Toy Cabinet for Joey

Here is the last project that I completed at the request of my wife Jackie. She came home with nine baskets and requested a cabinet to house all of my son Joey's toys. This is what I came up with. It was a good learning project since I made several mistakes that I will not make again.

1. I made the templates for the base out of MDF using various design jigs, this worked except for the fact I should have made one side only and mirrored it so they were perfectly symmetrical. (pointed out by dear old dad)

2. I did not leave a large enough reveal on the side rails to do the detailed trim I would have liked to have seen on the sides. Although, this worked out well since I made some neat tapered trim that I like.

3. last thing is the finish, I used a combo Polyshade from Minwax, I know, I know, if you are skipping a step it can't be good. Basically once you put that first coat on you can no longer balance it out the way you can with a normal stain. To top it all off, I had it in my garage and the door was accidentally opened and it loaded it with crap. All in all, the finish is not horrible and I am happy with the stain / basket match but I would have liked it to have been better. I figure since it is in my 2 year olds room it will need a new finish in a few years anyhow, I will deal with it then.

This was the first project that I did with my new jointer, a Grizzly 8" spiral head G0593 (now on sale for 100.00 less than I paid :( ). I really enjoyed using this tool, I had a ton of Oak in really poor shape that I milled up for this project, very satisfying tool...... (Tim Allen grunt).

I also decided to put a half blind Dovetail in the base, I used a Jet Jig and they came out perfect. I think I will try to do them by hand next time.

I am starting a piece of furniture in the morning for a client (yes and actual paying client) It is a cabinet that will house a safe on the bottom, stuff in the middle and a TV on top. They provided me with a cabinet door off of their old stuff so we shall see if we can get a close match, antique ceiling tin and all.

John