Hello #woodworking friends! 👋 I’m starting a new project this week. It’s a year behind schedule but oh well!
One year ago I made a half size cabinet as practice for a full size version: https://hachyderm.io/@jamigibbs/113755160063860236
With the next week off of work, I thought it would be a good time to get the full size started. This one will definitely take a while though.
I’ve been accumulating walnut boards all year and I have just enough to get started on the case.
I will still need to buy enough for the cabinet doors, drawer, and back. This thing is going to be really big and heavy. 😮💨
I leaned pretty heavily on a planer sled to establish a face side for all of them this time. I had two boards flat enough to run straight through the planer but all the others all needed shimming of some kind.
This was the worst of them (it’s a really pretty board though!)
16 boards took me most of the day using this method. Maybe I should have just done it with hand tools like I used to. 😂
The temps went from 50 F yesterday down to the teens today so it was chilly running the thickness planer in the garage. 🥶
But since I already had the face side work done, it didn’t take nearly as long as yesterday.
Except for a few bandsaw rips, this will be the last of the power tools for the build.
Tomorrow is edge jointing and hopefully I can get started on gluing up the panels! Exciting!
And my little helper today. Lucy has a keen eye for matching boards to panel sections.
Goodbye loud machines and hello to the zen state of hand plans.
It’s edge jointing day! Probably the first of many. I haven’t jointed by hand in over a year so kind of proud to see I still got it.
I was going to joint and glue-up each panel section one-by-one but I think I might do all the boards first and then have one big glue-up. Maybe that will cut down on warping if panels are sitting around for a long time?
Either way, I’m very slow. It’ll be a miracle if I finish this in 2026.
Pictured is the bottom panel of the carcas which is all I was able to get done today.
Hopefully this will be the last photo of “stacked wood” but the significance of this one is that I finally finished dimensioning and jointing all the case boards. 🎉
I’ve logged about 25 hours this week so that’s about 1.5 hrs per board. These fuckers are straight and true though.
Aiming for a glue-up this weekend.
That’s a wrap for this week. Work is starting back up tomorrow so things will be much slower now.
My goal was to get the case sections ready for joinery (thickness, dimension, joint, edge glue) and I’m close. I have one more panel that needs final flattening otherwise I’m calling the week a #woodworking success (not without a lot of aches and pains along the way though 🤪).
A little more progress with marking out joinery and starting to cut dovetails. I decided on tails facing up and corners mitered.
But it’s single digits in Chicago today so everything is stinking cold. I only managed to cut one set of tails before I retreated to a warmer upstairs.
I had to put this project on pause to refinish a chair over the last few weekends but I'm back chipping away at it.
Something that's been worrying me since drawing out the plans was how I was going to transfer the tails to the pin board because the case pieces are so big.
It took a little ingenuity but problem solved. This workbench is the gift that keeps on giving.
One measurement, cut, and chop at a time. It all adds up. I’m finally getting close to assembling the case.
I need help from the #woodworking hivemind though…
How would you clamp something this size? Even my longest bar clamp won’t reach on the long ends. 🤔
It's been four months since my last update on this build. So sorry! Most of the work halted for some personal reasons but even if it's very slowly being worked on, it's still going forward.
I survived glue-up but didn't take any photos of that. Too damn big. Too damn stressful so here is the case united after clamps and cleanup.
And after the case was assembled, I realized that I couldn't move it very easily so I had to stop and build a cart to get it on and off my bench. This ugly thing is a blessing! I can just zip it on and off my bench and move it around without any effort.
I've also made the structural divider shelf that will demarcate the single large drawer at the bottom of the cabinet with the top doors. I'm installing it with just some simple dados. I can't be bothered to do any other fancy joinery.
I have a choice of what I'm going to work on next:
1. Top doors: there will be two that swing out and it will open to show shelving inside
2. Back panels: this will be cedar and I can use my super fun Lie-Nielsen tongue and groove plane
3. Bottom drawer: one large storage drawer. More walnut. I have to figure out heavy duty slides.
I kind of want to play with the t&g plane but I found this 12"+ walnut some time ago and it will be perfect for the drawer face. So I might just get started on that next.
@jamigibbs Do you think that the sled is helping a lot? I’m just taking shallow cuts on alternating side and I’m mostly happy with the results.
@hannorein Yes, I'm happy with the results for all of them.
What takes up most of the time is getting the shims off and cleaning it up between boards. The hot glue was working a little too well. 😅
@jamigibbs Please pardon me drooling over that stack of gorgeous walnut. FWIW, I use a planer to flatten anything more than a small one-off piece. I need to rig up a sled, though.
