Semi-productivity

This weekend was a little frustrating for both of us because we had a lot of free time and big plans, but we didn't get a lot of results. We are struggling with decisions related to the router, router table, router bits, etc. This is something required for making doors, and honestly we have no real need to worry about the doors until all the carcasses are complete... EXCEPT that we decided to put FAKE doors on the back side of the peninsula and that's all that's keeping us from staining and installing the face-frames that were shown on the last post. Here is a play-by-play recap of the router table saga:

Last Week

• Purchase cheap router table and cheap router bit from Sears
• Decide that they are both very poorly designed
• Pick out a nicer model from Tool King
• Return purchases to Sears

Saturday

• Drive to Tool King ~ nearly an hour away
• Get convinced by older "wiser" sales person that the router table route is too expensive and opt to try to make all the joints using a dado set (already own that)
• Get home and realize that we actually need to know what type of hinges we're going to use in order to properly size the fake doors (which will not have hinges...)
• Sift through the 93pg Blum hinge selection guide - its very thorough. Pick out these puppies:

• Cut out pieces for 2 fake door frames.
• Make some test cuts on scrap wood.
• Realize that there's no possible way we'll get the accuracy we want using the table saw. (Thanks wise old salesman....)
• Decide we will still need a router table

Sunday

• Drive to Loveland after church to buy the router table we originally intended to buy from Tool King.
• Get there and realize its not much better than the $80 Sear model purchased on Wednesday.
• Leave the store confused and put out by the whole situation.

That's this weekend in a nutshell... agh! Sometimes these things just don't go as smoothly as you would like them. Actually we did get a few other things done: We did try using the router without the table - this will enable us to limp by on these first two fake doors. Also we did get a nicer router bit from the second store. So stay tuned for more information about WHICH router table we'll end up with!

Couple of Pics

More progress - only one face-frame remains

We take pocket-hole joinery to the extreme!!

Quick Update

Just wanted to make a quick update to the world. First of all, the winner of the stain contest turned out to be "Maple". I realize that, technically, "Pecan" won the poll by 2 votes, but I'm pretty certain you all would have voted for Maple had you had access to the real-life samples they have at Lowe's. The Maple looks great with both the floor and the mantel. Also, August did the staining this time and it looks much better than my work. I suppose I will remain in my roll as "assistant", all the way to the end.

The cabinets are coming along as well. We lack two face-frames from being done with the construction part of all the floor cabinets. We'll probably crank those out today and tomorrow. After that, we have to route a groove into some of the frames, which will require us to first setup and learn to use the router. And then the sanding/staining, and then assemble.

And that means we are roughly approaching the half-way point. That's no so bad, eh?

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
---------------------------
Total............ $1785

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