# Wine Storage Cabinet



## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

A friend asked me to build him a cabinet to store his wine bottles, glasses, etc. He sent me a drawing of his idea and explained that it would sit in a small space against the wall at the end of his kitchen counter. Actually, it will sit in his dining room and replace a smaller one that is there now.

I drew my version of it and he liked it. The decision was made walnut would be the material of choice. A1 grade veneer plywood for the sides and crate frame work and hardwood for the face frame, drawer fronts and doors.

Just a note of interest. In my neck of the woods, 4/4 rough walnut is $9.75 bd/ft. A 4x8 sheet of Columbia Domestic A1 Walnut (Made in USA) is $136! :surprise: I have been very careful with my measurements and cutting. :smile:

Here are the drawings I came up with. I will post more as construction progresses.
Mike


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

To get this project rolling, I spent some time rough cutting the 4/4 walnut to rough lengths. Then I created a flat side and one edge on the jointer. Then I ripped the boards to their final width (1/2 inch for the rails and stiles - except for the bottom). The two long pieces were a pain to deal width but I managed. A pair of adjustable roller stands helped support the weight on the long pieces.

Next. I ran all pieces through the planer until they were 3/4 inch thick. For the drawer stock, I planed those boards to 5/8 inch thick.

With the milling done, I constructed the face frame from the walnut hardwood using pocket screw construction.

Then I cut the two sides, the bottom and support for the top, and the horizontal and vertical pieces for the bottle storage crate from 3/4 inch plywood.

That required several steps.

Using a track saw, I ripped the 4x8 foot sheet in half.
Using the saw again, I ripped both pieces in half.
Set the table saw to the final width and ripped the two sides.
Used the track saw again to crosscut the two sides to the final length of 89 1/4 inches.
Used the track saw to cross cut the pieces for the crate.
Used the table saw to rip each piece to the final width and length.

Next up were the dadoes and rabbets for the back. A 1/4 inch dado was cut for the bottom piece, the top support piece and the fixed shelf under the top set of doors. I laid the two sides side by side and used my exact width dado jig to cut the dadoes. For the rabbet, I used a rabbeting bit in the router to run along the back of each side piece which create a 1/4 x 1/4 inch rabbet on the inside of each one.

With that complete, I set up two sawhorses with a pair of 2x4's so I could assemble the basic frame. We assembled the sides, top, bottom and shelf and applied clamps.

Then it was time to attach the face frame. Thank goodness our oldest granddaughter was visiting. We had one person applying glue and two spreaders going at the same time...and a lot of clamps. :dance3:

Stay tuned. There is more to come, and it involves routing! :surprise:


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Wow Mike I'm certainly looking forward to seeing your completed creation ,and I'm really liking the granite idea . Looks like you have a great start and I think I know what a pocket hole looks like now


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

*Flat pack...?*

Hey Mike,
When done are you able to make a couple of flat packs?.....LOL


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

PS . did you just glue the face frame to the carcase?...Ahh ,just saw the pocket screws..


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

jw2170 said:


> PS . did you just glue the face frame to the carcase?...Ahh ,just saw the pocket screws..


Glue and screws from the bottom and top into the face frame. Glue every where else. It's stuck like Chuck!


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## Admin (Feb 13, 2012)

This is going to be gorgeous. I can't wait to see more pictures!


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

Cricket said:


> This is going to be gorgeous. I can't wait to see more pictures!


We met with our friends last night and they picked out a stain color. I had about 7 different pieces stained for them to choose from. One matched their dining room chairs exactly. Now I can move forward and start staining and some assembly. It is basically being assembled from the bottom up.


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

Mike this is going to look great. Do you do a clamp count at the end of the projects?


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## chessnut2 (Sep 15, 2011)

You continue to amaze us, Mike. I read a story once about the people from your planet, and how you guys don't need any sleep or meal breaks. Is it frustrating having to deal with us humans, the way we waste 8 or 10 hours a day sleeping and eating? Jim


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

More progress. After cutting the pieces needed for the bottle crate, I ripped some 5/16 inch thick strips and glued them to one edge of each piece. No more ugly plywood edge exposed. 

Once the glue had dried, I used a flush trim jig to cut the edge banding flush with the plywood. That worked pretty good. A little sanding and they will be good to go.

The next step was to cut slots in each piece so they can be assembled in crate fashion (see drawings for better explanation).

To cut the slots, I had to make a template. I posted the construction details in another thread.
http://www.routerforums.com/jigs-fixtures/64321-how-make-router-template.html

My plan is to build the cabinet from the bottom up so the crate had to be made first. With the pieces cut and a test fit made, I cut individual filler pieces that will be attached to the inside of the cabinet and provide support for the horizontal pieces.

If you look closely at the last picture, you can see the dry fit in progress. The crate is assembled and the spacers are in place. Additional spacers have been cut and place so they position the drawer dividers. I finally got a chance to put the tape measure on the fit and it is almost identical to the dims in my drawing. YAY me!

We have had a lot of stormy weather the past few days, but we still managed to meet with our friends and let them choose the stain. I had stained and finished several sample of plywood and hardwood so they could pick and choose. I have included a couple of pics of the various stains. They wanted a dark finish. One of the samples is an exact match to the chairs in their dining room. BTW, the stain chosen is Rustoleum KONA. It is a dark brown.

This brings me up to date. With the stain chosen, I can move forward and start finishing the parts as needed and the assembly can begin. I still have to build the drawers but I have the drawer stock milled, and cut to rough length.


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

Progress looks good! I see you are getting a lot of practice with SketchUp. I used it the other day on a project just to see if I remembered how and it went pretty good.

I am looking forward to seeing the finished cabinet.


