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| Alejo I:
Your router work continues to be so smooth. |
| Lexiq:
--- Quote from: EvilNuff on February 07, 2024, 11:22:16 pm ---Appreciate you sharing the build process, it is fun to follow along. Reminds me of the old Knievel cabs on here. :) --- End quote --- Thanks! And appreciate the comparison - Knievel's cabinets were some of my early inspiration. It's a shame all the photo links are broken on his build threads. I did manage to find some here though. --- Quote from: Alejo I on February 14, 2024, 10:38:22 am ---Your router work continues to be so smooth. --- End quote --- Thanks - the main thing I found was to always have a solid jig to stop the router going out of bounds. I only used wood and clamps, and it does take a while to prepare, but the results are worth it. Choosing the right speed seems fairly important too - as you can see, I wasn't always able to avoid scorching the wood. I nearly started a fire with a glowing ember once, so I'd advise always having some water or an extinguisher nearby when routing. I used a vacuum attachment, but it wasn't powerful enough and there was always some stray dust. |
| Lexiq:
Laminating Now that all the plywood panels are complete, it's time to finish the exterior. I considered painting, but decided that laminating would be easier and result in a better finish, especially for the larger pieces. The only thing that I won't be able to laminate is the control box, due to the rounded corners. Some laminate can flex enough to go around corners, but it usually requires heat, and a larger radius, so painting is the safer option. After comparing many samples, I chose 3 sheets of 2440 x 1220mm Black Velvet Soft-Matt Prime Laminate. It has a really nice finish and matches very closely to readily available matt black enamel paint. 2 sheets would have been enough, but I wanted to have room for mistakes without having to re-order. Cutting the Laminate I started by unrolling a sheet and lying it flat on the floor, then placing the largest panel (one of the sides) in one corner. With a builder's pencil and ruler, I drew an outline around the panel, leaving 15-20mm margin all round. This margin mean the panel doesn't have to be too precisely aligned when glueing, and will be trimmed off at the end. The next step was to remove the panel and cut around the outline. Laminate is tough, but at 0.7mm thick, it's relatively easy to cut with a good pair of scissors. It is quite brittle though, so care needs to be take to keep the laminate flat when cutting to avoid cracks. Cutting around corners is difficult, so it's best to make straight cuts, and think about the sizes of the resulting offcuts and how they can be fit to the other panels. Panel Preparation The side of the panel that the laminate will be glued to needs to be smooth (in terms of any surface defects), and slightly rough to help the adhesive stick. This can be done with a coarser grit sand paper. It also needs to be clean, so after sanding, wipe it with a tac cloth to remove any dust. Take care with using the tac cloth on the corners, especially when going with the grain of the plywood surface - it can easily snag and remove a splinter, damaging the finish. Additionally, I also masked off the panel edges so the adhesive is applied only to the top surface. It's a good idea to cut all the laminate and prepare the panels first, then the glueing can be done all at once. An advantage of constructing the cabinet in a way that's easy to disassemble means that it's easy to laminate or paint individual panels separately, which greatly simplifies the process. Adhesive For laminate, a contact adhesive is best. This means applying the adhesive to both the laminate and the wood, letting it dry for a while, then joining the two surfaces. There are many types of contact adhesive - I ended up choosing Cantac HSE-Tac Clear Aerosol because it's very strong and non-toxic. I calculated that I'd need 3 cans based on the product specification, but I think it ended up closer to 4 and a half. This type of adhesive is sprayed on to the surface and comes out almost like a web instead of a liquid and should be applied in even strokes with as little overlap as possible. Laminate is very sensitive to small variations in the surface that it's applied to and even differences in the adhesive thickness can be seen under certain conditions. Fortunately, matt finish alleviates almost all of this, although it can be seen in some of the photos where the glossy protective film hasn't been removed yet - especially where I sprayed the laminate and panel at right angles to each other. Glueing Glueing laminate is both fun and scary because there are points where there's a lot at stake and not much margin for error. The first step, as mentioned above is to apply the adhesive to both the laminate and the panel. I did this in the garage, with a plastic sheet to catch overspray. With the adhesive applied, I moved the panel and laminate to a drop sheet on the other side of the garage and left them to dry for around 15 minutes (within the drying window for this specific adhesive). While waiting for the pieces to dry, I applied adhesive to the next batch to avoid down time. Joining the two surfaces is the most difficult step. I've read that the safest approach is to place thin battens on the laminate (the adhesive won't stick to anything that doesn't also have adhesive on it), then place the panel on the battens. The battens can then be removed one by one, lowering the panel on to the laminate. I tried this, but found it time consuming and error prone, so I tried a different approach which worked a lot better. With the laminate lying flat, I positioned the edge of the panel along the edge of the laminate, sitting just over the margin that was left when cutting. It doesn't stick because the edge of the panel doesn't have adhesive. I then gently lowered the panel onto the laminate, rotating about the corner of the initial edge. This works because the laminate is fairly rigid and doesn't bubble or kink like thinner materials such as vinyl. Rolling With the surfaces joined, the laminate should be rolled flat so that it's as smooth as possible and to improve the bond. Turn the piece over so the laminate is on the top, and use a laminate roller