dovetail blog entry is working well. The cabinet sides are square and secure and if I need to use my router table for something else, the jig allows me to replicate the precise positions necessary to duplicate a cut.

Mission Style Finishing

Quarter-sawn white oak veneer purchased from Certainly Wood is used on most of the exposed wood surfaces. The panel frames on the pull out drawer face were made from recycled oak flooring. To have a 1" wide frame, I've ripped and glued together two flooring pieces. A white oak veneer hides the glue seam. To strengthen this frame, I've inserted dowels (shown on the left) and then to hide them, I applied another piece of veneer (shown on right).

Since this blog is oriented to wood finishing, I wanted to discuss my revised Mission Style finishing treatment.
I do a lot of Mission Style finishing and have some recipes on my blog. Here are my NEW easiest steps, with most products available from your local big box store.

1. Sand the wood surface to 150 grit.
2. Use a very diluted water-based dye stain. It should look like a weak tea. This dye colors the wood but allows the rays and flakes to still be visible. Spray the dye if possible, otherwise flood the surface. For the dye, I use TransTint. It's in the jar on the left in this picture.
3. Let the dye dry thoroughly and then spray with an unwaxed shellac (Bulls Eye, next to the dye in the picture). This protects the dye from subsequent steps.
4. I use Minwax Gel Stain to highlight the grain and figure in the wood (third from the left). I mixed one part Mahogany to four parts Antique Maple to get the color I wanted. After a minute or so, wipe the stain off across the grain. This leaves stain in the grain.
5. This is important, let the stain completely dry overnight. And because it is still cold in my garage, I can't use a water-based finish. I sprayed four coats of satin lacquer from Deft for the finish. Each coat will magnify the wood patterns.

 The major new techniques in this project have been Sketchup and sliding dovetail joints. So far, I'm happy with both.

Mission Style End Table with Marble, Finished

I just completed the end table and change the embedded stone from slate to marble. The slate was too bumpy and heavy for a table top and it even showed minor scratches. Marble isn't my favorite but I can get attractive 12" x 18" tiles for $8. The top is constructed from quarter-sawn white oak veneered on red oak. Red oak is readily available from my local Lowes store. After staining, you can't tell the difference in the species of oak.

Here is a view from the top showing the final construction of the curved sides. I was worried that they might flex easily but that has not been the case. It's easy to miss that they are curved. I think this is a design issue because there isn't anything straight to highlight the curve. Perhaps it would have helped if the sides were flush to the curved top.

Finishing only took two days. The first day to apply gel stain to emphasize the grain. The following day I lightly sanded the oak leaving the stain in the grain, and then sprayed it with a brown water-based dye. After it dried, I used a spray can of Deft satin lacquer to finish the project.

Mission Style End Table with Slate, Part 3

Here is an update on the end table project. The complex part are the curved sides which bow out slightly from each side to match the curve of the top. The picture at right shows the bottom of the table with a coat of gel stain that fills the grain of the oak. I'm following my Mission Style finish recipe that I blogged about earlier. After the stain dries, I'll sand it and then spray a brown dye.

Economy and Reduced Complexity

Using solid quarter-sawn white oak would have been costly and showing flake on all four sides of the legs would have been difficult. This project almost entirely uses veneer. The core of the legs is ¾" plywood with ¼" MDF sandwiched between them. Quarter-sawn white oak veneer is glued to all four sides.

Enabling the Curved Sides

To create the bowed sides, I've cut a 15° slot into the sides of the legs. I don't want the curve all the way to the floor, so the challenge is only having the slot partially down the leg. Veneer allows me to cover the slot on bottom part of the leg. I sawed the slot the entire length of the leg, then filled the slot with filler where it wasn't required. Veneer was glued over the top and I exposed the slot again with a small diameter router bit on my router table.

Mission Style End Table with Slate, Part 2

Here is the table top with the slate installed. I sprayed it with Deft Clear Wood Finish, a lacquer finish with a satin sheen. Both the wood and the slate were sprayed. The lacquer added more amber color to the top making it a bit darker than I wanted. I'm starting to have reservations about using slate. The finish highlights any scratches and the surface is too bumpy. I plan to attach the top with screws so I can change it later if I get motivated.

