A Krenov-inspired cocktail cabinet

[gasman]

With my apologies to everyone who has 'been there, done that' with james Krenov - I have not yet and have just read his 4 books which I found truly inspirational.
FWW has quite a few Krenov-style cabinets so I started out with my trusty 'thinking book' and sketched a couple of ideas

Then decided I definitely wanted a curved front - so played around with some ideas for that

I wanted the front of the base and the doors to be curved - so I made a gentle laminated former from a bit of 4x2 and got thicknessing!
For timber - I decided the top would be more of the beautiful ripple sycamore which I used for my backgammon / chess table

Whilst for the base I have just got some beautiful cherry from a mate who cut a tree down a couple of years ago which we had thicknessed and has been in his garage stacked

I started with the cherry and cut thicknessed and laminated 6 pieces of 4 mm cherry before glueing up to make the curved front. The legs were made from 45mm square cherry using a plywood template and a flush trim bit followed by planing / card scraping

Here is the base clamped up (but not glued up yet as I may want to reduce the width depending on how the doors go.

I am interested in what people think about the use of dominos.... Krenov liked dowels and also I am sure I have seen a couple of articles alluding to the use of a domino in later years. Any thoughts?
Here are the curved legs

Onto the doors
I found some lovely ripple sycamore and cut the rails. The 2 inner rails stop short of the stiles a la Krenov so that the stiles which are paired, extend across the 2 doors. The stiles are also laminated and curved to match the curved front of the base
I used bridle joints which were straightforward for the rails but which for the stiles I cut freehand on the bandsaw and then tided up with a thin very sharp chisel

I also wanted a muntin for each door - which are 12.5 mm wide and 15 mm deep with a 3mm slot on each side for the glass.

I am absolutely loving this - first proper job of the year, days getting longer etc etc
Thanks for looking. Comments welcome
Mark

 

[Modernist]

Excellent, I was inspired by the same books 40 years ago and they still do.

Nice piece but I am not sure about the top and bottom door rails not continuing to the edge of the door on the outside.

 

[gasman]

Thanks for the input Modernistn - I agree some of his cabinet door stiles do extend all the way, yet others do not and just have the 'inner' rails stopping short whilst the outer ones are full height. I will look closer again at the weekend
Mark

 

[Paul Chapman]

Looking good, Mark.

I am interested in what people think about the use of dominos.... Krenov liked dowels and also I am sure I have seen a couple of articles alluding to the use of a domino in later years. Any thoughts?

I don't think the Domino was around when he was making furniture. If you have a choice between Dominos or dowels, then I would choose Dominos every time.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Gerard Scanlan]

Very nice cabinet indeed.
I think that the way you have constructed the two frames for the door will look different when the doors are actually mounted in the cabinet as the lines will run through then. It is quite daring to make the doors like that especially after reading Krenov but I think they will look good when the whole thing is assembled.
I have a stack of rippled sycamore and some nice cherry too so you never know...

I recently finished reading 3 of Krenov's books and I was very impressed with his approach to woodworking (haven't read 'with wakened hands' as it is astronomically expensive at the moment). I think my absolute favourite piece has to be his cutlery cabinet with the removable drawers. Of course other people have been there and done that but that does not matter.

I stumbled over work by one of Krenov's ex-students recently in which you can see his influences but also her own signature http://www.fingerprintfurniture.nl/ thought it might be of interest.

Good luck with the rest.

Gerard

 

[woodbloke]

Here is the base clamped up (but not glued up yet as I may want to reduce the width depending on how the doors go.

