![Hand made storage cupboards [1231x2048 - 743KB]](https://pic8.co/d/c662d4e1-119c-4596-b5da-ddf8918c7c1c.jpg){kind=link}
Set of cupboards built from reclaimed wood over a period of about 7 months.
Here are some other shots of it in a finished and installed state:
https://pic8.co/d/c662d4e1-119c-4596-b5da-ddf8918c7c1c.jpg https://pic8.co/d/2699d29b-6b8d-4a66-99cf-7ff4fddbd603.jpg https://pic8.co/d/0b36991a-3b7e-41f2-8a20-b48bc9140f0b.jpg https://pic8.co/d/858223ff-49da-4dce-9007-1b12d3a2db1e.jpg
This is some of the rough lumber that was used to make it. Pretty much all of it was bought from a local recycled timber yard, with the drawer fronts coming from wood removed from my house to install some new windows. The majority of the wood is very old and dense and heavy, much better than the more modern stuff that is grown too fast and kiln dried too quickly.
https://pic8.co/d/144ff580-88bf-42d0-82a9-d336e578e1c5.jpg https://pic8.co/d/46f6964d-3af2-4324-97c3-8238dd9541be.jpg https://pic8.co/d/ecf601d7-438d-441a-8c91-c91ca1808c7c.jpg https://pic8.co/d/1a623be4-7b2c-423a-a819-76a7813ae045.jpg https://pic8.co/d/f102bf80-14e5-460b-b2dd-628d05b5552a.jpg https://pic8.co/d/57462e0d-14b4-4191-9e1b-cecc2503bf57.jpg https://pic8.co/d/323ead2e-e88a-4b40-87c2-1424d2ce00b8.jpg https://pic8.co/d/79047b95-b35c-49eb-b1ff-8b2f9bba4c24.jpg
To make a start, I hand jointed up enough wood for one end frame. For some reason I decided to make one first, then make the other three frames rather than just making all four at once. The lumber, which was mostly about 70mm x 35mm (3 x 1 1/2)or so, was planed flat on one side, and square on one edge (I don't have a power jointer), then cut to final dimensions (2 x 1) on the table saw.
https://pic8.co/d/e852e487-b6d1-4455-b9d5-627ba14d415b.jpg
The mortices for the main joinery of this first end were cut, then tennons cut to fit them, mainly using the table saw. The dog was not as helpful as she could have been.
https://pic8.co/d/64493b3a-6edd-49bd-8a76-853c8f046e22.jpg https://pic8.co/d/564a088d-bb24-45be-990e-d24e9afd67ad.jpg
This joinery was dry fit and tested out to double check that I hadn't stuffed anything up. They would need to be disassembled and have more joinery cut into them as we go.
https://pic8.co/d/16518d6c-28b3-40e9-827f-4845affc9b1e.jpg https://pic8.co/d/515d6875-29e8-4d42-9575-076171c8ef3b.jpg
After that, I did the remaining 3 frames in bulk, milling the lumber to size, then using a jig to mark out the mortices so I didn't need to spend ages measuring and laying out.
https://pic8.co/d/a8fa8209-c596-42cf-881f-26d9c1ea83f5.jpg https://pic8.co/d/5bdc16d6-8c35-439e-b1cd-9907b0684ee7.jpg https://pic8.co/d/d57f58b7-5a39-46ef-b700-dd4a7f263055.jpg https://pic8.co/d/819cecbc-e812-45f3-85a8-b4a35713d328.jpg
One of the base pieces was in pretty rough shape, with a sizeable knot and split along most of its length. To make it a bit more rigid, I installed a couple of butterflies. Not really necessary structurally, but better safe than sorry. In the end, no one will really see this bit anyway.
https://pic8.co/d/5717b751-dac3-428a-9213-a213fed2334a.jpg https://pic8.co/d/0c070862-b6cd-400c-985a-ba866a067d95.jpg https://pic8.co/d/af67a243-0bc8-4fc5-ba10-2e26b5297857.jpg
The main mortices and tennons were cut and dry fit.
