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Just a quick update on my kitchen island project. Last weekend I built the drawer boxes and framed one of the doors before deciding it was just too cold and damp to linger out in the barn any longer. I thought about hooking up the portable propane forced air heater but opted to let the glue cure in the barn’s small heated laundry room instead. If you remember, in the <a title=”first part ” href=”http://www.grit.com/tools/building-a-kitchen-island-part-1-working-with-homemade-lumber.aspx” target=”_blank”>first part </a>of this project, I milled some dead pine, re-sawed and planed it and then started constructing the island’s frame. In the <a title=”second installment” href=”http://www.grit.com/tools/building-a-kitchen-island-part-2-working-with-hand-tools.aspx” target=”_blank”>second installment</a>, I completed most of the frame using hand tools and in the <a title=”third installment” href=”http://www.grit.com/daily-commute/building-a-kitchen-island-part-3-enclosing-the-sides.aspx#comments” target=”_blank”>third installment</a>, I framed the drawer slides and milled and planed additional lumber for the ends and back. My goal is to have this piece finished by Christmas — I might not make it, but I will try. </p>
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<p>I built the drawer boxes using pine that I sawed from a dead tree. I planed the front, back and sides down to 1/2-inch thick. The bottom is right at 1/4-inch thick and it sits in a groove around the bottom of the front and sides. The back sets down on the bottom and I pinned it with a couple of small finishing nails. </p>
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<p>I apologize for the location of the focal point in this photo — or the focus point, more truthfully. My phone’s camera isn’t too sophisticated. However you can see that I joined the corners of the drawer boxes using interlocking dados and rebates. I made the cuts with the table saw and cleaned them out with a 1/4-inch chisel. It took a little dinking to get everything to fit nice and snug but once it did, the boxes pretty much squared up on their own. All the joints are glued with Gorilla wood glue. Molly the Border Terrier is my faithful woodworking companion. Here she is taking a break from tracking down rodents to look over my handiwork. You can also see that I have days of sanding ahead of me, but I find that to be fairly relaxing work. </p>
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<p>It feels like this project is finally coming together. The drawer boxes actually slide easily and land square with the front, even with a 10-pound weight in them. I would have continued on to the cabinet doors, but the weather chased me in on Saturday. And on Sunday, I stayed indoors to write a chapter for the book <a title=”Karen Keb” href=”http://www.motherearthnews.com/blogs/blog.aspx?blogid=2147484550″>Karen Keb</a> and I are writing together. It’s called <em>Plowing With Pigs</em> and is about all kinds of 21<sup>st</sup>-Century homestead solutions, including making stuff with materials you can get for free. Stay tuned for more information on the book and on this project. </p>
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<a href=”http://www.grit.com/biographies/oscar-h-will” target=_self>Hank Will</a>
<em> raises hair sheep, heritage cattle and many varieties of open-pollinated corn with his wife, Karen, on their rural Osage County, Kansas farm. His home life is a perfect complement to his professional life as editor in chief at GRIT and Capper’s Farmer magazines. Connect with him on </em>
<a title=Google+ href=”https://plus.google.com/u/0/117459637128204205101/posts” target=_blank rel=author>Google+</a>.</p>
