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Project Log:  Saturday, August 20, 2011

The paint was dry, so  my first step of the day was to prepare three sections of foil-faced 1/2" rigid foam insulation, one for each of the locker areas.  I sized the foam for a friction fit, and pressed it into place behind the cleats.  I did not secure the foam otherwise.

   

To cover the foam, I installed the cherry panels, securing each with four screws.

    

For additional support, and to accept screws during installation, I cut and installed hardwood support cleats to each of the center dividers, placing the new cleats on the side of the dividers facing the center locker.


Next, I laid out for and cut the locker door openings in the backrest panel.  In doing so, I took into account several factors:  the height of the seat cushion; the size of the eventual trim along the top of the panel; ease of access; and aesthetics and symmetry.

Eventually, this led to openings with a height of 10".  I kept the reveal between the three openings and the edges of the backrest equal for symmetry, and ended up with a 20" wide center opening (as the center locker was several inches wider than the two ends), and 16-1/8" widths for the two end openings.

    

Having the openings cut allowed me to determine an appropriate height for the shelves inside the lockers, allowing for reasonable access to both sections of the locker.  Because the locker openings were relatively small, I also planned to set back the upper shelves by several inches to allow easier access to both sections.

After determining the basic positioning of the shelves, I made some measurements for support cleats, which I then cut from cherry lumber.  Each cleat featured rounded edges and ends, since they'd be at least partially exposed.

With the cleats cut, I secured them to my layout lines within the lockers using glue and screws.

    

Afterwards, I cut the three plywood shelves to fit. Once I had the shelves in place, I made a mark along the back edge of each shelf so that I could add a longitudinal support cleat there, directly beneath the shelf.  I cut and installed these cleats just like those on the side, but didn't take specific pictures of their installation; one of the cleats is visible in this photo, however.



    

To cover the end grain of the plywood where exposed at the front, and also to provide a fiddle to help contain whatever contents might be on these shelves, I milled and installed solid cherry trim for each shelf.  The trim (fiddles) featured rounded corners and a rabbet to allow the piece to fit slightly over the plywood.  I glued these in place and secured them with stainless brads, then installed the shelves. 

              

I'd planned to remove the shelves for finishing, but the relatively tall fiddle made angling the shelves into position much more difficult than I'd anticipated, so once they shelves were in place I decided they would stay there, and I secured them with a screw on each side, just so they couldn't slide around.

I probably should have positioned the shelves slightly lower to account for the height of the fiddle; the shelf position, just about halfway up the locker door opening, was fine, but the additional height of the fiddle raised the effective height one must work over; that said, the position works better than might be suggested by the photos below.

In their final position, viewing the top shelf (and its imagined contents) was awkward, though the overall design of the backrest opening and the inset shelves a few inches back from the panel made the operation of the shelves and storage areas perfectly acceptable.  There was able room on both the bottom and top shelves for tall items, and the setback of the shelf would make placement of items on to the shelf easy, even though the shelf was a bit higher than ideal.

    

The backrest required additional cleats along its top horizontal edge, to better support the shelf above and allow screws a place to bite. I milled these cleats with the appropriate angle, and glued and screwed them into place from behind the panel.

    

To wrap up the day's work, I applied a sealer coat of varnish to all areas inside the lockers, as well as to both sides of the backrest panel.

         

Total Time Today:  7 hours

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