Our rental house is located in a little town of around 5000 people and is located about 35 miles from M.T. Acres.  Every year, after Halloween the population more than doubles due to all of the snowbirds with their stupid RVs coming in.

I should be thankful for the snowbirds because they keep the cost of living dirt cheap.  But they drive me absolutely crazy!  Most of them can barely drive a car, let alone a 50 foot motorhome.

Our one little grocery store is built to support about 5000 people.  When we get double that, there is no good time to go buy food.  Plus these idiot snowbirds see other idiot snowbirds while shopping and they have to stop and block the aisle while they carry on a long drawn out conversation, even if their motorhomes are parked right next to each other at the RV park!

Plus, I am pretty sure most of the snowbirds must be Democrats because all they do is take up a lot of space and do not provide anything useful.

Thus, even though I am getting pretty tired from the build, I was thrilled to be able to get away from the RV chaos and enjoy the peace and quiet of M.T. Acres this week.

I began by building the face frames for the base cabinets in the kitchen.  I decided to do these a little different.  Rather than building separate face frames for each cabinet, I decided to make adjoining cabinets share a single face frame.  Once the countertops are installed, it will make them look all one big cabinet.

These types of face frames are a little trickier (and slower) to build because they have to be glued up in steps.  But the end result is worth the pain.

With this particular face frame, I made the frame for the corner cabinet separately.

Then I built the face frames for the sink cabinet and end cabinet.

Once the face frames were good and dry, we glued them onto the cabinets.  That was very messy process because it requires a LOT of glue, which tends to run and drip.  But with the help of several clamps and few finishing nails, we got everything set perfectly.

The sink and end cabinets were much easier because we had so many more drawer glides that worked well as reference points for where the frame needed to go.

Tina also got the big oven cabinet that I built last weekend finished.  So we were able to get that into place.

The propane tank is not yet hooked up so even though we have air conditioning, we cannot yet heat the place with the furnace.  So we decided to get the wood stove installed.  That turned out to be more of a job than either of us anticipated.

The stove pipes have to be double walled due to the proximity of the living room walls.  The outer pipe is just sheet steel but the inner pipe is stainless.  That means they are A – heavy and B – VERY expensive – over $50 per foot!

There is an adapter piece that goes on the stove and another that goes on the ceiling box.  Those were both time consuming to install properly, but not terribly difficult.

The first pipe we installed was a 2 foot section coming down from the ceiling box.  The pipe weighs about 30 pounds, which does not sound like much.  But since we only have one ladder tall enough to reach the ceiling, trying to hold a 30 pound pipe in place with one arm and drill and screw the pipe with the other, while swaying around on the top of a ladder was just not working.

Tina must have been married to me for too long, because this time she did the 3rd world engineering and came up with a great idea that solved the problem!  We screwed a bucket to the end of a 2×4.  Then I was able to position the pipe exactly where I needed it and she could hold it for me, allowing me to use 2 hands for installing the screws!

Once we go that done, the rest went pretty quick.

Finally, I was able to get started on the vanity for the master bath.  I am making from quartersawn White Oak rather than the rift-sawn Red Oak we used in the kitchen.  Also, because it is going to look more like a piece of furniture rather than a cabinet, the layouts for cutting it are a little tricky.

I was able to figure out most of the dimensions and get the main parts cut.  But until driving back to rental house this afternoon, I was still trying to work out how the joinery will work.

I think I have most of it figured out now.  Normally when I build cabinets, I start from the back and build towards the face frame.  With this one however, I am going to build the face frame and legs first, then build the cabinet to fit the face.

Tina also got started varnishing the face frames in the kitchen base cabinets.

Lastly, we had the electrician come by today and look at what he needs to do to get the ovens and range hood installed.  Also, there are several switches and outlets that still need to be hooked up as well as getting the Cat-5 and Coax hooked up so we can pass the final inspection.  So, hopefully within the next few weeks he can get that done.  And we are going to start looking for somebody to do the countertops.