https://pic8.co/d/5063693e-30b3-4aa2-9383-82f553c8a565.jpg https://pic8.co/d/64c94949-2c5d-4ba5-b582-8e5cbb0e54bc.jpg https://pic8.co/d/d4c93c1d-7d2a-4f0d-b4f3-46fc7ed9916f.jpg
Picking the best two sets to use as ends, I cut a rebate on the insides to accept a raised panel made from oregon. This was done mostly on the table saw and cleaned up with a hand router.
https://pic8.co/d/fbc72852-623b-4ef5-b714-fb9033422283.jpg https://pic8.co/d/4dabe7d0-256d-406d-adb6-a0e06157a232.jpg
The oregon panels for the ends were made by ripping a length of 2x4 oregon down the middle. Four boards were joined to make each end panel. Once the faces were planed flat, I cut the raised panel using the table saw and a hastily constructed tenoning jig.
https://pic8.co/d/67560fe0-af2c-443d-9806-7cde3ca1abd2.jpg https://pic8.co/d/21f4927c-92ab-435b-b8d6-6d3acd665e9f.jpg https://pic8.co/d/d18d4196-f6ef-4471-8331-dc2221b89cd1.jpg https://pic8.co/d/c024822c-b1c8-48f9-877c-db31274103f5.jpg
The thickness of the panel was reduced to fit the rebate by planing down the back side of the panel until it fit snugly in the gap. These panels are not really glued in, they are a snug fit but have a little room for expansion if needed.
https://pic8.co/d/a5ed2de2-a09e-4f50-9f7e-8bbcb0cc70b5.jpg
After that I turned to the joinery for connecting the four frames together to make the full carcass for the cupboards. This involved cutting some more mortices in the end frames to accept a cross support that would go between the drawers and the cupboard section. This piece was made from some old floor boards that were joined together with some finger joints that are conceiled within mortices in the center frames.
https://pic8.co/d/4c5cc41e-5d09-43c7-8c46-6dd68b64b4fc.jpg https://pic8.co/d/ff91ec93-4208-4940-8e52-9ad60c3f243e.jpg https://pic8.co/d/3b89d400-9976-4c58-b98b-314aa77a56c2.jpg
https://pic8.co/d/63ce9b41-30af-4261-af5a-e7aeb5560b75.jpg https://pic8.co/d/5726ba71-43bc-48b2-a948-92c9071317d0.jpg
The back of the cupboard was reinforced by a couple of pine floor boards (their appearance was not important as they are not seen at all). In the end, I didn't glue these in, they are held in place with screws in the dovetail and bridal joints. This just made for one less ball in the air during the main glue up of the frame.
https://pic8.co/d/165a7606-0de2-455a-b66c-16af78ed9d37.jpg https://pic8.co/d/777217e3-603b-4ad5-ae6d-cf836728fd2a.jpg
Once that bit was completed, my attention turned to the drawer fronts. These were originally going to be made by joining some 2x4 ripped down the middle, but I found some lumber that I'd salvaged from the house when I had some new double glazed windows installed. It was 2x8 and reasonably straight and square. It ended up being too wide to rip on the table saw, even going from both sides. So, I ended up ripping the middle bit the old fashioned way. Very glad I didn't have to do the full width though. The dog was a little more helpful here...a little.
https://pic8.co/d/f3267452-ca52-490d-9e81-9617a10b5bf3.jpg https://pic8.co/d/8574bc94-35c4-4d30-90f2-045ef09bfe4d.jpg
Then, I moved on to the doors. These were basic shaker style doors with raised panels similar to the ends. The frames were made from 2x4 (propper 90x45mm) that was ripped into two strips about 3/4" thick. These had rebates cut along one edge, then a short tenon cut on the rails.
https://pic8.co/d/1924a8a7-46b3-4245-876a-e61f14d9b6c1.jpg https://pic8.co/d/3a65f315-b52f-467b-abef-e6c99d5135f9.jpg https://pic8.co/d/4377a36d-45c9-447d-a331-cfe272bcca24.jpg https://pic8.co/d/b267dd66-488b-4c21-9c7c-81e82dfbdcf4.jpg https://pic8.co/d/c72ba437-454e-4a1c-ae13-0d148c088af3.jpg
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The panels were created by laying out the various pieces and fiddling with them until I had them in an order that I found least displeasing. They were then cut in the same way as the end panels.
