First Blood

We have a dog, named Mika, that we rescued. She's two years old and some type of beagle mix (rottweiler? coonhound? anyway, something black and tan). Coming out of this bitter winter, she has been very happy to just sit outside whenever possible. She lays under the yews, her black back blending into the sharp midday shadows rendering her invisible.

She is a wonderful family pet. Very submissive, if a little inattentive. Her beagle nose gets her in trouble at times.

So I was relaxing this afternoon, having spent the morning raking out old leaves and mowing the lawn for the first time this year, when my wife screamed for me. "Come outside. Put some shoes on and come outside!"

She was distraught and a little incoherent. Something bad had happened and she could not tell me what. All I could get out of her was that she was backing out. That Mika was out. There was a squeak. But she couldn't speak. She just pointed.

Mika was there, and was fine. Her usual, inattentive self. At the edge of the yew line was something else. A squirrel. It seemed to be missing its tail and was silently opening and closing its mouth to reveal its incisors. The squirrel was Mika's first kill.

Dead and near-dead animals creep me out. I don't like clearing mouse traps. I was no fan of removing the dead bird from our kitchen wall we discovered during its remodeling. This was no different. Ick. However, my wife was near tears and needed hugged to keep from falling apart. As is often the case, when one of us goes noodle, the other takes the load. It was my job to be the rock.

So off she went to the corner store. Once she was away, out came the shovel and I buried the thing. Mika looked like she wanted to snatch it back from me and did not like me taking it out of her range. After all, she would gladly dig the dead squirrel back up again in a couple weeks and roll on it. We can't have that. So the squirrel is buried deep enough so that we shall not see it again.

Vanity Construction Details

Here's what Sarah's vanity looks like behind the scenes.

The sides are cherry plywood. A cherry plywood bottom is attached using pocket hole screws. In the back are nail boards and the front sports a frame of solid cherry. Corner blocks keep things square and add structural integrity.

The doors are attached using face frame hidden hinges with a 3/4-inch overlay. Since there will be a sink here, the top drawer front is false and is attached to a couple hidden pieces of the face frame. The face frame is attached to the cabinet with pocket hole screws from the sides and from the cabinet floor.

Vanity Done

We got the vanity assembled. The frame was a little over 3/4-in thick, so the hinge ears bit into the frame. Not a big deal, I guess. Had to snug them down, though, because otherwise the doors would touch when closed. You need to have some gap, even if it is only a millimeter or two.

Not a bad little cherry vanity. It is certainly sturdy and, while it won't win any fashion awards, it works well and does the job. All it needs is a sink top and the handles (easier to install those once it is in place...less chance of damage when moving).

Kids Vanity Doors and Frame

We edge banded the doors, coated them with water-based polyurethane, and added hidden hinges to them.

We also made and installed a face frame of solid cherry.

This is starting to look like a bathroom vanity.

Vanity Carcass

Like before, we assembled the carcass once the sides and bottom were finished. We used pocket hole screws to join the pieces. For the plywood, we used #7 Kreg Screws. For the solid hardwood (the nail board, in this case) we used #6 Quick Screws. For both, we used a clutch setting of 12 on the cordless drill.

The pieces we cut from the sides to form the toe kick were cut on a diagonal to serve as corner blocks. Here, too, we used pocket holes.

The next step will be to make a face frame from solid cherry. This will be a rectangular frame, held together with pocket hole screws.

My daughter is helping me with every step. This way, she learns a little bit about how things are made. Even if she doesn't ever make things for herself, she will be a better judge of workmanship. There is, also, a sense of pride and accomplishment that comes from making things yourself (the so-called Ikea effect). To be honest, what we are doing is much above assembling pressboard furniture. Better materials, certainly, but it isn't much harder to drill a pocket hole and drive a screw than it is pulling two boards together with a quarter-turn cam.

The biggest difference is, perhaps, in the finishing. We have had to coat the wood with polyurethane and lightly sand between coats. Doing that took all week, really, but only a few minutes per day. Since we used water borne coatings, we get a lot of grain raise on the first couple coats but there isn't any smell and it cures quickly. The first two coats were a flooring poly, with a high solid count. That effectively seals the wood surface. Then a couple thin coats of glossy polyurethane and we're done. Since we use cherry, we don't need to stain anything. In a couple years, these pieces will acquire a rich, red hue.

The nail board, in back, is a scrap piece of finished maple, salvaged from an old mortar board. Since it will be behind the sink bowl, you won't see it. And if you're wondering why we aren't assembling this in my shop, well, I'd rather lug this up one flight of stairs than two.