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Chapter 6: Three-In-One Wall Unit #2

Cut upright partitions from 3/4" plywood, following  dimensions in Fig. B. Attach top piece to upright partitions with glue and 6d coated box nails. Above, author is constructing left half of 16' wall section, which will be mounted separately to wall.

Cut 8" by 24" mounting strip from 3/4" plywood and attach to base platform with glue and 6d coated nails, Left upright partition will be attached to this mounting strip,

Cut 6"-wide mounting strips from 3/4" plywood and attach along top of wall the entire length of built-in units. Exact height of mounting strips depends on height of built-in units (see Fig. B).

Mount first unit in place, driving 8d finishing nails upward through top piece into top mounting strip, Make sure unit is square and flush against wall.

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3/4" plywood panel to sidewall, keeping top edge of panel level with tops of other upright partitions. Attach top piece of built-in unit to topside of panel with 8d finishing nails.

Attach upright Partitions at bottom to base mounting strips with 8d finishing nails.

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Square up the first built-in unit by using the old carpenter's trick of measuring diagonally with a long stick. Distance between diagonal corners should be exactly the same.

Cut 3/4" plywood cabinet bottom for next unit (for size see floor plan, Fig. A) and attach with glue 8d finishing nails to base platform. This bottom piece Also acts as a mounting strip for next upright partition.

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Half-way stage: platform, partitions and top are up. Basic part of wallbed was built at this point, too.

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Cut next upright partition from 3/4" plywood to size shown in Fig. B and attach with glue and 8d finishing nails to bottom piece. Additional bottom pieces are attached as upright partitions are attached to the previous bottoms.

This procedure is continued until all upright partitions are attached to base platform. Then cut 24"-wide top pieces from 3/4" plywood and attach to tops of upright partitions with 8d finishing nails. Make sure all units are square and flush against wall.

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To attach doors to built-in wall unit, cut long pieces of 3/4" by 3 1/2" solid hardwood and attach to front edges of top, bottom and sides of three-in-one wall unit with glue and 4"-long screws. Place screws about 12" apart and countersink them. This will give you an extending hardwood frame around entire unit to which doors can be attached.

The accordion-folding doors can be assembled on various types of tracks, which can be obtained at hardware and department stores. The type used here is a "Bi-folding" track, part of a Stanley "Bi-folding" kit, which contains sufficient hardware (track, hinges and screws) for four doors.

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Doors are made of 3/4" Novoply, 12" wide and 6' long. When opening to be covered is 6'wide, as in the sewing center section, mount three folding doors to each side. Since the kit contains hardware for only four doors, or two on each side, the two additional doors, or one on each side, must be mounted with l"-wide piano hinges (single dimension).

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Attach 3/32"-thick solid wood blocks on edges between ™ piano hinges to fill in gap left by hinge thickness, which is visible when doors are closed. Use glue and brads.

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Fig. C. Accordion-type folding door has three sections.

Using level, mark 4"-wide spaces across doors for placement of decorative paneling. Many types of 1/4" decorative panels, with a wide variety of grains or other finishes, are available at lumber outlets. The type used in this project is Surfwood paneling, pre-finished in light gray and silver.

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Cut panels from a large sheet and keep them in their  relative positions when attaching them to doors, so grain patterns will be continuous vertically and horizontally. Attach panels with glue in spots, then with 3/4" No. 18 brads.

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It is best to use flush pulls on doors of this kind. Re-cess doors to depth necessary for flush mount you choose, and attach with screws. If you wish to have indirect lighting over your built-ins, now is the time to place fluorescent light fixtures along top, 4 1/2" from front edge.

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Finally, add cove mouldings to top. Attach 3/4 "-thick, 1 1/2"-wide solid wood face strips to top edge of added frame piece, flush with bottom of  folding door tracks so tracks will be concealed  (see drawing above). Scribe a line 1" below and parallel with top edge of the face strip. Attach cove mouldings (Weldwood all-plywood 3" regular cove with oak veneer was used in this project) with glue and brads. If distance between top of cove moulding and ceiling is not enough to allow you to change light tubes, the mouldings must be attached with clips, so they can be removed. For indirect lighting details, see chapter on lighting.

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Finished wall unit with doors, mouldings in place. While one section is in use, doors can be closed over others.

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