First of all sorry for the long post, as I mentioned I have several questions.
Drawer & shelf hardware?? I just looked at McFeely online and will be getting a catalog shortly – I hope. Are there any other suppliers you might know of?? What size boring bit for shelf pins. Have fixed and plunge base for my router.
Shortly I will begin a closet make-over, plan is to use 3/4″ birch plywood, no face frames, glue on veneer edging, stained in a cherry finish. Any thoughts on best stain?? I’ve been experimenting with Minwax #265 but I don’t think it will work?? Is there a better choice for plywood besides birch?? Cherry, while available, is not within my budget.
As it is a closet I will obviosly also need hanging rods. Looked at some of the items sold via HD & Lowes, might be able to adapt, any other thoughts??
In a nutshell, there will be approximately 26LF of cabinetry, approximately 72″ tall, maybe a bit more but I’m only in the planning stage at this point.
I have looked at closet systems online for this arrangement and the last online I received was $2200 and I still have to assemble. Just not really worth it.
Last set I built was painted (yuck) and about 12 LF. I had a blast doing it but this is stained and will have a few more challenges.
I posted this over at FWW but did not get much of a response so I figured I throw it up here too.
Replies
Lots
Woodworkers Hardware
Woodworker's Supply
Rocklers
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You ever use HDL? The "to the trade" side of WWH?Excellent pricing over WWH, the big difference is you pay the total cost of shipping versus the fixed shipping that WWH charges. Example, I had a load of drawer slides. Pricing on WWH was about $1200 with I forget the shipping, maybe $10 for total of $1210. Through HDL it was roughly $700 but shipping was $130, total of $830. Still several hundred less than I could get them locally.
Didn't know about that.Another online supplier I've had good service and pricing from is Clements hardware for door hinges and locksets - Baldwin and EmtexThey have good online info, but don't put the pricing up - says call for price. Always good price and attentive salesperson. I think they price break according to size of order and other things.
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Check ebay for drawer slides. I bought full-extension drawer slides, 22", in boxes of ten for about $5 a set. Good, heavy ones, at that.
i just buy the shelf pins and measure,usally 1/4"
birsch ply will work,or oak,ash or mahagony ply,whatever matches the rest of your house really,i prefer oak,because the solid face frame material is as cheap as anything .it all runs about the same 50.00 a sheet.
hanging rail,i use chain link top rail,works good and about as cheap as it gets,but not very classy.
i have no luck with minwax stain,i like a heavier bodied stain, sw oil stain works pretty good. just have to experment till you get what you want.
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You could try Custom Service Hardware for you hardware needs.
http://www.cshardware.com/
Birch is notorious for taking stain badly. It will blotch badly.
Most birch is varnish only.
I would tread very carefully staining birch or maple. Try some test runs before you build the how set.
If you have to stain birch then use pre- stain and stain with gel stain and dry brush the stain on.
My 2 cents.
Rich
My preference would be Oak Solid Core Ply, then you can always use oak to band any of it that you need to and Oak is usually available even at the Big box stores. I cant say much about the Oak ply I got at Lowes the last time I needed some.
For shelving rod I used 3/4 galvanized pipe and fittings. Took two 8' runs one above the other and a 6' run the other way with a support pole with "T" fittings in the right spots and a flange fitting attached to the floor for the support pole.. It's been there for 16 years and it's not going any where and looks good also. Just make sure it is a smooth coating of galvanization, I have seen some so rough you could use it for a file....your wife wouldn't like that against her clothes!
For your hardware go to Lee Valley, they have about the largest selection that I know of and good quality.
http://www.leevalley.com/hardware/index.aspx?c=2
Good Luck
Koi
Drawer or shelf hardware? one of my Favs is the one Piffin mentioned, Woodworkers Hardware.
Boring bit for shelf pins? Depends, some are 1/4", some are 5mm. They usually have the bit size needed on the website.
If you're shopping at the box stores, I think they just carry birch, poplar, and oak ply. Not sure.
Birch can be blotchy to stain, to me poplar is less so. But you can use a conditioner first to even out stain absorption. The poplar ply I've seen is even colored, unlike most of the boards that can have green tinges to them.
I hate to say this in public, but they might have 3/4" luan ply at the box stores. Inexpensive, some boards have bland grain, some have a bit of flair to them. It takes stain pretty evenly, you can get a reasonable cherry/mahogany reddish-brown look to it.
A while ago I used a thin 1/4" thick sheet of luan and bowed it for a barrel-top ceiling in a built-in platform bed. Took stain well, it looks rather nice.
I don't stain much, but when I do I use minwax.
Closet rods? Sturdy? Use 3/4" black pipe. Same stuff you use for pipe clamps. Clean it up and spray paint it. There's a "hammered metal" paint they sell at HD, I've used that a few times on metal pipe. Gives a nice durable mottled finish. Fast and easy. Works like a charm.
If you can find McCloskey stain, the colors are much clearer and richer than Minwax. I really don't care for Minwax for much of anything, really.
Here's a shot of the stained luan.
Used an "antique maple" stain, I believe. Was shooting for a slight orange tinge.
Nothing fancy, this piece of luan was in my shop for at least the past 4 or 5 years. I used to use it for templating countertops. Dusted it off and stained it.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c218/MongoCT/DSC_9421.jpg
Thanks to all who responded. Given the scrap piece of birch plywood I worked with the other day the results, while OK, were not stellar. Given the time required, +/- 6 hrs between coats, I'm thinking the cherry plywood might be a better choice regardless of cost!?!????
I am however concerned about the face frames!!! From what I have read.....solid cherry seems to have a mind of its own when ripping/planning/etc. Any thoughts?? As reasonably priced pieces of solid Oak are available does anyone have a thought regarding stain?
I am also considering Poplar, nice straight grain for the most part, but again am concerned regarding finish?? The more I consider, the closet could become a contemporary work of???????????
I checked several of the hardware sites offered, only complaint is no Piffin screws :), thanks again I have a source for less $$ than McFeely's.
THANKS AGAIN for the input??