Art Room Cabinetry- Finale

Last weekend I was able to install the final piece of the Art room Cabinetry project!  It was a long time coming, but it looks fantastic.

After letting the finish cure for more than 2 weeks, it was time to install the counter-top.  The final tally for the finish was 12 coats of oil-based polyurethane on top of 3 coats of oil/poly mix.  I wanted to make sure that it was fully cured before installing as I knew it would get some good use right off the bat.

The first thing that was needed was a little trim.  I purposely left some extra overhand on the front for the off-chance that I might need to cut this thing right down the middle to remove a board or any other random occurrence that might happen.  So when everything went smooth to the end, I needed to take off about an 1 from the front.  This was going to be hairy.

I needed to run the top through this direction as I only have a fence that goes out to 29” and I needed the depth to be 30 ¼” so I had to run it through with the front on the fence.

I recruited a helper and put up a roller stand to try and keep any movement to a minimum.  We went through a test run with the blade retracted, and when I was as ready as I could be, we went for it.

It went with no hiccups at all!

On to the next challenge… transporting a 13 foot long solid walnut counter-top 30 miles in a  8 foot truckbed.

I used some ash boards to support it to keep it from moving as much as possible.

We ended up having about 4 feet of hangover, so I stapled some flags, and we were off!

As soon as we got on sight, we made the final length measurements and cut the rough end to size with a circular saw. Then we slung this thing up the stairs, and it ‘fit’ on the first try!

You can see a little area of the wall that needs retouching… luckily the owner of the house was on that end and the blame can fully rest on him!

Everyone knows that drywall is not very straight, well in this case, over 20” it dove away from the counter by nearly ½”. 

This meant that the counter-top was actually sitting too far to the right by ¼” and the 1/8” overhang that I left was now a 1/8” under-bite.

This will take a little manipulation of the trim pieces.

With all the drawers and most of the stuff in the cabinets pulled out, it was time to attach.  The rear of the cabinet got screwed in and then the front got slotted to allow for the expansion and contraction of the top.  Since the boards have been sitting in the driest part of the year in my shop, I assume they will continue to grow over the summer.

Then all that was left was the trim.  I set up a miter saw out on the truck and fit all the pieces, 1 by 1.  They are both glues and nailed.  It took a bit of manipulation to keep them aligned with the top across the entire length and I had to use more nails than I would like, but from the door, you will never be able to tell.

I also added a quarter-round to the back and sides to hide the uneven wall gaps from the drywall.

Nothing left to do but decorate!

The client was very happy with the results and the final trim piece has already been delivered with the removal of material to account for the lack of overhang.