My furniture building skills are pretty much limited to building and customising flat pack furniture but I am dead set on building something from scratch to get exactly what I need due to space restraints.
In terms of materials, I have gone by what is available from my local B&Q because they have sizes and prices listed online (as well as size restraints I am trying to work to a budget) but I am not fixed on the materials, know nothing about their properties, and can adjust my plans within quite flexible tollerances as long as the overall size of the unit doesn't increase by much.
My plans for the main unit have been based around using...
18mm thick Laminated Pine furniture board for the sides, top, lower two small shelves and lower support "strut".
15mm thick Conti board White for the 3 main shelves. though I assume this stuff is actually 'white' so I would really be after something more 'woody'
12mm thick plywood for the back of the unit and the base of the drawer.
12.5mm thick redwood PSE for the sides of the drawer and the drawer runners.
14.5mm thick redwood PMV for the drawer front and back.
Mainly I'm happy in my mind about the dimensions rather than the materials themselves. I was planning on dowelling and glueing as my main means of joining it all up.
I also intend making a couple of doors by making frames and inlaying some 4mm thick "lattice"? but I haven't got round to drawing them up, mainly because I don't fancy doing the lattice on sketchup.
Lots of advice required really. Is it ok to mix and match materials or will it lead to inconsistant results? I'd prefer to avoid using just MDF because I'd like to keep weight down though it would/could provide a saving on budget. I was planning on staining/painting the exterior.
In terms of tools, I have access to a circular saw, a jigsaw, a workmate, some old chisels and a couple of old planes. I was thinking about buying a power planar to do the rebates on the door frames as well as for tidying up "stuff". I guess I will need some clamps/cramps but don't know which would be most useful or how many. I have some other projects I will have to do due to the same size restraints and being unable to find furniture that fits what I need so I don't mind investing a little money in tools. In order of priority the AV cabinet comes first.
Any advice on my choice of materials, the plans, suggestions for tools, techniques gratefully recieved.
... an after thought. There is a company called Champion Timber which has a few local outlets but it's unclear from their website if they're a trade only "yard". Anyone with experience of them? They say that they do the first two cuts free so I assume that if I made a complete list of all the parts for my unit they might be able to save me some time by having a lot of the parts already sized up .... which would be nice.
Why dont you contact them to find out wether or not they are trade only. I doubt it as they offer 2 free cuts, which is normally only available in outlets that are open to trade and public.
Secondly, save yourself some money and forget the power planer. You won't rebate successfully with one of those, and you will make a huge mess of you careful work very quickly if you aren't experienced in their use.
Thirdly, I would suggest avoiding the mixing of materials. Stick to your pine boards and I think this will be an easier job, as well as being better looking. Contiboard (MFC) is actually quite hard to use successfully. Joints aren't straight forward as the endgrain is so weak, and the stuff sags horribly. If you do this job reasonably well, you won't need to cover it in paint. Some Danish oil or some wax and this will look loads better!
Old chisels and old planes.........fine! The older they are the better the steel seems to be..........just sharpen them up well and you're away!
Best of luck with it.......and don't be afraid to ask. There are always lots of people here who will help with advice.
I agree with Mike's point on the power planer. It sounds like you could do with a router though... These things will allow you to do almost anything with the right jigs - rebating, moulding, tenonning, morticing, the list goes on...!
Have you ever tried dowelling before? It's not that easy to get them lined up correctly and if they're out it can make a real mess of your work. Biscuit jointing would be the better option as they allow for a little 'play' in the alignment. While you could also cut some biscuit slots with the router, looking at this job, you would still need a dedicated machine for cutting in to the face of the sides, for example.
Why dont you contact them to find out wether or not they are trade only. I doubt it as they offer 2 free cuts, which is normally only available in outlets that are open to trade and public. Al
Cheers, I will give them a call it was just that I was writing that at nearly one last night.
Mike and OPJ, thanks for the welcome and thanks for the advice. A router would certainly be more flexible than the planar but my skill level with either would be the same, ie nil, are routers easier to get along with? I think I would need some sort of base to work off for the router but it would have to be something I could clamp in the workmate.
Changing all the shelving to 18mm pine board wouldn't be a major change, only in terms of price but certainly livable.
Don't get too worried about using a router, they are comparatively easy to use, just practice a bit with some spare board, anything as long as you make a cut or two.
You don't need to buy the sort of tools that we on this site are used to having, cheapo
router from your local diy shop or maybe screwfix will do the job for you, once you get used to the use of it, you will want to upgrade, but then we all do that.
Good luck, you'll get plenty of good advice on her I can guarantee.
the router is a bit of a can of worms if you don't have a workshop and a bench. To cut the grooves you would need to make the doors, you would need a router table and a set of winged cutters. Neither are cheap, but actually, I can't see an obvious alternative way of doing it. There is not a huge amount of skill involved in using a router in a table, but there are some really important safety lessons to learn. I don't know where you will find the proper instructions.
