Wall cupboard - WIP

[softtop]

I have been asked to make an oak wall cupboard by a family friend to hold their glasses in the kitchen. I have a bit of oak lying around, some of it quite nicely figured so I said I'd sort something out.

The dimensions are about 4ft wide by 12inches high and 9.5inches deep. That means the timber will just about fit through my P/T. It will have a central support and sliding doors at the front, with the rest of the design left up to me.

However, when I went to go and look at the wall it was going to go on it was hugely out of plumb, so I am going to have to make the ends larger and scribe them to the wall. This means I'll have to prepare the stock by hand.

Before:

After (well this is the first one I did for the eagle-eyed among you - forgot to photograph it!):

Actually I rather enjoyed doing this and toyed with the idea of doing the whole thing by hand... until I woke up the following morning with some quite considerable shoulder and arm pain!! That said, the finish on these is excellent from the planes and I have resolved to swipe all the other bits with the No.4 before I start on the ROS.

Moving on to the rest of the stock, I have run it through the P/T in the usual way:

...and then finished with the No.4:

Then comes the question of the back. I reckon I can use a solid piece of timber but of course it's nearly 12inches wide so again too big for the P/T. In this instance I have run it over the planer on alternate sides a few times to reduce the amount of agony my arms with have to endure getting it flat and smooth:

...before finishing by hand:

I am really wishing I had a decent workbench now!

I have to take the sides and scribe them up before I go any further but will post more shortly.

Thanks very much for looking.

Henry

 

[PeterBassett]

Looks like an interesting build. How are you using the workmate there? Planing must be a bit of a pain with that. Do you have to keep a foot on the lower rail all the time?

Good luck with the rest.

Pete

 

[softtop]

Oh yes the workmate is a nightmare... have tried leaning it against things, foot on the bottom and even weights on it... Don't have anything else that will hold the work at a reasonable height though. I am going to make a workbench soon!

 

[mtr1]

Looks like you have some lovely Oak, and its sometimes nice to pse a few boards....on the odd occasion.

 

[softtop]

I have now scribed the sides to the wall and cut them out on the BS:

I was going to dovetail the ends onto the top and bottom pieces but after many hours of practice I just can't get a good enough result, especially with this 22mm thick oak, so I am reluctantly going to Domino them instead...

I am dovetailing the centre piece, but using the router:

I have run the back panel round the router table to get a tongue all round to slot into the sides:

Next I've grooved the sides to take the back panel and also made two grooves for the sliding front doors. It's being designed slightly 'on-the-fly' but I hope it will work. I have made the grooves deeper at the top in the middle to allow for lifting in the doors and then dropping them back down into place:

Next up Domino the side panel: I've put one tight one near the front to keep it in position and then others looser to allow for any movement:

The back panel needs some adjusting with a shoulder plane to get it to fit perfectly, but then I can do a dry fit (minus the central support):

Finally I have dovetailed the centre piece on the router table:

Now moving on to the doors. I have cut out the pieces, and then use the router to put a tongue round to slide in my grooves. They look a bit plain so I've decided to put a stop chamfer on them, which I hope you can just about see here:

Next I Domino the doors and get them glued up. The groove for the glass also allows it to go in more in the top piece and then drop down into the bottom so it can be replaced at a later date if it were to get broken. I'm using 6mm glass, and have a router bit just a touch bigger which seems to work well. Here it is glued up and that's me done for the day:

Thanks for looking.

Henry

 

[woodbloke]

Thanks for looking.

