The Project is complete

[Tom7227]

The dog kennel is complete and Cooper fits! Thanks to all who have offered advice.

[highlife4me]

That is the nicest kennel I have seen!! Good job.

[amateurfishing]

nice, whats the purpose, not for back of truck i hope? not allowed free rein in house?

[nofishfisherman]

Very nice.

Was it designed to be an end table/dog crate? I could use something like that myself as my vizsla spends his day in the crate while I'm at work but we also have limited amount of space in the house. It would be nice to have something that did double duty and looked like it actually fit in the room.

[hawgchaser]

Wow, Tom!!! Not exactly doing us "big box store" crate guys a "solid" are ya!?! I expect a class action suit for neglect/abuse with most Labrador retrievers named as "plaintiff". Any chance of borrowing it for a portable bar and/or hor d'oeuvres cart? My only consolation, as one who is proficient in reading lips, is that Cooper seems to be saying very uncomplimentary things about your family of origin. Seriously...great job! Calling that a kennel is like saying a Fabbri O/U is just a gun.

[BoxMN]

Looks great Tom!

[Tom7227]

It all started with a picture of one in a catalog and it cost $200. With the good old "I can make that" I took off on the project. It is tough to figure all the things out that need to be done with just a picture. The door gave me fits and frankly I don't like the way the hinges came out. Live and learn. It got dangerously close to $400 so it isn't going to be in the back of the truck. I suspect that the Mrs. is going to plop it down next to my recliner so that I have to smell the dog when he eats the wrong thing or needs a bath. I doubt there will be a next time, but I am hoping that a second Brit will fit in it when the time comes.

[jentz]

Is that the door you asked questions of? With the pivot pins? What was your final decision for hinges or pins?

[Tom7227]

I had tried the pivot pins before I wrote about them and the clearance was not working. I got impatient and went ahead and put in some standard non-mortized hinges. The door was supposed to fit with a 3/4 inch setback to match all the other sides. But the 3/4 material behind the outside corner L was not thick enough and so I ended up cutting out a sloppy mortise into the L. I thought that would allow the door to sit were it was supposed to but it ended up being about 1/4 out from where I wanted it. Not sure that makes sense but that's how it ended up. As with most things I suspect no one will notice it and there's no chance anyone will mention it, at least not to my face.

I sort of think that the top piece doesn't look right. The whole base is sort of bulky looking and the thin top seems a bit out of place to me. Short of doubling the thickness I couldn't figure out what to do and doubling it would have cost a lot and made it even heavier.

I used metal balusters and that resulted in having to laminate two boards so there would be enough material to drill and install them. If I did it again I probably would think about something with a smaller diameter to cut down the expense of all that 1X oak.

A Kreg jig was how I put the top together. I had never used one and worked too fast and the boards ended up not lining up, as a couple of guys warned me. I had to do a lot of sanding and the top ended up not being as smooth as I would have liked. Patience issue again.

[flyfisher03]

For around the top you could have used some crown molding to make the top look a little thicker without doubling up the top or even just rip down some oak and make some trim to go around the edge.

[Tom7227]

I thought of that and I even have some but that would have to hang down from the edge of the top and that would seem to screw up the symmetry of the box. I didn't round the top edges off so I could still do that.

Thanks for the thought.

[PurpleFloyd]

IMHO I think the top looks fine at .75 thick but in the future if you want a thicker look just glue a 1x2 of oak around the perimeter of the bottom of the top and it will look like it is 1.5 thick without doing the whole thing.actually probably a thousand ways to do it but that is one.

What is the hinge issue you are trying to resolve? I may have a fix.

[PurpleFloyd]

I had tried the pivot pins before I wrote about them and the clearance was not working. I got impatient and went ahead and put in some standard non-mortized hinges. The door was supposed to fit with a 3/4 inch setback to match all the other sides. But the 3/4 material behind the outside corner L was not thick enough and so I ended up cutting out a sloppy mortise into the L. I thought that would allow the door to sit were it was supposed to but it ended up being about 1/4 out from where I wanted it. Not sure that makes sense but that's how it ended up. As with most things I suspect no one will notice it and there's no chance anyone will mention it, at least not to my face.

I sort of think that the top piece doesn't look right. The whole base is sort of bulky looking and the thin top seems a bit out of place to me. Short of doubling the thickness I couldn't figure out what to do and doubling it would have cost a lot and made it even heavier.

I used metal balusters and that resulted in having to laminate two boards so there would be enough material to drill and install them. If I did it again I probably would think about something with a smaller diameter to cut down the expense of all that 1X oak.

A Kreg jig was how I put the top together. I had never used one and worked too fast and the boards ended up not lining up, as a couple of guys warned me. I had to do a lot of sanding and the top ended up not being as smooth as I would have liked. Patience issue again.

I have built thousands of cabinets over the years and I am going to let you in on one of the first things I learned. When joining wood you barely ever get a perfect alignment on the joints when using biscuits or pocket screws as well as when just gluing edge to edge with pipe clamps. The secret to a great finish is in the sanding. It also helps to use a wet rag and get the excess glue off when it is wet. Once it is dry you need to sand or scrape it off or it really makes the staining lol like dump. A good sander and paying attention to the sanding process are what separates the ok jobs from the fantastic ones. You have a good start.

[Pinusbanksiana]

Nice looking, dog don't look to happy though.

Floyd, I am considering building some kitchen cabinets, any advice?

[Biggerfish]

Man does that dog look like my old "Duke"....

Sure do miss him.

Nice Kennel. My dog sleeps in his all the time. They give them a secure place and in fact will go in them when ever they feel nervous....

[Tom7227]

Biggerfish,

It was the first time he was in it and so he was a bit antsy. He goes in it on his own now just as you said. BTW I have a line on a litter from the same breeder. I can put you in touch with them if you are interested.

Tom

[PurpleFloyd]

Nice looking, dog don't look to happy though.

Floyd, I am considering building some kitchen cabinets, any advice?

How skilled are you? Woodworking is a great thing to learn so I never discourage anyone from taking it up. If you haven't taken on a project that size in the past it can seem overwhelming but just remember you are only building boxes. I would give you help if you need it, just start a new thread so we aren't spamming Tom's nice work.

[Biggerfish]

Biggerfish,

It was the first time he was in it and so he was a bit antsy. He goes in it on his own now just as you said. BTW I have a line on a litter from the same breeder. I can put you in touch with them if you are interested.

Tom

Would love to but, we have a beautiful Lab now...Wife has a rule 1 dog at a time(and me)....