This winter's woodworking projects

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This winter's woodworking projects
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tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45674
Location: Essex

Posted: Thu Nov 03, 16 7:29 pm Post subject: This winter's woodworking projects

Got loads to do, but the one I need advice on is the following:

Cupboard with sliding wooden doors. The carcass will be 25mm melamine faced ply, the sliding doors (I was imagining 2 tracks top and bottom of carcass) will be in 9mm ply.

Will 10mm grooves be OK for the 9mm doors? How much gap do I need to leave between the two grooves (and the front edge) to avoid splintering?

Full list of jobs:

#1 Full nursery furniture for wife's niece
#2 Fitted wardrobes and bedsides for eldest daughter
#3 Add doors/drawers to study (the one in bamboo ply that I needed to cut to size)
#4 Dining table, I've trimmed my (local cherry) boards to size, need to thickness them. Wife's brother will be making the metal base.
#5 bathroom cabinet (as query above, using waste from study).
#6 chopping boards from dining table offcuts
#7 cherry/walnut coffee table for my niece (all offcuts)

Quite a lot of the above is in prefinished ply as we just don't have the time to finish birch ply to a standard we're happy with for all those jobs.

I also need to prune 300+ apple trees.

Not a chance in hell of all that lot happening, but don't tell my wife.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46234
Location: yes

Posted: Fri Nov 04, 16 12:03 am Post subject:

re sliding doors it should be ok so long as the ply is very stable 1mm of warp and it will stick. a bit of extra groove will still look ok and avoids jams from warping or grit.a quick rub of wax in the groove will help the door slide well. the vertical measuring/cutting/construction also needs to be accurate and have enough clearance for a easy slide long lasting job.

re melamine ,tis a beast to cut and keep tidy. there should be online stuff about how to use it as pre stuck to a base board or as sheet to stick on . i have done a few jobs with it and find it a very tricky material to work with unless you get pre cut factory stuck on stuff and don�t have any adjustments to make. mitres, joints and edging strips can all be a nightmare even with a full joinery workshop.
as a bench joining material (or shop fitting surface

one counter,3 goes, 3 sheets, third time lucky

) i dont like it.

iirc any dust should be considered at least a mid range chemical hazard.

if you have to glue it use a semi adjustable impact adhesive, the one touch and it stays forever ( or until you chip it off in bits with a chisel

) is not to be recommended.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46234
Location: yes

Posted: Fri Nov 04, 16 12:06 am Post subject:
ps the hardwood stuff is a doddle compared to melamine.

Slim

Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6612
Location: New England (In the US of A)

Posted: Fri Nov 04, 16 11:06 am Post subject:

dpack wrote:

a quick rub of wax in the groove will help the door slide well.

I'd have thought soap would be a bit less "sticky" than wax for that usage. (but I've never built cabinets)

On a tangent since Tahir brought up apple pruning, how late in the season do you have to get your pruning done by over there? We can go at least in to March, if not later. Is your pruning season cut shorter by an earlier arrival of spring?

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45674
Location: Essex

Posted: Fri Nov 04, 16 11:12 am Post subject:

Dpack

We'll be getting all the melanine face stuff cut, I don't want to be messing with it.

Slim

To be honest it's pot luck with weather in the UK nowadays, last year the trees were still in leaf in December. I'll be starting in January and going on till bud burst, whenever that may be.

Because of my erratic pruning I reckon 30 trees in a full day is the most I can manage. But I very rarely get a full day out there.

Pilsbury

Joined: 13 Dec 2004
Posts: 5645
Location: East london/Essex

Posted: Fri Nov 04, 16 11:42 am Post subject:
Would you be interested in teaching someone how to prune fruit trees? I'm not sure I will ever getvthe chance to have my own but it's certianly a skill I would like to learn and I find it hard to learn stuff off you tube...

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45674
Location: Essex

Posted: Fri Nov 04, 16 12:27 pm Post subject:

In principle, yeah I wouldn't mind.

Problem I always have is knowing what I'll be doing when I get up on Saturday morning. There might be jobs that the missus has been doing during the week that need finishing off, might have to run kids around, might be too wet to work outside, so difficult to plan.

As an example, as far as I knew till yesterday I was staying in tonight and straight to work tomorrow morning, it now turns out we're at a aprty tonight and then her little bruv's dropping of his 4 kids at 8:00 on Saturday which could mean all sorts of trouble

mousjoos

Joined: 05 Jun 2006
Posts: 1986
Location: VERY Sunny SW France

Posted: Sat Nov 05, 16 3:44 pm Post subject:
Consider fitting beading to guide your ply doors in place of grooves in melamine faced anything True, it can be fiddly, but even a bead between just the two doors can make things easier. Dimensions of the finished article would help when asking advice in this instance as "unframed" ply of 9mm thick may be prone to sagging or bowing, if too long

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45674
Location: Essex

Posted: Sat Nov 05, 16 4:56 pm Post subject:
Sliders will be around 700x450

mousjoos

Joined: 05 Jun 2006
Posts: 1986
Location: VERY Sunny SW France

Posted: Sun Nov 06, 16 11:34 am Post subject:
At that size I personally would make a simple mitred frame around the ply panels & create a slot on the top & bottom edges of the frame to slide along a guide that is fixed along the corresponding sides if the opening. IF this doesn't make sense I will try to explain more clearly once I've worked out how

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45674
Location: Essex

Posted: Sun Nov 06, 16 1:11 pm Post subject:
I think I understand, thanks as always

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Sun Nov 06, 16 6:53 pm Post subject:
And yet you still have time to gad about watching The Bard of Barking. (Are you in work all day tomorrow? I've no real idea what my plans are, but I'll be near you.)

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45674
Location: Essex

Posted: Sun Nov 06, 16 9:31 pm Post subject:
I'll be at work from 12ish I reckon

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Sun Nov 06, 16 9:44 pm Post subject:

tahir wrote:

I'll be at work from 12ish I reckon

I'm not planning on leaving home much before 10.30. I gave up working full days some years ago.

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45674
Location: Essex

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 16 2:25 pm Post subject:
MJ, a few questions I've decided to go with hinged doors (this is on the small unit with the single drawer above) I'm leaving 3mm gap between carcass and door, is that OK? How much gap do I need to allow between doors? Should the doors be in 25mm or 18mm (I will have both thicknesses available)? I've attached the plans Click to download file

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