New Hutch for the Kitchen

[Grgramps]

I'll start by explaining that we have a kitchen hutch that no self respecting wood worker would have in his house. It's made of pine with much of the joinery (or is it jointery?) done with nails and it has little or no finish. Yet, with all its faults, I like the style. I first considered copying it with cherry and finally decided that perhaps we could make some improvements. My wife always has ideas about what she likes and this is good, because I often have no ideas. So here's a picture of the current hutch.

Now a picture of what I've done so far. (Let's take a break and see what I've got so far). Well this text was to follow the second picture. One of life's little disappointments.

The new hutch is cherry and has no hardware yet, so the doors you see are just sitting in place. The panel in the middle is a drop down and looks darker because it has a coat of shellac. I spent so much time fooling with the special hinges I was afraid I would get the wood dirty so one coat of shellac.

Above the drop down will be an open area for whatever, and you'll notice the back is yet to be installed.

The uppermost section will be a spice cabinet that will have shelves in the doors as well as in the back. Arched panel doors will finish the top section. These arched panel doors are my first and they went better than hoped. I had to dust off the Leigh jig and review the book for the dovetails. Never can remember all of the instructions, but it does a good job.

The bottom will be wrapped with cherry. What you see at the base is plywood. I've spent so much time planning and working on this, I decided it was time to take a break and post this.

Roy

 

[Monty]

Nice project! I really like those arched F&P doors. Looking forward to pics of the finished project.

 

[chris99z71]

I agree Monty, I like those arched panel doors!

 

[sapwood]

Roy, your time is well spent. Great project and I'm sure LOYL will feel obligated to reward you efforts :-D

Roger

 

[Ray Martin]

Roy,

Your version of the hutch is really coming along terrific. It's going to be outstanding with a coat of finish on it. What will be the final finish? Did you make the shelves a bit deeper on your version? They appear deeper in the photos.

Thanks for sharing the work... it's stuff like this that helps the rest of us.

Ray

 

[Canuck]

Great work, Roy!!! I too really like those doors!:eusa_danc

Curious. Did you use drawer slides? And, what kind of hinge did you end up with for the "flip-down door/table"?

Once finished, I am sure that the pine version may get retired real quick!:eusa_clap

Sweet cherry!

Wayne

 

[Grgramps]

To those who commented and asked questions:

The praise is appreciated and helps keep one on track. Something my wife learned a long time ago.

I am in the shellac phase of my life. I love working with that stuff and will probably make that the sole ingredient for the finish.

Roller drawer slides try my patience and remind me of the kitchen cabinets that we have. I like to think of my work as a cut above so I built a frame in this cabinet and the drawer, with a little parafin, slides effortlessly.

The hinge is something that I searched the catalogues for and finally found at Van Dyke's. I went in that direction because it was the style used in the pine cabinet, although they were brass plated steel. The ones I got for this cabinet are solid brass and required a lot of filing before they would open all the way. If I were to do this again I would opt for a stay. Live and learn. They look nice but were a pain to deal with. Here's a closeup:

Roy

 

[D L Ames]

Very nice looking hutch Roy. Where exactly on the hinge did you have to file to get them to open fully? I bet that was a pain for you. As the others pointed out your arched doors look great. Did you make a template for routing the top rail and panel?

D L

 

[Grgramps]

D L,

I have placed an arrow to show the point at which the arm and the base meet when the hinge is fully opened. The problem was caused by there not being sufficient clearance for the hinge to open all the way. The only way I could see to resolve this was to remove metal (at least it was soft) from the bottom edge of the arm. Fortunately that is an area that does not show. As you might guess, they're made in China.

With only 2 doors to deal with I didn't bother with a template. I merely drew an arc on the rail and cut it with the band saw. I increased the radius about 1/4" for the panel. This was a first time for me and it worked the first time. I can only hope that I can repeat that for the doors in the top most section.

Roy

 

[D L Ames]

Roy, thanks for the response on the hinge modification. You did a fantastic job free-handing those doors.

D L

 

[Grgramps]

It's been about a month since the first pictures and even longer since I first started this project. As the story goes, "I'm so old I hesitate to buy green bananas". Well, I need to think more about starting projects that take so long, and it's still not finished. Most of the shellac has been applied, the hardware is installed (mostly) and now I am making the little interior shelves for spices and stuff. So here's what I have so far:
Roy

 

[DaveO]

Wow, the shellac finish really changes the piece from your earlier pics. It's looking really great!!! :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

Dave

 

[b4man]

Roy,
That hutch is just simply fantastic! I think you did a great job on the doors and the finish, as well as every other aspect. Your wife is so very lucky!

 

[FredP]

hmmmmmm....... i think you should keep the old pine hutch and send the new one to me!:lol: I'll pay the freight!:rolf: . great job.

 

[MarkW]

Very nice Roy! I bet your wife will really enjoy having such a nice piece.

 

[Matt]

First, nice work :icon_thum

Second, your pace of work seems fine to me. I ain't that old (yet) and I have turtles telling me to pick up my pace...

 

[dozer]

Great looking hutch I really like the color and finish. There is no such thing as working to slow this is supposed to be fun.

 

[Splinter]

Roy,

That is a beautiful piece of furniture. :eusa_clap :eusa_clap Perfection takes time.

 

[Canuck]

Beautiful work, Roy. Really like your selection of shellac for the finish!

Super job!:eusa_clap :eusa_clap

Wayne

 

[erasmussen]

Looking really great, with the shellac on it:eusa_clap:icon_thum