Old Orange Kitchen Cabinets Get Updated
We recently delivered a live-edge maple slab door to a customer and there was a lot of talk about making sure the maple wasn’t too yellow. She had her maple floors refinished as part of her house remodel and she was worried about the color of the new maple door. It wasn’t too much of an issue because the maple slab had an array of colors, including black epoxy, but when we were installing the door it became clear why she was worried about the color. Turns out she had a kitchen full of maple cabinets which had turned amber orange over the years and now clashed with the refinished maple floors.
I saw what she saw – bright white, newly and expertly refinished maple floors underneath old, crusty and orange maple cabinets. The cabinets were still in decent shape but they definitely needed some help to not look so old. She picked the right day to ask if there was anything that could be done about the color because I was riding high from a successful install of a very cool door and there was no way I was going to act like I couldn’t do it.
I wasn’t sure exactly how I was going to go about it, but I knew it would start with sanding. And, since everything in the kitchen, including the crown moulding was made from maple-veneered panels with an mdf core, I spent a lot of time very carefully sanding. After I had my parts sanded to an even and much lighter color, I started to apply the Raw Sealer finish from Basic Coatings. I chose this finish for one main reason, and that is because it is the exact same finish the flooring company used. I could have used another water-based finish with a white additive, but I figured why fight it? Use what they used on the floor and I should have the best chance of matching it.
The Raw Sealer has a very small amount of white added to it and I found that I wasn’t getting enough white in the finish until I was up to about six coats on my test pieces, so I decided to add some more white. I added enough white latex paint (about two tablespoons per quart) until the finish was the right amount of white in two or three coats instead of six. The white paint added brightness and covered the yellow orange of the maple, and it will work to retain the original color since the paint won’t yellow. It worked like a white wash for the cabinets and really did the trick.
The most difficult part of the job, besides the tedious sanding, was applying the finish with the white added. It needed to be applied evenly, so I needed to make sure my gun was working great and so was I. There were a few times where the color didn’t look too even or the gun sprayed a little wacky, but I was able to quickly wipe that panel off with a wet rag before the finish dried and reapply.
I spent a lot of hours on this job (more than budgeted, of course), but I think it came out great and I might even be convinced to do it again someday in the distant future. Click on the video link to see what I started with and how it all ended up.
The Kreg Jig: Is It Real Woodworking?
I am finally willing to admit it – I use a Kreg jig. I use it regularly and I like it. I don’t use it everywhere, but I am finding more uses every day, and it scares me a little. I am a woodworker, a custom woodworker. I use time-honored joinery like mortises, tenons and dovetails. It doesn’t feel right to add the Kreg jig to the list. I can’t and won’t do it. It isn’t real woodworking. Or is it?
I haven’t decided, officially. Used in the right places it is totally acceptable in my mind. For face frames, nothing is faster, the joints are tight and, with a little glue added, strong and stable. And, since the face frame is joined to a cabinet box it gets extra help in the support department to keep everything in place. So, it’s fine on face frames. What about the cabinet boxes that the face frames attach to?
The “Rocket” is the Kreg jig that I use.
I say O.K. The boxes get support from the walls and I use regular screws all the time, so pocket screws must be acceptable (as a footnote, I like to screw cabinets together when possible, so that I can take them apart for “design changes”). Face frames, check. Cabinet boxes, check. What about furniture? Maybe something very much like a cabinet or cabinet box, just not attached to the wall? Now, it starts to get really murky. Officially, out loud, I say no way. Furniture must be assembled with furniture joints, not pocket screws. Then I ask myself why and I don’t have a great answer except that it doesn’t feel right. Assuming that the pocket screw joint is just as strong as a “real” woodworking joint it shouldn’t really matter, but it does. I feel if I take the quick and easy way out, I am less of a woodworker. I can’t get past it.
Here’s the thing that is odd to me. I think that the Kreg jig works great and all of their products (at least the one I have used) are top-notch. I, especially, like their screws. It may not seem that important, but their screws are the best. I use them whenever I can, even when I am not using pocket holes. They never strip out or break, and they are self-tapping. Their drill bits are well made and stay sharp for a long time. When I was working on opening my new shop, Kreg products were the first ones to come to mind to have for sale. It’s clear that I like them, but I still think, in the back of my mind, that they aren’t for real woodworkers.
To this day, I will make sure that the Kreg jig and screws are always with me, but I won’t always use them. Weird?
What do you think? Please leave a comment.
What’s Going on at WunderWoods
Everyone always asks what I do. Here's the answer. Click on the photo above for a short video tour and see all of the steps it takes to go from a tree to finished furniture.