Success!!

Appliance shopping is officially done for this kitchen renovation. I have prevailed and successfully purchased all four in good used condition off Craigslist at excellent prices. They even match. Well the fridge technically doesn't. It is a counter-depth model though, so that should make up for the slightly different shaped handles.

Let's look at the math:
Fridge.......... $900
Range.......... $500
Microwave.... $100
Dishwasher.. $285
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Total............ $1785

But don't forget, we sold the old ones:
Fridge............ $175
Range............. $40
Microwave...... $100
Dishwasher..... $50 (estimate)
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Total...............$365

That puts our total investment at $1420. Yay!! That's a good deal folks. A new fridge alone would cost that much. Plus they each have bells&whistles. As I said, the fridge is counter-depth, and also the interior lights dim on and off. That way you don't get flashed in the eyes.. Very important. The range has the second smaller baking oven underneath. The microwave isn't that special except it does match the range. And the dishwasher, well it doesn't have any buttons on the front. A "must have" feature, I assure you.. :)

So any of you out there with a similar situation, I HIGHLY recommend that you check Craigslist early and often. Bookmark the URL for whatever you are searching for, and check it whenever you get a chance. For example, this is my new bookmark: Stainless Sink

Stain?

Its time to select a stain, folks. Consider the challenge:

• Winter time - freezing garage
• Basement houses the furnace i.e. blow fumes all over the house
• A tight schedule - self-imposed but hey, its not that fun storing all your kitchen stuff in boxes on the floor
  
• Open floor plan - kitchen is effectively in the living room with its wood floor and lovely mantle
• Stainless appliances and hardware

What's our solution??? - {drumroll} water-borne polystain... Its a multi-tasking solution for sure. Water-based, so no fumes.. Dries super-fast in our zero-humidity climate. Beyond that, think of it as tinted polyurethane - stain and protection rolled into one. The downside is, its a little unforgiving, easy to leave brush strokes that end up VERY visible... The other downside is the cost.. sigh...

So, want to see the first test sheet?
The left side is one coat, the right side is two. Its hard to tell from picture, but two coats are a definite improvement over just one. I don't know, maybe too redish again? Its not a horrible clash with the mantle or floor, but I wonder if we could do better. Here are some of the options available in the polystain:

......Fruitwood............ Pecan......




........Maple.................Walnut.....




Help me out here, which would be the better? Vote in the poll to the right!! p.s. Walnut is the one we already tried.

Carcasses

Yes, that's the technical term for those boxes you put all your stuff in. i.e. one carcass + one face frame = one cabinet. Maybe you pronounce it "car-case"? Either way we now have three carcasses completed. We have a very steamlined process:

1. Layout the cuts for minimizing wasted plywood.
2. Make cuts so that all equal dimensions are cut at one time without moving the saw fence.
3. Drill shelf pin holes in the side pieces.
4. Drill pocket-holes everywhere!
5. Assemble.

And that's it! Here's August, first with the pocket-hole jig and then assembling. Note our use of the blue-handled Kreg clamps - overpriced but really really nice.


And myself doing the Barker Beauty pose with our three completed boxes. The one on the left has no top because its the sink base. The other two sit on either side of the oven. You can also see our plastic dust barrier that is thumb-tacked to the ceiling.

A Meager Start

Well, it may not look like much, but its as big step for the Johnson Cabinet Factory - our first prototype! Made of scrap wood and smaller than the real deal of course.. This is basically what we've got to make about 15 more times. It didn't take that long (an hour maybe?), so I'm still optimistic about finishing by the end of March.

A couple of tools we already endorse:

1. Automatic Current Sensing Switch. These cost only $20 at Sears but good luck finding one. We found it on our 3rd try. You plug both the shop vac and your power tool into it. The current sensing part means it cuts the shop vac on whenever you cut the power tool on. Thus- a makeshift dust collection system. It even lags the shop vac on a little after the power tool to keep from tripping breakers. We successfully used it with the table saw and still didn't blow any circuits, even with our crappy 70s wiring.
   
2. Kreg Jig. This is the joint of the future, folks. Serious woodworkers would look down their noses at us, but we are making almost every joint in the whole kitchen with it. Its fast and doesn't require clamping or even precise measuring in most cases. After all, as I often remind August, this kitchen is all about appearances. Of course we don't want it to fall apart either...

Back in CO

Two weeks at home and 3333 miles later, we are now back in Colorado! We had a great trip, saw all the family and a few good friends as well. Ate and ate and ate, of course. By the way, we've officially been in this foreign land for one year!

With all the holiday madness out of the way, its time to get back to business. The basement is full of power tools and plywood, so we should be getting started for real. Soon! The upcoming projects are:

• buy a dishwasher
• kitchen can lights
• kitchen cabinets - this is a big one! Let's try to be done by March when our ski visitors start arriving.
• kitchen drywall work and rewiring
• kitchen/foyer floors - needs to be done before we can install the cabinets

After this the main level will be DONE! Then we'll probably move to the bedroom area? I don't know... Completing the above list will likely put us well into springtime!