A Couple of Little Things...

[woodbloke]

The first thing I finished last month was this 'Cabinet of Curiosities' and I thought you lot on the other side of the pond might want to have a swift gander at it. It's based on an interpretation of contemporary Korean furniture, much of which contains a drawer(s) suspended mid-way in a framework with fresh air above and below:

 

It's been made from English Elm and the thing that determined the overall size was the solid 'waterfall elm'  back panel:

...which was the starting point for the project. Jointing on the frames was by using 4mm ply strips running in grooves the length of each section. The top and bottom of the cabinet:

...were made from 16mm MR mdf and 2mm bandsawn veneers glued in the vacuum bag; the accent details at the top were made from Indian ebony. The drawer box and front;

...were made from bandsawn veneers of 'waterfall' elm, again with accent detailing in Indian ebony. The lower and upper frames were domino'd together with ebony detailing to highlight the join and the lower frame is fractionally bigger by 2mm to add additional 'weight' to the design. The drawer itself:

...is made from 7mm thick quarter sawn English oak with a planted drawer front which was screwed into position. It runs on a centre rail underneath the wide muntin and has a solid elm bottom running in oak drawer slips. This arrangement makes the drawer more complicated to build, but much easier to fit as the sides don't need to fit or even touch the framework. The finish is a couple of coats of mat Osmo-PolyX with organic Swedish beeswax polish over the top. There are six polished, 6mm shelves, one of which is occupied by my better half's impulse buy from the Tokyo Skytree.

The second piece which was finished a short time ago again has an oriental feel to it, being a small Japanese display unit which is almost identical to one we saw in Kyoto before Christmas. The hoops are made from laminated American cherry...

...in two semi-circular halves, so that each could be passed through the Jet 16-32 drum sander to bring them to a thickness of 15mm. They were then joined by a spline cut on the router table and cramped in a Bessey band cramp to make the complete circle. The rails between the hoops were made from small pieces of cherry which were doweled in place using 15mm bits of 3mm bamboo BarBQ skewers. The shelves were very, VERY tricky to cut and fit but it was made easier as the whole thing was built over a full size 1:1 plan in exactly the same way as you'd go about building a model aeroplane from balsa. Essentially, I started from the right angle shelf in the top left 'corner' and worked clockwise until the last one was glued in position. Finish was a couple of coats of oil with some more Swedish wax over the top. The final pic...

 

...shows the scale with each of the compartments containing a little object. In case you're wondering what the strange object is in the lower lhs, it's an elm fruit bowl made from one of the wheels of a cannon which once trundled across the lower gun deck of HMS Victory in Portsmouth, and may well have seen action at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. 

[pkinneb]

I really like that cabinet! Solid execution.

[wdwerker]

The round Japanese style stand looks great. I've usually seen those used for displaying bonsai. I've always wanted to study an old Japanese built one and try to figure out the the joinery . If you have any pictures of the construction I would love to see them !

[Chet]

That is  some real beautiful grain on the cabinet. The Steiff Bear takes me back to my youth, except mine was a rabbit.  I didn't know the company was still around.

[wtnhighlander]

Very lovely cabinet! Have to ask, does it actuall flare out at the top, or is that lens distortion?

[Ronn W]

Very pleasing to look at - both projects. I especially like the display unit.  Might inspre me to step outside of my comfort zone.  Thank you.