Henry

I think without question...you need a decent workbench as doing this sort of thing on a Workmate you'll be on a hiding to nowt! :lol:
However my main point concerns the doors. One of a pair(?) is shown, but in my view there hasn't been enough consideration given to the orientation of the grain on the rails and stiles. The long rails have a downward slope twoards the corners and the short stiles are canted over to the right, so when the pair is assembled (assuming that you've done something similar on the other door...which you have, I assume) the whole thing will take on a distinct 'glum' look. To my mind, this is a crucial aspect of making furniture and one that we pay scant regard to, which is why the late JK was so careful in trying to make doors that look 'balanced'. These to me don't, so that when the final thing goes together, it may look distinctly 'odd'
Sorry for critique, but as soon as I saw the last pic, alarm bells started to ring... - Rob

 

[softtop]

Thanks Rob. Yes I know I need a bench but I haven't had/got the time to make it yet...!

How should the grain run on the doors in order to make it look "nice"? Do I have to try and get it running straight all along? I guess it depends how much wood you are prepared to waste?

Henry

 

[woodbloke]

How should the grain run on the doors in order to make it look "nice"? Do I have to try and get it running straight all along? I guess it depends how much wood you are prepared to waste?

Henry

In essence...yup on both counts. Ideally, it ought to be straight for all pieces but if you bookmatch the rails and stiles and then play around with the separate pieces on the bench, it then becomes easier to see an arrangement that looks pleasing. If you have a look at the door on this cabinet:

you can see that I've deliberately chosen the grain carefully and then bookmatched the stiles and positioned that curve at the bottom so it sweeps in at each side to the rail which to me looks quite acceptable. Also, although it's difficult to see, the grain in the legs flairs slightly towards the top and sweeps out at the bottom. Although it does make the eventual piece look better, you can waste a lot of wood getting the 'right' sort of effect, but for me, it's worth it 'cos if I didn't do it I'd forever look at the piece afterwards and think...'if only' To me, it can make or break a piece which is why I think that wood selection is equally as important as the design- Rob

 

[OPJ]

Great progress so far. A very interesting thread to follow. Hope that one of your next project is a workbench... ;-) Don't worry though, many of us have been there! We've all struggled!

 

[woodbloke]

We've all struggled!

Some of use still do Olly - Rob

 

[MickCheese]

This is very interesting, I have to admit I never really considered wood selection until reading things here. It really helps when someone actually demonstrates the theory.

I think you are doing an amazing job, just think how much easier it would be if you were not using a workmate.

You clearly have the talent to make a bench, don't put it off because you need a Rolls Royce one. Make the Ford Cortina one now to make the Rolls Royce one later.

Enjoying your WIP.

Mick

 

[tisdai]

Hi Henry

I agree with Rob about the way the grain should flow, a lot more pleasing to look at. Not far from the end now, you have made great progress, look forward to see how you are going to finish it off.

Cheers and thanks for posting the WIP, appreciate it

Dave

 

[softtop]

Thanks all for your positive comments. On this occasion I'm going to stick with the grain as I have it. Oddly enough I did try laying out the pieces in different positions but I don't have enough 'spare' wood to make new door pieces.

The other controversial thing is that the 'client' is most insistent that it is varnished, so I have varnished the individual components before putting together to make life easier. Three coats of shiny varnish, as requested. Then I have glued up and assembled the cabinet (with a piece of glass for a shelf on one side). However, my clamps weren't long enough so I've had to improvise somewhat, with two clamps at right angles to each other to get the extra length:

I've put a stopped chamfer round the edge of the cabinet as well (sorry about the quality of the photo):

I was also asked to put in some lights, which I have done. Here is the finished item installed in situ:

With lights on:

And a shot of the nice medullary rays on the side:

I am pleased with the final result, and more importantly so is the recipient! I will certainly think harder about the doors in future but I hope that I've "got away with it" on this occasion, just about!

Thanks for looking,

Henry

 

[Anonymous]

looking good, although maybe too late in the day, i would have put a lighting pelmet to hide the fittings.

 

[woodbloke]

Not sure about that high gloss varnish finish (if that's what it is) but my point is made about the grain direction on the doors...n'est pas :lol: As the 'client' :-" is happy, that's the main thing...chalk it up to experience for the next project - Rob