How to Build a Simple 2-Door Wooden Cabinet
One basic thing can make the difference between a room looking cluttered or put-together: storage. Of course, getting rid of excess stuff also helps. But even after you’ve pared down your possessions, having an attractive place to stash essential items is key. Enter the two-door cabinet, a minimalist solution that’s been around for centuries. Our take on the classic fits just about anywhere, and its panels can be made from a variety of materials — metal mesh, glass, or wallpapered plywood, for example — to suit your decorative palette. Like many PM projects, this one is simple; a reasonably skilled woodworker with a small table saw, cordless drill, and pocket-screw kit could build it over the course of two weekends, max. Here’s how.
STEP 1: CUT THE PLYWOOD
Start by cutting the birch plywood for the cabinet sides, top, bottom, shelves, and cleats. I used a table saw, but a circular saw and a straightedge guide would also do the trick.
Next, clamp two panels together for a wider surface and rout the rabbet for the back and side panels. Cut the rabbets on the inside edges of the side panels with a router and a 3/8-inch rabbeting bit.
STEP 2: BORE THE HOLES
When that’s done, use a portable drill guide and bore the holes for the shelf pins in the cabinet sides.
STEP 3: FASTEN THE BOTTOM
Use a pocket-hole jig to bore four pocket-screw holes in the bottom, then drive pocket screws through the bottom into the cabinet sides.
STEP 4: COMPLETING THE CASE
Cut the cleats to fit between the cabinet sides, and drive countersunk screws through the side into the ends of the cleats.
STEP 5: NAIL THE FACE FRAME
Four pieces of wood make up the face frame. Rip and crosscut these pieces, then glue and nail them to the case using a pneumatic pin nailer and 23-gauge headless pins.
STEP 6: ATTACH THE TOP
Put the hardwood edging on the plywood top panel using the same method. Now place the cabinet top — made of material such as maple-faced and -trimmed plywood — in position, and drive screws through the cleats into its bottom.
Rip and crosscut the pieces for the doorframes and — again using the router and rabbeting bit — cut the panel rabbet on the inside edges of the frame.
Bore a pair of pocket-screw holes at the end of each door rail, then drive the screws. Wipe some carpenter’s glue onto a maple pocket-screw plug and insert one into each hole.
STEP 7: FINISHING TOUCHES
Now it’s time to choose the panels you’ll use. Cut metal-mesh panels to size with aviation snips, slip them into the rabbets, and secure with screen molding nailed to the doorframe.
(A) Solid: Set the panel into a rabbet cut on the door’s back and secure it with glass-door retainer clips (rockler.com) held with screws.
(B) Metal mesh: Secure the panel with 3/8" x 3/8" beaded screen trim. Drive wire brads or pneumatic headless pins through the molding’s side or front.
If, on the other hand, you use ¼-inch plywood covered with wallpaper (see Intro), secure the panel with glass-door retainer clips (rockler.com). Regardless of the panel material, keep in mind that you may need to adjust the rabbet depth and width to suit. For thin panels, we found that a rabbet that’s 3/8 inch deep and ½ inch wide works pretty well.
Fasten two self-closing cabinet-door hinges to each door, then lay the cabinet on its back and set the doors on the face frame. Center the doors on the cabinet with a 1/8?-inch space between them. Bore pilot holes through the hinges into the face frame and screw the hinges to the frame.
Finishing Touches
Set a clothes iron at high (cotton), with no steam, and apply iron-on maple veneer banding to the front of each shelf. Firmly rub the veneer with a wood block to secure the bond. After the veneer has cooled, use scissors and a sanding block, respectively, to cut and hone the veneer to fit.
Fill nail holes with wood putty, let dry, then lightly sand all surfaces with 120-grit sandpaper. Wipe off dust with a tack cloth, and apply two coats of satin polyurethane varnish. If you’d prefer to stain the cabinet, apply two coats, wait for them to dry, then apply varnish.
Press metal shelf pegs into the holes in the cabinet sides, then set the shelves in place.
