Winter Wall Cabinet Wonderland

The almost complete breakfast bar
in use.

I hope youve all had a great holiday. Things have been quiet here at the Penultimate Woodshop (at least the shop has been quiet). My grandiose plans are to finish the breakfast bar and make progress on the workbench while Im home for the Christmas break, but well see how that goes.
No matter what my progress with the counter & bench, I know what Ill be working on in January: The Wood Whisperer Winter 2011 Guild Build. I was lucky enough to participate in the inaugural Guild build, The Shaker Table. I skipped the Chest of Drawers (too little time and no need) but Ill be back with a vengeance for the Hanging Wall Cabinet. I think Im going to bastardize mine into a tool cabinet, but well see how that goes.

The Winter Guild Build.

In the mean time, I cant say this strongly enough. You must join the Wood Whisperer Guild.
Marc is not paying me to say that, but I wouldnt be yelling it any louder if he was. So go join if you havent already. While the builds are reason enough, there are many more reasons to join. Marc has gone through pains to list them all on his Join the Guild page and hes done a good job at chronicling all but one of them. Hes missing my new favorite reason: youll also get to be a Brown Shirt at Woodworking in America (if you dont know, then dont ask. Hint: were not Fascists).
So go join. Then wrap up whatevers going on in your woodshop and get yourself ready. Its going to be a winter wall cabinet wonderland.
Oh, also I was wondering what projects have you bastardized to suit your needs / tastes?
Now go!

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The Wall

Its not a Pink Floyd project, but it is a wall for sure ... about 18 long and 8 high ... A couple little pieces and a touch up on the paint were all set ... This ones been going on for a while and at the end of the day yesterday, the shop seemed quite a bit bigger than it has for the past couple of weeks .... Ron and Jackie and Buddy (see the previous post) were on hand to pass out the beer at the end of the day ... Weve been working with them off and on since 1983 ... Well go back in and finish it up today .... It was a total room transformer ... Click the photos to enlarge them ....
This was a discussion drawing that shows the basic elements but not all the details. Some of the proportions and measurements changed after we got to this point, but rather than spend more time drawing went from here to full size layout sticks that we made on site. We have done all these elements in other pieces before so everyone is already familiar with the basics and detailed drawings werent necessary.
Taking shape in the shop ...
We managed to set it up temporarily in the shop to check everything and cut the crown molding in the shop .... If youre not a carpenter, on site crown work is a total pain .... We had to rent a 14 U-Hual, which was an incredibly good deal at $67. It all fit in there with space left over ...
Getting close ... Will and Jim attach the last piece of the shelves ...
Since the fireplace is 99% decorative, I made a few sketches for a fireplace screen that Sam will construct later .... Beutiful day ... Lake Paran Bluegrass Festival starts tonight and Wills band will be closing the show ... Set up for yet another Guild furniture show tomorrow ...
The power of paint .... heres a before shot early in the design process ...

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The Bastard Wall Cabinet for tools!

The Wood Whisperer Guild Winter Build is upon us, and for those of you new to the site, Ill be participating as loudly as I can. Rather than go Marcs suggested route of a fancy, nice piece of furniture to hang in the house and proudly display, Im opting to make a utilitarian, sheet good tool cabinet. Call it my Bastard Wall Cabinet.
When a wall cabinet was first suggested as the next Guild build I knew I would turn mine into a tool cabinet. Yet, it wasnt until this passed weekend that I gave it any serious thought (and truth be told, I wouldnt even have thought about it yet, had it not been for Adam Kings egging me on to share it). As I suspect that Im not the only woodworker in need of a tool cabinet I invite all my fellow Guildites to bastardize their cabinets too. Ill share mine as frequently as I can, but let this serve as a warning: Im not Marc & Im not trying to co-opt his build. If youre turning your Guild cabinet into a tool cabinet, its best you follow along with him and modify the Guild design as necessary to suit your particular needs (Im guessing Im the only one who need the final cabinet to be exactly 17 3/4" deep).

