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Major cabinet size problem
Wienerdog:
Amra, the putty in your holes would pop and ruin your paint job. I also think you would run into problems if you are countersinking into MDF (not enough meat left for good support). Your concept is acactly what he needs though.
I've been incorporating the same thing into my design. Look at it this way, your cabinet is really made up of a 2x4, 2x2, and 1x2 chassis. The outer MDF is just the covering, and can be made to be taken off. You do need to come up with a good way to do this, because it can't _look_ like that is how you built it.
Good suggestion though.
RubberDug, I partially agree that this is a hard project and not necessarily for someone who has done no woodworking. However, if you have the time and money, then go for it. Keep in mind though, if you don't have some woodworking skills, be prepared to have to redo every single piece of wood you cut. If you can't afford to buy two extra sheets of MDF because you cut the first ones wrong, I'd be worried. I like the "Family Handyman" magazine because they do a good job of detailing woodworking projects. What I really like is that they include little "snippits" of what they do wrong. The problem I have with Norm is that you never see him mess up. EVERYONE will mess up at some time. Hopefully you mess up on a 4x8 sheet of MDF and not on a 3'x3' panel of Cherry!
shmokes:
Those are my feelings. I don't want to build two cabinets. I'll just build the one I want the first time. If I screw something up I'll figure out what went wrong and redo it sans the wrong part. It'll still be cheaper than building an entire cabinet first for experience and then building the one I want after that. I expect the project to take months. I'll go very slowly and measure a bunch and test techniques on scrap wood before attacking the real stuff. I'll still make mistakes, but it'll all work out in the end.
As far as the putty coming out...paint...etc. I don't think that would be a problem. In fact I don't think I'd really need to even use putty since I'm planning to laminate. If there are worries about the strength of MDF not being sufficient after countersinking those bolts, though, that might be something I'd need to consider as I'm using 3/4" Melamine (not sure about the core) so my wood isn't going to be quite as strong as MDF.
What about T-bolts? They wouldn't have to be countersunk nearly as far. I'll only be laminating the sides and front. The back will remain black melamine prelaminated only, so I might have to consider some way to attach the back pieces without unsightly bolts showing.
JustMichael:
Why not make the cabinet not as deep and have a detachable control panel hanging off of the front? When it comes time to move just detach the control panel to get the extra clearance you'll need.
shmokes:
Well, a combination of reason's really. For one thing, I'm emotionally set on building a rotating control panel :) . I've just set my mind to it and I don't know if my self-esteem could take the blow of scrapping those plans ;D .
Also, my wife would never forgive me if I built something unsightly and displayed it in our place for people to see. One nice thing about the PacMamea plans is the way everything is nicely incorporated into the footprint of the cabinet.
It's really quite a fix. I've got to shave six inches off the depth to manuever it into its room. That's a hefty amount. The hallway it has to go through will only allow something that's about 30 1/8" to rotate in. The plans call for a 36 1/8" depth. I could maybe permanently take three inches off the depth and still have room for my monitor, but beyond that the monitor would have to poke out the back (unacceptable).
rampy:
Have you seen frosty's rotable one? He's gone and chopped it (1ups design) in half to make it easier to transport...
*shrug* just a thought.
rampy