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.

Kids' Bathroom Started

With the government furlough and general procrastination, I did not remodel my kids' bathroom this past fall. I tried to start. I painted the ceiling and, well, that was it. School began. The holidays needed attention. My back started killing me. Days turned to weeks turned to months.

But I did acquire the wood necessary to make the vanity and a shelf box. Like my master bath, these will be cherry. My daughter wants to help me do this every step of the way, and the bathroom is cluttered, so we went ahead and made the shelf box.

Sure, we will have to remove it to paint, but that's just four screws. In the meantime it holds all those Bath and Body Works soaps, rolls of toilet paper, Clorox wipes and other things.

Building the Shelf Box

Marking the Centerline and Stud Locations

Installed Shelf Box

Construction was really easy. Using cherry plywood, we attached the sides, top, and bottom to one another using pocket hole screws. We, also, drilled pocket holes to attach a face frame. We made a frame out of 1 x 2 (actual measurements 3/4-in by 1-1/2 in) solid cherry wood - again, using pocket hole screws. The shelves are cherry plywood with their front edge covered in cherry edge banding.

Edge banding is a wood veneer strip with heat-activated glue on its back side. You just cut a strip an inch or two longer than the shelf and use an iron to melt the glue and adhere it to the plywood. Trim the excess off with a razor blade, sand, and the end result looks like a solid piece of wood.

We used pocket hole screws to attach the shelves, along with solid 1 x 2 shelf backers (hold the shelves off the wall and adds rigidity to the box).

Everything got at least three coats of waterborne polyurethane. That is pretty straight-forward, as well. Clean and sand the parts as necessary. Apply two thin coats. Knock off the roughness (grain pop) with a very fine sandpaper, clean, and apply another thin coat. You can repeat the sanding and coating as much as your heart desires.

Installing the box wasn't hard, either. First, locate where you want the box's centerline to be. Then locate the nearest wall studs. I took a 1 x 2 of cherry and, using a level, attached it to the wall. The box hangs from this. With the shelf box perched on that board, I screwed the shelf backers to the wall studs. This secures the wall box.

The rest of this project will have to wait until school is out.

Three Years

I spent three years of my professional life with the development and testing of the Ares-I J-2X thrust vector control system. My team designed and built the most sophisticated test stand ever attempted. It was a full kinematic, geometric, and electrical simulator of an Ares-I upper stage in flight.

As much as this was a technical achievement, it was a growing experience for me to lead such a wonderful team of professionals. It was this experience that made me think that, perhaps, I'm not half bad at this.

I am in the middle of another, similar project. Oh, the technology is different. The people are different, and present a whole list of different challenges.

We haven't quite replicated the lightning in a bottle that the TVC project had, but we are doing reasonably well - incredibly well from a project standpoint.

But I'm going to need a break after this, too. I pour so much of myself into such projects that I get tired. Tired of the stress, tired from trying to please and not disappoint.

It reminds me of that walleyball tournament my tribe entered. My team was undermanned and over-aged. We just wanted the game to end. But we couldn't not try, and we were able to get off the court quicker by just winning. Then, of course, we'd have another game to play. Each time, it was easier to just win quickly. At the end of the tournament, we got nothing for our trouble other than exhaustion.

I will be profoundly disappointed if there's nothing at the end of this project except an attaboy and another project.

Closet Organizer

My wife has sweaters. Lots of sweaters. A dresser full of sweaters.

And I want to dispose of that dresser. It was my grandfather's and it was a lousy piece of furniture when it was new. Age has not improved it in the slightest.

So the deal was that she would let me throw out the dresser if I made her some shelves in her closet to hold her sweaters. Naturally, I wanted to match the decor of our kitchen and master bath, so it would be cherry with a face frame. Clear coated, to age and color naturally.

It took a week, but it is done now.

I hope she's happy with it.

Edge banding the shelves with cherry strips

Pocket and shelf pin holes done

Installing the top and bottom

Sides installed, finishing the carcass

Face frame installed

Closet shelves installed

Shifting Gears

I am transitioning myself from remodelling to vacationing. The major project I'm running, at work, is moving from design to construction (starting with demolition).

I am shifting gears.

When this happens, there is that moment of uncertainty. That period of time where you do not accelerate. You coast and prepare for a lurch. That is how I feel now. Right now, my days feel wasted. I try to convince myself that it's okay. I deserve a break. But I don't believe myself. I can tell when I'm lying, because I no damn good at it.

A couple years ago I wrote about being at an inflection point. Things will turn up soon, because they always do. I guess I'm still waiting.