Step-by-step guide

Step 1: Start by cutting the board as per the materials list. If you want to speed things up (as I did), you can have the board cut at the timber outlet where you bought it.

 

Once cut, start with the carcass of the cabinet that will be mounted on the wall. Start by gluing and nailing the two 16mm x 300mm x 1.4m boards to the two 16mm x 300mm x 1.2m boards. Insert the 16mm x 284mm x 1.4m board in the centre of the frame of the carcass. Make sure that at least one side is flush with an edge of the frame.

 

Step 2: Glue and nail together the three 16mm x 100mm x 1 168mm boards on the back of the carcass. These are your cleats. You will nail them in from the outside of the carcass frame. The middle part will be nailed from the outside in onto the middle partition.

 

Step 3: Drill pilot holes from the front of the carcass in the cleats and use the lugs and screws to fix the cabinet to the wall.

 

Step 4: Space out and drill pilot holes for the shelf dowels. I made the following stencil to save me a lot of time: Take a piece of offcut Bison Board about 50mm wide and 1m long. Measure a straight line 30mm in from the width running along the length of the board. Now measure and drill holes along the line at 50mm intervals. When you are done, all you have to do is clamp the board to the sides and drill.

 

Step 5: Glue and nail the two 16mm x 50mm x 1.2m boards horizontally with a 400mm space between them. Make sure that the top board is flush with the top of the cabinet.

 

Step 6: With the cabinet almost complete, it’s time to start on the table part. Begin by gluing and nailing in the four 16mm x 90mm x 900mm boards along the width of the tabletop. You will have two boards on the left and two on the right, spaced apart at 94mm each. This is where the collapsible legs will be fastened.

 

Glue and nail the two 36mm x 70mm x 980mm boards with one flush with the edge of the tabletop and one spaced 70mm from the other edge. The edge with the 70mm clearance becomes the front side of the table. The legs will be connected on this side of the 900mm width.

 

Measure and drill an 8mm hole through the front side of the tabletop through the legs and the leg channels with the 94mm clearance. Insert the bolts from the outside in and fasten.

 

Step 7: You can you fasten the tabletop to the cabinet. This is not easy to do, so I suggest you have someone help you with this part.

 

Step 8: With the table connected, fold the table up and mark the centre of the top of the table in line with the top frame of the cabinet. Fasten the sliding bolt to the frame and the tabletop to keep the table upright. When you want to fold open the table, just slide out the sliding bolt.

 

Step 9: Insert the folding stays behind the legs inside the leg channels. This will ensure that the legs will remain at 90° angles when the table is folded down.

 

You can now fold down the table and insert the shelves as randomly as you need them. Finish off the cabinet with paint or veneering.