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Your sure making some incredible progress Mike . How I wish I could be there just once to learn . That's just a tad intimidating for the novice


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## AndyL (Jun 3, 2011)

Great project Mike. I'm looking forward to see the finished article. It'll be a real heirloom piece I'm sure.


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

I finished making the final cuts on the doors and got them installed for dry fit. I made them a little wide on purpose. My work flow is to mount the doors, check for fit. Then take them off one at a time and run the edge across the joiner three or four times and remount it. Do the same for the other door. The fit turned out nice. Then I removed the hinges and stained the doors.

I cut a piece of 3/4 plywood for the top and attached a 3/4 inch hardwood walnut edge band and routed it a cove bit to produce a nice profile that can be seen from the underside (remember, it is 90 inches tall).

I used the same router bit setup to create the base molding.

Yesterday, we had a staining party. Later on this afternoon, we will flip the cabinet and stain the remaining area. It is starting to look like a finished piece of furniture.

Still have a ways to go.
Things to do list:
- spray finish on all stained pieces including the cabinet carcase, crate pieces, doors and shelf.
- assemble the crate pieces with spacers to form the bottle storage area.
- build three drawers to fit including insert support for the granite piece to fit into the top drawer.
- cut the drawer fronts to fit, sand, stain, finish and attach.
- stain and finish the back and cut it to final size and attach it.
- deliver it to client. He will take care of getting the granite bought and cut to fit.

This project seems to be taking forever to build. But that is mostly my fault. Some days I just don't feel like working on it. But, just like Yogi said "it ain't over 'til it's over!".

Here are a few pics.
Mike


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

Well, alrighty then. Let's make some holders for the wine glasses.

A while back, I milled some stock and glued up three pieces to make the glass holders. Each one consists of two boards glued together. That was easy. I glued them all up and clamped them together. I just had to make sure where the glue was supposed to go and where it was not supposed to go. :surprise: I wound up with three pieces to cut from.

Today, I doubled checked my measurements and made a couple passes on the joiner to insure each piece was exactly 3 1/2 inches wide. I know, the drawing said 3 1/4" but I made some changes when I took the actual measurements.

The pictures show how it really was a simple operation. I made a rip and then turned the board around and made another pass over the blade. Then it was time to tilt the blade (about 12 deg), and adjust the height. Two more passes with the boards turned on their edge and the job was a done deal.

Overall, it was a pretty easy task.

Once I was finished, I set up the Incra miter gauge and cut the pieces to their final length of 11 inches. After checking everything out, I ripped one side off of two pieces to form the outside supports.

Time for a break, then sand and stain 'em.
Mike


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## paduke (Mar 28, 2010)

Mike well done Not only is it a great piece you did a wonderful job sharing your ways and means. Very informative. great thread


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

Refill, please! A break in the rain clouds allowed for some productive time in the outdoor spray booth today. :grin:

Hope to get some more spraying in tomorrow.


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

Alrighty then! I will skip the small talk. The cabinet is finished and we delivered it last night. My friend and his wife really like it. They were like kids in a candy store dragging out glasses and bottles from all over the house to stock it.

He posted a couple of pics, and it appears they went shopping earlier today because now all of the crates have bottles in them and the glasses all fit the hangers.

And to top it off, we broke it in with a few drinks and a dinner of grilled pork chops and baked potatoes.

A couple of days ago, he asked if I could cut some plywood to fit so they could use the cabinet until he can get the granite for the top and the pullout insert. I cut both pieces and my wife covered them with contact shelf paper that looks just like granite. She had just enough on a leftover roll to do the job. They like it so much, he may not even bother with the stone! :surprise::grin:

Hope you like the pics.
Mike


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

Very nice Mike they should be extremely happy.


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

I can't get over how gorgeous this is ! How you can part with it is beyond me . 
I really liked how you cut the holders for the glasses , well I liked all of it really . You certainly outdid yourself on this one . Don't know how you can top this


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Dang and all I want is to build a router table extention in my table saw . I don't feel so overwhelmed now lol


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

RainMan1 said:


> Dang and all I want is to build a router table extention in my table saw . I don't feel so overwhelmed now lol


what about insulating the garage???


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

so much good to say about your cabinet Mike and no teal way to say it...


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Stick486 said:


> what about insulating the garage???


Now that's overwhelming


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

RainMan1 said:


> Now that's overwhelming


go at like you were routering...
small bites...
by winter time you should be about done...


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

Thanks for the kind words. It looks better when you see it in person. If you look closely at the pictures after it was delivered, you will see only a few bottles in the crates and a hodge podge of glasses. They solved that dilemma Saturday morning. The storage crate is full of bottles and some of the glasses have been replaced with matching sets. His wife said they needed 9 and that appears to be what is in the middle of the rack.

Using Sketchup to design the cabinet really helped.


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

Like was said before, you really out did yourself, Mike. That is a real show piece. It should be featured in Fine Woodworking Magazine.
You have earned the right to be proud of that work. Coming out of a home shop is beyond imagination. I have seen a lot of commercially manufactured high end millwork, and your cabinet is just as good or better. Great job, and a lot of effort on your part.

Herb


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## darsev (Feb 3, 2012)

Hi Mike,

that is a good project and you have every right to be proud of it. I would be curious to know how the bottle storage fares over time. I worked on a few wine racks of the same style whilst I was at the factory and always wondered if they needed a bit of moulding or similar at the front of each slot to hold the bottles in, and if the corks dried out because the bottles weren't pointing down. I know for some that the last question is academic because the wine doesn't last long enough for the cork to dry out, but we tend to buy up the $5-$10 bottles of wine and let them sit for a few years before drinking.

Great project - thanks for the photos.

Darryl


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