New Woodworking Project: Built-in Hutch

[ToolGuy]

Hey Folks, just wanna let you know I'm starting a new woodworking project. I will be building a 10' wide built-in hutch. It will be wall-to-wall in a 10' wide space. The two center doors of the upper cabinets will be glass with lighting inside. Also, it will be painted a satin finish oil enamel.

Question: Should I use maple or birch?

 

[inspectorD]

Whatever plywood is less expensive. If you are doing paint grade, either will come out just fine.

 

[glennjanie]

Hello Tool Guy:
To the untrained eye there is no difference between the two. I know cabinet men who use birch plywood and native maple for the dimension parts of their cabinets. No one can see the difference.
Glenn

 

[ToolGuy]

Hello Tool Guy:
To the untrained eye there is no difference between the two. I know cabinet men who use birch plywood and native maple for the dimension parts of their cabinets. No one can see the difference.
Glenn

Yep, I think that's the way to go. There will be adjustable shelves in the lower cabinets, which I think maple would be somewhat stiffer. Also, the top of the bottom shelves (customer doesn't like calling it a counter top) will be solid wood, so glued-up maple for that. Door rails and styles, face boards, hmm... I guess it's birch plywood for the insides of the cabinets and the door panels, probably for the crown molding as well. Otherwise it will be all maple.

The back panel of the space between the uppers and lowers will also have to be built-up maple, as it's over 8' and I can't have any seams.

Just thinking aloud.

 

[inspectorD]

Waiting for pictures.......

 

[ToolGuy]

Then pictures there shall be. Well.. you didn't say "of the hutch".

This is the space where the the hutch will be built. I'm meeting the clients tonight to go over numbers and such. The project will commence Monday.

Of course, I promise photos of the project from start to finish. Keep Watchin'!

 

[ToolGuy]

I constructed a simple router jig for making rabbets and dados. By placing some pieces of plywood shoved against the wall I can use my hip to hold the jig tight on the work piece while I make the cut. Underside of the jig I tacked a ledger strip to hold it the right distance from the edge for repeat cuts, such as the bottom of the lower cabinets. I hope that makes sense. I'm better at doing this stuff than explaining it.

And heres one of running the router through the jig. To the left of the router base you see I added some 1/8" thin strips. I made the jig to cut 3/4" wide dados for the plywood joints, but in this photo I'm cutting them 5/8" wide for the shelf-tab tracks. The strips are held in place with a couple of tiny dabs of glue, so I can remove them to get back to 3/4" widths.

 

[ToolGuy]

The Assembly Line

With all my pieces cut to size and the dados cut, I lay them out for assembly. Here you see the back of the cabinet in the middle, the left and right sides with rabbets cut for the shelf-tab tracks (to be installed later) on either side, and the cabinet bottom leaning against the assembly table, which fits into the horizontal dado. Well, they're all horizontal right now, but I think you know what I mean.

I didn't do rabbets for the sides. I probably should have, but with the glue, plenty of cement 2" coated finish nails, and the fact that these cabinets will never be moved, I think it will be plenty solid.

And here you see the raw carcases of the cabinets stacked where they will end up, except the upper cabinets will go against the ceiling.

 

[inspectorD]

I think you explained that just fine. Looks good, what are you doing about that hole you put in the ceiling.....explaination here___________________________________.
The pictures are great,makes me want to go build something.

 

[ToolGuy]

That's the heat vent and actually, there's two of them. I have the round grills in my van. They have about 20 coats of paint peeling off of them, so I'm going to strip and repaint them.

 

[ToolGuy]

Getting back on track...

One thing about working for someone who owns buildings, there are always 'urgent' repairs and stuff that just can't wait. In this case it was a punch list of items to keep all his tenants happy (and my pocket lined). But I got back on track with the built-in hutch project yesterday and I did some shopping. Yay!

I'll write about the new tools in the "What tools did you buy lately" thread, but here I can tell you about the adventure with solid wood top, back and underside - that's the top of the base cabinets, the back between the lower and upper cabinets, and the underside of the upper cabinets. I can't use plywood for these because the hutch is over 8' long (123" to be exact), and I can't have seams in these pieces. When pricing the project I got a quote from my hardwood supplier for gluing up these three panels, which totaled about $600, of which $360 was for the labor. What they didn't mention, however, was the 2 weeks I would have to wait for it. So... When I went to order the three glue-up pieces, expecting it would take a couple of days, I was a bit thrown back on hearing "They'll be ready in a couple of weeks". Well, that just won't due.

