Computer Cabinet - #9 Mounting Drawer Slides, Drawer Adjustment & Lacquering

Installing the cabinet mounted sides is next.  Here is the process starting with the small drawer at the top left.  It’s being installed with the cabinet upside down to make it easier.  The slide on the left has been installed and the one on the right has just had the installation screws run in.  Below the slide you can see the spacer that sets the guide level and at the right height.  Getting the width of the spacer involved quite a bit of measuring so the cabinet mounted slide matches up with the drawer mounted slide.

After the slides are screwed in place the drawer is installed and the gap at the top adjusted.  One down and five to go following the same process except the spacers will register off the bottom of the cabinet.

Well, almost the same process.  After the first drawer I changed things by setting the drawers in place with the shims.  From there the center of the drawer mounted slide was transferred directly to the cabinet.  The cabinet half of the slide was centered on that mark eliminating the measuring.

Here is the cabinet with all six drawers installed and the gaps 99% adjusted.  Final adjustment of the drawers will be done after everything has been lacquered and assembled.

Now with almost all the woodworking done the drawers are removed from the cabinet, the slides taken off and the cabinet disassembled so the final sanding can be done.   During the sanding all surfaces are checked for any dings or small dents that need to be addressed.  Once the sanding is done it’s time for a major cleanup and dusting of the shop to minimize the amount of dust kicked up in the air while the lacquer finish is being applied.  Here is the stack of the pieces that make up the cabinet along with the drawer bottoms.

I have given considerable thought to the finish.  The wear coat will be three coats of lacquer which was really never in doubt but the color of the stain was.  I have kept samples of a lot of different stain combinations and in going through them nothing really seemed like a good fit.  Undecided I took a couple of the sample pieces used for joint testing that had the cherry plugs installed to see what a straight lacquer finish looked like.  The lacquer is not colorless but has a slight golden tint and when finished the piece set next to the cherry side unit looked good together.

With the stain question resolved applying the lacquer is next although before that I need to work out where all the pieces will be put in the shop once they are sprayed.  Some will go on riser blocks and some like the drawers will have built-in risers.  On one end tacks are driven part way using a pair of needle nose pliers to hold them so I don’t mash my fingers.  The pliers also control the depth the tacks are driven in so the drawer does not rock.  The inset shows the tack in place.

The other end of the drawer has screws run part way into the holes that are for the bottom’s mounting screws.  The previously installed tacks are visible at the top of the photo.

As mentioned before the finish is lacquer or to be more precise a nitrocellulose satin lacquer.  It is my go-to finish I use on most of my projects and is applied using an air brush or a HVLP (High Volume Low Pressure) commercial spray gun.  This type of lacquer has to be sprayed, a brushed or wipe-on method is not an option.  Here is my typical set-up for mixing.  The can on the left is the lacquer, next to it is the thinner and to the right is the flow enhancer.  The plastic cup on the can of lacquer it is used for mixing, the plastic bottle in the center is for thinner from the can since it’s easier to measure into the mixing cup from it rather than the gallon can.  The bottle on the far right has some mixed finish ready to be used.  Here in the desert the mix I use is 16 ounces of lacquer, 8 ounces of thinner and a capful of flow enhancer.  The mix in Illinois was different due to the higher humidity.

This project is way too big to use the air brush so the HVLP system will be used.  It consists of a three-stage turbine that puts out only about 6 pounds of air pressure but a whole lot of volume and a spray gun.  That’s in contrast to a tank type compressor that can easily generate 100 pounds per square inch but at a much lower volume.  The photo below shows the turbine, hose and sprayer.  For comparison on the far right near the top of the photo is a much smaller orange hose.  That’s what goes to the tank type air compressor.  The HVLP needs a much large hose due to the volume of air needed.

Here is the setup for spraying the drawers.  What you can’t see is between the piece of plywood on the saw horses and the cardboard covered piece of MDF is a 12” diameter lazy-susan.  It allows me to stand in one spot to easily rotate the drawer and spray all sides of it.

For this project everything except the drawers got one coat on the inside face and by the time that was done they had dried to the touch.  Fast drying is a nice characteristic of lacquer.  I could then go back and give them a second coat followed by giving the drawers exterior their first coat.  By then it was time to quit because my shady spraying spot was getting into the sun and it’s time for lunch.  Once sprayed the pieces need to be set out so they get spread out all around the shop on all sorts of flat surfaces. 

The next day everything was wet sanded with a fine grit pad to remove any dust nibs which finished up the inside face of the case pieces.  Next the outside faces get their first coat sprayed followed by the exterior of the drawers getting their second coat.  By then my spraying spot was getting into the sun and it’s time to quit.  After an overnight cure the case’s outside faces are wet sanded and given their third and final coat.  They get three coats rather than two for greater wear ability. 

Next up is to give the bottom edges of the drawers a couple of coats using the air brush which you can see at the far right.  Since the bottom edges are only either ½” or 7/8” wide using the HVLP sprayer would be way overkill.

Next morning the outside case faces get their final wet sand with a 4,000-grit pad and are set aside.  Two more coats of finish are sprayed on the drawer inside faces using the HVLP sprayer completing the morning’s work.  After another overnight cure the inside drawer faces are dry sanded with 320 grit paper.  Dry rather than wet is used here because I don’t want to risk water getting into the joints and potentially causing a problem when the lacquer is sprayed on.  When done sanding the drawers are wiped down with a tack cloth to remove any dust then the third and last coat of lacquer is sprayed on.

After curing overnight both the inside and outside of the drawers get their final wet sanding with the 4,000-grit pad and set aside for a few days before assembly so the lacquer can gas-off and harden. 

Next Up – Final Assembly