building a new kitchen

[mrFinpgh]

As some of you are aware, I'm building a kitchen in what was once my dining room.  This is a lot of firsts for me - my first house, my first full set of cabinets, my first time making use of the LR-32, etc.  Never lacking for hubris, I'm also attempting to make the cabinets mostly in the same 15 x 13 room that I'm working in. 

Perhaps the most complex piece of the remodel is that I'm building what amounts to an 8' x 8' wall of cabinets consisting of stacked frameless boxes, with a middle section that will be open shelving with a face frame.  It isn't that it is actually complex, but the clearances are a challenge.

Here is the fireplace that had brick hard enough to break a number of bosch bits:
View attachment 3

And a section of flooring that needed to go:

View attachment 1

Patched with some maple, and walnut plugs in the corners.

View attachment 2

Yes, I did cut the flooring out with my TS55.  And yes, it was as clean a job as you might imagine. 
[big grin]

More to come.

-Adam

 

[cpw]

Perhaps the most complex piece of the remodel is that I'm building what amounts to an 8' x 8' wall of cabinets consisting of stacked frameless boxes, with a middle section that will be open shelving with a face frame.  It isn't that it is actually complex, but the clearances are a challenge.

Sorry if this is obvious, but if the clearances are a challenge, add some filler strips on the side.  Your wall is likely not straight and you'll need to scribe anyway.  I have a 13' x 8' wall in my kitchen (with a gap in the middle for a bay window). I left ~3" on each side for scribing, clearance for the door handles, etc.  There is about 1.5" between the center and side cabinets as well.

 

[antss]

Clearances shouldn't be an issue if you think about the entire faceframe like its just another door or drawer within you larger frameless cabinets.

Its reveals will be no different than any other door or drawer.  It'll just be a larger overall size than the rest.

 

[magellan]

How did the blade hold up cutting thru all those flooring nails?  I guess you cut to the inside when cutting length wise to avoid them but how about when you had to make the crosscut.  Just curious because I'm debating using my TS 55 to cut out a section of a mahogany floor. 

 

[mrFinpgh]

Sorry if this is obvious, but if the clearances are a challenge, add some filler strips on the side.  Your wall is likely not straight and you'll need to scribe anyway.  I have a 13' x 8' wall in my kitchen (with a gap in the middle for a bay window). I left ~3" on each side for scribing, clearance for the door handles, etc.  There is about 1.5" between the center and side cabinets as well.

Indeed.  I left two inches on the side where the fireplace used to be.  That wall is pretty straight - out maybe 1/16" over 8' - but I want room for my doors.

The clearance challenge for me is just about making sure I can fit the shelves that will have a faceframe into the center section.  If I tried to make them the exact same width as the cabinet boxes, then I potentially run into some challenges getting them in place.  So leaving about 1/8" gap between the two units allows me to get them both in place.

-Adam

 

[mrFinpgh]

Clearances shouldn't be an issue if you think about the entire faceframe like its just another door or drawer within you larger frameless cabinets.

Its reveals will be no different than any other door or drawer.  It'll just be a larger overall size than the rest.

I think the faceframe is what helps me with the clearance.  My concern was that I'm putting the open shelf/faceframed part into place after everything else.  It's more of a bookcase-like structure. 

You bring up a good point about reveals.  Everything else has ~3mm reveals, or 1.5mm on the outside of the cabinet door L + R.  All the doors are registered to the bottom of the cabinet box, so the reveal is all at the top of the box.    Maybe I shouldn't?

Thanks,
Adam

 

[mrFinpgh]

How did the blade hold up cutting thru all those flooring nails?  I guess you cut to the inside when cutting length wise to avoid them but how about when you had to make the crosscut.  Just curious because I'm debating using my TS 55 to cut out a section of a mahogany floor.

My long cut was down the middle of the center board.    I don't think I hit any nails during the crosscuts.  If I did, it didn't seem to have an impact.

-Adam

 

[rizzoa13]

Sorry to be obnoxious but is there a reason you didn't center that flooring inlay on the doorway? Even if you needed to cut it larger on the left to center it it's always best to relate decorative things like that to where your eye naturally goes. Which in this case is the door frame.

 

[mrFinpgh]

That's a good point, and I see what you're saying.  I did not take that into consideration when I was laying out the cut.

There isn't a real reason it isn't centered on the door.  I think all my attention was on removing damaged flooring, as well as determining how far towards the center of the room to go with the inlay.

It isn't permanently fixed down yet, so if it comes to it I could possibly extend it out a couple more rows.  For what it's worth, there is going to be an island near the one edge, and the other side is going to have cabinets and a range.  I'm not sure if that will reduce the effect your describing.  Worst case, I need to find a little bit more maple, I guess.

Thanks,
Adam

 

[mrFinpgh]

Lining up cabinet boxes in both directions is a little more trying than just lining them up horizontally.

View attachment 1

That 5/16" variation at the top is the result of about 1/32" of a deviation out of level on my last box next to the wall.

The simplest fix I could come up with was to glue a piece of veneer between the front of the bottom and middle box.  After gluing, paring, sanding, filling, and sanding again, the fix is basically invisible unless you get up close and look for it. With a door above it, it's just not an issue.

View attachment 2

The center section is going to be more of a bookcase, with a 2" face frame.  The top is a little higher so I can add a piece of trim across the whole unit at a 3mm reveal to the top of the door on either side.  The top and bottom are pocket screwed to the sides and the middle shelves are dadoed in.  Eventually there will be led tape under the shelf at the front of each.

I cut out the dadoes for the open shelving using my of1400 and a dado jig I put together.  Unfortunately, the jig moved a little on the first one, so it chewed up a bit wider dado than what I needed.  A lot of cursing happened. Since I didn't have extra plywood and good walnut plywood is a little pricey, I am keeping it and will do a repair.  It's on the inside of the open shelves and will mostly be covered by books and other items.

My plan is to do the repair by putting some wax paper over the top of the shelf and then building up minwax 2 part wood filler until just shy of the surface where the dado went askew.  I'll then cut out a straight line on the veneer to be repaired and a mating patch.  Some glue and tape, sanding, filler, and it should be acceptable.

Today has been all about edge banding the doors for the cabinets.  I have 16 doors to edge.  I've finally gotten down a good rhythm using a file and sandpaper.  Originally I was using a chisel, but that was taking about 4 times longer than the file and the result was about the same. 

I've been advised by an Osmo dealer that for walnut, it's a good idea to fill the grain if there is a possibility of water exposure.  Since this is in the kitchen, I figure that's probably a sensible move.  I'm planning to use timbermate, but I have found the walnut by itself is a bit dark for my purposes.  Blending 2 parts white oak to 1 part walnut seems to get me closer to where I want to be.  Since walnut tends to lighten up over time, it seems like this might be the smart play.

I was thinking, since I have so many panels to fill and sand back - can I do this with my RO150?  Or am I better off just taking the time to do it by hand?  I'll obviously be doing some test pieces, but if there are avenues I should just avoid, it's good to know.

Thanks,
Adam