Popular Post h3nry Posted February 4 Popular Post Report Posted February 4 As promised ... my new sewing machine has done its sewing jobs, and now it's time to build it a new home. I thought I'd start this journal while I'm still finishing up the design phase. The plan is for a cabinet that will hold the machine and various other sewing tools and supplies, that can sit in a corner while not in use ... then be pulled out and opened up to provide a bigger work surface while in use. Obviously there is a lot of detail not included in these sketches, I'm really concentrating on getting the dimentions right and thinking about joinery. I still haven't figured out how the doors will latch to the top in the open position to stop it shifting while open ... hopefully something will get worked out by the end. The drawer fronts on the right are mostly just a cosmetic facade to make it look more symmetrical when open, there will be some space behind the upper ones that can somehow get used. The drawers on the left are real. I wanted to recess the lower drawers, so that some useable shelves could be included in the doors for easy access storage when the cabinet is open (I just sketched in some generic shelves for now). But this really makes the joinery for the case to hold the lower drawers a bit more complicated. Hopefully I can figure out something strong enough. I'm not quite sure if I've really worked it out properly ... maybe it will become more apparent when thinhgs start to go together. I haven't bought the lift hardware, or the wood yet ... I'm thinking of using African Mahogany (Khaya), but may go for cherry, depending on what is available. If I make the turned legs, I'll need to be able to get some 12/4. We'll see how much I can get done in the next two months ... 7 Quote
fcschoenthal Posted February 5 Report Posted February 5 The design and thought put into it are definitely impressive. Will be watching for the journal, and from what I've seen of your previous work, you're the one to pull it off. 1 Quote
wtnhighlander Posted February 5 Report Posted February 5 Looking forward to this one, @h3nry! Off to a very interesting start! Quote
pkinneb Posted February 5 Report Posted February 5 Wow!! That has to be one of the fanciest sewing cabinets I have ever seen! I look forward to following along on your journey. Quote
Von Posted February 6 Report Posted February 6 +1 but I'm going to have to keep their thread hidden from my wife. 1 Quote
gee-dub Posted February 6 Report Posted February 6 My wife said that's enough to make her want to take up sewing. Really cool. 1 1 Quote
Popular Post h3nry Posted February 6 Author Popular Post Report Posted February 6 well, thereès nothing impressive here yet ... anyone can dream up a fancy design. Time to start trying to turn it into reality ... I went to the lumber store today, and picked up some Khaya. I've only used this for small projects in the past, so I hope it turns out good for this. I couldn't get the 12/4 I wanted for the turned legs. There is another store in town that might have some before I have to start thinking about other possibilities. 5 Quote
wtnhighlander Posted February 7 Report Posted February 7 I'm impressed that your town has TWO lumber stores that carry exotics like khaya! I have drive a minimum of 2 hours to find just one. 2 Quote
Popular Post h3nry Posted February 7 Author Popular Post Report Posted February 7 On 2/6/2025 at 7:04 PM, wtnhighlander said: I'm impressed that your town has TWO lumber stores that carry exotics like khaya! I have drive a minimum of 2 hours to find just one. It is quite a big city so lots of wood being sold, but the main lumber yards only sell to commercial businesses ... however we do have two stores catering to hobbyists/individuals ... sometimes their stock of a particular species is limited, but 12/4 khaya is sometimes on the rack. 3 Quote
Popular Post h3nry Posted February 7 Author Popular Post Report Posted February 7 Well darn it ... it appears that Khaya has recently been CITES listed, and although there is lots of 4/4 and 8/4 available, 12/4 just doesn't seem to be coming into Canada at the moment. None of the places I've talked to either have it in stock, nor can they get it from their suppliers. So I can either: - Redesign the legs to be square and just use 8/4. - Try to laminate some extra thickness onto the 8/4 to get a thick enough piece to be turned ... but hiding the glue line might be tricky. - Use Sapele instead for the turned legs ... I even have a suitable piece left over from the last project, so that will even save me $100 in lumber cost. Given that there will be a change from planed to turned wood anyway, some care with the finishing and the difference may be hardly noticable. 3 Quote
