# TV Cabinet in English Walnut - NOW FINISHED!



## BradNaylor (28 Oct 2009)

I've done a couple of this sort of thing in the past; an elderly client who bought an elaborate cabinet for their telly 30 years ago now wants to upgrade to a big flat screen jobby and wants a cabinet for it the same as the old one. But nobody makes them anymore. 

Except I do!

This one is to be in walnut. This is the cabinet I've got to copy;







And this is another piece in the same room that the new cabinet has to match;






The top and the doors will be made from MDF lipped all round in walnut and then the fronts veneeered with burr walnut and cross-banding. The backs will be veneered with American Black Walnut.


My initial thought for the carcass was to use English or European walnut veneered MDF. A couple of calls to board suppliers however, revealed that such a thing does not exist. 

No problem, I think. I'll get some veneered board made up locally. Unfortunately I could not find anyone with suitable veneer in stock - I would have to buy a full bundle of 20 or so sheets; far more than I will ever need.

So I started ringing round hardwood suppliers in search of English or European walnut with a view to building the carcass in solid wood. I couldn't find anyone in the north of England with any in stock.

So I then contacted other cabinetmakers to see if anyone either had any to spare or could give me any leads. I was just about to make the trip to Chris Tribe's place when I got word of a tree surgeon only 20 minutes away from me who might have some.

I arrived at a farm in Cheshire to find an entire tree felling and timber conversion operation. Rummaging around in the attic of one of the barns we unearthed these two slabs of locally grown walnut which had been air-dried for 6 or 7 years.






They were around 55" x 16" x 2.5" Tentatively I suggested that he might slice them in two for me as what I needed was 1" boards

This is when I met the Wood Mizer. I want one!






As the blade reached the end of its cut I really expected the boards to go 'ping' and move all over the place as always seems to happen when I resaw timber on the bandsaw.

Absolutely nothing. Both halves of each board stayed completely flat.  

What a find this place is. I'll be back.

I paid £50 a cube.

Back at the workshop I stickered the boards to condition for a few days and will make a start next week.






All in all a rewarding afternoon.

Cheers
Brad


----------



## Russ (28 Oct 2009)

Is she going to pay you from her biscuit tin


----------



## Chris Knight (28 Oct 2009)

They are superb looking boards with a nice colour too for the price. English walnut is hard to come by without a mass of defects - wastage can be as high as 50% in many cases.


----------



## seanybaby (28 Oct 2009)

Nice commission  

Can we have plenty pictures on your veneering process please?


----------



## moz (28 Oct 2009)

Superb find. What nice, clear boards and with hardly any sap. Looking forward to the rest.

John


----------



## wizer (28 Oct 2009)

Lovely stuff Brad. Watching this one with interest. Will he have a flashy, flash based website this time next year and exhibiting in London alongside Burt, Ingham, Pinky, Lloyd, Savage, etc.


----------



## OPJ (28 Oct 2009)

£50/ft³ for English walnut??? As 2in. boards, that's a heck of a lot cheaper than what you'd expect to pay for American black walnut!! :shock: (There must be something wrong with them!!  :wink

If you did have to buy a load of veneer then, I'm sure you could have sold the excess off to forum members and other cabinet makers in time. 

I don't think I've seen you work in solid timber before so, I look forward to following this. :wink: From reading his book, I've noted that Robert Ingham has a band-resaw in his workshop immaculate workshop, if every you wanted to go down that slope...


----------



## ste_5150 (28 Oct 2009)

Care to share the supplier's details....says the person in a neighbouring county.....? :wink: 

I'd be very interested to see how this comes together - keep us updated??


----------



## BradNaylor (28 Oct 2009)

ste_5150":zu0ass1w said:


> Care to share the supplier's details....says the person in a neighbouring county.....? :wink:



Certainly...


...when I've relieved him of his best stuff!

:lol: 

Brad


----------



## ste_5150 (28 Oct 2009)

:lol: Cold. :lol:


----------



## woodbloke (28 Oct 2009)

BradNaylor":xdlfxo4j said:


> I paid £50 a cube.
> 
> 
> Cheers
> Brad


Lucky sod  I did once buy a whole butt of prime English walnut for £75, but that was looooong time ago. 
Youl'll have to polish up those long forgotten hand skills now Brad :wink:...secret mitred dovetails for the carcase construction?  :lol: - Rob


----------



## WellsWood (28 Oct 2009)

woodbloke":3irlyo2x said:


> Youl'll have to polish up those long forgotten hand skills now Brad :wink:...secret mitred dovetails for the carcase construction?  :lol: - Rob



My money's on dominoes :wink:


----------



## woodbloke (28 Oct 2009)

WellsWood":r3auvhkd said:


> woodbloke":r3auvhkd said:
> 
> 
> > Youl'll have to polish up those long forgotten hand skills now Brad :wink:...secret mitred dovetails for the carcase construction?  :lol: - Rob
> ...


