Interior cabinetry face lift

[Twoxentrix]

Very cool - Turned out great !!!

[Otter]

Thanks so much for the detailed explanation. It’s looking great!
.

[eddyturn]

Dang... and I only took wood shop in junior high for one semester.

[CarlParr]

Good inspiration as I am totally done with the original SM cabinetry!

[Steve C]

On to the drawers...

My original SMB drawers were only 18" deep and I wanted to more fully utilize that space, thus new drawers were a must. I highly recommend Blum soft close slides, they mount to the bottom of the drawer, are incredibly smooth and have a nice closing action for about the last 6". They also tend to be more forgiving when everything isn't exactly straight or square. I found this last benefit to be a big plus when installing in factory SMB cabinet carcasses. I ended up selecting slides that were designed for drawers 21" deep and with sides 5/8" thick. These slides are also rated for around 100 lbs. of weight.

There are online calculators that allow you to measure the openings and they give you the maximum drawer dimensions and a very handy cut list. Note: this measurement may need to be modified in openings with the SMB "L" brackets installed.

The second picture shows one drawer assembled using pocket holes. These holes will end up either facing towards the back of the cabinet or covered by the drawer front, thus never seen once the drawer is installed. Next to the assembled drawer are the parts cut and ready for the smaller silverware drawer. Note the dado cut into the lower edge to accept the drawer bottom. I used soft maple for the drawer sides, fronts and backs. This is light and easy to work with. Since I selected slides designed for 5/8" thickness, I had to plane the boards to this dimension.

Mounting the slides for the larger drawer was straightforward. Just put them in positioned 1/8" in from the front and screw them to the cabinet side. I did have to move one "L" bracket in the back to allow room for the slide. Mounting the silverware drawer required raising the right hand slide both above the floor and out from the wall because of the three "L" brackets located there. I used temporary 3/16" spacers to hold each slide up far enough to clear the brackets. I also had to use 3/16" blocking to hold the right hand slide off the cabinet wall to clear the "L" brackets (see picture 3).

In order to install my Southco cabinet latches, I had to drill an "extra" hole into the front of the drawer boxes. The drawer front just needs a 2" hole, however the front of the box itself needs a bigger hole to clear the latch. I used a 2 1/2" hole saw to accomplish this.

The last two photos show the difference in the stock SMB drawers and the newer larger ones. It also shows the old #*%# plastic one, that I had epoxied to replace the packing tape the PO had used to keep it together...

[Steve C]

Spice rack or a handy way to cover up swelled MDF?...

One of the worst areas of water damage in my interior was the shelf located right behind the driver's seat. It literally made/makes me cringe each time I looked at it. Since this thread is a "face lift" and not a "replacement", I figured I'd work with what I had.

I put together a basic frame to sit on top of the shelf. The pieces were all scraps I had laying around. For this rack, I planed all pieces to 1/2" thickness. Again, I matched the angle of the driver's seat to where it is normally positioned. I utilized more pocket holes to attach the front and back to the sides. These holes were positioned to face towards the back and inside (to remain hidden). I matched the rest of the cabinet's profiles except I used a 1/8" profile with a round over bit (to account for the thinner material). I secured the rack to the cabinet side with #8 3/4" screws and covered them with the SMB plastic caps. Then laid a piece of tool box liner in and done...

[Steve C]

Finishing up with the cabinet and drawer fronts...

Wanting to keep the RB50 "feel and look" I choose to utilize the Southco door latches. This necessitated making the doors and drawer fronts with WIDE stiles and rails. Mine are approximately 3 1/4" wide and that allowed for some options in placement when drilling the 2" latch holes.

The aging white "T" molding was replaced with black. I tried to find the same type of molding from various outlets, but finally broke down and ordered mine from SMB. That offset barb and lip are hard to come by... heating it with a hair dryer helped to maneuver it in and around tight spots when temps were in the 20's.

The doors were constructed in the same manner as the rest of my frame and panel examples. I tried to line up adjoining doors with a continuous wood grain pattern where applicable. After rounding off the corners, I utilized a 3/8" round over bit to apply the door profiles.

All the SMB white hinges were replaced with new black versions. I used both variable overlay and 1/4" overlay depending on which cabinets the doors were located on. I had originally planned on utilizing European style hinges on the porta potty and pantry doors, but found that the Blum hinges I purchased were going to protrude further into the open cabinet then wanted. The new hinges on the porta potty door ended up being closer to the cabinet front than the original ones. This meant the screws were going to end up going into the grove cut for the "T" molding. To increase strength, I cut 1/16" X 3" X 1/2" strips of wood to fill the grove and give the screws purchase.

[Steve C]

The "end" product (as if we're ever actually done)...

The refrigerator door panel was removed, sanded and quickly painted black. Not sure I'd recommend painting outdoors when temps are in the mid 20's, but it seems to have stuck?

In the future, I just might end up replacing the inner SMB cabinet structure. The use of MDF in RVs, especially off road RVs, makes little sense to me. I'll also have to figure out how to pull that little cubby above the sink out and will replace it with matching hickory. In the meantime, I need to go camping!!!

[Steve C]

Originally Posted by eddyturn

Dang... and I only took wood shop in junior high for one semester.

Me too! Lots of reading and watching YouTube videos...

[DisabledExplorers]

Very Very impressive, I like the look and the insight into your thoughts and methods, thanks