Building a kitchen is an exercise in patience and planning.  Each cabinet has to be built individually and fitted to the cabinet or wall or appliance next to it.  But until all of the cabinets are done and all of the appliances arrive, you never really know what the finished product is going to look like.  This was the week all of that came together.

I started by building the last cabinet for the kitchen.  Unfortunately, I saved the toughest one for last – the cabinet to hold Tina’s double ovens.  I am glad I waited to start this one until we had the actual ovens here because the cabinet dimensions are actually quite a bit more flexible than the online documentation for it would lead you to believe.

Even so, just the size of this beast made it a challenge to build.  It is 32 inches wide, 26 inches deep and 94 inches tall.  The ovens weigh just shy of 400 pounds, so the cabinet also needs to be really strong as well.

Obviously, the dimensions of the sides and back are far too big for 2 people to manage cutting accurately on a tablesaw.  So I machined the whole thing by hand.

To start with, I needed to cut the side and back to width.  Unfortunately, the longest straight edge I have is 52 inches.  So I went to the local hardware store to buy an 8 foot piece of angle iron.  But the longest angle iron they had was 6 foot.  While talking with the proprietor and explaining what I was trying to do, he came up with a suggestion…  He loaned me (without charge) the store straight edge that went to a full 9 feet!

Score!

With this baby I was easily able to make the 3 accurate cuts with my circular saw that I needed to make on the sides and back.  (Note: I made sure to clean it up really well before I brought it back as well as lubricate it with a dry lubricant, which it desperately needed.)

Next up was cutting the dados for the top and 2 bottoms.

For that I just used a straight-cut router bit with a brass template guide in the router.  Then I was able to just clamp a couple of scrap pieces of plywood where I wanted the dado and route away.  I did a similar setup for the rabbit on the back.

I should have done the same thing when routing the dado for the top of the cabinet.  But I figured I could just use the edge guide for my router since the top dado was only 1 1/2 inches from the top.  I was about halfway through the first cut when the edge guide gave way and my dado curved down.  That is why the cabinet is 94 inches instead of 96 inches.

The glue-up was also not a whole lot of fun just due to the size.  So I took it in steps glueing a few pieces and letting them dry for a full hour before moving onto the next phase.

Because of the weight of the ovens, I decided to glue extra 3/4 inch pieces of plywood under the bottom that will hold the ovens.

The face frame was easy enough to build, but due to its size, it had to be glued up on the floor.

Finally, we were able to get the face frame glued on as well as the crown moulding.

In short, this was the biggest case piece I have ever built and I am no hurry to do it again.  But it turned out pretty good.

Tina cleaned up the saw marks that I missed in my initial sanding and got the first coat of varnish on it today.  Per usual, she is making my mediocre workmanship look outstanding.

The other major (and minor) accomplishments the week…

Tina got the center island for the kitchen finished.  It came out great.

Then, we got the top cabinets all hung and permanently mounted as well as got the base cabinets all set and sized with the appliances to make sure everything fits.  So far, everything is fitting perfectly!

(The color difference between the base cabinets and the top cabinets is due to my taking the photo late in the day.  The sunset is reflecting off the top cabinets and the bottoms are just ambient light.)

A major concern of mine was whether the cooktop would fit the cabinet I built for it.  I built the cabinet before we had the cooktop so I just used the specs from the website.  That was fine, but there were a couple of measurements that I had not noticed until after I had built the cabinet.  So we test fit it as best we could using a couple scraps of 3/4 inch plywood to simulate the countertop.

It will fit with plenty of room to spare.

Lastly, we got the pain-in-the-neck pocket door hung in the master closet.

This was the week that all of the work we have been doing for the last month finally came together and we could actually see what it is going to look like when we are done.  It seems fitting this should happen the weekend before Thanksgiving since that is the holiday we celebrate the hard work we have done in the past year and God’s gifts to us through those tribulations.

A happy and blessed Thanksgiving to all of you!

We only had about a day and a half working at M.T. Acres this week and Tina was definitely the star of the show this week!