Mark - so's mine! - Rob


----------



## BradNaylor (28 Oct 2009)

WellsWood":d0fjwxz8 said:


> woodbloke":d0fjwxz8 said:
> 
> 
> > Youl'll have to polish up those long forgotten hand skills now Brad :wink:...secret mitred dovetails for the carcase construction?  :lol: - Rob
> ...



How about secret mitred dominoes?

Actually the last time I used English Walnut was for my A level woodwork project in 1978...


... and I did it with immaculately hand-cut secret mitred dovetails. The trouble is, nobody could tell. 

What a stupid joint that is!


----------



## Andy RV (31 Oct 2009)

The walnut isn't from a place called craftwoods is it??


----------



## BradNaylor (23 Dec 2009)

First of all I must apologise for the total lack of WIP photos. Unfortunately, with the workload I've had over thast few months, taking piccies has been low on my list of priorities.

Anyway, this job turned out a bit stressful. The lovely English Walnut I sourced proved to be too dark and purple in colour for my client, so I had no alternative but to bleach it and restain it. This is a procedure I had never tackled before but it proved quite straightforward in the end.

The other problem was that I had never actually done any veneering before. On previous jobs of this type I have undertaken previously I have farmed out the veneering to a local specialist. Sadly Len died suddenly in November, otherwise I would probably have got him to do this one for me too.

So I decided it was time I learned a new skill. Fortunately a local 'old boy' cabinetmaker let me use his veneer press and gave me some valuable advice on the techniques to use. I spent two days at his workshop doing the lay-outs and glueing up the doors and cabinet top. Many thanks to Bill O'Neill of Hazel Grove.

This is how it turned out. It is far from my usual style but I am very pleased with it. It's good to step outside your comfort zone now and then. More importantly the client and his wife were absolutely delighted with it when I delivered and installed it today.





















If I was doing it again I'd take more care with the selection of the veneer for the cross-banding; however I had not ordered enough to be that picky. I now realise how much wastage you have to allow for!

All in all I've enjoyed the experience despite the stress and will be buying a bagpress in the new year. I feel ready to tackle any veneering job now!

Thanks for looking

Cheers
Brad

PS - I've just noticed the aliens on the doors in photo 1! I never saw them on the real thing...


----------



## wizer (23 Dec 2009)

Oh very nice Bradley, and good to step out of your comfort zone once in a while. I'm sure you'll take those skills and apply them to your work in the future. My Dad would love this. We had one similar when we were growing up with an old B&O monstrosity inside it. He reluctantly sold it because flatscreens looked silly in it. This is a nice solution to that problem.

Well done, happy xmas.


----------



## OPJ (23 Dec 2009)

I think it looks excellent! Well done and thanks for sharing. 

What did you finish it with? Looks like some kind of lacquer.


----------



## Mattty (23 Dec 2009)

That looks great Duncan. You really are moving in new directions it seems.


----------



## seanybaby (23 Dec 2009)

Very nice job. What finish is it? Looks quite glossy.

Even though you haven't matched out the cross-banding, i like the randomness about it.


----------



## BradNaylor (23 Dec 2009)

It keeps life interesting, Matt.

MDF alcove units pay the bills, though!

:lol: 

Brad


PS - the finish is Morrells gloss (90%) AC lacquer.


----------



## Mattty (23 Dec 2009)

BradNaylor":wy0jb34u said:


> It keeps life interesting, Matt.
> 
> MDF alcove units pay the bills, though!
> 
> ...



You have to be very confident to go for the full shine mate. That veneering must have been very crisp!
Have a good break mate.


----------



## DeepBlue (23 Dec 2009)

Care to share any of those veneering tips? I could do with a few pointers.

Great jobs though


----------



## jhwbigley (23 Dec 2009)

ah, veneering easy  


thats a sweet shine there brad.

JHB


----------



## TEO (23 Dec 2009)

More importantly the client and his wife were absolutely delighted with it when I delivered and installed it today.