The original bastard.

My DesignThe first design parameter I have to meet is the size of my current sliding storage cabinet. As the tool cabinet will hang on the wall immediately next to the sliding storage cabinet and I plan to build more cabinets to hang next to the tool cabinet, I want the tool cabinet to match the height (27-3/4") and depth (17-3/4" + French cleat) of the existing slide out cabinet. Since the cabinets will hang immediately against one another, Im also forced to design doors which will open and swing without requiring any side clearance.
Understanding those parameters, I watched Marcs previous Guild video on the design of his tool cabinet. I was intrigued with the idea of storing the planes on their side. I went as far as to create a SketchUp using that storage method late Sunday night. As you can see, storing the planes on their side would be great if I could make the cabinet shallower than 17-3/4", but in my case it left a plenum of dead space behind. My first thought was to make the front portion of the cabinet pull out to reveal the plenum. After a good nights sleep and lots of consideration (and a helpful email exchange with Marc) I decided to scrap my first design. Making it pull out would not only be overly complicated, the clearance required for the slides and exterior frame would dramatically reduce the size and utility of the plenum they would be revealing.

The right side of the new bastard.

My next source of ideas was an article entitled "Tool-Cabinet Design" by Chris Becksvoort from the 2001 edition of Fine Woodworking Tools & Shops (its a members only article). In the article Becksvoort arranges his planes vertically on an inclined shelf that hinges up to reveal storage space behind it. I thought this would be a better and easier choice to use my 17-3/4" depth and developed my second design.
One element that has stayed the same are the doors, with 3" deep recesses behind them. After seeing The Village Carpenters shop, I plan to copy Kari and make removable racks for my chisels which will fit in the 3" deep recesses.
Thats about as far as Ive come with the design so far. Ill keep the blog updated as it evolves.
Whos inspired your tool cabinet design?

The left side of the bastard.

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Whats A Bastard Wall Cabinet Without More Shelves

The plane shelf Ive built into the Bastard Tool Cabinet is designed to fit my bench planes. Since Ive already got a few specialty planes (shoulder and router) and Im sure that I will acquire more, I made the plane shelf lift on a hinge. In the triangle shaped plenum behind the plane shelf Ive mounted two standard, horizontally installed shelves.

The Shelf Pieces Test Fit.

In order to install the shelves behind the plan shelf, I began by resting the semi-assembled cabinet on its back. I then took two cutoffs of 3/4" Baltic Birch plywood I had left over from cutting the carcass components and slid them under the plane shelf. I positioned each one as high as I could, given the clearance behind the plane shelf, and took a look. As my dumb luck would have it, the cutoff pieces ended up being just the right width. I made a pencil mark under the edge of each shelf and pulled them out.

Squaring the fence for the Domino.

Next I flipped the plane shelf out of the choice and using my Woodpecker 12" try square, I extended the shelf marks perpendicular to the carcass side. I cut the shelves to length and began Dominoing.
In order to reference the Dominos in the back of the carcass, I clamped in a temporary fence along the bottom edge of the shelf positions. I referenced the bottom of the Domino machine against this fence and used the retracting pins in the face of the machine to determine the Domino frequency.

Dominoing the shelf ends.
The notes will hopefully prevent
me from screwing the matching
Dominoes in the carcass side.

In order to Domino the shelves, I clamped them flat to a piece of OSB and referenced the back of the Domino machine against the OSB sheet. Even though I havent begun to Domino the side pieces (or the top, back or bottom of the carcass for the side pieces) I decided that Dominoing the ends of the shelves to attach them to the side piece would be too difficult after they were installed. In order to pre-Domino the shelf ends I again clamped the shelves to a piece of OSB which I referenced off of. In order to account for the fact that when I Domino the side it will be referenced from the back of the cabinet I used a 3/4" Baltic Birch spacer to set the location of the first Domino in the drawer ends.

