Sunday is MAME day!

Managed to spend about 5 hours in the workshop today.

Did some test bends for the front case elements. In doing so I discovered that not all of the 17mm ply sheets are 17mm thick. Two of them are 19mm! This will put all of the measurements out, but I should been able to adjust most of them as I work. The main thing that I can’t adjust now is that the base with the sides attached will be 2mm wider on each side… I will be able to get back a little bit when I assemble it and I am hoping that the rest is taken up by the thickness of the t-moulding when applied. In the end, the whole thing is painted anyway so you are not going to be able to see small gaps in the joinery, and they could be filled anyway.

I am a bit disappointed with the quality of the ply. It is certainly better than Bunnings (they can’t even supply flat stock), but this is no furniture grade stuff. I have future projects planned that will use ply finished like regular timber, and this stuff with great pink putty filled gouges and scallops of veneer patches even before you start is not what I would expect for $71 a sheet. Looks like you have to really go for the BB (this is CD) which is over $100 a sheet.

Anyway, pics or it didn’t happen…

This is what I got done today:

What you see here is the base (completed last week) now joined to the back with its console deck support rail and the inner frame. The hole at the bottom is where the doors will be, the one at the top is the drawer. The whole thing is pretty sturdy already, with the front and sides attached it is going to be a solid unit. Definitely a two person lift. Anyone know how big the elevator is? (Just btw…)

Here is the plan overview for this stage (oriented for easy comparison):

A couple of joinery close-ups. The cross pieces are what will hold the shape of the assembled cabinet, and are securely joined with 4 pocket screws each:

You can also see there the flush cabinet screws I am using where I can – here on the back rail, and also to join the base to the back from underneath. There could be quite a bit of load on the members that the doors attach to, so they are a composite joined in an L shape:

Probably with far too many pocket screws :) Here is a small detail of how the front part of the frame connects to the front-to-back members:

Fastener placement has been working out ok so far. I didn’t really plan the screw joints at all, just the joinery joints so, so far so good. The pocket screws are really good to use, they are pretty easy to get in. With the impact driver they are quick to go in even with one hand, and they are nice and tight when the joint is edge to face – they are less secure edge to edge, I do have some slightly longer screws though that I have used once or twice when the first one hogs the hole out too much. (They are too long for an edge to face join though – the point will come out of the opposite face)

So, what’s next? Well I don’t have a lot of time next weekend, but having done the bend test today I might be able to attach the sides and front bent elements on Saturday morning.