New cupboards take shape

Plans to bring the puku home this week failed, due to the car deciding to act up. So I decided to start getting the rotten  cupboards rebuilt.

After dismantling the rear over sink cupboard, all that was left, in a usable state was the frame that the sliding doors mount in. Even the sliding doors themselves were of no use, as they been so vigorously sanded in the past, they'd sanded through the top layer of the ply. The rest was just completely rotten. 

The frame was sanded down and given 4 coats of varnish.

I dismantled the cupboard as carefully as I could, to ensure that I would still be able to use the remains as templates. This way I quickly had the side panels and the top cut from 9mm plywood and the bottom from 6mm plywood. A bit of glue down each rebate and a few panel pins, hold the whole lot in place.

Whilst I was waiting for the glue to dry, I made a start on the very delicate front pelmet. I'd already manage to remove the ply front and shelf front but dismantling the rest of the structure looked like it wasn't going to end well. I decided to mark out the top and bottom panels, directly on to the new timber, before attempting to dismantle it any further. I then cut the new panels, again from 9mm plywood, and checked them against the originals. This proved to be a good plan, as the second I started to prise the panels apart, they literally disintegrated!

With such a complicated piece, it's always advisable to take as many photos as possible. These as invaluable references when reconstructing. 

I measured out where all the the uprights were to go on both pieces, then drilled and screwed them together. 

The next step, was the end panels. The originals were starting to delaminate but after a bit of thought, I decided to repair them, rather than replace, so they would match the rest of the unit. 

They were given a good sanding and then plenty of glue squeezed between each lamination, before clamping them up and leaving them to set over night.

The following day, the end panels were fixed in place. This gave me the positions to fit the battoning for the front panels and shortly after the front panels themselves we fixed in place with pva and panel pins. A hockey stick moulding covers up the join in the top shelf. 

An oval piece was cut from 9mm ply and stained to match, then fixed to the middle of the top shelf. This will be where the gas light will fit. The whole unit was then given 3 coats of satin varnish.

The last job was top fit the white hardboard backing panels. These are just glued in place. 

Back with the over sink cupboard, the next job was to remake the doors. Having selected a piece of 4mm ply with a nice grain, the doors were cut, using the old doors as a guide. The handles and catches were then transferred from the old doors. The edges of the doors have to be thinned down to 2mm, to fit into the runners. They can then be squeeze into the runners before fixing the center brace back on to hold them in. The last job for this cupboard was again the white hardboard backing panel, which is just tacked in place.