https://pic8.co/d/ed2ce8f1-553a-4288-84e4-9cc17adf8096.jpg https://pic8.co/d/a5036999-bbf5-46d1-b02d-b15d102cb52a.jpg https://pic8.co/d/10a17f9b-0049-4fcd-9b69-9a6135315e51.jpg
The bench top was probably the most daunting part. At just over 3m (~10ft) long and 600mm wide (2ft) and about 40mm (1 5/8) thick, it was a beast. All of the boards for this were jointed by hand as they were too unweildy for me to put through the table saw with any level of confidence that I wouldn't end up with a big chunk cut out along the way somewhere. So, the first board was planed flat and square, then the next one fitted to it, fettling the joint so that I could clamp out any gaps as I went. This was repeated for each board until I had enough width for the table top. I ended up using one board that was quite a bit darker than the others. My hand was a bit forced here because the board I was planning on using ended up being quite twisted and also having squirrely grain that ran in different directions along the board, which would be a pain in the ass to finish. So, I went with the darker one.... call it a feature board. There was only a couple of stuff ups, the worst of which was that the second last board sprung apart at one end because I took the clamps off too soon. I fixed that with a thin wedge of scrap wood that's barely visible in the finished product unless you know where to look.
https://pic8.co/d/544dbf07-1ce4-49da-8024-26c2f64d57ee.jpg https://pic8.co/d/256ec6d7-4efe-491a-8439-f602127374d2.jpg https://pic8.co/d/9ae5693e-aea9-44fc-a7fd-c59db1746a5d.jpg https://pic8.co/d/a19d730f-d94a-4f76-83c8-7fe3abaf89a0.jpg https://pic8.co/d/99357154-3d45-4dd8-8f2a-bd7dacca047b.jpg
The drawer carcasses were made from hardware store dressed pine. I wanted something that was going to be a consistent and predictable dimension, so I rifled through the piles of crap wood until I found enough with decent grain that weren't twisted or cupped. The drawers were constructed with dovetails using my home made dovetail jig on the table saw. They turned out pretty good I think, not exactly fine furniature, but fit for purpose.The bottoms of the drawers were 1/4" ply, probably overkill but they should hold up.
https://pic8.co/d/bed1c0a2-c816-4845-8553-3e651cd351e5.jpg https://pic8.co/d/6f5d73c5-1c28-4ae4-9109-68f455269b24.jpg https://pic8.co/d/985a3703-8cfb-4b67-9cdd-f06270487cef.jpg https://pic8.co/d/965aaf70-52b1-4e79-863e-2fd7e6d1041c.jpg https://pic8.co/d/8aa7e6d9-4f1d-4c27-b71b-8b2e6befde42.jpg https://pic8.co/d/72694be7-8a4a-4f58-a6dc-cf87aa55e2da.jpg https://pic8.co/d/397490cb-5017-4b63-8c08-6c4a9eb9c9b0.jpg https://pic8.co/d/d08953e5-897f-4edf-8fde-e4ddde683d04.jpg
To maximise drawer space, the drawer runners were rebated into the sides of the drawers a bit. Once installed and adjusted, the faces were screwed on to the drawers from the back.
https://pic8.co/d/78773926-a1fd-45cc-9e63-ce7f7ce1718c.jpg https://pic8.co/d/02da17f0-86e4-4059-8eab-4d2af57c2180.jpg
The only remaining wood work was to make a removeable shelf that would go in one of the cupboard spaces. This was made with the thin offcuts from the drawer fronts, reinforced with some scraps of floor board. Once all glued up it ended up plenty strong enough for the small load that it will carry.
https://pic8.co/d/79eac0f8-ba4e-43a7-b43a-e369c7b71bd8.jpg
The handles are hand made from some bar stock I had lying around. It's a bit difficult to get action shots of forging as that's generally a two handed operation anyway, so there are only a few shots of the intermediate stages. Generally, I planned them out on a board, to determine roughly how much steel I would need. Then cut the blanks and marked the locations to fuller. I set up a make shift jig on the anvil to hold the piece roughly in place while I used a top fuller to do the inital shaping. The pieces (first drawer handles, then pairs of cupboard handles) were forged in stages, getting each stage to be adequately similar. Once shaped, they were textured with the cross pien and ball pien hammers and the final bends put in, generally accompanied by a significant amount of swearing.
