Deluxe Sewing Center

We will start off the day by plugging up some holes.  Screw holes, that is.  Here's how we do that...

This discussion of screw hole plugs uses photographs of a previous project and may not look anything like the current project, but the process is exactly the same.  Once everything is glued and screwed together, it's time to make some screw hole plugs to hide the screws.  Oh, sure, we can buy commercially made plugs but making them ourselves offers several advantages.  One is that we can make the plugs from scraps of the same wood used to build the piece of furniture, thereby achieving a better color match than is possible with commercially produced plugs.  Another is that most commercial plugs are "End Grain" plugs, meaning that the grain runs top to bottom not side to side.  Even if you search through a large box of plugs for proper colors, the end grain of the plug will not blend with the face grain of the surface you're plugging.  This can be useful for decorative effects, but if you want the screw holes to disappear, it won't happen with end grain plugs, especially if you plan to apply a stain.  In the photo, the face grain plugs are on the left, the end grain plugs on the right.  See the difference?  End grain plugs are great if you want to use them as a decorative accent, but face grain is the way to go if you want to hide them.

After using a special plug cutter to bore rings part way through a piece of scrap wood, we place masking tape over the top and press it down firmly so it sticks well, especially to the ends of the plugs.

Then we use a band saw to cut the bottom part -- the solid part -- of the board away from the plugs, leaving the plugs just sort of hanging in their holes from the masking tape.

Peel the tape away from the board and the plugs pop right out of the holes, but remain stuck to the masking tape making them easy to keep track of and work with.

As mentioned before, face grain plugs can be grain matched to their surroundings making them almost invisible.  Once this plug it trimmed flush and sanded, you'll have to look hard to find it.

Using a small brush we apply glue to the inside of each screw hole, then tap a plug unto the hole.  These plugs are tapered, and have a chamfer on the narrow end so they insert easily, tap in smoothly, and yet seal up tight at the surface.  They are far superior to commercially bought plugs.

Finally we trim the screw hole plugs with a flush cut saw and sand them smooth with a sanding block.

OK, back to the current project...

While the glue dries a bit on the screw hole plugs, I do the final shaping of the feet.  First I cut a 15° angle on the inside edges, then round over the visible corners on the router table.

I do the final shaping and smooth the rough edges with 100 grit sandpaper wrapped around a block of wood.  Smoothing a rounded edge is kind of fun... you can't just run the block back and forth around the corner; that tends to flatten the mid-point of the curve.  So I use a stroke that is reminiscent of when I'd have to polish my shoes with paste polish and a brush -- back when I wore shoes that needed polishing.  I learned it from watching a professional shoe polisher, if you've ever seen it, you'd recognize it.

Now that the glue is tacked up on the plugs, I trim them off and sand the cabinet with 100 grit paper.  I do this before installing the feet so taht I can sand all the way to the edge of the cabinet, all along the bottom edges.  The feet will stick out from teh edges just a bit, making that very difficult to do with a power sander after they're installed.

The feet are glued and screwed to the under side of the cabinet.  They are designed to stick out from the cabinet 1/4" on each face, so alignment is important.  The back feet are easy, but the front feet will stick out past the doors, which are not yet installed.  So I simulate the doors by clamping a piece of stock that is the same thickness as the doors to the foot and use that as a stop block during installation.

All that's left to do for the case construction is to install the doors.  So I flip the case on it's back and lay the doors in place to check alignment -- much easier to do it this way than to try and hold the doors in position while vertical.  Then I mark the doors and trim away what little excess there may be for a nice fit.

The doors are mounted with piano hinges, but to keep the hinges from making a big gap, I cut a 1/8" rabbet on the inside face of each door into which the hinge will fit so the door will lay flush to the cabinet when the doors are closed.  To do this safely, I mount my "tall fence" on the table saw to give the added support needed to make this cut in such a large panel.

Then I pull out a tool I don't get to use much n my woodworking: a hack saw.  I mark the hinges for th exact length of the door and cut off the excess.  After making the cut, I dress the end of the hinge with a fine mill file to remove any burrs and to smooth the edges.

I mount the hinge on the door first, using just a couple of screws, then take the hinge off and mount it on the case.  Then I can re-attach the door to the hinge using the holes I've already made -- MUCH easier than trying to align the big heavy door, hold it in position and attach it at the same time.  Especially when I'm working alone.

Then I set the completed base cabinet up on it's feet and look to see if everything lines up like it should.  And this is what it is supposed to look like.

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