Clamping the shelf.

When the Dominoing was finally complete I glued in the shelves one at a time. I squared the shelf using my Woodpecker Clamping Squares and because the shelves only run the 16" width of the plan shelf, rather than the full with of the cabinet carcass, I used a rather oversized piece of TimberStrand as a caul so that I could ensure clamping pressure at the inside edge of the shelves.

Arent Dominoes pretty?

With the two shelves installed behind the plane shelf, my planned interior organization is done (Ill figure out the rest after the fact). Now its on to finish assembling the carcass.
Do you remember to install hard to reach interior components when you should, or do you fight them into a finished carcass?
Other Bastard Wall Cabinet Posts
Winter Wall Cabinet Wonderland
The Bastard Wall Cabinet (for tools!)
Trudging Towards Tool Storage
Cutting the Cabinet Carcass (in relative terms)
A Home For My Planes
Continued Wall Cabinet Assembly

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Continued Wall Cabinet Assembly

The divided
plane shelf.

Last we spoke of the wall hanging tool cabinet (the bastard tool cabinet) I had just assembled the dividers on the plane shelf.
Once the plane shelf was ready, I moved back to the cabinet carcass. I assembled the bottom and the back in order to begin with the carcass components which would support the plane shelf.
After the bottom & back were glued up I installed two (2) spacer blocks on the bottom. The plane shelf will land on these spacer blocks. The gap between them provides a place for me to grab under the plane shelf so that I can lift it.

The Spacer Blocks, about to be glued on.

When the spacer blocks had dried, I laid the bottom/back assembly on its side and dry fit the plane shelf. This allowed me to mark where the top of the plane shelf hits the back of the cabinet. At that point of intersection, I installed another spacer block. This spacer block is to allow clearance for the plane shelf hinge and let me lift it passed horizontal. When installing the spacer block for the hinge, I took a good face-to-face joint that would have been fine with just glue, and put nine (9) Dominos in it. The Domino is such a handy machine I find that I just cant put it down.

Yeah, the hinge spacer doesnt need any Dominos.

As soon as the hinge spacer glue was dry, I set about installing the plane shelf. The plane shelf is about 18" wide and I used a 12" piano hinge, so I centered the hinge on both the plane shelf and the spacer block. The hinge was easy to install on the plane shelf, as I used the barrel to reference it off the edge. Attaching it to the spacer block was not as easy. I struggled to keep the hinge properly aligned and square. On assembly I find that its close enough to square for use, but not perfect.

The plane shelf is screwed to the hing spacer via a 12" piano hinge.
Installing the hinge before the carcass top made it easier to set the
plane shelf.

Now my planes have a home. Next Ill work to install the shelves below the plane shelf and then on to attach the carcass top and sides.

The plane shelf installed, and in action.

How is your Winter Guild Build coming?
Other Bastard Wall Cabinet Posts
Winter Wall Cabinet Wonderland
The Bastard Wall Cabinet (for tools!)
Trudging Towards Tool Storage
Cutting the Cabinet Carcass (in relative terms)
A Home For My Planes

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Wagathas Organic Vermont Made Dog Biscuits

Weve got a new client were working with, Wagathas Vermont Baked Organic Dog Biscuits, extraordinary biscuits for dogs. ... I toured the factory in Manchester earlier this week and learned that they make and ship approximately 100,000 food grade dog biscuits a day. Dogs love em. Right here in town .... Who knew? ... Anychoice, after they saw our display racks that we made for Vew-Do Balance Boards, they contacted us to develop new racks for their dog biscuits. We built the prototype for their bags last week and yesterday Trevor did some work on the first prototype for the bulk display ... We need to work the graphics in still, but retail display work seems to be presenting an interesting new field of possibilities for us.
Arm waving to develop a concept for the bulk rack
Jim, presenting the first prototype ... weve still got some work to do but the concept seems viable ... More later ....

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