I want to have an enclosed shelf underneath the top to store books and other stuff. To make it challenging, I'm trying to have curved sides to match the curve in the top. I've never tried bending wood before because it looked pretty involved. I wanted to see whether I could just veneer quarter-sawn oak to ⅛" MDF and bend it to the curve I needed.
To experiment, I've cut 15° angle slots into what would be the table legs. I've screwed a board to the legs and wedged a narrow board under the MDF at the peak of the curve. I was worried that the curved veneer would flex when pushed, but it's very stiff. This may work!

Mission Style End Table with Slate, Part 1

I've wanted to integrate slate with wood and thought I'd share my progress on an end table that I've just started. I had a piece of plain sawn oak that I want to make more interesting. I glued quarter-sawn white oak veneer to it to make the top more interesting. I plan to apply the Mission Style finish that I described in an earlier posting.

Here is what it looks like after applying Mahogany gel stain. Notice that the grain pattern is now more visible because the pigment gets lodged into the pores. I'm going to let it dry over night and then sand off any stain on the wood surface while leaving the stain in the grain to accentuate the pattern.

After I sanded the stain with 220 grit, I sprayed on a brown water-based dye. To protect the dye from subsequent operations, I then sprayed with Bulls Eye Shellac. Now I'm ready to glue the plywood bottom for the slate and then insert the tile into the tabletop.

Mission Style Finish Recipe

My computer desk

I'm really attracted to the Mission Style finish. The character of the wood is really highlighted by this stain treatment. I use quarter-sawn white oak, the traditional wood used in mission style furniture. Cutting wood quarter-sawn reveals an immense pattern of rays and flakes in oak. Their undulating pattern is accentuated by a pigment stain. An additional dye stain gives the wood your desired shade of brown. Traditionally, staining the wood was performed by exposing it to strong ammonia fumes. I tried this once and became the least favorite member of the family.

Over many years, I have created a multiple step process that works reliably. As I have said in previous posts, I tend to use veneer. It is much more affordable and available than solid wood. I purchase my veneer online from Certainly Wood.

Here are the steps and an explanation of why are done.

1. Sand the wood surface until you reach 180 grit. There is no reason to go finer.
2. The pattern in the wood is highlighted by creating contrast between the grain and the wood surface. I use a Mahogany colored Minwax Gel Stain to embed a dark pigment in the grain. Use a disposable glove and spread clumps of stain on the wood. Almost immediately, take paper towels and remove the excess stain on the wood surface by wiping across the grain. This leaves the pigment in the grain and leaves the wood surface almost the same color as what you started with.
3. Let the gel stain dry for 8 hours or until it's solvent can't be smelled.
4. Preferably using an orbital sander, use 220 grit sandpaper to remove the stain color from the wood surface. The pigment stain will remain in the grain which is below the surface. You want to color the surface with the water-based dye stain. I like to use Homestead's TransTint. They have many brown shades located here.
5. Apply a dye stain either by spraying or wiping it on the surface. Spraying is faster but I've wiped it on for many years. I pore a little on and spread it lightly with a 3M maroon colored Scotch-brite pad. You want the get the surface universally wet with thin film of dye. Let the dye dry without wiping it off. This will give it a uniform appearance, as long as you didn't leave puddles of dye liquid on the wood.
6. The dye usually drys within a hour. Spray it with Bulls Eye Clear Shellac to protect the dye from later steps.
7. After the shellac drys (usually in minutes), feel the surface for smoothness. Sometimes the water in the dye will raise the wood fibers. Lightly sand them off using a maroon pad. Don't bare down which may remove the stain.
8. Now you are ready for a finish to protect the wood and the stain. The shellac you applied will protect the stains from most finish treatments. I like to use a water-based satin finish. The satin sheen lowers any glare from light reflecting from the wood surface which obscures the grain. I use Minwax Polycrylic Satin Finish. I'll spray Polycrylic deluded 10% with distilled water. Deluding it makes it easier to spray. Let it dry for several hours and feel if the surface is smooth. If so, spray it one more time and you are done. If its a little rough, wait overnight and sand the surface lightly with 220 grit sandpaper, just enough to remove the rough spots. Spray it again, and then you are done.

I'm sure this seems like many steps but the end product is worth the effort.