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Next you will begin to cut. Set up your cutting guide along the top of the cabinet. You will cut the entire board off at the 6' point. This will make your next cuts easier. Then cut the back angle. After you do that, you will be left with the second picture. Next cut in from the far side past the top of the controller area, stopping at the back of the controller area. Examine the 3rd and 4th pictures to see what was cut if the previous sentence made no sense. Next we cut up from the base all the way up to the underside of the peninsula. Pictures five and six show that. The short cut around the outcropping was made with the jig saw. We used the jig saw to make the small cuts in the controller area. We also used it for the rounded areas. We used a 1" round as the basis for the cuts. Just try to follow the curves with the saw. Any rough areas can be corrected with some sandpaper. My cabinet had some goofs but the T-molding covered them up completely. The starting and ending point of the curve is more important than a perfect curve. The straight edge of the monitor front was used with the circular saw, being careful to stop slightly short of where we needed to be and used the jig saw to finish the cut. Once the side starts to take shape, you may find easier ways of cutting the board down. Where possible use a circular saw as the jig saw is tough to make a straight line, even with a guide. Finally, you will be left with a completed side. Stand it up and admire your handiwork. This might be a good time to test fit the controller to make sure the fit is right. It should be quite snug. If it won't fit, trim some more out. If it is too large, you can correct that at the T-molding stage with no problem. We actually make the first side a bit too tight and then overcompensated. There was too much movement of the controller. You can't tell on the completed cabinet that it was not cut perfectly the first time without knowing what to look for.
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Next, you can lay the completed side down on the second sheet of ply and trace the outline. Keep the pencil line as close to the ply edge as possible as you trace. Cut this side out just like you did the first. [Update- If you have a flush cutting router bit, you could rough cut the second side out with your jig saw, staying within 1/4 to 1/2" from the line you drew. Then you could put this rough side atop the good, first side, clamp together, and router the edges so it is a perfect match.] When complete, you should then router the edges for the T-molding. Use the 1/16" slot cutting bit (from RouterBits.com) and go around the entire cabinet, except for the base. This took us under ten minutes to router both sides.
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<<<- Laying out side 1 | Building the base ->>> | ||||
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