Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Bar Built-in: Day 13 (poly shelves and cabinet frames)
This week, I'm back to work at my job and I work on the cabinets at night. I have quickly found out that after a whole day of work, I have very little time or energy to work on the built in. Thank god I'm in the final stretch. I through on another coat of poly on the cabinet frame moldings and shelves and went back to helping clean the house.
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Bar Built-in: Day 12 (cabinet frame and more staining)
With the towers in place and the shelves stained and drying, I began working on the cabinet frame moldings.
I'm using solid red oak, I bought four 2" x 1/2" - 8' pieces. I originally was going to go with 1" thick pieces, but I found the 1/2" pieces looked better. Unfortunately the 1" pieces are all on sale, bu the 1/2" pieces aren't, so its a wash between the 2.
Using a miter saw and cut the pieces to length and dry fitted them in place. I'm not using any mitered cuts but going for the more craftsman style of framing. All the pieces are cut and I drill pocket holes into each one.
And yes, the boards don't come pre-stained, so I lay them next to the shelves and put the stain coat on. I'm glad that I am only doing one coat of stain. I wish I got the poly stain in one, but I really like the way this stain is looking.
I'm using solid red oak, I bought four 2" x 1/2" - 8' pieces. I originally was going to go with 1" thick pieces, but I found the 1/2" pieces looked better. Unfortunately the 1" pieces are all on sale, bu the 1/2" pieces aren't, so its a wash between the 2.
Using a miter saw and cut the pieces to length and dry fitted them in place. I'm not using any mitered cuts but going for the more craftsman style of framing. All the pieces are cut and I drill pocket holes into each one.
And yes, the boards don't come pre-stained, so I lay them next to the shelves and put the stain coat on. I'm glad that I am only doing one coat of stain. I wish I got the poly stain in one, but I really like the way this stain is looking.
Monday, February 02, 2009
Bar Built-in: Day 11 (installing towers and running lights)
With the backs of the towers dried I put 2 coats of polyurethane on throughout the night. This let me tack it in place this morning. Now you should let poly dry for ~24 hours before normal wear and tear, but seeing that its the backs I I won't be touching it for another 24 hours, I thought it would be okay.
To apply the backs we check the squareness again of the towers. With the back in place we tack one corner, adjust the squareness of the tower and tack the other corners of the back in place. By now, not only should the tower be square, but it should be pretty damn sturdy too boot.
I place the towers on the toe kick and plumb it up with a level. Once I have it in place I use drywall screws to hold the towers in place. With a screw going through the back into the stud, and a screw going through the side and into a stud, it should not move.
With it in place, I measure the shelf length and depth that spans across the towers and cut the bored from left over stock (you could get away by buying a 2' x 4' 3/4" MDF oak veneer). With the shelf, I put the right support on the right tower for the shelf that spans the two towers. I check its level and tack it down with 6 nails (I switch out the 1 1/4" nails for 1" nails seeing that the support is 1/2" and the tower is 3/4" and that is too close for comfort.). With that in place I put the shelf on the right support and set a level on top of the shelf. Now I can adjust the shelf to make it level. With it in place I mark on the left side to see where the support goes. I then tack that as well. The shelf is level. I do the same with the 2nd shelf.
If you noticed, the shelves in the above picture are not stained. So back to the gloves, stain and brushes.
I've learned when you build two towers that have a shelf connecting the two and put them independently in a basement poured in the 50s, on a rec room constructed in the 60s, nothing will be level without double checking it. I get to quadruple check it because I need to take the towers down to run the lighting cable behind the shelf.
With all the wires ran now to the center, I attach them and zip tie it together and plug it into the outlet that the wine cooler will use.
To apply the backs we check the squareness again of the towers. With the back in place we tack one corner, adjust the squareness of the tower and tack the other corners of the back in place. By now, not only should the tower be square, but it should be pretty damn sturdy too boot.
I place the towers on the toe kick and plumb it up with a level. Once I have it in place I use drywall screws to hold the towers in place. With a screw going through the back into the stud, and a screw going through the side and into a stud, it should not move.
