Walnut Display Cabinet Final Details: Friday Update
Have you ever been working on something and realized you needed a list? I hit that point this week. I’m down to the final details on this cabinet and I didn’t want to skip one.
I’ve struggled with to do lists for years. I’ve tried using calendar reminders, tasks, virtual notepads, OneNote, and more, but those virtual options always resulted in bloat that was quickly ignored. But what I don’t ignore are sticky notes, stuck to my desk, getting in the way of me working. They annoy me so I get them done.
Enter a sticky note with all the final tasks. I’ll spare you the actual note and replace it with a list.
Cut the top to size - Done
Cleanup door edges - Done
Cut shelves - Done
Edge band shelves - Done
Trim edge banding - Done
Sand top - Done
Sand doors - Done
Sand shelves - Done
Drill shelf pin holes - Done
Cut slots for z clips to attach the top - Done
Make walnut z clips - Done
Install top - Done
Install door hinges - Done
Install doors - Done
Install door stop - Done
Fit glass stays
Take doors off, remove hinges, uninstall top
Apply finish
Install glass
Reinstall doors and top
Take pictures
That is a long list, 21 items, which brings me to my point. Nearing the end of a project is stressful. Not because of all the little things that need to get done, but because the room for error narrows. Take the doors. When I made the cabinet the stretcher length was a bit arbitrary, as long as all four were the same then the opening would be even. Then I had to make doors to fit in that opening. If I made a mistake on the stretchers I could cut them slightly shorter with no repercussions. But the doors, if I made them too small… it wouldn’t be good. This is where that woodworking phrase comes in, measure twice and cut once.
It’s also the reason why I waited to order the glass until after I had the doors done. I could have done the math, but I could have also messed up the math. So instead, I made the doors, used a router to cut out the back of the rabbet, squared the corners (routers cut round corners, hand tools to the rescue), and then I measured twice and ordered once.
Back to the list. I know it looks daunting, but a few items took minutes while others took hours. Sanding was slow, but I did it in phases along the way cutting down the overall end sanding time. As you may recall I sanded the parts before I assembled them for the cabinet. The top received the most love because it was the largest surface, it took about an hour and a half total. The doors were quicker at an hour and the shelves were very fast since they are plywood and I sanded with 220 grit by hand only, after a quick block plane trim of the hardwood edge banding of course.
Other notables this week were the shelf pins. Usually a shelving unit will have many pin holes, but this is custom. Originally I didn’t want the holes at all, but settled on using shelf pins rather than doing some type of dado in the shelves, mostly to save time and a headache of another thing to fit. I did use a jig, which was just a board with a hole drilled in it. This board would set even spacing for my two shelves. I put it on the bottom in the back, drilled. Slid it forward, drilled. Then repeated the opposite side so the shelf sat perfectly flat. Installed the shelf and used the same board on that shelf to drill the holes for the next one. Perfectly even and flat with zero measuring. If I ever want to change the position of the shelves, which is unlikely, I can drill more holes.
As I was nearing the end I had a few ideas regarding attaching the top. I could drill holes through the stretchers and run screws through, but that would leave visible holes, but only visible when the doors are open. I could use z clips, but those little metal fasteners would also be visible and are ugly. I don’t want to sit in my chair and see them. So I decided to make my own fasteners out of walnut. I took offcuts from the doors and sliced those down. Then routed out slots in the top which the offcuts slid into. I then drilled a hole in the protruding part of the fastener to accept a screw. Now with this the top can expand seasonally and those clips will allow the wood to move while still holding the top securely in place.
And the last thing I’ll discuss this week is the glass. I ordered it on Monday and Legacy Glass was good to me, finishing my order by Wednesday afternoon. I drove it, carefully, home. Put a door on my bench and crossed my fingers that the glass would fit, and it did perfectly in both doors. But I needed a way to hold the glass in place. See the doors had a groove, which I cut the backside out of with a router, after the doors were assembled. That way the glass could be set in and removed if it ever needed to be. To hold the glass you use what are called stays, pieces of wood nailed in to the frame. The nails can be removed and stays re-inserted if required. I have yet to nail the stays in as I want to pre-finish everything before permanently installing the glass.
This week was a whirlwind and I made some awesome progress. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the cabinet completely done before family comes for Easter, but next week you’ll see a finished walnut display cabinet. I need a better name. If you have one, leave me a comment down below!