Hate to waste all that work but I scraped the idea of making the cabinet from oak. I had the carcass finger jointed and ready to glue up yesterday but I started to realize that it was just a problem in making. The oak was  heavy, it was warping and being solid wood I had to allow for expansion and contraction. The more I thought on it I decided ‘the look’ didn’t outweigh the problems and extra work I was creating. After all this is all about function, not looks.

I finally decided to save myself a lot of headaches so this morning I started over. I went to the building supply and picked up some birch plywood. It may not look as good but at least I know I will not have the problems I was going to have with the oak.

It’s also a heck of lot faster to build. I started this morning and it was glued together awhen I left the shop. I will start on the doors in the morning. I think I can finish them tomorrow. Then the slow stuff starts, deciding on how I want the tools arranged and building all the brackets and fixtures to hold them.

When I went to pick up the plywood I was surprised to be asked if I wanted the good plywood or imported stuff. One of things I really like about this supplier is they keep quality supplies, so this was a rather big surprise. But I was really glad to see that they were offering both.

Since this was just shop cabinet I went with the import after being warned it wasn’t very good. But it was $20 a sheet cheaper too. But you get what you pay for! I am not complaining, but compared to the what I have been getting this stuff is cheap! Lot of voids inside. poor quality surfaces, Not flat and I didn’t check but I don’t think the edges were square or straight.  No way would I want my house cabinets made from this stuff!