Installing the hardware

On the one hand this one of the nicest jobs of the build. At the other hand it is also nerve wracking. No time for mistakes anymore, no adjusting possible. It has to fit, right of the hammer so to speak.

First a simple job, a few small drawer pulls. I actually bought these things! They are made from brass, a little antiqued, with a screw on the end which screws into the drawer front. Problem is, there is no screwdriver slot or whatever, you just use your fingers. A little trick is to pre-thread the hole with a similar screw. A big trick is to use wax on the threads! And then screw it down in one go, no hesitation otherwise it binds immediately and is impossible to nudge further down.

The second piece of hardware is the lock. I allready chopped out the mortise in the front side of the beam, so it is simply a matter of drilling the pilot holes, drive in the nails and clinch them on the inside. That ain't going nowhere! Those nails btw are made in France and are good copies of blacksmith nails. They aren't even very expensive. They have a weird blueish coating, but that is quickly removed in some vinager.

The real nerve wrecking part of the day was installing the hinges. After carefull aligning and marking everything, I screwed the butterfly part inside the door style. These are the screws I made myself some time ago. I was very anxious that they would break when putting too much stress on them. I was also very anxious that I would drill the pilot holes all the way through the style and of course I was anxious that the whole door would end up hanging upside down and inside out or something like that. But it went along rather smoothly, luckily.

The other half of the hinge was nailed from the outside of the cabinet and clinched inside, but I see I forgot to take a picture of that. So that remains a surpise for now. See you next time.