hi, on the woodpecker today, alain finally decided to make my beautiful towel cabinet. we’ve had the same towel cabinet in our bathroom since the day we moved here, twenty five years ago. renã©e wants something new, so i’ll do that for her. i’ll even make it deeper; this way the laundry chute will also end-up bigger. maybe the dirty laundry will slide better. to build this, i bought a nice big pile of maple. then, using my plan, i sort all the boards i need and cut smaller manageable pieces to make the side of the cabinet. when i’m done cutting, i surface them. after a while, i have enough wood to begin.
the first thing i do, is to take care of the solid maple panels; so i glue several boards together. some pieces need to be cut shorter. next, i make sure their edges are straight. then i glue them two by two. after a while, i have a bunch of glued up boards. the next day, the glue is dry so i take care of all of my glue ups and plane them straight on two faces. i leave just a little bit more wood than i need and re-glue all my glue ups two by two again. but this time, i align them more carefully. i clamp them and leave them to dry.
the next day, the glue is dry, so i sand the panels to the right thickness. my drum sander is equipped with sixty grit sandpaper, i still have a lot of sanding before i get to the smoothness that i want. now, i have to take care of the rails and stiles. i know, it’s hard to believe, but i still need to surface more wood. i didn’t surface all of it last time. it’s much easier to rip the long stiles with a saw. the last side is cut on the table saw. after installing my dado stack on the table saw with a width of a quarter inch and a depth of half an inch, i can cut all the grooves on all the pieces. here, we can see that the groove is not centered.
that’s because i want the panel to be flush to the inside of the cabinet. so far, everything is fine, but i still have a lot more to cut. now if i look at my plan, i can see the length of the rails, but i need to add the half inch i cut on the stile. now, with the right measurement, i cut all the rails. then i add some chipper to the dado stack and cut the tenons. but since the grooves are not centered, i need to lower the blade for the other side. but before making a big mistake, i check the joint fit. since it’s perfect, i finish all the stub tenons. then i cut both stiles together, so they are the same length.
now i can try a dry fit, taking care to align the centre of the rails on the lines, so i can take the measurement of the inside panels. now that i have the panel’s measurements, i cut them. since the panels are thicker than the grooves, i cut a back rabbet on them. this is my rabbet and here’s how everything will fit together. i’m very satisfied with the result, but if i look at the design i’ve submitted to renã©e, well, she wanted a cabinet with a wainscoting look. so i mark where i’ll rout the v shape. ok, i’ve made some calculations beforehand, but still, now i can rout the v on the router on my table saw. after a line is routed, i turn the piece and cut the other side. when all the cuts are made, i move the fence to the next v shape, and make sure the fence won’t move.
goofing up at this point wouldn’t be fun. i do that for all the v’s. when i’m done, i use a knife to clean inside them. now i have to do the last sanding in the places where it will be difficult to sand after the final assembly. now i’m ready to glue the right side of the cabinet. i begin by inserting some rubber barrels inside the grooves.they will jam the panel in place. then i put all the panels and the rails together, just before spreading some glue onto the stub tenons and inside the grooves; but only where a rail will end up. next i clamp the stiles, using only two clamps. and since i don’t want anything out of whack, i check the diagonals and add the last two clamps.
while the glue dries, i surface, yet, another long board. this board will be my plywood edging. yes the left side and the back will be made of maple plywood. so after bringing a full sheet of plywood onto my workbench, i rip away the left side. then with the second bit from my plywood edging kit, i rout the mating profile. then, i just need to spread a bit of glue inside the v shape and glue the solid piece of maple on top. i use some big solid pieces of wood to distribute the clamping pressure on the edging. and i use a whole bunch of clamps. the next day, the glue is dry but the edging is not at the same height as the plywood; i fix that with the sander.
ok, the left side has its edging; i need to glue more edging for the shelves. so i get another sheet of plywood. rip it to size. rout the edging profile. and glue it in place. ok now i can continue on the left side. i begin by cutting it to the right width. then i cut one end. next, using the solid right side, i mark its length and cut it.
it’s now time to get out my plywood dado kit. with the three quarter inch bit, i make a test on a scrap piece. then i test it. since it seems to work, i need to cut a rabbet on both panels at this place. the red arrow shows the centre of the dado and the other line is where i should lay down the guide. so i clamp the guide and check if it’s ok. humm... i can see that i’m a little off center, so i readjust the router and move it where i want the dado to begin; so i can set the stop there. i do the same set-up on the other side and i rout the dado. when i’m done, i move the rail and repeat all the same procedure i just did.
then i use the same technique for the end rabbet. but this was not a good idea, i made a big mess because the rail moved. i redo the rabbet with an edge guide instead. ok, now i need to fix this. i begin by making the cut straight with a miniature edge plane. after chiseling a square corner, i make sure it’s all at the same thickness. then, i can check if everything fits before gluing the piece in place. a little bit of glue can solve all my troubles. while the glue dries, i can make the other side rabbet.
eventually, the glue is dry enough so i can finish the rabbet on the damaged side. then i can make the back rabbets. now, i need to make the bottom of the cabinet. to do so, i need the exact measurements of the laundry chute hole. with those measurements, i make a plan of the bottom. the only thing missing is some wood. one side is wider than one board, so i glue two together. the next day, the glue is dry and i sand this smooth. but i also need narrow boards.
now, i can cut the front and back to the right length. this is how everything will fit together; i just need to mark the placement of the domino mortises and drill them. but the wide glue-up is way too large to glue it so i make the width of the mortise bigger and drill the last four mortises. before gluing all of this, i sand the hard to reach spots. then i glue it. i wipe the excess glue on the dominoes that will be inserted into the wide holes. and glue all the rest in place. on the wide board, i only spread glue near the edges and then i can clamp this. the next morning, i can make the first sanding.
since i have the sander in my hand, i also give the first sanding to the inside plywood panel. only the chute hole’s is at the right dimension; the rest is oversized, so i have to cut the bottom to size. but the stiles are longer than the rails, so for the first cut, i add a board between the stiles and cut the other side. then i can move the rip fence and cut the other side. the bottom is now cut, but not the fixed shelves; so i begin by cutting in half the plywood that i’ve edge glued before. then i cut the shelves. when the shelves are cut to the right width, i measure their exact depth and cut them. i’m almost ready to glue the casing, but if you want to see that, you’ll have to come back to the woodpecker.