And well they might be; looks great, v impressed.
T


----------



## mailee (23 Dec 2009)

Oh yes, excellent work Brad. I, like you have just tried veneering on the Beech table I made and have to say I am looking forward to doing some more. I too underestimated just how much veneer it takes if you are aiming for a pattern. I did buy a vacuum press and am happy with it for the price I paid. Very nice finish on your cabinet too mate, bet your proud as punch.


----------



## Escudo (23 Dec 2009)

Well done Brad lovely job. I approve. 8) 

Merry Christmas, Tony.


----------



## Benchwayze (24 Dec 2009)

Russ":1nsog4ng said:


> Is she going to pay you from her biscuit tin



Hi Russ,

Biscuit tins don't pay any interest and the financial Institutions don't pay much more. I converted my biscuit tin into a 'gold safe'. We ain't all old-fashioned yah know! 

:lol: :lol: :lol: 

That's pretty good price for the 'Queen' of English timbers Brad. Nice work and I should hope that the client was indeed happy. 

Have a good one. 
John 
:ho2


----------



## devonwoody (24 Dec 2009)

Nice to see work like this being done in the 21st century.


----------



## houtslager (24 Dec 2009)

yep. looks good, and about time you learned how to veneer - thereby keeping more work in house- thus more beer tokens for you :twisted: 


keep this up and you'll be rich.

hs


----------



## RogerM (26 Dec 2009)

Fabulous! And always nice to learn some new skills when taking on something like this. How did you find the veneering? Any tips you can pass on to us amateurs?


----------



## BradNaylor (26 Dec 2009)

RogerM":1pxs4vuo said:


> How did you find the veneering? Any tips you can pass on to us amateurs?



What I learned was this;

Number each leaf of burr veneer as they come out of the pack so that you can use them sequentially- the pattern changes slighty between the first leaf and the last.

Burr veneer arrives all 'bumpy' and has to be flattened before use. This done by wetting it slightly all over with water from one of those houseplant spray bottles and clamping two sheets at a time between pieces of lining paper. I made simple 'presses' for this process from pieces of 25mm MDF and G-clamps. 

The most important tools required are a very sharp scalpel and a very heavy metal straight-edge. A light one will move around as you cut along it with the scalpel. DAMHIK!

For book-matching the burr veneer cut a template of the size panel you need from 6mm MDF and place it on the first sheet of veneer so that it covers the most attractive part of the pattern. A template of perspex or even glass would make this easier as you could see the pattern through it. Carefully cut the veneer to the exact size of your template.

Use this first piece of veneer to mark out the other pieces of burr required for that lay-out. By flipping it over as appropriate you can line up the pattern perfectly with the next leaf and get that classic bookmatched effect. Cut each leaf with the straight edge and scalpel. 

Working from the reverse side stick the leaves together with masking tape. Then put the semi-completed lay-out back between a couple of sheets of MDF to prevent it drying out and going all 'bumpy' again.

For the cross-banding you need a lot of very straight grained veneer. My main mistake with this job was not ordering enough - consequently I was unable to match up the cross-banding from one door to the next. 

Cut the veneer across the grain in strips a little wider than the finished size. Square up the ends of each strip. Working from the reverse side tape together the individual short strips into several long ones, again using masking tape.

Then turn your long strips over and tape the joins with veneer tape - a very thin paper tape that comes pre-gummed but which you have to lick to moisten the gum - like old envelopes. Then trim the edges of your long strips to the finished size with the straight-edge and scalpel.

We are then ready to apply the cross-banding to the bookmatched burr panels. Working again from the reverse side fasten the strips in place using masking tape. Masking tape at this stage is very forgiving and allows you undo any mistakes. Overlap the strips at each corner - do not attempt to pre-cut your mitres!

The mitres at each corner are cut simply by placing the straight edge between the corner of the burr panel and the point at the extremity where the two pieces of crossbanding overlap. Cut along this line carefully with the scalpel through both pieces of cross band veneer *from the outside towards the inside.* This point is important as if you cut the other way it is almost inevitable that you will lose a bit of veneer at the point of the corner. DAMHIK (again!) If you nick the corner of the burr panel with the scalpel it doesn't matter as this is the reverse side.

Flip the lay-put over and apply veneer tape to all the joins. Then flip it over again and remove the masking tape. Then put the whole thing between sheets of MDF again to keep it flat and move onto the next lay-out.