I am interested in what people think about the use of dominos.... Krenov liked dowels and also I am sure I have seen a couple of articles alluding to the use of a domino in later years. Any thoughts?
Here are the curved legs

Mark

As Modernist commented, the asymmetrical arrangement of the door style and rails is going to look odd (in my view at least). One of the things that JK was fanatical about was selecting timber for it's grain pattern and orientating it within the piece. If you look at the front rail of the stand, already you've got a sloping diagonal from left to right which (again my view) isn't going to sit well with the finished piece...it should have chosen so that it was at least straight or with a symmetrical curve, usually downwards.
The design of the legs is after the styling of JK's later pieces, which I don't personally like...I much prefer the earlier style with his classic inverse tapered shape.
Doms...I think had they been around when JK was building stuff, there's no doubt he would have used them as many of his cabinets were dowelled anyway.
One final thought...be very, very careful with English Cherry. On the face of it, it looks like lovely stuff, but as you use it, you'll see it's limitations, one of which is a distinctly mucky appearance (as though dirt has been rubbed into the grain...see second pic of the leg) and it'll tear out viciously if it's planed the wrong way - Rob

 

[gasman]

Thanks guys - all comments duly noted
I don't have a problem with the domino - it is also saves a lot of precious wood in my view
I will see how the door evolves. It would be very easy to remake the similes so no hardship there
Rob thanks for pointing out the grain business - I had wondered about that but thought I would see how it all evolves. I can easily put a new 'face' on that front rail - but actually I have not yet decided whether that is going to be square like it is, or curved, or divided in 2 - or 'notched' like some of JKs things were. I wanted to get a feel of how it will look (I know many of you clever chaps do that with sketch up which I can't do)
Thanks again
Mark

 

[Mr Ed]

Great work. I have no doubt that JK would have been using a Domino had it been around in his time.

Ed


Rob - get over yourself and try and find something positive in the work of others. Don't give me the 'if you don't like it, you should stay away' line, that's a cop out. Of course we all have differing opinions, but it offers nothing to the development of someone's furniture making when all you do is find fault.

 

[Modernist]

Excellent, I was inspired by the same books 40 years ago and they still do.

Nice piece but I am not sure about the top and bottom door rails not continuing to the edge of the door on the outside.

EDIT that should be 30 years ago - I'm not that old, nor are the books

I think the ripple sycamore is a gem

 

[woodbloke]

Rob - get over yourself and try and find something positive in the work of others. Don't give me the 'if you don't like it, you should stay away' line, that's a cop out. Of course we all have differing opinions, but it offers nothing to the development of someone's furniture making when all you do is find fault.

Go and find a life somewhere Ed please, but preferably not here. I offer a critique, good, bad or indifferent where I see it would be most useful to the maker and as I've said repeatedly, anyone can do the same on any project of mine. No piece is ever 100%... and I don't care who made it. We can all learn by others actually saying on a public forum what it is about a piece of work that they like or dislike.

For the record, one of intensely irritating things about this sort of thing are the mind numbing platitudes that are offered (and I'm sometimes guilty as well) about work shown on the forum. I'd far rather folk actually said what they think, provided it's not offensive, causes hurt and they can offer positive justifications for their comments, which I attempt to do, although it has to be said sometimes my comments can be a bit blunt. At least I hope that makers get something positive from my (and others) comments - Rob

Edit - fwiw, the OP's project has the potential to be a really good piece of work and I was indicating features at this early stage that Gman could take on board for further consideration as it progressed.

 

[TheTiddles]

I agree, people should only say everything is brilliant, especially my work

yours sincerely

Rob Cosman

 

[TheTiddles]

oh, and relating to the piece, looking nice so far, are you still planning to have the two drawers under the twin doors or just seeing how it goes?

Aidan

 

[Mr Ed]

I'm not arguing for a mindless statement of 'that looks good' on everything. I just feel that since we are all here for fun it is more virtuous (and more motivating) where projects are concerned to give generally positive feedback with observations on improvements, rather than to try and prove how much we know about James Krenov (or any other subject) under the guise of criticism.

