Shopsmith Forums

I am finishing a wine cabinet and I have this trim work (the small pieces that kind of look like a fork - 1/4" x 3/4" cherry) that needs to be attached to a panel (3/4" cherry PW). All the pieces have varnish on them (Waterlox). The fit is pretty good, nothing else is holding them up at this point.

I could pin them, use yellow woodworkers glue, silicon caulk (RTV), cyanoacrylate (thin or medium) OR???

I don't have a test piece but two sides will not show.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

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I would pin them from the inside so that the pins are gripped by the cherry trim. The pins will hold the cherry better than will the plywood. Since all of the pieces are already finished, adhesives are less than ideal.

What Dusty said is true, but if you sand the mating surfaces a bit, regular wood glue should work just fine and then you won't have any fastener holes to deal with in the interior. By the way... looks nice!

I'd simply pin them from the inside as Dusty suggested. It's possible that the trim could be pushed away from the sides with the force from driving the pins through the plywood into the trim if this is done with the case upright. So, I'd lay the case on its side on a solid surface so that the trim is what is supported and then use the pinner. If you have one of those 23 gauge pinners, you'd hardly notice the holes when finished.

Nice work. You've done a nice match of the finish on the solid wood and plywood.

My suggestion would be to do a combination of both of the above suggestions. A light sanding of the contact faces, just enough to get through the finish layer and give it some 'tooth'. Then pin from the inside, face down on a flat surface. I love my 23ga pin nailer, but the pins really have no hold to them. I would be concerned that the natural movement (from humidity changes) of the wood fork would eventually work the fork away from the face if pins only were used. You could use your glue of choice.

BTW, very nice looking project!

I would make wood pins out of a strongly contrasting colored wood. Spot sand the two mating surfaces, drill holes through the plywood and the decorative piece, a couple of glue spots on the flat surfaces but glue the wooden pin (small dowels) in the holes. Flush off the pins and top finish everything. I have drawer handles attached this way and they don't pull off, so I doubt that the trim parts will fall off until the wood rots away.

PS. If you don't like the contrasting color idea use the cherry and a very sharp drill bit. The end grain will color darker than the surrounding wood. You could also counterbore for small screws and grain match plugs that would add a bit of texture to the face. Finally screws from the back and plugs where no one would see them would be very secure.

I just realized that I never posted any pics after completing this wine cabinet project. I know for me that viewing pictures is one of the best features of being a member here.

This cabinet was the final cabinet in a really long remodeling project for our kitchen. The stock is cherry and cherry plywood. The finish is varnish, six coats of Waterlox Original cut 50/50 with mineral spirits. Most of the joinery was done with a Dowel Max. And finally I used the cyanoacrylate to attach the trim.

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Detail of the inside of the door.
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That is a super job. Love the design, implementation and how well it fits the rest of the kitchen. Great job!

I remember reading your original post. Glad you got it finished, pics look great!

The Cabinet looks great!