With it in place, I measure the shelf length and depth that spans across the towers and cut the bored from left over stock (you could get away by buying a 2' x 4' 3/4" MDF oak veneer). With the shelf, I put the right support on the right tower for the shelf that spans the two towers. I check its level and tack it down with 6 nails (I switch out the 1 1/4" nails for 1" nails seeing that the support is 1/2" and the tower is 3/4" and that is too close for comfort.). With that in place I put the shelf on the right support and set a level on top of the shelf. Now I can adjust the shelf to make it level. With it in place I mark on the left side to see where the support goes. I then tack that as well. The shelf is level. I do the same with the 2nd shelf.
If you noticed, the shelves in the above picture are not stained. So back to the gloves, stain and brushes.I've learned when you build two towers that have a shelf connecting the two and put them independently in a basement poured in the 50s, on a rec room constructed in the 60s, nothing will be level without double checking it. I get to quadruple check it because I need to take the towers down to run the lighting cable behind the shelf.
With all the wires ran now to the center, I attach them and zip tie it together and plug it into the outlet that the wine cooler will use.
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Bar Built-in: Day 10 (cunstruction)
Well the day I've been looking for is here, the day I get to assemble the pieces and see it come together (that and the day I get to try out the finished product). The big pieces are cut, sanded, stained and coated with polyurethane.
I attach the top and bottom of the main towers to one side. With them secure with the pocket screws, I flip the side onto the other long side and attach it forming the main tower. I do the same for the second tower.
With the towers finished I can measure the 1/4 oak veneer plywood for the backs. I had enough left over from my last project to do one of the towers, I then had to go to the store to get another piece of 1/4 to finish the other back. With both measured and cut to fit in the back grooves, its time for my second favorite thing to do...... stain. 15 minutes later, I wiped the excess and waited for them to dry.
While they are drying I begin to build the toe kicks. I then used 2x4's to make toe kick. With the 2x4's cut to 9 1/2" I then used shims where it was necessary to make the toe kicks level. Once they were level I used deck screws to drill them into the walls sole plate or stud.
One of the supports could only be drilled into the sole plate and did
not hold onto well due to it being kind of rotted. It did hold though, but what I should have done is connect both to back 2x4 and then screwed that into the sole plate. The face of the toe kick will have a piece of 3/4" oak veneer nailed to the front when it is completed.
I attach the top and bottom of the main towers to one side. With them secure with the pocket screws, I flip the side onto the other long side and attach it forming the main tower. I do the same for the second tower.
I then take the middle shelf measure out where the wine rack dividers go. Putting the shelf face down, I then take the dividers in place and screw them in with the pocket hole screw. This gives it both a secure connection, and you will not see the fastner. If I were to nail it to the shelf you would see the heads. Even if I sunk them puttied them, I think they would still show. When both are in place, I take a 2x4 cut to the width of of the middle wine space and clamp it to the wine rack as a support.
I then take the main tower and lay it face down on a table and slide in the wine rack with the shelf. Using shims I get the wine rack at the right height (I want it set in at 1/4" to give it a better look). I square up the tower by shifting it properly. To see if its square I measure the tower from corner to kiddie corner. If the two measurements are the same, it is square.
I then use my nail gun and nail 1 1/4" nails into the wine rack and shelves.
I took several pictures showing the details of pocket screws and assembling. The pictures looked cluttered on the blog so I tried the video slide show feature on Picasa.
As careful as you are and no mater how well I lined it up, I still missed quite a few nails and they shot through to the other side, missing its target. This happened because 1, I wasn't use to where the nail came out of the gun, I used the free nails that came with the gun which were softer (so the first flaw they hit, they bend into another direction).
Once it is secured, the towers are done.
With the towers finished I can measure the 1/4 oak veneer plywood for the backs. I had enough left over from my last project to do one of the towers, I then had to go to the store to get another piece of 1/4 to finish the other back. With both measured and cut to fit in the back grooves, its time for my second favorite thing to do...... stain. 15 minutes later, I wiped the excess and waited for them to dry.
While they are drying I begin to build the toe kicks. I then used 2x4's to make toe kick. With the 2x4's cut to 9 1/2" I then used shims where it was necessary to make the toe kicks level. Once they were level I used deck screws to drill them into the walls sole plate or stud.
One of the supports could only be drilled into the sole plate and did
not hold onto well due to it being kind of rotted. It did hold though, but what I should have done is connect both to back 2x4 and then screwed that into the sole plate. The face of the toe kick will have a piece of 3/4" oak veneer nailed to the front when it is completed.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Bar Built-in: Day 9 (more poly)
Woke up and the poly is not completely cured, but is much more durable. I tested this in an area that won't be seen by people (inside the wine slots). I slowly rub the tip of my finger nail in an area and see if my nails left a mark. One area that had a little thicker area of poly, caused a mark, but another area didn't. I flipped the sides of all the parts and began to apply the first coat of polyurethane.
