Kitchen cabinet redux version 1.0

[EdoHart]

After much thought and inspiration from others on this site I finally decided to actually do something about the small cabinet doors I had in the kitchen side of my Hawk. I bought 2 24x48X1/2 inch pieces of birch finish grade plywood (for the front piece, the 2 doors and the 4 sides of the drawer), 1/2 pint of Minwax Cherry 235 stain, 1/2 pint of Minwax Polycrylic finish, and 2 door latchs for about $50 total.

The 1/4 inch plywood used for the bottom of the drawer and the interior of the cabinet, hinges, drawer handle, knobs, 5/16 machine thread eyebolts, 5/16 machine thread wood inserts for the eyebolts, corner braces, wood screws, cargo netting, and mini bungee cords were all either left over or recycled from other projects or taken from the original camper. Which explains why the hinges are chrome and everything else is brass.

Every thing is screwed together except for the drawer which is glued. The drawer took the longest to build because I don't have enough clamps to do all four sides in one day. The dividers in the drawer are screwed into place.

I'm calling this version 1.0 because even as I was building it I was envisioning version 1.1, 1.2, 2.0, etcetera, but I figured I had to start somewhere and field test it to decide what I like and don't like. I'm leaving for a week to the Sierras early Sunday morning.

The first picture shows the new cabinet in front of the old cabinet to give a comparison of the size of the openings. As you can see I didn't get the color of the stain right. It looked good under florescent lights, but not in sunlight.

The second picture shows the protection I built for the electric water pump and sink drain (the later is hard to see, but it's there) as well as the dividers to stow most of my kitchen stuffl.

The third picture shows what else I can put in the cabinet.

The last picture shows the drawer, which is 1/4" deeper, 1/2" inch wider, and about 6" longer than the original. I re-used the drawer slide, handle and safety catch from the original drawer.

 

[Dave Johnson]

Ed,
Good work, these things are meant to be customized. You are going to love the extra special storage.

 

[SunMan]

Nice work, I definitely like the divders in the drawer/under the sink.

 

[flinchlock]

I also like the divders in the drawer/under the sink.

BUT, my wife says I must do work on our house before I can customize the camper.

Mike

 

[DLN]

Looks nice, I like the improved access and storage under the sink. I've puzzled over what to do to improve that space and door, but haven't taken any action on it yet. Stain matching is very tricky, it usually turns out to be trail and error and error and then compromise. Best of Luck.

 

[Mark W. Ingalls]

Stain matching is very tricky, it usually turns out to be trial and error and error and then compromise.

I usually take a representative sample of the color I want to match to an art supply store and get a tube of acrylic paint. (OK, sometimes I have to mix two or three colors, but not often.) It's water soluble so I can easily create translucent colors to match the existing materials around my projects. After the color dries, I apply a protective top coat of varnish or lacquer.

Hope this helps...

 

[EdoHart]

Drawer Construction

Something good to know which DLN shared with me via PM...
Once again, nice first version of the base cab. It shows how much space is available under the sink if you can create access to it. One thing I'd suggest, and I hope you don't mind, is to change the drawer construction for a stronger finish product. Draw sides should extend past both the front and back so the connections, whether they are screws, staples, or nails are stressed in shear instead of tension when the draw is slammed shut repeatedly. I would always use a mechanical fastener in addition to glue for the redundancy. Also you will be able hide the end grain of the plywood for a cleaner look. I didn't want to post this on the forum for the chance that it could be taken as criticism, which it is not.

 

[Yukon]

More Ideas

Here's what I did in my Eagle Shell. Made cabinets myself which gave me lots of options. The doors frames are made of oak. Took 1X2 stock and planed it down to 5/16 thickness to reduce weight. The panels are oak veneer plywood and only 1/4 inch thick...also light.

Notice that I didn't put a bottom on the cabinet. Didn't want to loose that 6 inch storage space on bottom of camper. But, it is weierd putting stuff in that space. Solved by creating wooden boxes (like drawers) which are the exact size of the bottom of cabinet (see picture) and which slide left or right. Thus, I can put cans etc. under those sliding drawers (3 ea) in the 6" space below and still have easy access.

Enjoying everyone's ideas. Chris

 

[mtn-high]

Great thread. Lots of work/heart going into this....

And hey...I hope that such "design improvements" won't ever be viewed as a slight on the current build process, DLN. There's always room for improvement..or should be.

This thought is also in the same vein. As an ex-machinist, I still have a very good eye for detail and "square"...and that thing they call tolerance in that realm..usually in the "1/1000ths of an inch".

In regards to the cabinetry in the FWC units...I was surprised to see that the cutouts for the cabinets/drawers are obviously done with a router/by hand rather than with a CNC machine/etc. These cuts would be much cleaner/square if they were performed on a CNC. At the very least the current jig used could use some work as some of those cuts are kinda *sketchy*. A good shop could stack a bunch of those on the CNC deck and cut em all @ the same time...each being exactly the same as the next. Again..just a thought...and knowing the biz a bit 'cus my bro is still in it... I'd wager there's a machine shop in Sac/nearby that would also appreciate the work.

On the "wife" side of things, the lack of finished edges in some spots on the cabinetry (lowest/square compartment w/no door comes to mind immediately) was the FIRST thing she saw when she stepped in the unit. It isn't *much* of a fudge..but for her..it stuck out like a sore thumb. I have a feeling I'll be re-edging all drawers @ some point...but we shall see.

cool remodel Edohart. Thanks for sharing

mtn