Back in the cabinet making game after 25 years

[luvmy40]

I paid the bills as trim carpenter for quite a while. Custom kitchens, coffered ceilings, full room built ins, the whole shebang. After 25 years in the refrigeration world, I dove back into carpentry to start on our "new" house's( built in 1890) library.

I went to Harbor Freight and got their Hercules 12" compound sliding miter saw with portable stand, the Hercules 10" portable table saw and ordered the Powertec rolling, folding table saw stand on Amazon and got to work.

I have to say, the Harbor Freight tools I just got are so much better than the "professional" equipment I was using 25 years ago. At 1/4 the price we paid for the "pro" tools back then. It's actually ridiculous. They are really not even comparably in quality and performance.

So, here is the start of our built in library.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 12, 2022 by luvmy40

[Freebird]

I wish I had that talent.  I do what I can around here but nailing two boards together is not even that easy for me.  

[cowpuc]

Ya know,, some folks are blessed with skills/talents and then some people are REALLY  blessed with skills/talents.. I see you got the latter! I do LOVE the smells associated with the type of work you are going forward with Rich and the finish products of such Master Craftsmen are amazing!! Wishing you ALL the best in the endeavor you are pursuing!! 

[videoarizona]

I've always loved working with wood!

Never could afford pro tools. Now, I can afford them... but my hands don't have the strength to work. I too love the smell of fresh cut wood....

Heck, I love the smells associated with any kind of wood... Even firewood! 

Go gettum, Richard!👍

[Pasta Burner]

There are many things in life I’ve learned I’m not.  A finish carpenter is one.  Looks good so far!  I too have been leaning more toward harbor freight lately, it use to be just bobo stuff I’d buy but I really think their quality has gone up tenfold in the past 15 years

[luvmy40]

Carpentry finished. Ready for putty and paint.

 

Kris wants to use a period correct finish with "Milk Paint" so I was able to cheap out on the materials a bit. 3/4" "Sande" plywood for the carcass, a couple cherry picked pieces of 1/4" underlayment for the backs and poplar trim.

I made one mistake in planning. I neglected to check the floor for level before buying my moldings and did not account for the 1" out of level over the 84" run. Not a huge deal. I'll just cut some filler strips before Kris paints.

This turned out pretty good, but up close and personal, you can see the 25 years of slack! Seeing as they will be painted, good enough is good enough. 

I have to say, the Hercules saws are punching way above their price point. It was a joy to work with them.

 

 

Edited June 14, 2022 by luvmy40

[Marcarl]

I can't seem to see the missing nail. Did yo hide it?

 

[bpate4home]

Great job. I wish I had time to do more.  Ad a nice cool shop to do more in.  We're expecting to get to 95-100 most of the week. 

[PastorCurt]

Looks great! They always say; a good carpenter makes mistakes but he knows how to hide them!! Good work!!!

[circa1968]

Nice work!  Please update once the final paint is on.

I love doing woodworking, but it has also been many years.  Took an evening "class" at a local high school wood shop many years ago, just to have access to more tools & space.  Our instructor told us woodworking was nothing more than cutting up big pieces of wood into smaller pieces of wood and then putting them back together to make big pieces of wood again.  LOL! 

Attached is the piece I started in that class, but didn't finish until a few years later.  It was one my last and my best pieces, which I built for my Dad.  My Dad was a barber back in the 50's/60's and when slow, he & the other barbers played checkers.  He was a checkers master, no one could ever beat him!  The base with two small drawers is made of cherry, the checkerboard is maple/walnut. Unfortunately, dementia & time robbed him of his checkers abilities by the time I finished it.  One of my hard life lessons on procrastination.   The photo is from Christmas 2004, when I gave it to him, my son was 2 then.  He was already on the downhill slide then and we lost my Dad about two years after that photo was taken, will always be one of my favorite photos with him & my son.  Enjoy what you do, do it with & for your family and make good memories today, tomorrow may never come!

[luvmy40]

We are about 90% done with the first wall of shelves. The final coat of milk paint is done and the base coat of wax is done. We just need to wait for the wax to set and then do some dark wax detailing to make the rope mold accents pop. The base mold will be done with white semi gloss enamel to match the rest of the room.

[larrydr]

I have tried wood , it is not that easy ...I can do a lot of other stuff ...But wood work just like some other trades or skills take time . Sometimes it has to do is how much effort and how much patience we we have to get the job done ..There some jobs that simply take a lot longer no matter how good we are at them

[luvmy40]

We got started on the opposite corner of the room today. This will have the same basic design and all the same trim accents, but will "free standing" rather than "built in" as the original 130 year old base mold is still intact and serviceable in this corner.

[luvmy40]

8 hours ago, larrydr said:

I have tried wood , it is not that easy ...I can do a lot of other stuff ...But wood work just like some other trades or skills take time . Sometimes it has to do is how much effort and how much patience we we have to get the job done ..There some jobs that simply take a lot longer no matter how good we are at them

Larry,

I have to give credit to the many associates and mentors who taught me the skills needed to do this kind of work.

I was mentored in wood working by a master from a very young age by my my neighbor and family friend, James Alloway. James taught me that there are hundreds of ways to do anything, and one of them is right for the situation at hand. My father, Merlon Schaefer, a Class A tool maker and Die Maker taught me the difference between good enough and spot on. Then, years later my time in the field building custom cabinetry and finish carpentry, mentored by a close friend in the industry, Brian Perkins has been invaluable and never will be forgotten, even if rarely utilized.

In other words, this project is 45 years in the making.

 

Thanks for looking!

Edited July 4, 2022 by luvmy40

[sleepy2]

Very nice work!! Like others I wish I had that talent!!

[RDawson]

We’ve decided to go with a no Sheetrock or paint interior in the new place. All walls and ceilings will be some type of wood finish, brick, or stone. I’m planning to do built-in cabinets with an old look to them. To me that’s the hardest look to achieve, modern methods, materials, and fasteners and yet look old while operating like new. 
Once I figure it out I’ll hafta try to do that to my body. 

[luvmy40]

Today's update:

Second half installed and faced. Kris wanted a drop front desk in these for her laptop and bills files. I's been a long time since I did an inset door, much less a drop front flush mount desk front. It's going to take some tweaking!

Edited July 23, 2023 by luvmy40

[luvmy40]

2 hours ago, RDawson said:

We’ve decided to go with a no Sheetrock or paint interior in the new place. All walls and ceilings will be some type of wood finish, brick, or stone. I’m planning to do built-in cabinets with an old look to them. To me that’s the hardest look to achieve, modern methods, materials, and fasteners and yet look old while operating like new. 
Once I figure it out I’ll hafta try to do that to my body. 

Are you  going with a Craft Home motif?

Do what to Who's body!!!

[RDawson]

21 minutes ago, luvmy40 said:

Are you  going with a Craft Home motif?

Do what to Who's body!!!

I guess you could call the interior craft style. I bought a 50x100 I-beam/purling building for my business. I blew my shoulder before erecting it, after deciding to retire we came up with the plan of building the house inside the front of it and having a 3400 sq ft garage/shop. I’ll probably brick the front. 

[luvmy40]

I just remembered that I never posted any pics of the final product. Well, almost final. I still need to paint the base mold, but the books and mess have all migrated to their new home.

[Marcarl]

Oh WOW! Do you read all those books every year?

[luvmy40]

11 hours ago, Marcarl said:

Oh WOW! Do you read all those books every year?

Not every year, but I've read most of them 2 or 3 times. Except for the reference books.

We did pare down the collection by about 150 volumes when we moved into the smaller house.