First, her appliances were finally delivered Friday.  (That is only 3 weeks later than they said they would be delivered. – Which was 2 weeks later than I asked them to be delivered.)  The delay did not really slow us down much, I just wanted to have the actual appliances when I was building the base cabinets to verify they would fit.

The cooktop and range hood are in the 2 boxes.  I was too afraid to test fit the cooktop into its cabinet as that is the one I most concerned about.  But I will have to do that next week.

Tina decided to take on laying the floor “tile” in the shower of the master bathroom.

Rather than using traditional tile, we went with river rock.  They took actual river rocks and sliced them about 3/8″ thick.  Since the rocks are too small to be easily cut with a tile saw, they have to be laid out by hand fitting smaller rocks into the gaps.  It is a very tedious process.

Once she got them all laid out, she carefully took them out and put them on black plastic in the exact way she laid them out.

Then she put down a really heavy layer of thinset and set them back in.

Because they are natural stone, they had to be sealed before grouting.  So she put 2 coats of the sealer on today.  The sealer makes them look wet all the time.  They came out looking incredibly nice!

Because she had to put down such a thick layer of thinset, some of the thinset squeezed up between the rocks.  So we might have to chip some of that out before she grouts it.  But that is not too big of a deal and it really looks sharp.

For my part, I did a lot of busy work this weekend.

I started by finishing up the carcass for the kitchen island.

While the glue was drying on the carcass, I made the corner mouldings for it.

Then I made the face frame and got it and the mouldings glued onto the cabinet.

While that was drying, I decided to hang a couple more finished cabinets in the kitchen and see if the refrigerator fit.

It fit perfect with about 1/2 inch to spare!

By then the kitchen island was dry so we brought it in and test fit it with the electric wires.

Perfect fit!

We also finally got the hardware from the builder to be able to hang the pocket door on the master bedroom closet after asking for them for about 3 months.

I bought the door from Homely Despot about 3 months ago and never even opened the box to look at it.  I wish I had because I would have taken it back.  The veneer is about as thick as a sheet of paper and the core of the door is made of genuine cardboard!

The veneer is so thin that even cutting it with a razor sharp bench chisel, it still peels up.

Hopefully, Tina can clean that up a little bit when she varnishes it, but if not, oh well.  The door is going to be open 99% of the time anyway so it will not show.

The little bit of actual wood that was part of the door was also all split.  So we spent close to an hour putting glue in the splits with a toothpick and clamping it together.

All in all, I am pretty unhappy with Homely Despot and will not buying anything more from them if I can possibly avoid it.

Lastly, for ages men have wondered: “How did cats learn to make that ‘meow’ noise”?

Answer: By running them through a bandsaw!

My goal for this weekend was to get the carcass for the center island in the kitchen built.  I mostly accomplished my goal, but I also made a lot of really dumb mistakes along the way too.

Tina set out to get the final 3 coats of varnish on the top cabinets and they came out GREAT!

The way she does the finishing is to first sand the bare wood with 220 grit sandpaper.  After wiping off the dust with a tack rag, she puts on 2 thin coats of varnish.  Then sands them with 400 grit sandpaper and puts on the last 2 coats.

Saturday afternoon, she came out to my shop and told me she was having some trouble with the palm sander.  It was stopping intermittently but would then start up again.  A few minutes later she came out and told me it started shooting sparks at her.

At least this one died like a palm sander should.

When we were building the kitchen cabinets for our Minnesota house, she killed a palm sander exactly like the one pictured above by sanding through the cord.  To this day, I have no idea how she did it because she caught it right next to where the cord goes into the housing.

Since we have an anniversary coming up this month, I wonder how she would feel about a new palm sander for an anniversary present?

One night last week we went into Tucson and picked up some more wood for the kitchen cabinets and got the wood for the bathroom cabinets.  So my first task was to rearrange my wood pile.

So I put the black walnut for the guest bathroom on the bottom.

Then came the quarter sawn white oak for the master bathroom.

The original plan was to do the master bathroom with hickory.  But the hickory they had looked like crap.  It looked like it had gotten really wet, then dried.  It was all stained and not single board ran straight for more than 12 inches.  So we settled on white oak, but I think it will look good.

