Building Oak Tool Cabinet: Have a Question

[drw]

I am in the process of building an oak tool cabinet. For me, this is a big project and is presenting plenty of challenges, but it is a lot of fun! That said, I have been taking it slow, opting for quality rather than speed. Today was the project's first major glue-up, which I rehearsed with a dry run. Overall, I thought it went well; I checked for squareness on several occasions and thought everything was dead-on.

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The picture above and below depicts the work to-date.

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Unfortunately, after the glue was set and I put the cabinet on the floor, I discovered that things were "slightly" out of square (the middle section is about 1/16 off). While aggravating, I recall a comment made by a very experienced woodworker who said, "Part of craftsmanship is minimizing your mistakes and the other part is not magnifying those that you do make". As a relatively inexperienced woodworker, I find a lot of value and hope in this statement. That said, I would appreciate thoughts on "not magnifying" the problem as I proceed. Since the middle section will have drawers, I think I know how to deal with that issue; however, the bottom section has doors, which may be a little more problematic. As always, I very appreciative of any and all input. I am hopeful that when all is said and done my cabinet will look like the one shown below.

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Thank you,
Donn

 

[Joe Scharle]

Looking in my bag of [STRIKE]fixes [/STRIKE]tricks, I find, among others:

Placing a false rail, tilted correctly, over the demon rail.
Drawers a little more shallow than planned, with a slightly larger false front trimmed to fit.
If I stayed with inset doors, I'd trim the tops at a slight angle to fit.

If I switched to overlay drawers and doors, I'd be applying stain by now. Overlay doors & drawers were invented to hide face frame...ooooops!

And by the end of the day you'll get many more confessions, couched as advice :rotflm:

 

[bluedawg76]

i know i've certainly made similar mistakes (and still do!). not to worry. i think the most important thing to consider will just be choosing which sides/top/bottom to reference from. from the description, i'm assuming the middle divider for the 2 large sections is "out-of-square" i.e. the dados are off by 1/16" or something, but the carcass itself is square (sides/top and bottom). If so, then just reference accordingly. you'll have to cut the bottom drawer face and doors measured against the short side and yeah you'll have a slight gap, but functionally it'll be fine. i'll bet in a couple of months you'll stop staring at the gaps and congratulate yourself on a job well done!

Sam

 

[MarkE]

If I can get something that size to within a 1/16, I call it perfect. Wherever that 1/16 is, it should be easy to work around.

 

[Bill Clemmons]

When you say the middle section is about 1/16" off, I assume you mean that when you measure the distance from opposite corners to check for squareness, the difference is 1/16"? If so, here are my thoughts:

What type of back are you going to put on the cabinet? Did you cut a rabbet to inset the back panel? If you're going to use plywood, you may be able to take out at least some of the misalignment. First, cut your plywood to the exact size, making sure it is perfectly square at the corners. W/ the cabinet laying face down on your workbench, check the opposite corners to see how out-of-square it is. Use a long clamp and some corner blocks across the longest angle to gently pull the case into square. Now install your perfectly square back panel using glue and screws, nails, or staples. Once the glue has dried and you release the clamp, you might get a little "spring back", but the case should be squarer than it was.

If you're using a batten board back (individual boards) this probably won't work. If you are using a plywood back, 1/2" would be better than 1/4" in this case just for the extra rigidity.

HTH

Bill

 

[drw]

Gentlemen,
Thank you for your responses; the information is very helpful and I am most appreciative!:icon_thum:icon_thum

Donn