Progress of Steam Bending.

So my prototype upper cabinet is is about half way done. So I steamed the 1/8th russian birch (very important to use russian birch vs. just birch ply) and bent it grain horizontal on the form. I left it there 24 hours and while it cooled I made the end caps out of 1/2" glued onto 1/8 birch to get the orig thickness on the ends. I used a flush cutting bit and parts of the orig cabinet to make these end caps. These bits are awesome for replicating.

I popped the skin, glue it on the end caps and nailed it with aluminum nails. That went okay, could of used a second pair of hands. Once I got it nailed the middle was still a bit bowed, so I glued a middle rib in so to keep the form. One lesson learned is that the orig ply was 3/16th versus 1/8th. That probably made it a little stiffer.

So at this point I have my end caps and the skin formed up. The next step is to veneer, which you're probably asking why since the exterior is already birch.... Wrong specie, russian is more yellow and domestic birch available is white. Plus, the nails holding the skin can be seen... you cannot use brad nails, the nails have to have a head.

The next steps are:
1. sand
2. coat the blank with sanding sealer or poly.
3. apply psa birch veneer & finish.
4. using either a flush cutting bit or router with collar along with a pattern, cut out door openings
5. transfer sliding track from orig cabinet to new cabinet and install
6. re-make door slides. Depending on material used I might use a psa veneer, fx sheeting or leave it as is, will be the case if I use color tinted lexan.
7. install mounting brackets.

Set aside until the rest of the cabinets are done.


The Form I used:



The Birch Ply Wood on the Form:



The Upper Cabinet Blank:





An Example of the Original Upper Cabinets with Zolatone Coating: