Sawdust on the Floor

Last weekend I got to do something that I really enjoy, some actual woodworking.  While we still are not 100% sure of what type of finish we are going be putting on the bathroom vanity, I had to go make some saw dust.  All real woodworkers will understand that feeling, enough with the planning, enough with the cleaning up the shop, just get busy and make some sawdust.  And for those of you who are reading this, but don’t totally understand the feeling, all I can say is ” just wait”  you will be there very soon. 

From the article in This Old House magazine, we determined that the vanity that we want to replicate for our bathroom is made from white oak.  So Saturday we made a trip to one of the local hardwood retailers, and got several pieces of true 4/4 oak.  I had taken the time to make a rough sketch of the vanity, and tried to figure out the exact amount of wood I would need.  By my best guess I figured I would need four pieces, 8 plus inches wide and 8′ long.  But when we got to the lumber yard, and I saw the fantastic selection available, I ended up buying five pieces.  What can I say, putting me in a well stocked lumber yard, is like the preverbal kid in a candy store.  Another woodworker emotion, I guess. 

I am using the same construction concept for this vanity that I used on my kitchen cabinets.  Conventional wisdom says to build your cabinet as one piece including the kick panel.  The method I like to use is to build the kick panel and the cabinet as two separate pieces.  You end up with the same cabinet, but cabinets built as two pieces are really easier to install.  You simply level the kick panel section and secure it to the floor and wall.  Then simply place the rest of the cabinet on top of the kick panel piece. Since we already know that the kick panel was level, all that is left to do is to plumb the cabinet, and scribe it to the wall as required.  The other method, requires that you level, plumb and scribe the entire cabinet as a single piece.  If the cabinet is small, there really isn’t any difference between the methods.  But with larger and heavier cabinets there is a significant difference in the installation of the two methods.

With all that said, I started work on the vanity by ripping the  3/4″ plywood that will become the base and back of the vanity. The 3/4″ plywood makes sense for the base, but you may wonder why I went the extra expense to use the 3/4″ plywood for the back also. Well, that has a lot to do with another decision that we made about the vanity.  

Our current vanity has a ceramic tile top, and a drop in oval sink. Again I still wonder why we ever picked that color for the sink, but that is a discussion for another time.  After discussing several options for the top, we are leaning towards installing a of granite for the top. We don’t know what color or pattern we want, but we are pretty certain that we want granite. We looked into doing another ceramic tile job on the new vanity, but my wife nixed that idea.  The constant battle keeping the grout lines clean, helped her decided against the tile. And while there have been great strides in making Formica look more like natural stone, it is still Formica. So that option was ruled out.  Man made products like Stile Stone, presented some interesting options like being treated with Micro Ban which helps inhibit the growth of germs.  Which makes good sense in places like a kitchen or bathroom. But in our opinion, Stile Stone products lack the deep rich look that only granite can give you.  So at this point granite is the front runner for a top. 

Another option that has garnered a lot of interest is a top made out of Teak. I saw a vanity on one of the DIY shows that featured a Teak top and a white vessel sink.  The concern is how to finish the Teak so that it doesn’t show water spots.  Being a woodworker, I favor the Teak. My wife, being practical, favors the granite.  So being a smart husband who learns quickly, I will continue with the idea that granite will end up as the material of choice. 

A couple of things I learned from the guys who installed the granite in our kitchen is that granite, even a small piece like the one for our vanity is HEAVY.  The other thing is that the granite must be installed on a solid base, that is if you don’t want it to crack.  The other issue still to be determined is what style of sink our new vanity will have.  That means I don’t know how much of the granite top will be cut out for the sink.  So taking all of this into account, I decided to build the vanity strong enough to handle any sink layout that we end up with.  Ok, the truth is that my wife has decided on the sink that she “knows” will just be perfect for the vanity.  I just want to explore a couple of other options, before I agree with her. 

So with the base and back of the vanity cut, I turned my attention to making the face frame for the vanity.  This was a simple task. After rough cutting a piece of the 4/4 stock to about 37″, I dressed one edge on my jointer.  I would have loved to be able to dress an opposing edge at the same time, but since my planer is only 6″ wide and the stock was 8 1/2″ wide, I had to take a different path.  After planing the one edge on the jointer, I took the stock to the table saw, where I ripped it into two 4″ pieces.  These 4″ wide pieces were then taken back to the jointer, where two adjacent sides were planed flat. Once this was done I went back to the table saw where I did a final rip to 1  7/8″ wide, giving me 4 pieces that were 37″ long  x     1  7/8″ wide . 

From these pieces I will be able to make the top and bottom rail, the right, left and intermediate stiles.  I planned to use Kreg pocket screws to connect the rails and stiles together.  But to be sure that all of the pieces of stock were the exact same thickness, I ran each piece through the surface planer. I used my old faithful Kreg Jig to cut pocket holes in the ends of the rails and the intermediate stile.

Assembly of the face frame went really smoothly.  After applying glue and screws to the joints, I used my modified extension table on my table saw to help ensure that the face frame truly flat and square.  This was really the first time that I have actually used the table for a real build up. And all I can say that I am very happy with the results.  I only wished I had done this before I did all the work on the kitchen cabinets. 

With the face frame drying in the clamps, this might be a good time to stop for now.  Next time I want to get started on making the doors, and the end panels.  This time instead of just the traditional mortise and tenon joinery for the doors and panels, I want to add a decorative bead to the inside of the rails and stiles.  Not totally sure about that yet,  but trying new things is part of the fun of woodworking.

Related posts:

1. Woodworking Projects – Bathroom Vanity
2. Woodworking Project – Bathroom Vanity
3. Woodworking Tools – Ridgid 10″ Table Saw with Granite Tabletop