Don’t worry, “change of plans” doesn’t mean I’m not going to continue blogging or anything. It literally means I changed the plans. The project plans.
The first project in the “Powered Up” online course is a Multi-Purpose Shop Cabinet. Here’s a rough drawing of what the original plans are, but this is missing detail, so don’t make any judgement calls about the project, just from this drawing:
It’s got some pretty cool features, and a really neat hanging solution using French cleats. There’s doors on either side with pegboard to hang tools, and, obviously, the doors close.
My Version
One of the great things about this course is that Steve includes an extensive SketchUp model with each project. And as many of you know, I love SketchUp. Really.
But I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t change things up. I never could do what I was told to do - ask my mother. On second thought, don’t do that. 😛 Heres a rough-up of my modified design:
The Dimensions (1)
When I buy 4’x8’ sheets of plywood, I have the store cut them in thirds, which gives me three 32”x48” sheets. This fits in my SUV nicely, and I don’t have a lot of need for pieces wider than 32”.
Steve’s plans call for some pieces longer than 32”, so that’s the first thing I modified. Also, that fits better in my workshop:
Future home of Project 1, before clean-up
The Dimensions (2)
Steve’s plans call for 1/4” plywood in certain spots, which is absolutely fine. But I have some 1/2” plywood I’d like to use for this, so I modified the plans to accommodate that. This will also help improve structural integrity, for the last change I made:
The Shelves
Steve has pre-defined non-movable shelves in his design. I have some ideas of making some oddly-shaped cubby holes for some special tools I might want to put in the cabinet, so for right now, I’m setting up to use adjustable shelves. I’m not sure what I’ll end up using, but this allows me the freedom to choose at a later date.
But removing Steve’s shelves may make the cabinet less stable, so using 1/2” plywood for the back will help with that. If I run into any problems later (which I doubt), I can always add a support piece across the back.
Home Depot Trip #1
So today the wife and I went to Home Depot, and bought the hinges and adjustable shelf pegs.
Tomorrow, hopefully, I’ll be cutting wood.
More to come.
Comments
Now you can comment as a Guest!
You won't receive email notifications of my replies, though.
- Use any name.
- Use test@example.com for your email address.
- “Check” all the boxes. Since you’re using a fake email address, it doesn’t matter what you agree to. 😛
I’ll have to approve your comment, but as long as you’re not spamming me, that’s no problem. Just remember that I do sleep sometimes, or I might be in the workshop, so I might not approve it right away.