The ply for the back and for drawer bases can be 6mm (12 would just be too much)........and I hate myself for saying it, MDF would be cheaper. Your drawer fronts and doors should be made from ex 25mm stuff: anything less looks cheap and flimsy, and could be prone to twisting.
Thanks Derek, cheapo router sounds just the ticket for now. Would it be possible to make a simple table top for the router that could be clamped in the workmate or would I be better going for something like this table and router package
Mike, is this the thing you meant by winged cutters? wing slot cutters
6mm for the back sounds right as well, looking at Champions brochure I see they have hardboard, would that be better for the back and drawer bottom? Also comes in 6mm. When you say choosing MDF, did you mean just for the drawer and doors?
Have you ever tried dowelling before? It's not that easy to get them lined up correctly and if they're out it can make a real mess of your work. Biscuit jointing would be the better option as they allow for a little 'play' in the alignment. While you could also cut some biscuit slots with the router, looking at this job, you would still need a dedicated machine for cutting in to the face of the sides, for example.
I've bought one of those dowel guide kits which I was planning on adding a clamp to and doing a bit of practice but I'll keep the biscuits in mind if the practice doesn't go well.
At that price I'd go for it, it will be easier than trying to make something simple, by all means make somethging later when you are in the swing, then you can have the most de-luxe set-up ever.
Butting in here, either hardboard or mdf. for the back, 6mm. for the back, and 3mm. for drawer bottoms etc.
router cutters here by Wealden but you will need the appropriate arbor and spacers too.
Derek is right about the 3mm drawer bottoms.....but my guess is you were trying to keep to one sheet to do both the back and drawer bottoms, in which case 6mm is the best compromise. Otherwise, his thicknesses are spot on. When I said MDF, I was suggesting just in place of the ply on your shopping list.
Derek is right about the 3mm drawer bottoms.....but my guess is you were trying to keep to one sheet to do both the back and drawer bottoms, in which case 6mm is the best compromise.
Yes, trying to get as much from one sheet as I can. By my maths I can get all the wood for the main unit from just 3 sheets.
'arbor and spacers' ... I have a lot to learn
With the table I have linked to above is the router attached on the bottom facing up and then you move the wood along it or does it just hold the wood in place and you move the router above by hand? I'm thinking it would be easier to move the wood rather than the router for long straight lines.
an arbor is simply a shaft (with a thread and nut) onto which you fit the winged cutter, and the spacers are basically washers of various dimensions to locate the cutter up the shaft. They are all there somewhere in the Wealden catalogue.......there are lots of other suppliers too........
You will also need a bearing depth stop/ guide. This should be on the same page as the above, and stops you trying to dig too deep a groove with the cutter. On a 1/4" router you will probably be limited to around 1/2" depth of cut with this combination of arbor and cutter, and that is plenty enough for most circumstances.
The router table and cutter etc sit still, and you push the work over it. In other words, the work moves, the machine doesn't.
The router table and cutter etc sit still, and you push the work over it. In other words, the work moves, the machine doesn't.
Just what I wanted to hear. If I can set all the different guages etc then I think I will be less likely to make a mess of it than if I was swinging the router about with intent. The router linked to isn't sold seperately so I can't see what its specs are but I at least have a better idea now of what my project could do with and the relative costs. I'll start with the cutters and work up from there. I may use the router to bevel the edges of the unit as well but will start with rebating and work from there.
A thought has occured, the height of the unit is going to be approx 1600mm and it will be 566mm x 500mm, will it be stable? The contents will be AV equipment and so not particularly heavy, max 12kg on the top shelf and 5kg each on the next two shelves with the smaller shelves carrying very minimal weight and the drawer being used for gaming accessories like controllers. I had been thinking that the middle support would add extra ... support but my design means it doesn't run the same depth as the main sides but is still 80% of their depth.
If you are worried about stability, then one fixing to the wall solves it. Don't forget to do a cut-out around your skirting board, so that the body of the unit can press against the wall.
All the shelves will be strong enough spanning only 500mm.
Ok, just revisiting the router bits. A friend at work has lent me his 1/4" router with no particular time frame for returning. Just a small one but the sort I would have bought myself. So I am now erring towards Ryobi's Art-03 table as I don't have to buy the router just now. With regards the slot cutter, I think that Wealden's T5460 and T3010 will be sufficient for my purposes with this project but would appreciate a thumbsup from you fellas before I pull the trigger and spend the money.
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I'll start with the cutters and work up from there. I may use the router to bevel the edges of the unit as well but will start with rebating and work from there.