wtnhighlander Posted February 7 Report Posted February 7 The turned legs are just the segment below the carcase, right? Not integral to the square corners? If so, I like the plan to use sepele. The slight difference in species will go unnoticed, since there is a natural break between to components. Quote
h3nry Posted February 7 Author Report Posted February 7 On 2/7/2025 at 1:18 PM, wtnhighlander said: The turned legs are just the segment below the carcase, right? Not integral to the square corners? If so, I like the plan to use sepele. The slight difference in species will go unnoticed, since there is a natural break between to components. That's right ... my lathe isn't big enough to mount the whole leg ... so I was just going to turn a ~7/8" tenon about 2" long on the round part and glue it into a drilled hole at the end of the square part, which I hope should be strong enough. 2 Quote
fcschoenthal Posted February 8 Report Posted February 8 On 2/7/2025 at 2:18 PM, wtnhighlander said: The turned legs are just the segment below the carcase, right? Not integral to the square corners? If so, I like the plan to use sepele. The slight difference in species will go unnoticed, since there is a natural break between to components. +1 on using sapele. Nobody is going to be looking at the feet anyway with the rest of it so beautifully ornate. Quote
Popular Post h3nry Posted February 12 Author Popular Post Report Posted February 12 On 2/8/2025 at 8:28 AM, Mark J said: Use sepele for the entire piece?? That is an option, but I made the last project out of Sapele, and I was wanting to use something different. But I also have some nice Khaya crotch veneer that I was thinking of using for the panels, so there'd still be a species difference if the whole carcase was made of Sapele. I tried putting a bit of finish on some of the khaya today to compare it with the finished sapele cabinet ... I think the mismatch will be acceptable ... so at the moment I'm planning on using the sapele. 5 Quote
Popular Post h3nry Posted Saturday at 06:01 AM Author Popular Post Report Posted Saturday at 06:01 AM As always not too exciting to start with ... Ripping at the bandsaw and then jointing pieces to size. Then laying out and chopping mortices for the carcase. Then ploughing grooves for the panels. As you can see I've also got a new apprentice ... he's not allowed to help when power tools are in use, but fortunatelythat's not too much of my time. 7 Quote
Popular Post h3nry Posted Monday at 05:01 AM Author Popular Post Report Posted Monday at 05:01 AM A little more progress ... cutting tenons and I now have three sides of the carcase. Next I have to start working on the front, which is going to be more complicated because of the drawers, and the recess for in-door storage. 6 Quote
Popular Post h3nry Posted yesterday at 04:07 AM Author Popular Post Report Posted yesterday at 04:07 AM Becaise the lower drawers are recessed the front leg is too far forward and needs to be "extended" into the carcase. I also added the side runners for the drawers into the side frames. However, because 2 pieces of 4/4 are a bit thicker than 1 board of 8/4, I had to remove a bit of the lower one since it overlapped with the outside of the frame. The two parts on the front of the carcase can then be added. The upper one is held in by dovetails, and the lower one with M&T joints. The next step will be the casework for the inside of the lower drawers. 4 Quote
Von Posted 14 hours ago Report Posted 14 hours ago Just in case you haven't considered it, you have my cross-grain wood movement tingles going with that upper stretcher going into the side rails and the legs. I think it's OK, but on the cusp. Quote
h3nry Posted 13 hours ago Author Report Posted 13 hours ago On 2/18/2025 at 6:53 AM, Von said: Just in case you haven't considered it, you have my cross-grain wood movement tingles going with that upper stretcher going into the side rails and the legs. I think it's OK, but on the cusp. I don't think I need to worry ... the piece is less than 4" wide, and it's only cross-grain for the last 2" on the side rails. I could have left it floating by the side rails, but dovetailing into the rails does add a little bit of rigidity. 1 Quote
Von Posted 13 hours ago Report Posted 13 hours ago On 2/18/2025 at 9:53 AM, h3nry said: I don't think I need to worry ... the piece is less than 4" wide, and it's only cross-grain for the last 2" on the side rails. I could have left it floating by the side rails, but dovetailing into the rails does add a little bit of rigidity. Agreed. I overestimated the width from the photo. At <4" the movement should be negligible. Quote
Coop Posted 3 hours ago Report Posted 3 hours ago Great progress and I envy that it’s mostly hand tool work! Quote
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