Technical Drawing/Woodwork Report

For my technical drawing and woodwork project, I decided to design a cabinet, which would host my CD's, guitar amplifier, cords, plugs etc. as well as the stereo my parents would have to buy me. (I mean, you can't have a cabinet designed specifically for a stereo, if you don't have one!)

Original Sketches.

The technical drawings took me longer than I expected (3 months in fact), because of all the details, and because I left my drawings at home for 2 weeks in a row!

But after correction after correction (there was still a few mistakes) I finally drew up the cutting sheet and I was ready for building. The problem was, the semester was over by then, and I didn't have woodwork next term.

...So I had to build it at home.

Technical Drawings.

After a bit of a hassle, we finally got the timber. I used pine for the legs, and 18mm Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF) for everything else, except the sides, back, doors and drawer, where 12mm MDF was used.

All the newly purchased timber.

The bloke who did all the cuttings for me was real nice though. Because he couldn't be bothered counting up all the cuts he'd done, he only charged me for 10 cuts (50 cents p/cut), when really it was about 30. He must have been having a tough day, because according to him, 4 x 9 = 27, giving me a free leg.

Unfortunately, I didn't put the bonus leg into very good use.

The first step was to glue the first 2 legs to the side panel. I had an excellent plan, glueing the 2 legs at once to save time, that couldn't go wrong� which of course it did. The tabletop I was working on was not even, which I soon found out, and to my dismay, the bonus leg had been glued 3-4mm off its intended target. The glue didn't seem quite dry yet, but let me tell you, that Liquid Nails ain't just liquid nails, it's liquid nails, screws and glue! Dad said it wouldn't matter, but I was insistent it would put everything out of proportion. We will see.

Glueing the legs to the side panel.

So when the time came to do the other side, I made sure I did it leg by leg.

Next task; to attach the two sides to the backing & front venir. That went without a hitch, and we had a freestanding frame.

Glueing of the Base.

Then we laid out most of the other pieces of timber in their positions. I found out I had cut the drawer sides deeper than the actual cabinet and I forgot to cut a drawer backing all together. But that was no problem as I had a lot of off-cuts to make one out of. I decided that the drawer bottom would be too weak, so some supports were called for.

Also the floor and shelf were to be a problem due to their sheer weight. And I didn't allow for the floor on the sides and back but it will probably work out better anyway. So the floor was glued on, with some brackets which were later found to be useless, while the whole shelf idea was abandoned completely.

Hard at work... somewhere along the line.

Next I started to assemble the drawer. I had to trim the sides by about 13cm and cut a backing and the four drawer-bottom supports out of spare 12mm MDF. After a lot of mucking around, sanding it all to an equal length, I finally glued the drawer together. Then I sanded, glued and dropped the drawer bottom in place.

Homemade drawer runners were then created using blocks of pine, and strips of Tasmanian Oak.

Homemade drawer runners.

Then it was then discovered that the doors had been cut 2.5cm too short. So back to the hardware store we went, to buy 2 more bits of 12mm MDF at the correct length and width.

The replacement doors were then fitted using piano hinge. Brass catches were fitted, which were then exchanged for magnetic ones.

Piano hinges, cut and fitted.

The next task was to route the edges of the main top, small top, and the legs, using Dad's router. All went smoothly.

Now the ingenious mind of Ken was put into action. The main top was secured, but not glued to the base structure. This was achieved by drilling 4cm deep holes in the tops of the legs, and 1cm deep holes in adjacent positions on the underside of the main top. 5cm pieces of dowel were then cut and inserted into the base-holes, and the main top placed on top. Thus letting the top section to be removed for transportation, yet not letting it slip all over the place as it would if merle placed on top.

My ingenious idea, though it may be hard to tell from the picture (bad quality).

The CD side supports were then glued to the small top, in the same fashion as the sides of the base. And finally, that in turn was glued to the main top.

A lot of sanding went on before the staining commenced.

Staining was done using a semi-transparent wood stain in Baltic Pine colour, which was diluted 50/50 with mineral turpentine. This was rubbed in all over using a cloth.

After this the top coat of shellac was brushed on, which was kindly done by Ben, even though he did miss of a leg.

After a good shellacing.

The top coat was then lightly sanded back using fine steel wool.

Brass knobs and handles were fitted, and then the whole thing was brushed and buffed with wax.

Inside the cupboard.:

The Finished Product:

After all the dramas it turned out a complete success. And you know what? The miss-gluing of the sides didn't affect the structure at all. Moral of the story: Never question your father.

Oh, and one other thing, you know what I got for Christmas? A Stereo!

Complete with stereo and CD racks.

Commencement:	June 2000
Completion:	December 2000
Duration:	50 + hours
Cost:	$150

Ken McLean - Year 10 (2000), Sophia Mundi Rudolph Steiner School, Melbourne. 97 Nicholson St, Abbotsford, VIC, Australia, 3067, (03) 9416 3011. E-Mail: [email protected]

Thanks to Ben Hodgett, Woodwork teacher, and owner of South Fitzroy Antiques - Conservators, Restorers and Purveyors of Fine Furniture Since 1982.
90 Gertrude St, Sth Fitzroy, 3065. Ph. 0411728668