https://pic8.co/d/e259b2c8-4eb9-4aab-87c6-e73ae927b76f.jpg https://pic8.co/d/db1bd38c-e00d-46bc-a7a3-667cf662d015.jpg https://pic8.co/d/38be848b-d4e0-427a-b3b7-de4cbc155244.jpg https://pic8.co/d/c9a2fdae-3f07-4293-bbee-031839cd05fa.jpg https://pic8.co/d/2e39bc49-2167-4d33-8232-5e68f63e3b5d.jpg https://pic8.co/d/63f44869-c2a6-4985-8adb-8b3de030bc08.jpg
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After the forging was complete the handles were finished with beeswax on the still warm steel (you want to put it on around 150-170C, so it soaks into the pores of the metal, but doesn't burn to a black sticky mess), the edges that would be touched during use were filed an sanded smooth, giving a contrast to the black oxide of the rough forging. Some 1/4-20 threaded rod, or old bolt ends or something I found, was welded (badly) onto the back using a rudimentary jig to make sure that the threaded rod would go through holes drilled using a template for all of the handles.
https://pic8.co/d/bec8afc5-57aa-42c9-87bf-c236869160d5.jpg https://pic8.co/d/b6ee56c0-edab-4b10-9df5-a1e12f8020f7.jpg https://pic8.co/d/400bdfe4-e9cc-4b0e-8c8a-ea74dd2a7cde.jpg
With the hardware completed, it was down to fitting the doors, a process that went much more smoothly than I had expected. and nailing some 3mm ply on to the back. I ended up cutting an access hole in the back panel that lined up to a power point now hidden behind the cupboard.
https://pic8.co/d/de7ff588-c7d1-417c-bd29-20c7954f5003.jpg https://pic8.co/d/c8c49ec6-04fa-4d56-8dde-fc3eeec098c4.jpg
To finish the bench top, I used some clear 2 part casting epoxy. This took ages! This stuff seeps into every tiny nook and crany, and the top was covered in tiny bug holes, nail holes that went all the way through, or worse, nail holes that intersected cracks or voids in the timber. I think it took about 2 weeks to get all the holes filled so that they didn't sink in while it was curing, but it eventually got done. The excess was removed mainly with a card scraper which seemed to work best (better than either a hand plane or sand paper). After the top was all smooth, and some sanding was done it was finally time to finish it. The bottom was finished with Danish Oil, and the bench top was finished using stuff called Osmo Oil, which is supposed to make it very hard wearing and spill/stain resistant (time will tell), it seems to be a pretty resiliant finish though and looks quite nice.
https://pic8.co/d/a2873d6d-580e-4e15-b3fb-99c0c7db548b.jpg https://pic8.co/d/e4bf9b7a-c34a-45a4-85cd-a6b29e94d207.jpg https://pic8.co/d/f021504d-bee2-4320-a3bd-5330cf7124de.jpg
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Installing it was a matter of physically getting it out of the shed and into the house. To do this, I modified a hand trolley so that I could load it on and just wheel it over. Base first, then the top. Luckily I had large sliding doors installed so I could actually get it into the house quite easily.
https://pic8.co/d/e412adef-9e94-4c9e-b374-021d9481e525.jpg https://pic8.co/d/9c5a90e1-6044-49b7-a8ff-0b5b787d6114.jpg
A few more photos that weren't specifically included are here in the album: https://pic8.co/a/277b3a57-1ed5-4ebe-9c0f-1811a389eaab
Set of cupboards built from reclaimed wood over a period of about 7 months.
