OK ladies and gentalmen the day I have been waiting for!! A completed product! It is full installed.
Isn't she lovely!!
There are a few kinks I am working out and a finishing touch still waiting to happen but she is functional!
Heres a run down how we did this baby.
I measured and taped on the wall, where I wanted each shelf to fit all the cans I wanted into it. Husband comes in and measures from the top of the fridge to the floor takes into account the casters we bought and cuts the wood (shorter than I wanted!). Huge debate and "you never listen to me" discussion happens "whats done is done all isn't lost" half apology comes and then we are off to work again.
We called a friend to router the front and back pieces so we can use either side, 20min later he returns with beautifully edged wood. Thanks Jimmy!!
Then we built the box.
The outer box is the only thing we screwed, just to give it a little extra stabilitystability.
I will cover these wholes with little furniture buttons as soon as I can get into town to get some.
We doubled up the bottom and top boards (we glued one piece of oak and one piece of pine to save on money and still have the oak to screw into to make it sturdy). This was to help keep it square and the casters need something solid to screw into.
I then measured out where I wanted the shelves. Since we made the box first (mans idea remember his measuring) then I had to do the math to figure out how many shelves I could get in that space. I knew I wanted each shelf about 7.5" so I could easily get the cans in and out with the dowels. After laying one shelf inside, I found all I needed was 6.5" between each piece of wood. So I got the number of shelves I originally wanted LOL plus an extra little shelf for the little cans! I measured from the bottom of our box each time we nailed a shelf to insure if I messed up (which I did by 1/4" on one shelf) all the rest wouldn't be messed up too.
We bought for the more expensive better looking "select pine" for the shelves rather than oak to save the pocketbook. Select pine is my new favorite craft wood, very little if any sanding needed!
We then drilled whole for the dowels to set in.
We used a template for this. We measured from where we wanted the dowels to go and then drilled a hole straight thru a scrap piece. We lined up the template and stuck the drill bit thru and drilled in about 1/8-1/4". This saved so much time! I didn't need to measure each shelf and where to drill. (I married a smart man!) We cut the dowels 1/2" wider than the shelves and they slid right in with a little dab of glue on each end.
A quick sand, a quick stain, let stand for 24-36hrs, add the casters, nail on the back, then a medium coat of poly urethane, screw on the handle and empty your shelves!!
Look how much room I have! (Wish I would have gotten a before pic! Half of those cans were in this cupboard with the all the rest of what is still in there )
Doesn't she fit well! I need to add a small six inch rail on the wall to keep it from scrapping it all up but my soldier boy can do that with a scrap from the back when he gets home in three weeks.
I will suggest you don't buy small casters (I didn't want them to be than visible). We doubled up three rows of small 50Lb casters (6sm casters in total). Because they each swivel and aren't always swiveling in the same direction it takes a extra pull out and then push back sometimes to line them all up. Another thing my dear soldier boy can help me with when he gets home- we can install the larger 1.5-2" flat ball caster.
For now I am enjoying my new cupboard!
Now to figure out what to do with this over cluttered spice and baking supply cupboard...
