Cabinetry Hack Continued

The first step in making a box to hide the ductwork was to build a frame around the ducts that would support the top and sides.  I ripped some scrap 2x4s in half to make a frame of 2x2s.

The sides of the box are about 15" high which meant gluing and clamping some one inch pine stock together and then sanding it down with my new belt sander.

I then cut the side panels down to size, and since my table saw isn't large enough to crosscut a board 15" wide, I drew a line and used a circular saw, even carefully cutting a mitered edge. 

On the front of the box, I cut openings for the vents.  I did this by drawing the rectangles where the vents would go, then I drilled a hole in the space where I could insert a jigsaw and cut out the shape.

One problem I encountered was that the pine is so soft that a small burr in the base of the jigsaw marred the wood's surface.  Something to keep an eye on in the future.  Another problem was that the wall is not square to the floor so I needed to use a bevel to scribe my lines.

So I got the box a little ways along before being called off to other duties (shoveling snow as a matter of fact).  I still need to put a top piece together and then coat all the sides with water based polyurethane before I fasten it all together.

handyman