Here are some other shots of it in a finished and installed state:
https://pic8.co/d/c662d4e1-119c-4596-b5da-ddf8918c7c1c.jpg
https://pic8.co/d/2699d29b-6b8d-4a66-99cf-7ff4fddbd603.jpg
https://pic8.co/d/0b36991a-3b7e-41f2-8a20-b48bc9140f0b.jpg
https://pic8.co/d/858223ff-49da-4dce-9007-1b12d3a2db1e.jpg
This is some of the rough lumber that was used to make it. Pretty much all of it was bought from a local recycled timber yard, with the drawer fronts coming from wood removed from my house to install some new windows. The majority of the wood is very old and dense and heavy, much better than the more modern stuff that is grown too fast and kiln dried too quickly.
https://pic8.co/d/144ff580-88bf-42d0-82a9-d336e578e1c5.jpg
https://pic8.co/d/46f6964d-3af2-4324-97c3-8238dd9541be.jpg
https://pic8.co/d/ecf601d7-438d-441a-8c91-c91ca1808c7c.jpg
https://pic8.co/d/1a623be4-7b2c-423a-a819-76a7813ae045.jpg
https://pic8.co/d/f102bf80-14e5-460b-b2dd-628d05b5552a.jpg
https://pic8.co/d/57462e0d-14b4-4191-9e1b-cecc2503bf57.jpg
https://pic8.co/d/323ead2e-e88a-4b40-87c2-1424d2ce00b8.jpg
https://pic8.co/d/79047b95-b35c-49eb-b1ff-8b2f9bba4c24.jpg
To make a start, I hand jointed up enough wood for one end frame. For some reason I decided to make one first, then make the other three frames rather than just making all four at once. The lumber, which was mostly about 70mm x 35mm (3 x 1 1/2)or so, was planed flat on one side, and square on one edge (I don't have a power jointer), then cut to final dimensions (2 x 1) on the table saw.
https://pic8.co/d/e852e487-b6d1-4455-b9d5-627ba14d415b.jpg
The mortices for the main joinery of this first end were cut, then tennons cut to fit them, mainly using the table saw. The dog was not as helpful as she could have been.
https://pic8.co/d/64493b3a-6edd-49bd-8a76-853c8f046e22.jpg
https://pic8.co/d/564a088d-bb24-45be-990e-d24e9afd67ad.jpg
This joinery was dry fit and tested out to double check that I hadn't stuffed anything up. They would need to be disassembled and have more joinery cut into them as we go.
https://pic8.co/d/16518d6c-28b3-40e9-827f-4845affc9b1e.jpg
https://pic8.co/d/515d6875-29e8-4d42-9575-076171c8ef3b.jpg
After that, I did the remaining 3 frames in bulk, milling the lumber to size, then using a jig to mark out the mortices so I didn't need to spend ages measuring and laying out.
https://pic8.co/d/a8fa8209-c596-42cf-881f-26d9c1ea83f5.jpg
https://pic8.co/d/5bdc16d6-8c35-439e-b1cd-9907b0684ee7.jpg
https://pic8.co/d/d57f58b7-5a39-46ef-b700-dd4a7f263055.jpg
https://pic8.co/d/819cecbc-e812-45f3-85a8-b4a35713d328.jpg
One of the base pieces was in pretty rough shape, with a sizeable knot and split along most of its length. To make it a bit more rigid, I installed a couple of butterflies. Not really necessary structurally, but better safe than sorry. In the end, no one will really see this bit anyway.
https://pic8.co/d/5717b751-dac3-428a-9213-a213fed2334a.jpg
https://pic8.co/d/0c070862-b6cd-400c-985a-ba866a067d95.jpg
https://pic8.co/d/af67a243-0bc8-4fc5-ba10-2e26b5297857.jpg
The main mortices and tennons were cut and dry fit.
https://pic8.co/d/5063693e-30b3-4aa2-9383-82f553c8a565.jpg
https://pic8.co/d/64c94949-2c5d-4ba5-b582-8e5cbb0e54bc.jpg
https://pic8.co/d/d4c93c1d-7d2a-4f0d-b4f3-46fc7ed9916f.jpg
Picking the best two sets to use as ends, I cut a rebate on the insides to accept a raised panel made from oregon. This was done mostly on the table saw and cleaned up with a hand router.
https://pic8.co/d/fbc72852-623b-4ef5-b714-fb9033422283.jpg
https://pic8.co/d/4dabe7d0-256d-406d-adb6-a0e06157a232.jpg
The oregon panels for the ends were made by ripping a length of 2x4 oregon down the middle. Four boards were joined to make each end panel. Once the faces were planed flat, I cut the raised panel using the table saw and a hastily constructed tenoning jig.
