After a bit of measuring, I figured out I would need at least 36 feet of molding just for the sides.
After a quick trip to Home Depot I found 2×4 sheets of 1/4″ mdf. I bought 2….I would cut my own trim.
Clamped the two sheets together to get the cutting done in half the time.
Two and a half inch and three and a half inch strips were cut from the mdf. I have found that even though mdf cuts very nicely with no splintering, it leaves a fine coat of sawdust on everything! I’m just warning you, if you can cut your wood outside, it might not be such a bad idea.
With molding cut, started to lay out my sides. The 3 1/2 inch pieces were used for the top and bottom and the 2 1/2 inch strips were the longer strips.
Note: Even though the file cabinets were 2 different heights, the side molding was cut as if they were exactly the same. The lighter file cabinet on the right will have molding that extends past the top of the cabinet.
Sand the sides of the trim completely before adhering with builders adhesive. Let the first side dry before repeating the same process on the other side.
Cut, sand, glue, cut, sand, glue…
Now on to the fronts. Anything that stuck out, was removed from the file drawers.
The trim for the drawers was cut from about 16 feet of 1×3 lumber. I originally cut the trim to cover only the drawers (like the right cabinet) but I liked it better going all the way to the side edges (cabinet on the left) so that the trim covered the rough edges of the side pieces.
Smaller pieces of mdf, part of the same wood that the side trim was cut from, were used to fill in the fronts, hiding all of the previous holes.
More sanding and more gluing. When using the builders adhesive for the drawers, put the glue on just the drawer or you’ll end up gluing your drawer shut.
Use a paintable caulk to fill in any cracks and crevices.
The last step to matching up these two mismatched cabinets, was to add a piece of wood to the top of the shorter cabinet. This was a piece of old particle board shelving. I don’t really recommend particle board, but it was what I had in my scrap pile.
After more sanding, the cabinets were painted with a semi gloss black paint.
For the handles, drilled the wood with a regular drill bit then finished off the hole with a nail hammered through the metal
You would never know these two file cabinet were metal and non-matching.
You can find the tutorial for the top of the desk and see the finished project here.
http://scavengerchic.com/2016/01/21/desk-made-from-old-metal-file-cabinets/