Happy New Cabinet!

The new year starts much like it finished with many irons in the fire. I have lots of classes to prepare for and materials to gather.This week I am wrapping up the tool cabinet for Jet Tools. Pictured here is the upper cabinet before the knobs are installed.

I have about two more days of details to finish this project. I will be interested to see how Jet will use this piece for their photo shoots.

I have 30 knobs to turn for the drawers and doors. I start with 3'' long blocks of 1.5 x 1.5 cherry. I chuck them into my 4-jaw chuck which I rarely use but works great without the tailstock in the way.

I round them down to 11/16th for the small knobs and 7/8'' for the large.

A story stick is used to keep them somewhat consistent.

I use a 3/8'' wrench to size the tenon. These turn really fast about 2 minutes from start to finish.

Probably no two knobs are the same but you may not notice when installed.

Here you see the knobs installed. I saw a kerf in the tenon, drill the hole and wedge the knob with glue for a very sturdy knob that won't come loose. I can't wait to oil this cabinet down to bring out the grain of the cherry. I have several students coming in Feb. to build this cabinet as a class. I have worked out all the bugs and can't wait to teach this for the first time. It is a good lesson in dovetails, turning knobs and mortise and tenon construction.I'll post some photos when complete.