 

[gasman]

Thanks again for comments - interesting how much angst JKs work seems to generate!! Certainly no piece of mine has ever generated as many comments as quickly, negative or positive. I certainly do not take offence at constructive criticism - many of the comments posted on this website by members have been extremely helpful and some have changed the way I have done things. It is the main reason I post here as I find the constructive comments always helpful. I still think drawers - maybe just one - or even a pair side by side - will make decision once doors are finished and I see how balanced it all looks
Cheers
Mark

 

[woodbloke]

I'm not arguing for a mindless statement of 'that looks good' on everything. I just feel that since we are all here for fun it is more virtuous (and more motivating) where projects are concerned to give generally positive feedback with observations on improvements, rather than to try and prove how much we know about James Krenov (or any other subject) under the guise of criticism.

Feedback can be positive OR negative and it's only by looking at BOTH aspects do we learn stuff that we can hopefully build into the next piece and with any luck, the mistakes or errors made won't be repeated in the next.
As for expounding and trying to prove a point as far as JK is concerned...what utter tosh! I've read the books and still dip into them occasionally like thousands of others, so yes, I like his stuff but wouldn't ever consider myself an 'expert' on the life and works of JK (sounds like a good Mastermind subject :mrgreen: )
What I know about cabinetmaking and woodwork has been gathered through 40 years of doing the stuff, but nobody knows everything, certainly not me, or either JK for that matter and I'm happy to be proved wrong as and when it happens...it's only at that point will I learn something! - Rob

 

[MickCheese]

I don't want to enter into a lion den but can I add that I found Rob's observations very interesting. As a relative novice who seeks to improve I looked at the piece and was very impressed, then I read Rob's and Modernist's comments and re-visited the pictures. Whilst I was no less impressed I could now see it in greater detail.

This is something I will try to take into consideration when making my own projects.

I also found the OP's response very enlightening when he discussed how he would deal with the comments and what his options were.

Just my opinion, I actually think the piece is looking really good with good proportions and I can tell the OP is very skilled.

Keep up the WIP, really enjoying this.

Mick

 

[mtr1]

I like it, and I think the way you have arranged the door stiles and rails will look good. I find with cherry that it will tone down a bit after its been cut, but it can be a bit of a bugger to stain(not that you are staining it?). Can I also ask why you have made the doors before making the cabinet? I've never done it like that before, I like to have the cabinet in front of me to make sure the doors are the right size Even when I do a rod I sometimes find little errors in how big or small the cabinet will end up, I'm only talking about the odd millimetre, but find this can throw out the doors sometimes. Looking forward to seeing this progress, I have a couple of Malmsten inspired cabinets to make for my own house.....one day.

 

[markturner]

Hi Mark, nice piece, and looking forward to seeing it progress. Can you elaborate on how you made the legs? The elliptical tapered legs on my recent piece were the most difficult part and I would be interested to see how you tackled yours. Thanks!

Re Robs comments, I didn't think he was being overly negative, they were valid and useful points. Its easy to miss something that others see as obvious when doing something like this and another viewpoint always helps.

Rgds, Mark

 

[gasman]

Thanks Mark
These legs were quite easy - cut a template in 6mm MDF (I think - might have been plywood), then drew round it on one side of the 45mm square leg 'blank' - before cutting roughly round with a bandsaw. Then stuck the template to the side with double-sided tape - before using a brilliant skew angle CMT flush trim router bit mounted in the router table. I have done this several times for various chairs and tables I have made over the years - and it works well as long as you start really carefully - as if the top end 'bites, it shreds the whole of one end of the leg DAMHIKT!!
I completely agree about Rob's comments - I took them as very constructive criticism and may well change small things as a result of such comments
Thanks again for the kind words and comments
Mark

 

[gasman]

And sorry to Mark mtr1 - missed your question completely. I made the doors first as that is what JK seems to do - it is an interesting concept and I agree not what I have ever done before - but he apparently says that any slight 'twists' in the doors can be taken out in the frame. Not sure really but it seemed a bit logical
Mark