Construction on one of the 2-door base cabinets is complete. It took me a little longer than I would have liked because of so many other projects interrupting me. I still need to build another 2-door base and a 1-door base to complete all the cabinets for the cabin.
I’m about halfway through construction of the second 2-door base cabinet. I’m happy with the results of this first one and I believe the rest will be fine as well. I’ve learned a few things along the way that I will implement into my workshop cabinets. Nothing major, just small design and construction things that come with experience.
Finishing these cabinets will, of course, trigger other projects for the cabin but that’s the whole point. It really, really, needs to be completed and I’m building up momentum. Don’t want to lose it now.
Goat Ranch 2-Door (short) Wall Cabinet
Finished the 2-door wall cabinet and the 2-door wall cabinet (short) before I went on vacation. This short cabinet is for above the stove. Since all the wall cabinets are complete I started making sample finish pieces for Wendy to choose a finish she likes.
She has decided on the clear finish that shows the wood. The wood has a blonde color after three coats of top-coat. I’m happy with it, too. I’ll go ahead and start putting coats of sealer and top-coats on the cabinets while I start the lower cabinets. I have to complete my build drawings first…shouldn’t take long.
Goat Ranch 2-Door Wall Cabinet
Now that I’m getting closer to completing the construction of the 1-door wall cabinet I need to start my 2-door wall cabinet. The bugs should be worked out of my building methods and it should only be a question of doubling the smaller build.
When I made mistakes on the smaller cabinet I was able to develop techniques to avoid them thereafter. Some minor changes to the doors needed to be performed in Sketchup and I’m processing those 3D models into build drawings now. If the rain holds off this week I’ll be able to get the additional materials I need before the weekend to start this part of the build.
After this one, I’ll move on to the cabinet bases. They are big and a little cumbersome. At some point I’ll also have to plan on painting all these cabinets. That will be the first time I use my HVLP sprayer…guess I need to read up on that, too.
Goat Ranch 1-Door Wall Cabinet
I clumsily started building the wall cabinets for the Goat Ranch Cabin. The cabinet I chose to begin with is the smallest of all the cabinets I’m building. There are two reasons I chose this one: 1) I can relatively quickly build it and find any design issues, and 2) I can practice the setup and cuts on a small scale before I get to the larger stuff.
By “clumsily started” I mean I’ve found a problem with one of the methods I was using to suspend the shelves. I’ve used the technique before but, for some unknown reason, it’s not working for me on this project. The result was that I damaged one of the cabinet sides to the point that it will have to be re-cut. There were several mistakes in that side piece which made me decide to re-cut it. It was just too much of a mess.
The design is solid, though; no changes will be needed there. Aesthetically speaking, I think that I’ll add some edge banding on the “face edges” of the cabinet to hide the plywood ends. At first, since this is for the cabin, I wasn’t worried about that. But, it’s just one of those things that, I think, will bug me for years to come if I don’t do it. It’ll look more professional with the edge banding.
P.S. — I just call it the Goat Ranch because the previous owner had planned to raise goats there. We don’t have any goats.
Goat Ranch Cabin with Kitchenette Cabinets and Appliances
I’ve neglected building out the interior of the cabin for many years. It’s rustic…very rough. It has air conditioning and, obviously, electricity but no plumbing or any special accommodations. I’ve done maintenance on it and worked on it a little bit but my focus has been on large projects here at home.
The large projects at home are pretty much wrapped up so, for Christmas last year, Wendy asked to have the cabin buildout completed. Slowly I’m creaking into motion on that project. I’m getting some traction on it mainly in planning and design.
Yesterday I took an opportunity to go to the cabin and I modeled the whole thing in Sketchup. All the framing and decking and structure of the cabin is now a 3D model I can work on in Sketchup. I can make all the measurements I need for design and fit them with appliances in the 3D space.
There is a bedroom (a have the walls framed already), a loft (where kids sleep), and soon a bathroom (shower only…outhouse is down the trail), and a kitchenette (shown in the image above). It will be designed on Tiny House design principles and it’s our goal to keep it simple and low-maintenance. It’s our place to get away, let the kids roam and play in the woods and not worry about constant housekeeping.
With the cabinets designed (the brown objects in the image above) it looks like I need to get moving on the other things holding up their installation…like the wood flooring. It’ll be really nice to have a place to go and stay for extended periods; almost camping, but not quite.
