Welcome to another special episode 
of the Cornerfield Shop.
This week I'm building a changing table for the newest member of our family.
If you wanna see how I build it, then stay tuned.
Based on the measurements from my 
SketchUp 3D model
I cut all my pieces to size.
For the frame I'm using spruce the inset
panels are made from MDF and the drawers are plywood.
Most of the wood for the frame is left-over from other projects.
Some is even already stained but I'm cutting it
down quite a bit so that will be cut off later on.
To get a nice square surface to work with, 
I'm cutting both sides off the 2 by 4's.
These are always a bit rounded over
which makes it difficult to join them.
I'll save most of the cut-offs for making thin strips for other projects.
The panels are cut to rough size and later I will tweak the
cuts to make them fit exactly.
Trying to do this exact on the first cut is difficult
when the pieces are big and difficult to handle.
With all my pieces cut to size I'm going to
mark out my sides of the frame
where I'm going to make the slots for the panels
to go into. That's up next.
The slots are spaced about 5mm away from the edge.
From experience I've learned that this distance works fine.
Leaving less material can make it fragile and easy to break off.
So watch out for that.
To make the panels fit I just make repeated cuts
on my table saw by moving the fence until the panel fits
inside the slot.
Now that I have the first slots made,
I mark out the position for the slots in the uprights.
This is the first time I'm making a stopped cut for a panel
and it worked out perfectly!
What I did was, I marked out a line on my fence,
that matched up with a line on my workpiece.
This allowed me to see where to stop while I was making the cut.
I did this for all four legs until the panel fit inside the slot.
With the panels finished up I could cut some tapers on the legs.
If you want to find out more about the jig I'm using then
check out my previous video. I've linked it in the description.
To connect the panels I'm using glue and pocket hole screws.
You could also use dowels if you prefer that.
When attaching the pieces make sure they are
properly aligned and square.
Otherwise your panel won't go together or it won't be level when you stand it up.
It's a big challenge to find clamps
that are big enough to clamp panels like this together.
So what I'm doing instead, since I don't have such a big clamps,
is clamping each individual piece to my
workbench and using my square to check and
see if everything is square and paralel to each other and then I fasten my screws.
The two panels are connected with stretchers that
I fastened with glue and screws.
The back stretcher also receives a panel, the front
will have an opening for the drawers.
While attaching the front stretchers, I had to make
sure that the fronts will end up flush with the side.
So here I'm insetting the stretcher by using a front panel of a drawer.
To support the runners in the side panels I'm going to
mount these pieces using pocket holes.
With the supports in place, it's time to install the slides.
Since I'm in front of the camera when I'm installing the slides
I'm just going to show you guys how I did it like this
with the first one that I installed.
I measured the depth of the front
from the base.
That's where I want my slide to start. So, I marked that out
and clamped it down.
Then I removed the part that goes on the drawer so I have access
to the holes. I put in the first screw,
then use a level to see if it's level.
Install the second screw.
And then I put the drawer piece back in and it's pretty much installed.
One down, five more to go.
I've got the cabinet finished and I've my drawer
marked out so I can cut them to size.
And if you want to see how I assemble the drawers then
check out the tool cabinet video that I brought out.
There I will show you in detail how I assemble these drawers.
Here is a quick run-through of me making the boxes for the drawers.
The video with more details is linked in the description.
With the boxes for the slides complete
I installed them into the cabinet.
To position them I used a spacer in the bottom
to make sure I have enough clearance to open and close it.
For the two upper drawers I made a divider in the middle,
that I'm attaching to the frame using screws.
I'm thinking this is plenty of strong since the drawers are small
and won't become very heavy but we will find out if I'm right.
You might be wondering why I offset the runners in height.
That is so that the screws don't conflict in the panel,
because this isn't thick enough have two screws at the same height.
So keep that in mind if you have something like this.
With the divider in place I can install the last two drawers.
To hold them up to the correct position I'm using some scraps that I stacked on the drawer below it.
A great trick but make sure the bottom drawer is level
otherwise this will cause problems when you're installing the last one.
The last part of the drawers is installing the false fronts.
I saved cutting those to width until everything else was done.
So I could get an exact measurement and cut them all at once.
Making sure I had a nice even gap between all the fronts and the sides.
For the installation of the fronts I used business cards as spacers
what you've probably seen me doing in other videos as well.
For these pieces also check for level before putting the screws from the back.
The second front goes in using the same procedure.
Spaced using some cards, clamped, checked for square and fastened using some screws from behind.
As you can see the fronts of the drawers are not quite paralel.
The top drawer here is further back.
So I want this to be further forward.
What I did is in the horizontal slots off the slides, is where I mounted my screws.
So what I'm going to do is loosen them, pull the drawer forward and make it flush with this one.
That is why it's important to use the right holes in the slides.
Otherwise you can't make this adjustment.
With all the installation work done I filled some holes with wood filler, sand everything
to make it ready for some primer.
Before that goes on I make sure everything is dust free and degreased.
Painting is not my favourite part of the project so I'll just fast forward a bit.
You get the idea.
With the false fronts installed I drilled some holes for my hardware.
In this case it's leather strap that we got from IKEA.
I'll link that in the description as well.
The last part of this project is what makes it different then just a cabinet.
It's an extension for the top that holds the changing pillow.
After cutting the pieces needed for the construction I got the top for the cabinet from the lumber store.
It's a solid piece of Oak that's made out of two pieces joint together in the middle.
It's about 35mm thick.
I need a measurement of this thickness to know how
big the latch piece can be that holds the box to the top.
I'll get to that in a bit.
First I cut slots in the back to join the sides.
Quick sanding tip.
I use a paint sturing stick and I glued some sandpaper to it,
so I have an absolutely straight surface
and a really narrow contact area if I want to.
It's really helpful to sand corners like this nice and square.
The latch I mentioned earlier is a strip of Oak
that fits snugly underneath the top at the bottom of the back piece.
This prevents the extended top from flipping over when press down on the front of it.
An important safety feature that you shouldn't skip when building this.
I attached it with 4 screws.
I didn't use any glue because the surface is painted and it wouldn't stick anyway.
A decorative step in this build is cutting a curve on the front of the side pieces.
I marked the curve with a paint can and cut it out with a jig saw.
Make sure to cut and sand both pieces at the same time to get an identical curve.
Now that the sides are complete I fasten them to the back piece with glue and screws.
And when the battery on your drill dies just use it as a screwdriver.
Quick dry assembly to test if the box fits over the top with all the pieces in place.
After that the front piece can be attached.
The screw holes get filled with wood filler and it's ready for some paint.
The top gets a layer of beeswax for a nice natural finish.
To fasten the top to the cabinet I cut some small blocks of Oak.
On one end they get a slot that will receive a screw and a washer to fasten it to the top.
The other side gets two pre-drilled holes that will be used to fasten it to the cabinet.
This way there is room for the wood to expand and contract.
Hopefully it's enough but we will find out soon enough.
The blocks are clamped and screwed to the frame.
Next the top can go on.
Make sure you space it correctly all around and clamp it down
before you fasten the screws into the top.
Some finishing touches.
Putting the latch back on after paint, adding some additional grease to the slides
and putting the drawers back in.
And now it's complete!
My most ambitious project to date and I love how it turned out!
Hopefully our newest member of the family will love as much as I do.
I hope you liked the video
thanks for watching.
And I will you see you for the next episode at the Cornerfield Shop.
