Oak kitchen unit

[JonnyD]

A job just finished .

Start with 50m2 of quartered European oak from capital crispin.

Joint it into large layons approx size 2.3 x 5m

Construction is MFMDF carcases

The sliding door in the above picture will slide into a pocket created by the carcases when finished.

Jump forward a bit about 50 samples of the white washed oak and lots of veneering later and it's finished .

The doors have a 30 degree angle cut onto the edge to allow the doors to open against the white lacquered frames.

It's been a nice project and a nice challenge getting the detailing right from the architects blueprints. Biggest challenge was getting the grain flowing through from side to side and managing to veneer everything the right way up etc as one mistake would have ruined the whole front. There is also a nice forum connection as a friend who I have made through the forums recommended me to his friends for the job.

Thanks for looking

Cheers

Jon

 

[johnfarris]

Nice work. Is the ceiling running out?
What thickness MDF did you use for the doors, did you use a cheap cut of veneer for the inside of the doors?

 

[JonnyD]

Hi John yes the ceiling runs out about 20mm. The floor is pretty level about 3mm out in 5 metres. The doors were made from 18mm mdf . Solid oak lippings were applied to the edges a thicker one for the handle detail and then veneered so doors probably end up at about 19 mm thickness

Cheers

Jon

 

[Mar_mite]

Very impressive. Thanks for sharing.

 

[hanser]

Hi Jon
That looks to have been a challenge. Nice work though.
What's the depth of the internal space?

Thanks
Robin

 

[Fatboy]

Whats the idea behind the doors with the wider frames showing; functionality needs or design?

 

[terencedug]

Very good, like it a lot.

 

[JonnyD]

Hi Jon
That looks to have been a challenge. Nice work though.
What's the depth of the internal space?

Thanks
Robin

Hi robin the unit gets thinner as it get towards the glass door it's about 400mm deep at the far end reducing to about a 120mm pocket to allow the door to slide into the back. The wall has a step in it so the middle part is about 250mm deep.

Whats the idea behind the doors with the wider frames showing; functionality needs or design?

These act as the handles or way of opening the doors the oak doors have the 30degree edge around these squares to allow you to open them
Without handles on the surface or push to open catches.

Thanks for looking

Jon

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Really neat. But I'm glad it's not mine. It's soulless.

 

[JonnyD]

Really neat. But I'm glad it's not mine. It's soulless.

Can you point me in the direction of something you've made so I can see what furniture with soul looks like. Just curious

Cheers

Jon

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I said it's really neat. It's just an observation that I think it's soulless - I don't need to justify it, it wasn't even really a criticism - only my opinion. Maybe you should have put a warning somewhere - "Please don't comment unless you're 100% positive", if you're are as thin skinned as you appear.

 

[JonnyD]

I said it's really neat. It's just an observation that I think it's soulless - I don't need to justify it, it wasn't even really a criticism - only my opinion. Maybe you should have put a warning somewhere - "Please don't comment unless you're 100% positive", if you're are as thin skinned as you appear.

I'm certainly not thin skinned and prefer people to comment good or bad on work and discuss stuff. I was genuinely interested to see what you would post as furniture with soul but respect your decision not to justify it. Would it have been krenov or malloof esque or maybe rustic and honest or something from ikea we will never know. Anyway you haven't offended me far from it and I hope I haven't offended you.

Cheers

Jon

 

[Stu_2]

Very clever, very modern, and very nice.

 

[Zeddedhed]

The issue of 'soul' or soulless' is an interesting one.
I get asked to produce stuff in a similar vein to your excellent kitchen unit quite often and the success of the project is often determined by how 'flawless' it is - in other words lacking in the visual cues and clues that tell us the story of it's making. In other words, clients often want things to look machine made even though they wouldn't express it as such.

(Fortunately my work often leaves plenty of clues, intended or otherwise!!)

Does this make it soulless?

Maybe to one observer it does. On the other hand to someone who knows the processes involved we can see what has been poured into the project.
Even if the majority of the build has been accomplished with machinery big or small doesn't mean the project doesn't come from the craftsman's creative 'soul'.

I for one can look at this and fully imagine all of the issues that Jon had to deal with in it's making. If it was me making it there would be at least one moment where i doubted my ability to 'get it right' and I know exactly how I would feel once it was completed. To me that gives it soul.

Maybe soul looks different to different people.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I admire the building of it, and would like to think I had the ability to produce something like it. I appreciate also that if we are makers of something to be sold we have to make what someone else wants rather than what we would like. Icook - I like kitchens that are designed for cooks - some of Dr. Bob's kitchens must run well into tens of £thousands, but still look designed for use. The problem I have with this one is that it looks to me like the hybrid of a kitchen and a private dentist's reception. (From the little I've seen, of course, I've not seen all of it!)
Just a comment on the above post - Does knowing that something was difficult to make/build give something soul? Some of the most beautiful things I've ever seen have been very simple.

 

[Zeddedhed]

Phil.p,
I don't think it's the case that knowing something was difficult to build gives it soul.
What I was trying to say (rather clumsily) is that whenever I build something that is challenging it tends to bring me out of the 'automatic' mode of working and into a whole different 'zone'.
I have to deal with doubt, self confidence, frustration etc. This I think is PART of what gives our creations soul. It is difficult for a piece to evoke a meaningful emotional response when it has been spat out of a machine with little or no human interaction.
If I can empathise with the maker then for me it imbues the object with something meaningful -soul perhaps.
Also I don't think that beauty and soul are the same thing.
Different people will always see different things in our work. Maybe what one person see's as soul or personality will leave another man cold. Thats fine though. If we all saw the same then the world would be a dull place methinks.

 

[manxman]

I think it's the different widths of the door gaps that I don't find easy to get on with, everything is precise then you get to the big gaps for the handles, the uprights look narrower than the horizontals due to the shadows, though I'm sure they're identical, maybe some LED's around them would make more of a feature of them drawing your eye to them as a separate feature rather than your brain trying to make it all fit together and line up. (Mine is at any rate!)
Could we see a photo with the doors open I'm curious as to how they're all hinged

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Z - Maybe we should let the OP have his thread back. Creep is setting in.

 

[Zeddedhed]

Z - Maybe we should let the OP have his thread back. Creep is setting in.

You're right
Sorry Jon

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Just as guilty.