over the entire surface, pressing firmly and evenly. Extra care needs to be taken around the edges and corners. Because the laminate is brittle, rolling over a corner or edge while applying too much pressure will cause it to crack. If it cracks within the surface of the panel, it will spoil the finish. Even being careful, I managed to do this twice, once badly enough that I decided to redo the piece. Removing glued laminate is difficult, and re-sanding the panel to remove the adhesive is also not easy. Trimming Trimming is done with the router and the same flush trim bit used to cut the second side. Trim around the outside of the panel (and inside for any holes), moving smoothly and fairly quickly. If the router bit slows down too much, it can result in burring on the edge of the laminate. I ended up with some perfect cuts, and some with a little burring that I had to carefully tidy up with fine sandpaper later. Trimming can be done immediately once rolling is complete, although it may be better to wait a few hours for the adhesive to cure more, as it can gum up the router bit, causing it to slow down. For any places where the laminate needs to be trimmed, but the router can't be used, for example, the drawer base, where bare wood is left at each end to fit into the slots, a sharp knife can be used in multiple passes. Finishing Laminating is now complete, and the protective coating can be removed. The result is a perfect, durable finish that would be nearly impossible to achieve with paint in a similar amount of time. |
| Lexiq:
Painting Some areas of the cabinet can't easily be laminated. These areas are either too narrow, such as the inner faces of the side panels where the other panels are inset by 12mm, or curved, such as the sides of the control box. Masking Masking is important to protect the areas that don't need to be painted. For this, I used painter's masking tape, and newspaper to fill the larger gaps in between. Masking can take almost as long as painting, but it's worth taking some time to do it well if you care about the appearance of the interior of the cabinet. Paint Selection After a lot of research, I chose Rust-Oleum 2X matt black enamel paint, as well as a good etching primer for the few metal surfaces that I would need to paint. The matt black finish is almost an exact match for the matt black laminate. I tested a satin black finish as well as I'd seen a lot of people recommend it as a good balance between gloss and matt, but it was too glossy when matched with my laminate. Control Box This was the most challenging to paint because it has the most surface area, and is the most visible, so the finish needs to be good. The general consensus is that surface preparation is very important for achieving a good result, so I spent a long time on this step. Because I used finger joints for the corners, without a jig, I had some small gaps that needed to be filled. I used a fast drying spackle in and around these gaps, as well as anywhere else where the surface had minor voids. Sanding once dry resulted in a smooth, even finish. I used a relatively fine grit sandpaper, but left enough roughness that the paint would adhere well to the surface, then removed the dust with a tack cloth. I repeated this a couple of times until I was happy with the result. The other prevailing advice for achieving a good finish is that many light coats are required, with sanding in between. This is good advice, and even though the process is time consuming, it's well worth it, and the down time between coats, waiting for the paint to dry can be used to work on other areas. I think I ended up with at least 5 or 6 iterations before I was satisfied with the result. Monitor Bezel This could potentially have been laminated, but I didn't want the edge of the laminate to be visible on the inside of the cutout area. The bezel is fairly thin, so it was relatively easy to paint and sand smooth, using the same process as for the control box. Inner Surfaces These are the 12mm inset areas around the edge of the inner surfaces of the cabinet sides, the underside of the control panel where it extends beyond the sides of the control box, and the underside of the control box where it extends beyond the sides of the cabinet. These areas are less visible, so I didn't spend as much time on surface preparation or use as many coats. When masking the extents of these areas, I made sure to leave enough overlap so there would be no visible bare wood, but not so much that paint would be visible inside the cabinet. Metallic Surfaces I had a few metal components that needed painting. These were the aluminium marquee retainers, the steel mesh vent grilles, and any bolts that would be visible from outside the cabinet. For painting metal, it's a good idea to roughen the surface slightly with sandpaper, and then apply an etching primer to ensure the paint doesn't peel. For these pieces of trim, I decided to use a gloss black to provide a bit of contrast to the matt finish everywhere else. Varnishing For the edges of panels that would sometimes be visible, such as the drawer and cupboard door, I decided to use a spray on varnish. This is a nicer finish than bare wood, and also highlights the end-grain, which can be considered a feature of cabinet grade plywood. It also helps to seal in any splinters that might be present. I also varnished the inner surface of the drawer front panel as it's quite prominent when the drawer is open. Marker Pen For even smaller areas where bare wood may be visible, such as the edges of the cupboard door, that can just be seen through the panel gaps, a permanent marker pen can be used along the outer edge. While it may not seem significant, doing this will improve the overall appearance of the cabinet and help to hide the panel gaps. |
| Pixelstreamers:
I have been reading over these 2 pages for the last couple of weeks over and over again, and admire your skill level in producing such a high quality cabinet. Very nicely done ! Especially the laminated sidewalls give this cabinet the professional finish it deserves. Also i really like the global aesthetic this cabinet showcases, everything seems to be very well thought out and matches the overall theme. Again, nicely done ! :applaud: |
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