What to do? What to do? Okay, this is not a problem. All I have to do is get the wood and glue them up myself. For that I need a jointer and a biscuit joiner. The way I see it, I already have $360 for the labor I won't have to pay for. So, I got me self a jointer and a biscuit joiner and did my own glue-ups.

Joining 12' long boards on a jointer with a 40" bed (or is it 36"? I don't recall) requires a little enginuity. I used a few nice, straight boards to extend the jointer bed to 26' long!

Now I saw Norm Abram join wood before, so I know how it's done. After getting one edge true, simply run it through the table saw to get the other edge perfectly parallel.

 

[ToolGuy]

Then, when I have all my edges "purty darn near perfect"...

I stand mark 'em so my biscuits line up, and use my new biscuits joiner to cut some slots for the biscuits.

With all the slots cut I stand 'em on edge, just like Norm did, squirt some glue in the slots, and squish the biscuits into the glue.

 

[ToolGuy]

Here's a close up of a biscuit, for those who may be wondering what the heck I'm talking about.

And finally, the mess I create when I get going on a project. Notice the assembly line I have setup - first I run one edge through the jointer however many times till it's true, then I run it through the table saw to get the other edge true, then they go onto the table for final assembly. You can see the 18" wide piece for the (back splash?), which I just finished gluing up, is laying flat on the table. The piece leaned up on edge is 15" wide for the bottom of the upper cabinets, and the top of the lower cabinets is already cut and set in place.

You'll also notice what was the upper cabinets (see my previous post) are now stacked to the side and serving as a convenient place to shelve my tools. They just weren't gonna work and I'm doing the upper shelves differently. I'll keep ya posted.

 

[inspectorD]

Very nice job. Now where are your safety glasses with the joint er. How will I ever save the world with jokers like you out there messing up the whole works. Jeez.

Hey, guess what...I have a surprise for ya. You can get 10 foot sheets of plywood in most grades. We have used them at my buddies shop for very tall built-ins and end panels. Although they do take a couple of days to get ,they may help out next time.This time is still to short. Besides, I think you are better off with a wood top. Better life.

Great job you are doing...on the job and with this post.

 

[ToolGuy]

To be honest, safety glasses slightly impare my vision and I consider that way more hazardous than the jointer. After all, it doesn't throw any chips or anything. Likewise with the table saw, the safety cover is my safety glasses.

On the other hand, if I ever need to take the safety cover off the table saw, the safety glasses go on. Also, you'll never see me using a nailer, circular saw, sledge hammer on concrete, or doing any other type of work which has the potential of hazardous flying material without wearing my safety glasses.

Oh, and I am wearing safety glasses when using the biscuit joiner.

 

[ToolGuy]

Here you can see the back is installed. It measures 18" tall and will support the upper cabinet.

Then I build the upper section and had my customer help me lift it into place. The side panels are rabbeted into the cabinets, so plenty solid. The whole upper section rests on the back panel (above photo) and the side panels. I'll also fasten it to the ceiling joist before I close everything in.

Oh, and the board clamped to the middle lower cabinet is to see how a 3" skirt would look. I trimmed out the bottoms yesterday but didn't have my camera with me. Today I'll trim out the uppers.

 

[ToolGuy]

Hey Folks, just wanna let you know I'm starting a new woodworking project. I will be building a 10' wide built-in hutch. It will be wall-to-wall in a 10' wide space. The two center doors of the upper cabinets will be glass with lighting inside. Also, it will be painted a satin finish oil enamel.

Question: Should I use maple or birch?

Above is the original post, dated 11/29/07. Of course, I did several other projects during this one, but now it's completed. Check it out...

 

[ToolGuy]

 

[inspectorD]

That is a nice cabinet, I like the halogens inside. To nice for the room it's in.
Ahhhh completion...now the check please.

One more for the scrapbook.

 

[guyod]

Very nice tool guy. If you dont mind me asking what did materials cost and what did you charge?