[GarySP]

Just curious Ron.  Once you're done with the cabinets, what, if any reconditioning do you need to do to the crossover system?  New caps, perhaps??  Take care, Gary

[Ron Ramirez]

Gary

The crossovers already have new caps - they were installed by the previous owner. All film replacements for the original electrolytics, Dayton Audio from Parts Express.

I really appreciate all of your suggestions. I will look for very small finishing nails soon.

This project is currently on hold. Debbie had sinus surgery on Thursday that was supposed to be an outpatient procedure, but she had complications and ended up staying in the hospital until Friday afternoon. I'm trying to be her caretaker until she gets better. So I am not doing much in the way of projects for now.

[GarySP]

Totally understandable.  Everything else can go on the back burner.  Take care of Debbie, and give her my regards to feel better soon.  Take care, Gary

[morzh]

Hopefully she feels fine soon.

[w4rtc]

Hi Ron
Wishing Debbie a speedy recovery.
Joe

[Ron Ramirez]

Thanks, guys, Debbie and I both really appreciate your thoughts.

[Eliot Ness]

Ouch, that sounds pretty painful, send Debbie our prayers for a quick recovery.  In the meantime, as caretaker, milkshakes are wonderful medicine.

[Ron Ramirez]

Thank you, the kind thoughts are sincerely appreciated. After several anxious days, she is finally getting better. Not 100% yet, but on her way.

Gary -

I bought some really small finishing nails. In fact, now I am thinking about nailing the trim onto the new tops instead of gluing them, and driving the heads in and filling them just like what I will attempt with the bottom trim. What say you?

[GarySP]

Hello Ron.  Glad to hear Debbie is feeling better.  I agree with nailing the trim for the tops also.  You can then sand and finish the entire top as one piece and should get a better quality end product.  Gluing also would require several clamps to hold everything dead still until the glue dried.  The 1/4 inch thick stock you're using for trim will give more than enough thickness to recess the finish nails with a nail set. Take care, Gary 

[GarySP]

Just re-read your post.  Nail AND glue the trim to the tops.  One more hint... use a pair of needle-nosed pliers to hold the nails when you nail the trim.  Saves wear and tear on the fingers beating them with a hammer!  Chuck one of the nails into a drill and use it to pre-drill holes in the trim to avoid splitting.  Cut the head off the nail if it won't chuck into the drill cleanly.  Take care, Gary

[Ron Ramirez]

Back to the Bozaks after a two week break...

I wondered how I could attach the trim to one of the tops since it is slightly warped. So...I decided to attach the new top to the cabinet. Screwing the top down removed the warpage and made it lie flat.

I've cut trim to go around it.

The next job was to drill pilot holes in the trim as Gary suggested.

I could not chuck a nail into my cordless Ryobi drill. So I used the smallest drill bit I have, which is slightly larger than the nails I bought. Yup, you know where this is going...the drill bit broke as soon as I tried a practice run on some scrap trim.

Then I remembered my old electric Craftsman drill...

I tried chucking a nail in it and YES...it worked!

So after lunch I will drill pilot holes, and then attach the trim to the top. I will use the glue sparingly lest I get any on the new grille cloth.

And then I shall have to repeat the process for the other top.

My only concern now is...what if the top warps again when I remove it (after the glue dries) to apply stain and finish? Will it break my trim? Or will the trim help hold it all together long enough to apply stain and finish?

[GarySP]

Hello Ron.  I was just about to call you out for not posting any progress reports.  The trim should hold the slight warp in check, once the glue has dried.  Try not to get any on the finish side of the plywood so it doesn't seal the grain before staining.  If any glue does make it there, wipe quickly with a wet rag to remove it.  The trim will flex with the plywood, and should pull flat agin once screwed back onto the cabinet.  To keep any glue off of the grille cloth put strips of wax paper around the edges of the top before screwing it to the cabinet.  Fold it over the grille cloth, then attach your trim.  Any glue seepage will end up on the wax paper, which shouldn't adhere to the trim.  Take care, Gary

[Ron Ramirez]

Productive day on the Bozaks today...

After lunch, I wrapped some wax paper around one cabinet, at the top of the grille cloth.

Having already attached the new top to the cabinet, I then drilled pilot holes into the top trim and proceeded to nail and glue them to the new top.

The result:

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum/bozak_023.jpg]

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum/bozak_024.jpg]

It isn't perfect, as you can tell in the second picture - a gap somehow developed in the right front corner of the trim. I filled it with some of the same wood filler I used to fill the nail holes in the trim.

Try as I might, I did not get the trim 100% level with the top. I'll just have to live with whatever imperfections I cannot correct by sanding.

I had to buy a nail set as I did not have one. This is a really nifty tool. It did a great job of countersinking the very small nails I used to attach the trim to the top.

Anyway...after I finished with one top, I repeated the process for the second top. Both have been set aside to let the glue dry thoroughly.

While I was at it, I used the same nail chucked into the Craftsman drill to drill pilot holes for the bottom trim. I know that I may have to repeat the process after that trim gets sanded, stained, and finished.

And that is the next step - sand, stain, then finish the bottom trim and the new tops.

I compared the old trim to the new lattice molding and the new molding is just very slightly smaller than the original trim. I think it is going to work out OK.

[GarySP]

Looking good so far Ron!  The gaps should hide well with a little filler and finishing.  Unfortunately this occurs occasionally when fitting square cuts to less than square cabinets.  The top edges will hide well with a little sanding.  We'll make a carpenter out of you yet!  Use very fine sandpaper to feather the top edges to the trim.  320 grit will work well, then finish the entire top with 600 grit.  Finally, rub them down with 0000 steel wool before applying finish.  They will look great when done.  Take care, Gary

[Ron Ramirez]

OK Gary, and anyone else watching,

I unscrewed the tops tonight and removed the wax paper. The wax paper stuck to one of the tops in places; otherwise it turned out pretty well, I guess.

As one top is somewhat warped while the other basically is not, I screwed the top that has more warpage back onto the cabinet to hold it flat until I am ready to sand and stain. I left the other top loose (not screwed in place).

Gary, here's a good one for you:

I wasn't paying close enough attention yesterday, and have discovered (of course now that the trim is nailed and glued to the new tops) that on one top, the trim in front is slightly less wide (height) than the trim on the sides. The difference is roughly 3/64", not a lot, but definitely noticeable. So my lattice molding was not consistent in width, it turns out. Any ideas for fixing that problem? Just attacking those two pieces of side trim with sandpaper until they match the height of the front molding?