When I stain or apply polyurethane I like to have a bright work light on. This helps me to see where the coat is applied and where it hasn't. In a normally lit room it is almost impossible to see where the poly
is applied, except at an extreme angle. This become labor intensive to constantly change your POV to see where the poly is. With the work light shining on the pieces I can easily see if the coat is too thick or too thin. Especially when you apply the first coat, the poly does not like to evenly coat on the tacky finish of the stain.
I'm pretty much going to wait another 5 hours and then apply the second coat. this means I will probably be able to begin assembly tomorrow morning.
When I stain or apply polyurethane I like to have a bright work light on. This helps me to see where the coat is applied and where it hasn't. In a normally lit room it is almost impossible to see where the poly
is applied, except at an extreme angle. This become labor intensive to constantly change your POV to see where the poly is. With the work light shining on the pieces I can easily see if the coat is too thick or too thin. Especially when you apply the first coat, the poly does not like to evenly coat on the tacky finish of the stain.I'm pretty much going to wait another 5 hours and then apply the second coat. this means I will probably be able to begin assembly tomorrow morning.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Bar Built-In: Day 8 (stain and poly)
Today was staining and polyurethane day. Finished staining the remaining parts that I didn't get around to (top where I was going to cut the hole the recessed lights, and the toe kit front) and began putting poly on the remainder parts.
If I were to do this again, or recommend anything to people, I would I would have put on 1 coat of poly before nailing the wine supports to it. Applying polyurethane to each of the supports and in between them is quite tedious, plus the foam brushes kicked up some foam/bubbles with all the quick brush strokes.
I do see that applying poly to all the individual supports would have been tedious as well, but I probably would have used a spray poly for the first coat, nailed them down, then painted on the second coat of poly when it was tacked down.
I did all the main surfaces, waited 5 hours (the can said 3-4 but it didn't appear to be dry enough at the 4 hour mark) and applied the second coat. I was hoping that after another ~5 hours I could flip the pieces and do the reverse side, but I found that even though it was dry it had not cured. I wait over night to flip and apply another two coats. One of the main reasons I wanted to do the all in one polyshade. I do think this will give me better results though.
If I were to do this again, or recommend anything to people, I would I would have put on 1 coat of poly before nailing the wine supports to it. Applying polyurethane to each of the supports and in between them is quite tedious, plus the foam brushes kicked up some foam/bubbles with all the quick brush strokes.
I do see that applying poly to all the individual supports would have been tedious as well, but I probably would have used a spray poly for the first coat, nailed them down, then painted on the second coat of poly when it was tacked down.
I did all the main surfaces, waited 5 hours (the can said 3-4 but it didn't appear to be dry enough at the 4 hour mark) and applied the second coat. I was hoping that after another ~5 hours I could flip the pieces and do the reverse side, but I found that even though it was dry it had not cured. I wait over night to flip and apply another two coats. One of the main reasons I wanted to do the all in one polyshade. I do think this will give me better results though.
Bar Built-In Day 7: (Nailing)
Feeling even better today. Went to Lowes today to buy the cabinet lights. I purchased the same set of lights I bought for my kitchen cabinets. I've read some threads on them that people don't like them or that the controller goes bad. I've had mine on my cabinets on for almost a year and had no problems. The only thing I don't like is that the heat causes the covers to pop off. I say the cover pops off about once every 2 weeks. Of course we also leave ours on from sundown to bedtime, so an average of 5 hours in the winter. My friend Chun, who also installed them, has not experienced the problem as often as me.
The lights cost about 35 bucks and you get 6 puck lights with xenon lamps, enought wire, power block and a touch controler. Its hard to find all of that for under 35.
For my cabinets I did a surface mount on the bottom of the cabinet and was looking forward to doing a recessed mount with my bar built in. I couldn't really do this with the cabinets because that would put the lights into the cabinet where I would store my dishes. The way I planned my built-in, I can easily do it because there is nothing above the light. Awesome. Until I opened the packet and read the instructions. "Cut a 2 1/8" how for recessed lighting". Who has a 2 and 1/8" hole saw? I have a 2", I have a 2 1/2" but nothing in between. That would cost 12 bucks for a hole saw that I will only use twice. Looks like surface mount again. I will worry about that when I start assembling.
