Day 1 - 24th March

The first base side panel is cut

The first step once I had the materials was to cut the pieces for the lower half of the cabinet. Like the plan from MameRoom I was going to stick to a two part design (seperate top and bottom) rather than have the sides made from one solid piece of MDF. This had two advantages for me 1. It should make it easier to transport should I need to in the future and 2. I could get all the materials in my car (just!).


The base of the unit is pretty rectangular with a slope up to the control panel at the front of the cabinet. You can see three grips holding the wood in this picture and I have to say if you are contemplating building one of these yourself get some - they will save you a lot of time in mistakes due to wobbling materials and should help in keeping your hands away from the business end of the tools - hopefully meaning you will still have sufficient fingers remaining at the end of the project to enjoy the cabinet once it is built.


Once the two sides were cut I then needed to cut the slots for the T-Molding in each piece using the Router.

Router fitted with WhiteSide 1/16" Slotting Cutter

Luckily I had saved myself the cost of the router as was able to borrow one from my dad (Exhibit A on the left). However, as mentioned previously the slot cutting bit was harder to find and can cost anywhere up to £30! I found the cheapest option to be to import both the cutter and T-molding from the US and was able to get the lot for under £60. 


It is worth mentioning at this stage that if you are intending on using T-Molding on your project you need to ensure you use 3/4" (18mm) thick MDF as the width of the MDF must match the width of the T-Molding for it to look right.


I set the router to the center line of the cut panels and began cutting the slot for the molding. This was the first time I had ever used a router and due to horror stories involving missing fingers was particularly careful whilst using it. However, the tool itself went through the wood like butter with little effort and was a breeze to use. The only real warning to add here is make sure you are wearing a dust mask and goggles when doing this even if you are outside. MDF dust is nasty stuff at the best of times but the dust generated by the router had me covered head to foot by the end of the two panels and I was thankful for the mask by the end of it.

Slots cut in base side panels for T-Molding

Once the slots were cut the pilot holes were drilled for screwing to the front and bottom panles that would form the base of the cabinet.