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ShopCam HiLites for 12/20/00
Final Day

A snowstorm prevented me from returning to Mr. D.'s on Tuesday so Wednesday became the final day. After cutting and re-installing the old chair rail and baseboard at the left side, the only pieces remaining were the baseboard and shoe moldings along the bottom of the wall unit.

In the photo, the outside miter is glued and taped for the best fit and finish. Notice the baseboard is only nailed just under the top bead of the molding, making the nail hole invisible from most angles.

Here's the joint after the glue has dried and all the excess yellow glue is sponged off the finish. The nail hole is filled with a walnut-colored wax crayon and ends up looking like a small pin knot.

After finishing the molding installation, all that's left is hardware. I need to mount the round brass knobs Mr. D. selected at a local hardware store.

We decided to put one knob in the center of each drawer face. Instead of using a template to locate the mounting holes, I just measure from the edges and mark the location on a piece of masking tape. I don't like messing with templates unless I have dozens of knobs to install - it just seems faster.

First I drill a 3/16" though-hole from the front of the drawer and then I come from behind (in photo) with a 1/2" counterbore that only goes 5/8" deep - the thickness of the drawer box material. This lets me use the included screw and still give good access to the screw head should the knob become loose over time.

Once the drawers are outfitted, it's on to the doors. After they get their knobs, I replace the steel screws with the original brass screws while making any final adjustments to the placement of the doors. I want all the doors in the same plane as the faceframe and thankfully, this was pretty easy to do.

The last step is cleaning up my mess. Mr. D. is handling the final spackling and painting of the crown molding.

And though I'm calling this the final day, I'm not quite finished. Naturally, I left something back at the shop - it always happens - and I forgot to bring the little access door for the right-side cabinet and the final screws for the drawer slides. I'm sure they're sitting together somewhere on a bench.

The plan is to get together after the holidays, when Mr. D. has finished the painting, and get these two missing links taken care of. Oh yeah, we'll also get a better picture of the wall unit. This photo just won't do!

Thus ends the ShopCam project...for now. I'd like to resurrect it later but it's just too time-consuming on a daily basis. Maybe in the near future while working on a weekend-only project I'm doing for myself. Thanks for dropping by and I hope you found it enjoyable - at least a little bit.

Jim Mattson

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