@jappel Thanks, John! Great to see you again!
@jamigibbs Likewise! My building projects have stalled as I went back to school last spring. But I’m hoping to get a couple knocked out over the break.
@jappel Congrats on the new (revived?) adventure!
@jamigibbs I’m on the 42-year graduation plan 😆
Dec 29, 2025, 10:28 PMPlease tell Lucy that color is fabulous on them.
@jamigibbs That's going to be so pretty when you're finished. I love that type of wood.
@jamigibbs Well done, they look very straight and parallel in those snapshots. I usually get stuck between creating arches and then having the edge go out of 90 with the face when hand jointing large planks.
@fundamental Oh yes the edge dips! Those drive me crazy.
@jamigibbs i've got my grandfather's old hand plane. it's like a foot long. I've never used it, but it's a beautiful tool
@TheIdOfAlan Inherited planes are the best!
@jamigibbs Looking great! What plane do you use for jointing? I love any opportunity to break out my 100+ year old Stanley No. 8.
@jappel For these short boards (36"), I can manage with just a jack.
When I get to the longer boards (62"), I'll pull out the No. 7. The largest I have. Your No. 8 must be a beast!
@jamigibbs that second photo is just... vibes, as the kids say!
@jamigibbs lovely :blobcathearteyes:
Love a No.7. My favorite plane. Don't tell the others
@jamigibbs gotta suffer for ones craft :blobcatblep: But only with hot tea
@jamigibbs aaaaaah
Took me a minute to figure out what you're doing with the clamps, but that's pretty damn ingenious! Clamps on clamps. I probably would have tried the same orientation of the boards on the workbench, don't think I would have come up with that inspired bit of workholding. Nice work
Feb 22, 2026, 9:57 PM@jamigibbs some types of clamps can be reversed. In those cases you can brace your piece against an immovable object and use your reversed clamp to press against your piece and a wall or ceiling, etc.
@jamigibbs I like these iron pipe clamps. Then you're only limit is the length of ¾" black pipe you can find, which for me is about 10 feet, but you may be able to couple lengths together to get even more reach if needed.
https://www.ponyjorgensen.com/product/high-stance-pipe-clamp-fixture/
I've got those Bessey clamps running on a water pipe.
To make them longer all I have to do is to add a connector to the threaded end of the pipe and screw on it another piece of pipe.
@jamigibbs
I would test using a couple of long 4x2s to make long clamps.
A block screwed to one end as the fixed jaw. Another fixed jaw at the other end but with a wedge between it and the work to provide clamping force.
@jamigibbs hm.
My first thought is: gravity.
- Level it out of the floor with one long side down and supported near the ends.
- diagonal braces clamped to both short boards as they're added to keep the assembly square and true.
- put the other long board on top.
- stack weights on top over the joints.
I've also used ratchet straps with battens.
@jamigibbs pipe clamps are cheap, (pipes are most of the cost though). A corner clamp might do the job in this case
@jamigibbs I'd suggest band clamps or maybe glue on a a sacrificial clean on either side and clamp the dovetail directly though that would mean having to remove them later.
@jamigibbs I would use some battens, one or two ropes and a stick for each rope. Or some dots of superglue and weights.
@jamigibbs Probably go for strap (band) clamps. 2 or 3 of them, with pieces of wood to keep the targetted joints braced true. Or invest in some pipe clamps; they’ll always be useful.
@jamigibbs I agree, plough and T&G planes are super fun to use!
sometimes simple is the most elegant solution.
Nice cart. That should be useful for a lot of stuff.
@jamigibbs
soomanyendgrainscrewjoints *insert ITS_FINE meme here*
@PalmAndNeedle I don't pull out my Kreg pocket hole jig very often but when I do, I go big.
@jamigibbs Great to see updates from you Jami. Hope you have been well!
@jamigibbs It is my firmly held believe that people who have photographs of large glue-ups in process had more hands on deck than they knew what to do with. Also: welcome back!
@jamigibbs looks like a lot of work, nice done.
@jamigibbs hello, nice to read you again! :-)
I also finished a few projects recently that were multiple years after their (self-imposed) deadline, so at least you're in good company :D
@daniel_bohrer Hi Daniel! Hope you've been well! You're good company to be in. 🤝
@jamigibbs thank you, you too! :3
@jamigibbs as I live and breathe! You've been very productive! I haven't moved a single chip in days😅 Good to see you in this little corner of the internet :pridecat:
Hello!! 👋
@jamigibbs Hiya :D
I've made a box this year. A nice box, if I say so myself. A #Gesellenkiste :blobcatuwu:
How was your woodoworking 2025?