With everything primed, I re-tested the layout, with shims to check for gaps. Everything looked good so far. Even with a lot of checking-for-square as I built the frame and doors, there were some tiny variances (by tiny I reckon under 0.5mm at the worst). By the time the top coats were on, I would end up with a gap between 1mm~1.25mm. My over-sanding did expose some corners that I had accidently rounded over slightly (argh!).
I shuffled the doors around until I found a configuration that made the gaps as even as possible, and marked everything so that I remembered where they go.
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Now I can cut the hinge mortices in the door.
I was a bit nervous, but a simple jig worked a treat.
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I used some small offcuts of birch ply, stuck to an MDF board with super glue. I held the ply firmly against the edges of a hinge, to get a nice tight outline. I then added more pieces of ply to provide support for the router base. Next time I’ll use slightly bigger pieces.
The screws with washers go through an 8mm oversized hole in the MDF board, into the softwood fence. The oversized holes allow me to micro adjust the jig, and vary the hinge position. Once I was happy with the test cuts, a couple of woodscrews through the board into the fence prevents further movement.
The softwood fence is clamped to the door either side, and the palm router with guided trim cutter does it’s thing.
With the hinges in, I re-tested the fit and all looked good.
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At this point, I reckon I should have screwed the hinges to the frame and doors. I didn’t do that, I just relied on friction fitting and shims.
I think I should have done this because when the hinges are pulled in tightly with the screws, you see what the gaps will really look like once installed without shims, and I would have the chance to correct/trim the doors.
Before I start painting the top coats, I re-visited the carcass and installed some simple 6mm MDF edging to cover up the gaps. PVA and a small nail gun did the job nicely.
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Not very pretty, but good enough for this particular cupboard.
You’ll also see the 5mm shelf pin holes I drilled before installing the carcass. Just drilled free hand, no jig since it’s only a handful of holes on each panel.
Inside the cupboard, I decided to use some white Dulux gloss I’ve had lying around. Might as well use that up. A quick stir and it still seems good (and whiffy). This over two coats of primer.
I also made a shelf for each side. 18mm MRMDF wouldn't sag in this case, since the span was small. I rounded over the edge using a palm router and roundover bit, and it gave a nice bullnose. Again, no issue with the MRMDF taking the shape, or with fluffy grain.
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The gloss was applied with brush and a foam roller. Some slight orange peel, but that’s ok with me - as long as the texture was even throughout, I’m happy.
The shelf pin holes needed re-drilling after painting. A slight pain, but not a big deal.
Onto the frame and door top coats.
I wanted an eggshell finish, and initially just thought of doing an off-white colour. I visited the local Crown decorating centre, and with lots of umming and ahing I bought a tin of trade acrylic eggshell, in white. I decided I was going to mix up the colour I wanted myself!!
It was a risk - chemically speaking - so I just went ahead and hoped for the best.
I used a small amount of Little Greene Absolute Matt Emulsion dark teal, Bedec MSP “Dark Grey” satin, and Bedec MSP “Soft Thyme” satin.
With my sophisticated mixing tool (pencil and cable ties) I whipped up a lovely Farrow & Ball looking colour, which I was happy with. It was a bolder choice than my initial off-white idea, but it would go very nicely with brass.
A quick experiment on some offcuts, and the paint seemed to take well. It also didn’t separate in the pot, another good sign.
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With that, I started painting the frame and doors.
I’ve tried a lot of paintbrushes (and am still trying new ones), but this one has been particularly impressive at giving a smooth finish. I painted my uPVC windows with them and they gave a very nice finish. I was skeptical given the price (£3.99) but it was very good indeed:
https://leylandsdm.co.uk/seagull-handy- ... e-2in.htmlI wanted an even finish, and settled on having a foam rollered finish, rather than brushstrokes. I wouldn’t quite call it ‘orange peel’... it’s a finer grained texture.
The brush was great for getting into the corners, beading and moulding, and the foam roller was used for all the flat surfaces.
(For future projects, I will be trying brush and spray finishes).
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I was careful to brush and roll out the paint very evenly, and without overloading, to make sure it was an even texture. I started with corners and moulding, then rolled the flat surfaces to blend everything in.
The end panel was deliberately not sanded to a fine finish, and I brushed it to match the ‘patina’ of the existing end-panel finish. (and you can see my sophisticated mixing device here too)
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I denibbed by hand between coats, with a well used 240 grit disc, vacuuming all dust before the next coat.
In case it’s of interest to anyone, my hand sanding tools of choice were a sanding block made with sanding belts, double sided tape and block of MDF; Mirka sanding discs for the higher grits; and these rather good Festool foam 120 grit sanding blocks - which I had bought for £4 on Prime day (normal price is £5). They are also made in the UK.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Festool-201084 ... 01F4RPWBA/
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