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First Cabinet Build - HallowCade- 90% Complete.. Now with new pics
mgb:
The Marquee looks good. It may be cool to fill in the sides just a little more, maybe by making the name alittle wider
MidnightClubbed:
Looking good.
Are you using oak ply for this (assuming it's not solid oak!)? Can you give any more specifics about the wood you're using and the steps you've taken (and need to take) to work with the wood?
I've finished up a design for my first cab, with the intent of making it a woodie, but am stuck worrying about the difficulty of working with 'real' wood and having it come out in a wife approved state. So any pointers you could give would be most welcome (and hopefully to others, not just me). I'm looking to stain to a darker expresso finish....
Congrats on the build so far. I wouldn't worry about the time factor, there are cabs around here that have been in process for years. Ahem.
scream1973:
What i used for wood is Oak Veneered 3/4" Veneer Core Plywood ( Price in Canada is around $70 a sheet , but i got a great deal on it @40 a sheet ) .
I previously used Particle Core Oak Veneer on my Bar and found the veneer core to be lighter and a little easier to work with the only issue is potential voids occasionally in the plys.
Its very easy to work with especially if you have the tools. I cut everything with a circular saw ,jigsaw, Router and drill up to this point.
The slotcutter was very easy to use and cut the channel like butter ..
As for staining..Oak stains pretty evenly without pre-treatments but you have to lightly sand to bring down the grain after the first coat. A pre-treatment would bring this grain up and allow you to sand without knocking any finish off. To get my color took 2-3 applications of the stain and then 5 thin coats of poly for a nice smooth sheen. I use oil based stain and then a waterbased poly and had no issues with it on either this or my bar i built.
Can't think of anything else off the top of my head but definately feel free to ask questions and i will try to answer them ..
MidnightClubbed:
Thanks scream, much appreciated.
Did you have any issues with the edge of the ply splintering out? I've used a Jigsaw to cut cheap ply in the past and there were a few places where the top layer splintered away. For that application it didn't matter, but for an arcade machine it obviously would. I have some fairly long curves in my design which I imagined I would need to jigsaw to cut, should I be using the router to do that? The design you went with seems to have a few tricky cuts in there...
How did you fix everything together? Are you using nails from the 'finished' side, battens, any fancy joints to hold it all together? Also have you had any issues with the ply warping/bending or is that only really an issue with the thinner board sizes?
Sorry for all the questions, but want to get as much info before I start buying more powertools and sheets of wood.
Keep posting those pics :)
scream1973:
Hey not a problem..
The easiest way to prevent splintering is to use a sharp blade meant for veneered wood.. Also if you had a sacraficial piece of wood you can clamp the piece ontop of it helps prevent splintering as well (place outside downwards cut on the inside pieces.)... i only had a couple of splinters and i was able to sand the edge back enough to make it not noticeable.
i rough cut then used the router to bring it to proper size.. and then used the one side pieces as a template to route the other side to be a perfect match.
I used brads to hold it together on the finished side here and there for the smaller joints.. Screws from the inside out for the major parts where i could and then a couple of dark bronze screws on the outside in basically the corners where i needed the additional strength.. once the stain and poly went on you can barely even notice them at all..
As for warpage and bending can't say i have had any issues with that so far .. i think thats more so in the thinner pieces of ply and also if you brace it well with your design the chances of warpage are alot less. I know my bar i have had for around 2 years and no warpage or issues with that at all ..