Photo Club Cabinet – #3 Sides, Top, Bottom & Fixed Shelves

My next step is to take the rough cut oak plywood and cut it to finished size plus do any other machining needed.  To start I take the rip blade off the saw and replace it with the blade I use for cutting plywood to size.  The surface layer of oak hardwood veneer on this plywood is very thin, less than 4 thousandths of an inch thick.  Being this thin it is very susceptible to splintering when being cross cut.  A good blade designed for the task helps reduce the problem.

Rip and Plywood Blades

My first set of pieces to work on is the sides cutting them to width.  I set the fence slightly wider than the finished side is wide so I can flip the piece and recut the factory edge.  That edge is generally straight and square but you can count on it being chewed up a little bit in shipping so a recut gives me a clean straight edge.

Ripping Sides

After ripping both sides to width I changed the blade to two 1/8” thick dado blades so I could cut a rabbit in each side to house the back.  Because the back of the cabinet is only 3/16” thick I needed to bury 1/16” of the blades width in the fence.

Setup for Cutting Rabbit in Side

Running the side through this setup gave me the recess needed for the back.

Finished Rabbit for Back in Side

Next is to cut the pieces to length.  Because of the size of the side (21” wide & 6’ long) it’s too wide for the chop saw and too long to use the table saw fence.  For cases like this I built a cutting sled that accurately holds the piece in place and slides across the table saw making a square clean cut.

Using Sled to Crosscut Side to Length

The last bit of cutting is for the toe kick.  I used a jig saw for this cut.  Process is to put down some masking tape to prevent splintering of the oak veneer, layout the cut and carefully saw.   There are a couple of considerations for a clean cut.  First, is to install a non-scuff plastic base on the saw and second is to use a good blade.

Layout for Toe Kick and  Jigsaw Pieces for Cut

The blade makes a huge difference.  Here I used one designed for clean cuts in wood.  What makes it different is that the blade and teeth are ground versus being stamped.

Jig Saw Blade for a Minimal Splinter Cut

The end result is a splinter free clean cut.

Completed Toe Kick Cutout

The last operation on the sides is to drill a series of pocket holes.  These are angled holes drilled with a jig for with screws will hold the cabinet together.   The ones here in the sides will hold the face frame on.

Drilling Pocket Holes in Side - Lots of Holes to Go

Oak Edging Strips Being Sanded to Thickness

With the sides done I started on the top, bottom, and fixed shelves.  They are all the same size so it makes sense to do one setup on the table saw and cut them one after another.  However, there is one shelf that while the same size has a little bit different construction.  It’s front raw plywood edge will be exposed so I needed to cover it with a ¼” solid oak strip.  The others will have their plywood edge covered with an oak face frame so they do not need the facing.

To start I ran the slightly oversize ¼” thick strips through the thickness sander to get them all to a consistent ¼” thickness then turned them 90 degrees and brought the width down to ¾”.

With that done I took one of the strips cut it slightly longer than the shelf then glued and nailed it to the shelf edge.

Setup to Attach Oak Edging Strip to Fixed Shelf

To nail the strip on I use a pneumatic pin nail gun that shoots very thin pins.  They are 23 gauge which works out to less the three hundredths of an inch thick.  Being that thin they are just about invisible in this application.

Pin Nails and Penny

I start the strip about 1/32” back from the edge of the plywood so when I make the first cut slightly oversize for length there won’t be a conflict with the fence.  The piece is then flipped and the opposite end is cut to get the final width. In this picture there is one of the pin nails about an inch back from the end.

Applied Oak Strip

The oak strips are ¾” wide and the ¾” plywood is really “about” 1/32” thinner.  I say about because the thickness varies.  The result is that I have a little lip where the strip overhangs the plywood.  I don’t want that lip, I want a flush surface.  My method to achieve this is to use a small hand plane to get really close then finish off with a hand scraper.  

Tools used to Make Strip  Flush with Plywood

Once I am finished the edging blends in with the plywood very well.

Strip Milled Flush with Plywood

Hand Router & Edged Oak Strip

The last step on this shelf before cutting to final size is to round over the oak facing strip.  I don’t want a hard sharp edge here so to soften will route a 1/8” radius on it using a small handheld router.  

With this done I am ready to cut the top, bottom and fixed shelves to their final length and width.

Next Up – Finish Top, Bottom, Fixed Shelves & Start Case Assembly