https://pic8.co/d/67560fe0-af2c-443d-9806-7cde3ca1abd2.jpg
https://pic8.co/d/21f4927c-92ab-435b-b8d6-6d3acd665e9f.jpg
https://pic8.co/d/d18d4196-f6ef-4471-8331-dc2221b89cd1.jpg
https://pic8.co/d/c024822c-b1c8-48f9-877c-db31274103f5.jpg
The thickness of the panel was reduced to fit the rebate by planing down the back side of the panel until it fit snugly in the gap. These panels are not really glued in, they are a snug fit but have a little room for expansion if needed.
https://pic8.co/d/a5ed2de2-a09e-4f50-9f7e-8bbcb0cc70b5.jpg
After that I turned to the joinery for connecting the four frames together to make the full carcass for the cupboards. This involved cutting some more mortices in the end frames to accept a cross support that would go between the drawers and the cupboard section. This piece was made from some old floor boards that were joined together with some finger joints that are conceiled within mortices in the center frames.
https://pic8.co/d/4c5cc41e-5d09-43c7-8c46-6dd68b64b4fc.jpg
https://pic8.co/d/ff91ec93-4208-4940-8e52-9ad60c3f243e.jpg
https://pic8.co/d/3b89d400-9976-4c58-b98b-314aa77a56c2.jpg
https://pic8.co/d/63ce9b41-30af-4261-af5a-e7aeb5560b75.jpg
https://pic8.co/d/5726ba71-43bc-48b2-a948-92c9071317d0.jpg
The back of the cupboard was reinforced by a couple of pine floor boards (their appearance was not important as they are not seen at all). In the end, I didn't glue these in, they are held in place with screws in the dovetail and bridal joints. This just made for one less ball in the air during the main glue up of the frame.
https://pic8.co/d/165a7606-0de2-455a-b66c-16af78ed9d37.jpg
https://pic8.co/d/777217e3-603b-4ad5-ae6d-cf836728fd2a.jpg
Once that bit was completed, my attention turned to the drawer fronts. These were originally going to be made by joining some 2x4 ripped down the middle, but I found some lumber that I'd salvaged from the house when I had some new double glazed windows installed. It was 2x8 and reasonably straight and square. It ended up being too wide to rip on the table saw, even going from both sides. So, I ended up ripping the middle bit the old fashioned way. Very glad I didn't have to do the full width though. The dog was a little more helpful here...a little.
https://pic8.co/d/f3267452-ca52-490d-9e81-9617a10b5bf3.jpg
https://pic8.co/d/8574bc94-35c4-4d30-90f2-045ef09bfe4d.jpg
Then, I moved on to the doors. These were basic shaker style doors with raised panels similar to the ends. The frames were made from 2x4 (propper 90x45mm) that was ripped into two strips about 3/4" thick. These had rebates cut along one edge, then a short tenon cut on the rails.
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The panels were created by laying out the various pieces and fiddling with them until I had them in an order that I found least displeasing. They were then cut in the same way as the end panels.
https://pic8.co/d/ed2ce8f1-553a-4288-84e4-9cc17adf8096.jpg
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The bench top was probably the most daunting part. At just over 3m (~10ft) long and 600mm wide (2ft) and about 40mm (1 5/8) thick, it was a beast. All of the boards for this were jointed by hand as they were too unweildy for me to put through the table saw with any level of confidence that I wouldn't end up with a big chunk cut out along the way somewhere. So, the first board was planed flat and square, then the next one fitted to it, fettling the joint so that I could clamp out any gaps as I went. This was repeated for each board until I had enough width for the table top. I ended up using one board that was quite a bit darker than the others. My hand was a bit forced here because the board I was planning on using ended up being quite twisted and also having squirrely grain that ran in different directions along the board, which would be a pain in the ass to finish. So, I went with the darker one.... call it a feature board. There was only a couple of stuff ups, the worst of which was that the second last board sprung apart at one end because I took the clamps off too soon. I fixed that with a thin wedge of scrap wood that's barely visible in the finished product unless you know where to look.