Then I got a few more pieces of rift-sawn red oak because as the design of the kitchen has evolved the last few weeks, we added quite a few more drawers than I originally anticipated.

Finally, I added the red oak I had and the poppel for the drawer bodies.  I might need to get a little more poppel, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it because I do not want to have much poppel left over because I do not use it making furniture.

Lastly, I had to get the plywood for the master bathroom cabinets and a couple more sheets to finish out the kitchen.

Then it was onto constructing the center kitchen island.

When most guys build a center island, they build a false bottom.  Then they screw the false bottom to the floor and set the cabinet over the false bottom and screw the two together.  But I am not “most guys”.

This center island needs to be rigid and strong.  Not just strong, but as my good friend Harold says, “It has to pass the elephant test”.  I.E. It needs to be strong enough to hold an elephant sitting on it.  So I decided to build the entire thing from 3/4″ plywood rather than just the sides with no false bottom and all as one piece, strengthened with oak where needed.

Tina wants the lower part of the cabinet to have 2 doors and pull-out shelves.  She plans on filling it with plates and china etc.  That is, really heavy stuff.  So I decided to go with 200 pound drawer glides for the shelves.

Since the cabinet is a full 48 inches wide, I decided that an extra piece of 3/4″ plywood down the middle will help keep the shelves from warping and also, effectively double the weight the cabinet will hold.

The problem is, the electrical for the switch and outlet going in the right side of the cabinet comes through the floor right in the center of the cabinet near the front.  So I had to work that out.

The first step was to cut the sides and the center piece, then plow the dados for glueing the oak to hold the drawer glides.

That is where I introduced my first “operator error”.  Because the dados on both side of the center piece are each 1/4″ deep, it means there is only 1/4″ of plywood left in the middle.  Therefore, when I glued the drawer glide mounts, I had to be really careful to keep even pressure on the clamps or the plywood would warp.

I, apparently, was not careful enough because when we went to assemble it, the center piece of plywood was bent like a noodle.  We were able to make it work because it fits into a dado in the back of the cabinet and will be glued to the face frame in front.  But what a chore that was!

I also made a bad cut on the back of the cabinet.  I had to cut a 3/4″ wide by 1/4″ deep dado on the top and bottom of the back to hold the top and bottom of the cabinet.  Because the back is 47″ wide, I knew I should have cut them by had with a router, but I used my table saw instead.  When cutting the bottom dado, I was about 2/3 of the way through the cut and I got the back jammed up on the table saw fence.  So I tore out about 1/8″ of veneer on the inside bottom.

It will never show because it is in the inside back of the cabinet and the bottom shelf will hide the mistake.  But I know it is there.

The next step was glue up.  Glue up is where everything comes together or it doesn’t.  Since this cabinet had been fighting me every step of the way, I was sure something was going to go horribly wrong during glue up and I would have to start over.

We did it in phases and it went surprisingly smooth.

The first step was to glue the center piece in and get it perfectly square.

I thought that I should also glue the other top piece in at the same time, but when I checked it with my square everything was perfect.  Not wanting to tempt fate with this one, I decided to let these two pieces set up before proceeding.

Next up was to get the side and bottom of the left half done.

Normally, I take the clamps off after 20-30 minutes, but I left these on for a full hour because I wanted it good and dry.

Once that was done, glueing up the right side was easy.

The notch you see in the bottom is where the electrical will come through.

The last part to finishing the carcass was to make a piece of oak that goes across the top of the toe kick and fashion a couple of pine boards that I can mount the toe kick trim to.

I measured carefully.  I cut carefully.  I even carefully cut a dado to give some added strength to the center plywood.  I test fit it and everything fit perfectly.  Then I promptly glued the pine to the wrong side of the oak.

It was at that point that I decided to end the day, even if it was a little early and I was not completely done with everything I had set out to do.  Making rookie mistakes like this are a sure sign that I am about to ruin more material or cut off a finger.

So we packed it in and went back to the rental house.  I took a much needed shower and then a nap.