Homework--Rattan Doors
So once home I have access to a full shop, its only 1800 miles away from the job site. I brought the face frame for the cabinets on the starboard side.
Face skin in the home shop
I had drawn out the framing on the inside and used that to cut the door holes and then make the doors. First I figured out door size, then I made a square pattern. I used a plunge cut on the tablesaw to make the pattern so that the edges were straight and the corners were square. I then used this pattern and a pattern bit on the router to make square straight edge holes. This makes it much easier to make the door frames
Square pattern in place
Now that I had holes the next step was make doors. I had decided to make door frames with a rattan center. I had been communicating with Capt Pauley on how to make a rattan door and his drawings showed a half lap door. I was not sure just how good a job I could do with a half lap, but I knew I could make a perfect joint from in front with a biscuit joiner. I knew that you would be able to see the biscuit from the inside when the door was opened and was OK with that. I made a test door with some good scrap hemlock. I used a dato blade on the table saw to get the inset on the outside of the door.
Test Door
I glued up the door frames using some mahogany I had bought at MacBeath's in Berekely and hauled all the way home. Nice wood, who knows what forest it came from to be sawed up in a shop in Juneau AK.
Unfinished door frames
I rounded over the outside edges of the doors with the router and used the dato blade on the table saw to cut the outer dato on the inside of the doors. I used a dato bit on the router table to do the inner inside dato for the rattan instal. I had to square the corners with a chisel, did not do a perfect job there.
Finishing the frames
I then installed the rattan. I cut a piece to fit the hole as best I could with scissors, I then soaked it in water for 20 min. I put glue around the edge of the hole and laid in the rattan and nailed down quarter round that I had made. I have no idea if this is the proper way to do it. It appears to have worked, the rattan has stretched tight. The pic is after I varnished, when I get rolling on a project I often forget to take pics.
Rattan in place
Almost finished doors
So that is the cupboard doors, they were fun to make. I would like to talk to somebody sometime who really knows how to make rattan doors.