Thread: For those that have built a kitchen ..

Crikey. For a weekend warrior that looks amazing Derek. Great work.

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Great work on the kitchen.
I have been contemplating buying that book as I'm currently doing a cabinet/furniture making apprenticeship, it'd probably have some good insights.

And now that I have some birthday money on hand...

Looks pretty good to me there are alot of so called Cabinet Makers out there who would not have show at that sort of quality

Looking great, Derek. I've not done a kitchen, but I've been building some frame and panel doors recently. They can be quite frustrating to someone with a woodworker's attention to detail.

Are all of your panels edge-jointed, solid lumber?

What do you think of Maple? It's readily available here, and I am developing an appreciation for it. I find working the end grain and planing against the grain to be pretty challenging, but both doable in a pinch. Compared to the other American hardwoods I understand where it gets the name "Hard" Maple.

Cheers,
Luke

Great work on the doors Derek. I like the effort you have gone to on the book matching, most retail solid wood doors I've seen don't give a damn!

Originally Posted by Luke Maddux

Looking great, Derek. I've not done a kitchen, but I've been building some frame and panel doors recently. They can be quite frustrating to someone with a woodworker's attention to detail.

Are all of your panels edge-jointed, solid lumber?

What do you think of Maple? It's readily available here, and I am developing an appreciation for it. I find working the end grain and planing against the grain to be pretty challenging, but both doable in a pinch. Compared to the other American hardwoods I understand where it gets the name "Hard" Maple.

Cheers,
Luke

Hi Luke

The panels and frames are all solid Maple. All the panels are book matched. All the pieces in the frames were chosen to compliment the adjacent piece. I guess that is the furniture maker in me.

Working with USA Hard Maple has been interesting. First of all, it is not particularly hard ... as in Australian Hard. Let's call it "firm" - about the same as Tassie Oak. But it is so nice to work. The grain is tight and it is nice to plane, takes detail so well, and is good to finish. I was surprised how easily it can tear out, however. There are small pockets of reversing grain to watch out for. Either a high cutting angle or a closed down chipbreaker is important if you with to avoid tearout when finishing. Working against the grain I find easiest to use a plane with a closed down chipbreaker.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Originally Posted by Fuzzie

Great work on the doors Derek. I like the effort you have gone to on the book matching, most retail solid wood doors I've seen don't give a damn!

Thanks Franklin. I wan't sure if the book matching was evident - photos taken by an iPhone. The lighting is so difficult to control. I shall take detail photos when the kitchen is done. Lots to do.

Regards from Perth

Derek

I must be a bit weird... I actually enjoy the process of getting a whole kitchen evenly spaced and aligned...
One area where good hardware really shines is ease of adjustment; we only use Blum and it's really a dream. 2-3mm of movement in all 3 axes and tilt adjustment on drawers as well.

They adjust easily ... in theory. Or perhaps I need to change the ones I am using, which as by Grass ...



Regards from Perth

Derek

Been following along on this the end result looks fantastic.
Well done Derek.

And Ye new kitchen hinges are sooo much better these days.

Cheers Matt

Thanks Matt, but not even close to the end. I'll post before and after pics when it is done. I posted now just because it was such a relief to see the doors and drawers I have been building over the past few months (on weekends) actually turning into a real kitchen. Whew!

Regards from Perth

Derek

Looking fantastic mate. Really love the contrast between the countertop and the cabinets, looks even better than I imagined.

Originally Posted by derekcohen

They adjust easily ... in theory. Or perhaps I need to change the ones I am using, which as by Grass ...

The adjustment looks pretty much the same as the Blums, but I'd be changing them for ones with built-in soft-close

Most of the major kitchen hardware manufacturers have these options in their hinges - three way adjustable and soft close and have done for quite a while - Hettich, Blum, Grass etc. Yes, they certainly do make adjustment a lot easier. One of the kitchens I had a bit to do with years ago was a big rustic country kitchen with exposed external brass hinges. It was a real bitch to set all the doors right so that all the tops were in perfectly in line.

Stewie