Kitchen Job

[Leon]

The kitchen job is almost complete. Yesterday I installed the 16 false drawer fronts and today I am gluing up 1/2" plywood, "edge to edge". Whaaaat?

Some have expressed doubt about how accurately you can edge glue stock using the Domino for alignment. "10,000 plus mortises" with my Domino produced these results when I needed for some expensive 1/2" white oak veneer plywood to be ...... wider.

Here is the joint after a very slight amount of surface sanding. As we all know, the outer veneer on cabinet quality plywood these days is extremely thin. That is 1/2" material, I'm guesstimating that the veneer is not over 1/64" thick.

And then the money side of the joint.

I'm still very impressed with the Domino.

Anyway, moving on, The kitchen job is complete except for the microwave cuby. I am building a slide in unit to close in and hide the interior of the cabinet that the microwave sets in. The interior of this cabinet will have a more finished look and a frame around the perimeter. I used 3 sheets of 1/2" white oak plywood for the center panels in the

29 door panels. That was way too much but I wanted to book match the paired doors, so there was considerable waste. BUT about half of that waste is what I am gluing up for the microwave cuby.

There are also 6 drawer fronts and 6 doors on the island but too difficult to photograph. Tight squeeze.

And before the new false drawer fronts, doors, and under counter drawers went in, I installed 5 multi drawer units behind the doors of the lower cabinets.

The customer is pleased! Always a good thing.

Thoughts or questions?

[DerbyDad03]

Everything looks great. Nice panel glue-ups.

Not quite sure I understand the microwave cubby build. Will there be enough ventilation for heat and moisture? You're not boxing the entire MW in are you?

[krw]

I was thinking the same thing. They make microwaves specifically to put into islands. Instead of a door, it has a drawer and loads from the top. I'm sure they're not cheap.

[DerbyDad03]

I think Festool makes them. You know what they say about color schemes.

"If you can't match, contrast."

[Leon]

The microwave cubby has an unfinished appearance. I'm only making the spot 1" narrower and 1" shorter than the actual FF opening. Now it looks like a cabinet with no doors. I'll also be adding a frame around the opening.

[krw]

If it's ugly, hide it.

[DerbyDad03]

Imagine that my MV sits on the counter, about where the leather bag is in this shot:

I have a short piece 2 x 4 between the back of the MV and the backsplash to keep the MV near the front of the counter. Without it, the MV slides backwards with use and ends up too deep to be convenient. That extra 3 1/2" forward makes a big difference.

Will backward movement be an issue with the cubby you built?

[Leon]

No. And there is no movement. The microwave opening is already there. I am only dressing up up the cabinet opening so that it does not look like a cabinet missing it's doors.

[krw]

Can the microwaves easily replaced with a different size? Microwaves aren't exactly the most reliable appliances and come in all sorts of non-standard sizes.

[Leon]

Absolutely, I am only making the opening 1.25" narrower and shorter. The opening is 24.5" x 18".

[krw]

With opening smaller than the front (if I understand you), I'd worry about heat. How are you cooling the microwave?

[Leon]

The microwave is about 1/3 the volume of the cuby. The cuby is huge compared to the size of the microwave.

With that aside. A built in oven has less air gap and those run for longer periods of time.

Heat has never been an issue for this customer nor our older home that had the same set up for the microwave.

[Scott Lurndal]

I dunno - my first Sharp Carousel II lasted 35 years in daily use.

[krw]

They have a lot more insulation in them and the electronics are designed to be constrained. Microwaves are designed for their particular use. Built-ins are not the same as counter models.

[krw]

Since, they've had a lot of experience "value engineering" them. The Chinese are good at that.

[Scott Lurndal]

You get what you pay for. Even from the Chinese.

That same microwave I bought in 1984 for USD$320.00 would cost USD$825.95 today.

My current built-in Kitchenaid is very well engineered. But didn't cost $100 like the throwaways you'll find a wally world.

[Leon]

Regardless, there is more heat cast off from an oven than a stand alone microwave. Manufacturers sell adapter kits to completely enclose stand alone units. 20 + years with our old one and there was no issue of heat. The microwave does not get hot like an oven, only the food gets hot and then the food has a big air gap between it and the inside of the microwave. Our counter top microwave never got hot on the outside. There was only moderately warm air being exhausted from the unit.

[DerbyDad03]

Uh...yeah...I'm pretty sure that most of know how a microwave works by now. ;-)

We were indeed talking about that "moderately warm air" that you speak of.

I do believe that our point was that capturing even that "moderately warm air", which I'm used to venting to an open room, would subject the device to higher temperatures than it was designed for.

If you're happy, we're happy. Really.

[krw]

No, you never get more than you pay for.

I bought one in '78 (when the brat was born) for something like $500. I could buy one today for under $100.

Same here. Your point is?

[Scott Lurndal]

I never claimed that. Please don't put words in my mouth.