Hemlock Wall Cabinet
November 11th, 2008 in The Gallery
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Alaskan Hemlock Wall Cabinet. Quartersawn Sycamore back panel. Finished with Shellac and Goddard's Wax.
6" Deep x 11 1/2" Wide X 22" Tall.
David Welter
I was afraid to interupt the door by placing a pull on it and so there is a carved recess on the side of the door. You kind of have to feel for it though...then again, that's the point.
David Welter
One challenging aspect of this project was the frame and panel detail around the small cabinet. I knew I wanted to frame the smaller cabinet in, but it seemed to make sense for the end of the top rail to relate to the profile on the top of the mini cabinet. This was achieved by building the frame just as you see it, placing this on top of the rectangular panel and tracing its shape. The short stile and rail connect to the rest of the left stile and bottom rail with mortise and tenon joinery. I then drew a line that was offset the amount I wanted to have in the groove of the frame. I used a homemade point fence (with a pin over the bit itself) to run the profile in the panel minus the section around the rail-end detail which had to be hand carved to maintain a tight reveal with crisp corners. The section cut out of the original panel was used to create a mini panel behind the drawer box.
David Welter
Because the door fully overlays the cabinet I used knife hinges. These came from Bob Sanderson at Wood Joint Studios here in Fort Bragg, CA. He is a good friend and I cannot recommend his hinges enough.
David Welter
The drawer sides, backs and bottoms are Port Orford Cedar. The drawer fronts are quartersawn Sycamore. The pulls are Hemlock.
David Welter
Alaskan Hemlock Wall Cabinet. Quartersawn Sycamore back panel. Finished with Shellac and Goddard's Wax.
6" Deep x 11 1/2" Wide X 22" Tall.
Photo: David Welter
This wall cabinet started as a lesson in coopering during my first semester at the College of the Redwoods. After finding an s-curve that I liked, I found a plank of Alaskan Hemlock with grain that mimicked the motion of the curve. I then made the door and built the rest of the cabinet to compliment it. Many of the elements of this cabinet were chosen to practice techniques taught at the school and the whole piece had to fit the parameters of being "small, simple, solid (no veneer, glass, etc.), and sweet."
Design or Plan used: My Own Design - Russell Gale
posted in: The Gallery, wall cabinet, hemlock, sycamore, port orford cedar, coopering
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Comments (6)
Thank you. The drawer box was built the same way, but on a smaller scale, as the cabinet itself. I then worked all surfaces down until the fit was right in all spots where it contacts the larger cabinet. Then I just glued it in. All wood movement occurs in the same dirction so there should be no problems. On this scale it seemed sufficient. Posted: 10:58 am on November 18th
On the third photo from the top I added a description of the overall process for creating the frame and panel detail around the drawer box. Thanks for asking. Posted: 10:41 am on November 13th
The door is held closed with a wooden spring latch mortised in up top. This is a type of latch used often here at the school and was one that Krenov describes in his books. There is another description of this latch here... http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/FWNPDF/011155044.pdf
The only change I would make to the one described in this article is to move the screw more to the middle. This allows one to control the pressure of the latch by loosening or tightening the screw. A screw at the opposite end offers little adjustment. Posted: 1:16 am on November 13th
The design is very krenov, except I think he would have put a handle on the door. I can see the reasons why you didn't. Posted: 11:16 pm on November 12th