Shaker Cabinet questions/ideas

[bkharman]

Hey All,

This year I spent quite a few dollars on my new Festool lined shop and had some questions about a project I am embarking on.  I have a MFT/3 with the CMS-VL attached and it has treated me well for many a small project and I am ready to dive into the Festool-aid for a much larger project.  I purchased these tools in mind for two large projects:

• Build some nice built-ins in the family room
• Upgrade the kitchen

Built-ins are on hold at the moment so I have started to think about the kitchen.  If it helps, here are the tools/accessories I have now:

MFT/3 (with quite a few clamps, Qwas dogs and alike)
CMS-VL (just purchased and starting to really fall in love it it!)
OF 1400 (this is a brilliant piece of kit!)
RO 90 with a ton of disks and deltas
CT 26 (all of that dust needs to go somewhere  [wink]
CXS (was my first Festool)
TS 55 EQ
a lot of accessories here and there...

So that being said, I bought them all with this project in mind.  I want to route out new rails and stiles and build out new doors (questions to come later on that).  I have mid-80's Oak cabinets that I want to bondo and snad down to remove grain.  Then paint when all is said and done.  I am rebuilding a lot of the drawers as they are falling apart, as well as do slight layout modifications to some of the boxes for better utilisation. 

I keep going round and round on the with of the stiles and rails.  One day i think 2" is fine, the next, i think 2.5" would be better.  I am pretty much set on a combination of slab drawer fronts for small drawers and 5 piece for larger ones.  and then there is the sanding and painting of the frames and eventually the doors/drawers.  Is Bondo going to work well as  a filler?  is there a chance that I am going to get the grain showing in some places?  I am not looking for a contemporary, glass smooth surface, more of a "slightly distressed" one (flat paint and such).

I do have a nice Earlax HVLP sprayer.  Not too sure if i am going with the handpainted look or sprayed look but I am good on each.  Just want to make sure I am prepped right.

I also have some nice Hard maple at my disposal for about 3.70 a foot (4/4 S2S 5" wide).  I was thinking using it for the rails/stiles and an MDF panel in the middle.

I look forward to any insight the forum may have for me!

Cheers

Bryan

 

[tiralie]

I have mid-80's Oak cabinets that I want to bondo and snad down to remove grain. Then paint when all is said and done.  I am rebuilding a lot of the drawers as they are falling apart, as well as do slight layout modifications to some of the boxes for better utilization. 

Why are the drawers falling apart? How are you going to rebuild them, with dovetail joints? Are you modifying the inside of the boxes or the placement of the boxes in the room?

I keep going round and round on the with of the stiles and rails.  One day i think 2" is fine, the next, i think 2.5" would be better. 

Go look at some cabinets in a showroom and see what looks good to you and measure them. 

I am pretty much set on a combination of slab drawer fronts for small drawers and 5 piece for larger ones.  and then there is the sanding and painting of the frames and eventually the doors/drawers.  Is Bondo going to work well as  a filler?  is there a chance that I am going to get the grain showing in some places? 

I would use a grain filler. Bondo is overkill. Unless you are experienced with Bondo, it can be a pain to get it even and you will end up with a lot of sanding .

I do have a nice Earlax HVLP sprayer.  Not too sure if i am going with the hand painted look or sprayed look but I am good on each.  Just want to make sure I am prepped right.

Yup, prepping is key. What color are you painting the cabinets?

I also have some nice Hard maple at my disposal for about 3.70 a foot (4/4 S2S 5" wide).  I was thinking using it for the rails/stiles and an MDF panel in the middle.

As long as that Maple is straight without a lot of defects etc. it could work.

It sounds like you are changing all (as mentioned above), the doors and drawers and you want to modify some boxes too so you may want to consider building everything from scratch. By the time you have finished everything you want to do in your kitchen you may wish you gutted it and started from scratch.

Tim

 

[bkharman]

Thanks for the reply Tim!

All of the boxes are thin walled and could stand to be beefed up a bit.  That was last on my hit list to replace them but first in my mind when I posted.  We initially planned on keeping the carcasses in place and replace all of the doors and drawer fronts.  Then the wifey got the idea to replace some of the 2 door configurations with a bank of 3 wide drawers.  We are still in that holding pattern and most of the layout changes would be internal to the box.  Not moving them around per say.

I will look into the grain filler.  I have worked with Bondo on my 69' Bronco (a lot!) so i know how it acts.  Never did it on wood before so wasn't better options there are out there.  After everything is prepped and sanded and ready for paint, we are going for the 2 tone option.  White (of some sorts) for the perimeter cabinets (L shaped kitchen) and a Grey or Black for the island area.

Believe me, I have thought about building everything from the ground up.  The boxes are sounds and we don't plan on relocating them (dont have the room too!) so we are thinking a door/drawer facelift will be nice as well as replacing some "fixed" shelves with some new pull out boxes.

Thanks again for the words of wisdom mate.

Cheers

 

[tiralie]

All of the boxes are thin walled and could stand to be beefed up a bit.

Bryan
You could add a panel to the gable ends to beef them up. If the added gable end overlaps the drawer/door side it  gives a kind of inset door/drawer look to what I believe you are describing as frame-less cabinets.

I will look into the grain filler.  I have worked with Bondo on my 69' Bronco (a lot!) so i know how it acts.

I should say  [big grin]

After everything is prepped and sanded and ready for paint, we are going for the 2 tone option.  White (of some sorts) for the perimeter cabinets (L shaped kitchen) and a Grey or Black for the island area.

If you brush on you may want to take a look at Farrow and Ball. Nice colours and some great paint. Might be a bit difficult to find though.
General Finishes milk paints are good and you can get a black or grey, but I have not used them on a kitchen project.

Other wise, you may want to consider a coating your painted cabinets with polyurethane to extend to finish.
Good luck.

Tim

 

[bkharman]

Thanks Tim!

These are actually not frameless.  They are faced, but the sides are about 3/8 on a good day.

I will look into the paint you mentioned. Someone else said that I should invest in some MLCampbell Aquabarnice Pre-catalyzed Paint. I found the link to it here
I was planning on spraying, but will check on the paint you mentioned.

Just finished ripping out the old soffit and moving wires and such. Started in on the drywall before I move to the MDF cabinet "extensions".

Taking pics along the way.

 

[tiralie]

Someone else said that I should invest in some MLCampbell Aquabarnice Pre-catalyzed Paint.

I think the Aquabarnice is a great choice. I am not sure you will be able to get the grey or black you were looking for from the base, but for the white or off white, it's a great choice.
I would be worried about whether that Earlex is up to the task of spraying it properly. The information sheet for Aquabarnice says the viscosity is - Ford #4 at 77°F/25°C: 27 - 32 seconds so it's of medium consistency which may be OK.
Tim

 

[bkharman]

I will have to research a bit more... I looked at my manual (Earlex 5500) and it requires a viscosity under 160 seconds which seems ok.  I know it can pretty much spray anything except textures.

Thanks Tim,

Bryan