Richard Link Posted December 30, 2010 Report Share Posted December 30, 2010 This is a sewing cabinet that I constructed for my mom, who is an avid and accomplished quilter. It has the usual lift mechanism found in these cabinets to allow the sewing machine to sit at different heights for different operations. The top insert is custom fit to her particular sewing machine and is removable. The doors hold up the side tables and are held in place with magnetic catches.The general casework is made from walnut veneer plywood and the top and side tables are constructed from solid wood to get a more attractive grain pattern. Unfortunately, the boards were not long enough to allow the grain to flow across the entire piece. Therefore, I focused the nicest boards onto the central table. The drawers went through too many iterations to count. Originally, they were constructed with wooden runners but I just couldn’t get them to function smoothly enough. Dust frames would have worked better but by that point I was committed. I ultimately scrapped that idea and went with metal runners. The drawer boxes are constructed of solid wood with pine as a secondary wood. Joinery is Isoloc using the Leigh jig. The finish is lacquer and then buffed out wax. R Whew..this one has been hanging over my head for too long....talk about an orphaned project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgfore Posted December 30, 2010 Report Share Posted December 30, 2010 Very Nice!! I Love the Walnut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Posted December 30, 2010 Report Share Posted December 30, 2010 That is absolutely sweet! You'll pardon me if I never show that to Sylvia, at least for quite a few projects. It's not something I'm terribly passionate about building and she'd MAKE me build one. lol...very nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Link Posted December 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2010 That is absolutely sweet! You'll pardon me if I never show that to Sylvia, at least for quite a few projects. It's not something I'm terribly passionate about building and she'd MAKE me build one. lol...very nice. Thanks. No worries. I know where you are coming from. I never want to see another sewing cabinet as long as I live.... This thing has literally been languishing in my workshop for months and months waiting to be finished. Mom is patient but I think she is contemplating putting a hit out on me if I don't get this thing delivered soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jHop Posted December 31, 2010 Report Share Posted December 31, 2010 If you had to do it over, what change to the design would you do other than the dust frame? (I'm not stating you need to do it over, as this is fantastic! I'm just thinking for myself, and planning how long it would take to do one for my mother. Is this a two year project? or similar?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Link Posted December 31, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2010 If you had to do it over, what change to the design would you do other than the dust frame? (I'm not stating you need to do it over, as this is fantastic! I'm just thinking for myself, and planning how long it would take to do one for my mother. Is this a two year project? or similar?) Hmm...I guess that's a good question. Things I might do differently next time: 1. Get rid of the metal drawer slides and go with either well fit wooden runners or dust frames. 2. Consider switching from a solid wood glued up top to perhaps something veneered. I'm a bit concerned about the top warping in the future, but we shall see. 3. I'd like the top to have been slightly thicker and to have had the grain flow across the entire top rather than just in the central section. This would have required longer 5/4 starting material, though. That's about it. Otherwise, I'm pretty satisfied with it. This is definitely not a two year project if you just stick with it. It took me a long time because I kept losing interest or getting distracted with other projects. If you are focused, it shouldn't take too long. R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Bennett Posted January 1, 2011 Report Share Posted January 1, 2011 This is a sewing cabinet that I constructed for my mom, who is an avid and accomplished quilter. It has the usual lift mechanism found in these cabinets to allow the sewing machine to sit at different heights for different operations. The top insert is custom fit to her particular sewing machine and is removable. The doors hold up the side tables and are held in place with magnetic catches.The general casework is made from walnut veneer plywood and the top and side tables are constructed from solid wood to get a more attractive grain pattern. Unfortunately, the boards were not long enough to allow the grain to flow across the entire piece. Therefore, I focused the nicest boards onto the central table. The drawers went through too many iterations to count. Originally, they were constructed with wooden runners but I just couldn’t get them to function smoothly enough. Dust frames would have worked better but by that point I was committed. I ultimately scrapped that idea and went with metal runners. The drawer boxes are constructed of solid wood with pine as a secondary wood. Joinery is Isoloc using the Leigh jig. Great piece Rob! If I'm wrong Please excuse my poor eyesight but on the closed pic is that a slice in the top at left and a splinter of missing timber at the far right? The finish is lacquer and then buffed out wax. R Whew..this one has been hanging over my head for too long....talk about an orphaned project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A_Vitale Posted January 1, 2011 Report Share Posted January 1, 2011 Beautiful lumber and overall great design, I also really like the joinery used for the drawers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna S Posted February 20, 2017 Report Share Posted February 20, 2017 That's a beautiful cabinet! I'm thinking about building one myself. Did you use or modify the Rockler plans, or design it from scratch? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drumstick Posted February 20, 2017 Report Share Posted February 20, 2017 That looks frickin' awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Wright Posted February 25, 2017 Report Share Posted February 25, 2017 On 2/20/2017 at 1:36 AM, Anna S said: That's a beautiful cabinet! I'm thinking about building one myself. Did you use or modify the Rockler plans, or design it from scratch? I built one from Rockler plans for my wife a few years ago from cherry, and I am pretty sure that this is the same one. Biggest change is that the Rockler version has butt jointed drawers and wooden drawer slides (but that is easy to change - I did dovetailed drawers) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gee-dub Posted February 25, 2017 Report Share Posted February 25, 2017 Wowee-Kazowee! A beautiful work station for any avid tailor or needle and thread artist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted February 25, 2017 Report Share Posted February 25, 2017 I don't remember seeing this before and the timing is right. Good old mom just informed me that I will be building her a U shape sewing station with insets for two machines and a surger(?¿sp¿?). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted February 25, 2017 Report Share Posted February 25, 2017 Quite a few years ago I made an L shaped one but it wasn't near as nice as the walnut one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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