Garage cabinet

[Tom H]

Not going to win any contests, but it's functional and is providing more space and organization in the garage.

A problem I had was making the doors square. The door backs are square, and the rest of the door pieces are measured and cut correctly, but I couldn't get them square while gluing the parts together. I used an assortment of clamps. I checked out Jeff's clamp tutorial, and it looks like the miter clamp might be helpful....also looked at the variety of clamps on Woodpecker.

Harbor Freight has some less expensive clamps that look like they might work, but even those are $10 each (not on sale). Anyone use any of these? Or have other techniques to get things square? No doubt projects will turn out much nicer once I figure this out.

Tom

[eezlock]

cabinets

They look good to me...should be quite functional and provide solid storage
for the future. eezlock

[gad5264]

Not going to win any contests, but it's functional and is providing more space and organization in the garage.

Tom

Tom,
Its not always about form for some of us, functionality is the key. In this case you acomplished your goal of more storage, IMHO you succeded.

As far as the clamping questions are concerned, I am sure you will get lots of different ideas from the members. I for one use a multitude of different clamps. I think you will find over time it boils down to what works best for you.

Keep up the good work,
Grant

[Anna]

Harbor Freight has some less expensive clamps that look like they might work, but even those are $10 each (not on sale). Anyone use any of these? Or have other techniques to get things square? No doubt projects will turn out much nicer once I figure this out.

Tom

Hi, Tom,

I bought a bunch of the miter clamps from HF a few months ago, and was really perplexed when my boxes were not coming out square anyway. It turns out that some of the clamps were not precisely right angled. I got the green ones and the red ones. I've stopped using them altogether. If you're planning to buy them, just make sure you check that they are precise. I just picked up what was there and didn't even occur to me to make sure they truly are 90 degrees.

You can easily build jigs to help out if you're having as much trouble as I have (something I figured out after spending a ton on useless clamps). By the way, the cabinet you built looks pretty nice. My husband's been after me to build something similar to that for the garage. I don't know what you guys do to that place, but it's always a mess in there.

[Tom H]

Thanks everyone,

The cabinet looks pretty good in the picture....the problem with the doors not being square is not much of an issue for this particular project. When I move on to furniture for the house, I will hopefully have refined the skills a little.

You can't really see in the pix, but the edges of the door backs aren't square with the door frames.

My husband's been after me to build something similar to that for the garage. I don't know what you guys do to that place, but it's always a mess in there.

Ain't it the truth!

Thanks for the feedback on the HF clamps....might be worth the $ to get the Woodpecker brand. I still need to get a few books about WW and learn how to make some jigs.

Tom

[gad5264]

Keep an eye out for postings by Jeffrey Schronce. He is the master at posting clamp bargains from Amazon. I know he has helped put a dent in wallet over the last six months on buying clamps.

Jeffrey is or will be currently out of commission for a bit with some surgery but I am sure he will keep posting as he gets better.

[Ken Massingale]

Not going to win any contests, but it's functional and is providing more space and organization in the garage.

A problem I had was making the doors square. The door backs are square, and the rest of the door pieces are measured and cut correctly, but I couldn't get them square while gluing the parts together. I used an assortment of clamps. I checked out Jeff's clamp tutorial, and it looks like the miter clamp might be helpful....also looked at the variety of clamps on Woodpecker.

Harbor Freight has some less expensive clamps that look like they might work, but even those are $10 each (not on sale). Anyone use any of these? Or have other techniques to get things square? No doubt projects will turn out much nicer once I figure this out.



Tom

I need to build something like that,Tom.
No one sees our mistakes like we do. They look real good to me.
But Tom, PINK????

[Tom H]

I need to build something like that,Tom.
No one sees our mistakes like we do. They look real good to me.
But Tom, PINK????

They ain't pink, I tell ya THEY AIN'T PINK!

Or at least the card at Lowes didn't look like it was pink when I brought it to the paint counter.

I do regret the color, and plan to repaint sometime in the future.

I put on two coats of primer (KILZ original) and two coats of paint (Glidden Evermore). The paint seems to chip off very easily. The shelves already have scratches all over them. I don't know if this is because I bought the cheap stuff, or if It's to be expected with all paints (?) Maybe exterior would be a tougher finish, but I don't know if I'd spend the money for this particular cabinet.

Tom

[Ken Massingale]

They ain't pink, I tell ya THEY AIN'T PINK!

Or at least the card at Lowes didn't look like it was pink when I brought it to the paint counter.

I do regret the color, and plan to repaint sometime in the future.

I put on two coats of primer (KILZ original) and two coats of paint (Glidden Evermore). The paint seems to chip off very easily. The shelves already have scratches all over them. I don't know if this is because I bought the cheap stuff, or if It's to be expected with all paints (?) Maybe exterior would be a tougher finish, but I don't know if I'd spend the money for this particular cabinet.

Tom

The paint is chipping due to the 'man force' of your shop repelling PINK

;-D

Just yanking your chain, Tom

[Tom H]

Oh man, here we go....

Thanks Ken, now I'm going to hear it from everybody....

I'll be in my manly garage, spray painting them black

[Ken Massingale]

Oh man, here we go....

Thanks Ken, now I'm going to hear it from everybody....

I'll be in my manly garage, spray painting them black

Sic em, boys!

[LarryG]

That ain't pink, that's ... er ...it's ... uh ... it's ... um ... Pale Salmon. Yeah, that's it! Pale Salmon!

Tom: on the matter of getting assemblies square ... a shop-built fixture that's well worth making consists of a piece of plywood or MDF with "curbs" around three sides, and a pair of truncated wedges. The whole thing can be pretty rough and ready; the only really critical thing is that the curbs and the 90* corners of the wedges are square.


To use the fixture, you place your assembly into one corner, lay the wedges down alongside it, and tap the wedge farthest from the assembly home to tighten everything up and automatically square up all four corners of the assembly.




The fixture serves as the clamps at the "bottom" side of the assembly. Add some clamps at the "top" and you're done.

Obviously the fixture and wedges need to be sized appropriately to your assembly. Within reason, bigger is better than smaller; if necessary, you can always add some spacers between the "drive-in" wedge and the curb on that side. You might even want to build a few extra fixtures in various sizes, if you find the one-size-fits-all approach isn't working (I've not yet done this, but plan to RSN ... it's a job that's been on my to-do list far too long). Lastly, you'll want to apply a generous coat of wax to the fixture before using it, to keep squeezed-out glue from sticking.

And yeah ... nice addition to your shop! Even in Pale Salmon ...

[Tom H]

Pale Salmon...yeah, that's the ticket....my wife, Morgan Fairchild, picked that color.

That's a neat assembly Larry....nice pictures. I must make one and then go make something square. Square is good. Seriously though, thanks for the idea and pix (and remembering the color of the cabinet).

Tom

[ejs1097]

Nice work. that looks like a very good cabinet. well thought out and i like the deep doors. They'll provide lots of usefull service.

[LYU370]

Hey, I used to have some kitchen countertops almost that color when I moved in.

Kept telling everyone they were Coral. Yeah, they didn't believe me either.