Little Oak Cabinet

[woodbloke]

The 'Mask Cabinet' has been put on the back burner for a mo' while I was making this little cabinet. The reason is that Derek Jones sent me a selection of LV knife hinges to evaluate for F&C and by a remarkable piece of timing :-" they're exactly what I need for the former job...so I made this to practice fitting a pair of offset knife hinges, closely following the instructions provided by LV and also of course the process will be fully documented in the mag.

There's nothing fancy about this...just some scabby odds n'sods of European Oak, edge jointed and then through dovetailed together, with a couple of oak shelves housed in:

The door frame has been Domino'd with a raised and fielded panel. The beauty of the offset knife hinge is that when the door's open:

...it'll swing clear of the carcase. Derek wanted me to pay particular attention to the screw heads:

...which of course should be mirror polished and the slots should line up exactly. It's also critical that the thread is cut with the equivalent sized steel screw and that the correct size 'driver (freshly ground square as well) is used on the brass screw so that the slot doesn't get chewed up :evil: Finish on this little job is a couple of coats of matt Osmo-PolyX with a good application of teak wax over the top and then buffed. Comments welcome - Rob

 

[Orcamesh]

Well that's absolutely fab Rob! I followed the same principles with my hinges and brass screws, but obviously wasn't as careful as you! A few of my screw heads did get damaged unfortunately. Oh well, maybe next time will be easier...

Did you turn the door pull yourself?

 

[Tierney]

Very nice.

DT

 

[Charlie Woody]

Well you learn something new every day. Never heard of this type of hinge. Were they easier / harder to fit than butt hinges?

 

[Tom K]

Nice practice piece Mr Bloke where will it end up living and what will you put in this one? My practice pieces tend more towards scruffy offcuts.

 

[Harbo]

Nice work but the thing about those hinges is that the stick out when closed and can look a bit utilitarian?

Rod

 

[MickCheese]

Rob

I like that a lot and may try to copy it as I have a place in our bathroom it would fit perfectly.

Can I ask the size, look about 600mm tall by 250mm wide but it's difficult to get the scale with nothing to reference it from.

I love its simplicity but most of all it looks very well made with really crisp joints.

Mick

 

[woodbloke]

Rob

I like that a lot and may try to copy it as I have a place in our bathroom it would fit perfectly.

Can I ask the size, look about 600mm tall by 250mm wide but it's difficult to get the scale with nothing to reference it from.

I love its simplicity but most of all it looks very well made with really crisp joints.

Mick

Size on this little cabinet is 400x250mm. There are pro's and con's with these hinges...point taken about the 'sticky out' bit Rod, but the object of the exercise was to evaluate the hinges, particularly the fitting instructions and not necessarily build a cabinet to do it. I could have used a few slabs of mdf but decided to do a proper job with this little cabinet. Perhaps the most worrying thing is that the carcase has to be knocked apart and re-assembled at least three times (if me maffs is correct :roll: ) and each time has to be identical, so jointing has to be precise. Job now residing in the downstairs khazi :lol:
These hinges will have to be used on the 'Mask Cabinet' as ordinary brass butts won't enable the door to be opened - Rob

 

[MickCheese]

Thanks Rob.

Must finish what I have in the workshop first then may try this.

Mick

 

[Wouldchuk]

Very nice indeed for a "few bits of scabby oak"!

For the joints - were these handcut? The hinge fitting - again, by hand or using router then squaring off?

I like the 'feel' of knife hinges and don't mind sticky out bit, it's just part of the design. As you open them, is there a little bit of resistence to the action - meaning that the door doesnt swing about? Or are they completely free and loose? I would like to find something which works a bit like a laptop friction hinge, but not really sure where to look - I want to make a cupboard on our boat, which is often lopsided or rocking about, and friction hinges would stop the doors swinging around. I wonder where to get something which would do the job?

 

[Paul Chapman]

Those hinges look nice, Rob. I like the fielded panel - was that done in a similar way to the one you did for F&C a little while ago, with a little flat on it where it enters the grooves?

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[woodbloke]

Those hinges look nice, Rob. I like the fielded panel - was that done in a similar way to the one you did for F&C a little while ago, with a little flat on it where it enters the grooves?

Cheers :wink:

Paul

The one I did for F&C a while ago Paul, was entirely by hand, it was bl%*dy hard going...this was done with a few passes with mid sized Wealen cutter in the router table and was a lot, lot easier. The hinges are identical to the Brusso ones that CHT sells but they come with a full and comprehensive set of fitting instructions which is the thing that Derek wanted me to evaluate. Joint's are entirely hand cut and there's a full account of the fitting process in the Blog and of course it'll be more fully documented in the F&C article which I have to write tomorrow - Rob

 

[UTMonkey]

Sorry, did you actually say scabby odds and sods? Looks great

 

[woodbloke]

Sorry, did you actually say scabby odds and sods? Looks great

Yep...all sorts of scabby oddments salvaged from under the bench...look at the mis-match in the front panel and the sides are like that as well. The back (although you can't see it) is band sawn veneers from what was left over when the main bits of the carcase were made. No point in using prime grade oak for a simple little cabinet like this - Rob...parsimonious mode :mrgreen:

 

[fraser]

Can I ask what teak wax you used for this please?

 

[woodbloke]

Can I ask what teak wax you used for this please?

Alna Teak Wax....not made for a looooooooong time. I bought a few tins of the stuff at college in the late 70's when teak furniture was 'in vogue' and still haven't opened one of them. It's a really nice soft wax that's very easy to apply and polish off again - Rob

 

[fraser]

Can you recommend an alternative that is made now by any chance please? Is briwax any good do you know? Cheers

 

[woodbloke]

Can you recommend an alternative that is made now by any chance please? Is briwax any good do you know? Cheers

I don't know of anything that's quite as good or as soft (only my opinion btw) as my favourite Alna...Briwax is certainly a lot harder to apply and polish off again - Rob

 

[Jacob]

...... The beauty of the offset knife hinge is that when the door's open:

.......
...it'll swing clear of the carcase. ... Comments welcome - Rob

It doesn't though does it? It swings back on to the carcase - works almost exactly the same as a butt hinge, depending on how you fit it.
I don't see the point of those knife hinges - difficult to fit, expensive and pointless. Untidy looking with that bit of metal sticking out. Just another fashion thanks to St Jim Krenov and now LV.

 

[woodbloke]

...... The beauty of the offset knife hinge is that when the door's open:

.......
...it'll swing clear of the carcase. ... Comments welcome - Rob

It doesn't though does it? It swings back on to the carcase - works almost exactly the same as a butt hinge, depending on how you fit it.
I don't see the point of those knife hinges - difficult to fit, expensive and pointless. Untidy looking with that bit of metal sticking out. Just another fashion thanks to St Jim Krenov and now LV.

You can cast as much bait on the waters as you like Mr Butler, it won't have any effect now...if you kept up with your reading you will have seen that that i've done with UKW and all it's machinations, final and complete. I was only notified by someone else on another far more pleasant (where, thank God the likes of you are not tolerated) site that your stirring paddle was being wielded again.

So it's farewell and adios...for the second time - Rob