In part 1, we layed out the design and cut the pieces for the basic boxes. In part 2, we build the boxes and shelves. In part 3, doors were assembled, accouterments built and the whole shebang was, uh, painted (spit). Here in the finale, all the doors will get attached, the glass inserted, and the gats introduced to their new forever home.

If you recall I hinted that thin doors (~1/2 inch) would lead to problems. Well we are at the point where those problems manifest. In traditional sort of kitchen cabinet doors, you need your doors to be 12-13 commie units (mm) thick to accommodate the cup. You can find some that will fit thin doors, but they seem hard to come by and are expensive. So I was left with butt  hinges. The problems arise both with the doors – too thin for the provided screws – and attaching to the frame-less cabinet. But we endeavor to persevere and get on with with it. In the end, I think the butt hinge look is actually better for this piece than a more modern type hinge. Always look on the bright side of life. That’s as stoic as I get.

The butt hinges attach to the frame of the case; note the narrow frames members such that the hinge plate holes barely overlap with the frame – sort of requires that you be very careful drilling the pilot holes. You also have to attached the hinges to the doors. Once again, the thinness of the door itself is a problem. Had to be very careful with the pilot holes so as not to penetrate through the front to the door. Fortunately, I had a broken bit that when installed in the drill was the perfect depth. With some specially bought screws (that will have to be painted since they are gold and I ain’t Trump), measure, drill, and attach. Now for both the top and bottom doors, with everything aligned on the case, the doors wouldn’t close quite properly – Did I mention I should have used cherry or red oak, not warped poplar? So out comes the hand plane to custom fit and the gel stain (spit) to repaint the exposed wood.

Installing hinges on the top case; layout with story pole to ensure even spacing, close up looking down on the edge of the cabinet showing the minimal clearance for the screws, and the hinges installed.

Attaching hinges on bottom. Layout on the door, attach the hinge to the case, hand plane and repaint. You can see that the doors do not close cleanly; magnetic clasps will help with that. I hope.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Repeat on the top; layout positions on the door, support while screwing, hand plane and paint.

 

For the bottom, box, also need to attach the display case door. For that, I used a couple of piano hinges. For both top and bottom, needed to add handles and a magnetic clasp as well – again the door thickness bit me on the ass, as the screws for the handles were too long so I needed to hacksaw the screws short and use a metal hasp to smooth everything out so it would thread.

Handles attached to bottom doors; piano hinges on the display door; mounted on on the case; handle attached to door.

Inset the magnetic clasp in the bottom cabinet. With the magnets, the doors line up OK, still a bit off in the vertical direction. I actually changed the clasp to a different, better one after I finished this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Attaching handles to the upper cabinet.

The only thing left really is to add the glass to the doors. For the glass, I got some 1/8″ glass cut by a local glass place – big box and Ace didn’t really have anything with the length I needed for the top. Of course, the door thinness means that the rabetts for the glass are pretty shallow; but since the glass is heavy, I wouldn’t want anything thicker than 1/8″ anyway. In any case, I inserted the glass and used some Lexel (flexible adhesive) in the gap along with some ‘clamps’ to hold the glass in place. I started with some very tall ones thinking they’d look decorative – but nah, they just looked ugly. So got some very low profile ‘picture frame’ type ‘clamps’ and used those. On the bottom, I also added some chains to help support the heavy door when the case is opened. For the top, needed some extra support for the glass install so the hinges wouldn’t get too much stress while the adhesive sets up.

Putting the glass in the bottom. Adhesive, the big honking hold-downs. Pretty much finished, note the new magnetic clasp. Replace those big ugly retainers for the glass with low profile ones.

Mounting the glass for the top case.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weird. I think I’m… done?!??!

Well, just need to join the top and bottom (but we’re already prepared for that) and put it place. Actually, it’s heavy, and awkward, so I moved the top and bottom separately and assembled in place. And the last step was empty out the closet, move the guns from various surfaces and put it all neatly away! I think it turned out well, but I notice the little imperfections… maybe I’ll treat it as a template for a new project with real wood!

And it’s done. Everybody (and their ammunition) seems happy in their new home. Rearranging and storing everything gave me a good ammo inventory. I think I need to do some online shopping…