I finished my cabinet, way late!


dustinsmith

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I recently put the finishing touches on my Wall-Hanging Cabinet that I built for my wife. I went with curly cherry for the case and ambrosia maple for the accents. I went with the through-dovetails on the case joinery, but covered up my hard work with molding because the wife says "dovetail joints are ugly." Gotta be the first time I've heard anyone say that!

I have to say I'm very dissapointed in my ability (or lack thereof) to finish curly cherry. The end product just looks sorta blotchy rather than curly, as I was afraid it would. I used the outdoor oil that Marc used in the Guild build, but I didn't use any blotch control because I knew it would conceal the curl of hte wood. Oh well, maybe next time.

Speaking of next time, you may notice in the background of these pictures some familiar-looking 4" slabs! Working on the Roubo build now, as well.

Dustin

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I went with the through-dovetails on the case joinery, but covered up my hard work with molding because the wife says "dovetail joints are ugly." Gotta be the first time I've heard anyone say that!

Hardly so.

Go back a few generations and concealed joinery was the rule, not the exception. That changed with the arts & crafts movement, an ethos that's very much alive today, especially among anyone likely to be frequenting this forum. But, historically speaking, your wife's right on: Nobody back then took any pleasure in seeing carcase dovetails.

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That's beautiful. And I can relate to the spouse having different aesthetic tastes. My first big project was a cherry dining room table. I wanted to leave the finish a little closer to the wood but she said she loves it when wood is so shiny you can see your reflection in it... sigh. Oh well, it is still good craftsmanship even if we don't agree on every little detail. Well done on your cabinet. The maple accents are especially striking.

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Nicely done! That piece is going to get more and more handsome over time as the cherry darkens and provides a nice contrast to the maple.

And curly cherry can be a real bear. You're right about the conundrum. If you do anything to prevent blotchiness, you also decrease the impact of the curl. And even curly cherry is still cherry, which by nature has those random blotch spots. But overall, I think the blotch pattern in your cherry boards is strong enough that it definitely looks more like "figure" and less like blotch. Well done!

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