First wall of cabinets finished and installed

[drumpriest]

After quite a long time (2 year olds don't help get you shop time) I've finally completed the "hot wall" of cabinets and installed them. I have 4 more cabinets to make and install to finish the kitchen, but my relatively small shop can't really hold all of them at once, so I'm doing a wall at a time.

Here's the old set of uppers.



And the new set.



The old lowers.





And the new ones.



The cabinets are birch plywood, hard maple face frames, and hard maple drawer and doors rails and stiles with curly maple panels. Cathedral raised panel doors with soft close hinges and soft close full extension drawer slides for the lower cabinets. The finish is amber shellac with several coats of EPL (EmTech Production Lacquer).

I expect this will greatly increase the usefulness of the kitchen cabinets. I still have some adjustable shelves to build in a hurry for this set, and I am looking forward to completing the other side.

The rest of the install photos and larger res shots can be seen here.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/2278107...7622997240565/

Thanks for looking.

[Mr__Bill]

Nice job. I like the large drawer unit between the stove and refrigerator.


Bill

[cabinetman]

Looking great so far Keith. Nice finish. Some real usable drawers.
.

[jkristia]

Great looking doors and drawers. How wide is the drawers between the stove and fridge?, I'm about to build a 44" wide drawer and am not sure if I need a slide at the middle of the drawer.
What is the reason for the top drawers not being raised panels ?

Jesper

[dbhost]

I love the look those Cathedral raised panels give... VERY nice work...

I wouldn't be able to get away with the Maple, the whole I'd have to import it, at a pretty steep cost thing... Not many maples in Texas....

Too bad too.... That figure looks really nice...

I don't suppose I can talk you into shipping me some lumber could I?

[cgallery]

LMAO. When I saw the first pic (of original cabinets) I thought, "oh, I don't like those at all, I won't comment."

Thank God I scrolled down to the next pic.

Love the new cabinets! They look fantastic!

[Pappy]

Nice work. Pretty much what the wife wants. I'm curious about the top drawers, too.

[drumpriest]

When I did the math and laid out the top drawers, the panel was so small, I dunno, just seemed silly to me.

Jesper, that's a 36" cabinet, the slides are fairly well behaved at that width, there's a little play, but surprisingly restrained. The bigger issue was ensuring that those large drawer boxes were square.

btw, the drawers are poplar with 1/2" bottoms (for my wife's heavy kitchen gear) with variable spaced dovetail joinery.



Link to a larger version...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/2278107...77645/sizes/l/

[chopnhack]

That looks great Keith! I am sure the loss in storing large/tall items in the old lower cabs is more than offset by the utility and ease of retrieving items in your new drawers. How is the EPL to work with?

[toolbelt diva]

Very nice work. I love the maple.

[jhart]

Very nice looking, Keith. That kitchen is going to look great when all is done.

[SARGE..g-47]

Very nice looking new cabinets Keith.. Frankly.. your old cabinets would be an improvement in my kitchen as they still have the contractor version from when I purchased the house in 1986. Got to address that some day if I get the time.

Well done...

[atgcpaul]

Looking good, Keith.

[GPA61]

Excellent work Keith!!

[Bruce Cohen]

Hey Keith,

How's about trading some Kitchen Cabs for some jewelry boxes. When it comes to building "real" stuff, I suck.

Really nice work, I envy you.

Bruce