Wine Rack Assembly
Ok, yesterday I said how much I like using the pocket hole jig. My 2nd favorite is the air driven finishing nail gun. If you don't have one and plan to do any trim work, or doing small projects (i.e. spice rack, small boxes, apolstry work, picture frames or anything involving finishing nails or brads) buy a nail gun and compressor kit. I got a nice little kit for christmas last year and I absolutely love it. From the first time I pulled the trigger I was amazed how well it worked. From the feel of it, to the sound it makes, to the great job it does driving the nail in, it is great. I built a spice rack without a nail gun and it honestly took me 3 times as long. You have to line up the work, sometimes clamp it, sometimes predrill. Tap, tap, tap, tap, shit. (that's if you bend the nail) Then you have to go out of your way to carefull pull out the nail. Chances are it bent because you didn't drive it in straight, which means that the next nail will follow the same path.
Now granted, the more you do wood work, the less chance you will have this. You will become more skilled and controled, but I work in IT and Projection Services (fix film projectors). I do not see myself leaving my job make a living doing carpentry anytime soon (unfortunately). I use this as a hobby or escape from the rut of work, might as well enjoy it.
I'm now going to space out the wine rack supports and nail them to the dividers.
The supports are 3 1/4" apart and 4 inches off the bottom of the divider. On the main cabinet sides I need to start 4 3/4" from the bottom to compensate for the thickness of the bottom. To space them out evenly I toock a 2x4 and cut a piece 3 1/4" long. With this spacer I can put it up against the tacked down support and then put the next one down in place for nailing.
3 1/4" spacer in place.
Laying them out and tacking them down.
The lights cost about 35 bucks and you get 6 puck lights with xenon lamps, enought wire, power block and a touch controler. Its hard to find all of that for under 35.
For my cabinets I did a surface mount on the bottom of the cabinet and was looking forward to doing a recessed mount with my bar built in. I couldn't really do this with the cabinets because that would put the lights into the cabinet where I would store my dishes. The way I planned my built-in, I can easily do it because there is nothing above the light. Awesome. Until I opened the packet and read the instructions. "Cut a 2 1/8" how for recessed lighting". Who has a 2 and 1/8" hole saw? I have a 2", I have a 2 1/2" but nothing in between. That would cost 12 bucks for a hole saw that I will only use twice. Looks like surface mount again. I will worry about that when I start assembling.
Wine Rack Assembly
Ok, yesterday I said how much I like using the pocket hole jig. My 2nd favorite is the air driven finishing nail gun. If you don't have one and plan to do any trim work, or doing small projects (i.e. spice rack, small boxes, apolstry work, picture frames or anything involving finishing nails or brads) buy a nail gun and compressor kit. I got a nice little kit for christmas last year and I absolutely love it. From the first time I pulled the trigger I was amazed how well it worked. From the feel of it, to the sound it makes, to the great job it does driving the nail in, it is great. I built a spice rack without a nail gun and it honestly took me 3 times as long. You have to line up the work, sometimes clamp it, sometimes predrill. Tap, tap, tap, tap, shit. (that's if you bend the nail) Then you have to go out of your way to carefull pull out the nail. Chances are it bent because you didn't drive it in straight, which means that the next nail will follow the same path.
Now granted, the more you do wood work, the less chance you will have this. You will become more skilled and controled, but I work in IT and Projection Services (fix film projectors). I do not see myself leaving my job make a living doing carpentry anytime soon (unfortunately). I use this as a hobby or escape from the rut of work, might as well enjoy it.
I'm now going to space out the wine rack supports and nail them to the dividers.
The supports are 3 1/4" apart and 4 inches off the bottom of the divider. On the main cabinet sides I need to start 4 3/4" from the bottom to compensate for the thickness of the bottom. To space them out evenly I toock a 2x4 and cut a piece 3 1/4" long. With this spacer I can put it up against the tacked down support and then put the next one down in place for nailing.
3 1/4" spacer in place.
Laying them out and tacking them down.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Bar Built-in: Day 6 (more staining and pocket holes)
Feel better today, but still a little stuffy and tired.
Stained the other side of the bar towers and stained the first side to the wine rack dividers and am letting those dry. I'm hoping it will be dry enough to flip tonight before bed to stain the other side of the wine rack dividers. Once it has dried I can start nailing the wine rack holders to the boards. One step closer to final assembly.
