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Neil's DIY cabinet

NeilW

NeilW

Member
Joined
25 Jun 2009
Messages
1,113
Location
Basingstoke, Hampshire
I've decided I'm going to make it hard for myself and make another cabinet, this time from scratch and using the lessons I learnt from my first attempt to get a better result. I've already marked up some 12mm MDF ready for cutting. Hopefully I'll get it glued and screwed either tomorrow or later in the week.

My plan is to have painted finish but my question is wether I could get away with using primer in a tin with a brush as its cheaper then spray? The actual top coat colour would still be spray.

Cheers,
Neil
 
Re: DIY cabinet- Spray vs. Brush

Roller might be better mate :)

As long as you give it a good sanding to get rid of any high spots I don't see a problem...
 
DIY cabinet- Spray vs. Brush

I agree with James, a roller would probably give a better finish, I would use one if the foam gloss rollers.

Cheers,

Tom
 
Re: DIY cabinet- Spray vs. Brush

Roller can't use with any paint product. Consult in shop wich paint is suitable for roller. I once bought gloss finish white and totaly not suitable for rollers - all paintwork in bubbles and after small holes.


Best Regards,
 
Thought I would expand my post into more of a 'how I did it' because I found it useful when I started to see how other people had gone about making one of these beasts. Finished all the cutting today and hopefully I'll glue up on Thursday, weather permitting, and get some photos. I mainly just used a standard hand saw but it was useful to have a jigsaw and a circular cutter drill bit around for the various ports. For now I thought I'd attach my plan;

nanostand001.jpg


Basically its an ADA knock-off but with cut down dimensions to fit my nano that has a 12" x 10" footprint. The actual ADA stands intended for their Mini Gardens are bigger then the tanks whilst I wanted mine to be flush with the sides of the glass so its based on their standard 'Wood Cabinet'. In addition to the usual semi-circular filter tube ports on either side I also added one on the back so I've got lots of options to position inlets and outlets for flow in whatever scapes I do in the future.

Cheers for looking,
Neil
 
As promised here are some photos. Rather impressed with the result (even if I do say so myself :lol: ) actually managed to be millimetre perfect for a change :oops:.

I also found that an electric sander was invaluable.

All filled and sanded and ready to be primed.
img2019c.jpg


img2020bw.jpg


My unusual tube port at the back. Both the semi-circluar holes at the sides are the same dimensions as the ADA cabinet but the one at the back is slightly bigger to allow more room for manoeuvre on the pipes.
img2023ga.jpg


As you can see its also off-centre
img2027v.jpg


img2024c.jpg


img2029xp.jpg


All the joints are glued and then nailed with a second-fix nailgun. (filler detail)
img2026i.jpg


Hopefully it'll be primed (and sanded more :rolleyes: ) soon and then it can go to my girlfriends step dad whose a car sprayer. He says it can't be baked in the oven though as it'll blow because its wood :lol:. I think I'll choose grey but I've got nothing to colour match to the ADA cabinet so it'll be a rough dark grey.

Cheers for looking,
Neil
 
peter1979 said:
good work :clap: . can i order a 3ft long one please ;)
Click to expand...

Cheers Peter :thumbup:

I'll put the 3ft in the post, I forgot to say I made one at the same time ;)

You should have a crack at it, just the same idea with thicker wood and a sub-frame. It's having the right tools and the time though which can be an issue.
 
JamesM said:
Looks great Neil, I'd be well happy :D
Click to expand...

Thanks very much mate :D

Just got hold of a tin of primer and a roller so I'll try and get on that tomorrow. It should all start getting together next week. Got your light still to come and the hinges for the doors, and I think I need to get hold of some more filter tubing just to make sure I've got enough for where I'm changing the positioning.
 
From the above post it looks like I jinxed myself :lol:

I made a big mistake and bought a tin of Dulux WOOD Primer. Over the last week I've tried applying two coats, both of which horribly peeled and teared when sanded and took 48 hours to 'dry' when the can said it would take 16 o_O. When it finally dried it also had a suspect gloss finish instead of the usual dusty matt finish of primer. I took both my paint and cabinet to the shop to show them what had happened to see if I could get an exchange for something that would work and I was told that MDF is not in fact a wood and I was wrong for buying such a crazy product :crazy:.

Agreed it is not a natural wood, and is a compound of both wood AND glue, but you can see it was an easy mistake - in what department of a shop can MDF be found? If you thought the cheese section on the deli counter you were wrong, it is indeed from the WOOD aisle ;)

So, a word of warning to any who want to prime their spanking-new-handmade-MDF-cabinet, go for the specfic 'MDF Primer' (which was hidden from me at the time) and DONT buy 'WOOD Primer' :lol:

On the plus side the new primer goes on a dream and can be washed out in water. It is from a manufacturer called 'Blackfriars' and can even be diluted to be put through a spray gun if anyone wanted to know.

Will try and post up some pictures soon!

Cheers for looking,
Neil
 
It's great when DIY projects turn out so well. I must admit that anyone who comes to my house gets sick of hearing 'I made that' to the point that they don't compliment any furniture in the house anymore incase they get 'I made that' :lol:

You may find it addictive too. You'll have your own website full of your DIY before you know it ;)

AC
 
SuperColey1 said:
It's great when DIY projects turn out so well. I must admit that anyone who comes to my house gets sick of hearing 'I made that' to the point that they don't compliment any furniture in the house anymore incase they get 'I made that' :lol:

You may find it addictive too. You'll have your own website full of your DIY before you know it ;)

AC
Click to expand...

Your cabinet was one of the ones I checked out when I was doing a bit of research. You did a cracking job. I agree it is a great feeling to be able to say 'I made that!'
 
NeilW said:
Your cabinet was one of the ones I checked out when I was doing a bit of research. You did a cracking job.
Click to expand...

Which cabinet? The latest ash one or the previous dark walnut one? :lol:

AC
 
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