Wood workers, looking for advice or inspiration

I recently built this from poplar and pine with a luan back.  I needed a medicine cabinet for my bathroom and no one made one the right size, so I built it.  I wanted it modern, and none of the trim I had laying around fit the bill so I just took some 1x4, cut it down into 1x1, then set the table saw blade on a 30 degree angle and beveled it.

I would avoid cheap spray paint.  It is usually not the greatest for porous surfaces.  Go straight to Mohawk brand and get some of their lacquers.

For this cabinet, I took an old drywall square and drilled a 1/4" hole on the inch increments to make a template for drilling holes for shelf pegs.  The door is a $25 framed mirror I bought on Amazon.

In reply to Curtis :

My most recent achievement is the leaded glass transom with Black Walnut surround.

next is the transom for the master closet  leaded glass still but a different pattern  

I really like that bar Curtis. 

OK, so I'm trying to make a list of tools I don't have for this project yet. 

Biscuit Jointer

Pocket Hole Jig

Router... ??

What kind of router should I be looking into? I'm having ideas of carving a design into a headboard or at least making the ends look pretty. There are plunge routers and non plunge. It looks like I can put a non plunge into a table down the road, but which would be a better option for this project?

There is a maker space nearbyish that has several, as well as a nice CNC router, but I don't want to take the whole place up doing a king size headboard. 

What I do have:

Circular, jig, non sliding combination miter power saws, crosscut standard, flush, japanese 2 sided hand saws, access to a decent table saw, dado blades, drill press, drill and driver, scroll saw, portaband, chisels, 4 each clamps 6, 12, 18, 24, and 48 inch, 2 corner clamp sets, strap clamp. 

I think I'm going to buy a yard stick and put holes in it every inch. Sounds like a simple idea that could come in a lot of handy down the road when my focus shifts from bed to shelving. 

Oh, and another question. I've been seeing a lot of nice looking, reasonable to me priced, live edge lumber and slabs. If I went that way with a headboard, what would I use to preserve and shiny it up? epoxy, poly, something else?

In reply to RevRico :

If you are gonna work with slabs, buy a moisture meter. Air drying sometimes takes years before the moisture content is low enough to put a finish on. 

If you put a finish that doesn’t breath (like poly) on a board that has not dried sufficiently, the finish will fail. 

I would honestly consider two routers.  One full-size plunge router, and one compact trim router.  The large base of a full size router is nice for routing larger areas.  Using a small base trim router to cut (for instance) a mortise for a hinge is tough because until you get the whole way across the 4" hinge mortise, the base falls into the relief you just cut.  Conversely, the big-base router kinda sucks for getting into tight areas.

You'll find that having a selection of round-off, ogee, bevel, flush cut and other bits will come in super handy.

Another tool that I find indispensable is a jobmax type tool.  I have heads for sanding/vibrating cutters, jigsaw, rotary tool (like a dremel), and I use them daily.  Not required, just a nice addition.

SVreX said:

In reply to RevRico :

If you are gonna work with slabs, buy a moisture meter. Air drying sometimes takes years before the moisture content is low enough to put a finish on. 

If you put a finish that doesn’t breath (like poly) on a board that has not dried sufficiently, the finish will fail. 

Air dried puts far less stress into wood than kiln dried but depends entirely on where it's dried and stored.   My timbers air dried for up to 6 years before they were sealed off and kept heated during the winter. Readings with my moisture meter were as low as 6%  but  the inside  was often more than2 times  that on the big 12"x12" timbers.  
As much as 10 years later some timbers were still popping  and checking  during the winter heating season. 
Realize that wood absorbs and rejects moisture according to  humidity.  Humid days will give high moisture readings. However once past about 19% moisture wood is safely past decay unless kept in high moisture condition for a very extended period.  
 Live edge wood is the current trend  and you can decide for yourself if it's what you like.  My opinion is wood is more interesting the closer it is to its natural state.  I would be careful with plastic finishes such as polyurethanes or Epoxy.  They look nice in new state but do not tend to age well. Oil and Shellac are much better in that regard.  Plus are many times easier to apply and get a beautiful finish with 

In reply to RevRico :

With regard a router , you should get both a big powerful router and a small trim router.  Since I sold to contractors for decades I recognize most of them Use Porter Cable routers.  I have other preferences for brands based on their input  but Porter cable seems to be the standard of the router industry.  
 

Kreg  joint tools is the standard for pocket hole screws. 
Nail guns really depends on purpose. Hitachi is the leader in trim nailers   and staplers.  Pin Nailers  there doesn't seem to be a real leader. I use Bostich because I started out with the big Bostich framing nailer because it has the highest impact force. ( working with hardwoods that's a really big deal) 

I also bought the Bostich palm nailer and roofing nailer.  But That was because I first used a Porter Cable roofing nailer and was really disappointed more like a nail starter than a nailer.  So brands do make a difference. 
Mikita palm sanders are quieter free of vibration and durable as heck. I also like their portable power planer. Two circular saws really stand out . Milwaukee for its Skil saw and Mikita. But don't cheap out on the blades. 
A good table saw is really important. Don't cheap out and buy a contractors saw.  If you do, You will regret it.  Another real must is a compound miter saw.  My Dewalt cuts clean and accurate.  It's easy to set the angle at precisely what you want. A fraction of a degree is achievable. But do get the factory stand. 

My shop equipment is Grizzly.  My Table saw I went to a 12 inch instead of the standard 10 inch blade because it had  more horsepower and a bigger blade. It's not expensive and it's made in Taiwan.   As is much of shop equipment now days.  Even American brands like Delta.  Set up does matter.  

I bought a Jet bandsaw and I regret it.  Flimsy and often breaking.   
If you work inside you must have a dust collector. Sawdust can cause cancer. Wearing face masks is still required.  
I have both a dust collector  and a big shop chip and shavings collector. That's because the shaper and planner put out bags and bags of wood shavings.    

A board or two  and you sweep it up. Enough and you appreciate it neatly bagged for you. 
 

One piece of equipment you'll always want bigger is your Jointer.  I bought an 8 inch instead of the standard 6 inch and wish I'd bought a 12 incher. 
 

If you buy a planner get one with a helical cutter head.  Replacing the small cheaper blades is much faster and easier. Than the long blades that take so much time to set up properly.