Once I stained the sides I went to work on the toe kick. I was going to build it entirely out of 2x4s but I decided I will use some of my left over 3/4" MDF for the front and make the sides of 2x4s.
I went out to the garage to cut the 2x4 into 9" pieces and I quickly learned that the miter saw, if left in the cold, will cause the trigger to stick. This will leave it in the on position until the strength of the switch can force itself in the on position. The saw is thawing in the kitchen.
Pocket Holes
While the saw is thawing I decided to drill the pocket holes into the top and bottom parts of the towers.
I love pocket holes. I will go out of my way to use pocket holes and even make building decisions to accomodate pocket holes. They are strong, versatile, durable and I paid 40 bucks for a jig.
Their are 2 large makers of the pocket hole jig, Kreg and Wolfcraft. Kreg is one of th leaders in pocket hole jig and carpentry tools. With that leadership comes a price. Wolfcraft also makes the pocket hole jig. I purchased the Wolfcraft jig after doing some lengthy research. My results were that Wolfcraft makes a quality product and also sells their jig in a kit that included: jig, special drill bit, stopper, driver bit and a handful of screws and plugs. The whole kit cost 40 bucks. The cheapest Kreg kit was 60. That included everything except the screws but included a clamp. I could also buy everything ala carte for Kreg for the same price, but Wolfcraft comes with a case to hold everything. Mendards carries both and Lowes carries Kreg in their stores. You can buy all of Kreg stuff from the Lowes website. I'm starting to see them show up at Home Depot now too. On another side note. I was at Menards the other day getting the veneer banding and stopped by the pocket jig ailse, Kreg now has a kit including everything the Wolfcraft kit. Infact, it is in an identical case, just with the Kreg blue instead of the Wolfcraft green.
The jig and bit lets you drill an hole on an angle allowing the screw to have a tight grip on the opposing board, but remain hidden. I applied 1 in each corner of the top and bottom board. These pocket holes will be facing the very top and the very bottom of the cabinet so that you won't be able to see it.
Stained the other side of the bar towers and stained the first side to the wine rack dividers and am letting those dry. I'm hoping it will be dry enough to flip tonight before bed to stain the other side of the wine rack dividers. Once it has dried I can start nailing the wine rack holders to the boards. One step closer to final assembly.
Once I stained the sides I went to work on the toe kick. I was going to build it entirely out of 2x4s but I decided I will use some of my left over 3/4" MDF for the front and make the sides of 2x4s.
I went out to the garage to cut the 2x4 into 9" pieces and I quickly learned that the miter saw, if left in the cold, will cause the trigger to stick. This will leave it in the on position until the strength of the switch can force itself in the on position. The saw is thawing in the kitchen.
Pocket Holes
While the saw is thawing I decided to drill the pocket holes into the top and bottom parts of the towers.
I love pocket holes. I will go out of my way to use pocket holes and even make building decisions to accomodate pocket holes. They are strong, versatile, durable and I paid 40 bucks for a jig.
Their are 2 large makers of the pocket hole jig, Kreg and Wolfcraft. Kreg is one of th leaders in pocket hole jig and carpentry tools. With that leadership comes a price. Wolfcraft also makes the pocket hole jig. I purchased the Wolfcraft jig after doing some lengthy research. My results were that Wolfcraft makes a quality product and also sells their jig in a kit that included: jig, special drill bit, stopper, driver bit and a handful of screws and plugs. The whole kit cost 40 bucks. The cheapest Kreg kit was 60. That included everything except the screws but included a clamp. I could also buy everything ala carte for Kreg for the same price, but Wolfcraft comes with a case to hold everything. Mendards carries both and Lowes carries Kreg in their stores. You can buy all of Kreg stuff from the Lowes website. I'm starting to see them show up at Home Depot now too. On another side note. I was at Menards the other day getting the veneer banding and stopped by the pocket jig ailse, Kreg now has a kit including everything the Wolfcraft kit. Infact, it is in an identical case, just with the Kreg blue instead of the Wolfcraft green.
The jig and bit lets you drill an hole on an angle allowing the screw to have a tight grip on the opposing board, but remain hidden. I applied 1 in each corner of the top and bottom board. These pocket holes will be facing the very top and the very bottom of the cabinet so that you won't be able to see it.
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