When all the lay-outs are complete we need to make up balancers for the reverse sides of all our veneered panels. These are simply made from leaves of a matching but cheaper and less decorative veneer. I used American Black Walnut for the balancers on this job.

The cores of each panel on this job were MDF with walnut lippings which I had prepared earlier.

Actually glueing up is pretty straightforward. I used a 3 platten traditional screw type veneer press and One-Shot glue. Others prefer bag presses and/or PVA.

As you can see, I learned a lot from this process and I am glad to have written it down before I forgot!

Cheers
Brad


----------



## woodbloke (26 Dec 2009)

Excellent piece...very crisp. As you say, if alcove units pay the bills, it must be good to something like this for a bit of folding for beer n'skittles :lol: - Rob


----------



## Mr Ed (26 Dec 2009)

Excellent work Brad. Your list of tips is very welcome as I've never done any veneering but was planning to do some soon.

Ed


----------



## BradNaylor (26 Dec 2009)

woodbloke":1xvxsyiy said:


> Excellent piece...very crisp. As you say, if alcove units pay the bills, it must be good to something like this for a bit of folding for beer n'skittles :lol: - Rob



In retrospect Rob, I undercharged at £1750. If I were to do it again I'd want at least £2500, if not £3000.

There is over £500 of materials involved and a good two weeks work.

Alcove units are more profitable and I can do them with my eyes shut!


----------



## gidon (26 Dec 2009)

Very good Brad.
The thought of the customer not being happing with the finish of a piece fills me with fear! Very impressive that you were willing and able to fix it for him!
How do you find the Morrells AC lacquer to spray? 
Cheers
Gidon


----------



## woodbloke (26 Dec 2009)

BradNaylor":2uvykm4e said:


> woodbloke":2uvykm4e said:
> 
> 
> > Excellent piece...very crisp. As you say, if alcove units pay the bills, it must be good to something like this for a bit of folding for beer n'skittles :lol: - Rob
> ...


I'm no expert on charging for stuff Brad, but if you charged £1750 for it...someone got a bargin. I would have thought at least £2.5K min - Rob


----------



## RogerM (26 Dec 2009)

BradNaylor":ofbus6ag said:


> RogerM":ofbus6ag said:
> 
> 
> > How did you find the veneering? Any tips you can pass on to us amateurs?
> ...



Thanks Brad. Much appreciated.


----------



## DeepBlue (26 Dec 2009)

Thanks for all the tips Brad


----------



## TEO (27 Dec 2009)

woodbloke":2zk89w4f said:


> BradNaylor":2zk89w4f said:
> 
> 
> > woodbloke":2zk89w4f said:
> ...




I agree with Rob, they got a bargain but then in your shoes, I'd probably have done the same, with a one off it's difficult to judge just how long things are going to take especially if it's using techniques for the first time or techniques that don't get used very often. And then there's the question of what the client/market will bare for a bespoke piece of work, if you'd said £3000 they might well have decided to make do with something cheaper and then you'd not have had the fun of doing something different. I find I'm constantly charging on the thin side of profit....do a lot of work for charity, just don't like to speak about it...sob!
Then again, it's the novel one off pieces that provide the interest and stop me going mad between kitchens and built in unitzzzzz
I think it's great and there's more to life than profit; you have our admiration and respect even if it won't pay for cream on top of the bills.
T


----------



## Chris Knight (28 Dec 2009)

Nice job Brad!

Just in case your work and tips have inspired someone to try their hand at veneering, I'd recommend getting this book - it's and excellent *VERY* practical guide.


----------



## dedee (29 Dec 2009)

very nice indeed.

I am surprised that there is no beading on the doors to match the original one in your first post. ...


Andy


----------



## LadyInThisDress (8 Jan 2010)

I've only just joined and am absolutely stunned to see what you have created. I just cannot believe you made this, it's uttterly gorgeous! Wow. What a guy!

Helena (about to learn how to screw two bits of MDF together!)


----------



## CNC Paul (8 Jan 2010)

LadyInThisDress":16y017f2 said:


> I've only just joined and am absolutely stunned to see what you have created. I just cannot believe you made this, it's uttterly gorgeous! Wow. What a guy!
> 
> Helena (about to learn how to screw two bits of MDF together!)



Are you Mrs Naylor ? 8)


----------



## xy mosian (8 Jan 2010)

Brad, A wonderful piece of work, very well done! You have learnt to veneer well enough to not only produce very good work but also to be able to pass on your knowledge to the rest of us. Well done again and thank you.

xy


----------

