The Melameaning of Life

I've had a distaste for melamine for a long time.  Long before evil people in a large country in Asia started using it in pet food and baby formula, cabinet makers in our country started putting it in our kitchen cabinets.  It's a shortcut product and it's great for the cabinetmaker's profit margins, but it isn't good for the homeowner.

My lumber delivery driver told me this week that I'm the only shop he knows of that doesn't always use melamine for their cabinet boxes.  And he asked me if people complain that I don't use melamine.  Wow.  I wasn't aware that people still think of melamine as a good thing...especially here in Portland where we pay special attention to environmental concerns.

I have three main gripes about melamine. 

First, it isn't a 100 year product.  It's particle board with a thin layer of plastic bonded to it.  Fasteners tend to pull out of particle board, and it swells horribly when and if it gets wet.  You can't repair it either.  It either looks ugly when you chip/crack/soak it, or you replace it.

Second, that thin layer of plastic disqualifies the waste from being recycled with other wood products.  Also, more waste is generated within the shop because the offall isn't as versatile for use in the cabinetmaking process.

Finally, there's the chemical thing.  There's the melamine and the formaldehyde.  I can source a no-added-formaldehyde melamine product, but it's about twice the cost of standard melamine.

Saratoga Woodworks' standard materials include formaldehyde free (NAUF/CARB compliant) plywood products with water based and low VOC finishes.

We have the capability to use many Green products you may beinterested in, from wheat board to reclaimed material to Paperstone countertops.

Ranch (re)Dressing

The current project in the shop is a kitchen for a 70's ranch home.

The kitchen hadn't been updated since the house was built and it was looking pretty tired so we designed replacement cabinets with the needs of the homeowner in mind. She wanted to have some big drawers, better access to the space in the corners of her U shaped kitchen, and she wanted to be able to pull up a couple of barstools to the far end of the peninsula.

The new kitchen features a full round lazy susan in one corner, and a pie-cut lazy susan in the other. the big drawers glide smoothly on their full extension guides and an unique notch in the peninsula allows for the required barstools.

The new kitchen also features our no-added-formaldehyde plywoods sliding dovetail drawer construction.

Oh, and yes, the bottom picture is upside down as was the cabinet when I took the picture.

Now That's Entertainment!

Okay, first of all, that TV is the 60" model. The entire unit is about 10.5 feet long and 8.5 feet tall.

The entertainment center is recessed into a little niche so the goal was to make it look like it was built in place. Even when you look closely, it is difficult to tell how the unit is assembled. We delivered it in nine pieces and it fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.

There were 5 different cabinet depths among the nine pieces which really gives it visual interest. As you may be able to see from the pictures, the cabinets above and below the TV have the bay window shape.

The subwoofer (at the bottom of the open cabinet in the center) is mounted on an isolated platform. This prevents the bass from rattling anything on the cabinet. There is also a hidden door to allow the homeowner to access the wire and plugs running between the amplifier and the television.