https://pic8.co/d/544dbf07-1ce4-49da-8024-26c2f64d57ee.jpg
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The drawer carcasses were made from hardware store dressed pine. I wanted something that was going to be a consistent and predictable dimension, so I rifled through the piles of crap wood until I found enough with decent grain that weren't twisted or cupped. The drawers were constructed with dovetails using my home made dovetail jig on the table saw. They turned out pretty good I think, not exactly fine furniature, but fit for purpose.The bottoms of the drawers were 1/4" ply, probably overkill but they should hold up.
https://pic8.co/d/bed1c0a2-c816-4845-8553-3e651cd351e5.jpg
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To maximise drawer space, the drawer runners were rebated into the sides of the drawers a bit. Once installed and adjusted, the faces were screwed on to the drawers from the back.
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The only remaining wood work was to make a removeable shelf that would go in one of the cupboard spaces. This was made with the thin offcuts from the drawer fronts, reinforced with some scraps of floor board. Once all glued up it ended up plenty strong enough for the small load that it will carry.
https://pic8.co/d/79eac0f8-ba4e-43a7-b43a-e369c7b71bd8.jpg
The handles are hand made from some bar stock I had lying around. It's a bit difficult to get action shots of forging as that's generally a two handed operation anyway, so there are only a few shots of the intermediate stages. Generally, I planned them out on a board, to determine roughly how much steel I would need. Then cut the blanks and marked the locations to fuller. I set up a make shift jig on the anvil to hold the piece roughly in place while I used a top fuller to do the inital shaping. The pieces (first drawer handles, then pairs of cupboard handles) were forged in stages, getting each stage to be adequately similar. Once shaped, they were textured with the cross pien and ball pien hammers and the final bends put in, generally accompanied by a significant amount of swearing.
https://pic8.co/d/e259b2c8-4eb9-4aab-87c6-e73ae927b76f.jpg
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After the forging was complete the handles were finished with beeswax on the still warm steel (you want to put it on around 150-170C, so it soaks into the pores of the metal, but doesn't burn to a black sticky mess), the edges that would be touched during use were filed an sanded smooth, giving a contrast to the black oxide of the rough forging. Some 1/4-20 threaded rod, or old bolt ends or something I found, was welded (badly) onto the back using a rudimentary jig to make sure that the threaded rod would go through holes drilled using a template for all of the handles.
https://pic8.co/d/bec8afc5-57aa-42c9-87bf-c236869160d5.jpg
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With the hardware completed, it was down to fitting the doors, a process that went much more smoothly than I had expected. and nailing some 3mm ply on to the back. I ended up cutting an access hole in the back panel that lined up to a power point now hidden behind the cupboard.
https://pic8.co/d/de7ff588-c7d1-417c-bd29-20c7954f5003.jpg
https://pic8.co/d/c8c49ec6-04fa-4d56-8dde-fc3eeec098c4.jpg
To finish the bench top, I used some clear 2 part casting epoxy. This took ages! This stuff seeps into every tiny nook and crany, and the top was covered in tiny bug holes, nail holes that went all the way through, or worse, nail holes that intersected cracks or voids in the timber. I think it took about 2 weeks to get all the holes filled so that they didn't sink in while it was curing, but it eventually got done. The excess was removed mainly with a card scraper which seemed to work best (better than either a hand plane or sand paper). After the top was all smooth, and some sanding was done it was finally time to finish it. The bottom was finished with Danish Oil, and the bench top was finished using stuff called Osmo Oil, which is supposed to make it very hard wearing and spill/stain resistant (time will tell), it seems to be a pretty resiliant finish though and looks quite nice.
https://pic8.co/d/a2873d6d-580e-4e15-b3fb-99c0c7db548b.jpg
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Installing it was a matter of physically getting it out of the shed and into the house. To do this, I modified a hand trolley so that I could load it on and just wheel it over. Base first, then the top. Luckily I had large sliding doors installed so I could actually get it into the house quite easily.
https://pic8.co/d/e412adef-9e94-4c9e-b374-021d9481e525.jpg
https://pic8.co/d/9c5a90e1-6044-49b7-a8ff-0b5b787d6114.jpg
A few more photos that weren't specifically included are here in the album:
https://pic8.co/a/277b3a57-1ed5-4ebe-9c0f-1811a389eaab
(post is archived)